Chapter 207: Peyton's Little Notebook

Not long after Li Yu and his group departed, in the desolate Universe just outside Troll Star, the starry sky distorted. A massive fleet of warships materialized in outer space.

The armada formed a dense, dark cloud that seemed to stretch on infinitely. Majestic and awe-inspiring, it brought with it an overwhelming sense of oppression as it approached from the distance, causing any creature who laid eyes upon it to tremble involuntarily.

The colossal Mothership at the center spanned over ten kilometers in length. The flames erupting from its Propulsion Engines were longer than some small spaceships.

The pitch-black warships carried a deadly aura, their flanks painted with crimson depictions of war. Like a torrential storm cloud, they surged forward to blanket the entirety of Troll Star.

Down on Troll Star, a massive crowd of Trolls surrounded the corpse of the Grand Elder. The severed head and body of the Third Elder had been pieced back together and placed beside him.

Three trembling, elderly Trolls looked at each other in dismay. They were the remaining elders of the council.

Holding revered Status within the Troll Clan, the sudden deaths of the Grand Elder and Third Elder meant these three were naturally pushed forward to handle the current situation.

"This..." The Second Elder blinked and glanced at the Fourth Elder. The Fourth Elder, equally bewildered, looked at the Fifth Elder, who in turn cast his gaze over the surrounding Trolls.

Trolls possessed no laws or concept of interstellar morality. All they respected were their fists and the Elder Council.

"Ahem..." The Second Elder coughed dryly, struggling to suppress a smirk as he drew the crowd's attention. "Does any Troll know what happened here? Why did the Grand Elder and Third Elder die in this place?"

A few B-Class Trolls scratched their heads. The scenes from the battle echoed in their minds, but they found it incredibly difficult to organize the right words to explain it, scratching their heads in pure frustration.

The three elders had heard vague rumors about the Grand Elder's Artificial Five-Blood Troll project. However, lacking the Grand Elder's political maneuvering skills, they had essentially been reduced to figureheads, spending their days eating, drinking, and making merry.

Being suddenly thrust into the spotlight to take charge left them feeling quite out of their element.

"I suddenly received an order from the Grand Elder earlier to come here and besiege an enemy," one Troll finally spoke up, breaking the ice.

The rest of the Trolls quickly chimed in, gradually painting a rough picture of the events.

"What about that five-colored pillar of light that pierced the heavens? Does anyone know what that was?" the Second Elder inquired.

A five-colored beam of light easily made them think of a Five-Blood Troll. But Noel's corpse was lying right there. If a Five-Blood Troll had truly been born, who could it possibly be?

Amidst the crowd, Juan's eyes were filled with suppressed shock. The Grand Elder was dead? The Third Elder was dead? Even Noel was dead?

That man had actually done it. And not only that, but that five-colored pillar of light...

While the rest of the Trolls were looking at each other in dismay and tossing out wild guesses, Juan, as a Troll who knew the core secrets, was absolutely certain. If a Five-Blood Troll had been born, it could only be Tu Ying.

Juan clenched his fists, the heavy weight on his Troll heart finally lifting. He couldn't even begin to imagine how Li Yu had not only rescued Tu Ying but also transformed him into a Five-Blood Troll. How in the world had he managed that?

Juan didn't know the answer, but watching the Trolls murmuring among themselves, he decided he didn't want this conversation to continue.

The truth behind the Grand Elder's heart transplant scheme to create a Five-Blood Troll, as well as Tu Ying's situation, was supposed to be a closely guarded secret, but quite a few Trolls actually knew about it.

Juan didn't want them connecting the dots to Tu Ying just yet. If he could keep them in the dark a little longer, it might give Tu Ying and the others enough time to get far away.

He glanced around. Seeing that no Troll was paying attention to him, he feigned a look of panic and roared, "This is terrible! The Sacred Relic is gone!"

"What?!" As soon as the words left his mouth, every Troll stopped talking and snapped their heads toward Juan.

The death of the Grand Elder and the Third Elder combined weren't nearly as important as the Sacred Relic.

The Second Elder stumbled over to Juan, leaning heavily on his Spiked Club, and barked, "What did you just say? The Sacred Relic... how could the Sacred Relic just disappear?"

Feigning deep anxiety, Juan hurriedly explained, "Not long ago, the Grand Elder forced the Third Elder to take the Sacred Relic out of the Sacred Temple."

"I just searched the surrounding area, but apart from their corpses, there isn't a single trace of the Sacred Relic."

An immediate uproar swept through the surrounding Trolls. Only a few of the Grand Elder's most loyal subordinates remained unresponsive.

"Find it! Go find it! Everyone, start searching! Even if you have to turn this place upside down, you must find it!"

The Second Elder bellowed, gnashing his teeth in fury. He then grabbed Juan by the arm and dragged him toward the Sacred Temple, intending to verify this catastrophic news for himself.

Right at that moment, a deafening roar descended from the heavens. Several Small Aircraft tore through the Atmosphere, hurtling straight toward them. Through the breaking clouds, the dense silhouette of the warship fleet could be faintly seen lurking just outside the planet.

The Trolls instantly went on high alert. Given the monumental upheaval their Troll Clan had just suffered, they were deeply suspicious of anything from the outside world.

"Why does the emblem on those ships look so familiar..." one Troll muttered in a muffled voice.

The three elders narrowed their eyes, straining to identify the markings. Suddenly, their eyes went wide. They exchanged a look of pure astonishment, confirming the wild guess in their minds.

"The Troll Legion?!"

Hum—Clank!

The Small Aircraft landed a short distance away. The blast doors hissed open, and over a dozen burly figures stepped out. The surrounding Trolls stared in disbelief—they were all of their own kind.

"Every High-Energy Reaction on this planet was concentrated in this area. What happened here?" The leading Troll was incredibly heavily built, standing a full head taller than any of his companions.

He was bare-chested, his savage muscles coiling like dragons beneath a canvas of brutal scars. His skin was an interwoven tapestry of red, blue, purple, and black.

Every Troll present knew there was only one Four-Blood Giant Demon in existence—the commander of the Troll Legion, Raymond.

The illustrious legendary Troll, and without a doubt, the strongest among them all.

"It's Raymond!" a Troll bellowed enthusiastically, pounding his chest to produce a series of heavy, thudding echoes.

"Raymond!"

"Raymond!"

"Raymond!"

The rhythmic drumming of chests and feverish chanting gradually drowned out everything else in the area. The three elderly Trolls felt as if their eardrums were about to burst.

Compared to the younger generation, the elders were much more composed. They were consumed by a single burning question: Why had Raymond suddenly appeared here?

Raymond raised a hand and pressed it downward. His expression remained indifferent, completely unmoved by the overwhelming cheers. He waited for the deafening roar to subside before repeating his question. "What happened here?"

"The Grand Elder is dead!" one Troll reported with sheer excitement. The three elders exchanged bewildered looks. 'The Grand Elder died, why are you so thrilled about it?'

It was only then that the crowd of Trolls remembered the unresolved mess. They parted like the sea, clearing a path to reveal the corpses of the Grand Elder and the Third Elder.

Rather awkwardly, someone had carelessly stomped on the Grand Elder's already mutilated, deformed face. The distinct, massive footprint left behind caused the atmosphere to freeze in an uncomfortable silence.

Raymond, however, paid no mind to the disrespect. He stepped forward, flanked by his elite Giant Demon Royal Guard.

These Giant Demon Royal Guards were markedly different from the native Trolls of Troll Star. The light of intellect and calculation gleamed in their eyes, and they looked upon their fellow Troll brethren with distinct apathy.

"The Grand Elder..." Raymond crouched down to examine the wounds. There were no superfluous signs of a prolonged struggle. The gaping wound on his side was a fatal, one-strike kill, while the rest of his body bore the hallmarks of a massive fall.

He must have plummeted in a freefall. Glancing at the moderately sized crater beneath the Grand Elder's corpse, Raymond confirmed his deduction.

"Who caused this chaos?" Raymond stood up, a flicker of anger stirring in his eyes. Troll Star was his Homeworld, after all. Even if he and the Grand Elder had their differences, this was an internal clan matter.

Juan suddenly felt a wave of unease. He didn't want Raymond bearing a grudge against that man, as it would inevitably drag Tu Ying down with him.

After a brief moment of deliberation, Juan gritted his teeth and spoke up. "Commander Raymond, we don't know the exact details either. We all rushed over here after seeing a five-colored pillar of light erupting from this location."

"A five-colored pillar of light?!" Raymond's gaze snapped up, slamming into Juan's chest like a blast from a warship's Main Cannon, forcing the lesser Troll to stumble backward.

A Five-Blood Troll!

The term instantly materialized in Raymond's mind. Just what exactly had happened to the clan?

He carefully scanned his surroundings, finally noticing a few details he had previously overlooked. The white encampment not far away clearly bore the emblem of Sacred Heart Hospital.

He dispatched his Giant Demon Royal Guard to investigate. As their Smart Terminals synchronized and fed live video footage back to him, the sight of numerous butchered medical personnel caused his eyes to flood with bloodshot rage.

Why were people from Sacred Heart Hospital dead here?! He didn't even need to think to know the apocalyptic fury those people would unleash. Interstellar Public Opinion would completely drown the Troll Clan.

How long had it been since an external medical team from that hospital had suffered an accident? Three years? Five years?

The last time a group of Marauders slaughtered a Sacred Heart Hospital team, hiding within the Council's territory hadn't saved them.

"What... in the world... happened here?!" Raymond locked eyes with Juan, his voice dripping with venom as he enunciated every single syllable.

...

A day later, the Blazing Light was advancing toward the Qiushan Hub, preparing to use a commercial Stargate Jump to leave the Star Glory Empire's territory.

Mo Duo's business was settled, and they had successfully retrieved Tu Ying. There was no longer any need to linger in this region.

"...Raymond has now taken me under his wing, having me join his personal guard detail." The audio waveforms on the Holographic Screen fluctuated unevenly.

"As for Tu Ying, his stance is quite ambiguous. He locked down the news entirely and took the Grand Elder's loyalists away with him. The three elders are acting as if nothing ever happened."

"And as for you... he shows no intention of pursuing the matter further. The blame for the lost Sacred Relic has been entirely pinned on the Third Elder."

Juan communicated with Li Yu via his Smart Terminal, relaying everything that had transpired after Raymond's arrival.

"Cold Treatment..." Li Yu rubbed his chin. The commander's choice of action was very interesting.

"If the Star Glory Empire found out about the Five-Blood Troll, what would their reaction be?" Li Yu turned and asked Peyton, who was currently examining Tu Ying.

"The Star Glory Empire is a massive entity. If you mean His Excellency The Emperor, he might be mildly interested. If you mean the rest of the Nobles, they would be exceedingly interested," Peyton replied.

Peyton had been continuously monitoring Tu Ying's body for any abnormal reactions. This stemmed not from genuine care, but purely out of scientific curiosity.

Keller watched from the sidelines, looking utterly torn. She was slightly afraid of Peyton, yet deeply worried about Tu Ying, leaving her in a dilemma.

After finishing the diagnostics at hand, Peyton continued, "But if they discovered exactly how Tu Ying was created, they would lose their minds."

An Artificial Five-Blood Troll and a naturally born Five-Blood Troll were two entirely different concepts. In the eyes of those great Nobles, artificially created meant mass-producible.

A single Four-Blood Giant Demon like Raymond was enough to uphold the entire Troll Legion. If Five-Blood Trolls could be mass-produced, total domination of the Universe would be just around the corner.

"That Troll commander must have foreseen this exact outcome, which is why he chose to handle it this way," Li Yu guessed.

"Becoming part of Raymond's Giant Demon Royal Guard means your future is limitless." Li Yu exchanged a few more pleasantries before cutting the transmission.

After a moment of thought, he decided against blocking Juan's contact. The Troll might still prove useful in the future.

"Do you still feel those sudden, irregular heart palpitations?" Peyton asked with feigned concern. Watching Peyton act this way sent an inexplicable chill down Hunter's spine from the sidelines.

"After using the Sacred Relic, that feeling went away," Tu Ying shook his head honestly. "It's just that my body occasionally emits some sort of black Energy."

Peyton nodded. "That's the Four-Blood Power. Pay it no mind. Once your body fully adapts, you'll be able to activate that power at will."

This situation aligned perfectly with his expectations. He hadn't anticipated that his sudden flash of inspiration back then would actually work so flawlessly.

"Thank you..." Tu Ying expressed his gratitude politely. He was wearing a Small Black Combat Suit, which automatically contracted to perfectly fit his physique.

Peyton naturally didn't bother to respond. Just as he stood up, he caught sight of Keller peeking mischievously from the side. Before he could even open his mouth to speak, the little girl's face turned deathly pale, and she bolted away in a flash.

Frowning, Peyton turned to Tu Ying. "Tell her later that the blood she consumed last time should be mostly digested by now. She can feed again."

"Really?" Keller's tiny head popped out from some unknown hiding spot, asking with a hint of uncertainty.

"Stone-face... Uncle Peyton, is it true?"

"Mhm..." The glow of the Holographic Screen reflected off Peyton's face. Thanks to the privacy module, no one else could see what was displayed from the side.

[...]

[Research Log: Blood Descendant of the Grand Duke of Blood Within Ten Generations]

[Research Log: Five-Blood Troll]

He clicked on the second file, beginning to type out who-knew-what notes inside.

Keller had long ceased to care about the screen. She originally intended to run straight to Li Yu, but after taking two steps on her short little legs, she trotted back. Tilting her head up, she stared at Tu Ying, blinking her large, innocent eyes.

Tu Ying frowned slightly. 'What is wrong with this female human Young Child? Why does she give off such a dangerous vibe?'

"Could you... squeeze out a little blood?" Keller took out a Metal Test Tube and held it out toward Peyton.

Peyton, who had been about to leave, paused upon hearing this, struck by some sudden thought.

"How much?" Tu Ying asked after a moment of consideration, meeting Keller's massive eyes.

"Just a tiny bit..." Keller gestured, pinching her little fingers together.

"Alright..." Tu Ying was a gentle Troll. Seeing that Keller didn't need much, he slit his wrist and let some blood drip into the tube.

Keller was getting impatient. She raised a delicate finger, and a fist-sized glob of blood floated out of the test tube, slowly merging into her tiny fingertip.

Keller's small body couldn't help but tremble. 'Delicious... it's absolutely delicious!' Even though it lacked nutritional value, the aroma and taste were utterly intoxicating.

A five-colored light interwoven in her eyes, and five distinct forces of varying hues briefly manifested around her body before vanishing in an instant.

Peyton's eyes lit up. He pulled up his Holographic Screen and began typing meticulously.

In the corner, Hunter's eye twitched slightly. This Spaceship was rapidly turning into a gathering ground for monsters.

Li Yu sat in his white Hover Chair, glancing briefly at the commotion without paying it much mind. The mechanical components operating within the chair were clearly visible—gears meshing flawlessly as the Energy Conduits hummed with a faint glow.

This was the result of his Titan Colonization Armor devouring the Grand Elder's seat, and he had to admit, it looked pretty cool.