Chapter 70: Catalysis
Inside the deepest metal corridor on the first underground floor of the Organization Headquarters, the walls and ceiling were made of iron-black metal structures. At this moment, within this corridor, the four members of the Fierce Dog Squad faced the darkest day of their lives.
Since becoming Transcendents, these four had never been as humiliated as they were today. They had been dealt with by Kingsley before, but given Kingsley's status, position, and strength, that wasn't shameful. The key point was that this time, the four members of the Fierce Dog Squad, in front of their own Legion Commander, were completely wiped out within just three minutes.
Two of the Fierce Dog Squad members were embedded in the side wall—one with his upper body stuck in, legs dangling naturally, the other in a full split position, a pose of extremely high difficulty. Silver Dog had his head jammed into the ceiling, as if hanging himself, with his right leg occasionally twitching. Skinny Monkey·Xili stood upside down in the corner, his skull pressed against the ground. He didn't want to be like this, but he was stuck here, only his eyes able to move.
"Commander, sorry."
Xili struggled to speak. He tried to open his mouth wide, but his teeth seemed to generate suction force, clacking together with a *crack* as his upper and lower teeth slammed shut, even biting his tongue. He nearly ascended to heaven on the spot.
Kingsley stood at the entrance of the corridor, his hands wearing black gloves, a dark golden eyeball floating beside him—an S-class dangerous object.
*Snap~*
Kingsley snapped his fingers. Xili, Silver Dog, and the other two all detached from the wall, sticking to each other. Amidst muffled groans and strange cries, they clumped together into a ball, almost forming a sphere. The worst off was Silver Dog, as half of Xili's foot accidentally shoved into his mouth, causing Silver Dog to roll his eyes back.
Kingsley stepped forward and stopped at the middle of the corridor. Su Xiao was blocking the innermost part.
"Bai Ye, the Type III reagent in your body is at its peak effect. Why bother blocking here?"
Kingsley's eyes hid a murderous intent. Last night, Su Xiao had taken people to kidnap his wife. Not showing killing intent now would inevitably arouse suspicion.
Threads of blood energy drifted from Su Xiao's body, his aura skyrocketing at an alarming rate. Seeing this, Kingsley frowned.
"This madman."
A grandfather clock appeared beside Kingsley, crashing down with a *bang*. This clock only had an hour hand, which rapidly reversed and stopped at 12 o'clock.
"..."
Su Xiao's hand pressed on the sword hilt at his waist. Just then, layers of ripples appeared around him. The sensation was strange—though he could break free, he chose not to.
*Click, click~*
The minute hand of the grandfather clock twitched bit by bit, each tiny advance representing one second.
Su Xiao vanished from his spot, leaving only a blood energy afterimage. Seeing this, Kingsley continued forward.
A few minutes later, Kingsley stepped out of the elevator at the innermost part of the corridor, his pace calm. The typewriter-like dangerous object S-001 (World's Listening) floated behind him.
As Kingsley passed the four clumped-up Fierce Dog Squad members, without any visible movement from him, the clump floated up and was taken away along with S-001.
After Kingsley retrieved the grandfather clock-like dangerous object and left, more than ten seconds passed. Su Xiao's blood energy afterimage dissipated, and he himself appeared out of thin air. Moments ago, he had arrived at an alternate space filled with gears.
Su Xiao surveyed the corridor. The Fierce Dog Squad members were nowhere to be seen. Just then, Bubu Wang, who had been blending into the environment, revealed himself.
"Woof."
Bubu Wang barked.
"Taken away by Kingsley?"
Su Xiao was puzzled for a moment before understanding what had happened. Kingsley was unexpectedly "stingy."
The Fierce Dog Squad suddenly returning to headquarters was an absolutely unacceptable situation. From any angle, this was insubordination. Not only had Xili come back himself, but the other three had also returned.
The four members of the Fierce Dog Squad rarely gathered together. They had extensive independent combat experience and adaptability. Even if Xili wanted to return, the other three would have stopped him.
These four disregarded their garrison orders and suddenly returned for only one reason: they had been subtly influenced by the "Submission" effect of S-003 (Black Emperor). In their perception at that time, the garrison order was weakened, and the safety of headquarters seemed more important, so they came back.
Why did Kingsley do this? The reason was simple: he wanted to take the Fierce Dog Squad away. Don't forget, last night, Kingsley's wife had handed over "N715-Count" and "J615-Queen."
Kingsley had learned of this through his own means. Even for him, it was heart-wrenching. "N715-Count" and "J615-Queen" were precious, not belonging to the Eclipse Organization but to Kingsley's personal possessions. If Kingsley himself used them, they would be even more powerful, but he couldn't bear to and instead gave them to his wife as a last line of defense.
Thus, Kingsley resorted to this desperate measure: kidnapping the four members of the Fierce Dog Squad. His meaning was clear: he could give up "N715-Count," but "J615-Queen" must be returned.
Su Xiao didn't mind this. Getting "N715-Count" for free was already an unexpected gain.
After waiting in the corridor for a few minutes, the external battle gradually subsided. Su Xiao walked out of the corridor.
As soon as he exited, he saw Goya, her face covered in tears, looking as if her soul had been lost. Seeing this, he understood what had happened—this was Kingsley's "bonus gift."
"Goya, who died this time?"
Su Xiao looked at Goya, who had even snot running down her face, and had a rough idea of the situation.
"No, no one. Sniff~ The headquarters was attacked, sniff~ I'm very sad."
Goya sobbed in fits, crying even more sadly than when Kingsley had faked his death.
Su Xiao confirmed that Goya had just encountered Kingsley and had suffered a mental blow from her idol. Without needing to say anything else, Kingsley only needed to say, "Who are you?" to make Goya feel thunderstruck.
Why did Kingsley do this? The reason was simple: Kingsley cared about his subordinates. Goya's situation was extremely awkward. Once Su Xiao and Kingsley became hostile again, the first person Su Xiao would deal with would definitely be Goya.
During their cooperation, having Goya, a hardworking spy, in the Organization Headquarters was fine—she could even be used as a laborer. But if they became hostile again, he would immediately eliminate Goya.
Now that Kingsley had played the good cop, Su Xiao didn't mind playing the bad cop. Goya's infiltration and stealth abilities were strong.
"You've worked hard. I'll promote you later."
As soon as Su Xiao finished speaking, Goya burst into tears with a *waa* sound.
"Lord Legion Commander!"
Goya ran over crying. Su Xiao leaned back slightly, worried that her snot might get on him.
Goya came in for a hug. Seeing this, Su Xiao grabbed the scruff of Bubu Wang's neck beside his leg and shoved the dog forward as a shield.
"Woof aw woof! (Don't touch me!)"
In Bubu Wang's terrified little eyes, Goya hugged him, burying her face in his fur and crying. A glistening, sticky liquid *plopped* onto the bridge of Bubu Wang's nose. The dog's body trembled.
Bubu Wang looked cross-eyed at the suspicious semi-fluid on his nose bridge. This was composed of water (over 98%) + mucosal cells + protein + lysozyme + immunoglobulin A + inorganic salts, commonly known as... snot.
"Woof!!!"
Bubu Wang shook his head wildly, while Goya clung to his neck and cried. The scene was inexplicably funny.
To put it simply, Goya was like a freebie thrown in with a phone plan.
Su Xiao watched Goya. Though this girl seemed to be crying her heart out, she was actually full of inner thoughts. This intelligence agent, once trusted by Kingsley, had likely already realized the awkward position she was in.
This wasn't Su Xiao's guess. Last time, when Goya cried so miserably in front of Kingsley's portrait, she was testing how the Organization viewed her and whether they would dispose of her soon.
A naive girl would never be sent to infiltrate the Organization Headquarters and steal intelligence. Impossible. Kingsley was no fool, and Goya, once trusted by him, couldn't be simple. Without a doubt, she was a girl with a pure exterior but a dark heart—pink on the outside, black on the inside.
As Goya cried, she sensed Su Xiao looking down at her. She pretended not to notice, hugging Bubu Wang's neck and burying her face in his fur to suck up snot. Bubu looked disgusted.
Su Xiao pondered for a moment and decided on something. No matter what, Goya was an unstable factor. If his relationship with Kingsley wasn't fluctuating between friend and foe, he would have dealt with this intelligence agent long ago.
The little clever one on the protagonist's side, Nainini, was severely injured in the Western Continent, with most of her internal organs damaged. She was currently recovering in a research institute of the Eclipse Organization, soaking in a glass column. Undoubtedly, this was a good opportunity.
In the Western Continent, the World Child of this world had died. This was Kingsley's choice under duress; otherwise, his subordinates from Ring 1 to Ring 15 would all have died in the Western Continent.
When the World Child died, the white-haired boy and Aichi, who were pseudo-World Children, were nearby. Part of the luck force originally on the true World Child was transferred to the white-haired boy and Aichi.
The white-haired boy and Aichi were nurturing the Blood of Fate, but it was too slow. Su Xiao might leave this world before the Blood of Fate was nurtured to his desired level. Thus, he needed to find a way to catalyze it.
For example, causing conflict between the white-haired boy and Aichi, leading to a decisive battle. But one thing was crucial: neither could die easily. Only as long as they lived would the luck force persist.
When the two clashed, their respective luck forces would inevitably "collide." The changes in luck force would highly activate the Blood of Fate within them, even causing it to transform. When their battle reached its peak, the Blood of Fate would be activated to an unimaginable degree. At that moment, extracting the Blood of Fate from both and merging them would yield Blood of Fate with a decent chance of surpassing its original limits.
If successful, the resulting Blood of Fate would be unprecedented. But the key was: how to make the white-haired boy and Aichi fight to the death? And before their battle reached its peak, neither could die; otherwise, the Blood of Fate in the dead one would be wasted. They didn't need to kill each other, but they had to fight to the absolute peak, and at that instant, extract the Blood of Fate.
Thinking of this, Su Xiao had an idea. Now that he was cooperating with Kingsley, directly dealing with Goya wasn't the best choice. Keeping her at headquarters was also inappropriate.
Thus, sending Goya out to "coincidentally" join the protagonist's team was a very good option. With Goya's dark-hearted nature, what would happen between the white-haired boy and Aichi?
Su Xiao crouched down, placed one hand on Goya's head, and wore a kind smile. "Goya, as my most trusted subordinate, can you do something for me?"
Goya sniffled. Just as she was about to respond in her usual manner, she felt as if a massive blood beast had appeared behind Su Xiao, grinning down at her. Blood energy drifted from the gaps between the blood beast's fangs. Goya's body began to stiffen.
"I have high hopes for you, Goya. You won't disappoint me, will you?"
Su Xiao's hand on Goya's head gradually tightened, his grip growing stronger.
At that moment, Goya knew very clearly that if she said one wrong word now, her little head would be crushed like a watermelon. The person before her wouldn't hesitate—not even if she had a beautiful face and tearful eyes, looking pitiful. Goya knew that this man would kill her without hesitation. Absolutely.
"Mm!"
Goya answered with great effort.
Hearing this, Su Xiao leaned close to Goya's ear and spoke softly:
"As expected of my most trusted subordinate. I have high hopes for you. Don't, ever, disappoint me."
After saying this, Su Xiao stood up and walked toward the stairs.
As soon as Su Xiao left, Goya collapsed to her knees with a *thud*. She gasped as if suffocating, her back soaked through with sweat. Only when the blood energy gradually dissipated from her did she feel she could breathe fresh air again.
Goya turned her head to look at the stairwell where Su Xiao had disappeared. Her numb body slowly recovered. She struggled to stand, finding her hands trembling uncontrollably. She lowered her head, her hair falling to cover her face, and murmured:
"So this is... the Legion Commander of the Organization. No wonder he can... restrain these monsters of the Organization."