Chapter 74: The White King
Su Xiao temporarily set aside the Apocalypse sisters. As for Lilim, that demon ally was quite confused—let her remain confused for now. The demon clan's motives this time were intriguing. Logically, the Demon Prince should have been the one participating in the battle, yet they sent Lilim instead.
This was clearly the old-timers of the demon clan stirring up trouble. The specific situation was hard to judge for now.
There was no need to interfere with Water Brother either. Going to the desert to fight him now would be asking for trouble. The desert had no water, yet it was one of Water Brother's home fields.
From this perspective, the most threatening opponents left were Zuiyasi and Wude. Each represented a faction: the Mind Beast and the Abandoned One.
Su Xiao checked his current reputation—it had reached 3.38 million points. Seeing over three million reputation, he knew the plan could be wrapped up. After all this effort, the fruits of victory were right before him, only waiting for the final moment.
*Thump, thump, thump.*
A knock came at the door. Su Xiao looked puzzled. At this hour, no follower should be disturbing him.
The door opened, and a follower wearing a head bucket stood outside. He was carrying someone on his back—a person in tattered robes. The robes were originally of poor quality, now rough and stiff from wind and rain. Cloth strips were wrapped around his head, the bloodstains on them already blackened. The originally white cotton strips had frayed, covered in dust.
What was more unusual was the cylindrical iron basket on his back. This iron basket was almost as tall as his body, filled with pitch-black rocks, extremely heavy.
Aside from these, the exposed right hand of this person was also unusual. His hand was large, twice the size of a normal person's. His fingers and palm were so thin they were skin and bone, making his fingers appear even longer. The skin on his hand was rough, grayish-black from near-death.
This was a member of the Trace King Hall, a dying Trace Seeker, sent to Su Xiao after being discovered by Sun followers.
The Trace Seeker being carried by the follower moved his fingers slightly. In a very low voice, he said, "Rosa... we... found it... Dark Blood... must stop... the White King... and... the Knight."
The Trace Seeker's voice was very low. The follower carrying him paid no attention—these Trace Seekers were always muttering nonsense, seeking the Trace King's trail through self-atonement.
"Mr. White Night, I found this Trace Seeker while handling a commission last night. He could still talk to me then. His condition worsened this morning. I hope..."
Su Xiao waved his hand, signaling the man to place the person on the operating table. He removed the cylindrical iron basket from the Trace Seeker's back and laid him flat on the table.
Su Xiao noticed that the Trace Seeker was taller than expected—at least two and a half meters. It was just that his hunched back made him look like he was carrying a turtle shell or iron pot, giving an uncomfortable appearance.
Su Xiao snapped his fingers twice in front of the Trace Seeker's eyes. Finding no pupil reaction, he saw that dust had already merged into his eyeballs.
Checking the heartbeat—about one beat every two minutes. Mixed within the blood in his body were black particles. These black particles in the blood were absolute black, black enough to extinguish light.
This Trace Seeker was doomed. At least with Su Xiao's current alchemy level, he couldn't save him.
"Mr. White Night, he..."
"He's done for. Normally, he should have died decades ago, not today."
Su Xiao picked up a crystal needle. Water droplets continuously dripped down the needle. He held the crystal needle above the Trace Seeker's eye. As clear water dripped into his eye, the dust on his eyeball was quickly washed away, a stream of muddy water trickling down the corner of his eye.
After a moment, both of the Trace Seeker's eyes were cleaned. His sclera was gray, his pupils cloudy.
Suddenly, the Trace Seeker blinked. His cloudy pupils turned black and contracted to pinprick size, then, like a drop of ink entering water, they quickly diluted and spread.
*Dudududu~*
The Trace Seeker's body began to tremble on the operating table. His originally stiff face filled with terror, his withered teeth clenched tightly.
"Ah!!"
The Trace Seeker roared, rolling off the operating table. With a *thud*, he landed on the ground, then crawled on all fours to his iron basket, pulling out a grime-covered iron pickaxe.
The Trace Seeker stood up, his hunched body leaning back. Raising the pickaxe high with both hands, in a stiff and clumsy posture, he swung it at Su Xiao.
*Bang!*
The pickaxe dug into the ground in front of Su Xiao's foot. Su Xiao was puzzled, not understanding why the Trace Seeker was acting this way. Given the situation, observing first seemed the better choice—perhaps he could gain some information.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
The Trace Seeker staggered forward, trying to give Su Xiao a pickaxe to the head, to crack open his skull. This Trace Seeker had done his best—he could barely walk, let alone harm Su Xiao.
After four swings, the Trace Seeker was too exhausted to hold the pickaxe. The wooden-handled tool clattered to the ground. With his last strength, he charged at Su Xiao, then collapsed with a *thud* in front of him, blood spraying from his mouth in a forward arc.
"White King... you... cannot... kill... the Trace King... I saw... your... future."
The Trace Seeker's outstretched hand fell limp. Despite Su Xiao's deductive abilities being well-honed over time, the clues before him were too confusing.
Su Xiao guessed that the "White King" the Trace Seeker mentioned might refer to himself? He had never thought of becoming a king, though he occasionally acquired titles like Iron Hand, Spirit Hunter, or Mechanism Legion Commander.
As for the Trace Seeker's claim about not killing the Trace King, Su Xiao was even more puzzled. He still hadn't fully understood what the Trace King was.
Regarding the Trace Seeker's final words about foreseeing the future, Su Xiao wouldn't fully believe that. In the previous world, the dangerous object S-001 (World Listener) had taught him that the future had infinite possibilities, countless timelines. Foreseeing one future line really meant nothing—it wasn't necessarily what would happen.
A few minutes later, the Trace Seeker's body was taken away. This incident didn't attract much attention. Everyone knew the Trace Seekers were eccentric. In their quest to find the Trace King, their minds and souls had become twisted.
The afternoon consultations began. Su Xiao had just treated two followers when he saw Baha's message in the team channel. The intelligence came from Kaisa's side, confirmed multiple times, and was very accurate.
The intelligence read: Tonight, Blazing Sun Lord, Wude, and Zuiyasi will meet in "Holy Dawn City." The specific location is within the royal palace. The discussion content is to use resource sharing as a bargaining chip for a temporary truce among the three parties.
Simply put, the three sides had been in constant chaos, fighting until heads were nearly beaten into dog heads. Blazing Sun Lord could barely hold the situation together, so he planned to use Soul Stones to temporarily stabilize Wude and Zuiyasi, then rely on the potions provided by Su Xiao to rapidly strengthen his forces.
The words "Soul Stone" attracted Wude from the Void and Zuiyasi from Doom Star. Both had the same view—not because of the Soul Stones, but because they too loved peace.
Under normal circumstances, Blazing Sun Lord's approach was fine: first stabilize two powerful enemies causing him heavy losses, throw out a big piece of fat for them to fight over, and use the opportunity to develop quickly with Su Xiao's potions.
Unfortunately, Blazing Sun Lord didn't know that neither Su Xiao, Zuiyasi, nor Wude would stay in this world for long. There was no such thing as long-term development.
If it were Su Xiao, he would definitely agree. Why not? Free Soul Crystals for the taking. Moreover, for Zuiyasi and Wude, this was also an opportunity.
Both Zuiyasi and Wude agreed to participate in this palace feast. They wanted a quick resolution, and also because Su Xiao had been "idling."
In Zuiyasi and Wude's view, if Su Xiao caused trouble, he was still a good teammate. But if he found a place to "idle," friendship was instantly over. The reason was that once Su Xiao started "idling," Zuiyasi and Wude would think he was cooking up something big.
It was easy to imagine tonight's palace feast—no, this was a gluttonous feast. Thinking of this, a smile appeared on Su Xiao's face. Across from him, a young boy receiving treatment, restrained by three strong men, leaned back in fear. He was terrified because he saw the Holy Flame Alchemist smiling. The boy was extremely frightened at that moment.
At 7 PM that evening, the consultations ended. Su Xiao's current reputation had reached 3,555,780 points. There was no chance to gain more reputation. Tonight's palace feast was the decisive moment.
To that end, at 2 PM that afternoon, Su Xiao recalled the nine followers and one deacon who had been chasing the Apocalypse sisters, paying them 20 Sun Stones as the final installment.
The nine followers and the deacon only accepted half the final payment. They had caught Yueshitu a few times but never once caught Molei.
Su Xiao knew this was due to some ability of Molei's. The coordinate he had set on the back of her neck had been mostly removed. Now he could only locate her general direction.
The reason Su Xiao stopped having people chase the Apocalypse sisters was that he needed Molei's escape ability.
To that end, in the afternoon, Su Xiao had Baha contact Blazing Sun Lord's side, asking them to not only contact Zuiyasi and Wude but also Water Brother and the Apocalypse sisters. Water Brother wasn't hard to find. For the Apocalypse sisters, Su Xiao could provide a general location. As long as Yueshitu could be found, the message could be delivered.
Blazing Sun Lord didn't refuse—this was also what he wanted.
Water Brother agreed without much hesitation. As a ranger of Death Paradise, he keenly sensed that tonight's palace feast would be a decisive battle + carnival + chaotic melee.
Su Xiao had long anticipated Water Brother's attitude. What truly surprised him was that the Apocalypse sisters also agreed to participate in tonight's palace feast after receiving the invitation. It could only be said that having money power gave them confidence.
For Su Xiao, this was good news. In his plan, the palace feast was just the beginning of the carnival. At midnight, he would start enjoying the "big meal."
That matter required a scapegoat. Now, Su Xiao had found the scapegoat—the scapegoat sisters.