Chapter 1187: IOU

Another long silence.

But this time it wasn't the mournful silence that signified speechlessness as before.

Instead, Ariel felt that the alien species holding a sword to his neck seemed intent on fleeing...

He had thought that after hearing the whole story, Lin An would sigh for a long time, or perhaps feel some special emotion, such as sympathy, or be stunned for a long time.

But, no, none at all.

This monster seemed devoid of emotion; after listening, it directly asked him whether there were any 'benefits'.

Isn't it shocking that they lost several billion people? Isn't the sacrifice they made to regain hope worthy of song and tears?

Their entire civilization's story is condensed together; couldn't it even stir this monster a bit?

Helpless.

In the eerie silence, Ariel gave a dry cough twice:

"Your Excellency Perfected One, we also don't want to hide anything from you."

"I believe you've guessed as much; we hope you can resolve..."

Without waiting for Ariel to finish, Lin An swiftly sheathed Cain's Blade and took off, his aura bursting forth as if he would plunge into a spatial passage the next second and vanish before their eyes.

The wind kicked up by his speed brushed past, leaving Ariel stunned.

Holy shit!? He just ran!?

You damn well at least let me finish speaking!!

Seeing Lin An run faster than a rabbit, Ariel widened his eyes, momentarily at a loss for what to do.

Should we use a Space Seal to capture Lin An back!?

But what's the difference between that and coercion?

In desperation, he watched Lin An dash out of sight and nearly shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Not now!!"

"Points! We can help you earn lots of points!!"

"Boom!!"

In an instant, Lin An, who was about to initiate void-walking, appeared expressionless before him, once again placing Cain's Blade on his neck.

"Not now?"

"How many points?"

Ariel:......

Ten minutes later.

Lin An looked thoughtfully at the plan Ariel had given him, and Cain's Blade in his hand was also sheathed again.

No need to threaten anymore.

We're all friends; Ariel is providing him with many points, so it wouldn't be appropriate to put his sword back on the other's neck.

"You mean you hope that, when I someday reach the Fifth Stage, I will respond to your summons and help you deal with this monster?"

"Exactly!"

Ariel, face flushed with excitement, pointed to a system item they had exchanged for after years of accumulating wealth, nodding repeatedly.

"In theory, once you leave, you cannot return."

"But as long as you leave an item with us, we can use this item to forcibly teleport you back!"

Lin An nodded slightly, looking somewhat strangely at the item Ariel spoke of.

It was something resembling a slip of paper.

"Hai En Si's IOU (Legendary Item)"

"Item description: To protect his property, Hai En Si makes people write an IOU when he lends out equipment."

"When he wishes to reclaim it, he can instantly teleport to the IOU holder's vicinity to collect high interest."

After reading it, Lin An couldn't help but feel speechless.

What a chaotic legendary item...

However, he also realized that the Heaven Eye people wanted to exploit this IOU's characteristic to find a loophole; if used well, this thing is indeed awesome.

"Are you sure this thing can let me bypass the system's limits?"

"Moreover, aren't you afraid I won't activate the IOU? Or that I won't reach the Fifth Stage?"

Lin An asked lightly, and did not take the IOU.

This is a duplicate IOU; one can see that some content had been erased. According to the Heaven Eye people, it was obtained by them collecting a large amount of Awakened Ones' equipment, selling it to the System, and then exchanging it from the System.

"It can!"

"We've long considered using the Awakened Ones of the Apocalypse battlefield to deal with that monster!"

"As for whether you can become Fifth Stage, I believe you definitely can!"

"Someone as strong as you, even among the Perfected Ones, will surely manage!"

As if placing all their hopes on Lin An, Ariel clenched his fists, gazing at him with determined eyes.

To be frank, he himself isn't really sure, but he says it positively anyway.

They've been trapped here for too long...

Given that a Planet Devourer could emerge at any moment, they can no longer wait.

Lin An is the only Perfected One they've had in all these years who might possibly achieve it; if they don't pin their hopes on him, what else can they do?

Seeing Ariel actually cheer him up, Lin An burst out laughing and simply took the slip of paper.

It doesn't matter.

If he can reach Fifth Stage, we'll see how things go.

Anyway, the Heavenly Eye People also don't dare to owe him any contract; whether they come or not depends entirely on his mood.

Maybe by the time he reaches Fifth Stage, this bunch of Heavenly Eye People will already have kicked the bucket.

It would be stupid to refuse a free benefit.

However, looking at the instructions on the note, Lin An furrowed his brow.

He had to leave something here... but what? It also had to be something he often used, soaked with a large amount of his aura...

Although his ring contained a lot of stuff, basically none of it had been used.

Equipment—he wasn't willing to leave a single piece behind.

After thinking it over, Lin An's eyes flashed, and he realized there was something he could leave behind. That thing, he had long since tossed into his ring as trash...

Swish

All that could be seen was, in Ariel's uneasy gaze, a black-red combat uniform appearing on the ground.

"Let's leave this."

"I've used it for a long time."

This is!?

Ariel stared blankly at the combat uniform Lin An handed over, his face instantly turning somewhat strange.

He had thought Lin An would at least leave some equipment; worst case, they could pool points to supply Lin An, but he never imagined Lin An would toss them a piece of gear like trash—one look and it was obviously a lowly civilization's combat uniform.

Whether the bloodstains on it have been washed or not is a question...

This Your Excellency the Perfect One is quite stingy...

Seeing Ariel still seemed to have objections, Lin An raised his brow and spoke coldly:

"This combat uniform means a great deal to me."

"If you lose it, don't blame me for not responding to the summons then!"

Three minutes later, as a group of Heavenly Eye People solemnly placed the combat uniform into a box, preparing to seal it in the fortress core.

Lin An sat expressionlessly before the main control console, his fingertips tapping:

"Come on, tell me how you plan to help me farm points."

"How did those previous civilizations pass? The insect swarm crisis—are you guys behind it?"