Chapter 24: The Most Scam Adventuring Group
Once upon a time, the Soul Lord and five others served as the 'gatekeeper bosses' within the Soul Arena. That good life continued until a challenger with a Soul Strength of up to 590 points came knocking.
After that, the Soul Lord, Thorn Maiden, Wraith Shadow Hunter, and the others were nearly beaten into a state of self-isolation. Fortunately, the Soul Arena had a rule: each person could only enter that particular Soul Arena once.
Under this premise, the six, including the Soul Lord, after doing their own psychological work, decided to let this matter go. From then on, no one would mention it; let it blow away with the wind.
But alas, a leaky house gets more rain, and a thin rope breaks at its weakest point. The six, including the Soul Lord, couldn't leave the Soul Arena for the sake of 'eternal life,' but they actually had a way. For example, they could enter other abandoned Soul Arenas from their main residence.
In this way, they could have stable, repeated contact with the outside world, for trading or other forms of cooperation.
Resolving someone's soul body within an abandoned Soul Arena was not something the Soul Lord and the others were doing for the first time. Otherwise, when Su Xiao robbed the Soul Lord last time, he wouldn't have been so wealthy, with the Eternal Spring's source and various treasures.
Obviously, this time, the Soul Lord and his five companions were hired to eliminate Su Xiao. The Soul Lord was initially quite pleased with this commission, thinking that after what happened last time, he could finally have a change of pace.
At this moment, the six, including the Soul Lord, were glaring at Kain. After all, Kain's commission this time was extremely dangerous, even though they had cooperated with Kain before.
Kain immediately sensed something was wrong. The six, including the Soul Lord, looked ready to flee the moment they appeared, clearly showing their apprehension.
"Retreat..."
Before Kain could finish his words, he felt an impact rushing toward him.
Boom!
An invisible shockwave spread outward from Su Xiao as the center. This ability was called [Repulse]. It wasn't Su Xiao's own ability; rather, it was an ability granted to the challenger by the Soul Arena.
Back in the Soul Arena of the Treeborn World, Su Xiao had chosen two abilities: [Repulse] and [Soul Crystal Spear].
The abandoned Soul Arena he had entered this time couldn't grant both abilities again. It only granted the [Repulse] ability. For Su Xiao, that was enough.
The shockwave spread from Su Xiao as the center point, crashing into the surrounding ruins. The Soul Devouring Ghosts that surrounded the place melted like snow under the blazing sun, wailing as they dissolved in the impact.
In an instant, with Su Xiao at the center, a large area around him was leveled. Broken fragments of building debris floated in mid-air. These weren't physical entities but part of this abandoned Soul Arena.
Why this place was abandoned, Su Xiao didn't know. He didn't even care how he was dragged in. What he needed to do now was eliminate all enemies within sight.
Although Su Xiao wasn't granted the [Soul Crystal Spear] ability, he had temporarily mastered it in another Soul Arena. Moreover, he had previously obtained [Skill Book: Soul Crystal Spear (Can be consumed to immediately master this ability, or studied by oneself)].
He had studied this skill book a few times. Although he hadn't fully mastered it, he could construct a Soul Crystal Spear within the Soul Arena.
Crack, crack, crack~
A 1.3-meter-long Soul Crystal Spear appeared in Su Xiao's hand. It was more accurate to call it a crystal spike rather than a spear.
Su Xiao's gaze locked onto a figure a hundred meters away, half-crouching on the rubble. The figure was wearing a wizard's robe, likely a core member of the Hall of Heroes.
The cooldown for the [Repulse] ability was originally 3 seconds. However, because this Soul Arena was abandoned, the granted abilities weren't comprehensive, increasing the cooldown to 5 seconds.
Su Xiao released the Soul Crystal Spear in his hand, his gaze fixed on the core member of the Hall of Heroes a hundred meters away, the Black Wizard.
Just as everyone around thought Su Xiao was going to use the Soul Crystal Spear to shoot the Black Wizard, Su Xiao manipulated the Soul Crystal Spear, twisting it into a spiral spear like a twisted rope.
As the Soul Crystal Spear twisted, a pulling force spread to the surroundings. The spirit bodies of Kain, Silver Pheasant, Black Wizard, and others were all drawn toward Su Xiao. As for the six, including the Soul Lord, they had already slipped away when they were blown away by the [Repulse] earlier.
But one thing had to be said: although the Soul Lord was almost terrified of Su Xiao, he didn't directly attack his employer, Kain. Before fleeing, he did his best to cut off Kain's connection to this Soul Arena.
Kain and the others were drawn toward Su Xiao in an irresistible manner. However, these forty-plus contractors weren't cowards. They used the suction force to launch a coordinated attack on Su Xiao.
Boom!!
The shockwave spread. The spirit bodies around Su Xiao shattered violently. Kain was the same; his spirit body rapidly broke apart. His eyes, filled with unwillingness, glared at Su Xiao until he completely turned into particles.
With a click, as if some mechanism had been triggered, a sound reached Su Xiao's ears. A repelling force struck him.
On the second floor of the wooden building, Su Xiao's eyes opened. He had always found the Hall of Heroes team strange.
In fact, it wasn't just Su Xiao who felt this way. As Yueshitu had metaphorically put it, the Hall of Heroes felt like a medieval knight in full heavy armor doing a cringe-worthy cement gray dance.
Meanwhile, in Platinum Capital, District 15, a dim underground warehouse.
Dozens of ghostly figures were present. Their eyes opened simultaneously. Over ninety percent of the ghosts were in agony, clutching their throats with both hands, tilting their heads back and wailing.
Bang, bang, bang...
One by one, the ghosts exploded, their spiritual energy scattering into the air. This meant these contractors were completely dead.
When the soul explosion subsided, only three of the original forty-plus ghosts survived. Their survival was thanks to the Soul Lord, who had partially severed their connection to the Soul Arena at a critical moment.
The three survivors were Kain, Silver Pheasant, and Xiao Di. Although Kain wasn't completely dead, the black cracks on his face were denser. Silver Pheasant had fully taken on the appearance of a female ghost, while Xiao Di was completely translucent.
When Kain recovered from the pain of soul splitting, he pondered with a grim expression, analyzing the reasons for this failure and whether there was still a chance to turn things around.
"We've failed again, but we haven't completely perished. In your opinion, do we still have hope of turning defeat into victory?"
Kain's expression wasn't as grim. Hearing this, Silver Pheasant and Xiao Di felt a chill in their hearts, their eyes filled with fear. They had gone from over 190 people to just over 40 ghosts, and now only three ghosts remained. Yet their leader was still ready to fight to the death with the enemy.
"Captain, maybe... we should just let it go."
Xiao Di said, stepping back, afraid of angering his captain and being crushed to death.
Hearing this, Silver Pheasant felt a sense of foreboding. Knowing Kain, he wouldn't give up.
"We came here with over 190 people, and now only the three of us are left. Logically, we shouldn't give up, but... a wise man knows when to retreat. Let's call it quits for now. The three of us will go to the Empire's New Star City. It's safer there. We'll hide there and survive this world progression. Even if we're in ghost form, we still have a chance when we return to Death Paradise."
Kain smiled and sighed. What the other two didn't notice was that under his robe, his soul body was rapidly developing cracks, becoming denser by the second.
Kain couldn't hold on much longer. Even though he had partially severed his soul connection to the Soul Arena, Su Xiao's final [Repulse] had paid special attention to him.
Kain estimated that if he did nothing, he would explode and completely perish within ten seconds, just like the other members.
The lights in the abandoned warehouse flickered. Silver Pheasant and Xiao Di both breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Kain's words. They were terrified that Kain would continue to fight Su Xiao to the death. The previous confrontation had left them feeling somewhat traumatized.
"The invasion of the Nether Forces isn't far off. Before that, we need to get to New Star City."
Kain spoke as he moved forward. He seemed a bit weak, walking slowly. Before he had taken two steps, Silver Pheasant, floating beside him, caught up.
"Xiao Di, what's wrong?"
Kain looked at Xiao Di. Silver Pheasant instinctively stopped and also looked at Xiao Di, turning her back slightly to Kain.
At that moment, Kain's mouth opened wide. His mouth, full of sharp teeth, split all the way to the back of his ears.
Pfft~
Silver Pheasant's headless body trembled for a moment, then stopped moving. Kain swallowed Silver Pheasant in a few bites.
"Hoo~"
A wisp of soul mist was exhaled from Kain's mouth. The cracks on his body quickly healed. Opposite him, Xiao Di's eyes were wide open, filled with terror as he watched this scene.
"Xiao Di, in normal times, as your captain, how have I treated you?"
Kain smiled at Xiao Di. But because the corners of his mouth were split to his ears, his appearance was especially terrifying.
"C-c-c-captain, I-I-I..."
Xiao Di was trembling like a sieve, tears streaming down his face uncontrollably. His idolized captain had finally revealed his ferocious and true side.
"Since I've treated you well in normal times, use your body to thank me."
Kain uttered an especially terrible line. The next second, his mouth full of sharp teeth opened wide, and he pounced on Xiao Di.
A moment later, Kain, with all the cracks on his face healed, pushed open the warehouse door and walked out. He seemed to mutter to himself, "Time to recruit a new batch of members again."
...
Inside the two-story wooden building beside the base camp.
Su Xiao closed the data on the Mother Nest. In a few hours, it would be the seventh day since entering this world. Although the Mother Nest's development was on track, it still needed time.
First was the production of Life Ore. After pacifying all the forces in the south, the allied side had occupied numerous medium and large mines. However, the main source of Life Ore production remained the four super-large mines and the Source Mine beneath the Mother Nest.
Currently, the allied side's daily Life Ore production was 980,000 units, equivalent to 9.8 million points of Bio-Energy per day.
Converted into the number of [Brutal Turrets], this meant 49 could be developed daily. There was still a gap from the planned 200.
Not only the Brutal Turrets, but the combat upgrade of 100,000 Demon Beasts also required 40 million points of Bio-Energy. The subsequent development of Plasma Defense Towers would also be a significant expense.
Although the allied side's daily Bio-Energy income had reached 9.8 million points, if the pressure from the Nether Invasion suddenly increased, the Bio-Energy output would rely solely on the Source Mine beneath the base camp, dropping to 5.1 million points per day.
A gap of tens of millions of Bio-Energy points needed to be filled. The only entities that could provide this much Life Ore were the Company and the Empire.
As Su Xiao thought this, Bubu Wang, lying on a blanket beside him, suddenly got up. He sniffed the air, tilted his head suspiciously, looking very confused.
"..."
Su Xiao looked at Bubu Wang. Bubu let out a low whine, sounding frustrated, as if he had sensed something but couldn't pinpoint it.
"Baha."
"Got it, I'll go check the perimeter."
Baha flew out the window, circled the base camp, and found nothing unusual. He flew back in through the window.
"Boss, nothing unusual. At least no one is sneaking in through alternate space."
"Woof!"
Bubu Wang barked, meaning he had sensed something but just couldn't catch it.
As the scout of the team, Bubu Wang's alert couldn't be ignored.
Su Xiao estimated that an enemy he couldn't see or sense had infiltrated. It was possible that the enemy's ability was similar to Bubu Wang's.
What to do in this situation? The answer was simple: crowd them out, squeeze them to death.
Su Xiao ordered Jila to recall 400,000 Worker Scorpions and 100,000 Demon Beasts. The Worker Scorpions would fill every corner of the Mother Nest, packing it completely. The remaining Worker Scorpions and Demon Beasts would occupy the open spaces in the center of the base camp. Between the [Ground Nests], Worker Scorpions and Demon Beasts would be packed tightly. Above, jellyfish and hosts skilled in perception would float, and higher up, Solar Flame Dragons would circle and spray fire around the fungal carpet area, careful not to burn the carpet, creating a flame barrier around the base camp.
In this way, the entire base camp became a massive sealed room. If there was indeed an infiltrator, they could only jump onto the tops of the [Ground Nests] or climb to the mid-level areas of structures like Perception Towers.
This comprehensive response was because Bubu Wang's ability was of this type. Su Xiao naturally knew how to make it difficult for an enemy with a similar ability to move.
At this moment, on a [Ground Nest] over 200 meters from the Mother Nest, Yueshitu and Hao Mei were crouching. They exchanged glances, both confused. Everything had been fine a moment ago, but suddenly, a large number of insectoids surged out, crowding the fungal carpet, leaving no foothold. Above, jellyfish the size of washbasins floated, making it impossible for them to stand up.
"What do we do?"
Yueshitu, in a state of [Existence Concealment], spoke. She and Hao Mei had used a prop to enter this state. During this time, she wasn't worried about being discovered by the enemy, of course.
"Follow me closely."
Hao Mei crouched and leaped forward, landing between two [Ground Nests]. Seeing this, Yueshitu crawled over Hao Mei.
The two used each other as human ladders, gradually approaching the wooden building. They already knew that Molei was imprisoned there.
A few minutes later, Yueshitu and Hao Mei simultaneously leaped lightly, grabbing onto the outer wall of the wooden building. They climbed in through a window to the second floor, pressed against the wall, and slowly moved toward the stairs.
After a heart-pounding journey, Yueshitu and Hao Mei finally reached the stairs. They tiptoed down to the first floor, to the innermost room, which had a locked door.
Hao Mei made a gesture, indicating this was the place. She touched her pendant, silently deploying a barrier that only covered this room.
She easily unlocked the door. Hao Mei took a deep breath, imagining that when she pushed open the door, she would see Molei hanging upside down, beaten half to death. Her emotions were especially unsettled.
"I'm here to save you, Molei..."
Hao Mei pushed open the door. Then, she froze.
Their eyes met. Molei, wearing soft pajamas and sitting on the bed reading a children's frog comic book, quickly hid the comic behind her back.
Molei looked as if she had seen a ghost. She ran her fingers through her pink hair, holding onto a last shred of hope, and asked, "You two... are you here to rescue me?"
Molei was terrified of this happening. This wasn't the first time she had been caught by Su Xiao. She knew clearly that the 20,000 Soul Coins Su Xiao had taken earlier were just the appetizer. He wouldn't let her go until he had squeezed her dry.
So Molei urgently needed someone to come and bail her out. Compared to being rescued, that was what she needed more. Besides, Molei had analyzed the situation and found that the Sun Nest was actually one of the three safest places in this world.
"Shh."
Molei made a shushing gesture. She didn't want Yueshitu and Hao Mei to be caught, or else the whole family would be together.
Molei openly walked into the wooden corridor, signaling Yueshitu and Hao Mei to follow her. She exited the corridor and pushed open the front door of the wooden building.
The dozen or so Demon Beasts outside looked at Molei. Determining there was no abnormality, they ignored her.
Molei signaled Yueshitu and Hao Mei to take the chance to escape quickly. But at that moment, she heard consecutive thuds behind her. Then, her head spun, and her legs gave way, causing her to collapse.
In a daze, Molei felt someone lift her up. After a short distance, she was thrown down again.
The next morning, the first rays of the sun rose.
Yueshitu's brow twitched. She opened her eyes, dazedly sat up, and tried to raise her hand. She felt a tug on her arm, realizing her arm was handcuffed, and the chain wasn't long enough to lift it.
Yueshitu looked to the side. First, she saw Hao Mei hanging upside down, and beside her, Molei. Compared to her two teammates, she had the best treatment. The main reason was that Yueshitu's close-combat ability was so weak that even Bubu Wang could defeat her.
Hao Mei and Molei woke up one after another. The three exchanged glances, all feeling embarrassed.
"Damn it, you two came to feed the enemy."
Molei's eyes held a hint of despair.
"It was to save you!"
Hao Mei glared at Molei. Molei didn't back down, saying, "In the ancient ruins, I got caught to save you, minimizing losses. When I get caught, I get extorted for Soul Coins. When you get caught, you get extorted for Soul Coins and have your blood drawn. Are you a masochist, craving to have your blood drawn?"
Molei's words left Hao Mei speechless. She stammered, "Uh, this, uh, that," but couldn't come up with a rebuttal.
"Right, right, it's both your faults."
Yueshitu took the opportunity to shift the blame.
"You're full of crap! In the ancient ruins, if you hadn't run so slowly, would I have had to fight the Night of Beheading in close combat?"
"Yes, it's her fault."
Molei, Yueshitu, and Hao Mei turned into plastic sisters, happily engaging in their daily blame-shifting.
Just as Yueshitu, with her honeyed tongue, started mentioning Hao Mei's 'glorious achievement' of fighting a tree while drunk, the door was pushed open, and Su Xiao walked in.
As soon as Su Xiao entered the room, the three stopped blaming each other and immediately united on the same front. Blaming each other didn't mean their friendship was broken; it was just normal behavior among friends.
Su Xiao held a high-tech camera, took a photo of each of the three, then transferred the photos to a terminal. He used the terminal to negotiate with the Empire and the Company about something.
A moment later, the Empire's Hand, Rhine Gold, and the Company's representative, Paddy, both replied. The previous incident where Su Xiao robbed the transport ship had been resolved by Kain through his own means. The case was now listed as unsolved. Su Xiao was using this to his advantage.
The Empire and the Company no longer cared much about this matter, given the current situation. Digging deeper into it wouldn't benefit anyone. Now that Su Xiao claimed to have found the 'real culprit' of the ship robbery, the Empire and the Company, though puzzled, accepted the intelligence. They were doing this to give face to their allied faction.
Thus, the real culprits of the ship robbery became Molei, Yueshitu, and Hao Mei. If the three of them went to [New Star City] or [Platinum Capital], they would trigger urgent alarms as soon as they passed through security. The title of Empire traitor was no joke.
Moreover, this identity couldn't be removed through connections or wealth. The three factions standing together, using each other to share the pressure of the Nether Forces' attack, was an inevitable situation. Unless Monarch Ording or the Company's largest shareholder, Aitaichi Fulk, spoke up, the three would remain Empire traitors.
In Su Xiao's view, capturing Molei alone was a high-cost endeavor because she had too many escape methods. So, Su Xiao decided not to bother.
The Nether Invasion was imminent. At that time, Pandora Star would have only three safe havens: New Star City, Platinum Capital, and the Sun Nest.
Now that Molei and the others were hostile to the Empire and the Company, seeking refuge in New Star City or Platinum Capital was impossible, unless they wanted to experience being hunted within the city while seeking shelter.
Thus, to deal with the world-ending disaster caused by the Nether, they could only come to the Sun Nest for refuge. At that point, there would be no need for extortion; they would pay willingly.
"Give up. I won't yield to paying money."
Hao Mei was quite stubborn. Hearing this, Yueshitu seemed about to speak but held back.
"..."
Su Xiao left the room. Baha flew in, released the restraints on Molei and the others, then flew away, ignoring them.
"?"
Molei and the others exchanged glances, all confused. The plot was too complicated, and without subtitles, they really couldn't understand.
On a whim, the three left the room, walked to the front door of the wooden building, and tried to step out onto the fungal carpet.
The busy Worker Scorpions nearby didn't even look at them. A patrol of Demon Beasts glanced at them but then ignored them.
This left the Apocalypse Sisters completely baffled. Among them, Molei suddenly realized something and said urgently, "I know! He made me take a slow poison earlier. He must be using that to blackmail us three."
"You deserve it."
"Poisoned until you roll your eyes."
"Then, I'll go talk to Bai Ye myself and see if I can buy the antidote."
With that, Molei walked back into the wooden building. Yueshitu and Hao Mei, though harsh with their words, followed Molei into danger without any intention of abandoning their teammate.
On the second floor of the wooden building, Molei saw Su Xiao sitting cross-legged in meditation. She hesitated for a moment, then said, "About my antidote, can you..."
"Vitamin B2. No antidote."
"I knew it!"
Molei looked like she was going crazy. Yueshitu and Hao Mei almost laughed out loud.
"Are you having a change of heart and letting us go?"
Molei was back to her silly girl mode. Hearing this, Baha said, "Whether we're letting you go or not, I'm not sure. But if you keep talking, you're definitely getting beaten."
Hearing this, Molei and the others turned and left. At first, their steps were steady. But when they were 1,000 meters from the Mother Nest, they quickened their pace. When they stepped off the fungal carpet, they broke into a full sprint, kicking up a cloud of dust as they disappeared into the distance.
After running over ten kilometers non-stop, Yueshitu was exhausted, hands on her knees, panting heavily. Only then did the three stop. But after stopping, they began to panic. Today's events were too strange. They had been caught, not extorted, not had their blood drawn, and were simply let go. That was what scared them the most.
...
On the second floor of the wooden building, Su Xiao's eyes opened. He had previously thought about wiping out the Hall of Heroes entirely, but he hadn't managed to eliminate Kain twice. Once might be a coincidence, but twice meant he needed to take it seriously.
Since he couldn't eliminate Kain through the abandoned Soul Arena, Su Xiao naturally found another way, using the current situation to have the Empire and the Company deal with Kain.
This tactic was effective. The Company discovered a secret hideout in Platinum Capital, District 15, where Kain and the others had been hiding. After checking various surveillance and witness reports, only Kain himself had left Platinum Capital.
In that underground warehouse, the Company's investigators found two types of soul residue. One type had a trace of activity, indicating that the owner of the residue hadn't had their spirit body shattered by other soul forces but had been devoured, leaving behind this active residue.
Something had clearly happened in that underground warehouse, most likely a scene of mutual slaughter.
From the beginning, Su Xiao had a feeling that Kain seemed like a good captain who valued his members. But in reality, analyzing his series of actions, he often sent his teammates into the fire, using anger, revenge, and other pretexts to make it seem like he was acting on impulse.
Moreover, after turning into a spirit form, Kain could contact the Soul Lord within this world. This made it seem like Kain was really turning into this form for the first time?
No matter how you looked at it, it was too smooth. First, he recklessly turned everyone into ghosts, then immediately contacted the Soul Lord and entered a sealed Soul Arena.
Thinking differently, if the Soul Lord and the other six Kain had hired had actually succeeded in killing Su Xiao, what would have happened next?
That battle was clearly fought with the Soul Lord and the others as the main force, supplemented by numerous Soul Devouring Ghosts. So why did Kain's forty-plus teammates have to enter? Their combat power in the Soul Arena was mediocre. Entering served only two purposes: 1. Watch the show, 2. Be eaten.
Exactly. Su Xiao strongly suspected that Kain hadn't turned into a ghost for the first time, nor was it the first time he had dragged his members into becoming ghosts. Under the guise of triggering a team skill for revenge, he tricked all the ghost members into that abandoned Soul Arena.
The final step was simple. The Soul Lord and the others would kill the enemy, while Kain would devour all the ghost members there.
This kind of thing might have happened more than once, which was why Kain's soul body was so strong. In other words, this guy was highly likely not a magic tank but a specialist in soul ghosts, just unable to show it openly.
Within the Eighth Rank, on the Death Paradise side, besides the single-combat god Shui Ge, there was another strong guy named Nightmare Ghost. However, Nightmare Ghost's whereabouts were mysterious, with no clear information.
From this perspective, there was a high probability that Kain was Nightmare Ghost. What this guy did was quite ruthless. He used the SSS-level large adventuring group as bait, constantly luring in members. In normal times, he developed harmoniously and lovingly.
Not to mention anything else, just accepting a fool like Snow Monster, who couldn't play fair and loved causing trouble, showed how mixed the Hall of Heroes' recruitment was. It wasn't that they would take anyone at the Eighth Rank, but it was close.
When the number of members accumulated to a certain level, he would lead them on a suicide mission, turning everyone in the group into ghosts. At that point, Kain would show his fangs and devour these 'supplements' that could make him stronger.
If that was the case, Kain was incredibly unlucky this time. He had finally found a willing deputy captain, Aaron, to cooperate with him in the hunt, but this trusted subordinate was killed instantly by Su Xiao. Kain was genuinely furious then.
Afterward, Kain launched the [Kosoko Lake Plan], which was a thousand-layer cake scheme. First, if the plan succeeded, he would seize the Sun Nest faction, and the subsequent benefits were unimaginable.
If it failed, no problem. Kain had a life-saving method. He could turn into a ghost. Even if he was completely annihilated, the entire group would become ghosts. That was actually the outcome Kain wanted.
Kain's plan, which benefited him whether he succeeded or failed, was quite clever. Unfortunately, Su Xiao used Elemental Affinity to attract lightning, causing over 150 of Kain's teammates to ascend to heaven, not even having a chance to become ghosts. Only about forty teammates turned into ghosts.
Kain was genuinely furious about this. He had accumulated members for so long, only to have three-quarters of them wiped out by a single bolt of Realm Lightning. How could he not be angry?
That was why Kain later went all out, using that time-based prop to deal with Su Xiao. Unfortunately, hiring the Soul Lord to deal with Su Xiao was a double suicide move.
Now, the situation was that Kain, cursing his bad luck, had gone into hiding. Would he seek revenge on Su Xiao later? No. Kain never wanted to see Su Xiao again. Just thinking about Su Xiao gave him a huge psychological shadow. He had accumulated members for so long, and with a single crack of Realm Lightning, they were all gone.
It seemed that Kain was completely screwed this time. The likelihood of him showing up again was slim. Su Xiao took out his terminal. The Empire and the Company had replied. For killing Kara, the Empire was willing to pay 700,000 units of Life Ore as a reward, and the Company would pay 320,000 units.
In total, that was 10.02 million points of Bio-Energy, which solved the urgent problem. It could be seen that the Empire was quite generous, knowing that the development of the Sun Nest was beneficial to all three sides.
A sense of unease appeared. This wasn't the first time. To be precise, ever since Su Xiao had killed the ancient god, Sacred Oak, this unease had been recurring.
The source of the unease was in the team storage space, inside the [Banishment] stored there. Ever since [Banishment] had been contaminated by the [Necronomicon], Su Xiao had kept it there.
Su Xiao took out [Banishment] from the team storage space. It was over 60 centimeters long, shaped like a hiltless rapier, floating in mid-air.
With a click, [Banishment] split apart on its own, forming a square frame. Then, the [Necronomicon] suddenly appeared within the square frame formed by [Banishment]. This 'Daddy-level' artifact had suddenly appeared.
Su Xiao slapped the wooden floor with one hand, leaping backward from his sitting position, landing on the Spirit Shadow Threads stretched horizontally in mid-air.
The sudden appearance of the Necronomicon was unexpected. The first page of the Necronomicon flipped open. The twisted text on it, which made one's mind dizzy just by looking at it, faded away, replaced by a line of Void Text:
'Eliminate the evil god, split the spoils equally.'
Seeing this line of Void Text, Su Xiao roughly understood the Necronomicon's meaning. Previously, the Demon Clan had been plagued by the Abyssal Jar, clearly not wealthy. This had made the Necronomicon dissatisfied. Now, the Necronomicon was looking to partner with him to fish for evil gods and make some extra money.