Chapter 219: Section 7: Seeking Redemption
006 had not gleaned much from the knight youth, but the youth, on the other hand, had reaped a fair amount.
At last, the youth ventured to ask 006, if he were to join and carry out the Empire’s secret tasks, what benefits would there be?
006 immediately offered a response.
There would indeed be benefits, and quite substantial ones at that. Moreover, the support one received would be determined based on the defector’s cultivation, strength, and merit. There was a complete set of rules that was neither complicated nor comprehensive.
This made the knight youth think of his experiences on Mysterious Monster Island. During that time, he had taken in Zong Ge and others and, upon discovering the threat of the Blue Dog Fox Wolf, had started to subjugate the surrounding beast herds within the camp. Zi Di and Cang Xu, in order to counterbalance Zong Ge, had devised a list of material exchanges.
The complete set of rules provided by 006 must have stemmed from scholars of the Empire. Compared to it, the exchange lists from Zi Di, Cang Xu, and the like seemed very crude.
The knight youth then asked a few more questions and, finding that 006 had nothing new to say, he had Zong Ge take 006 away.
But not to imprison him in the brig deep in the ship’s hold, rather, choosing a separate cabin to keep him under house arrest.
Sitting alone in the captain’s room, the knight youth fell into deep contemplation.
Honestly, he was somewhat at a loss now.
On Mysterious Monster Island, he had absorbed the second Blood Core.
The process had been very smooth.
After opening the third layer of the protective arrangement, the knight youth held the Blood Core in his hand. In that moment, the desire to devour the Blood Core was so intense that he didn’t need anyone’s guidance and naturally stimulated the Blood Core within his heart, producing a demon energy red light.
After the red light covered the Blood Core in his hand, the Blood Core quickly dissolved, flowing back along with the red light.
The Blood Core in his heart absorbed the red light demon energy and immediately swelled in size. The patterns on its surface became more three-dimensional and profound, emitting a clear, translucent red glow.
The knight youth realized at that moment that the War Merchant’s Blood Core was obviously many times stronger than the one in his heart.
His Blood Core was powerless against the Golden Level Python Vine, but after absorbing the War Merchant’s Blood Core, it could now assail beings of Legendary Level.
The King of Flame Dragon was proof of this practice.
With the Legendary bloodline of the Flame Dragon, the knight youth was finally able to transform into a Dragon-man form, currently able to mutate Dragon Head, Dragon Claw, Dragon Scale, and Dragon Meat.
The various Magic Beast bloodlines he had absorbed before were all modified; they had significant flaws in their bloodlines. Once he mutated under normal circumstances, they would cause the knight youth unbearable pain, his magic power unbalanced, and he would have no choice but to abandon them.
Having lost the Monkey-tailed Brown Bear form, Acid Liquid Green Lizard form, Gun Scorpion form, and others, the knight youth’s methods immediately became impoverished, no longer as rich as before.
But the newly added Dragon-man form, sourced from a Legendary bloodline, was truly very powerful.
Moreover, the knight youth felt no suppression and was able to perceive and use the Silver Fighting Spirit within his body, which caused his combat strength to surge by a great margin, far surpassing the peak state he had reached on Mysterious Monster Island.
“However, this level of strength is still not enough,” the knight youth thought to himself with a wry smile.
He was under considerable pressure now, facing a manhunt from the Holy Bright Empire.
The Holy Bright Empire was the world’s first force, ruling over a complete continent and dominating all others. They were now invading the Wilderness Continent, and the barbaric Beastmen were in continual retreat, only able to watch helplessly as the Empire established castles across the Wilderness Continent.
Deep down, the knight youth understood that relying on Pearl Rice was merely a temporary maintenance of a lingering existence. It was like a bomb with a burning fuse; once the fuse burned through, it would eventually explode.
“Even though I escaped from Mysterious Monster Island, isn’t this world essentially a vast Mysterious Monster Island?”
“It’s broader, vaster, more terrifying, more profound, more mysterious, and even more exceedingly complex.”
“Now, we seem to have been drawn into the vortex of the rivalry for the Pirate God’s throne. One misstep, and we could be shattered to pieces.”
The knight youth was a leader; his vision was not shortsighted. He could see the crisis.
Of course, he also saw the opportunities within.
So, the essence of his bewilderment was actually indecision.
“What should I choose? Where should I go?”
Luckily, he was no longer alone; he had companions.
The question should also be considered by them.
Shortly thereafter.
The knight youth and Zong Ge secretly returned to the Fish Monster.
“The situation is as follows.” The knight youth shared detailed intelligence with everyone.
The youth trusted these people.
Because they had all escaped death together, their bonds of loyalty ran deep. At the same time, they were all carrying serious criminal charges, like grasshoppers on a rope, bound to watch out for and rely on one another.
Upon hearing this intelligence, everyone fell into thought, and for a time, the meeting room fell silent.
“What should we do next? Any thoughts, just say them,” the knight youth waited a moment before speaking.
Bai Ya, without thinking twice, was the first to respond, “No matter what we want to do, whether to continue to the Wilderness Continent or to return to the Holy Bright Empire, first of all, we should clear our names! We should contact the higher-ups of the Empire as soon as possible; being cooped up in the Fish Monster all the time isn’t really working.”
Being cooped up in the Fish Monster all the time, Bai Ya, as a young person, was already getting irritable.
This feeling was actually quite common.
Bai Ya had ventured to the Wilderness Continent with dreams of becoming a Knight and returning home in glory, to marry the girl he loved, Miss Xi Qiu. But fate had played a cruel joke on him, as he was forced to kill Jia Sha and bear the crime of murder.
Of course, this was not what he wanted.
Fat Tongue sighed, “Alas, the sentiment, the situation here is very complicated, young man.”
“We can’t recklessly get in touch with the Empire’s upper echelons; that would be very, very foolish.”
“We have two Divine Artifacts in our possession, as well as the Tower Spirit, and most of the War Merchant’s alchemy techniques. These things are too valuable. And our strength is too weak. Once exposed, it’s easy to be directly targeted by the Empire’s higher-ups, who would rob us instead of negotiating to clear our names.”
Bai Ya was stunned, “Then why don’t we find someone from the higher-ups with a good reputation? Wouldn’t that solve the problem?”
Fat Tongue scoffed, “Reputation? The items we hold are enough to make even the most reputable Nobles of the Empire cast aside their honor.”
“The Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce was torn apart by several major forces of the Empire, those Nobles who usually pride themselves on their reputation.”
“I know all too well the true faces of these people.”
These words resonated deeply with Sanda.
Before he had fully committed himself to Zong Ge, he used to be a Mercenary and had suffered greatly in his dealings with the Nobles.
Sanda agreed wholeheartedly, “Kid, think about it. If you were a powerful person with significant influence, and you saw a child clutching gold in his hands, would you prefer to negotiate with the child for the gold, or simply take it by force?”
Bai Ya fell silent.
Fat Tongue continued, “So, that’s why we must wake up Zi Di, the Chairman. Only by waking her up can we have a way to contact the Clan Leader of the Hundred Needle Family.”
“Only the Chairman Zi Di and the Clan Leader of the Hundred Needle Family have met in person. Besides, Zi Di has an engagement with Zhenjin.”
“The Hundred Needle Family is a great Noble family of the south; although they’ve fallen on hard times, they’ve actually found their new position in the Empire as vanquished parties, aligning themselves with the faction of the Great Emperor and securing their footing.”
“Zhenjin is the only heir to the Hundred Needle Family, and this is no ordinary bargaining chip. The Hundred Needle Family has surrendered and been purged and punished by the Empire. The Great Emperor has clearly decreed that the Hundred Needle Family may have only one heir and that heir cannot be changed. This means if Zhenjin dies, there will be no new heir for the Hundred Needle Family. If the Clan Leader of the Hundred Needle Family also dies, the family will be left without an heir and be overtaken by other Nobles.”
“The Clan Leader of the Hundred Needle Family will certainly do everything possible to rescue Zhenjin. With his connections, we might have a chance to clear our names.”
“So, I believe that what’s most important right now is to wake up our Chairman.”
Fat Tongue’s speech, of course, had its own self-interest.
He was terrified that everyone would give up on Zi Di’s treatment, so he emphasized her importance.
However, everyone also agreed: Fat Tongue made sense. Relying on the Hundred Needle Family was a reliable option because the captive, Zhenjin, would force the Clan Leader to comply.
Cang Xu shook his head and sighed, “I’ve done my best. In fact, we all have. We’ve been searching the islands near Mysterious Monster Island non-stop these past few days and finally found the Green Jade Gold Coffin. We’ve used most of our Magic Materials to build an Alchemy Array and have thoroughly healed Chairman Zi Di’s body.”
“But she didn’t wake up. The issue is not with the body, but with the soul.”
“Her soul is in a comatose state.”
“Perhaps, Divine Arts could awaken Chairman Zi Di.”
Fat Tongue panicked, “Then, then go find a Priest or a, a Father. Don’t, don’t forget, without Chairman Zi Di, none of us would have escaped from Mysterious Monster Island.”
Sanda’s face remained expressionless, “We acknowledge this favor, and we won’t forget. But the maritime disaster was also created by Chairman Zi Di. Without her, we wouldn’t have ended up on Mysterious Monster Island, would we?”
Fat Tongue clenched his teeth, “My family’s Chairman surely had, had her reasons.”
Mu Ban interjected, “Seeking help from a Priest is too risky. We might attract the attention of the divine. After the maritime disaster, a Holy Temple Knight and a priest from the Holy Bright sect went missing; the Empire will definitely send people to search and investigate. The Hundred Needle Family will marshal all their resources.”
“I believe that the search notices and rewards concerning these two individuals must be plastered all over the coastal cities. Any passing Captains and crew members must have heard something. We cannot afford to expose ourselves now.”
Bai Ya expressed her doubts, “Don’t we have the Pearl Bubble? It’s very powerful; it even deceived the Holy Tablet.”
Cang Xu shook his head, “Mermaid’s Fairy Tale is a Divine Artifact, but we cannot fully harness its power. The true users of Divine Artifacts are the divine, not us Transcendents. We lack faith and the corresponding Divine Power; our use of this artifact is very superficial and crude. At the moment, we can only crush the Pearl Bubble to ward off Divination and Prophecy; we can’t even change our own appearances. This is quite inconsistent with the description of this Divine Artifact.”
“There’s more bad news on this matter.”
“Has anyone noticed that the Pearl Bubble within this giant shell is diminishing?”
Lan Zao questioned, “Isn’t it the same? It’s still a shell full of pearls.”
During the initial use, everyone discovered that Mermaid’s Fairy Tale could produce Pearl Bubble autonomously.
Cang Xu sighed, “Indeed, it is decreasing. The production rate of the new Pearl Bubble is getting slower and slower. If this trend continues, one day, our consumption rate will exceed the production rate. The consequences are self-evident; everyone understands.”
“The second level of the Alchemy Core houses an Alchemy Array specifically designed to utilize this Divine Artifact. Regrettably, the Tower Spirit no longer remembers the Alchemy Array Map.”
Although they had retrieved the Tower Spirit along with them, it was very fragmented and closest to Zi Di.
In fact, they wouldn’t have been able to take a complete Tower Spirit with them.
The knight youth frowned slightly and looked at Cang Xu, “So, how long can we hold out?”
“I’m not sure,” Cang Xu shook his head, “It’s hard to estimate. It might be a long while or it might be brief. It depends on the consumption. For instance, now, we need to obfuscate the Holy Tablet and continue disguising ourselves, which clearly requires much more consumption.”
At that, everyone’s faces grew worried.
Their current predicament was like running through an underground tunnel with a ferocious beast often unbeatable chasing after them.
The dwindling Pearl Bubble signified that this underground tunnel was a dead end.
Within the time before the beast could catch up to them, they had to find their redemption.