Chapter 16: Remuneration
The train raced across the steel rails of the wilderness. Under the torrential downpour, this steel beast of a train tore through the curtain of rain, speeding along at an incredible pace.
Inside the first-class carriage, Su Xiao sat on the small bed meditating. The reason for taking this train, which would take at least half a day to reach the Ancient King City, was that all the teleportation towers in the Ancient King City were sealed off, with layers of spatial barriers set up.
Su Xiao's "Law-Destroying Teleportation Array" could naturally break through these barriers, but this trip to the Ancient King City wasn't to clash with the powerful figures there, but to deal with an unknown Original Sin Object.
Su Xiao and the others first used a teleportation array to reach "Falling Star City." Although it wasn't one of the three main cities, Falling Star City held an extremely special status among the many large cities. This prosperous metropolis had a scale comparable to a main city, and compared to Sky City, which only had 15 districts, Falling Star City with its 35 districts was twice as large.
For a long time, the powerful figures of the Ancient King City had outwardly complied with the Wizard Faction while secretly harboring their own agendas.
Using the Ancient King City as a boundary, the area further south on the Wizard Continent was a vast swamp wetland called the Great Swamp Wetland. The Ancient King City was originally named "Swamp Light City" for this reason.
On this Great Swamp Wetland, there were multiple tribes. While these tribes were indeed backward in terms of technology, their supernatural and biological sciences were advanced. This wasn't just a matter of taking a different tech tree path; they hadn't invested a single point into the technology side.
If it were just that, it wouldn't be a big deal, but the inheritance of these tribes was the earliest generation of Wizard Secret Arts. Were older inheritances stronger? Not at all. The truly terrifying aspect of the early Wizard Secret Arts was the probability of malignant mutation.
The malignant mutation rate of the ancient wizard system was over eighty percent. Even worse, wizards of the current era were indeed much stronger than these ancient wizards at the same rank, but the abilities of the ancient wizards had a polluting nature of malignant mutation characteristics.
Even if the wizards of the Wizard Faction won a life-and-death battle against these ancient wizards, the winning wizard would soon undergo malignant mutation.
The supernaturals of the Ancient King's power system didn't have to worry about this, and since the Ancient King City was not far from the Great Swamp Wetland, it served as the most effective defense on the edge of the wizard territory. However, in return, these powerful figures of the Ancient King faction were also a hidden danger.
The Wizard Faction naturally wouldn't let this hidden danger persist. They planned to bring the Ancient King City under their control and gradually annex it. But due to the Ancient King City's location, this main city became increasingly chaotic, eventually giving rise to a unique set of survival rules. The Wizard Faction's annexation plan naturally failed, and the Wizard Guild located in the Ancient King City grew weaker.
Falling Star City, situated between Moon Ring City and the Ancient King City, naturally became extremely important. In fact, it was a large city intended to replace the Ancient King City as a main city. It's worth mentioning that the "Golden Arena," certified by the Void Tree, was located in this large city, though it hadn't been opened for a long time. However, in the near future, the "Golden Arena" was about to open.
The scenery outside the window flew by. Su Xiao, who had been meditating, opened his eyes and saw, across from him, Seren, her short silver hair tied up, revealing a large expanse of fair neck. She was looking at the natural scenery flying past the window. Her leisurely expression, coupled with her fair skin and beautiful appearance, gave this usually somewhat neurotic person a fresh and refined temperament.
Seeing Su Xiao's gaze, a smile appeared on Seren's face. This smile didn't affect her looks at all, but the fresh and refined temperament from before vanished without a trace.
"Mr. White Night, you are a Law Destroyer. You must be more familiar with the deeds of the Ancestral Law Destroyers."
As Seren spoke, the light in her eyes seemed to brighten a few degrees.
"..."
Su Xiao already knew what Seren wanted to ask. He took out a diary, which was [Green Gillian's Notes]. As for whether the person involved would want others to see this diary, Su Xiao was certain she would. In other words, that Ancestral Female Law Destroyer wrote this diary precisely because she wanted others to see it.
Last time Su Xiao took out this diary, the other party showed no intention of taking it back. Instead, she asked him if he had shown it to anyone else. After getting a negative answer, there was a hint of disappointment in her words.
The Seren across from him was an admirer of Green Gillian. If she learned more about the most notorious Law Destroyer in history, she might change her ways. Therefore, he tossed out [Green Gillian's Notes].
Seeing the notes on the table, Seren was stunned at first, then treated them like a treasure. But after flipping through a few pages, her brows furrowed. Seeing this, Su Xiao knew that this young witch still had a chance of being saved and wouldn't turn into a miniature version of Green Gillian.
After Seren finished reading Green Gillian's notes and pondered for a moment, a smile gradually appeared on her face. It seemed she admired Green Gillian even more.
"..."
Su Xiao continued to meditate with his eyes closed, pretending nothing had happened.
Bubu Wang, Amu, Baha, and the assistant Alanna were not in the carriage. The reason was that Bubu Wang, Amu, Baha, and Alanna had temporarily stayed in Falling Star City to investigate the explosion that happened yesterday. Su Xiao suspected that this explosion was the work of Black Hole Azler's trusted subordinate, the Fanatic. To find the never-appearing Black Hole Azler, killing his trusted subordinate, the Fanatic, was the key.
The train arrived at the platform of the 55th district of the Ancient King City in the afternoon. The platform was crowded with people. After a heavy rain, the air in the Ancient King City was exceptionally fresh. Just like last time, the Ancient King City gave people a strong sense of history. Combined with the completely steam-powered train with no electrical components, this ancient city had a unique beauty.
Just as they exited the train station, several figures in black trench coats and black leather gloves blocked their way. These people all wore black round hats and shiny black leather shoes, and had black numbers tattooed on their faces, from 1 to 3.
It could only be said that there were indeed many individual powerhouses in the Witch Realm. These three all had strength in the upper-middle tier of Absolute Strength. However, the third brother's action of slightly lifting his leg and scratching his crotch with one hand greatly diminished the dark faction style created by their black coats, black gloves, black hats, and black shoes.
These three coming to welcome Su Xiao was undoubtedly a dual display of strength and wealth by the powerful figures of the Ancient King City. As for how wealth was highlighted, these three brothers were actually hired by the powerful figures of the Ancient King City.
Why would three Absolute Strength powerhouses be willing to accept such a commission? It had to do with the experiences of the Killer Trio. These three were not biological brothers but childhood friends. They were kidnapped by an assassin organization due to an accident and trained in a brutal manner.
Whether it was heaven's favor or their strong fate, all three brothers had the aptitude to reach Absolute Strength. However, the resource consumption required to advance to Absolute Strength was more than a second-rate assassin organization could afford, let alone for three people. Therefore, this assassin organization contacted the Dark God Cult.
The Dark God Cult had no shortage of resources for advancement. But using these resources came with various side effects, all of which were found by the Dark God Cult in the Abyss Sprawl. One of the characteristics of Abyss invasion was the extremely abundant output of resources.
After using these resources with strong Abyss and dark characteristics, the three brothers' strength indeed advanced by leaps and bounds, but they also suffered many side effects. After subsequent and more frequent use of these resources, the side effects they bore finally accumulated to a particularly dangerous level and eventually erupted, causing a "conceptual level" defect, which was an irreversible side effect.
Among the three brothers, the eldest often suffered from headaches. Once the headache started, everything in his eyes became dark, and living beings took on terrifying forms. Some originally weak things, like a stray dog, would transform into a world-destroying beast in his eyes under this state.
Therefore, the eldest, who usually had a cold expression and was taciturn, would occasionally become particularly cautious, to the point of being speechless.
As for the second brother, his "conceptual defect" was poor eyesight. It wasn't just a vision problem; his perception was also blurry. Simply put, ten meters away, he couldn't distinguish humans from animals; five meters away, he couldn't recognize relatives.
When the second brother gazed into the distance, don't think he was contemplating life; he simply couldn't see clearly and was trying hard to figure out what was over there.
As for the third brother, his "conceptual defect" was more serious. Dark matter had eroded his brain, so his intelligence was limited. When he was with his eldest and second brothers, it wasn't a big deal; he listened to them. But when acting alone, the not-so-bright third brother often had his own unique ideas, such as killing the employer directly upon accepting a commission to get the reward as quickly as possible and then go home for dinner.
Therefore, after the Dark God Cult trained these three, within a few months, the high-ranking members of the Dark God Cult notified that second-rate assassin organization to come and take them away immediately.
The second-rate assassin organization was overjoyed, but their joy didn't last long. Within a few days, the third-in-command of the assassin organization was killed barehanded by the third brother. The second-in-command who came to demand an explanation was killed by the second brother without even a chance to speak, because the second brother's eyesight was poor, he didn't see clearly, and thought an enemy was attacking.
The remaining leader of the assassin organization was somewhat terrified, but he wasn't willing to back down. So he went to the Hunter Guild, accepted an extremely difficult commission, and then issued it as an assassin mission to the Killer Trio.
The Killer Trio didn't hesitate and went to execute it. A few days later, they reported to the assassin organization leader that they had completed the mission. The leader was stunned but also somewhat ecstatic.
Before the assassin organization leader could submit the commission to the Hunter Guild, people from the Ancient King City came knocking. The reason was that their Deputy City Lord had been murdered. Investigation showed that this assassin organization was responsible. Upon learning this, the assassin organization leader was scared out of his wits. Being in the Wizard Realm, how could he choose to assassinate a high-ranking member of the Wizard Faction?
The assassin organization leader never imagined that the third brother of the Killer Trio had lost the commission voucher. Afraid of being scolded, he searched and finally found a voucher. However, this was not the commission voucher at all. It was actually a flyer created by the Deputy City Lord's subordinates, as the old City Lord was about to retire, to gain support for the Deputy City Lord to become the new City Lord of the Ancient King City.
After the third brother found this "commission voucher," he gave it to his second brother. As for why he didn't give it to his eldest brother, his eldest brother had recently started having headaches again.
The second brother had to stick the flyer almost to his face to see clearly. Oh~, it was to assassinate the Deputy City Lord of the Ancient King City. After confirming there was no problem, the three brothers launched the operation.
However, this wasn't the trio's most glorious moment. Their true moment of glory was during the Moonless Assassination Night, when they mistook the target again, nearly causing Lady Silver to die that night. The terrifying scars on Lady Silver's right arm were all thanks to the Killer Trio.
Simply put, you could doubt the Killer Trio's professional competence, but you absolutely couldn't doubt their combat effectiveness when working together.
However, their appearance fee was relatively high, and they often faced the dilemma of not receiving any commissions. It seemed the Killer Trio was still unwilling to admit that their professional skills weren't up to par.
The powerful figures of the Ancient King City were clearly wealthy, so they hired the Killer Trio. They didn't want to assassinate anyone, but they had recently been suffering losses at the hands of Lady Silver, so they hired the Killer Trio to intimidate her. And it worked; since then, Lady Silver hadn't come to the Ancient King City.
No wonder. Lady Silver wouldn't bet that three reckless fools would be wary of the Wizard Faction's power. These Killer Trio were anomalies among the Absolute Strength rank, after all, the way they became Absolute Strength was also very special.
Pedestrians were everywhere on the walking street. The eldest of the Killer Trio led the way without a word. After a while, they arrived at a manor. Just as they entered the mansion within the manor, a super fat man, who looked like he weighed at least several hundred pounds, was pushed out by servants in an oversized wheelchair. This man was named Shio, the great noble Shio of the Ancient King City, a representative figure among the powerful figures.
Upon meeting, the great noble Shio let out a hearty and energetic laugh. Although he was obese, it was a strange kind of obesity. The flesh on his body hung down in layers, making him look like he was wearing a suit of drooping fat skin. Moreover, faint golden markings were spread across his skin, hard to see without close observation.
Half an hour later, only Su Xiao, the great noble Shio, and Seren remained in the study. This actually represented three parties: Su Xiao represented himself, Seren represented the Wizard Faction, and the great noble Shio represented the powerful figures.
"This charming lady must be the Reborn Witch Seren. Although I've heard of you, this is our first meeting. It's nothing, though. Once you are crowned the Moon Witch in the future, we will meet more often."
The great noble Shio laughed heartily, his fat jiggling. Seren smiled slightly but said nothing. She had a clear understanding of her own abilities. She never thought that with her current experience, she could contend with these old schemers in high positions, so she simply spoke less.
"I have many enemies lately and don't want to waste time."
Su Xiao got straight to the point, which surprised the great noble Shio across the desk for a moment, then he laughed even louder.
"You've been targeted by an Original Sin Object. You have two choices. First, I kill you, and the karma of the Original Sin Object transfers to me."
Su Xiao's tone was calm, but the smile on the great noble Shio's face across from him immediately disappeared. He could tell that this Law Destroyer wasn't joking. Given the Law Destroyer's reputation outside, he might actually do such a thing.
"It won't come to that, it won't come to that."
The great noble Shio waved his hand repeatedly.
"The second method is very expensive. I will take the Original Sin Object away, but I will suffer a huge loss for it."
Hearing this, the great noble Shio immediately said, "Just name your conditions. We will try our best to satisfy them."
After saying this, the great noble Shio seemed somewhat gritting his teeth. It wasn't that he begrudged paying Su Xiao, but after being targeted by that Original Sin Object, their group of powerful figures' resource treasury was emptied that very night. Moreover, they had to serve that Original Sin Object like a wild father, and any slight movement would result in instant death.
The great noble Shio's strongest guard died because of this. In just an instant, the guard turned pale, fell to the ground with a thud, his entire body withered, and finally turned to ashes and scattered.
The feeling conveyed was that if this Original Sin Object wanted all living beings in the Ancient King City to die, it would only take an instant.
Realizing this, the powerful figures immediately fled the Ancient King City, but they soon discovered that the farther they got from the Ancient King City, the more they aged, and their bodies began to grow translucent tentacles.
"Three million Soul Coins."
Su Xiao certainly wouldn't be polite. Last time he came to the Ancient King City, these powerful figures weren't exactly friendly.
Hearing Su Xiao's price, the great noble Shio looked troubled. If it were before, they wouldn't hesitate, but the problem was that after the wild father arrived, their resource treasury was devoured. Later, to save their lives, they had to take out various treasures they had kept hidden. Now, raising three million Soul Coins was indeed beyond their means.
The great noble Shio hesitated for a few seconds and tentatively asked, "Mr. White Night, as a professional in Original Sin Objects, you should be able to guess our situation. How about... one million Soul Coins?"
"Deal."
Su Xiao's agreement was so straightforward that not only was the great noble Shio stunned, but Seren, standing beside Su Xiao, lightly nudged him with her elbow, meaning: 'Mr. White Night, you set the price too low.'
"Hahaha, deal. I've heard that Mr. White Night keeps his word. It's an honor to witness it today."
The great noble Shio finished speaking and snapped his fingers. A waiting subordinate outside pushed open the study door and brought in a pre-prepared Soul Coin savings card. The implication was that as long as the Original Sin Object was dealt with, this one million Soul Coins would be presented with both hands.
"Where is the Original Sin Object?"
"This way, please."
The great noble Shio, sitting in his custom wheelchair, was pushed forward by two subordinates. The group left the manor and headed to the central district of the Ancient King City. They arrived at a heavily guarded royal hall and took an elevator underground, finally stopping in a long corridor.
At the end of the corridor was the metal door of a treasury. That Original Sin Object was inside this treasury.
Su Xiao took out a crystal, tossed it towards the corridor wall. With a crack, the barrier stone shattered, and a temporary barrier enveloped the surrounding area.
"If you don't want to be targeted by this Original Sin Object again, don't spy on what happens inside this barrier."
Su Xiao finished speaking and walked into the barrier. He didn't even lock the barrier from the inside. He led Seren towards the treasury opposite. As for whether the great noble Shio and the others would spy, they definitely wouldn't. They just wanted to get rid of this Original Sin Object.
Entering the treasury, Su Xiao had Seren close the door. He conjured a crystal chair behind him, sat down, leaned back, and closed his eyes to rest. Seren, who was extremely nervous, was stunned for a moment upon seeing this, then couldn't help but wonder if this was the way to deal with an Original Sin Object.
The Necronomicon floated in mid-air. Having devoured a massive amount of resources, it showed no fluctuation after Su Xiao arrived.
Regarding why a Big Daddy-level Original Sin Object needed to devour resources, Su Xiao had a conjecture long ago: to prevent dormancy. If a Big Daddy-level Original Sin Object didn't devour resources, although its power wouldn't weaken, after tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of years, it would enter a dormant state. Unless a sentient being picked it up and activated the karma, it would remain dormant forever.
That's right, the Original Sin Object in the Ancient King City was the Necronomicon. But according to the original plan, the Necronomicon should have been sent to the Dark God Cult.
The current situation had only two possibilities. First, after the Dark God Cult received the Necronomicon, they found a way to transfer it to the Ancient King City. This possibility was very slim, because the Dark God Cult and the Ancient King City were both forces in the same world. Trying to fool the Necronomicon with such a trick would be suicidal.
The second possibility was that the Black Wizard Casper didn't send this thing to the Dark God Cult at all, but sent it to the Ancient King City.
In this possibility, there were two doubts. 1. The great noble Shio of the Ancient King City didn't mention this and insisted that they were accidentally targeted by this Original Sin Object. 2. This didn't match the contract signed between Su Xiao and the Black Wizard Casper. The contract stated that the Necronomicon should be sent to the Dark God Cult faction...
Suddenly, Su Xiao thought of a possibility. If the powerful figures of the Ancient King City had already joined forces with the Dark God Cult, then in the Void Tree's judgment, the powerful figures of the Ancient King City would be considered as having defected from the Wizard Faction and were also members of the Dark God Cult.
In this way, the Black Wizard Casper sending the Necronomicon to the Ancient King City could also meet the minimum standard of the contract. As long as a contract met the minimum standard, it wouldn't trigger the contract penalty.
The good news now was that the Ancient King City and the Dark God Cult had likely already fallen out over the Necronomicon. Before seeking help from the Witch Guild, the great noble Shio must have contacted the Archbishop of the Abyss first. The answer he got was definitely not good, so he had to grit his teeth and choose to contact the Wizard Faction.
Just as Su Xiao was thinking about this, the communicator in his pocket rang. He answered it. Although the signal was poor due to the barrier, through the intermittent conversation, he learned one thing: the Guild Leader Poe Yeen had already dealt with the Indestructible Abyss Spawn. The other party was waiting for him in Giant Armor City near Sky City.
Upon receiving this news, Su Xiao no longer waited. He had just taken out the Book of Original Sin when invisible tentacles spread out from the opposite side. The Necronomicon had never acted according to Su Xiao's wishes. The current situation was that the Necronomicon had just been freed from its seal and wasn't ready to go back.
Seeing this, Su Xiao partially lifted the seals on the Collector, the Scarlet Scepter, and the Soul Crown, allowing them to temporarily break free from the Book of Original Sin.
Su Xiao roughly understood the relationships between these Original Sin Objects. If they were all sealed, it was fine. But if only the Necronomicon was outside, then upon encountering it, the Collector, the Scarlet Scepter, and the Soul Crown would be very willing to force the Necronomicon back into its seal.
After a moment of confrontation, the Original Sin Objects were bound by the seal and pulled back into the Book of Original Sin one by one. Su Xiao closed the Book of Original Sin. Witnessing all this, Seren finally understood why he only asked for one million Soul Coins. The Original Sin Object in the Ancient King City was the Necronomicon, which was sealed on the second page of the Book of Original Sin.
Su Xiao sat down on the crystal chair and pointed to the crystal chair opposite. Seren sat down with a slight smile on her face.
"Seren, what did you see?"
"I saw Mr. White Night pay a huge price to successfully seal an Original Sin Object."
"Oh? Don't you think that this Original Sin Object was originally sealed in the Book of Original Sin?"
"I never thought that!"
"Is that so..."
Su Xiao raised his hand, causing Seren's heart to stop for a moment. With her experience, she couldn't face death calmly.
Su Xiao reached out and grabbed at an empty space. With a crisp snap, he broke a karmic thread connected to Seren that was invisible to the naked eye.
After leaving the treasury, Su Xiao dispelled the barrier but found that the group of powerful figures from the Ancient King City who were here before had disappeared without a trace.
Leaving the royal hall in the central district, Su Xiao took a car to the vicinity of the great noble Shio's residence. Just as he arrived at the manor gate, he saw the great noble Shio with a warm smile on his face.
"Please come in."
The great noble Shio was all smiles. He already knew what had happened. After confirming with his subordinates that the Original Sin Object had disappeared, he was so happy he slapped his thigh and even wanted to laugh out loud.
Under the great noble Shio's enthusiastic invitation, Su Xiao came to the study on the third floor of the mansion. The great noble Shio across from him signaled a servant to pour tea while taking out the one million Soul Coin savings card from before, which was certified by the Void Tree.
"Mr. White Night, this remuneration..."
As the great noble Shio spoke, he pressed his hand on the savings card, making as if to push it in front of Su Xiao.
At the same time, a servant in a maid's outfit nearby gradually showed a strange smile on her face. A few decorative gems on her collar emitted a blazing red light. The manufacturing level of this explosive was quite high, on par with Su Xiao's. Although its explosion range was smaller than his, it was superior in concealment.
Su Xiao didn't attack the gems that were about to violently explode. From the explosion fluctuations, he estimated that the explosion range wouldn't be too large, but its power would be absolutely terrifying. He could withstand it, but the witch Seren beside him would definitely die. At this distance, it was fatal for a witch. In other words, this ambush was aimed at Seren, who had the ability to be reborn, and the great noble Shio, who represented the powerful figures of the Ancient King City.
Bang!
Several gems exploded simultaneously. Blazing red liquid splattered. In Su Xiao's perception, everything around him slowed down. He raised his hand and grabbed Seren's neck from the side. Starting from his hand, a crystal layer quickly enveloped Seren.
Boom!!
The explosion spread, forming a sphere that affected a one-kilometer radius. Then the sphere suddenly contracted, turning into a black core the size of a marble at the center. Then it expanded outward again, first a flame explosion, then a gravity explosion, then a space explosion. Each explosion impact had different characteristics.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The explosions layered upon each other. When the explosions ended, the surrounding space was full of cracks. An unknown type of flame ignited the spatial fragments, causing embers to fly everywhere. The chaotic gravity field churned due to the previous gravity explosion.
Crack~
The crystal layer cracked open. After Su Xiao let go, Seren fell to the ground with a thud. She half-rose, coughing repeatedly. When she recovered a bit, her pupils gradually contracted. There was no fear in her eyes, only ferocity, a determination to avenge this at all costs.
In the ruins, Su Xiao moved forward, searching. Soon, he found the tattered remains of the great noble Shio. That wasn't the key point. The one million Soul Coin savings card wouldn't have been destroyed by the explosion; it was certified by the Void Tree. That meant someone had taken his one million Soul Coin savings card during this explosion.
Blood smoke began to spread around. Behind Su Xiao, a faint blood beast materialized.
Nearby, Seren, who was thinking about how to get revenge, sensed the spreading blood smoke and saw the faint, massive blood beast behind Su Xiao. What made her feel even more creeped out was that amidst the flying embers, Su Xiao was expressionless, and a faint red light flickered in his pupils. This suddenly made Seren realize that the situation was very, very bad.