Chapter 29: Countermeasures
"Negotiate? What else is there to negotiate between us?"
Scorpion Woman spoke, appearing calm but barely suppressing her rage, otherwise she would have attacked directly. As for the fact that she might not win in a fight, let's not dwell on such details for now.
Crack, crack, crack~
A crystalline layer spread, forming a crystal chair. Su Xiao sat before Scorpion Woman's large bed, took out a pocket watch, set it to 5 minutes, and pressed the countdown with a click.
The pocket watch began counting down, emitting a rhythmic clicking mechanical sound. It sounded pleasant at first, but after listening for a while, it evoked an inexplicable sense of unease.
"You've already taken all my wealth. What more do you want?"
When Scorpion Woman said this, her gaze could barely conceal her anger.
"..."
Su Xiao remained silent. The atmosphere grew eerily quiet as seconds ticked by. When only one minute remained, Su Xiao glanced at his pocket watch, then looked at Scorpion Woman, reminding her:
"Your time is running out."
Hearing this, Scorpion Woman nearly lashed out in fury, but the spirits of Beast Lord and Twinborn King in the heavens made her calm down once more.
"You come to me, set a time limit, and demand that I impress you. Isn't this too much of a bullying act?"
Scorpion Woman's eyes narrowed slightly. If it came to the worst, she had means to make this Law Destroyer pay a price.
"Compared to you Dukain, I am very reasonable."
"You..."
Scorpion Woman instinctively wanted to curse, "You're full of shit," but she held back successfully. She was certain that the moment those words left her mouth, there would be nothing left to discuss. This Law Destroyer would make her die here today.
Moreover, from the very beginning, Scorpion Woman felt an unprecedented pressure from this Law Destroyer, as if he possessed some ability that could completely kill Abyss Descendants.
"You just said I was unreasonable."
"Yes."
"Then have you, or your kind, ever been reasonable with the residents of various worlds who were turned into 'Primordial Life Force Crystals'?"
As Su Xiao finished speaking, a massive Blood Beast phantom suddenly materialized behind him. The beast's claws grabbed hold of Bojier with extreme cruelty, squeezing tightly. Countless crystalline blood spikes formed within the beast's grip, piercing into various parts of Bojier's body, each one structured like a "Mercy Spike."
The Alchemy Civilization had invented many things that benefited the Star Realm's inhabitants, but also developed many terrifying abilities. The Mercy Spike was the alchemists' means of inflicting ultimate agony upon their enemies.
A black crystal core slipped from Bojier's hand. The massive Blood Beast's claw held it, bringing it before Su Xiao.
"I am naturally soft-hearted."
Su Xiao's index finger and thumb pinched the black crystal core that Bojier had been holding, and he continued:
"So I can't bear to see others suffer. If you make even the slightest move, I'll make an exception and allow Amu to devour you alive."
Su Xiao spoke in the calmest tone, uttering words that sent chills down the spines of all the Abyss Descendants and sub-races present.
The Blood Beast phantom vanished. Su Xiao looked at Scorpion Woman with a friendly smile: "Where were we?"
"We were..."
Scorpion Woman was about to say they were discussing the issue of being reasonable, but seeing Su Xiao's friendly smile, she felt an inexplicable dread and changed her words:
"We were discussing that each of us would propose conditions. You go first."
Scorpion Woman's retreat was quite clever. Don't underestimate her. Among the three Dukain family councilors, Beast Lord and Twinborn King were dead, yet Scorpion Woman remained alive and thriving. That itself was a form of soft power.
"We were discussing that the 300-plus districts of Empress City would become the largest friendly faction in this world. You suddenly felt that controlling Empress City was too exhausting and decided to select a city lord not controlled by 'Dark Corruption,' along with officials from various districts..."
Before Su Xiao could finish, Scorpion Woman interrupted, enunciating each word: "Impossible!"
All of Scorpion Woman's efforts were invested in Empress City. That was why, even after witnessing Su Xiao use Azure Shadow King to obliterate Corrupt King City, she hadn't fled this world.
"If I do this, what will other Abyss Descendants think of me? Not just the Dukain family—I know this family has declined and is nearing its end—but others like the Azguk clan of Wind Sea Continent, the Rune family, Bronze, the Collective. What will they think of me? In the future, when I attend banquets at Black Castle in the Abyss Near Zone, how will I hold my head up?"
"Black Castle? Banquets?"
Su Xiao immediately caught the key point. Scorpion Woman remained silent. Seeing this, Su Xiao snapped his fingers, and Baha flew in from outside. After the initial intimidation phase, real negotiation required Baha.
Su Xiao was only good at physical persuasion. For example, he had just persuaded that old thing Bojier. See, he had already won him over with virtue. The old thing wasn't saying a word. As for why he was lying by the wall, well, the elderly need their rest. Why was he twitching convulsively? Probably having a nightmare.
"Ahem~"
Baha cleared its throat and said very politely: "Beautiful Scorpion Woman, hello. I am Baha. The subsequent negotiations will be handled between us. This is also for your personal safety, because if any of your words anger my boss, you'll be gone."
Hearing Baha's words, Scorpion Woman's eyes narrowed slightly. For some reason, she felt this creature was not a good bird.
"Scorpion Woman, you seem to have misunderstood one thing. This isn't about us asking you; it's about you actively and proactively turning Empress City into what we want to see."
Baha's words made Scorpion Woman laugh in anger. Baha also laughed and continued:
"Funny, isn't it? Then let me tell you something even funnier. First, thank you for helping us eliminate Beast Lord. Don't rush to deny it. Without you standing by and doing nothing, we might not have been able to kill him."
These words made Scorpion Woman fall silent.
"Next, thank you for standing by and doing nothing about Corrupt King City. Don't rush to object either. Your Empress City has the world's largest-scale dimensional teleportation array. If you had truly wanted to, you could have secretly sent someone to notify Arcane Eternal Star. If Lord Soul had arrived here, we would be dead. But you didn't.
Because you clearly know that if you really summoned Lord Soul from Arcane Eternal Star, your fate might not be much better than dealing with us. At least we haven't directly killed you yet."
Baha's words made Scorpion Woman even more silent, her expression turning ugly.
"Also, you helped us sell that bottle of 'Evil Dragon Secret Medicine' to Council Leader Ergu Baiya. The Void Entity inside it—oh, you Abyss Descendants call them Star Realm Entities—that Star Realm Entity won't make Ergu Baiya feel good. Guess who that old fellow wants to kill the most right now?"
Baha grinned at Scorpion Woman. She was both silent and emotionally shattered.
"Oh, and you also generously donated over 60 Abyss Source Matters to us, along with a large amount of other resources."
"You..."
Scorpion Woman nearly lost her composure completely.
"You helped us deal with your own people, helped us hide from Arcane Eternal Star, and provided resources for free. Tsk tsk tsk, you're one of us now. What are you still hesitating about?"
Baha's words "one of us" finally broke Scorpion Woman's composure.
"Shut up."
Despite her anger, Scorpion Woman was considering the current situation. She said grimly:
"I am no longer a councilor of Dukain, nor even a member of the Dukain clan."
Hearing this, Su Xiao wasn't surprised. Earlier, when fighting Twinborn King to the death, the latter had also erased his "Causal Life Source" from the Dukain family's "Primordial Clan Emblem."
This puzzled Su Xiao. Was the Dukain identity so easy to abandon? The "Primordial Clan Emblem" couldn't possibly be so lenient with its members, especially since Scorpion Woman was a councilor of the Dukain clan.
Without Su Xiao needing to signal, Baha knew what to ask: "Does your 'Primordial Clan Emblem' have no control over you at all?"
"It used to."
"And now?"
"Now? Why don't you ask the Law Destroyer you serve?"
Scorpion Woman sneered. Seeing Su Xiao still silent, she said: "I was careless. That was something the Law Destroyers of the Second Era did..."
Through Scorpion Woman's narration, Su Xiao learned what had happened. When Dukain clashed with the Law Destroyers, the real devastating cost wasn't the successive deaths of clan members, but that Shiman Aqide had broken into the Dukain family's Dark Sanctuary in the "Abyss Near Zone," causing irreversible damage to the Dukain family's "Primordial Clan Emblem."
After that, the "Primordial Clan Emblem's" restrictions on family members were reduced to almost nothing. In exchange, the Dukain clan lost many abilities granted by the "Primordial Clan Emblem."
First was consciousness resurrection. The Dukain family's resurrection method might lead people to believe all Abyss Descendants were like this, but that wasn't the case. It was the damage to the Dukain family's "Primordial Clan Emblem" that caused physical rebirth but incomplete causal consciousness/soul resurrection.
This resulted in Dukain family members being reborn, but the reborn body would spawn a new consciousness in the Abyss, influenced by the previous consciousness. This created an individual with some former personality traits but distinctly different behavior patterns. It would be better to have a purely new consciousness.
In contrast, the Azguk, Rune, and Bronze Abyss Descendants had true resurrection—complete rebirth of body, causal consciousness, and soul.
Additionally, the damage to the Dukain family's "Primordial Clan Emblem" caused Dukain members to resurrect very slowly in the Abyss after death. A normal "Primordial Clan Emblem" would resurrect Abyss Descendants in a few days at most, or half a month at worst. But the Dukain "Primordial Clan Emblem" took years for a single resurrection.
Despite this, the Dukain family had managed to survive to this day after fighting the Law Destruction faction to such an extent, which was quite impressive.
Given the state of the Dukain family's "Primordial Clan Emblem" and the current situation, Scorpion Woman had decisively abandoned her identity as a Dukain family member. She had paid a heavy price for this, but she felt that if she delayed any longer, she would be doomed.
Scorpion Woman began to consider this matter. At a time when this world was about to undergo great changes, her choice now could determine life or death.
"What can I get?"
"One-tenth of what you currently have in Empress City. If our estimation is correct, you will still be the owner of Empress City, but not the ruler. Your income won't decrease much, and the advantage is stability."
Baha's words made Scorpion Woman even more hesitant. Her ideal scenario was to maintain the status quo, but she knew that was wishful thinking.
"I have two conditions, also the unfulfilled wishes of the previous owner of this causal consciousness. Without completing this, the residual consciousness of the former Dukain Red Scorpion Empress will keep hindering me from fully possessing this body."
The Dukain Red Scorpion Empress that Scorpion Woman mentioned was the previous owner of this body, who died fighting the former Law Destroyers. For such a powerful being, if its residual will kept obstructing Scorpion Woman from fully possessing this body, even after a thousand years, Scorpion Woman wouldn't achieve her goal.
"Under the influence of her residual soul, this has become my wish as well. Help me accomplish this, and I will agree to your terms."
After saying this, Scorpion Woman seemed completely relieved.
"Speak."
Su Xiao planned to temporarily delay Scorpion Woman's request. He could see that she was looking for a way out, and that this way out wasn't something achievable in a short time. He could agree for now.
"The Red Scorpion Empress had a close friend, also an Abyss Descendant, but not belonging to any family—an independent Abyss Descendant. And her immortality is... very terrifying. Yes, that's the word."
Hearing this, Su Xiao frowned slightly, not because Scorpion Woman's request was unreasonable, but because it sounded increasingly familiar.
"In all the Star Realm, perhaps only you, as a Law Destroyer, can do this. She was trapped by the Law Destroyers of the Second Era in some area of Blazing Sun Star. Help me rescue her..."
Before Scorpion Woman could finish, Su Xiao interrupted: "Eternal Night Empress."
"Huh?"
Scorpion Woman was very surprised. After a moment, she asked suspiciously: "Have you already been to Blazing Sun Star?"
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak, but Scorpion Woman took it as confirmation. She asked seriously: "You haven't killed her, have you?"
"No."
"Then she's still on Blazing Sun Star?"
"..."
Su Xiao took out the "Book of Original Sin." Seeing this, Scorpion Woman, who had been lounging on the oversized bed, immediately stood up. It wasn't that she was losing her composure; anyone seeing the "Book of Original Sin" would react similarly.
"What... what is that in your hand?"
"The Book of Original Sin."
"Inside... are Original Sin Objects sealed?"
In Scorpion Woman's view, only things like the Abyssal Jar, the Collector, and the Necronomicon were true Original Sin Objects. Things like the Primordial Magic Mirror were at most lesser Original Sin Objects, or items with the potential to become Original Sin Objects.
"Yes."
Hearing this, Scorpion Woman asked: "Is the Collector sealed inside?"
"It is one of them."
Upon hearing this, Scorpion Woman swallowed quietly. She asked tentatively: "How many Original Sin Objects have you sealed?"
"Six for now."
"Gulp~"
Scorpion Woman couldn't help but swallow audibly. She had just thought that as an Abyss Descendant, she needed to maintain dignity, but then she realized that the price of stripping her life source from the Dukain "Primordial Clan Emblem" was gradually losing her Abyss Descendant powers.
Suddenly, Scorpion Woman felt an unprecedented sense of relief. No longer being an Abyss Descendant meant she didn't have to worry about affecting the dignity of Abyss Descendants, or fear terrible punishment and elimination from monsters like Rune and Bronze.
After a few seconds of silence, Scorpion Woman sat on the edge of the bed, her attitude noticeably more respectful. It wasn't because Su Xiao was powerful, but because sealing six Original Sin Objects was impressive. Even the most serious and cold Bronze clan among the Abyss Descendants would show respect to Su Xiao, who was their enemy but had sealed six Original Sin Objects. Of course, they wouldn't hesitate to kill him if necessary.
"Wait, are you saying the Eternal Night Empress is sealed inside this?"
Scorpion Woman's eyes widened slightly.
"..."
Su Xiao didn't answer, which was taken as confirmation.
"I agree to your terms. Release her immediately, right now."
"No."
"Why..."
Scorpion Woman had barely spoken when she realized how stupid her question was. She didn't need to think to know that their meeting on Blazing Sun Star must have been unpleasant, and being sealed next to six Original Sin Objects...
"How long has she been sealed?"
"..."
"Will her consciousness and mind be damaged?"
"..."
"How about this: release her first, and I'll try to calm her down."
"..."
Su Xiao held the "Book of Original Sin" with one hand. The book rustled as it flipped to the eighth page, and the sealing formation corresponding to that page opened.
A figure with long hair made of black mist gradually materialized. It slowly formed a solid shape—pale skin, no whites in its eyes, completely blood-red pupils, and pale hands with sharp fingertips.
The Eternal Night Empress's black hair flew wildly, several meters long. Floating in midair, she had a sinister beauty. After being sealed, her aura had actually increased, now at the Supreme level. No wonder the former Law Destroyers had to seal her back then.
The Eternal Night Empress's blood-red eyes turned to Su Xiao. Scorpion Woman urgently said: "Eternal Night, it's me. Have you forgotten me already?"
Scorpion Woman's voice made the Eternal Night Empress pause her raised hand, turning her gaze toward her. Seeing Scorpion Woman, the Eternal Night Empress seemed slightly confused, which delighted Scorpion Woman:
"It's me. We used to, ah no, you used to be together in the Void..."
Before Scorpion Woman could finish, the Eternal Night Empress raised her hand toward her, sharp-nailed fingers grasping the air.
'Strangle.'
A twisted invisible force field enveloped Scorpion Woman, about to crush her. Su Xiao pretended not to see this. Even if Scorpion Woman had lost her Dukain family councilor status, her actual strength wasn't weak—she had just been hiding it.
Just as the 'Strangle' force field was about to take effect, the Eternal Night Empress suddenly stopped. She pressed her hand to her head, severe headaches making her dazed. She stared at Scorpion Woman. This time, Scorpion Woman no longer believed she could awaken the Eternal Night Empress's memories. She waved her hand, and the Eternal Night Empress disappeared.
"I will ensure she doesn't trouble you in the future. Now, let's talk about the second condition."
Scorpion Woman's mood had gone from sunny to cloudy. She even felt a lightness throughout her body. The stubborn soul power that had been hindering her was slowly dissipating.
"My second condition is very simple. Return that spatial prison to me. I know it once belonged to the Law Destruction faction, but I bought it at a high price from the Goblin Merchant Guild. I'll give you... ten years to return it."
Scorpion Woman wasn't lacking in emotional intelligence, giving a very long deadline, meaning it must be returned when no longer needed.
"I'll return it to you now."
Su Xiao signaled Baha to return the spatial prison to Scorpion Woman. This actually made Scorpion Woman a bit embarrassed. Baha opened the No. 1 alternate space and returned a colorful spatial sphere to Scorpion Woman.
Seeing Scorpion Woman's confusion, Baha cleared its throat and explained: "Well, its appearance has indeed changed a bit, but the essence is still the same."
"?"
Scorpion Woman looked at the spatial prison, then at Su Xiao. She wanted to say she wanted to change her request, but the words had already been spoken.
"My dear friend, I'm not late, am I?"
Kaisa appeared. Seeing both Su Xiao and Kaisa together, Scorpion Woman felt an inexplicable surge of anger. These two had teamed up to swindle all her assets.
"Not late," Su Xiao said, then looked at Scorpion Woman and asked: "Can you still control the sub-races?"
"With this, temporarily."
Scorpion Woman raised her hand, revealing a black ring on her index finger.
"Now, Empress City no longer needs the existence of sub-races."
"Are you sure? Empress City has over 300 districts, each the size of a kingdom from other worlds. The total population is in the tens of billions. Without these Abyss Descendants to manage..."
"Not needed. Apart from being your dogs and gathering benefits for you, they are not important for maintaining Empress City."
Su Xiao wasn't speaking recklessly. Although Empress City's 300-plus districts appeared to be managed by sub-races, the actual administrative work was handled by mid- and low-level officials in each district, who were ordinary people not controlled by "Dark Corruption."
Ironically, to ensure the stability of Empress City's power structure, Scorpion Woman had only allowed ordinary people to become mid- and low-level officials. This inadvertently increased Empress City's stability.
Those who simultaneously wield power and strength tend to become arrogant and reckless. In many mid- to low-level supernatural worlds, seven out of ten rulers were ordinary people without supernatural powers. This was a lesson forced upon them by historical evolution.
Scorpion Woman hesitated. After half a minute of silence, she removed the black ring and crushed it with a snap.
"Madam, you have made a wise choice. This is your reward."
Kaisa took out a golden "Ψ" status badge. This clearly came from the Void Tree, more precisely, a blank imprint from the Void Tree.
After receiving the Void Tree imprint, Scorpion Woman hesitated for a moment, then chose to accept it. The next second, Su Xiao received a notification:
[Notification (Void Tree): The Hunter has facilitated the key figure of this world, Scorpion Woman, to break away from the Dukain family and accept the Void Tree imprint.]
[Verification: Scorpion Woman commands the largest population center in this world, Empress City.]
[As Scorpion Woman now possesses the Void Tree imprint certification, re-stabilizing the world certification in progress...]
[New core certification area added to this world: Empress City!]
[Total core certification areas in this world: Two (Sanctuary City Doan, Empress City).]
[Empress City-related reputation factions have been reactivated and incorporated into the core faction lineup of this world.]
[Verifying Empress City faction status...]
[No Abyss Descendants found to be ruling Empress City. No Abyss Descendants/sub-races/fallen ones found holding important positions in Empress City.]
[Current Empress City faction status: Neutral (leaning chaotic, will be re-evaluated based on development over the next 600 natural days).]
...
That's right, Su Xiao and Kaisa had successfully created a second core area in this world. This meant that even if Sanctuary City Doan was destroyed the next second, all contractors/hunters/battle angels' main quests in this world wouldn't fail, because the core area of Empress City still existed.
This preemptive move was to prevent Shenfu and Soul Master from destroying Sanctuary City Doan. If that happened, Su Xiao would be at a disadvantage before the battle even began.
Su Xiao didn't know how Shenfu and Soul Master had operated in Sanctuary City Doan, or how they had made Silver Queen leave without saying goodbye. It was likely that she had faced a fatal threat and used emergency measures to escape. Considering the payment she received, she had still made a good profit from this trip.
Also, Su Xiao's several million Sanctuary City reputation points had all been cleared because he had been expelled from Sanctuary City Doan. In other words, he had given away the [Flame Core] for nothing. This was clearly the work of Soul Master and Shenfu.
Had Su Xiao lost? Not really. To complete his plan, Shenfu had given up several hundred Golden Skill Points. Of course, it was also because Su Xiao had obtained two [Golden Statue Fragments]. Shenfu was certain that Su Xiao wouldn't give up on the [Golden Statue], so he chose to directly offer the quest key item, using this lucrative quest to completely tie Su Xiao down.
For Su Xiao, several hundred Golden Skill Points plus the "Divine Soul" that could be sold to the Apocalypse Sisters was an incredibly profitable deal. The key was the "Divine Soul" that could be sold to the Apocalypse Sisters.
There were quite a few coincidences in this matter. If Shenfu had known about this beforehand, he probably wouldn't have made such a trade-off.
[Notification (Void Tree): As the Hunter is the main planner of Empress City's certification, you have gained 5.6 million Empress City reputation points.]
[As this is a core faction reputation, it can participate in the world evaluation settlement of this world, but the maximum value is 200,000 points.]
[As Empress City is a core area of this world, Empress City reputation points can also participate in the current reputation ranking.]
First: Soul Master (Reincarnation Paradise), 8.52 million Sanctuary City reputation points.
Second: Bai Ye (Reincarnation Paradise), 5.6 million Empress City reputation points.
Third: Shenfu (Dawn Paradise), 4.82 million Sanctuary City reputation points.
Fourth: Aurora (Holy Light Paradise), 1.25 million Sanctuary City reputation points.
Fifth: Moen (Death Paradise), 67,159 Sanctuary City reputation points.
Sixth: Black Demon (Dawn Paradise), 12,308 Sanctuary City reputation points.
Seventh: Xilin (Apocalypse Paradise), 9,558 Sanctuary City reputation points.
Eighth: Siluo'er (Death Paradise), 8,242 Sanctuary City reputation points.
Ninth: Bee (Reincarnation Paradise), 5,200 Sanctuary City reputation points.
...
At first glance, the alliance of Soul Master, Shenfu, and Aurora seemed to have the upper hand. But the problem now was that Kaisa had become the faction administrator of Empress City, responsible for issuing faction reputation-related quests. In a sense, this was terrifying.
Besides this matter, Su Xiao also needed to resolve another issue quickly. His Lord's Train still had a temporary "Skill Upgrade Pod," and after activating the Azure Shadow King ability and wreaking havoc in Corrupt King City, the [Primordial Container] was full. This meant another 30 Refined Law-Destroying Skill Points were coming.
The ideal scenario was to use these Refined Law-Destroying Skill Points to upgrade Azure Steel Shadow, then quickly go to the "Absolute Dark Zone" again to fill the [Primordial Container] once more. He wanted to see how absurd the true damage would be if Azure Steel Shadow reached Lv.155.