Chapter 184: Aftermath

Leiketon stopped gathering the golden flame spear, and the blue‑white glow in his eyes gradually faded.

The surrounding pure, radiant holy light, and the clusters of golden illusory flames that exuded a mighty solar aura, all vanished, leaving only the dense solar aura and the ground, scorched once, now covered with dry, cracked clods of earth.

Sha Lun closed the bronze‑colored gate again, then approached the charred corpse of Steve, paused briefly, and said in a flat, serious tone:

"He's already dead."

Leiketon glanced at the corpse before him, still sporadically spitting out faint golden sparks, shrugged, and said:

"Simpler than I imagined."

"The power of the Solar Domain heavily restrains extraordinary beings of alien paths; the Solar Domain spells you used are already near the strength of a Fifth‑rank Priest of Light."

Sha Lun scanned the corpse still saturated with the dense solar aura; she felt that accelerating trait extraction by possessing it with a vengeful spirit would be burned by the lingering solar aura on the corpse.

Sha Lun passed over Steve's charred corpse, her ethereal, drifting form moving to the undead Jason's body, and the transparent apparition merged into Jason's corpse.

The specks of grim green glow already beginning to extract started rapidly attracting and coalescing, and more light points were then extracted.

In less than two minutes, an extraordinary trait of grim green and dusky violet, shaped like a tangled rag ball, was extracted.

Sha Lun, her black court gown stained with mud and grime, let her ethereal silhouette emerge from Jason's corpse, then quickly moved to the werewolf Tai Er's corpse, repeating the previous procedure.

In under two minutes, the traits on werewolf Tai Er's body were fully extracted and, centered on his right hand, rapidly coalesced.

After absorbing all the traits, Tai Er's right hand naturally fell off his arm; after a twist of transformation, a pale gauntlet bearing blade‑like claws appeared, its surface entwined with bluish‑black twisted patterns.

Sha Lun's figure reappeared, then moved before Steve's charred corpse, silently gazing at the quietly standing Leiketon beside her.

Leiketon instantly understood, gave a slight nod, then raised his right hand, and a swiftly forming cluster of slowly rotating Star Sand materialized in his palm.

One star after another emerged, and as Leiketon made a sweeping motion, beams of light fell onto Steve's charred corpse.

The starlight dissolved and dispersed rapidly, and the intense solar aura on the corpse vanished along with it.

Sha Lun said nothing, merely gave a slight nod, then possessed Steve's charred corpse, accelerating the trait extraction.

Pa‑la~ Amid an unreal glass‑shattering sound, the starlight barrier surrounding the clearing fractured into specks of starlight, which then faded away.

Leiketon casually flicked his hand; the specks of starlight surged and vanished, and he summoned an invisible giant hand.

Under Leiketon's control, the invisible giant hand picked up two trophies beside Tai Er's corpse: a glass bottle with its own lid, and a wondrous item formed from the werewolf's traits combined with Tai Er's right hand.

Leiketon kept the glass bottle with its lid, and handed the wondrous item made from the werewolf traits to Ke Lai En.

He examined the bio‑toxin vial in his hand carefully; specks of starlight swirled, enveloped it, and then transformed into a transparent amber, sealing the bio‑toxin vial inside.

Having finished, Leiketon finally looked up and explained to Ke Lai En:

"I can make use of this wondrous item; may I convert it directly into the equivalent gold pounds for you?"

"No problem," Ke Lai En nodded lightly.

He glanced at the bio‑toxin vial Leiketon held, then shifted his gaze back to the gauntlet in his own hand, which could be considered a weapon.

Ke Lai En carefully took out a sheet of paper, wrapped the gauntlet, and, before discerning its effect, insulated himself from direct contact with it.

Ma Li Qi silently scanned the area, said nothing, picked up the trait extracted from the nearby undead Jason, then tossed it to Ke Lai En, his tone clearly relaxed and cheerful:

"That's also your loot."

"Alright," Ke Lai En took the undead trait, nodded toward Ma Li Qi, and said.

After receiving the undead trait, Ke Lai En immediately placed it into his prepared small iron box and erected a spiritual wall, isolating it from the outside world.

The few of them then fell silent, quietly awaiting Sha Lun's accelerated extraction of the vengeful spirit extraordinary trait from Steve's body.

The three each stood on a side, glanced at one another, then quickly averted their gazes.

When Leiketon's gaze swept over Ma Li Qi, he noticed that the injuries on his body had largely healed; the previously deep, bone‑visible wounds were now merely shallow bloodstains.

After a brief wait, Sha Lun's figure reappeared, holding a Deep Red Moon Crown and a translucent doll.

Sha Lun gave a slight shake, and the translucent doll flew toward Leiketon.

He reached out, caught the translucent doll, examined it, then pulled a small iron box from his pocket, placed the doll inside, and added a layer of spiritual wall around the box.

Having delivered the promised vengeful spirit trait, Sha Lun looked around, then exchanged a glance with Ma Li Qi.

She then placed the other Deep Red Moon Crown onto her chest; the ring of crimson gems on it dimmed quickly, and the full‑moon glow over the abandoned clearing faded.

Ke Lai En and Ma Li Qi each dispersed at this point, removing the arrangements they had made on site.

Beside the warehouse, Ke Lai En bent down, pinched a ring with his fingertips, and lifted the Azk copper whistle buried underground, surrounded by rows of humanoid "candles".

After a while, the site was cleared, and the group reconvened at the center of the clearing.

Sha Lun faced Ke Lai En in reality, and said calmly:

"The Secret Book is in your guest room."

Ke Lai En smiled, gave a slight bow, and said:

"Thank you for your generosity."

"The official extraordinary ones could arrive at any moment; we should leave."

Sha Lun nodded, saying nothing more.

Ke Lai En's gaze shifted to Leiketon standing aside, and he chuckled lightly:

"Hold on, I'm going to set off a firework!"

Then, under the watch of Leiketon and the others, Ke Lai En snapped his fingers.

Boom! Boom—! Boom!

The buried underground bombs detonated one after another, sending up bursts of flame.

They clustered together, forming a mass of dazzling firelight that flickered, dreamlike and beautiful.

Sha Lun and Ma Li Qi's gazes were instinctively drawn for a second; when they regained composure, the figures of Ke Lai En and Leiketon beside them had already vanished.

A few minutes later, a Mechanical Heart Squad appeared on the clearing surrounded by the abandoned warehouse.

【9】 The arriving group wasn't small—there were five in total, each bearing a different extraordinary weapon, fully armed.

【10】 Frowning at the scene before them, which looked as if plowed over, the few fell silent for a moment, then solemnly began the search for clues.

The people who came were not few; there were exactly five of them, each carrying different extraordinary weapons, fully armed.

Frowning at the scene before them, as if it had been plowed over, several people fell silent for a moment, then solemnly set to work searching for clues.

In the room at No. 15 Mingsike Jie, Leiketon's hand resting on Kelaien's shoulder swiftly traced a silhouette.

"It's getting late; get some rest."

After a brief greeting, Leiketon turned and stepped back into the spirit realm, vanishing in Kelaien's living room.

Kelaien glanced at the spot where Leiketon vanished, swallowed his reply, shook his head slightly, and walked up to the second floor.

Leiketon's figure swiftly outlined itself in his own bedroom, and he placed the iron box containing the extraordinary trait of a wronged soul and the vial of biological toxin wrapped in clear amber beside it.

After a quick wash in the washroom, Leiketon lay down on the bed and fell asleep.

On the vacant ground where the Rose School's indulgent faction was surrounded, the Heart of Machinery squad members had already been replaced.

The person now handling the incident is a deacon of the Steam Church, Ikangse Bernard, whose messy brown hair sticks out even under a hat, unable to be concealed.

At this moment, Ikangse, whose facial features are sharp and clear, holds an ancient‑patterned silver mirror, each side of the mirror adorned with an eye‑like ornament set on deep black gems, appearing both profound and enchanting.

"Although the rats in the sewers are experts at disrupting divination and spirit communication, they dealt with the scene effectively."

"However, in the mysterious transcendent world, no method can guarantee a hundred percent success."

Ikangse looked around at the Heart of Machinery members and said.

After speaking, his gaze shifted to the silver mirror in his hand, and he brushed the surface three times with his right palm.

A faint ripple of water‑like glimmer rose on the mirror's surface.

Pausing for two seconds, Ikangse inhaled deeply and said in a low voice:

"Honored Aluodes, my question is: who were the participants in the events that just occurred here?"

The surrounding darkness became hazy at this moment, and the current water‑like glimmer on the mirror's surface grew more pronounced.

Quickly, an image surfaced within the silver mirror:

In the rising flames, a floating figure hovered mid‑air; she wore a black double‑breasted long formal coat, a half‑high silk hat, her body twisted, her face blurred beyond recognition, and she was painted with oil.

At his feet, fire tongues erupted violently, swallowing him.

The mirror's surface rippled with a ring of water‑like glimmer, and the image shifted along with it.

Clusters of shadows continuously rolled and writhed; a young man in a long trench coat appeared in the scene, the shadows around him forming a veil that concealed his figure, revealing no discernible information.

The scene shifted again, showing a middle‑aged man in a dark‑red cloak, brilliant flames burning on his body, most of him hidden in darkness, making him hard to see clearly.

The mirror's scene changed once more, and Ikangse and the others saw a woman in an elaborate black court gown, her pale‑gold hair disheveled, but her face was completely transparent, as if she did not exist.

Next to the lady stood a man whose body was covered in long black hair.

And a back being pulled by several arms.

Finally, the image on the silver mirror froze on soaring bursts of flame, like dazzling fireworks.

(End of chapter)