Chapter 694: Senior, Your Butt Is So Useful!

【NAME: Mei Bis Curse Silver (Curse, Flesh, Metal)】

【APPEARANCE: Lustrous silver special metal…】

【ABILITY: Curse Amplification, Flesh Assimilation, Metal Body】

【COST: The user's five senses will be permanently halved, and the soul will suffer irreversible damage (waived if granted permission by the holder)】

【FILE: The city of Mei Bis, rich in silver mines, was once one of the kingdom's most vital mining cities. Since its initial construction over three hundred years ago, it has annually paid the kingdom an extremely substantial tax and mineral quota.】

Until eleven years ago, the secret society "Earth Essence" attacked Mei Bis City, causing all 3, 15 residents in the city center to be corroded by silver rain falling from the sky, turning them all into immobile metal statues—except one young man, Piony Alpha, who escaped and joined the Clean-Up Bureau's Virgin Branch the following year…】

Later, during a surprise assault on the Boarding Tower, learning that Virgin Branch Level-3 Incident Handler Li Ang faced mortal danger, Piony Alpha voluntarily relinquished partial ownership of the curse silver, temporarily transferring it to Li Ang, hoping to aid his safe withdrawal…】

【EVALUATION: An extremely powerful anomaly, but this curse silver does not fully belong to you—its most critical portion still belongs to its former holder. Do not forget to return that part to him.】

【Contamination Level: 19. (5. )】

【Your contamination level has increased】

…

"Splash!"

As if sensing Li Ang's presence, the shiny silver buttocks wobbled slightly, then shifted from solid to liquid, dissolving with a splash—leaving only…

╰v╯

Got it. Thank you, Senior, for your help. I'll bring this crucial part back to you.

Seeing this, Li Ang's lips twitched slightly. He first ordered Little Ha to retrieve Piony Senior's remains, then cautiously extended his will toward the mercury-like liquid metal on the ground.

"Hum!"

With a sound like a trembling blade, the mercury-like liquid twisted and reshaped under Li Ang's will, instantly forming a thin, elongated silver sword that slashed violently at a nearby thermos.

"Clang!"

A sharp, crisp metallic clash rang out—the iron thermos borrowed by the red-haired director split open like soft tofu, cracking cleanly in half.

And it wasn't just the thermos—the ground beneath it also failed to withstand the strike, cleaving a narrow, half-meter-deep trench.

So sharp?!

Watching the destruction caused by the curse silver blade, Li Ang's eyebrows lifted slightly.

No wonder it's an anomaly nearing 20 contamination points—just a casual strike caused such damage. If I put more effort into it, I could probably cut through a pneumatic shield twenty centimeters thick.

Piony Senior's buttocks, while not as versatile as my Holy Spirit Pendant, lacked speed and stealth, and its "range" was only two or three meters—beyond that, control was lost.

But in raw destructive power, the slashes from the curse silver weapon far surpassed the Holy Spirit Pendant, which could only pierce a few centimeters of steel plate.

As for defensive capability…

After attempting to split the curse silver mass in two—a contradictory test—he watched as the hardened curse silver shield effortlessly blocked a thrust. Satisfied with its defensive potential, Li Ang exhaled deeply.

Also incredibly strong!

It seems Piony Senior anticipated I'd come for his buttocks, so he temporarily transferred control of this portion to me, hoping to lend a hand.

My own anomalies have been sealed one after another; though the 【War Opposite】 hasn't fully failed and Little Ha's electric therapy can still dispatch enemies, my defensive and offensive options are severely lacking—this help arrived at the perfect moment!

After sincerely thanking Piony Senior, Li Ang, overjoyed, immediately commanded the curse silver sword to float, trying to test "sword flight" to escape before other guards arrived.

But unfortunately, Piony Senior's buttocks didn't support such an operation.

The instant Li Ang's feet left the ground, the curse silver mass—which had previously moved freely in the air and even formed a giant hand to grasp objects—lost all vitality, liquefying and collapsing back to earth.

Is this because curse silver, as a mineral, draws power from the earth? Or because Piony Senior himself suffers from acrophobia?

After two failed attempts, Li Ang abandoned the idea of flying away. Instead, as he normally did with his Holy Spirit Pendant, he used his will to spread the curse silver into a protective barrier around himself, then sprinted away from the Boarding Tower.

Must accelerate.

After breaking free from the tower's encirclement, I was first ambushed by the Snake Spirit of the Scale Gold Sect, then spent time testing Piony Senior's buttocks—if I don't hurry, I'll be trapped by the reinforcements.

…

"Suspicious target spotted! Quick! Sound the alarm!"

Seeing a shimmering silver glow racing across the plain, the lookout soldier tensed, blew the alert horn, then immediately waved flags in the distance.

Seven o'clock direction: one target, possibly armed with unknown weapon?

Squinting at the lookout tower, decoding the flag signals, the commander of a squad of twenty powered suits speeding toward the Boarding Tower gestured with his powered suit's arm toward a subordinate, then pointed to nine o'clock and made a grabbing motion, signaling him to confirm the target.

Amid the muffled alarm horn, the subordinate gave a confirming gesture, immediately slowed, broke from the squad, and changed course to pursue the target.

Hope everything goes smoothly…

Ignoring this minor incident, the powered suit commander sighed, watching the airship's gasbag still smoldering atop the Boarding Tower. He adjusted his suit's pressure gauge, slightly increasing his speed.

Though I'm not part of the direct Boarding Tower guard force—only a military unit dispatched for emergency rotation—I'm only supposed to assist in defense if a large number of hostile targets appear.

But this disturbance was massive—even a Krook Kingdom airship was burned. Even with only auxiliary responsibility, I'll likely be held accountable.

Those damned attackers… why now? Why during my shift?

I just hope I arrive in time to intercept—or even kill—the attackers, to lessen my own culpability.

Otherwise, even if I'm not the primary responsible party, merely bearing collateral liability might stall my promotion for years—I'll be stuck here for three, five, maybe seven years…

"Duu… duuduu!" As the commander raced forward, lost in thought, the muffled alarm horn sounded again—this time far more urgent.

He opened his scope in surprise, glancing at the lookout tower—the flags had changed from beige to a higher alert level: deep orange.

Nine o'clock direction: same target. My dispatched unit was defeated?

Estimating the time since his subordinate departed, the commander's expression hardened.

According to the lookout's signal, the suspicious target wasn't a powered suit—just a foot soldier carrying unknown weaponry.

Yet my subordinate, piloting a four-meter-tall powered suit, was defeated so quickly? What weapon did that man carry?

"You go!"

Slightly slowing, he gestured to open his suit's hatch, then shouted directly to his deputy's powered suit:

"Nine o'clock direction: dangerous target. Take two men, find out what's happening!"

"Understood."

The deputy nodded, selected two men from the squad, and three towering powered suits slowed, broke formation, and headed toward nine o'clock.

Logically, a trio of powered suits could easily overwhelm a firepower point defended by hundreds of soldiers—sending them after a lone foot soldier with unknown weapons was excessive.

But the previous unit fell too fast. The commander, uncertain of the situation, opted for caution: he dispatched excess manpower and ordered the entire squad to reduce speed, ready to turn back for support.

Though this wait was longer than last time, it didn't last long—another, more frantic alarm horn blared, and the lookout tower's flags changed again.

Red flag? The second-highest alert level, just below black?

Seeing the flag color, the commander's heart lurched. He pressed his eye to the scope, straining to read the tower's signal.

Eleven o'clock direction: same target. All units defeated?!

"Turn back!"

Sensing trouble, the commander flung open his hatch and barked to the squad behind him:

"Last ten powered suits, keep advancing. The rest—raise pressure to yellow zone! Eleven o'clock, full speed to reinforce!"

…

Indeed, running on two legs is too slow.

In his soul vision, he spotted several souls approaching at sixty to seventy kilometers per hour. Frowning, he shaped curse silver into a crowbar and jammed it into a hidden hatch on the powered suit's back.

"Squeak!"

With the immense force from his 5-point contamination and the curse silver crowbar's enhancement, the solid hatch—thick as a pneumatic shield—groaned as metal deformed, then burst open, revealing complex gears and, at their center, a massive energy core wrapped in purple-red copper casing.

Not bad. This one's still mostly full.

Peering through the translucent resin gauge, Li Ang nodded in satisfaction at the deep purple liquid inside, then used the curse silver crowbar to pry aside copper wires and bent gears, wedging the crowbar under the core's rear end held by a heavy spring, and began prying with a grating "squeak-squeak."

"You're dead!"

Spitting out dirt from his mouth, the deputy, dragged from the cockpit and thrown to the ground, gritted his teeth, shaking his dazzling golden hair:

"If you're not the mastermind, attacking the Boarding Tower might not be a death sentence—but sabotaging military powered suits and stealing their energy cores? Each is a capital offense!"

"Squeak"

"Stop! Do you know what you're doing? These powered suits are private property of the Lain family!"

"Squeak-squeak"

"Don't pry! Our Lain family's new Duke is about to marry into the royal house and reclaim the Upper Academy! Even if you escape today, you'll be wanted across the entire kingdom!"

"Squeak-squeak-squeak"

"Are you even listening to me?!"

I'm listening. Of course I'm listening.

Glancing back at the golden-haired brat, Li Ang—who had already circled the spring—gave him an ambiguous smile, then stomped on the curse silver crowbar, snapping the energy core free with a "crack."

Remember what the automaton "Atifi 128" said in the airship: if I connect the powered suit's energy core to her, she'll reactivate. And these aren't easy to come by—when the chance arises, grab as many as possible.

"That's our Lain family's property! Damn it! Put it down!"

Watching Li Ang pick up the energy core worth over ten thousand gold wheels and casually slam it onto the ground, piling it with three others, the deputy's gut twisted in anguish as he roared:

"You're finished! The Lain family will never let you go! Your wanted posters will hang on every notice board in the kingdom!"

Yeah, yeah, sure.

After signaling Little Ha to collect the piled cores, Li Ang leapt from the fallen powered suit, ready to flee—when a rhythmic rumbling rose from afar.

He squinted: twelve towering powered suits, each over four meters tall, had emerged from the distance, charging through billowing dust straight toward him—undoubtedly targeting him.

Arrived awfully fast…

Gazing at the mechanical beasts thundering toward him, hearing the growing roar of steam engines, Li Ang clicked his tongue. He turned to run—when the golden-haired brat shouted again.

"I told you—you're dead!"

Glaring at Li Ang, the Lain family deputy shook his golden hair, grinning with cruel satisfaction:

You barely survived blowing up all three of us, and now you're facing this many? You're definitely done for! And the captain's different from us—his power armor was bought at a high price from the Kingdom of Kolok… What are you doing?!

You're right—I can't withstand this many power armors; even just their thermal weapons would be enough to finish me off.

After answering off-topic, Li Ang pulled out a rope, tied the golden-haired deputy, who was pale with panic, back-to-back with himself, then slung him onto his back and sprinted off while calmly replying:

To avoid being killed outright by all those cannons, I'll have to trouble you to take a hit for me… Oh, by the way, I guarantee you—your Lyen family's new Duke will sincerely thank you for your sacrifice!

(End of Chapter)