Chapter 54: Preparation
If life had a chance for a redo, Yuyuna would never again take a shortcut through an alley just to get home faster for dinner, and she would never again like the color orange. If she could turn this crisis around, the first thing she would do is replace all her orange cups, bedsheets, and so on.
After 'enjoying' the slight jolts of the trunk, Yuyuna felt herself being carried in the large orange cloth sack. After a few more moments of bumpy descent down stairs, the sack was untied. She was bound to a wooden chair, and the blindfold was pulled from her eyes. Somewhat harsh light entered her vision, making her instinctively turn her head.
What came into view was a group of black-clad figures in combat suits, various racks of technological weapons, and a map hanging on the wall. What made Yuyuna's pupils contract sharply was the red circle drawn on the map, clearly marking the Southern District's "Transcendent Material Exchange." As the city lord's secretary, Yuyuna naturally knew the weight of that exchange.
Just then, all the black-clad figures in the room stopped what they were doing and respectfully bowed to the approaching figure—one person, one dog, and one minotaur. A demon hawk swooped down and landed on the newcomer's shoulder. Yuyuna recognized this person, of course, because it was he who had ordered her to be tied up twice in three days.
After Su Xiao sat down opposite Yuyuna, he opened his task list, found the "Side Mission: Dark Invasion," and selected Submit.
[Tip: The faction unit of the mission you submitted has refused to participate in this notarization. Without both parties participating in the notarization, the mission cannot be submitted.]
Seeing this prompt, Su Xiao was silent for two seconds, then picked up the sheathed Dragon-Slaying Flash. The long blade slid from its scabbard and rested against Yuyuna's pale neck.
[You have successfully submitted Side Mission: Dark Invasion.]
[You have received 1,500,000 Moon Silver Coins.]
...
150,000 Soul Coins in hand. Although Blazing Sun Star had many powerful enemies, the corresponding income channels were also numerous. Su Xiao estimated that as long as he completed the final stage of this main mission, the resources he obtained would be enough to elevate himself to the absolute limit before advancing to Supreme.
The problem was, the better the foundation laid before advancing to Supreme, the more resources would be needed after advancing, and the higher the ceiling would be after reaching Supreme.
To make a data comparison, if one advanced to Supreme with the lowest foundation, the required resource amount would be 5. To advance with the highest foundation, the required resource amount would be 3000 to 3500.
Yes, it was that absurd. For this reason, some Supremes, after advancing, would reach the early Supreme stage and then hit the end of their combat power, while others could reach "Top Supreme," "Super-Top Supreme," or even "Supreme Peak."
Su Xiao had an ultimate enemy, the Supreme Being, so he had to break through to Supreme at the most extreme limit; otherwise, the final battle against the Supreme Being would be his death sentence.
The gains on Blazing Sun Star this time were significant, but not enough. Su Xiao picked up a communicator nearby, signaled Amu to untie Yuyuna, and handed the communicator to her. Initially, the anxious Yuyuna didn't want to take it, but after noticing the increasingly unfriendly gazes from Baha, Amu, and the dozen or so combat suit black-clad figures around, she accepted the communicator.
Su Xiao spoke, "Contact Charin. Tell her that someone is planning to rob the underground material exchange."
"?"
Yuyuna's clear eyes showed genuine confusion. For a moment, she was completely lost about the current situation. However, under Amu's 'persuasion,' she dialed the communicator.
"Beautiful lady, look this way."
Hearing this, Yuyuna instinctively looked toward the source of the sound. She saw a demonic figure wearing a deep purple fitted suit, with a skull for a head, studded with rice-sized black gems, and deep, burning flames in the eye sockets of the skull.
Snap~
Wood snapped his fingers, causing Yuyuna's vision to go dark before returning to normal. The demonic figure had disappeared. Around her were still the dozen or so black-clad figures, the Law Destroyer sitting across from her, and the minotaur holding a battle axe, watching her menacingly.
Yuyuna instinctively took the communicator Su Xiao handed her. After dialing, the voice of City Lord Charin came through:
"Who?"
"It's... me."
"If it's not urgent, handle it tomorrow. The anomalies in Twilight City today are giving me a headache."
"Actually... it's like this. I received news that someone is going to rob the Southern District's underground material exchange."
Hearing this, City Lord Charin on the other end was silent for a few seconds, then her tone was no longer lazy. "Where did you get this news?"
Holding the communicator, Yuyuna tentatively looked at Su Xiao across from her. When he gave no indication, she said weakly, "The Law Destroyer, Bai Ye, told me."
Upon hearing this, Charin was silent for at least half a minute, then asked in a deep voice, "Where is he?"
"He's... across from me."
Saying this, Yuyuna almost burst into tears on the spot.
"..."
Charin was silent again on the communicator. This time, after about 5 seconds, she said, "So, Yuyuna, you've been kidnapped."
"Mm!"
Yuyuna's eyes glistened with tears.
"Tell me the reason. Why did he kidnap you?"
"To... to submit a mission."
"Hm?"
Charin's 'Hm?' carried five parts suspicion, three parts surprise, and two parts disbelief.
"Yuyuna, tell them, as long as you can come back safely, they can name their conditions, but if..."
Boom!
An explosion came from the communicator, followed by signal interference. This made Yuyuna freeze for a moment, then her pupils violently contracted as she looked at Su Xiao. She saw that in Su Xiao's hand was something like a detonator.
The sounds of flesh and bone being hacked from the communicator, along with Charin's agonized groans before death, violently stimulated Yuyuna's emotions. Bloodshot veins gradually appeared in her eyes. Her outer clothing ignited and fell off due to the high temperature of her body. The exposed arms and shoulders showed veins as prominent as flowing magma. A power from deep within her bloodline awakened.
"Ah!!"
Yuyuna's soulful wail sent waves of heat rippling outward. Whether it was the black-clad figures, Baha, or Amu, they were all turned to ashes by the heat wave. Only Bubu Wang was unharmed. It seemed that in Yuyuna's heart, Bubu Wang was the only good person—no, good dog—in Su Xiao's team.
With a bang, the air surged. Yuyuna charged in front of Su Xiao. Her right arm turned blazing red, as if she had awakened all the power in her bloodline at that moment. Her speed was so fast that the 'Su Xiao' sitting on the wooden chair had no time to react.
Bang~!
The pain in her fist instantly cleared Yuyuna's eyes. The surrounding scene, like a mirror world, cracked and shattered. The fist she had thrown did not hit Su Xiao but the center of the biological ring lock on the treasure vault door.
"Beep~, Biological recognition passed. You have permission to enter."
The circular main door of the vault ahead opened to both sides, revealing a brightly lit metal corridor with white lights. Yuyuna blinked and looked to her right. There was Su Xiao, expressionless, one hand resting on the end of his sheathed sword, Baha crouching on his shoulder, and several black-clad figures holding various instantaneous tranquilizer guns. The scene of City Lord Charin's death and the awakening of bloodline power were all illusions.
Yuyuna looked to her left. There was the demonic figure she had seen once before but then forgotten, and a man in black-and-white clerical robes, casually holding a tranquilizer gun. He was nonchalantly pulling the trigger. Leaning against the wall, already looking like a pincushion, was the treasure vault guard captain. Every time he tried to get up, another tranquilizer dart would hit him, causing him to collapse again.
As for why they used Bubu Wang's specially made tranquilizer guns, breaking into the underground exchange and charging into the underground exchange were two different concepts. The latter, though causing heavy losses, gave Twilight City a final shred of dignity. But if they had killed their way into the underground exchange, City Lord Charin would have had no other choice, or the major merchant guilds of Twilight City would have joined forces to try to impeach her.
The vault opened, revealing rows upon rows of shelves. Yuyuna raised her hand, and the demon spirit black mist clinging to her body gradually peeled off and returned to Dragon-Slaying Flash.
"Look who's here."
Baha pointed a wing toward the entrance of the corridor. Yuyuna looked over. The next second, Su Xiao raised his tranquilizer gun and shot Yuyuna.
"Huh?"
Yuyuna only had time to let out a surprised sound before she collapsed. Although Bubu Wang called these weapons "tranquilizer guns," they didn't rely on drugs. They used neuro-electrical pulse stimulation. Upon being hit, the target's muscles would first tense and stiffen, then the bioelectric current pulse would temporarily anesthetize the central nervous system.
Theoretically, after being hit by this weapon, the speed of losing the ability to resist was 0.2 to 0.5 seconds faster than being shot in the head. Moreover, the sound of the enemy falling was very small. The principle was that after being stimulated by the bioelectric pulse, the creature's central nervous system wasn't completely anesthetized but gradually entered a protective forced hibernation.
Because of this self-protective nature, the hit person wouldn't fall straight down with a thud or a bang of their head hitting the ground. Instead, they would lean on whatever they could and collapse softly, perfectly avoiding any noise when falling.
It could be said that Bubu Wang was a genius dog at designing non-lethal weapons. For example, the main weapon of its shooting robot dog, Little B, the "Foot Massager," fired highly tracking bullets. The pulse circuit on the bullet would detect and track the unique bioelectric resonance frequency of the target's foot nerves.
This allowed the bullet to burrow into the ground after being fired, fly out from underground to hit the enemy's sole, and the sonic vibration bomb would explode just before embedding into the enemy's foot. Through ultra-frequency vibration, it would damage the bone stability of the enemy's lower limbs, causing fractures, joint damage, and other injuries.
Simply put, after a few tracking shots from the robot dog Little B, the enemy wouldn't be able to get up. While others designed non-lethal weapons to hit legs or arms, this happy-go-lucky Bubu Wang specialized in hitting the soles of the feet.
Besides that, there was the "Go to Sleep Nice and Sound" series used this time, and the temporarily un-deployed "Flash Explosion Titanium Alloy Dog Eyes" series, "Cat Starer Kryptonite," "Butt Buster," "Voice Tracking Butt-Must-Hit Brain Control Arrow," "Milk Tea Buster," "Slipper Destroyer," and so on.
The timer in Su Xiao's hand clicked and ticked. According to Wood's calculation, in at most 6 minutes and 20 seconds, the city guard of Twilight City would come storming in.
Don't confuse the city guard with the peacekeepers. The city guard was responsible for defending the high wall fortifications of Twilight City. The so-called high wall fortifications were walls that enveloped all of Twilight City, including the surrounding farmland and pastures. Every night, when darkness and blood rain descended, it was a test for the city guards on those walls.
Inside the vault, hundreds of rows of shelves were filled with various types of transcendent materials. Each row was nearly a hundred meters long, and each shelf had 300 to 700 small barriers. Violently destroying the barriers would certainly destroy the transcendent materials inside.
Su Xiao's solution to this was "Kaisa/10%." The so-called "Kaisa/10%" meant that if Kaisa could take all these transcendent materials in a short time, he would get a 10% share.
"Cough!"
Kaisa, walking with a rooster-like strut, cleared his throat and signaled Su Xiao, Wood, and Zuiyasi to all step aside. It was his time to shine.
Kaisa arrived at the core of the barrier. He cleared his throat a few more times to prepare, and then he...
"Her~ ptooey!"
A glob of phlegm landed right on the barrier's core. Su Xiao, Zuiyasi, and Wood saw the barrier core visibly tremble. A snake-like spirit entity emerged from it, its pained retching expression perfectly conveying its current mood.
Seeing this barrier spirit that had reached the level of being a sentient being, Kaisa's eyes lit up. He pulled out the Ouroboros Stone Tablet—or rather, the tablet with the raised Ouroboros pattern now shattered. With a wet smack, he slapped the tablet onto the barrier spirit, absorbing it. It was ridiculous to say, but such a ritual for subduing a spirit should have been high-end, cool, and handsome. But when it came to Kaisa, it was like slapping a mud pie on a toad—just a wet smack and it was done.
Before long, a new version of the Ouroboros Stone Tablet appeared. Compared to the previous generation's wish-granting function, this generation had a spell-form characteristic. Who knew how long this generation's Ouroboros Stone Tablet could withstand Kaisa's abuse.
A "Law-Destroying Teleportation Array" formed under Su Xiao's feet. With a booming explosion, everyone present disappeared, leaving only rows of shelves knocked over by the spatial shockwave.
Thump! Thump! Thump!!
The city guards violently broke down the doors and entered. After a moment, they cleared a path. Since it was already night, City Lord Charin, wearing a black wool coat and holding a little girl's hand, walked into the vault.
Seeing the chaotic scene inside, Charin's expression turned somewhat ugly. The only reason she could still suppress her anger was that no one in the underground exchange had been injured during this heist. In a sense, the other party had given her face, but not completely.
The little girl let go of Charin's hand, caught a piece of teleportation array crystal debris floating in the air, and then, with a face so cute it was almost ridiculous, she opened her mouth wide—wide enough to be somewhat terrifying—tilted her head back, swallowed the crystal shard, gulped it down, and savored it.
"Give me your opinion."
City Lord Charin spoke, but the little girl raised her hand, signaling Charin not to disturb her. After a moment, she slowly exhaled and said, "Congratulations, you've welcomed a Law Destroyer."
"Congratulations?"
Charin's eyes showed displeasure. Clearly, this wasn't the answer she wanted.
"You should be grateful that it's not the Second Era's ancestral Law Destroyers who have come. Overall, Law Destroyers can bring a salvation-like rescue, but this process... hehe, you won't like it too much. You might even grit your teeth. After all, the conduct of these guys is really hard to describe. But what's certain is that the Law Destruction Faction has indeed come to save you from the darkness. This has been verified by too many worlds."
After saying this, the little girl looked at Charin. Noticing her extremely ugly expression, a hint of mockery appeared in the little girl's eyes. This was her favorite time for enjoyment—seeing Charin suffer and be depressed was her greatest joy.
"But speaking of which, Charin, how long do you plan to keep me here? It's truly a miracle. You, who aren't even a transcendent, possess a will comparable to a Supreme. Indeed, will is a powerful weapon."
Saying this, the little girl spread her arms, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath, as if carefully sensing something. She continued, "If I'm not mistaken, my two sisters have awakened, and... Father is about to awaken as well. Darkness... will inevitably invade. Even the seal keeper of the six original sins is no match for Father. The darkness of the Abyss will devour everything, returning the Star Realm to its original darkness—a cool, quiet darkness."
At this point, the little girl opened her eyes, the whites and pupils both turning pitch black. Deer-like, woody, branching horns sprouted from her head.
...
Twilight City, Outer City, District 105.
This was a ranch district under the Luxiva family. For this reason, the Luxiva family was the wealthiest old noble faction in Twilight City. Just thinking about it, a family owning an entire district wasn't something that could be achieved with money or hereditary titles alone; it required strength.
Luxiva himself was a peak Absolute Strong combatant, and his hunting group was a symbol of strength. Coupled with the support of many old nobles, if he were a Sun God Clan member, he might have been the next Blazing Sun King.
By the pool of Fengshui Manor, Luxiva, wearing a floral shirt and shorts, lay sprawled on a beach chair, taking a small sip of chilled sweet wine from his own vineyard. He let out a comfortable long sigh. Interestingly, while the old nobles used to indulge in pleasure, Luxiva was leading his men in the lightless zone, fighting desperately for opportunities. Now, while the old nobles in the inner city were struggling desperately, Luxiva appeared incredibly relaxed.
Boom!
A muffled sound came from the backyard. Luxiva was startled. Realizing what it was, he just muttered something. As a great noble, Luxiva was like this. Although he didn't usually show it, there was a pride in his bones. If he thought highly of someone, anything was fine. If he didn't think highly of them, he couldn't be bothered to pay them any attention. Interestingly, although Luxiva had only known Su Xiao for a short time, in the heart of this hunting group leader, Su Xiao was definitely an old friend.
Luxiva looked toward the direction of the inner city. The sun in the sky no longer had a platinum-like radiance. Its color was too deep, even somewhat dark red, combined with the faintly darkening sky. The feeling of an impending catastrophe was extremely strong.
Luxiva downed the wine in his cup in one gulp and let out a long breath. At this moment, he deeply admired the Eyeless Sage of the Great Library. That old monster had, years ago, started having his sages and scholars hire workers to build underground fortresses in various districts of the outer city. Now, these underground fortresses were the only chance for the commoners of Twilight City to survive. Luxiva even felt that the Eyeless Sage had long known that the current scene would unfold.
Twilight City was gradually being eroded by the distorted sun. However, this process would take at least 2 to 3 days to reach its peak. For Su Xiao, this was the last chance before the final battle of this world.
In the backyard of the manor, a three-story building that had been cleared out, on the second floor.
The floor was covered with various spell-form diagrams. After Su Xiao confirmed that these diagrams were correct, he went down to the first floor. Because of the guests he was about to meet, Kaisa had to temporarily avoid them.
Knock, knock, knock~
The door was knocked on. When it opened, a meticulously and formally dressed goblin merchant stood outside. Yes, Su Xiao had contacted the Goblin Merchant Guild.
Creating an artificial "Sun Source Stone" indeed required a large amount of transcendent materials, but not just any materials would do. They needed materials with fire, blazing sun, high tolerance/inertness, and strong compatibility.
By contacting the Goblin Merchant Guild, he could trade the materials he had obtained that he couldn't use at a 2.5:1 ratio, thereby obtaining a large amount of the required materials. This exchange seemed somewhat disadvantageous, but one must not forget that these materials had not been notarized. After deducting the notarization fee, the exchange ratio was about 1.2:1, which meant it wasn't a loss at all.
As for why the Goblin Merchant Guild was so conscientious this time, thanks were due to Kaisa. With Kaisa's consent, Su Xiao provided the Goblin Merchant Guild with Kaisa's recent activity trajectory, such as his visit to the Witch Realm.
The Goblin Merchant Guild, which hated Kaisa to the point of being beside themselves, might have already sent people to the Witch Realm. To ensure the information was accurate, Su Xiao prepared to sign a contract with the Goblin Merchant Guild as a guarantee. However, the Goblin Merchant Guild politely but firmly declined, stating that they greatly trusted Su Xiao's reputation as a Law Destroyer.
Clearly, between the "reputation of a Law Destroyer" and "Bai Ye's contract," the Goblin Merchant Guild preferred to believe in the former.
After seeing off the goblin merchant, Su Xiao went up to the second floor and took out various materials from his storage space. Kaisa appeared, rubbing his hands together. The other two 'good teammates' were also ready.
The diagram for the artificial "Sun Source Stone" was activated. Su Xiao, Zuiyasi, Wood, and Kaisa each used their own methods. Su Xiao, proficient in diagram studies, was responsible for stabilizing the diagram. Kaisa enhanced the diagram. Zuiyasi slowed down the diagram's existence time, extending the diagram, which would normally collapse and dissipate in 0.15 seconds, to last continuously.
More specifically, Zuiyasi stopped the diagram's existence time, extending the diagram that could only exist for 0.15 seconds to last for several days.
Wood, using his trickster methods, continuously enhanced and amplified the upper limit of the diagram's effect.
An hour later, accompanied by a humming sound, the first "Sun Source Stone" was formed. However, unlike the previously obtained golden-red "Sun Source Stone," this "Sun Source Stone" appeared dark red. The reason was that this world no longer had pure sun power, only the distorted sun power after extreme Abyss enhancement.
No matter how one looked at it, this "Special Sun Source Stone" couldn't be used directly. But one must not forget one point: ultimately, the purpose of creating the "Sun Source Stone" was for the "Sun Lord" title to absorb it, allowing the "Sun Lord" to absorb the final "Blazing Sun Blood" and form a more powerful [God Clan Holy Emblem].
Since this world no longer had pure sun power, only distorted sun power, could one change the approach? For example, after absorbing these "Special Sun Source Stones," the resulting [God Clan Holy Emblem] would have usage requirements. This would perfectly solve the side effects.
Many people believed that absorbing Abyss power could quickly grant strength, albeit with high risk. Actually, that wasn't the case. Anyone who sought power through Abyss power would inevitably pay a price, just that some costs couldn't be seen immediately.
Su Xiao was not going to absorb Abyss energy. Barring unforeseen circumstances, he would never do so. But using distorted sun power as the "main material" to form a "Special Sun Source Stone," and then using the "Sun Lord" title to absorb these "Special Sun Source Stones" to form a stronger [God Clan Holy Emblem]—after this roundabout process, it would be relatively safe.
However, this wasn't safe enough. If a prerequisite was set for the [God Clan Holy Emblem], it would be completely safe. For example, after absorbing one "Special Sun Source Stone," the final [God Clan Holy Emblem] would require the user to have at least 5 points of Abyss Resistance to meet the usage prerequisite.
Currently, Su Xiao's Abyss Resistance was 93 points. This meant he could use the "Sun Lord" title to absorb 18 "Special Sun Source Stones," ultimately obtaining a [God Clan Holy Emblem] that required 90 points of Abyss Resistance to be eligible for use.
Su Xiao flipped through the prompt records. Before long, he found the previous prompt about the [God Clan Holy Emblem], which read:
[God Clan Holy Emblem (??-Rank · One-Time Enhancement Item): When you use this holy emblem, your body will be greatly nourished for the next 10 natural days. True Strength, True Agility, True Stamina, True Intelligence, True Charm +85 points. Current health increased by 15%, current mana increased by 10%. If you face death, you will not die completely. After a 30-minute feigned death, you will regain vitality due to the "Warm Sunshine" effect. Damaged body parts will gradually regenerate until your health recovers to 30% (This effect can only be activated once per person in their lifetime).]
There were a total of 32 "Sun Source Stones" in this world. As long as he won the upcoming final battle, Su Xiao had over a 90% chance of obtaining all the "Sun Source Stones" in this world.
If, on this basis, he also had the "Sun Lord" absorb 18 "Special Sun Source Stones," totaling 50 "Sun Source Stones," then what level would this [God Clan Holy Emblem] reach?
Su Xiao looked at a "Special Sun Source Stone" held between his index and middle fingers. This opportunity gave him a feeling of having a chance to become the strongest Absolute Strong.
Just then, the door was knocked on. Luxiva pushed it open and, upon seeing the "Special Sun Source Stone" between Su Xiao's fingers, was slightly stunned. He asked, "What's this?"
"An artificial Sun Source Stone."
"?"
Luxiva was stunned again. He carefully chewed over the words "artificial Sun Source Stone." He understood the literal meaning, but the actual implication left him deeply puzzled.
"This thing... can be artificially created?!"
After saying this, Luxiva looked around at the four people in front of him. Suddenly, he felt that these four guys creating an artificial "Sun Source Stone" somehow made this absurd matter seem a bit more reasonable.