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Chapter 283: A New Charging Method
🕑 Added 2024-10-03 07:40:45 +0000 UTCSince this was just a simulation, Rhett was quite generous, directly revealing details about the Canyon Defense Line, including some of the officers' habits, their residences, and even some of the secret codes used on the battlefield.
These pieces of intelligence immediately delighted the two men, making them trust Rhett even more!
Next, Rhett even drew a simple map of the terrain and handed it over to them. Watching the two engrossed in studying it, he casually asked, “By the way, I know I'm just an undercover agent placed by the leader and only aware that the headquarters is north of the Grey Deer Kingdom. I'm really curious about the exact location—could you tell me?”
At this, one of the men wearing a blood-red mask looked up suspiciously and said, "Better not. Since you’re an undercover agent, the leader probably has reasons for not telling you. We should focus on our mission—this could be your chance to go from undercover to overt. You might get to visit headquarters afterward."
Not getting the answer he wanted, Rhett frowned. These people were far too cautious, unwilling to divulge anything beyond the mission details. It seemed that no matter how he altered his approach, he wouldn’t be able to extract any further information. Perhaps this was as far as he could go...
Given that it was only a simulation, Rhett decided to act recklessly. He attacked the two men with full force, utilizing all three of his arcane powers. He easily subdued them, leaving them on the brink of death.
Rhett, having decided to take a more direct approach, attempted to force the information out of them.
But the outcome followed the same pattern as in previous simulations. Both men chose to commit suicide just before he could interrogate them, using a strange burst of energy from within their bodies that ravaged their internal organs, leaving them a pool of blood. There was no saving them—they didn’t even give Rhett a chance to interrogate them.
In the end, the air was thick with the stench of blood...
Standing beside the unrecognizable corpses, Rhett’s face darkened as he muttered to himself, "It seems the Blood God Cult’s leader has implanted some kind of control mechanism in the bodies of his key members. That strange energy I sensed earlier must have been the medium."
He knelt down, intending to examine the corpses to locate the source of the blood energy. Despite the gruesome sight, Rhett kept a straight face as he sifted through the mangled flesh, using his mental energy to probe every detail, searching for anything unusual.
Under his highly concentrated mental perception, Rhett became even more attuned to the surrounding elements, absorbing every detail of the environment. But from the remains, he could only detect the rapidly fading traces of that bizarre energy—a type of energy unlike anything in this world, neither belonging to Dou Qi nor magic, and distinctly different from the energy of magical beasts. This seemed to support the theory that it came from another world.
Rhett narrowed his eyes slightly. Given all his past experiences and the information he recently obtained from King Milan in the last text simulation, he was now certain that the Blood God Cult’s leader had indeed harnessed a power entirely foreign to this world.
As for why this foreign energy wasn’t suppressed by this world and could exist normally, that was beyond Rhett’s current understanding. The mechanics of how this world’s source operated, how external energies invaded, and how they interacted with each other were mysteries he wasn’t equipped to unravel.
These were questions he would need to explore further.
In less than a minute, the blood energy dissipated completely, leaving no trace. Rhett furrowed his brow and ended the simulation.
Despite the setbacks, Rhett didn’t give up entirely. He continued attempting to gather intelligence in further simulations.
However, the results remained the same—he could only extract information related to the Canyon Defense Line. Beyond that, the conversations couldn’t proceed further. These people weren’t fools; any basic inquiries he made about the organization were quickly noticed.
So Rhett had to give up on that. But he wasn’t left empty-handed. Each time he reached the end of a simulation, he took the opportunity to study the blood energy that had destroyed these Sky Knights, like a ticking time bomb capable of self-destruction.
After exhausting all the methods he could think of, Rhett made a surprising discovery—the fragment of the fishman’s shell he possessed reacted to the blood energy.
Suddenly energized, Rhett crouched down, holding the cold, black shell fragment, and aimed its opening at the two corpses.
Since the Sky Knights’ life energy far exceeded that of the third-tier creatures the shell had absorbed before, the artifact fragment seemed to act like a filter, showing no reaction to the Sky Knights’ flesh. Instead, it quickly absorbed the strange blood energy.
Seeing this, Rhett watched the shell expectantly, wondering if it might produce some unexpected results.
However, unlike before, when the shell would tremble slightly after absorbing life energy, it now remained perfectly still in his hand.
Rhett’s face twisted in surprise. “What’s going on? Why isn’t it reacting? Is the artifact just eating for free?”
He shook the shell, extending his mental energy to examine it, only to find something unexpected. He paused, his hand freezing mid-shake.
In his perception, the energy within the shell—what he referred to as the “devouring source power,” which had been nearly depleted from absorbing fishman blood—had increased. Although the increase was slight, considering how little blood energy the shell had absorbed, the conversion rate was far higher than with fishman blood.
While this didn’t directly benefit Rhett, it did extend the shell’s lifespan, which was an even greater advantage!
After all, Rhett rarely used the shell in his everyday life, only relying on it in simulations when he had enough fate points to spare. In other words, the blood energy didn’t enhance Rhett directly but extended the artifact’s usability, which was more beneficial for him.
This discovery also solved a pressing issue.
Ever since Rhett had acquired the shell, two and a half years had passed. The fishman blood energy within it was already half-depleted. Rhett suspected it might no longer sustain him for a full day of continuous simulation because the last time he used the shell to absorb energy in a simulation, pushing him to the peak of the seventh level, the shell’s energy had nearly dried up. Now, six more months had passed, and with constant energy consumption, it was undoubtedly running low.
This unexpected gain was a pleasant surprise, more valuable in Rhett’s eyes than the intelligence he had gathered.
But a new question arose—why could the blood energy left by the Blood God Cult’s leader be absorbed by the fishman artifact fragment?
Rhett fell into deep thought, puzzled by this mystery. Could the Blood God Cult’s leader be a fishman?
This notion was quickly dismissed as impossible. Based on all the information he had, the probability of the Blood God Cult leader being a fishman was negligible.
He then considered another possibility. The claim that the shell was a fragment of a fishman artifact had come from the Water Saint Magus, Mozas. Perhaps Mozas hadn’t been entirely accurate?
Maybe this artifact had been in the fishman’s possession and used by them, but that didn’t necessarily mean only fishmen could use it.
It might not have been suitable for the inhabitants of this world, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t find a compatible substance in another, more mysterious world.
And now, the Blood God Cult’s leader had connections to an alien world, wielding a blood spirit that specialized in manipulating blood. Perhaps it could indeed satisfy the artifact’s requirements…
Rhett muttered to himself, pondering the situation. He pulled out a blood source bead and placed it next to the shell, but as before, the artifact fragment showed no reaction to the non-living blood source bead.
Rhett had tested this before; he was just giving it another shot after the recent discovery.
“In that case, I don’t have to worry as much about the shell’s energy running low when we reach the Coldstream Front. Since the Blood God Cult’s leader is also involved in this war, collecting corpses to satisfy his own desires and charge his blood source beads, I might as well collect some interest and charge my shell…”
Rhett chuckled softly to himself, reviewing his plan in his mind. Satisfied, he chose to end the simulation.
[Real Simulation Ending. Please select one attribute to retain.]
[1. Constitution]
[2. Dou Qi]
[3. Mental Strength]
“Mental Strength…”
The scene before him shifted, and Rhett returned to the narrow entrance of the Mordred Valley. He awaited the arrival of the three men, following the simulation’s trajectory to eliminate them. Then, he used the shell to absorb the two strange blood energies and stored it back in his spatial equipment.
Rhett manipulated the earth element, letting yellow sand cover the traces of the battle, burying everything deep underground. Then, he set off toward his team.
By the time the sun had set and shadows stretched across the land, Rhett had rejoined his forces.
On a wide, uneven rock ledge atop a small hill, nearly a thousand soldiers sat resting on the ground. Some drank from their water flasks, while others gnawed on dried meat.
“Commander, you’ve returned. Would you like something to eat?”
Lawrence, stationed at the front of the team, served as Rhett’s personal guard. Although he was also a third-tier knight, he wasn’t an officer and didn’t command a squad. Seeing Rhett descend from the sky on the back of Fire Claw, Lawrence immediately approached, holding out a bundle of magical beast jerky.
Rhett shook his head and said, “No need. Notify the captains to get ready to move out.”
Lawrence’s expression grew serious. “Understood, Commander!”
As Rhett’s bodyguard, Lawrence’s role was more about relaying orders to the team than engaging in combat. After all, if Rhett couldn’t handle a situation, Lawrence certainly couldn’t.
Lawrence quickly moved through the ranks, passing on the orders. Soon, the entire force was ready to march again. With a leap, they descended from the thirty-meter-high rock ledge. Some of the first-tier knights, lacking sufficient strength, used the slope to gain momentum, easily overcoming the terrain.
In perfect formation, they advanced under the moonlight, like a black tablecloth being dragged across the ground. Every person and every squad moved like a finely woven thread, all with a common goal—to cleanse the Kiln Kingdom’s land of its “stain.”
A month passed.
The entire force traveled along the edge of the Magical Beast Ridge, circling through the plains east of the Dark Raven Ridge and finally returning to the southeastern foothills of the White Rat Ridge, just along the outline of the Cedar Woodlands.
As the blazing sun beat down, accompanied by the chorus of cicadas, they abandoned their horses as they neared the White Rat Ridge, moving swiftly through the mountains like a tribe of determined monkeys on the move.
The dappled light through the green leaves left countless shadows on the soldiers, only to disappear quickly, becoming a cloak of shade.
They moved so swiftly that they left behind or discarded various items along the way—food bags, tattered clothing, worn-out iron boots...
Some less intelligent magical beasts, attracted by the noise, quickly met their end among the troops. Even some mid- to high-tier beasts, seeing this swarm of tiny humans marching through their territory, would roar and try to show off their might.
These moments provided Rhett with the perfect opportunity to display his strength. When the team found itself in a dire situation, Rhett would step in, bringing hope and light, leaving a lasting impression on everyone.
Just earlier, a seventh-tier Lightfeather Sky Mouse had been flying recklessly above, gathering countless light elements into arrow-like beams that seemed poised to pin the soldiers to the forest floor.
But with a single strike from Rhett, the group couldn’t even register how the earth spikes appeared before the Lightfeather Sky Mouse was impaled through the head, becoming the most valuable trophy of this journey.
As the overwhelming light dimmed, casting a glow on their faces, the soldiers realized it was nearly dusk—they were fortunate to be entering the night, to enjoy its calm.
They snapped back to reality, watching Rhett, who was retrieving the seventh-tier magical beast’s corpse. Compared to the magical beasts, mountains, and rivers, he seemed so small. Yet, in their hearts, he was a towering presence, as reassuring as the earth itself.
“Commander Rhett, he… saved us!”
“Yes, Commander Rhett is a powerful Archmage!”
“Thank you, Commander Rhett!”
The halted troops began to cheer. Many nobles and knights shouted in excitement. Some were overjoyed at witnessing Rhett’s true power. An Archmage was, after all, one of the most formidable forces below the Sanctum on the Coldstream Front. After seeing his strength firsthand, they felt much more confident about their mission.
After securing the spoils, Rhett turned to face the group, ignoring their excited gazes. Waving his hand, he said, “Let’s keep moving. We’re almost at Thunderbear Ridge…”
Just moments ago, they had passed through Sawtooth Mountain, the place where Rhett, along with Blackstar and Golden Sands, had once destroyed the evil alchemist’s gang. Although he wasn’t sure why they had encountered a high-tier magical beast at the junction of the two ridges, Rhett was eager to reach Thunderbear Ridge and begin clearing out its outer regions.
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