# Chapter 2: Waiting
One by one, members of the Lun family would come seeking death duels, until the Lun family members killed him.
Don't think the Lun family is merely obsessed with death battles. If there weren't two other major forces keeping them in check in this world, the Lun family would build a massive colosseum. All intelligent beings in this world would either come to fight there, or be hunted as food by Lun family members. This would continue until only Lun family members remained in this world, at which point they would enter the Raging Beast phase and begin devouring the world itself.
When they had devoured their world to the point of collapse, the Lun family would move to the next hunting ground—the next world—to continue their death battles and hunts.
The Dukain family enslaved; the Lun family destroyed.
At 5:30 PM that evening, inside the second-floor banquet hall of Birch Manor.
Amidst soothing music, there were low conversations and the laughter of noblewomen within their circles. A faint smell of tobacco mixed with alcohol made a young girl in formal evening wear feel slightly uncomfortable inside, but her upbringing kept her humble and polite.
"Father~"
Kureya called out softly. The Vice Chancellor knew his precious daughter was mildly allergic to tobacco smoke. He raised his glass and quietly told his daughter to follow him into a small hall connected to the banquet hall.
As soon as she entered the small hall, Kureya was choked by the smoke, nearly unable to catch her breath. After taking several deep breaths, she felt a bit dizzy.
Old Smoker·Minister·William saw this and extinguished his thick cigar. After Kureya had somewhat adjusted, she discreetly observed the people seated there. Among them, she only recognized the Great Prince·Baratheon. This prince was a frequent guest at her home.
But today, Kureya keenly noticed something—the Great Prince, who usually spoke naturally and carried himself with royal dignity, seemed nervous today. This made Kureya realize that the people seated here were likely important figures rarely seen in ordinary circumstances.
Under her father's introduction, Kureya first greeted Grand Commander·Ritanvig with a respectful elder's salute. The Grand Commander took out a small box.
"Don't be so formal. Though this is your first time meeting me, little one, your father and I have been close friends since childhood. I've been too busy these years, neglecting the growth of the little princesses."
Grand Commander·Ritanvig raised his glass and clinked it with the Vice Chancellor. They exchanged silent glances and drank it all in one go.
Kureya took the opportunity to carefully observe this elder, because she felt his name sounded familiar and he looked familiar too. Suddenly, she realized why—she had seen him in the newspapers. This was actually Grand Commander·Ritanvig, several ranks higher than her father.
Clearly, this little princess didn't know that although her father's official position wasn't at the empire's top level, his actual status was extremely high. In her impression, her father's greatest position was being the prince's teacher, but the prince hadn't yet ascended the throne.
Just as everyone was chatting happily, a drop of black liquid fell from above into Su Xiao's glass. His neighbor Minister·William paused his hand holding his glass, not disturbing the others, and said to Su Xiao without changing expression:
"White Night, trouble?"
"Not really."
"Need a hand?"
"Not for now, thank you."
"Haha, we're all family, don't be so polite."
Minister·William said this, symbolically toasted Su Xiao, and drank it all.
"En."
Su Xiao spoke softly. Vice Chancellor·En looked over upon hearing this, patted the shoulder of the person next to him indicating he had something to attend to, and came to Su Xiao's side, asking quietly:
"What's wrong, Mr. White Night?"
"Something came up, I need to leave."
"Alright, shall I send someone to escort you?"
"No need."
Su Xiao stood up and, escorted by the Vice Chancellor, arrived at the courtyard. The courtyard was brightly lit, with some young men and women attending the banquet holding a party there, quite lively.
Just as Su Xiao was about to board the vehicle, he noticed a man with short dark red hair and multiple gold earrings on his right ear. His aura could be described as both strange and concealed.
Their eyes met. The red-haired man grinned, revealing a mouthful of shark-like teeth.
"I've never fought anyone in the royal palace before. How about it, Law Destroyer, let's have a match."
"..."
Su Xiao ignored this person and boarded the Lord's Train.
"Hehehehe..."
The red-haired man laughed even more boldly and savagely.
The Lord's Train sped out of the royal city, heading straight for Abyss Spreading Zone 26.
Before 6 PM, Su Xiao arrived at Abyss Spreading Zone 26 and entered within the Black Stone Sky Wall. Darkness swept in, making Baha shiver. No matter how many times they entered an Abyss Spreading Zone, Bubu Wang and Baha always felt the darkness and cold.
Upon arriving, Su Xiao saw the criminals lying scattered on the ground. Originally 300 criminals, now only about 180 remained. It seemed it wouldn't take many more Abyss Spreading Zones to select the final 19 to form the complete "Empire Squad."
"Sir, it's been cleared."
Leshma spoke softly. Judging by her appearance, she had already conquered another Abyss Spreading Zone and was full of anticipation. However, she wasn't very good at expressing this emotion.
"..."
Su Xiao walked toward the direction of the Abyss Passage. Along the way, the ground was covered with the severed limbs of dark beasts and Abyss creatures, along with the corpses of dead criminals. The criminals' deaths were strangely uniform—they looked like shattered ceramics, apparently affected by Leshma's ability.
The surrounding environment grew darker, especially the ground beneath his feet, which felt dark and sticky when stepped on. He stopped before the Abyss Passage but didn't close it immediately.
Baha handed over the black liquid that had fallen from nowhere at the banquet. This drop of black liquid had been sealed. At Su Xiao's signal, Baha threw it into the Abyss Passage ahead.
Su Xiao didn't wait long. Half a minute later, Delona and Ayesha walked out from the Abyss Passage ahead.
"Elder Brother."
"Brother."
Delona and Ayesha spoke in turn. Delona was still a bit unfamiliar, while Ayesha, who was usually quiet and didn't like interacting with others, called "brother" quite naturally.
"Encounter any trouble?"
"No, brother. We met Amu in another Abyss Spreading Zone."
"Which zone?"
"Don't know, but we can lead the way."
"Mm."
Su Xiao had Baha and Bubu Wang take Delona and Ayesha to the Lord's Train first. He held his hands as if grasping something, then pulled them apart, constructing Spirit Shadow Threads as thick as pinky fingers.
Half an hour later.
With a dull thud, the black sky wall of Abyss Spreading Zone 26 shattered with a bang. The Abyss energy inside dispersed. Under the blood-red sunset, one could faintly see the faint transparent traces in the central area of this pitch-black land. Another Abyss Passage had been closed.
The Lord's Train sped away. Inside the train, Su Xiao leaned back in a single seat, resting with his eyes closed. Delona and Ayesha each held a drink—Delona had fruit juice, Ayesha had milk tea, both prepared by Bubu Wang. He even added tapioca pearls to Ayesha's, making the girl with white threads in her pitch-black eyes widen them slightly.
Leshma, with a straw in her mouth, stared blankly without focus, scrolling through her terminal. It seemed she was "missing" her subordinates. The soul fluctuations erupting from those villains after experiencing extreme pain were like wonderful blooming flowers. And those criminals certainly didn't miss Leshma—in their eyes, she was the devil among devils.
"Sir, can I go back tomorrow morning?"
Leshma put down her terminal, smiling as she lightly placed one hand on Ayesha's head. This little girl gave Leshma a sense of kinship.
"..."
Su Xiao ignored Leshma. He was checking the notification that had just appeared.
[Notification: Your subordinate "Empire Squad" has participated in the subjugation of "Abyss Spreading Zone 26" and played a major role.]
The Empire Squad only had 20 slots. Besides Leshma as the captain, only 19 criminals could be edited into the squad. Hence, it said "Empire Squad has participated" rather than independently completed the subjugation.
[Subjugation reward being calculated...]
[Calculation complete. 10% has been deducted. The remainder is your profit from this operation.]
[You have obtained 85,000 Precipitated Glass.]
[You have obtained Abyss Shop Refresh Count ×2 (this refresh count can be stored).]
...
Su Xiao had long been troubled by having no way to obtain [Precipitated Glass] and refresh the Abyss Shop. Normally, the Abyss Shop refresh should be:
[Notification: The Abyss Shop will refresh every 20-40 natural days. Each refresh will retain items of high exchange value (you can activate the Abyss Shop in any world or area certified by the Void Tree).]
The Abyss Shop was certified by the Void Tree. Su Xiao's Void Tree Reputation was -????, which of course came with penalties. One of the many penalties was that the Abyss Shop would never refresh automatically.
Fortunately, the Void Tree's judgment of Su Xiao was both high and low.
The high point was that Su Xiao often completed "Abyss Mission: Death's Grant" with the highest mission completion rate. Previously, he had even obtained:
[Void Tree Punishment Exemption Authority Rank: Permanent +1].
The problem was that this high judgment, combined with his Void Tree Reputation of -????, made his various authority judgments within the Void Tree very peculiar.
For example, regarding his "Abyss Shop Authority" within the Void Tree's certification, he had the worst treatment—it wouldn't refresh automatically—yet he also had the highest-level "Abyss Shop" high-tier authority.
This was why Su Xiao hadn't shopped at the "Abyss Shop" for a long time. The shop was stuck, never refreshing, and he hadn't obtained [Precipitated Glass] in a long time.
Now, this "Subjugation Settlement" gave Su Xiao [Precipitated Glass]. But don't forget—although his Abyss Shop didn't refresh, he had a very high discount:
[Original Sin Sealer (Passive Authority): For each Abyss Original Sin Object you hold/seal/suppress, the exchange price of all items in the Abyss Shop will be reduced by 10%.
Current exchange price reduction obtained: 60%.]
Therefore, as long as he had a way to refresh the "Abyss Shop," the [Precipitated Glass] he obtained would have much higher purchasing power than others.
Currently, he had two refresh counts and 87,291 [Precipitated Glass]. Su Xiao planned to save up ten shop refreshes before exchanging, because each refresh had a 10% chance of triggering a "High-Value Refresh." The items refreshed would be more expensive but of better quality, and each refresh would accumulate this probability until it triggered.
Su Xiao had great confidence in his luck. A 10% chance of a high-value refresh meant ten times would guarantee it.
Closing the "Abyss Shop," Su Xiao looked at Leshma across from him. He felt quite satisfied with this subordinate he had cultivated.
"Hmm~? Sir, something wrong?"
Leshma, biting her straw and speaking slowly, looked over.
"Come here."
"Oh~"
Leshma stood up, stretching lazily, which slightly revealed her impressive figure hidden under loose clothing. She came before Su Xiao.
"Your hand."
"Alright."
Leshma raised her hand. Su Xiao casually took the blood collection device Baha handed him. Baha and he had become increasingly tacitly understanding—Su Xiao only needed to give Baha a look, and Baha understood.
Making Leshma expose her entire arm, Su Xiao began collecting blood. First, he had Leshma take a deep breath to mobilize the oxygen content in her blood and body energy. After recording the blood sample, he had her calm her body's abilities and recorded another sample.
In total, blood samples from eight different body condition levels were collected. Su Xiao planned to customize a set of enhancement potions for Leshma. Delona peeked curiously from the side, watching with great interest, but after a while, she looked like she was about to cry as she sat on a small stool before Su Xiao to have her blood drawn.
When it was Ayesha's turn, this sister who was essentially a strange existence hesitated for a long time. Sitting on the small stool, the white threads in her eyes turned into spinning whirlpools. It was hard to believe that as an existence responsible for collecting "payment" in "Fate Prepayment," she was afraid of needles.
After completing the collection, Su Xiao got up and went to the alchemy workbench in the rear carriage bedroom. Custom-made secret medicines naturally couldn't be compared to general-purpose ones in effectiveness. If the former's efficacy was 10, the latter would at least reach 18-20. Moreover, this was a custom secret medicine from an alchemist whose Alchemy skill had reached Lv.99, just a hair's breadth from being a top-tier alchemy master.
At 11 PM, the train was near Abyss Spreading Zone 5. Several potions had been prepared. Before the alchemy workbench, Su Xiao categorized six bottles of potions and said to Leshma:
"Drink these two immediately. The rest, one portion each morning and evening."
"Alright, thank you~ Lord White Night."
Leshma spoke absentmindedly. It seemed she really "missed" her subordinates. Leshma, no longer suppressing herself, was outwardly a stunning beauty with a great figure, but inwardly had a lazy devil's personality.
For Delona, there was an entire box of secret medicines.
"Elder Brother, this is too precious. Delona cannot accept it!"
Delona spoke with her eyes darting around. She could already feel that each bottle of this specially made potion would bring endless benefits. As for the experience...
"Considering you're very afraid of pain, there are other methods of use."
Su Xiao's words made Delona's eyes instantly well up. She almost blurted out, "Elder Brother, you're so kind."
"How should it be done?"
"Intravenous injection."
"Elder Brother, I will definitely follow your instructions. I'll drink one bottle every day, mm!"
Delona nodded heavily in assurance, then picked up the mechanically sealed box containing the refrigerated potions and ran back to her seat.
Ayesha received five bottles of secret medicine, each completely pitch black. Su Xiao told her to drink one bottle every half month. Ayesha nodded obediently, slightly bowed to Su Xiao, and softly said, "Thank you, brother."
Boom!
The Lord's Train suddenly shook. All wheels locked, causing the train to slide along the ground. Then came a loud crash and vibration—the Lord's Train had been forcibly intercepted by some huge creature.
Pat, pat~
Flesh-structured hands and claws leaped onto various parts of the Lord's Train. A creature resembling a centipede, as thick as an oil barrel and several hundred meters long, half mechanical and half flesh, coiled around the Lord's Train.
Seeing this creature, Su Xiao knew what was happening. One of the three major forces, the Machine God Cult, had begun their assassination attempt on him.
Su Xiao was about to draw the long blade at his waist.
"Woof!"
Bubu Wang barked, meaning: "Master, let me handle it."
"The opponent has at least three Archbishops."
"Woof!"
Bubu Wang's gaze was unprecedentedly determined. Seeing this, Su Xiao released the sword hilt and sat back down.
Bubu Wang's four mechanical arms extended. One connected to the train's massive terminal, while the other three controlled a portable terminal. Bubu Wang began to invade the mechanical lifeforms outside the train that had "Divine Flesh."
At this moment, the terminal Bubu Wang controlled was his weapon. If only considering invasion capability, this terminal was at least an Eternal Rank·8500 rating weapon. Combined with all of Bubu Wang's abilities, it gave him "Invasion Ability Rank +11," plus a "Target Invasion Resistance Rank -3" debuff against enemies.
The mechanical centipede coiled around the train was the first to be invaded by Bubu Wang. Bio-energy overloaded on this mechanical centipede's body, causing sparks to fly everywhere as it contacted the mechanical structure. The centipede writhed in pain.
Not only that, other mechanical creatures near this centipede also began to spark one after another—it was invasion contagion. Even more astonishingly, in the artificial eyes of some mechanical creatures, the individual consciousness cluster was contaminated by external data, throwing them into chaos and causing them to attack each other.
Archbishop Kayo, who was controlling these thousand top-tier mechanical creatures, immediately cut off control. Any powerhouse of the Divine System gradually transformed their personal consciousness into a personal consciousness cluster, thereby completing the control of living mechanical limbs and divine flesh and organs, preventing personal consciousness overload.
In short, the foundation of the Divine System's power system was to gradually wrap the personal consciousness in an "individual consciousness cluster," thereby completing control over the entire body, suppressing the "aberration" of living metal limbs while maximizing control over one's own flesh power.
In the distance, beside the slightly plump Archbishop Kayo in black clerical robes, there was another red-eyed Archbishop. He was over five meters tall. The living furnace at his chest heart constantly radiated heat. His mechanical right arm was complex yet mechanically beautiful. His head was almost entirely living metal structure, and his mechanical eyes glowed red.
Beside him was a white-robed Archbishop. Under his white robe, his body writhed as mechanical insects crawled in and out. Each mechanical insect could burrow into an enemy's body for consciousness invasion, or perform a small-scale but powerful self-destruction, leaving behind a biochemical contamination zone that would mutate the enemy's flesh.
These three were all Archbishop-level of the Machine God Cult. Sending three at once showed the Machine God Cult's determination.
"That Law Destroyer also has technological system abilities?"
Archbishop Kayo looked confused. The next second, sparks exploded on his shoulder with a crackle. This Archbishop had been invaded by Bubu Wang. After successful invasion, Bubu Wang used an even more terrifying move—virus implantation.
'Virus Command: Self-Destruct!'
Feeling the instant high heat about to detonate his "Life Source Core," Archbishop Kayo immediately took measures. With a click, he ejected the life source, used the teleportation characteristic of his right arm to grab it with one hand, and teleported it away.
Boom!
An explosion sounded in the distance. Archbishop Kayo's face twitched repeatedly. The red-eyed Archbishop and white-robed Archbishop, who had been full of presence, had similar expressions. In the past, they had never had their "individual consciousness cluster" invaded. This was like a standalone computer getting a virus—the network cable wasn't plugged in, there was no wireless network interface, so how could it get a virus?
Today, Bubu Wang taught the Divine System that their "individual consciousness cluster" wasn't invulnerable perfection. As long as one reached "Invasion Ability Rank +10" or above, invasion could be completed—it was just a matter of speed. Bubu Wang, with "Invasion Ability Rank +11 (+3)," could probably complete consciousness cluster invasion against the Divine System, let alone against Archbishop-level opponents.
Archbishop Kayo's gaze was especially solemn. The red-eyed Archbishop and white-robed Archbishop beside him had already raised their mechanical right arms, releasing swarms. In an instant, they could attack the Lord's Train. However, before that, Bubu Wang had already issued a second command, and had completed the "individual consciousness cluster" of the three Archbishops—or rather, Archbishop Kayo's virus had infected the other two Archbishops.
'Virus Command: Dance.'
With a loud crash, a high-temperature molten pillar struck the Lord's Train. The +32 Lord's Train's defense was strong enough to withstand this. However, the three Archbishops opposite had a big problem—they all started awkward dancing simultaneously. Their expressions went from initial shock to twisted.