Chapter 27: Abyss Moonlight
Outer City of Twilight City, District 86.
This area was sparsely populated, at an altitude of about 800 meters. The soil was fertile and loose, with a high organic content. It was rainy but warm, and due to the terrain, it was not prone to waterlogging. Coupled with ample sunlight, District 86 was the main rubber-producing area of Twilight City.
In the evening, a vehicle drove along a dirt road lined with rubber trees on both sides. It startled large flocks of birds until, deep into the forest, a manor appeared in sight. The manor looked somewhat dilapidated, but as the largest raw rubber processing plant in District 86, its value was not something ordinary merchants could touch. This was one of the ancestral properties of the great noble Luciwa. Luciwa brought Su Xiao here not to show off his ancestral estate, but to retrieve a rare material called "Pure Gum," which was particularly interesting.
This rubber forest covered about 92,000 hectares. Under the constant illumination of the distorted sun over the years, such a vast rubber forest was bound to have mutated individuals. Most mutations were negative, but less than 0.1% of individuals would undergo a benign mutation. Such rubber trees were called Treasure Trees.
Once such a tree was discovered, all rubber trees within a 100-meter radius were cut down. Except for a limited dozen or so bird species, no living creature was allowed to approach freely. Five teams of guards took turns watching it 24 hours a day.
The rubber produced by these Treasure Trees was called "Concentrated Gum." It had extremely high viscosity and was resistant to corrosion, decay, and other properties. To put it simply, if two wooden boards were glued together with heated "Concentrated Gum," the strength of the bonded area would be many times higher than the original material.
This meant that the production of "Concentrated Gum" was always in short supply. What outsiders didn't know was that after collection, this material underwent an extraction process at the rubber estate. The extract was called "Pure Gum," a substance with absurdly high viscosity and toughness, and it also had permeability and assimilation properties.
Just a small bottle of "Pure Gum" mixed with bait could deal with a large group of dark creatures. The method was to throw the "Pure Gum," ensuring its container was shattered. The scent of the bait inside the "Pure Gum" would attract dark creatures. When the first dark creature swallowed it in one bite, its painful struggle would begin.
The assimilation property of "Pure Gum" would cause the blood of that dark creature to turn into "Pure Gum" and emit the scent of the bait, attracting more dark creatures. In no time, you would see a large group of dark creatures, some with their heads stuck, some with their mouths glued shut, constantly opening and closing their mouths, exercising their jaw muscles.
This stuff was much more effective than poison. Dark creatures weren't stupid; seeing a fellow creature die from poison would make them leave immediately. But seeing a fellow creature stuck and struggling comically, other dark creatures would only find it amusing. After mocking it, driven by curiosity and the scent of the bait, they would also try to take a bite.
The vehicle entered the manor. An old butler led many servants and workers to greet them. Seeing Luciwa, the old butler's wrinkled face broke into a smile. Understandably, with such an important property and Luciwa rarely being in Twilight City, he would naturally entrust it to his most trusted person.
Everyone got out of the car. When the old butler saw Luciwa's sister, the slacker girl Delona, his smile visibly stiffened. He wanted to say something to Luciwa but was stopped by Luciwa's gaze.
The slacker girl Delona acted as if she hadn't noticed anything. In reality, she was used to it. Compared to rumors from outsiders and malice from others, the estrangement from her family was a blade to the heart, hurting so much she dared not breathe deeply.
Everyone entered the warehouse and took the freight elevator down to the second underground floor. There, they found an underground platform with a single-carriage train parked there. The train was over 20 meters long in total. The front half consisted of braking devices, transmission mechanisms, etc. The entire locomotive looked like a monster with backward-curving horns. The rear half was the passenger carriage, 12 meters long and 5.2 meters wide, with four windows on each side. From the marks on the exterior, this train traveled through alternate spaces.
After entering the carriage, Su Xiao noticed that the windows on each side were made of special material with honeycomb-like grids. They were the same color as the interior walls normally. Pressing the switch next to the window caused the special glass to first show honeycomb-shaped grids, then gradually become transparent.
From the reflection angle, even when traveling through alternate spaces, one could see the natural scenery outside through spatial refraction, providing an experience similar to looking out the window of a normal train.
The interior of the carriage was larger than it appeared from the outside. On both sides were long seats against the walls, enough to seat over a dozen people without feeling crowded. Further inside was a square dining table with four seats around it. Beyond that was a door. Opening it revealed a bedroom of about ten square meters. In Luciwa's style, besides a single bed, a weapon rack was more conspicuous.
The reason Su Xiao observed this train in such detail was that it was actually an "Immortal Rank Special Tool" called the [Lord's Train]. It was built during the First Era by a great lord of the Eternal Light World, who commissioned the Stinthos Dwarves to create it.
The main material of the [Lord's Train] was Stinthos Metal, an alloy created by the Stinthos Dwarves. In the past, it was sold by the gram. Building such a train with Stinthos Metal was simply absurd to imagine.
Even more absurd was that the great lord originally wanted to build a total of twenty carriages, each with a different style, for a mobile travel train. But there simply wasn't enough Stinthos Metal. After persuasion from the Stinthos Dwarves, he settled for this more durable but single-carriage luxury train.
The core of this train was a modified Ninth Rank World Core. With the train's consumption rate, it could run for another 1.8 to 2 billion years without issue. However, this core was very afraid of long periods of inactivity. Since it hadn't been started for nearly an era, the power core had suffered severe depletion. Its remaining kinetic energy could probably maintain the [Lord's Train] at full speed for about 150 to 200 years.
The [Lord's Train] had three travel modes:
Mode 1: Natural Travel, meaning traveling under normal spatial conditions. It was smooth not only because of its composite suspension system but also because it crushed whatever it encountered.
Mode 2: Alternate Space Travel, where the entire train entered an alternate space for ultra-high-speed travel.
Mode 3: Alternate Space Overload Travel, where after entering alternate space, the power core was overloaded by 55% to 60% for maximum speed, approximately 29 to 30 times faster than Mode 2. After 60 minutes of overload, it was forced to switch to Mode 2. This state was prepared for escaping dangerous environments or being chased by a horde of enemies.
The train originally had other functions, but by now, only the main functions remained. Additionally, because this [Lord's Train] had been parked in the Abyss Spreading Zone for nearly an era, it had developed certain living characteristics under the invasion of Abyss energy.
The entire locomotive's exterior was all metal, but the interior was half-metal, half-biological. Metal flesh and neural tissue tightly wrapped around the kinetic core. This meant that the previous repair methods were no longer applicable to this [Lord's Train].
Speaking of which, the Law Destruction Faction also once had such a train, and it even had an additional "Realm Travel" function. After all, the Law Destruction Faction and the Stinthos Dwarves were blood-sworn allies, so such treatment was normal.
That train was eventually damaged beyond repair. It was said that after the Law Destruction Faction fell, the half-damaged train was auctioned off at a high price by a major shareholder of the Goblin Merchant Guild and placed in the main hall of the Goblin Vault, surrounded by barriers. The reason for this was that the train was being chased by a massive horde of Abyss Spawn emerging from a super-giant Abyss Passage when six Law Destroyers were dealing with it. The train was corroded and torn apart by the Abyss Spawn until only the front half remained. That time, the Law Destruction Faction almost faced annihilation.
Su Xiao sat down on the long seat of the [Lord's Train]. The great noble Luciwa took out a metal card-like train key and inserted it into the slot on the front interior. After receiving the destination coordinates in the form of a mental command, the train started.
Entering alternate space, the train passed through walls. When the wheels were level with the ground, as if traveling on the surface, the [Lord's Train] suddenly accelerated. However, inside the carriage, Su Xiao didn't feel strong braking force. It felt like sitting on a train traveling through the wilderness.
Although Su Xiao had the Law-Destroying Teleportation Array, its limitations were considerable. For example, it could only go to places where spatial coordinates had been set, and some areas were difficult to establish spatial coordinates, like the ancient high tower he had visited before.
If he had an Immortal Rank vehicle, it would make things more convenient in the task world and even increase total gains by 20% to 30%. With the speed of the [Lord's Train], it could save a lot of travel time. Moreover, this thing didn't need supervision. As long as he held the train key, he could summon it from any area except "high-risk zones."
"The Black Mist Island only appears at night. Calculating the time, we should arrive at the area where the World Giant roams around 9 o'clock."
Luciwa took a swig of Elemental Brew from the bottle. As a heavy-armored warrior-type powerhouse who frequented the Lightless Zone, how could he not love alcohol?
"What? Got your eye on my train?"
"Yes."
"Name your price."
Su Xiao took out the [Star Core Stone], which he had obtained in the Root Dead Silence City. He had originally discussed with Wood and Zuiyasi about using this treasure, which could enhance the talent abilities of younger generations from various races, to make a profit. Later, after research by the Ancient God scholars on Zuiyasi's side, it turned out to be unfeasible. Su Xiao could use the [Star Core Stone] to increase the upper limit of his talent ability's intensity, but that didn't mean others could.
To be more precise, forget about using it for the younger generation. Except for a very few factions with powerful inheritance systems, no one really dared to try using this thing. Its dark characteristics were too intense. If Su Xiao didn't have the Blade Demon Spirit, he would have a hard time withstanding its enhancement.
Speaking of dark characteristics, the members of the Hunting Group, who had been exploring the Lightless Zone for years and were on the verge of losing control or mutating from darkness erosion, really didn't care about sinking deeper into darkness. As for the dark source needed to activate the [Star Core Stone], the Lightless Zone had no shortage of high-concentration dark characteristic energy. If not, they could use Abyss energy.
Compared to the Soul Academy and the various God Cults, the Hunting Group of Twilight City was a group of true madmen. Everyone in the Hunting Group believed one thing: the Blood Night that caused them to lose all their loved ones must have originated from the "Lightless Zone." Even if they turned into out-of-control monsters one day, they would not stop their march toward the "Lightless Zone."
Looking at the [Star Core Stone] in Su Xiao's hand, Luciwa couldn't deny he was tempted. But this train was too important to him. It was like his partner. "Take that thing away. Don't let me see it."
Luciwa drank gloomily.
"Not trading?"
"Would you trade your follower for a treasure?"
Su Xiao didn't speak. It was a question that didn't need an answer. He tossed the [Star Core Stone] in his hand to Luciwa. The latter caught it, and due to the exaggerated weight of the [Star Core Stone], his hand dipped slightly, and he looked surprised.
"You can't force a trade."
"This thing is useless to me."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, Luciwa's eyes lit up. He said with a smile, "So, you're giving this to me?"
"Lend it to you for a few days. Return it before I leave this world."
"This... for no reason, I feel a bit embarrassed."
Although Luciwa said this, he had already stood up and locked the [Star Core Stone] in a safe.
"Let this Star Core Stone absorb as much darkness as possible. Only then will it have value to me."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, Luciwa understood. An activated and repeatedly used [Star Core Stone] would temporarily become a high-tier "Dark Matter Characteristic" Curio. The usage range of such curios was still quite broad.
Using the [Star Core Stone] this way would lower its value somewhat, but it was still better than having no use at all.
The train traveled at ultra-high speed. Looking at the wilderness scenery through the window, it wasn't blurred by the extreme speed. Su Xiao took out the "Moon Eclipse Imprint" from his storage space. This was an energy imprint. After absorbing it, as long as he touched the "Black Blade: Wild Starving Wolf," he could fully activate this blade and use it.
Su Xiao didn't plan to use the "Black Blade: Wild Starving Wolf" as a secondary weapon. His style was to face powerful enemies head-on. Even when he fought to the death with the High Tower Knight Commander, he didn't choose to avoid the enemy's edge. The characteristics of the "Black Blade: Wild Starving Wolf" leaned toward flowing darkness.
The reason Black Moon Wolf Hilaibuch was called the most special Moon Wolf was his unique hunting style. Other Moon Wolves, when encountering "Abyss Spawn," would calmly walk up, draw their greatswords, and unleash full moonlight. Black Moon Wolf Hilaibuch, on the other hand, would first ambush and backstab before fighting head-on.
His weapon naturally matched his style. The "Black Blade: Wild Starving Wolf" looked like a large blade, but it had no fixed form. When fully activated, the "Black Blade: Wild Starving Wolf" was a mass of black semi-fluid. It could take any form. "Black Blade" was its external name; "Wild Starving Wolf" was its essence, like a lone starving wolf on the wasteland, stopping at nothing to hunt and fill its belly.
This weapon was more suitable for Baha. Su Xiao handed the "Moon Eclipse Imprint" to Baha and took out the "Black Blade: Wild Starving Wolf." Baha's eagle claw grasped the imprint and absorbed it. The next second, the "Black Blade: Wild Starving Wolf" turned into a semi-fluid and surged toward Baha.
Black metal clung to Baha's claws and feathers, making each feather seem metallic. Rather than clinging, it was more like a reinforcement that merged into the feather's surface. What was more enhanced were Baha's eagle claws. Under his control, the claws instantly transformed into weapons with internal blades, combining piercing and cutting.
The "Black Blade: Wild Starving Wolf" had a higher compatibility with Baha than expected. The most powerful aspect of this weapon was that it would have different abilities for different users. Of course, this required its recognition; otherwise, even with the "Moon Eclipse Imprint," it couldn't be used.
One more thing: the "Black Blade: Wild Starving Wolf" was not created by Black Moon Wolf Hilaibuch. That was a false rumor.
It was Black Moon Wolf Hilaibuch who obtained the "Black Blade: Wild Starving Wolf" and gained its high recognition. Assuming the recognition level of the "Black Blade: Wild Starving Wolf" for Black Moon Wolf Hilaibuch was 100/100 points, its current recognition for Baha was about 85/100 points.
Su Xiao tried to check the weapon's attributes, which were:
[Night Howl: Wild Starving Wolf]
Origin: Abyss Erosion Zone, Fifth Forge, Drifting Elder.
Quality: Special.
Category: Weapon.
Durability: 480/1000 points.
Note: Due to the special nature of Wild Starving Wolf, its durability will be consumed at 50 times the normal rate.
Equipment Requirement: Recognition of Wild Starving Wolf.
Equipment Effect 1: Dangerous Gamble (Core Passive): Wild Starving Wolf's durability is a constant 1000 points. This characteristic cannot be changed in any way. The lower the weapon's durability, the higher its activity, resulting in higher attack power.
Bonus Ratio: Increases weapon attack power by 0.5% of the current lost durability.
Note: When this weapon's durability drops to 0 points, it will not be destroyed but will transfer into the owner's body, recovering durability by absorbing blood until durability exceeds 10%.
Note: Wild Starving Wolf's blood absorption will definitely not cause the owner's death. When the owner's health drops below 2 points, Wild Starving Wolf will stop absorbing blood on its own.
Equipment Effect 2: Demon Eagle Power (Core Passive): When you break stealth and attack an enemy's nape, this attack will deal base damage + 10% of the enemy's maximum health as "True Fatal Damage."
Note: If the enemy's "True Stamina" attribute is lower than your "True Agility" attribute, this attack will carry a "Strong Instant Death" effect.
Note: The "Strong Instant Death" effect is an instant death effect without judgment.
Note: Lord-level, Overlord-level, and World-Destroying-level enemies will not be affected by the "Strong Instant Death" caused by this ability, but will fully take 1% of their maximum health as "True Fatal Damage."
Description: Black feathers hidden in darkness, gliding silently. The enemy can only tremble in fear within their nest. When you break through the darkness and deliver a fatal blow, the enemy will let out a silent night howl before death.
Price: Cannot be sold, transferred, discarded, etc., after use. Will definitely drop upon death.
Baha's assassination ability had made a qualitative leap, especially the bonus "If the enemy's 'True Stamina' attribute is lower than your 'True Agility' attribute, this attack will carry a 'Strong Instant Death' effect." Although this characteristic was useless against big bosses, the "10% of maximum health as True Fatal Damage" made Baha one of the main damage dealers when fighting powerful enemies.
Just then, the train stopped. Outside the window, it was pitch black. Unbeknownst to them, the [Lord's Train] had carried everyone to the northwest of the "Undercity" in the Northern Continent. This was a pure black land hundreds of kilometers from the "Ancient High Tower." Looking out, there were no trees, not even a blade of grass on the ground.
The Blood Moon hung in the sky. The Blood Night outside hadn't affected the interior of the [Lord's Train], showing that this train was still a mobile shelter with strong concealment. Even if discovered, the body made of Stinthos Metal provided strong protection. Plus, as a train, its travel speed was its strongest point.
"So, what do you think of my train?"
Luciwa spoke with a smile. This was purely a boast between friends.
"Not bad."
Su Xiao didn't say much. Seeing this, Luciwa took out a communication device, contacted his subordinates, and based on the coordinates they provided, began marking on a map. After a moment, he said, "According to the patterns we've summarized, the World Giant will pass through this area tonight. When it does, climb up the chains hanging from the Black Mist Island. I'll wait for you on the train."
Luciwa wasn't afraid of death. He didn't board the Black Mist Island because he had a grudge with the island's owner. Five of the owner's eight eyes had been shattered by him.
After waiting in the train for two hours, a vibration came.
Thump, thump.
The water in the cup on the table rippled. Su Xiao looked out the window and saw a towering figure between heaven and earth striding forward. Each step took several minutes, but each step covered a great distance.
With his eyesight, Su Xiao could see the figure's head and shoulders above the night clouds. The World Giant wore a metal hood with chains attached. These chains weren't thick for the World Giant, but each chain was over a hundred meters wide and tens of thousands of meters long, some even longer, dragging on the ground and stretching far behind.
Several long spikes pierced through the World Giant's chest and abdomen. The ends of the spikes were also connected to chains. Moreover, the World Giant showed signs of decay. The flesh on its right lower ribs had dried up, revealing gray-white ribs.
Most noticeable was the island carried on the World Giant's right shoulder. This forced it to tilt its head and raise its right arm. Careful observation revealed that the bottom of this island, which emitted black mist, had giant metal spikes. These black spikes were deeply embedded in the World Giant's shoulder, further securing the Black Mist Island to prevent it from falling off.
The train door opened. Su Xiao, Bubu Wang, and Baha got off. The World Giant under the Blood Moon had already moved far away. Baha flew up. After a moment, Su Xiao activated the Law-Destroying Teleportation Array under his feet.
When the spatial cracks around him healed, Su Xiao was already on the Black Mist Island, tens of thousands of meters high. Standing on the island, there was no expected sense of swaying. The entire island remained motionless. Black mist swirled around, with faint whispers mixed in.
Su Xiao stepped forward. The black mist ahead grew thicker. A sticky squelching sound came. A slightly bitter smell spread in the air, yet it made one feel refreshed. This was actually an illusion. It was a biological hallucinogenic mist that made people extremely excited, causing physical actions to outpace mental thinking—in other words, acting without thinking.
Su Xiao took a sealed bottle from Bubu Wang's backpack and threw it into the darkness. Then he took out an ordinary silver coin. With a *ding*, the coin flew in a trajectory, shattering the sealed bottle. The "Pure Gum" mixed with bait scattered down.
The squelching sound in the black mist ahead intensified. Su Xiao scattered a handful of powder and flicked another coin coated with phosphorus. Friction with the air caused the coin to drag a few sparks, igniting the powder he had just thrown. With a *whoosh*, a blood-red flame rose, dispersing the surrounding black mist.
In the perforated air, countless black worms were ahead, too many to count. The space in this area looked like cheese severely infested by insects.
The "Pure Gum" mixed with bait was highly effective. Before long, the black worms ahead formed a giant ball. Su Xiao bypassed this ball and proceeded according to the map's direction.
This map was naturally provided by Luciwa. The Hunting Group had naturally explored places like the Black Mist Island. However, the exploration of the Black Mist Island years ago had cost the Hunting Group dearly.
The owner of this island, the Shadow Spawn, was indeed not to be trifled with. After Luciwa and the Shadow Spawn left each other with unforgettable "souvenirs," although both held grudges, they tacitly chose not to provoke each other in the future.
The problem now was that Su Xiao didn't sense the presence of the island owner, the Shadow Spawn. Was it not on the Black Mist Island? The answer was, of course not.
The Shadow Spawn was in the black mist, but upon sensing the aura of a Law Destroyer, it chose to hide. The reason was that during the Second Era, it had been caught by two previous Law Destroyers who came to pay respects at the Wolf Tomb. Unfortunately, one of those Law Destroyers was named Mawen Hua'erzi. Even more unfortunately, the other Law Destroyer was named... Green Gillian.
Pain. This was too painful. So painful that after nearly an era, the Shadow Spawn's first reaction upon sensing a Law Destroyer was not to gauge the opponent's strength, but to quickly hide.
Passing through layers of black mist, Su Xiao's front suddenly opened up. This was near the center of the Black Mist Island. There was no black mist above, only a sky full of stars. Even under the Blood Moon's illumination, there was a hint of cyan moonlight, shining on graves with wolf swords planted in front of them.
There were hundreds of graves here. It seemed the Moon Wolves had a custom: after death, their kin would send them back to their homeland to rest.
Su Xiao took out the [Soul Remnant of the Abyss Watcher] and used the Silver Moon Blade to cut open the container of this soul remnant. The soul remnant scattered. Then, streaks of silver moonlight floated out from each grave, all converging toward the Silver Moon Blade and merging into it.
Bubu Wang always had great respect for the Moon Wolves. At this moment, he was placing fresh meat in front of each wolf sword.
Hum~
The Silver Moon Blade floating in mid-air emitted a pleasant hum. After absorbing all the silver moonlight, this special equipment fell into Su Xiao's hand.
[Silver Moon Blade]
Origin: Overlord Creature, Silver Moon Wolf.
Quality: Overlord Rank.
Category: Secondary Equipment.
Durability: 5/5 points.
Equipment Requirement: After using this equipment, there is a chance of Moon Wolf transformation during combat (Moon Wolf transformation will be subject to energy invasion).
Note: Due to the Hunter's personal reasons, this effect is permanently invalid.
Equipment Effect: Silver Moonlight (Active). Use this blade to cut your palm. If the equipment requirement is met, you will not take substantial damage, and will unleash moonlight radiance. You will receive one of the following four bonuses at random.