Chapter 3253: The Invisible Blade is the Deadliest

Under Su Xiao's gaze, which was nearly murderous, Caesar finally put socks on his feet and pulled on his shoes.

Su Xiao clearly saw that as Caesar's socks moved, they left a wisp of pale yellow mist in the air—a mist so turbid and thick that it made one's scalp tingle.

Fortunately, the ventilation in the room was good. It was a cave that had been converted, and Su Xiao did not know the exact location of this place.

Beside a rock round table about 2 meters in diameter, once the air had cleared, Su Xiao lit a cigarette and said:

"Sovereign of the Blazing Sun, this cooperation between us is also a transaction."

"A transaction?"

The Sovereign of the Blazing Sun looked suspicious. In his plan, this was neither cooperation nor a transaction, but an act of solicitation—to bring Su Xiao under his command and have him take orders.

It was natural for the Sovereign of the Blazing Sun to have such a plan; after all, their status and standing were not equal. The Sovereign of the Blazing Sun was the supreme ruler of the New Kingdom, while Su Xiao was merely a pharmacist of the Sun Church.

The New Kingdom and the Sun Church were forces of equal scale, but in the New Kingdom, the Sovereign of the Blazing Sun was the absolute leader whom no one dared to defy.

Precisely because of this inequality in status, the Sovereign of the Blazing Sun was not thinking of cooperation, but of recruitment. If that failed, only then would he consider cooperation.

Hearing Su Xiao mention a transaction now, the Sovereign of the Blazing Sun did not care much. He wasn't even prepared to cooperate, let alone engage in a transaction that required equal status.

"What is the content of this transaction?"

The Sovereign of the Blazing Sun asked casually, his attitude implicitly indicating that he did not care about the deal.

"For example, escaping this world."

Su Xiao exhaled a cloud of smoke. The Sovereign of the Blazing Sun's attitude was something he had anticipated. Or rather, the fact that the other party hadn't sent anyone to ambush him already allowed him to gauge the Sovereign's level of difficulty.

This ruler, who appeared arrogant like a tyrant, was actually meticulous and extremely accurate in his judgment of the situation. Arrogance was his mask, and he had used it to trap and kill many powerful enemies.

"Escape... this world?"

The Sovereign of the Blazing Sun narrowed his bright red eyes. His golden hair, which hung back like a lion's mane, combined with his crimson eyes, gave him a noble and handsome appearance.

"You just said 'escape this world,' didn't you, Kuku Lin Bai Ye?"

The Sovereign of the Blazing Sun scratched the corner of his brow with his middle finger and picked up two metal wine glasses from the table, along with a bottle of wine that had been stored for many years.

"This King—heh... calling myself 'this King' is still a bit boastful. In the Painted World, even the strong dare not call themselves Sovereigns, yet I dare to do so. This has nothing to do with whether I am powerful; I am a royal descendant of the 'Dynasty' that has survived to this day, a descendant of the Valentine clan. That is why I dare to call myself a Sovereign. Otherwise, those lunatics who worship the sun would have come for me immediately. The 'Shield' of the Dynasty is shattered, the 'Sword' has collapsed, and only those sun-worshipping lunatics remain. Without them, the Sand World would have long been filled with beasts.

Whether it is for the Sand World or the Painted World outside, the sun-worshipping lunatics, the Trace Kings, and the Painters are all indispensable. Unfortunately, we only have the sun lunatics here, no Trace Kings or Painters."

The Sovereign of the Blazing Sun pulled the cork and poured two glasses of wine.

"It seems you come from another world. I do not accept the chips you have proposed for the time being. If I wanted to leave, I could have left years ago with a piece of trash who called himself the Nightmare King. Don't be afraid to mock me; I... intend to restore this world to its original state and then become its King. Everything is restored by me, and then controlled by me. It is very reasonable."

Having said this, the Sovereign of the Blazing Sun picked up a glass of wine and drank it in one gulp, then moved the other glass to the table in front of him. Clearly, this glass was not poured for Su Xiao.

"Kuku Lin Bai Ye, do you not feel even a shred of anger? From just now until now, I have been looking down on you. The strong all have pride; you should at least feel a little angry. If you started to get angry, how wonderful that would be."

The Sovereign of the Blazing Sun sighed softly, picked up a new metal wine glass from under the table, poured half a glass of wine, and slid it across the table toward Su Xiao.

From the very beginning, the Sovereign of the Blazing Sun had been trying to provoke Su Xiao. As long as Su Xiao showed even a hint of anger, he could seize the opportunity to use his methods to manipulate that rage.

"Since you have a spy like Caesar, you must know that my situation recently hasn't been great. A few 'stray dogs' often cause me trouble, but this is also a rare opportunity. Two of those 'stray dogs' happen to have exactly what I want."

"Scroll fragments?"

"Hmm?"

The Sovereign of the Blazing Sun's gaze became vigilant, murderous intent hidden within. He said, "It seems you come from the same place as those 'stray dogs.' Does that mean you also have scroll fragments?"

"Of course."

Su Xiao took 9 【Scroll Fragments】 out of his storage space. Upon seeing these 【Scroll Fragments】, the Sovereign of the Blazing Sun's gaze became much more 'friendly.'

"Since you have no interest in leaving this world, I will pay you with scroll fragments."

Su Xiao placed all 9 【Scroll Fragments】 on the table. Even when fishing, one lets the fish take a bite of the bait; furthermore, the Sovereign of the Blazing Sun's IQ was not something a fish could compare to. In any case, he was a mid-level old schemer.

The Sovereign of the Blazing Sun's scheming was not as high as Su Xiao had imagined, but his actions were sometimes spot-on, which made Su Xiao look at him with new respect.

This indicated one thing: the Sovereign of the Blazing Sun was powerful in combat and possessed a certain level of scheming, but under him, there was a super old schemer loyal to him.

In most cases, old schemers either become the boss themselves or are within a family; they rarely submit to others. Based on this, the super old schemer beside the Sovereign of the Blazing Sun was likely an elder relative, assisting the Sovereign in his endeavors.

The Sovereign of the Blazing Sun's previous performance was like the "three axes" of a novice; after those three, his true level gradually revealed itself.

Su Xiao had a strategy in mind. The Sovereign of the Blazing Sun could be utilized, but the old schemer beside him had to be killed within a short time. With that old guy around, completing the plan would be very difficult.

"If you are willing to pay with scroll fragments, then a transaction with you is fine. Tell me, what do you want as compensation? It wouldn't be the Beast Heart of the Sun Church, would it?"

The Sovereign of the Blazing Sun spoke with a half-smile, feeling a sense of certainty in his heart. All of this had already been anticipated by his 'Aze Wu.'

In the ancient language of the Dynasty, Aze Wu represented an elder and a respected person, mostly used to address elders loyal to oneself, so as not to alienate the relationship between superior and subordinate.

What outsiders didn't know was that the Sovereign of the Blazing Sun, who didn't have a great reputation, possessed strong personal charisma in the New Kingdom. Many powerful people were willing to be loyal to him, knowing that following him meant not only current prosperity but also no fear of being purged by the Sovereign out of jealousy for their achievements and fame once the big task was accomplished.

The Sovereign of the Blazing Sun not only had ambition, he had ideals. His ideal was to seize more scroll fragments, use them to fill the Sand World to completion, allow it to exist independently, and suppress the madness and beastification here so that it would no longer rain blood. If this were achieved, the world could enjoy peace for at least a millennium, if not longer.

Few people were willing to follow a super old schemer, with the exception of those like Kingsley. The Sovereign of the Blazing Sun satisfied many characteristics of a leader; anyone else in this dying world would truly be unable to gather so many devoted and powerful followers.

"Could it be that I really guessed it? Even if you give me scroll fragments, I won't agree to help you seize the Beast Heart from the Sun Church..."

"I have 9 scroll fragments here, and the Sun Church has 21. Once the task is done, all of these will belong to you."

Hearing Su Xiao's words, the Sovereign of the Blazing Sun began to ponder. Su Xiao did not urge him. In truth, he had no interest in the Beast Heart; what he wanted were the 【Scroll Fragments】 and to finish off the Sovereign of the Blazing Sun.

Su Xiao extinguished his cigarette, thinking about how to kill the old schemer under the Sovereign. First, he had to cause a rift between the two.

The Sovereign of the Blazing Sun had great ambitions. Judging by his current situation, those ambitions had been suppressed for a long time, likely because the number of 【Scroll Fragments】 was insufficient.

The Sovereign of the Blazing Sun had just mentioned that he wanted to restore the world to its original state, or rather, that he wanted to repair the world.

It was precisely because of such a bright and promising ideal that people were willing to follow him. In this fading and collapsing world, those who still held such ideals were respectable, whether friend or foe. However, respect was one thing, and calculating against them was another.

The old schemer behind the Sovereign was responsible for planning. Upon their first contact, the Sovereign had followed the old schemer's instructions and actually managed to bluff Su Xiao for a while.

One could imagine that the old schemer treated the Sovereign with sincerity. The current problem was that the Sovereign's ambitions had yet to progress.

The old schemer was seeking stability, while the Sovereign was anxious to show his subordinates a bright future. This was the biggest point of conflict between them. Both their philosophies and ideas were not wrong, but their opinions would inevitably clash.

Thinking of this, Su Xiao seemed to see a crack—a crack between the Sovereign and the old schemer. What could widen this crack? That went without saying: a large number of 【Scroll Fragments】.

As long as this crack grew larger and larger, when it finally exploded, the Sovereign's butcher knife would surely swing toward the old schemer, because he knew that once the relationship broke, the old schemer, who was once so reliable, would become equally terrifying. He would have to be killed.

"Monarch of the Blazing Sun, I'll give you a piece of information for free. Those two stray dogs you mentioned earlier are clearly named Wood and Zuiyas. I have 9 scroll fragments here, the Sun Church has 21, Zuiyas has about 5, and Wood has about 6. Don't look at me like that; the three of us joined forces to slaughter the Nightmare King. Their goal was the scroll fragments, and mine was the Beast Heart, which is why we parted ways."

Su Xiao didn't continue. Adding these up, there were a total of 41 scroll fragments! Su Xiao really wasn't worried that the Sovereign wouldn't be tempted. Mentioning these, even he himself was tempted.

"I can help you seize these scroll fragments, but after receiving my 9 scroll fragments, we will first go to seize the Beast Heart, and then consider the other scroll fragments."

Su Xiao proposed a suggestion that the Sovereign would not agree to, and that he himself would not implement. According to his plan, the Sovereign had to deal with Wood, Sin Ays, and Water Brother first; that was what he wanted to see.

"No. The three stray dogs I have here are very difficult to deal with. You proposed the cooperation, and you proposed the transaction. Kuku Lin Bai Ye, I don't see any sincerity in you..."

"Was the Sun Holy Medicine drunk by a dog?"

"You... cough, that was a greeting gift."

After the Sovereign of the Blazing Sun said this, he felt very satisfied. He had been a bit choked for words just now.

"We must go to the Sun Church to seize the Beast Heart first, otherwise there is nothing to talk about."

Su Xiao's attitude was firm. Beside him, Bubu Wang and Baja both assumed a posture of being ready to strike at any moment—no, to strike with their claws.

"You must help me eliminate those three stray dogs first."

The Sovereign of the Blazing Sun sipped his wine leisurely. Seeing this, Su Xiao's expression began to look 'ugly.'

"Then there is nothing to talk about."

Su Xiao got up and left. One step, two steps, three steps. He guessed that the Sovereign's next sentence would be: 'Thank you for the Sun Holy Medicine you sent.'

"Thank you for the Sun Holy Medicine you sent me. If there are such good things in the future, remember to find me first, Pharmacist Bai Ye."

The Sovereign's words made Su Xiao stop. He turned his head to look at the Sovereign.

"You win, Sovereign of the Blazing Sun. Let your master come to see me. I have no interest in continuing to talk to a puppet like you; it is meaningless."

When Su Xiao said this, the Sovereign of the Blazing Sun didn't have much of a reaction at first, but Caesar's heart skipped a beat. He had been watching the show the whole time and understood the situation like a mirror. Su Xiao's series of remarks were simply too ruthless.

There must be someone behind the Sovereign of the Blazing Sun, an old schemer assisting him. When one day, the Sovereign was negotiating with a dangerous person, and that dangerous person actually said the Sovereign was a puppet with a master behind him...

As the supreme leader of the New Kingdom, what would the Sovereign think? Could he not develop suspicion? He would definitely ponder carefully whether he had truly become a puppet of 'Aze Wu.'

Suspicion was also a crack—a crack even larger than a disagreement.

"A puppet? Are you talking about me?"

The Sovereign of the Blazing Sun was somewhat amused, but judging by the slight stiffness at the corners of his mouth, he didn't seem as calm as he appeared.

"Oh? Are you not a puppet?"

"Of course not."

"..."

Su Xiao narrowed his eyes, as if in deep thought. A moment later, he said, "If I cooperate with you, I can help you deal with those three 'stray dogs' first. If it is with the person behind you, then there is no need to continue talking. People who hide their heads and show their tails are not worth trusting."

Su Xiao said this to make the Sovereign feel that he had more capability than the old schemer. This strategy was one of achievement and transcendence, making the Sovereign feel that, unknowingly, he had already surpassed the old schemer.

Humans are strange creatures. When the Sovereign was inferior to someone, he would take that person's words to heart, feeling that what they said made more sense.

But when the Sovereign felt he had already surpassed that person, that person's words were no longer golden rules. The Sovereign would think, 'You aren't even as good as me, why should I listen to you? Who do you think you are?' This was... complacency.

Complacency, suspicion, disagreement, and impatience—four layers of barriers now appeared in the Sovereign's heart. In fact, these had existed for a long time, and now they had been drawn out by Su Xiao.

This was an attack on the heart, an invisible blade that cuts the soul.

"Time is up. I cannot leave the apartment for too long. Let's continue talking tomorrow night. Oh, one more thing, I admire your ideal."

Su Xiao said something that puzzled the Sovereign.

"So?"

The Sovereign's heart was a bit chaotic, but his tone did not appear impatient.

"So I am prepared to invest. If you can fill these worlds until they exist independently, I will also reside here for a long time. Consider it an investment; I will prepay one piece."

Su Xiao placed one 【Scroll Fragment】 on the table. Still the same saying: even fishing involves letting the fish eat the bait, let alone when the Sovereign's IQ far exceeded that of a fish.

The Sovereign of the Blazing Sun looked at the 【Scroll Fragment】 on the table, nodded, and said, "If I succeed, there will always be a place for you in this world."

"That is good."

Su Xiao turned and walked into the long corridor. The dim light on the ceiling suddenly dimmed, and the scene seemed to freeze for a moment. Su Xiao, with his back to the Sovereign, had a faint red glow in his eyes, while a few meters behind him, the Sovereign of the Blazing Sun sat on a stone chair with his legs crossed, his elbows resting on the armrests, holding a wine glass with a faint smile on his face.

The light returned to normal. Su Xiao walked into the long corridor, passed a corner, and stood on a teleportation array. The plan was going smoothly; it just needed to continue fermenting. It wouldn't be long before he could stab the Sovereign of the Blazing Sun to death and take the treasure chest.

However, killing the Sovereign of the Blazing Sun directly was not the best choice. If the Sovereign drank that bottle of 【Sun Holy Medicine】, it meant the "Qiege Cells" were already lurking in his body.

At that time, by activating the "Qiege Cells" through "Nieyang," plus letting the First Generation Devourer invade the Sovereign's body, after this set of procedures, he could do more things—for example, making the Sovereign fight Sin Ays, Wood, and Water Brother to the death.

PS: (Two chapters today. I was a bit stuck on the writing, so two chapters will have to do as a rest for today.) ===== CHAPTER 3254 =====