Chapter 36: Preparations Before the Final Battle
There were several channels for finding the World Child: the intelligence network of the Watch Guild, the wealthy merchant's fortune celebration, the intelligence network of the Rhine Kingdom, and the intelligence network of the Niyel Duchy.
The Niyel Duchy was notoriously domineering, but their attitude toward the Watch Guild had always been quite good. They revered martial strength and had a favorable impression of Hunters.
Besides these channels, Su Xiao had one final method: relying on the contractors to search. There were probably a few hundred contractors within this world. Although their numbers were small compared to other factions, contractors had sharper observational skills.
The only problem was that once contractors found the World Child, they would most likely kill it for a treasure chest. In a Primordial World, the backlash from killing a World Child was very light. As long as they didn't kill a "Child of Destiny," it was fine—the two were not the same concept.
However, there was a risk in having contractors search for the World Child: some contractors might have already joined the Ancient God faction.
Ancient Gods were certainly dangerous, but the current Ancient God had only recently been resurrected and was very willing to use any defecting combat power. If it were something like the Three Ancient Gods of the Wizard World, surrendering to them would most likely turn one into a lab rat, dying in some sacrifice or fear extraction.
Su Xiao had realized long ago that Ancient Gods seemed to enjoy the emotion of fear. Others' fear likely brought them some kind of benefit. After all, among all emotions, fear was the strongest and most vivid.
In a sense, a large amount of fear was no different from faith power. In fact, the former might even be stronger than the latter, since faith could be insincere, but fear could never be faked.
When night quietly fell, Lady Xiang's materials were delivered. Inside the bedroom on the sixth floor of the headquarters, the curtains blocked the window.
"Bubu."
Su Xiao tossed a large bag to Bubu Wang. Bubu Wang carried the bag out of the bedroom, a diversion to make others mistakenly believe that Bubu Wang was taking a large amount of materials to find someone.
The reason Su Xiao didn't want to reveal his ability to concoct potions was that there were quite a few contractors in the Watch Guild faction. Once he showed he could mix potions, any contractor with half a brain would guess he was the Holy Flame Alchemist.
Looking at the materials on the table, they all belonged to the Watch Guild. In other words, even if he made potions, they couldn't be taken out of this world.
Su Xiao planned to concoct a potion with powerful effects but severe side effects. High gains came with huge drawbacks. Of the 160 old Hunters who would go deep into the Dark Prison, it would be lucky if even a dozen returned alive. To increase power, one had to pay a price.
This potion needed to boost Strength, Agility, and Stamina attributes—other aspects weren't important. The 160 old Hunters selected this time all leaned toward these attributes.
Taking out the mixing apparatus from his storage space, Su Xiao first processed the materials. After nearly two hours of work, he began the mixing steps. This time, he needed to make 160 bottles of the potion. He chose to mix them in batches of 10 large portions, so 16 batches would yield 160 bottles.
At 10 PM that night, Su Xiao turned off the lights, making outsiders think he had gone to sleep. In reality, he was mixing potions in the dark. With his current Alchemy level and his physique, a dark environment was nothing.
The next day, at 5 AM, Su Xiao stretched his slightly stiff left arm. After mixing potions all night, he had gained quite a bit. Although his Alchemy level was high, opportunities for large-scale potion mixing like this were rare.
Picking up a bottle of potion from the table, Su Xiao checked its attributes.
[Dark Rose]
Origin: Reincarnation Paradise · Holy Flame Alchemist
Quality: Epic
Type: Permanent Enhancement Potion
Effect: After consumption, permanently increases 5 points of True Strength, 6 points of True Agility, and 5 points of True Stamina.
Note: This potion is effective below 200 True Attributes. Repeated use can be fatal.
Note: Only Dark-attribute Transcendents or ability users can consume this potion. If the attribute does not match, it will result in a permanent -10 points to True Stamina, a permanent loss of 2500–3200 Health Points, and a significant reduction in basic neural reflex speed.
Warning: After consuming this potion, it will heavily drain physical potential and significantly shorten lifespan, etc.
Rating: 619 points (Epic item rating range: 530–700 points)
Description: Bloom in the darkness, bloom with your final splendor.
...
The enhancement from [Dark Rose] was substantial, totaling 16 points of True Attributes. However, as a cost, after drinking it, not only would lifespan decrease, but after 1–2 months, overall combat power would gradually decline.
Storing the 160 bottles of [Dark Rose] into the team storage space, Su Xiao left the bedroom and knocked on the door across the hall.
"Go away~"
A lazy voice came from inside. Su Xiao switched from knocking to pounding.
"It's... five in the morning. If you don't have a good reason, I'll skin you alive, whoever you are."
Lady Xiang, wearing pajamas, opened the door with anger in her eyes.
"There's news from that side. Return in 10 minutes. Need an old Hunter to test a potion."
"Damn it!"
Lady Xiang turned back to wash up. She said "damn it" because she had no one to vent her anger on—her morning grumpiness had no outlet. It could be said that several of the Watch Guild's high-ranking members had some odd temperaments.
Half an hour later, in a room resembling an interrogation chamber, Su Xiao, Lady Xiang, and Librarian Commons sat outside an iron fence. Inside the fence was an old Hunter in a black trench coat.
"Be mentally prepared. Drinking this will shorten your lifespan, and after a month, your strength will regress."
Lady Xiang held a bottle of potion between her fingers and winked her left eye at the old Hunter behind the fence.
The old Hunter behind the fence showed no expression. He took the potion, turned back to close the iron gate, and even pulled out the key, tossing it to Lady Xiang, in case he lost control after drinking the potion.
The black-clad old Hunter didn't hesitate. He pulled out the stopper and downed the potion in one gulp. For the first few seconds, he showed no reaction, but soon his body trembled, and his arms hung limply.
Strands of black gas rose from the old Hunter's body. His flesh seemed to surge. The black gas emanating from him eventually gathered above him, forming a flower bud that slowly bloomed.
With a bang, a wave of energy spread. Petals constructed from black energy scattered and eventually dissipated into the air.
The old Hunter's hunched body straightened. The black lines on his face quickly faded, but some of his black hair had turned white—a sign of aging from life force depletion.
"How do you feel?"
Lady Xiang sighed softly as she saw the new white hairs on the old Hunter's head.
"I... am fine. Never been better. If I could go kill a few Dark Demons, that would be even better."
The old Hunter grabbed the metal railing in front of him with his bare hands. The iron bars twisted and deformed rapidly in his grip, squeezing out like fluid between his fingers.
...
Deep within the Dark Prison.
A large number of dull-colored tree roots were intertwined here. Two figures sat on the mass of roots. One was slightly fat, with clown makeup painted on his face—the Fat Clown who had burned Baha's butt.
Beside him, Soul crouched low. The Ancient God energy within him was released, gradually sinking into the tree roots beneath his feet.
"How much longer? Time is precious, ba ba ba."
The Fat Clown made strange sounds from his mouth. Soul ignored him.
Crack, crack~
A crawling sound came from beneath the roots. A few seconds later, an arm as thick as a bowl emerged from the roots. The claws on this arm were sharp, each nearly 20 centimeters long.
"Guessed right. Dark Demons don't reject divine power."
Soul stood up. He certainly wasn't foolish enough to wait for the enemy to come knocking; he was also making preparations before the final battle.
"Soul, Soul, Soul, Soul, Soul..."
The Fat Clown's speech grew faster and faster, eventually becoming almost manic.
"What is it? Speak."
"Kukulin, Kukulin, has left, the Watch Guild headquarters."
"Oh? That's good news."
Soul raised his hand and traced a circle in front of him. Soon, the image of Adeli appeared within that circle.