Chapter 8: Unprecedented Treasures
“Third brother, calm down!” Reno shouted repeatedly.
“Father!” Sasha and Taylor cried out in panic.
What they feared most was that Linley, upon learning this, would fly into a rage and rush off to kill Odin without restraint. Wharton, Reno, and the others all understood what a peak-stage Highgod meant. This was also why Yale, though dying in grief and agony, had begged Linley and Reno not to seek revenge before his last breath!
It wasn’t that Yale didn’t want revenge; it was that he feared Linley and Reno would die because of him too!
“Boss, let’s go kill him.” Bebe immediately prepared to charge out.
But Linley abruptly reached out his right hand, grabbing Bebe, and stared at him: “Bebe, don’t rush!”
“Right, don’t act impulsively,” Wharton urged anxiously. “Bebe, you and my brother, both of you calm down first. If we could take revenge, we would have done it long ago. But if we can’t and just go to our deaths, it’s not worth it. We have to endure. Endure!”
“Endure my ass!” Bebe roared angrily. “So what if he’s a Seven-Star Demon? Before my boss broke through hundreds of years ago, he alone killed five Seven-Star Demons. And now? That Odin, even if he were an Asura from Hell… me and my boss aren’t afraid!”
From a Demigod to a God, Linley’s strength had increased by an entire level.
Now, with a divine artifact, and even the power of a Sovereign in case of danger! Besides Linley himself, Bebe’s innate divine ability, Devour, was a terrifyingly overpowered trump card. Though Bebe’s ordinary attacks weren’t strong, this innate ability’s power rivaled Beirut’s!
“You… what did you say?” Wharton was stunned.
“Before the breakthrough? Killed five Seven-Star Demons?” Reno and the others were all taken aback.
Though they didn’t fully grasp the meaning of Seven-Star Demon, based on Beirut’s tone back then, they understood it referred to peak-stage Highgod experts.
“Relax. I’m confident I can kill this Odin,” Linley said in a low voice. “If Bebe and I couldn’t kill him… Lord Beirut would have warned me back in the Infernal Realm.” Beirut knew everything that happened on the Yulan Continent. Yet he hadn’t said a word.
Odin had tortured Yale. Linley didn’t blame Beirut for that. After all, Beirut couldn’t spread his divine sense every day to keep watch.
That Beirut hadn’t retaliated and killed Odin—Linley didn’t blame him for that either!
“He didn’t kill Odin. That means he left him for me to kill.” Murderous intent flickered in Linley’s eyes.
“Third brother, you’re sure you can kill Odin?” Reno looked at Linley in disbelief.
“Brother.” Wharton also stared at Linley, shocked and overjoyed.
“Absolutely certain.” Linley’s voice was icy. He glanced at Bebe. “Bebe, this Odin calls himself the Evil King. He tortured Big Brother Yale until he went mad, making life worse than death. How could I let this Odin die easily?” Death only brings fear before it happens.
But once dead, there’s no feeling.
How could that tiny bit of fear quell the burning rage in Linley’s chest? How could it let Yale’s wronged soul rest in peace?
“Third brother!” Reno suddenly shouted loudly.
Linley turned to look. Reno’s face was streaked with tears, his eyes filled with a complex mix of grief, anger, and joy: “Third brother, you must avenge Big Brother and Second Brother! You must! So their wronged souls in the underworld can finally find peace!” Reno had wanted revenge for so many years but lacked the power.
He couldn’t accept it!
He hated his own weakness!
But what could he do? With his meager strength, he’d probably die before even reaching Odin.
“Revenge!” Reno stared at Linley, placing all his hope on him.
“Relax.” Linley abruptly turned to Wharton. “Wharton, go make arrangements immediately. Gather all intelligence on Odin! Including his subordinates, everything. Collect it all.”
“Alright.” Wharton hurried off to make arrangements.
Linley turned and saw Dylin beside him, also in tears. He said softly, “Dylin, don’t worry. That Odin will die, and he will die in agony. I swear it!”
The Baruch Empire, founded nearly two thousand years ago, had intelligence agents spread across the entire Yulan Continent. Even events in the Odin Empire’s imperial palace were known. In the past, the Baruch Empire had always gathered intelligence on key members of the Odin Empire. Now, with Linley’s order—
Massive amounts of intelligence were compiled and delivered to Linley’s desk.
In just one night, Linley had a revenge plan.
Inside a lavish mansion.
In a garden, a noble youth in luxurious robes was lounging on a large recliner—more like a bed. Curled up on the recliner was a beautiful maid, her clothes half-open, revealing her snow-white skin. The noble youth lay with his head resting in her arms.
“So slow.” The noble youth muttered discontentedly.
Just then, from the garden gate, a procession of beautiful young women entered, led by a middle-aged man who looked like a steward. He barked, “Hurry up! Stand over there. Five in a row, all lined up.” There were twenty-five young women, all with lovely faces and graceful figures.
The twenty-five women nervously arranged themselves in formation.
“Your Highness, everything is ready.” The steward immediately approached humbly and bowed.
“Mm.” The noble youth grunted in acknowledgment, but his eyes were fixed on the twenty-five women.
Then a strange smile crept onto his face: “Indeed, they’re all young. Not like those old women in the planar prison—no womanly charm at all.” He flipped his hand, and a dart appeared. He announced cheerfully, “Ladies, now we’re going to play a game. I’ll throw this dart randomly. Whoever it lands on has to take off one piece of clothing. Understand?”
The twenty-five women trembled but dared not disobey.
“The dart won’t kill you,” the noble youth said with a light laugh.
He flung his arm—
“Whoosh!” The dart shot through the air like lightning, passing through the crowd of women. In the blink of an eye, it returned to the noble youth’s hand.
“Ah.” A faint cry of surprise. A trace of blood seeped from one woman’s chest.
“Such fresh blood.” The noble youth extended his tongue and licked the blood off the dart. He chuckled. “Take it off!” He was confident the dart would only graze the women’s skin, causing pain and a little blood, but not death.
The woman trembled but still removed an outer garment.
“Continue!” The noble youth threw the dart again.
The game went on. Soon, all twenty-five women were naked, standing bare in the garden. Unnoticed, the steward had long since left. He knew… His Highness hated other men seeing his playthings. The women were his to play with, but if others looked… they would die.
The twenty-five women stood trembling, naked, with traces of blood trickling down their bodies. Strangely, the blood formed characters on their skin.
“Slave,” “Love,” “Wretch”…
Each woman bore different bloody characters.
This eerie scene only made the women more terrified to resist.
“Oh!” Seeing this, the noble youth trembled with excitement. “So beautiful. A work of art. Alright, you—Slave—come here! The one with ‘Slave’ on her.” The noble youth twirled the dart in his hand; it danced as if alive.
The naked woman, terrified and nervous, walked over step by step.
Just then—
“Whoosh!” Suddenly, a fierce wind rose. The clothes on the ground flew up, wrapping around all twenty-five women. At the same time, the twenty-five women, including the maid beside the noble youth, fell into a dazed, unconscious state.
“Huh?” The noble youth turned his head, his gaze sharpening like a blade.
A brown-haired man appeared. He was dressed entirely in white mourning clothes, with a white band tied around his head. He walked forward step by step.
“Who are you?” The noble youth’s expression changed.
“Odin is your father, isn’t he?” Linley said coldly.
“Know that and still dare to be arrogant?” The noble youth spoke, but his body suddenly moved.
“Buzz—” A strange soul fluctuation spread out. The noble youth’s eyes instantly went blank, falling into a dazed state. This was Linley’s special move from the Blackstone Space—Soul Confusion. Back when Linley was still a God, it could confuse ordinary Highgods.
And now…
“A brat who reached Highgod by refining a divine spark. Trying to escape?” Linley glanced at him contemptuously.
Linley’s right hand formed a claw and shot out. “Pfft!” It plunged directly into the noble youth’s skull. A surge of earth divine power churned the inside of the youth’s brain into mush.
“Time for the next one.” Linley grabbed the noble youth’s corpse, and with a flicker, vanished.
Not long after Linley left, the women regained consciousness, but they remembered nothing. The steward wasn’t worried either—he knew His Highness was a Highgod. On the Yulan Continent, nothing could threaten His Highness. He assumed the prince had simply gone out on business.
The Odin Empire’s capital was rebuilt on the ruins of the former Yulan Empire’s capital. The imperial palace was especially grand and imposing. Today, the Odin Empire’s capital was bustling… because an envoy from the Baruch Empire had come to pay respects to His Majesty Odin. Since the Odin Empire’s founding over a thousand years ago, relations between the Baruch Empire and the Odin Empire had been tense.
Now, they were actually sending an envoy to see His Majesty Odin. This was a rare event.
In the Odin Empire’s imperial hall.
The empire’s ministers stood below the throne, all wearing smiles. In their eyes, the Baruch Empire sending an envoy to see His Majesty Odin was a sign of submission. This gave them a feeling of superiority over the Baruch Empire.
“Your Majesty, the envoy is waiting outside the hall,” a court attendant announced respectfully.
“Haha… let them in.” Odin, seated on the throne, laughed heartily. Odin was a man who valued face and perfection. He loved being high above, making countless people grovel before him. He enjoyed the feeling of controlling others’ lives… and even more, he enjoyed toying with people.
Controlling others’ joys, sorrows, and emotions in the palm of his hand made him proud and happy.
“Great Emperor Odin, on behalf of His Majesty the Emperor of the Baruch Empire, I extend our sincerest greetings,” the lead envoy of the Baruch Empire said with a slight bow. “This time, the Baruch Empire has prepared two unprecedented treasures to present to Your Majesty Odin!”
A faint smile appeared on Odin’s face: “Bring them up for a look.”
Immediately—
Guards carried two large chests into the hall from outside and set them down heavily on the floor.
“Open them,” Odin said with a light laugh.
“Your Majesty Odin, please look.” The envoy lifted the lid of the first chest. The entire hall erupted in gasps. Odin, seated on the throne, saw the contents at once, and his face instantly changed drastically: “Nimora! No—” Nimora was Odin’s only brother.
“This… this…” The ministers in the hall were stunned, momentarily at a loss for words.
But the envoy coldly opened the other chest.
“Bang!” The lid crashed to the floor.
Odin felt his heart clench violently. He stared fixedly at the corpse lying inside the chest: “Son! My son!” Odin couldn’t believe it. He shook his head repeatedly.
The Gebados Planar Prison was extremely dangerous. When Odin first entered, he was weak. Though he was mad, loved to toy with others, and reveled in slaughter, he didn’t want his own family to die. He had protected his son and brother well during all those years in the planar prison!
This time, he had returned to the Yulan Continent through a dangerous spatial weak point.
The spatial weak point targeted escapees with varying degrees of binding force. The stronger the energy, the greater the binding. This binding force had nothing to do with insight into the profound mysteries—those were intangible.
An ordinary Highgod and a Seven-Star Demon faced the same binding force when passing through the spatial weak point.
As a Highgod, he had brought only two people: his son and his brother. He had risked his life to bring them through with great difficulty. As for his other subordinates, they were only Demigods or Gods. The fact that he risked his life to bring these two showed how much he valued his brother and son. But today…
His brother and son were dead!
Dead right before his eyes.
In the planar prison, he had been very careful. But on the Yulan Continent, aside from his own people, the only other Highgod was Beirut. There were no other Highgods. He never thought his brother and son would be in danger. Yet today… two corpses lay in chests, placed before him.
“No, no—” Odin roared in fury.
“Seize him!” Odin glared at the envoy.
Instantly, a flood of soldiers surged forward and pinned the envoy down.
Odin flickered and appeared beside the two chests. He looked at the corpse in the left chest, then at the one in the right. His face was ashen: “Nimora, Chester! You… how…” His whole body trembled, his face drained of all color.
“My brother! My son! Don’t worry—I will avenge you! I will!!! I’ll make him regret it! I’ll make his life worse than death!!!”
Odin abruptly turned to the envoy. “Tell me, who killed them?” Odin shouted. He knew well that whoever killed his son and brother must be a Highgod.
“Hmph!” The envoy sneered coldly.
“I did!” An icy voice rang out from outside the hall.
The ministers and Odin all turned to look.
A figure appeared abruptly at the hall’s entrance and walked in step by step. The soldiers nearby couldn’t get close to stop him. He wore a white band around his head and white mourning clothes. Seeing this, the ministers were shocked—this was clearly mourning attire for a deceased family member.
Odin stared at Linley, his eyes blazing with fury.
“Who are you?” Odin growled.
“If your memory serves, you should remember that you killed two people. One was my second brother, and one was my eldest brother,” Linley said coldly.
Having been out of the world for nearly two thousand years, no one could recognize the man before them.
Odin frowned. He couldn’t tell who this person was.
“It seems you’ve killed enough people.”
Linley stared at him coldly. “Listen carefully. I am Linley Baruch!”
The hall erupted in uproar. The ministers stared at Linley in disbelief. The young man in mourning clothes before them was the founding emperor of the Baruch Empire, the legendary Linley of the Yulan Continent!
PS: Two chapters, nine thousand words done. Another nine-thousand-word chapter calls for monthly votes. If you have votes, please support Tomato. Click the “Recommend Monthly Votes to Support the Author” button below.