Chapter 84: The End of the Road
The basic passive skill [Spirit Toughness] was a very important ability. Not only did it increase soul damage, but it also elevated the rank of soul energy.
On the surface, the soul damage increase was only 3%, but this was at [Spirit Toughness] Lv.1. Once mastered and leveled up, the boost to soul damage intensity would be substantial.
Aside from that, the soul energy rank was also crucial. This concerned whether one could master high-tier soul-type abilities and use high-tier soul equipment, although Su Xiao had never seen the latter.
To master [Soul Severing Shadow], Su Xiao's soul energy rank needed to be above 5. If it wasn't, given the consistent style of Law Destroyer abilities, he would most likely die in the process of mastering [Soul Severing Shadow].
Putting away the [Basic Passive: Spirit Toughness] scroll, Su Xiao estimated that Huishenshi had likely already left this world. Currently, there were too many Mechanisms and Eclipse Organization members in Kodu. With Huishenshi's cautious style of doing things, he would definitely retreat immediately after succeeding.
Su Xiao walked out of the gallery. As soon as he stepped out, he saw Bubu Wang running over. He was running so fast that his tongue was hanging out from exhaustion.
"Boss, what's the situation?"
Baha swooped down and landed on a metal pipe by the street.
"Huishenshi is in this world."
"Damn it!"
Baha's feathers nearly stood on end. Bubu Wang also bared his teeth. When encountering Huishenshi, Baha and Bubu Wang were still a bit intimidated.
"He's already left. The situation is... complicated."
Su Xiao continued walking down the street. After this incident, he had no appetite for breakfast. He would first find the Parasite Mother. Once he returned to Reincarnation Paradise, Xia's delicacies would be his for the choosing.
As noon arrived, under the scorching sun, the streets were nearly empty. The residents of Kodu were hiding in their homes to escape the heat, taking naps or having afternoon tea.
Around three in the afternoon, the sunlight was no longer so harsh, and more pedestrians appeared on the streets. This increased the difficulty of finding the Parasite Mother's host. As for evacuating civilians, that was absolutely out of the question. The Parasite Mother was mixed in among them. The workload of eliminating them one by one was too great, and it would alert the enemy.
Su Xiao sat on the roof of an apartment building, holding an opened coconut in his hand. He had been searching for nearly a day without finding any valuable clues. In a few hours, it would be dark, making the search even harder.
With a bang, a pig-headed man landed behind Su Xiao. It was Butcher Zili.
"Sir, I found it."
Butcher Zili lowered his head slightly. They had finally found it. In the past, the only consideration with the final boss was whether they could defeat it. This time, they simply couldn't find it.
Under the guidance of Butcher Zili and four Mechanism members, Su Xiao arrived at the front of a large cathedral on West Street.
Upon arriving, he found the surrounding area had been completely sealed off by Transcendents. Kingsley was sitting in front of the cathedral, with blood spots on his face. The Black Emperor in his right hand was stained black-red with blood. He had clearly just been through a fierce battle. His subordinates had discovered the Parasite Mother's host, and Kingsley had naturally arrived first, leading his men to besiege it.
Kingsley, sitting on the steps, noticed Su Xiao's arrival but didn't speak. He just shook his head, indicating that the Parasite Mother hadn't been caught.
Su Xiao entered the cathedral with Bubu Wang and Baha. A strong smell of blood hit him. The ground was littered with severed limbs and broken arms. A layer of minced flesh mixed with blood covered the floor, making it slippery and creepy to walk on.
The surrounding stained-glass windows blocked the sunlight, making the interior of the cathedral somewhat dim. As Su Xiao moved forward, Xili, Yingou, and the others also followed, maintaining mutual cover at all times.
Su Xiao stopped in front of the cathedral's statue. Leaning against the base of the statue was an old man. He had white hair and a withered, wrinkled body.
"I'm... not dead yet."
The old man leaning against the statue spoke in a low voice, black blood dripping from his chin.
"Atos Baiken?"
As Su Xiao spoke, he reached his hand towards the hilt of the sword at his waist, his movements unhurried.
"Atos... Baiken? Atos? Ah~, yes, that's... my name."
Atos Baiken lost all signs of life. He was the one who conspired with Tayatu a thousand years ago. But now, he died so simply here, because the Parasite Mother residing within him had abandoned him.
At some point, a tall figure had already stood behind Su Xiao. A strange smile appeared on his pig-like face, and the broken axe in his hand was raised high. It was the pig-headed man, Butcher Zili.
With a hum, the axe blade cut through the air, heading straight for Su Xiao's head.
Clang!
A silver arm blocked the short axe. It was Yingou. His entire body had turned metallic, with some parts turning into silver fluid.
Puff, puff, puff...
Claw shadows flashed. Xili's claw-blades, worn on both hands, disemboweled Butcher Zili, spilling his intestines all over the ground.
"Zili, snap out of it!"
Xili shouted as he delivered a straight kick, breaking Butcher Zili's shinbone with a crack. Just looking at the shattered shinbone was painful.
A few seconds later, Butcher Zili's arm was also severed. His forearm, still gripping the short axe, spun through the air before the axe embedded itself in the wall, the hand on the handle still clenched tightly.
Under the suppression of five Mechanism members, Butcher Zili fell to one knee with a thud. From start to finish, no matter how severe his injuries, he didn't even grunt.
Su Xiao looked down at Butcher Zili. Butcher Zili suddenly raised his head. In his pupils, a faint golden insect shadow could be seen, swimming in a circular pattern.
"Sir..."
Butcher Zili's expression twisted violently. Seeing this, Su Xiao extended his right hand. Xili immediately placed the handle of a short axe into Su Xiao's hand.
Gripping the short axe, Su Xiao swung it down, severing Butcher Zili's head. The large pig head flew through the air.
'Se... cret... room'
After being decapitated, Butcher Zili's eyes regained clarity. He tried his best to form these lip shapes. After all, he had the same look as Second Senior Brother. Su Xiao thought for a long time before guessing that the other party might be saying "secret room." Whether it was accurate was still unclear.
"Baha."
"Got it."
Baha spread its wings. Sensing whether there was a secret room was its specialty.
"Behind the statue."
Baha flew towards the statue and began a violent demolition. Sure enough, there was a secret passage behind the statue.
As the statue was pulled down, a figure inside the secret passage behind it also fell with the statue. It was the Eclipse Organization's second-in-command, Haohuo!
Haohuo was dead. In his lifeless eyes, a faint white ring could be seen. This was a characteristic of being parasitized by the Parasite Mother.
Haohuo's actual cause of death was a strong electric shock to the heart. The battle had taken place inside this secret passage.
Seeing this, Su Xiao lightly kicked Bubu Wang beside him. Caught off guard, Bubu Wang let out a grunt, but immediately understood. He blended into the environment and ran out of the cathedral.
Su Xiao strode into the secret passage ahead. When he reached the innermost secret room, he saw a beautiful woman sitting on her knees, holding a baby in her arms. It was Kingsley's wife, Aifeisha Nan, also known as Lady Nan.
Lady Nan was unconscious, leaning against the wall beside her. Su Xiao stepped forward, grabbed her by the neck, and pressed his thumb under her cheekbone. Lady Nan frowned in pain, took a deep breath, and woke up.
"Shh~"
Su Xiao held his index finger to his lips. Seeing this, Lady Nan was only flustered for a moment before calming down. But her tears wouldn't stop. For a split second, she even hated the child in her arms, her and Kingsley's own flesh and blood. But she only hated for that instant.
"Did Kingsley lose?"
"Yes."
Lady Nan answered, turning her head to the side, her tears still flowing uncontrollably.
"..."
Su Xiao stood up and walked out. Just then, Lady Nan spoke from behind him:
"Take... this."
Tears streaming down her face like pearls, Lady Nan handed over a golden button. Su Xiao took the golden button and walked out of the secret passage.
The current situation was that Kingsley had been parasitized by the Parasite Mother.
PS: (I've even quit smoking, yet I can't seem to shake off this jet lag. This stuff... is it really that addictive? This, this, this~)