Chapter 501: Identification and Connections

Luo De twisted his wrist, prying the green dagger from Mickey's grip and kicking him over in the same motion.

He squeezed hard to snap the dagger.

It didn't break.

"Oh?"

He held the 【Tremor Soul Blade】 and cast an Identification spell.

Hmm.

The item is slightly too advanced—I can't identify it.

Are you even capable, Tremor Soul Staff?

But there's nothing to be done; the 【Identification spell】 inside is just basic, and I can't boost its power like a mage by draining more mana.

Luo De glanced at Daphne.

He noticed she was watching the scene before her, yet her mana was surging wildly.

She was clearly multitasking, using 【Dragon Sensing】 to secretly scan for lurking dragon watchers.

Forget it—I won't ask her.

"Christine, I remember you can identify things, right? I once gave you the 【Banshee Identification】 skill."

At the party a while back, I spent points to unlock this unique Banshee identification ability.

The Banshee heard this and tilted her head up proudly.

"Of course. In the forest, I'd say my 【Identification Shu 】 is second to none—no one dares claim first, except that elf, who knows over ten identification techniques alone, not to mention that zombie, who's research-level, also not counted, and that spider, whose racial Tianfu makes it cheating, so naturally excluded."

". Then only little Bond remains—you can't compare yourself to a little girl, can you?"

"Hehehe, I'm not a little girl anymore!"

Don't talk to me about that!

Luo De pinched his brow in embarrassment.

He felt the awkwardness of realizing his daughter had grown up—and the melancholy that he could no longer be as close.

Tally came over and wrapped her arms around his.

She asked curiously: "Isn't Bond ready yet? If you keep raising her, she'll grow up. Good peaches don't need to ripen to be enjoyed—eating them green has its own flavor."

Shut up.

Luo De silently declared: All of the above remarks are unrelated to me—purely the disorganized, immoral, lawless utterances of a succubus.

He immediately changed the subject and handed the green dagger to the Banshee:

"No, you're a undead—why do you even need to use the toilet?"

"Of course I do! I usually survive by absorbing negative energy from the ground or psychic energy from humanoid races, but you keep bringing delicious food into the forest—I'd be wasting it if I didn't eat! Still, because of my physiology, food impurities are fully broken down, so I can only urinate."

"You still urinate? Disgusting!"

Tally sneered.

Then she turned to Luo De with a sweet, innocent expression, shaking his arm: "Succubi don't excrete at all—not even urine, so we're perfectly clean. Master can taste any part of Tally's body~"

She watched Luo De's expression of utter disbelief.

She tapped her cheek with her index finger, innocently adding: "Or does Master like the type who pees? I can do that too—my mother's memories mention some men enjoy being doused in urine."

Can we not talk about poop and pee?

Luo De was tired and refused to engage further.

"You—you ladies? This is..."

On the ground nearby, the gray-furred dog-man Nick, still trembling from exhaustion, stared in shock at Luo De and the girls.

"This... man is enslaving you!"

"Who are you to care? This is my and Master's private kink! You a castrated dog know nothing?!"

"Kink?"

Nick's mouth hung open slightly; his mental image of an enslaver grew vaguely uncertain.

Luo De had no doubt about Tally's label of "castrated dog."

These were dog-men who had suffered enslavement and torture beyond imagination.

Take the other seventh-rank in the group—the female dog-woman.

She looked about twenty, both ears cut off, half her face forcibly gouged out, one breast swollen, the other sunken; when she slightly opened her mouth, her tongueless oral cavity was visible.

The remaining half of her face revealed she had once been a fairly beautiful girl—imagine what she endured.

Too terrible.

Luo De could tell they were mentally immature, still kind-hearted at heart, but driven mad by vengeance.

"I think you should pay attention to someone else—he wanted to kill you."

Saying this,

Luo De walked slowly to Mickey, the traitor trying to crawl up, and stomped his head into the earth.

"Ugh!"

Hearing the cry, gray-furred dog-man Nick finally reacted.

He stared in disbelief at his own companion, who had tried to kill him.

"Mickey... why?"

Besides the two seventh-ranks, the other three dog-men gathered around.

They kept watchful eyes on Luo De while glaring at Mickey, crushed beneath his foot.

By now, they realized Luo De had held back—except for their two seventh-ranks, who had exhausted their spiritual energy, the rest had only suffered minor flesh wounds.

Because of their thick hides?

Impossible!

Didn't they see this human use no defensive spells at all—just dodging to evade the sky-covering blade net of 【Silver Moon Sword Dance】?

They had witnessed 【Silver Moon Sword Dance】 firsthand—it was how they'd killed an eighth-rank guard under Nick's leadership and escaped that hellhole.

This man, at his level, could have slaughtered all six of them like cutting melons.

"Why? Hahaha, why—hahahaha—"

Mickey, upon hearing the question, burst into mad laughter first.

His laughter was wild, unnatural—as if he'd become someone else.

"Do you know how our clan of twenty-eight was lured there? It was my father! He personally led them here—to gamble away his lost fortune with two Jin Along as stakes! Even me... even me... Agh!"

Mickey suddenly cried out, cutting off his words.

Luo De had pressed down harder with his foot, crushing Mickey's head another half-inch into the ground.

"Lower your voice. Why shout so loud? Answer what I ask—don't drag in irrelevant backstory. What? You think being a villain requires a tragic childhood? No motive? Please, not everything needs a motive."

Mickey was clearly a bully who picked on the weak and bullied his own kind.

Luo De had only said two sentences.

Already, fear flashed across his face—he dared not even meet his gaze.

"Great Lord!"

Even gray-furred dog-man Nick changed his tone, looking at Mickey with pity.

"First, we apologize to you and your companion. Our past suffering made us despise all enslavement without exception—but now we realize there may be other circumstances where enslavement is necessary. This is beyond our understanding. We sincerely apologize again and will offer compensation."

"But before that, could you let me speak with the man beneath your foot?"

"We all already knew what he said. That's why we ostracized and tormented him back there—he suffered no less than any of us. After accepting him, he... he always..."

As he spoke, he began to cry.

He spoke with sincerity.

And his posture—head bowed, submissive dog-like—only deepened it.

Luo De, already soft-hearted at their suffering, naturally let his anger fade.

But still.

This guy clearly had boundless tolerance for his own kind.

Letting him talk? He'd probably get stabbed again.

"Why be soft? He tried to kill you. If you don't want to do it yourself, I'll handle it."

"No no... let us talk first, please, Great Lord."

At this point, Luo De couldn't interfere further.

He lifted his foot and stepped back.

As expected, the moment freed, Mickey snatched up a broken sword and charged wildly.

The two seventh-ranks were exhausted, but the three sixth-ranks weren't dead—they subdued him without effort.

Luo De then stopped watching.

He turned to find Christine the Banshee for the identification result.

Tally leaped over and wrapped her arms around him again.

Her lovely face was full of disbelief: "Why do I feel like Master is unusually concerned about this castrated dog? Could it be... Master likes boys in girl form???"

"Who taught you that word?"

"You did! Last time I roleplayed as your little brother, you called me 'little boy-girl.'"

"..."

She's slandering me.

"Actually, it's not for any specific reason—just a gut feeling. I always feel he's tied to some great karmic thread."

Luo De supported her plump buttocks with one arm and pried open the arms wrapped around his neck.

He pried them open, and she wrapped them again; he pried them open once more, and she grinned mischievously, wrapping them tighter.

This thing is so clingy.

Whatever.

Letting Tally cling to his waist, Luo De turned to Chris.

"Tell me the identification result."

"What identification result?"

The Banshee widened her bewildered eyes and spread her hands, looking utterly innocent.

"."

This thing's habit of grabbing petty gains is kicking in again.

Every single one of them is a headache.

"I'll count to—"

"I was just joking!"

Before she could finish, Chris quickly pulled out the green dagger and smiled sweetly:

"Its name is 【Emerald Shadow Calamity Blade】. It has three effects:

'Black Dragon Calamity'—it distorts the wielder's perception, gradually making the target more suspicious, irritable, or despairing. The more spiritual magic it absorbs, the wider its influence spreads to the wielder's surroundings.

'Curse Binding'—when any living being picks up the Emerald Shadow Calamity Blade, they become bound to it. The bound individual slowly erodes toward evil under the influence of whispers.

'Durability'—it is hard to destroy.

Hmm… I can sense the 'Black Dragon Calamity' energy inside is in a fragile balance, as if there's a very hidden timed explosion ritual."

Luo De was speechless.

Aside from durability, every effect is a downside.

"Why on earth do you want this thing?"

"Hehe… I've got my own way. You don't need it—just give it to me."

"Tell me. If you don't, you don't get it."

Chris hesitated, then said: "With this, I plan to open a fortune-telling shop in Shi Ying Town—after selecting a target, I'll secretly place this in their home. When they're affected and come to me for help, I'll pretend to perform a ritual and take the dagger away, making a profit from it…"

As she spoke, she herself grew too embarrassed to continue.

She noticed her master's expression had darkened.

She floated over, covertly turning her fleshy mass solid and pressing tightly against Luo De's broad back, cooing:

"I just figured you've been spending a lot lately—I wanted to help make up for it!"

(End of Chapter)