Chapter 694: Senior, Yours Is Really Useful!

【Name: Meybis Cursed Silver (Curse, Flesh, Metal)】

【Appearance: A special metal of bright silver color…】

【Abilities: Curse Amplification, Flesh Assimilation, Metallic Body】

【Price: The user's five senses will be permanently halved, and the soul will suffer irreversible damage (With the holder's permission, no price needs to be paid)】

【File: The Cursed Silver City of Meybis possessed silver mines of enormous reserves, and was once one of the kingdom's most important mining cities. From its initial construction over three hundred years ago, it paid an extremely generous tax and mineral tribute to the kingdom every year.

Until eleven years ago, when the secret society "Earth Spirits" attacked the city of Meybis, causing three thousand six hundred and fifteen residents in the central district of Mey City to be eroded by the silver rain falling from the sky, their flesh and blood consumed as they all transformed into immobile metal statues. Only one youth named Pioni Alphahech managed to escape, and the following year he joined the Bureau of Cleansing's Maiden Branch…

After that, during a raid on the boarding tower mission, upon learning that Maiden Branch Level-3 Incident Handler Li Ang had encountered a life-or-death crisis, Pioni Alphahech, unable to act, voluntarily relinquished part of the ownership of the Cursed Silver, temporarily transferring it to Li Ang, hoping it would help him evacuate safely…】

【Evaluation: An extremely powerful anomalous object, but this lump of Cursed Silver does not entirely belong to you. The most crucial part of it still belongs to its previous holder. Please do not forget to bring this part back for him】

【Taint Value: 19.9 (5.4)】

【Your Taint Value has increased】

……

"Splash!"

Seemingly sensing Hearing Li Ang's presence, the shiny silver rear end swayed slightly twice, then shifted from solid to liquid, collapsing with a splash, leaving behind only…

╰v╯

Understood. Thank you for your help, senior. I'll bring this most crucial part back for you.

Witnessing this scene, the corner of Li Ang's mouth couldn't help but twitch slightly. He then first directed Little Ha to put away Senior Pioni's rear end, and tentatively extended his own will toward the puddle of mercury-like liquid metal on the ground.

"Hum!"

Accompanied by a light ringing like a trembling blade, driven by Hearing Li Ang's will, the mercury-like liquid metal on the ground twisted and deformed, instantly transforming into a thin, slender silver sword that slashed violently down at the cracked thermos beside it.

"Clang!"

A sharp, crisp sound of metal striking metal rang out. The iron-cast thermos borrowed from the red-haired director was split open in an instant like soft tofu, cracking cleanly in two with a snap.

And not only the thermos—even the ground beneath it couldn't withstand this slash, and was directly cut with a slender trench over half a meter deep.

It's actually this sharp?!

Looking at the destruction caused by the Cursed Silver longsword, Hearing Li Ang's eyebrow couldn't help but lift slightly.

As expected of an anomalous object with a Taint Value approaching 20. A casual strike can already cause this much damage. If I put in a little more "effort," it could probably even cut through a pneumatic shield nearly twenty centimeters thick.

And as for Senior Pioni's rear end, although it's not as all-purpose as my Spirit Pendant, its speed and stealth aren't great, and the "range" is only about two or three meters—beyond that, it loses control.

But if we're only talking destructive power, compared to the Spirit Pendant that can only pierce through a few centimeters of steel plate, the slashes delivered by weapons formed from Cursed Silver are more than a tier higher in power.

As for defensive capability…

After trying to split the Cursed Silver lump into two and conducting a "self-contradictory" experiment, looking at the hardened Cursed Silver shield that easily blocked the thrust, Hearing Li Ang, who now had a measure of the Cursed Silver's defensive ability, couldn't help but let out a long breath.

Just as strong!

It seems Senior Pioni bet that I would come looking for his rear end, so he specifically transferred control of this portion of the Cursed Silver to me temporarily, hoping it could be of help.

And my own anomalous objects have been sealed one after another. Although 【War Diagonal】 hasn't completely failed, and I can still rely on Little Ha's electrotherapy to deal with enemies, I'm precisely in a moment of lacking both defensive and offensive means. This help has come at just the right time!

After sincerely thanking Senior Pioni for his help, the overjoyed Li Ang hurriedly controlled the Cursed Silver longsword to float up, wanting to try whether he could "fly by sword" and leave in time before other guards arrived.

But unfortunately, Senior Pioni's rear end doesn't seem to support such an operation.

The instant Hearing Li Ang's feet left the ground, the Cursed Silver lump—which had previously been able to move freely through the air and even transform into a giant hand to grab objects—seemed to lose all vitality, turning back to liquid and falling down.

This… is it because the Cursed Silver, as a mineral, draws its power from the earth? Or is it because Senior Pioni himself is afraid of heights?

After two unsuccessful attempts, Hearing Li Ang had to give up on the plan of flying away directly. Instead, like when he usually controlled the Spirit Pendant, he used his will to spread the Cursed Silver out, laying down a barrier around himself, and then began sprinting toward the direction away from the boarding tower.

Must speed up.

After breaking out of the encirclement beneath the tower, I was first ambushed by the Metal-Refining Sect's Snake Spirit, and later testing the effects of Senior Pioni's rear end also took some time. If I don't retreat quickly, it'll be trouble if the guards arriving later block me!

……

"Suspicious target spotted! Quick! Blow the whistle!"

After dimly seeing a ball of silver light speeding across the plains, the soldiers on the watchtower couldn't help but tense up. They first blew the alert horn, then immediately began waving flags toward the distance.

Seven o'clock direction, one target, suspected to have a special weapon?

Squinting toward the watchtower and decoding the flag signals, a commander leading a squad of over twenty power-armored troops, who was currently rushing at full speed toward the boarding tower, first controlled his power armor's arm to point at the power armor of a squad member behind him, then pointed at the nine o'clock direction and made a grabbing gesture, signaling him to go confirm the target.

Amid the muffled alert horn, that squad member's power armor replied with an understood gesture, then immediately decelerated and broke off from the squad on his own, promptly changing direction to pursue toward the target's position.

Hope everything goes smoothly this time…

Not paying too much attention to this little episode, looking at the airship gasbag still wrapped around the top of the boarding tower, not yet completely burned through, the power armor squad's commander sighed, then adjusted the pressure gauge on his power armor, pushing the already fast speed up another notch.

Although he wasn't directly part of the guard force protecting the boarding tower, only temporarily assigned by the military for emergency duty, his responsibility was merely to assist in defending the boarding tower when large numbers of hostile targets appeared.

But this time such a huge commotion had been caused—even the Kolok Kingdom's airship had been burned. Even if he only bore an auxiliary defense responsibility, he would probably have to share the blame.

Those damned attackers really… wouldn't come earlier or later, but chose to cause trouble precisely when he had been transferred to assist in the defense!

Right now he could only hope to arrive in time, intercept the criminals who had attacked the boarding tower, or even kill them outright, so as to lighten the burden of guilt on himself.

Otherwise, even though he wasn't the main person responsible and only needed to bear some joint and several liability, he probably wouldn't be promoted for a short while, and would have to stay stuck in his current position for at least another three to five or seven years…

"Toot… toot-toot!" Just as the power armor squad's commander was rushing along while letting his thoughts run wild in his head, the muffled alert horn sounded again, much more urgent than before.

Hearing the horn, he opened his scope in surprise and glanced toward the watchtower. The flags on the watchtower had changed color, from pale yellow to a higher alert-level deep orange.

Nine o'clock direction, still the previous target. The man I sent was defeated?

After estimating the time since his squad member had left, the power armor squad commander's expression immediately became serious.

According to the flag signals from the watchtower, that suspicious target wasn't a power armor, but a person on foot carrying an unknown weapon.

And the squad member he had sent, piloting a power armor over four meters tall, had actually been defeated in no time at all? What on earth did that person have?

"You go!"

After slightly reducing speed and making an "open window" gesture toward those behind him, the power armor squad's commander also opened the outer armor's air vent, and directly shouted toward the power armor of his adjutant behind him:

"There's a dangerous target at the nine o'clock direction. Take two men and go see what's going on!"

"Understood."

Upon hearing this, the adjutant nodded, then selected two men from the powered armor squad. Three towering powered armors successively decelerated and broke away from the formation, rushing toward the nine o'clock direction.

Theoretically, a squad composed of three powered armors is sufficient to easily take down a fire position held by several hundred soldiers; going after a walking target carrying an unknown weapon was truly making a mountain out of a molehill.

However, since the last team sent out fell too quickly, the commander of the powered armor squad was somewhat unsure of the situation and chose to play it safe. He not only allocated excessive manpower to search for the target but also ordered the entire squad to reduce speed, ready to turn back and provide support at any moment.

This time, although the wait for feedback was considerably longer than last time, before long, a more urgent alarm signal suddenly rang out, and the flags on the watchtower changed color once again.

The red flag, representing secondary-high alert, second only to the black flag?

Seeing the flag color, the commander's heart gave a sudden thump. He immediately pressed his eyes to the spyglass, striving to decipher the flag signals being sent from the watchtower.

Eleven o'clock direction, same target, all defeated?!

"Turn back!"

Realizing something was wrong, the commander directly threw open the viewport and shouted toward the powered armor squad behind him:

"The rear ten powered armors continue forward! The rest, pull the pressure gauges to the yellow zone! Eleven o'clock direction, full speed to reinforce!"

Indeed, running on two legs is still too slow.

In his soul vision, after seeing several souls rushing toward him at speeds of sixty to seventy kilometers per hour, Hearing Li Ang couldn't help but frown. He then controlled the Cursed Silver to form a crowbar, jamming it into the hidden door on the back of the powered armor and prying with force.

"Squeak-groan!"

Relying on the immense strength brought by five points of immersion value, along with the power enhancement of the Cursed Silver crowbar, the solid hidden door, thick as an air shield, emitted a metallic wail of deformation. It then reluctantly popped open with a bang, revealing the complex gear assembly inside, and at the center of the gears, a massive energy storage block encased in a purple-red copper shell, jammed in place.

Not bad, this one has quite a bit left.

Peering through the semi-transparent resin gauge, Hearing Li Ang checked the volume of the deep purple liquid inside the energy storage block, nodded in satisfaction, then used the Cursed Silver crowbar to push aside the copper wires and deformed gears. He hooked the tail of the energy storage block, held in place by a large retaining clip, and pried it up with a squeaking, groaning effort.

"You're dead!"

After spitting out the dust and dirt he had bitten into his mouth, the adjutant, who had been dragged out of the cockpit and thrown to the ground by the madman prying at the powered armor's energy storage block, gritted his teeth. Looking up with a head of dazzling golden hair, he scolded:

"If you weren't the mastermind, attacking the boarding tower might not even be a capital offense. But destroying the Military Department's powered armor and stealing the powered armor's energy storage block... each of these two crimes is punishable by death!"

"Squeak-groan"

"Stop it, you bastard! Do you know what you're doing? This batch of powered armor is private property of our House Bobby Laien!"

"Squeak-groan squeak-groan"

"Stop prying! Our House Bobby Laien's new duke is about to marry into the royal family and retake control of the Upper House! Even if you manage to escape today, you will be wanted by the entire kingdom!"

"Squeak-groan squeak-groan squeak-groan"

"Are you listening to me or not, damn it?"

I am listening, of course I am listening.

Glancing back at this Seeing Xiao Jinmao, Hearing Li Ang, who had already circled the retaining clip with the crowbar, gave him an ambiguous smile. Then, stepping on the Cursed Silver crowbar, he pried the powered armor's energy storage block loose with a crack.

He remembered the intelligent machine "Artifex 128" in the airship saying that if she were connected to the powered armor's energy storage block, she could be reactivated. This thing wasn't easy to get, so if there was a chance to get one, he should stock up on a few.

"That belongs to our House Bobby Laien! Damn it! Put it down!"

Watching Hearing Li Ang pick up the energy storage block, worth over ten thousand gold wheels, and throw it to the ground with extreme brutality, clanging loudly, before piling it with the other three energy storage blocks, the adjutant, whose intestines were knotting from heartache, couldn't help but curse angrily:

"You're finished! Our House Bobby Laien will absolutely not let you go. From now on, the wanted poster for you will be hung on every bulletin board in the kingdom!"

Oh, right, right, right!

After signaling Youha to collect the piled energy storage blocks, Li Ang, under the angry stares of several Seeing Golden-Haired people, jumped down from the toppled powered armor. Just as he prepared to move and withdraw, a rhythmic roaring sound rose from the distance.

Hearing Li Ang squinted and saw that a full twelve powered armors, over four meters tall, had already revealed their figures in the distance. They were charging toward this side through rolling dust and sand, their target undoubtedly being him.

They really arrived fast enough...

Gazing at those mechanical beasts rushing toward him, listening to the roaring of the steam furnaces growing closer and closer, Hearing Li Ang couldn't help but click his tongue. Just as he turned around to continue running, the shouting of Seeing Xiao Jinmao came from behind him again.

"I said, you're dead!"

Glaring viciously at Hearing Li Ang before him, the adjutant from House Bobby Laien shook his head of golden hair and said with a face full of glee:

"Even after taking down three of us, you were almost blown to death. This time, so many are coming at once; you're definitely finished! And the captain is different from us; his powered armor was bought at a high price from the Croc Kingdom... What are you doing?!"

"You're right, I really can't withstand so many powered armors. Just those thermal weapons would be enough to give me a hard time."

After answering irrelevantly, Hearing Li Ang took out a rope and tied the panicked golden-haired adjutant to himself, back-to-back. Then, carrying him on his back, he sprinted while calmly replying:

"To avoid being directly killed by so many cannons, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you to block a few shots for me... Oh, by the way, I can guarantee that your House Bobby Laien's new duke will sincerely thank you for your contribution!"

(End of this chapter)