Chapter 555: Secret Companion

"How does it still have a gluttony attribute?" Leiketon muttered to himself, extending his left hand and tapping the surface of his mechanical glove with a finger, producing a thudding sound.

The bronze-colored mechanical glove's surface creaked, a crack opening to reveal interlocking precise gears inside, continuously clacking.

Strangely, a child's pained expression floated in his mind, as if saying, "I'm just easily hungry!"

Leiketon's mouth twitched slightly as he said, "The living attribute is stronger than I thought."

As he spoke, he rose from the high‑backed chair formed of starlight, his figure flickering, and he appeared directly on the open plaza before the temple below.

He half‑crouched, pressing his right hand—wearing the bronze mechanical glove—against the ruined, decayed ashstone floor.

The glove emitted a whir of gears; the intricate engraved patterns on its surface lit up one by one, flashing a pale white glow.

The next moment, centered on his hand on the ground, colors evaporated in a flash, and the ruined ashstone turned to fragments that spread outward rapidly.

In an instant, the entire plaza, including part of the temple ahead, turned into gray dust that drifted away with a sudden gust of wind.

Leiketon rose from the dust‑covered ground, glanced at the glove on his right hand, and whispered, "Your life‑draining limit is within a 100‑meter radius and requires direct contact, right?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, his right index finger, driven by the glove, tapped three rapid times.

Receiving the glove's response, Leiketon nodded lightly, then stepped toward the temple ahead, intending to reclaim the remaining attributes here.

After only a few steps, he halted, looked to his right, and, illuminated by the flash of lightning, saw in the corner of a distant collapsed house a monster that was a hybrid of bird and wolf.

The creature's teal eyes dimmed instantly, and it fell backward as if it had suddenly lost all life force.

Leiketon changed his stride direction; the metric of distance warped, and a single step forward placed him instantly beside the fallen monster.

A deep violet hue surfaced in his eyes, and the monster's data—born of bird‑wolf hybridization—appeared clearly before him.

"A corpse that died some time ago, turned into a secret companion?"

While muttering, his gaze flashed, becoming profoundly deep, resembling the sea just before a storm.

In this state, his focus clearly vanished, his vision a blank haze.

In his mind, the monster's past unfolded automatically: while hidden in darkness, quietly awaiting prey, its body suddenly stiffened, then it surged toward the city ruins at a speed far beyond its limits; amid the ruins it saw countless eyes flashing like stars. The fragmented visions seen through a "prophecy" quickly faded away.

Leiketon's eyes cleared rapidly; he could not trace the entity that turned the monster into a secret companion. He tried to glimpse it from a fate perspective, but a veil of mist perpetually blocked his view.

"Wu An Mo Lang Ke Ta Er, that's a bit of self‑deception; in the God‑Abandoned Land you're the only Divination Path wolf."

He whispered a taunt at the Wu An Mo Lang, then bent and pressed his gloved right hand onto the monster's corpse.

The corpse, covered in short, coarse gray‑brown fur and uneven feathered palms, instantly withered, losing color, crumbling into tiny fragments that fell to the ground.

Having done this, his body instantly dematerialized, breaking into streams of tangled knowledge that surged like a torrent into the spirit realm, searching the surrounding area for Wu An Mo Lang's trace.

After roughly ten minutes, an invisible information stream emerged from the depths of the spirit realm and reconstituted Leiketon's body before the ruined temple.

He had just scanned the surrounding tens of kilometers, yet saw not a single wolf hair.

"No wonder the Divination Path angel is so keen to hide; even the Eye of Secrets can't find any trace."

Leiketon sighed softly as he stepped into the temple.

In the hall, the statue that A Meng had previously destroyed was now completely gone, not even a fragment remaining.

The prayer‑crouching dolls that had been in the hall vanished, leaving only scattered parts and debris on the floor, as if indicating a recent chaos.

Leiketon scanned the surroundings, taking in the lingering traces and aura in the hall, and quickly simulated the prior events in his mind. "A Meng brought part of the True Creator's will and aura here, breaking the original balance; the upheaval in the information world simultaneously affected this place, causing the dolls to go mad and attack each other."

"Why did he do that?"

Frowning in thought for a moment, Leiketon decided to abandon further investigation; his conflict with A Meng was not absolute or irreconcilable—if it wasn't directed at him, he could simply ignore it. Moreover, he intended to leave the God‑Abandoned Land, so his concern for A Meng was no longer urgent or necessary.

With that in mind, he half‑raised his left hand forward, conjuring a dark, ancient horn imbued with a weighty, powerful resonance.

He pressed the "Horn of Destruction" to his lips and blew forcefully.

The heavy, oppressive low hum instantly echoed, and as the sound waves overlapped, the already ruined temple split wide cracks that crumbled from within outward, turning into fine dust that drifted slowly in the air before falling.

Bright yellow and deep red specks, interspersed with pale blue and silver‑white glints, continuously emerged from the floating dust, drifting around and slowly coalescing.

These points, representing different paths and extraordinary trait sequences, gradually merged, eventually forming a dice studded with numerous gems.

It was fist‑sized, deep black at its core; each face bore a different color and number of gems—one black, two teal, three silver‑white, four dark green, five deep red, and six gold—each emitting a distinct aura, starkly contrasting the others, appearing chaotic, uncanny, yet sacred.

From a short distance, Leiketon glanced at the dice lying calmly on the ground; a deep violet light flowed in his eyes, and within moments he comprehended the artifact's information.

This wondrous item, a blend of many auras and traits, has no fixed effect; whichever face lands upward releases a different extraordinary ability—potentially beneficial or detrimental—affecting either the thrower or a surrounding area, with potency ranging from Sequence Nine down to Sequence Four, entirely random, though higher potency appears less frequently.

One black signifies extraordinary power of the Darkness and Corruption realm; two teal denotes the Life realm; three silver‑white the Storm realm; four dark green the Death realm; five deep red the Moon realm; six gold the Sun realm.

It continuously attracts nearby living beings to turn it; if none do so for a long time, it will rotate on its own, and its self‑rotation speed will gradually increase over time.

"What an interesting dice; with an added 'Gate' path map, one could play a truly thrilling and passionate real adventure game."

Leiketon muttered softly, his mind increasingly eager to craft a matching board for it.

He inhaled deeply, suppressing the rising thought, then gently snapped his fingers, creating specks of starlight that enveloped the dice on the ground and moved it into his hand.

The starlight instantly solidified into translucent amber, forming a simple seal that cut off the dice's external perception and also limited its self‑rotation.

Having finished, he stood still for two seconds, turned his head to his side‑rear, and his body instantly dematerialized, breaking into streams of tangled knowledge that surged like a torrent toward the distance.

On a small hill about two to three hundred meters to the left of Saixiting, a torrent of pure, tangled information surged here, rapidly reconstituting Leiketon's body.

He looked down at the monster corpse lying on the ground and, with a calm voice, addressed the front:

"Are you looking for me?"

His voice echoed continuously around, traveling outward without any sign of weakening.

As the sound reached the distant dark depths, no echo returned, and he received no response.

After a moment of silence, seeing no one respond, Leiketon turned sharply backward, his body instantly becoming illusory.

The next instant, a dim amber flame flickered in the darkness; a middle‑aged man carrying a beast‑skin lantern, clad in a dark classical court robe, eyes deep black with a hint of teal, a thick black beard covering his face, stepped out of the shadows.

He appeared abruptly, as if teleported from a far distance, bearing no aura of the extraordinary; his gaze fixed on Leiketon, his hoarse, deep voice uttering an ancient tongue:

"Have you seen the 'Source Fortress'?"

Leiketon's illusory body solidified again; he calmly surveyed the suddenly appearing middle‑aged man, his gaze instantly deepening.

In his sight, the newly appeared secret companion was shrouded behind layers of illusory mist, obscuring it and making it difficult to discern.

(End of chapter)