Chapter 18: Opening the Door
The gray radiance spreading around dissipated. The Necronomicon in Su Xiao's hand vanished. The Crow Woman, who had been pinned to the ground by the blood spear, suddenly opened her eyes and asked:
"You... what did you do?"
The Crow Woman sensed herself but found nothing unusual. Not only that, her anesthetized body was quickly regaining sensation.
The more normal everything seemed, the more uneasy the Crow Woman felt. Although she didn't know the origin of the Necronomicon, just looking at it with her naked eyes, without even sensing it, she knew it was no good. The dangerous, eerie, and evil feeling made even her, an assassin, shiver with cold.
"..."
Su Xiao ignored the Crow Woman. With his control, the several blood spears pinning her to the ground vanished. After pulling out his longsword, he reversed his grip and stabbed it into the Crow Woman's chest, straight through her heart.
Feeling the cold pain at her heart, the Crow Woman closed her eyes. She was an assassin and had long expected such an end. She didn't resent it, at least not dying at the hands of some nobody.
Su Xiao pulled out the longsword and then observed the Crow Woman's wound. Fine, translucent root-like threads spread out within her wound, first suturing her heart, then the external injury.
The Crow Woman, lying there waiting to die, felt increasingly wrong. Not only did she not feel death approaching, but her wound also stopped hurting. However, having never died before, she assumed this was a pre-death experience and continued lying there obediently, waiting for death.
After observing the Crow Woman's injuries, Su Xiao confirmed one thing: the Necronomicon had temporarily hidden itself on the Crow Woman, waiting only for her to return to Arcane Eternal Star.
Such "Daddy-level" artifacts couldn't just latch onto any major power they wanted. Without the corresponding causality, even if they went to those Void major powers, they would at most have a direct conflict with them, not become a "wild daddy."
This required a crucial process: causality. For example, when the causality between the Necronomicon and Arcane Eternal Star reached a certain level, it would be very difficult for Arcane Eternal Star to shake off the Necronomicon.
This wasn't a problem that could be solved by a clash of combat power between the two sides. If it were that simple, the Demon Race would have already fought it out with the Abyssal Jar long ago. How could they have become the Void's "daddy nurturers"?
Previously, when the Necronomicon went to the Demon Race, it used attaching itself to Wood as the causality. Now, the Necronomicon hiding on the Crow Woman was quietly establishing a causal relationship with Arcane Eternal Star.
From now on, there was no need to worry about this matter. This was the causality between the Crow Woman, the Necronomicon, and Arcane Eternal Star.
The Crow Woman, who had been lying on the ground waiting to die, suddenly opened her eyes. She found that not only was she not dead, but all her injuries had healed, and even the crystals that had sealed her spine had disappeared without a trace.
The Crow Woman suddenly leaped up, reaching out with one hand to grab Su Xiao, preparing a surprise attack. But at this critical moment, her mind buzzed, and she immediately fell to the ground.
A few seconds later, the Crow Woman stood up from the ground, looking around blankly, not understanding what had just happened. She was sure that the Law Destroyer a few meters away hadn't made a move.
The Crow Woman was not one to give up easily. Although she was full of doubts about not dying, with a great enemy before her, she couldn't continue lying there playing dead. So she stood up again and lunged at Su Xiao.
Just as the Crow Woman lunged out, her mind buzzed again, her whole body went limp, and her vision went black.
Plop~
The Crow Woman fell in front of Su Xiao, then lay motionless with vacant eyes.
Although the Necronomicon and Su Xiao mutually disliked each other, they were still partners in cooperation. Moreover, the good fortune of entangling Arcane Eternal Star this time was initiated by Su Xiao's help. The Necronomicon naturally wouldn't allow the Crow Woman to attack its collaborator.
A few seconds later, the Crow Woman suddenly opened her eyes. She lunged at Su Xiao again, then her brain buzzed once more, her eyes went dark, and she fainted. Her attempt to kill Su Xiao failed again.
Baha, who had witnessed this scene nearby, was about to die laughing. The Crow Woman was like a "disconnected player" — run two steps, disconnect; just reconnect to make a move, lunge out, and disconnect again.
When the Crow Woman woke up again, she had learned her lesson this time. She leaped backward repeatedly, watching Su Xiao warily.
"Don't leave High Wall City for a while. When you return to Arcane Eternal Star, pretend you know nothing. As for the few spellcasters who escaped this time, I'll have the hunters deal with them."
Hearing Su Xiao say this, the Crow Woman across from him was stunned. She understood the literal meaning of his words, but when they reached her ears, she couldn't comprehend them at all.
"Do you really think I'm a traitor?"
The Crow Woman narrowed her eyes, her gaze always firm.
"Show this when entering the city. After your trouble-making this time, the city defenses will be on lockdown."
Su Xiao tossed a copper badge in front of the Crow Woman, then turned and walked toward High Wall City. There was no need for him to intervene in the subsequent matters; he just had to wait and watch the show.
Su Xiao had received news earlier that the Arcane Eternal Star's Arcane Festival was coming up soon. Not only that, but this Arcane Festival had also invited him.
To be precise, it had invited the Holy Flame Alchemist. For such a celebration, Su Xiao naturally had to go. The Time Hourglass had been kept for Arcane Eternal Star all along.
Of course, the prerequisite for attending the Arcane Festival was surviving the various dangers of Dead Silence City, advancing to the Ninth Rank, and returning to Reincarnation Paradise before considering going to Arcane Eternal Star for the Arcane Festival.
For such a grand celebration hosted by Arcane Eternal Star, over ninety percent of the Void's major, medium, and minor powers would be present. The scene would undoubtedly be extremely lively.
It was still too early to consider all this. Su Xiao traveled at full speed and soon saw the distant high wall. After entering the city using Baha's flying ability, he saw Hughs waiting on the city wall.
A moment later, Central District, Healing Church Headquarters.
Su Xiao stepped out of the spatial ghost door, the spatial fluctuations behind him subsiding. He checked the time: 6:17 AM. Having just fought with enemies, he felt ravenous. He would eat dinner first, then deal with the subsequent matters.
Dinner was roast whole lamb. The lamb tasted decent, and the main dish of noodle soup was quite good. Of course, this was related to Su Xiao's preference for noodles.
Su Xiao checked the advancement mission: Fourth Ring: Opening the Door. This mission was basically secure. That meant, including the 10 Shelter Stones rewarded by this mission, he had a total of 18 Shelter Stones.
"Shelter Stone: The power of sacred life gathers within. Upon activation, it can resist the erosion of deathly stillness for 12 hours."
Su Xiao certainly wouldn't enter the Root: Dead Silence City alone. Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha would all go together. That meant 18 Shelter Stones divided into four shares, 4.5 stones each, providing resistance to deathly stillness erosion for 54 hours — just over two days of exploration time.
As for the Shelter Stones needed by Zuiyasi, Wood, and Kaisa, they had their own connections. "Good teammates" cooperated with each other. No one in the team would act as a babysitter. If you could do it, fine; if not, do what you could and don't drag others down.
Because of this, in the "good teammate" team, there was basically no situation where one person was MVP throughout. For example, in the current situation, the first round of dealing with the old monster was handled by Su Xiao. The second round of finding the entrance to the Root: Dead Silence City, after Wood and Zuiyasi were dragged out, Zuiyasi took over this matter.
When they said two days, it meant two days. During that time, they wouldn't come to Su Xiao for help or make a bunch of requests. That dog thief Zuiyasi simply disappeared for two days, and on the third day, the matter was resolved. He didn't mention the process and directly gave the results.
The Academy faction's submission was far better than stealing the location of the Dead Silence City entrance from them. Even now, Su Xiao still couldn't figure out how Zuiyasi managed this.
Given the stubbornness of Grand Sage Tulse, even if you put a knife to his throat, or even to the throats of his entire family, this old fellow would only look coldly and not say a single word, let alone submit as he had now.
Considering how decisively Zuiyasi had taken on this matter back then, he must have been using his own advantages. Moreover, this advantage was something neither Su Xiao nor Wood possessed.
Now that an agreement had been made with the Academy faction, they would set out tomorrow morning for the entrance to Dead Silence City. The Academy faction had vaguely hinted that the entrance was somewhere within High Wall City. Considering that the area within High Wall City was larger than the territory of an empire in other worlds, this wasn't surprising.
In the office, Su Xiao leaned back on the sofa, closed his eyes to rest for a moment, then had Bubu Wang bring Old Chaman over.
"Sir, you called for me?"
Old Chaman looked like he hadn't woken up. He had been very busy these past two days, and had even faked his death once during that time.
"Have the informants from the Steam God Cult sent any news today?"
Su Xiao spoke. This was something he checked on daily, but because of the meditation method and dealing with the spellcasters in the past two days, he hadn't attended to this matter for three days.
Ever since making Klenk the World Child, the informants from the Steam God Cult had been watching Klenk, reporting once a day. This was also how Su Xiao knew about the situation of the game between Klenk and his sister, Kro.
The Duke's eldest daughter, Kro, wanted to ally with their side, but as the behind-the-scenes planner, Su Xiao naturally wouldn't favor either side. From the previous situation, Klenk disposing of his sister was almost certain.
All those who followed Kro had been eliminated by Klenk through various means. Previously, Kro couldn't even leave her laboratory. The butcher's knife from her brother was hanging over her head.
Now, he didn't know how Kro was doing. If nothing unexpected happened, she should have been dealt with.
"I'll go check the situation. I'll report back in ten minutes."
Old Chaman left with sleepy eyes. He returned in less than ten minutes and said in a low voice: "All the eyes and ears over there have lost contact."
"Oh?"
Su Xiao put down his teacup, took out the glass tube containing the Devourer: Black A's fragment to examine, and found that Black A's fragment was still active, meaning Black A wasn't dead.
When he had chosen Klenk back then, Su Xiao had felt this guy was something special. The facts had proven this. From the beginning to now, without any guidance from Su Xiao's side, Klenk had been acting along the trajectory Su Xiao had predetermined, like a fox targeted by a blood beast, knowing the huge gap between itself and the blood beast, and knowing what to do to avoid arousing the blood beast's attention and anger, cautiously moving along a fixed trajectory.
Until the Beast Master entered the city and Su Xiao started dealing with the spellcasters, that fox knew the opportunity had come. Trying to counter-kill would be seeking death. The fox's initial goal wasn't to counter-attack the massive blood beast in the darkness, but to escape.
"Is Kro dead?"
Su Xiao spoke. Upon hearing this, Old Chaman replied: "The eyes and ears over there are still there. Kro isn't dead."
"Mm. I'll give you a long vacation. Go take a break."
Hearing Su Xiao say this, Old Chaman, who had seemed half-asleep, immediately perked up. He rubbed his fingers together, meaning: is it paid leave?
"Paid. Go ahead."
Upon hearing this, Old Chaman beamed with joy and walked out. When he reached the door, his footsteps paused as if he wanted to say something.
"Dead Silence City is not a place you should go."
Hearing Su Xiao say this, Old Chaman nodded and left the office.
"Sir, do I also need to take a vacation?"
The nearby Ms. Mariana spoke.
"Not yet. Your matter will be discussed later."
Su Xiao stood up and walked out. Seeing this, Bubu Wang, Amu, Baha, and Ms. Mariana all followed.
When Su Xiao first met Ms. Mariana, she was severely injured and dying from resisting the wild beast invasion. She had only one breath left. After Su Xiao's treatment, she recovered the next day.
This wasn't what Su Xiao cared about most. What he cared about was how Ms. Mariana faced the enemy when Dragon God Dean attacked. The "werewolf transformation" ability wasn't rare, but Ms. Mariana's werewolf transformation gave Su Xiao a very unique feeling — both unfamiliar and somewhat familiar.
In the following days of contact, Su Xiao found that compared to Old Chaman, Hughs, and Liz, he had a better impression of Ms. Mariana. That feeling was like meeting an old friend he hadn't seen for a long time by chance.
Even so, Su Xiao still couldn't understand why this was the case, until he learned of one of Ms. Mariana's hobbies. Every night when it was quiet, Ms. Mariana liked to sit alone on the rooftop of the dormitory building, looking at the moon, bathed in moonlight.
When asked why she did this, she herself didn't know. She only said that under the moonlight, she felt at ease.
This made Su Xiao understand why he felt that old friend feeling from Ms. Mariana. It had nothing to do with Ms. Mariana herself, but with the Silver Moon Wolf bloodline inherited within her body.
The Law Destroyers and the Silver Moon Wolves had once made an alliance oath using elemental power as proof. Now, encountering someone who inherited wolf blood, Su Xiao naturally felt a kind of old friend deja vu. Unfortunately, the wolf blood in Ms. Mariana's body wasn't much. She couldn't even achieve Moon Wolf Transformation, let alone use moonlight power.
In this world, wolf blood wouldn't be inherited for no reason. Su Xiao estimated that there was likely a Moon Wolf burial ground in this world, a Wolf Grave.
After dealing with Klenk later, he would go ask the Archbishop if he knew where the Wolf Grave was. If he could find it, he would definitely go there.
"Silver Moon Blade Growth Condition: Arrive at the Silver Moon Wolf burial site, offer fresh meat (supernatural creature flesh not required).
Note: This equipment has grown once (can grow a total of three times)."
Su Xiao put aside this matter for now. After leaving the headquarters building, he got into the car. Bubu Wang drove, and the vehicle shot forward before drifting onto the street.
The night wind blew. Su Xiao in the passenger seat lit a cigarette. Where he was going now was Kro's laboratory. Kro wasn't dead, which meant Klenk had deliberately left her alive.
As the night deepened, when the vehicle Su Xiao was in arrived near Kro's laboratory, a car drove from the opposite direction and even flashed its headlights. Eventually, the two cars stopped side by side. Su Xiao and the Duke stared at each other from their respective passenger seats.
"My most satisfactory offspring has escaped. Although he's a half-finished product."
The Duke raised his hand and pressed it to his chest, then continued: "This is my last proof as a human. But this proof has also been holding me back. Flesh and blood are constraints. Once damaged, death follows. I am ready to accept a new life form. We'll meet... in Dead Silence City."
Leaving these words, the Duke's car drove off and disappeared from the rearview mirror in no time.
The Duke had obviously noticed some clues. This wasn't surprising. Compared to the Duke, Klenk was one level lower, and Kro was three or four levels lower.
He had Bubu Wang continue driving. A few minutes later, Su Xiao walked into an abandoned underground market and opened a hidden passage leading further underground.
After descending several dozen meters underground, a metal door appeared ahead. Amu stepped forward and chopped it open with a few axe strikes. As for the defense system triggered, Amu didn't care much.
After forcing his way through doors all the way, Su Xiao stopped in front of a laboratory sealed by an alloy layer. He tapped his finger on it. A crystal layer spread and penetrated, then induced the alloy to explode together into crystal fragments.
Walking through the broken hole into the laboratory, various instruments came into view. At the center of the laboratory stood a three-meter-thick glass pillar reaching the ceiling, filled with warm green translucent liquid. Inside, a young woman with long white hair, fair skin, and radiating pupils was immersed in it. She was looking at Su Xiao and the others through the glass wall. This was the Duke's eldest daughter, Kro.
Kro inside the glass pillar showed a smiling face and said: "Dean White Night, you're late. My brother has already escaped. If you kill me now, it will cause a direct conflict between the Steam God Cult and the Healing Church. So, the best method is for us to cooperate."
"..."
Su Xiao didn't respond to Kro. Instead, he turned and walked out. Seeing this, Baha asked: "Boss, how should we handle this?"
"Eliminate her. Keep some cell samples."
"Got it."
Baha spread his wings and flew up, grabbing and shattering the glass pillar with a crack. Initially, Kro, holding her chips, didn't seem to believe Su Xiao and the others would kill her. It wasn't until Amu raised the Dragonheart Axe and swung it down that she realized these people would do anything.
"The thing Klenk left behind is..."
Squelch~
Amu chopped off Kro's head with one axe strike. Seeing this, Baha's eyes widened, and he said: "You stupid cow, let her finish speaking!"
"Moo."
Amu scratched his head.
"I can still be saved. Just put my head close to my body."
Kro's head spoke. Baha looked astonished and tried bringing her head close to the headless body. Sure enough, the wound on her neck quickly healed, eventually leaving no trace.
After assessing the situation, Kro quickly left the laboratory and went to a storage room deeper underground in the laboratory, retrieving an alloy box. This was what Klenk had left behind.
Su Xiao opened the alloy box, and a prompt appeared.
[You have successfully retrieved World Eye × 2 (Immortal Rank · Set · Evolved Three Times, contains 62.57 ounces of World Force).]
[You have successfully retrieved World Hunter (Immortal Rank · Set).]
[You have successfully retrieved World Yearning (Immortal Rank · Set).]
[You have obtained Concentrated Cell Fluid (Symbiotic State).]
[You have obtained Betrayer's Will (World-Class Item · Inherited Once).]
[You have obtained Sacred Choir Badge (Special Item, can open specific areas within Dead Silence City).]
...
Klenk had escaped, but before fleeing, he hadn't been seduced by the power he currently possessed. Instead, he made a great sacrifice, leaving behind the World Force he had been hunting and the World Three-Piece Set.
Not only that, Su Xiao picked up an arm-thick glass tube and opened it. Black A emerged from the concentrated cell fluid inside. This was how Klenk had deceived Black A's symbiosis.
Kro's cells had strong replication and division properties, even capable of cultivating a sister. Her brother Klenk actually had this same cell characteristic, but it had always been kept a secret. No one knew except the Duke.
Klenk had replicated another version of himself to deceive Black A's symbiotic trait. Once Black A and the replica were stable enough, he turned the replica into liquid concentrated cell fluid and trapped Black A in a container. This operation was purely personal talent; others couldn't replicate it.
As for the Betrayer's Will, Su Xiao really hadn't expected Klenk to be able to extract this thing. This kid was talented to be able to pull out the Betrayer's Will.
The last item, the Sacred Choir Badge, was probably the most valuable treasure in Klenk's possessions. Leaving it behind now could only mean one thing: an attempt to appease Su Xiao's pursuit.
Su Xiao had two goals in making Klenk the World Child: 1. To contain the Duke. This had been achieved. While Su Xiao was locked in a death struggle with the Academy faction, the Duke was in a mess and didn't become a powerful external reinforcement for the Academy faction.