Chapter 46: All Preparations Complete
In a spacious room, equipment was scattered everywhere, various array diagrams were carved into the floor, and Douglas was suspended in midair. Before him, a dark blue gemstone floated in the void.
"I've told you many times, I can help you deal with Soul."
Suspended in midair, his entire body bound, Douglas spoke.
"Then thank you very much."
Su Xiao used two fingers to pinch the dark blue gemstone floating in midair. The moment he made contact, he immediately received a notification.
[Notification: The Hunter is coming into contact with this world's Luck Force. Your Luck Attribute is temporarily reduced by 50 points! Upon breaking contact, this debuff effect will be lifted.]
Su Xiao released his fingers, and the dark blue gemstone resumed its floating state. The Luck Attribute reduction effect was dispelled. In that instant just now, he felt an endless sense of crisis surrounding him.
"I was right not to become a Hunter. You Hunters' minds are all abnormal. Who exactly is the villain here? And it seems I understand now why my parents were executed back then."
Douglas's tone was relaxed. With his intelligence, he could naturally judge that Su Xiao was preparing to deal with the Ancient God and Soul. As long as those two died, Douglas didn't care whether he himself lived or died. What he was waiting for now was the result.
Su Xiao wouldn't believe a single word Douglas said. The dark blue gemstone floating before him contained a lingering soul. At this point, all that was needed was to find a Hunter and transplant this dark blue gemstone into their body. That would basically suffice, at least in principle.
After discussions among Su Xiao, Go, Viper, Commons, and Lady Fragrance, they decided to select a newly promoted Hunter for the transplantation. The weaker the strength, the lower the likelihood of conflict with the Luck Force. A newly promoted Hunter could at least protect themselves. If that didn't work, they would have to fall back to the ordinary person level.
Inside the room, a one-eyed man sat before the operating table. His right hand was placed flat on the table, the back of his hand already cut open. No blood flowed from the wound; instead, many transparent threads appeared.
The transplantation began. The elderly scholar in charge wore a single-lens monocle. He first soaked the dark blue gemstone in a solution. After removing it, many transparent tendrils appeared on the gemstone.
He planted the dark blue gemstone into the wound on the back of the one-eyed man's hand. The transparent threads inside the wound connected with the threads spreading from the gemstone, after which the wound was sutured.
"Can you sense his aura? In Hunter terms, don't release your perception, just sense his aura."
The elderly scholar looked at the one-eyed man and pointed to Douglas in midair. The one-eyed man shook his head.
Bang!
Blood mist splattered everywhere. The one-eyed man exploded into a large cloud of blood mist. He couldn't withstand the Luck Force.
Crack, crack, crack~
Ta Bald's fists clenched tightly. His pumpkin helmet drooped down.
"Next."
The elderly scholar's hands trembled. His capacity to accept this was far inferior to the Hunters present.
A burly figure sat before the operating table. He had a full, thick beard, a cigar clamped between his teeth, and placed his hairy right hand on the table.
"Go, are you sure?"
The elderly scholar looked at Go in surprise. The other party was a high-ranking member of the Watch Guild. He wouldn't dare implant the Luck Stone into him.
"Less talk. Don't be fooled by how sturdy I look. That one-eyed guy just now could crush my head with one slap. Pulverize it."
"This..."
"Hurry up. There are two more waiting in line. Besides that senile old man, the three of us are all replaceable. Looking at the current situation, the three of us are temporarily useless."
Hearing Go say this, the elderly scholar could only proceed with the implantation, but his hands trembled uncontrollably.
Five minutes later, Lady Fragrance sat before the operating table. The blood mist from Go's explosion hadn't even dissipated yet.
"I have only one request. Can you stop your hands from shaking? I'm actually quite scared inside."
Lady Fragrance's expression was composed, but as soon as the skin on the back of her hand was cut open, she started crying out in pain. When the implantation was finished, she sat before the table for a long time without moving.
Viper, who was waiting in line behind her, covered his mouth with a handkerchief. He hated the smell of blood. To avoid Lady Fragrance exploding on the spot, he even took a few steps back to prevent blood mist from getting on him.
"I think I can feel it."
Lady Fragrance looked at Douglas. In some intangible way, she sensed Douglas's aura, but that was all. He was like a mass of golden mist.
"Congratulations, you succeeded."
The elderly scholar slumped back in his chair, exhausted. What happened here today, he would never forget.
"Simple enough, right? Am I the World Child now?"
Lady Fragrance's lips curled up. When she saw Viper, who had stepped back to avoid being splattered with blood, she extended her slender, long middle finger. Clearly, she had learned this from watching Baha mock Douglas earlier.
Everything was ready. They were just waiting for the energy vortex at the Dark Prison Gate to disappear. According to news from the Hunters over there, at most eight hours, and the energy vortex would vanish.
Su Xiao glanced at Douglas. This was the key to completing the Plunder the Heavens, Startle the Wilds task. Not yet, at least not until after the decisive battle with the Ancient God.
Returning to the bedroom on the sixth floor, Su Xiao sat cross-legged in meditation, beginning to adjust his state. He needed to be in peak condition to fight that Ancient God. He had sensed earlier that the Ancient God was extremely powerful. He had at most a forty percent chance of victory.
The odds weren't high, but the [Awakening Stone] rewarded by the main mission was something he very much wanted. He had two mastered abilities of the Shadow of Law Destruction that could be awakened using this item. As for which two, that was still unclear.
Early the next morning, Su Xiao's condition had reached its peak. There was less than half an hour until the energy vortex disappeared.
Before the shattered Dark Prison Gate, the passage was filled with old Hunters, totaling 160. These old Hunters wore uniform black trench coats. Some had half-white hair, others completely white. This was the pallor caused by aging, the most obvious sign of drinking the [Dark Rose] potion.
The 160 old Hunters were divided into two teams. Su Xiao led one team. Besides the 80 old Hunters, Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha were also with his team. This was the God-Slaying Team.
The other team was led by Ta Bald. This was the Formation-Breaking Team. Ta Bald and 80 old Hunters would escort Lady Fragrance to the sub-structure of the "Array Realm."
"Use this weapon to destroy the sub-structure of the Array Realm."
Su Xiao tossed a wooden-handled serrated curved blade to Lady Fragrance. The serrated blade wasn't unfolded yet, looking like a slightly curved wooden stick.
This serrated curved blade was called [Dark Execution]. The name [Dark Rose] came from this very blade.
"This is... Adam's weapon?"
Lady Fragrance recognized the origin of [Dark Execution]. Interestingly, Old Hunter Adam was the master of the previous World Child, Alexia. This [Dark Execution] was originally intended by Adam to be passed down to Alexia. Unfortunately, Alexia died because of it, killed by Old Hunter Adam himself.
And now, the artificial World Child, Lady Fragrance, had taken up this weapon, preparing to use it to destroy the sub-structure of the "Array Realm." The heavy weapon, which she originally couldn't even lift, now felt weightless in her hands. It seemed as if two consciousnesses were lifting the weapon, allowing Lady Fragrance to wield this blade that had slain countless Dark Demons.
With a thunderous roar, a loud noise came from within the energy vortex. The vortex dispersed, revealing a pitch-black passage.
"The Heartfire is not extinguished."
Ta Bald raised the spiral sword in his hand. At this moment, no one found his bulky full-body armor and pumpkin helmet ridiculous.
"The Heartfire is not extinguished!"
All the Hunters spoke in unison. Each person's voice wasn't particularly loud, but when combined, it was soul-shaking.
Su Xiao stepped into the pitch-black passage ahead. He felt as if he had passed through a layer of water curtain. Chaotic spatial fluctuations surged toward him.
[Notification: You are about to enter the deepest part of the Dark Prison. This is the most dangerous area of this world.]