Chapter 3564: Duke

In front of the two-story small building, Kain looked around. At this time, he was suffering 20~35 points of soul damage per second, and this negative state called "Filth" would determine the duration of the negative state based on the enemy's physical attribute.

This disgusting state wouldn't kill anyone. It belonged to the type where the stronger the enemy, the stronger it was; conversely, the weaker the enemy, the weaker it was. No matter what kind of enemy one faced, it would leave a chance of survival for the other party.

Kain couldn't figure out what kind of person would have such an ability. However, compared to this point, he wanted to leave this place even more at this moment.

Kain suddenly broke free from the shackles of the flesh. After turning into the Ghost King state, he divided into countless dark soul skeletons and scattered toward the surroundings.

Kain turned into millions of dark soul skeletons and scattered toward the surroundings, while Snow Monster ran away into the distance.

On the top of the high tower half a kilometer away, Sin Yasi, who was standing on the railing, jumped down. While in mid-air, he turned into black tentacles that were entangled and twisting. The next instant, he had arrived near the two-story small building and restored his original appearance. Just arriving at this place, his gaze gradually became solemn.

"Ugh."

Sin Yasi was clearly holding his breath, but he still felt an indescribable stench coming toward him.

Sin Yasi suddenly appeared, making Snow Monster, who was running, feel nervous in his heart. But on second thought, compared to Kain, the enemy definitely wouldn't hunt him down.

Snow Monster turned his head to look. Sin Yasi, who was leaping on the roof behind him, came into his view.

Clearly, Snow Monster thought too much. First, Sin Yasi and Kain had no enmity. Secondly, Su Xiao and Wood didn't say they must eliminate Kain before the plan started. Finally, the Church Stone Slab wasn't in Kain's hands, but in the Duke's.

In this way, Kain, who was above the top tier of the eighth tier, wasn't the first choice for hunting. Snow Monster clearly didn't understand the style of the few "good teammates." They definitely wouldn't be vague when it was time to fight for their lives, but at this time, they must pick a soft persimmon to pinch.

The two-story small building crashed and shattered. The building shattering caused dust to rise, and the indescribable stench of filth that permeated the surroundings had disappeared.

Click, click~

A stable, mechanical stepping sound on the ground came. A figure with red light in his eyes walked out from the dust. This person was wearing a dark golden robe. After coming out of the dust, he took off the hood on his head, revealing a face composed of mechanical metal components. At first glance, it was the Duke, but compared to before, some facial details had changed.

The Duke's electronic eye scanned the surroundings, making the unique sound of precision electronic components operating. Finally, his gaze locked onto the top of a small cathedral, where a figure was standing on it.

The mechanical core on the Duke's chest revealed a scorching red. As the temperature rose, the dark golden robe on his body ignited and scattered, revealing his torso. The alloy ribs looked very dense, protecting the wires, prosthetic organs, circulatory system, etc., inside.

On the roof of the small cathedral, Su Xiao jumped down from the roof, his gaze always fixed on the Duke more than ten meters ahead.

"Chosen One, besides this stone slab, I can't think of any other motivation you have."

Part of the Duke's alloy torso unfolded. He took out the Church Stone Slab from inside.

"I don't want to have a dispute with you yet. This stone slab, which is meaningless to me, is given to you."

While the Duke was speaking, he threw the stone slab in his hand.

Clang!

A blue slash flashed and disappeared. The flying stone slab was cut into two segments. After a few wisps of electric sparks shot out, it fell to the ground. From the cross-section, one could clearly see the electronic structure inside. This wasn't a Church Stone Slab; it was an electromagnetic explosive bomb manufactured according to the appearance of the Church Stone Slab.

Although Su Xiao wasn't very good at the technology side, if it was an explosive object on the technology side, it was different. As a Hunter of the Samsara Paradise, he could not be good at other things, but the identification of all kinds of explosive objects was definitely top-tier among the same tier.

It wasn't that Su Xiao had a hobby of specializing in this aspect, but that when he encountered enemies from the same Paradise, if he was slightly careless, the enemy might take out an explosive object before dying. If he wasn't proficient enough in this aspect, he would have been blown to death long ago.

A faint sense of danger came from the front. In Su Xiao's perception, the Duke's means of attack were so sharp that they were a notch higher than the Saint Song Group, although they hadn't reached the perverted level of the Wolf Knight Captain, they weren't much worse.

This was very abnormal. Although the Duke's strength wasn't weak, when he was in the High Wall City, the Duke was comprehensively strong, but at this time, the Duke's aura was completely different.

Su Xiao took out a test tube and crushed it in his hand. With a "crack," red powder scattered and dissipated in the air at the same time.

"Poison? You actually want to use poison to deal with me, this... is very ridiculous."

The Duke spoke in a synthetic electronic voice. It seemed he was mocking Su Xiao, but in fact, he was probing.

"Use the brain that has already been replaced by prosthetic tissue to think carefully, why the Duke was defeated by you, and defeated so thoroughly."

Su Xiao spoke rarely before the battle. Not only that, he didn't even draw his blade.

In such a situation, if the enemy knew Su Xiao well enough, they would only make two choices: turn around and run, or immediately launch a surprise attack. Su Xiao, who was always silent during battle, didn't even draw his blade at this time, and also spoke. This itself was a matter worthy of vigilance.

Hearing Su Xiao's words, the strong enemy opposite suddenly stopped speaking.

"Let me change the question, why did the Duke flee from this body? This is his body. He transformed it for decades, from a flesh-and-blood body to the current level."

"You..."

The strong enemy opposite just started to speak, and his electronic eye revealing red light flickered.

"Let me change the question again. With the Duke's temper, why would he let go of the offspring who disobeyed him? What qualification does his eldest son, named Crank, have to be his enemy? Even with my support in the dark, Crank has no qualification to be the Duke's enemy."

When Su Xiao said this sentence, the strong enemy opposite made a strange "click-clack" sound all over his body.

"The last question, guess why I'm telling you this nonsense."

Su Xiao walked forward while speaking, and drew his long blade on the way. The reason he said this was to deliberately delay time and let the catalyst take effect.

Su Xiao's long blade, with a stable and unquestionable attitude, pierced through the chest of the "Duke"—no, it should be piercing through the chest of the Steel Apostle, thereby penetrating his core.

"You guys..."

The Steel Apostle's mechanical body made a "click-clack" sound. He wanted to drive his body, but this body, mainly made of alloy, had already begun to rust, and some parts were even rusted to the point of weathering, turning into red powder and flying away.

Until he died, the Steel Apostle didn't understand. He had only been dormant for many years, but why had the changes in this world been so great, so great that he had only woken up for a few days before closing his eyes forever.

【Prompt: You have killed the Steel Apostle.】

【You obtained 11% World Source.】

【You obtained Mechanical Core (Half-Damaged).】

【You obtained Steel Badge (Sinner Badge).】

Seeing the last prompt, Su Xiao felt suspicious in his heart. He indeed didn't expect that killing the Steel Apostle could obtain the Sinner Badge.

As one of the five founders of the High Wall City and one of the twelve high-level members of the old Healing Church, why would he represent a sinner? He should represent steel or machinery more.

Su Xiao had a guess that the Sinner Badge was different from other badges. Other badges represented status. Holding a badge represented obtaining the recognition of the badge owner, thereby being able to receive corresponding resources at the Treatment Center.

The Sinner Badge was different; it had a sense of being a bounty.

This wasn't Su Xiao guessing randomly. He had seen it in the exchange list before: 【Wolf Knight Badge】 could be exchanged for Wolf Blood, 【Hunter Badge】 could be exchanged for Soul of Technique · Dark, 【Outlier Warrior Badge】 could be exchanged for Soul Blood of Outlier Warrior. These were all corresponding.

Different from these, the Sinner Badge could be exchanged for Origin Stone · Chaos Fire. The Steel Apostle had no direct relationship with Origin Stone · Chaos Fire. This Origin Stone was more like a wanted reward issued by the old Church.

Looking at it this way, during the old Church period, the Steel Apostle was expelled from the Healing Church and also carried the name of a sinner.

Later, when the High Wall City was established, the Steel Apostle even founded the Steam God Cult, which was opposed to the Healing Church's philosophy. If it weren't for the situation at that time, which was too much in need of the existence of the Steam God Cult, the Archbishop and the Holy Sacrificer would definitely have made a move, attempting to wipe it out.

At the end of the God Era, which was the peak period of the Healing Church, the Steel Apostle, as one of the twelve high-level members of the Healing Church, could be said to have high position and great power, until he decided to become independent.

Actually, this was also inevitable. The Steel Apostle had always wanted to develop toward the technology side. However, he was a member of the Healing Church. No one cared how he transformed himself, but he couldn't declare that flesh is weak in the Healing Church. The holy marks of the Healing Church cultivated the flesh and soul.

Others used holy marks to strengthen the flesh and soul. The Steel Apostle suddenly proposed to abandon the flesh. More importantly, no one cared about the Steel Apostle abandoning flesh and blood himself, but he also required his subordinates to do so.

If it weren't for the fact that the dead silence broke out completely at that time, the Steel Apostle would have been cold eight or nine times out of ten. What was certain was that the Steel Apostle, who was crazily transforming himself at that time, was already not very normal.

By the Disaster Era, only five of the twelve high-level members of the old Church remained, among whom Lady Snake also suffered great damage to her combat power. Only four people could shoulder heavy responsibilities, among whom the Steel Apostle, although identified as a sinner, naturally no one mentioned it again at such a time.

By the time the High Wall City was established, the Steel Apostle finally founded the Steam God Cult. Seeing this scene, the Archbishop, the Holy Sacrificer, Lady Snake, and the Old Monster conspired to trick the Steel Apostle into besieging the Sin God.

The result was that under the deliberate care of these four people, although the Steel Apostle didn't pass away, his mechanical core was severely damaged. Afterward, he had been sleeping, which made the Steel Apostle's already not-so-normal thinking become even more elusive.

A few days ago, in order to seek a way to save himself, the Duke implanted the Steel Apostle's mechanical core into his own body and awakened the other party.

Ask, why did the Duke do this? The reason was that in the few days before the "Wadi Family Incident," he often calculated against Su Xiao and even drank with him.

Drinking with an alchemist in a semi-hostile situation meant one had to be careful, even if the Duke had undergone multiple transformations and most of his body was a mechanical structure.

The problem was that alchemists also understood mechanical structures, and in many cases, they needed to soften and dissolve all kinds of metals with alchemical synthetic substances.

Such alchemical synthetic substances were more terrifying than poison to the Duke. Changing the mechanical structure in his body wouldn't work, unless the Duke could remove all the metal structures on his body at once. Otherwise, this alchemical synthetic substance with microbial characteristics would continue to divide.

Before the entrance to the Dead Silence City opened, the Duke discovered this. This old schemer naturally wouldn't wait for death, nor would he let go of the risk of losing his life to Su Xiao at any time. So he thought of the Steel Apostle and deliberately implanted the other party's mechanical core into his body, letting the other party's powerful soul and consciousness seal and "quantify" his own soul and consciousness.

The so-called "quantification" was the Steel Apostle's unique means, which was to integrate the soul into the mechanical structure to achieve a state where the core was immortal and he wouldn't die.

Things developed exactly as the Duke envisioned. After the mechanical core was activated, the Steel Apostle's consciousness awakened and occupied his body.

In order to avoid damage caused by soul shaking soul, the Steel Apostle "quantified" the Duke's soul into the mechanical prosthetics within the body, turning it into a "Duke Core," and then dealt with it slowly.

This was what the Duke wanted to see, but it wasn't enough. Having a "core," he also needed a carrier. This carrier had to have high compatibility with him, and there should be no alchemical synthetic substances in the body. It was best if the body had also undergone certain mechanical transformations.

Who this target was was already obvious. It was precisely the Duke's eldest son, Crank. In order to make the other party more suitable to become a carrier, in the father-son battle before entering the Dead Silence City, the Duke not only deliberately let the other party survive but also destroyed half of the other party's body, forcing him to replace this part of the body with mechanical prosthetics.

In this way, the scene before us appeared. The Steel Apostle, who had been dormant for a long time and whose thinking was slightly confused, thought he had dealt with the Duke, but in fact, he was calculated by the Duke and came to Su Xiao to die for him.

It could be said that no matter whose soul consciousness was inside, as long as they dared to come to Su Xiao with this body filled with alchemical synthetic substances, the other party would definitely die.

This was also why Su Xiao didn't hunt down the "Duke" when they met in the Dead Silence City before. There was no need for this at all. He originally wanted to cooperate with the Duke to a certain extent. However, this "Duke" became increasingly dangerous. Looking at it now, this was where the Duke was; it was clearly the Steel Apostle.

Su Xiao looked at the fragments on the ground and picked up a Church Stone Slab from inside.

At the same time, in a building that was very well preserved in the area near the "Saint Ten Cathedral," Crank, who was sitting on a wooden chair and thinking while looking out the window, had the pupils of his left eye shrink rapidly. The expression on his face twisted for a while, as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't make any sound at all and hung his head violently.

A few seconds later, "Crank" raised his head again. With deep eyes, he looked out the window.

"Crank, what's wrong with you? You look... a bit strange."

The Moonlight Maid, who happened to walk nearby, spoke.

"Nothing, just still a bit unaccustomed to the implant."

"Crank" stood up and moved his mechanical right arm. Seeing this, the Moonlight Maid let out a light snort and ignored the other party.

The battle quickly subsided. Near the shattered two-story building, Luge was still lying on the ground. Nearby was Wood, who was sitting on a pile of rubble.

In the battle just now, Wood was clearly lazy. The three people of the Crow Team weren't in the surrounding area. Previously, Su Xiao and Sin Yasi were still wondering why Wood was willing to take the initiative to contact the Crow Team carrying the Book of the Dead. Looking at it now, this guy clearly knew long ago that the Crow Team wasn't nearby and deliberately found a justifiable reason to be lazy.

"This guy can really run."

Sin Yasi, who returned, threw a head on the ground. It was Snow Monster. This guy who liked to play the pig to eat the tiger and possessed powerful survivability met someone today who could put him to death. Sin Yasi, who possessed the immortal characteristic, naturally knew how to kill this kind of enemy.

"Bai Ye, have you heard of the Initial Temple? This guy called Snow Monster has a connection with the Initial Temple. I seem to have been 'marked' by this faction."

Sin Yasi spoke.

"Heard of it."

"What exactly is that side?"

"A faction formed by several high-ranking evil gods."

"Oh?"

Sin Yasi frowned. High-ranking evil gods were not easy to provoke. However, since he had already provoked them, it must be to eliminate them with the faction behind him. This was called pre-judgment to prevent retaliation.

Because he knew Sin Yasi's style of doing things relatively well, Su Xiao said: "They won't retaliate against you."

"How do you say that?"

"Several pillar gods of the Initial Temple are either dead or were brought back by me as ingredients."

"Ingredients?"

Sin Yasi and Wood both cast their gazes over. That gaze seemed to be saying: 'As expected of you.'

"The second stone slab is in hand."

Su Xiao took out the Church Stone Slab obtained from the Steel Apostle.

"This way."

The door of a shop on the street was pushed open. It was Gulu. Seeing that the building she was in was not bad, several people walked into it.

This was originally a tavern. Su Xiao and several people sat around the wooden table. Sin Yasi among them said:

"The Duke Team is handled. Afterward, is it the Crow Team or the Worm Team?"

"Handle them together."

While Su Xiao was speaking, he took out a gray crystal block, which made the others sitting around feel vigilant.

"What is this?"

Wood asked.

"I am going to summon the Book of the Dead temporarily."

Hearing Su Xiao's words, Wood stood up and walked out. His steps inevitably revealed a bit of haste, and he also said: "I'm going to the toilet."

"Cough, I also have an urgent need to urinate."

Sin Yasi also walked outside. Seeing this, Gulu also found a reason to slip out. Only Caesar remained calm and composed.

Previously, Su Xiao made the Book of the Dead produce cause and effect with the Arcane Eternal Star. On this matter, the Book of the Dead owed him once. Now it was time to repay.

As for the Book of the Dead, a "daddy-tier" object, ignoring this point, then there would be no such good thing as fishing for evil gods together in the future.

Sure enough, not long after Su Xiao crushed the gray crystal block, the Book of the Dead appeared in front. He folded a piece of paper and threw it toward the Book of the Dead. The paper turned into ashes. After the Book of the Dead probed the content on it, it faded into the air.

More than half an hour later, Sin Yasi, Wood, and Gulu returned. Su Xiao began to briefly explain his plan.

Clearing team by team was too slow. Moreover, during the battle, it was possible to cause the Church Stone Slab to break.

Su Xiao's plan was to use the existing two Church Stone Slabs to unite the Crow Team and the Worm Team, saying that the three teams would unite to splice the four stone slabs together to know the content on them.

With everything the "good teammates" team had done before, the Crow Team and the Worm Team would definitely not agree to this proposal. Conversely, what if it were replaced by the Duke Team?

You know, the Duke Team had prepared like this before and had successfully united the Crow Team, and had also reached preliminary negotiations with the Worm Team. The problem there was that even if they reached a union, they were missing a stone slab. Now this problem had been solved.

Su Xiao could disguise himself as the Duke with the Ancient Mask, and then bring Luge. Just two people could represent the Duke Team.

When meeting the "Crank" of the Crow Team, if the other party had been replaced by the Duke's consciousness, it didn't matter. The Duke wouldn't stand out, let alone reveal Su Xiao's disguise, unless he wanted to die thoroughly.

"Luge, are you willing to cooperate with us?"

Su Xiao looked at Luge, who was tied up and leaning against the wall.

"Impossible."

Luge also had a temper. Last time he was caught, this time he was attacked again.

"..."

Su Xiao didn't speak and took out three "Mercy Thorns."

"Brother, I was joking with you. How could you take it seriously?"

Luge decisively softened. He had heard Snow Monster describe the taste of being stabbed by this stuff.

Su Xiao took out the Ancient Mask and put it on his face. Scarlet tentacles clung to his clothes. In an instant, he disguised himself as the Duke wearing a dark golden robe.

Afterward, things were simple. It was still Caesar and Wood's abilities cooperating with each other to locate the positions of the Crow Team and the Worm Team.

The first to be located was the Crow Team. Su Xiao took out a capsule and threw it to Luge. After Luge took it, he threw it into his mouth and swallowed it without hesitation.

He had been tricked like this once before. That time was in the Tree Life World. He ate a "poison" given by Su Xiao and was terrified all the way until returning to the Apocalypse Paradise, fearing that the poison would break out. As a result, after returning, he conducted heavy inspections and found that what he ate was vitamins.

Luge's thought at this time was that as long as there was a chance, he would slip away. He wouldn't be terrified because of vitamins again.

"You don't have much time, about 5 hours."

While Su Xiao was speaking, he took out a capsule the same as the one Luge had swallowed and threw it out the window.

Thump!

A muffled sound came, and a burst of solar flame erupted. Inside this capsule was liquid ordinary Apollo. Being blown by this stuff wasn't actually serious. The problem was, if this stuff exploded in the chest, it was another matter.

"Go notify the three of the Crow Team to meet in front of the stele of the Wolf Tomb three hours later."

Hearing Su Xiao's words, Luge didn't say a word and hurried toward the door.

"Bai Ye, can't he spit out that capsule?"

Sin Yasi spoke, very interested in this capsule.

"No."

Su Xiao took out another capsule and crushed this brittle water-soluble capsule with a "snap." Even if Luge dug out his stomach, he wouldn't find the explosive capsule, because what he swallowed wasn't an explosive capsule, but a brittle water-soluble capsule, which dissolved as soon as it reached his stomach.

More than 40 minutes later, Luge returned. From his slightly panting appearance, it could be seen that he was rushing at full speed and had encountered dead people.

"Go here to notify the Worm Team to meet at the Wolf Tomb."

Su Xiao took out a Church Stone Slab and continued: "Hand this stone slab to Worm and tell him this is the Duke's sincerity."

"Good."

Luge took the stone slab and left. Seeing this, Su Xiao walked toward the Wolf Tomb alone. He was currently disguised as the Duke, so naturally, he couldn't be with Sin Yasi and Wood, and could only bring Bubu Wang, who was integrated into the environment.

Two hours later, in the Wolf Tomb area, within the venue surrounded by ring-shaped bone walls, Su Xiao had fought a life-and-death battle with the Wolf Knight Captain here.

Su Xiao sat in front of the stele several meters high. His eyes opened, looking at the three people walking toward him. It was the Crow Woman, the Moonlight Maid, and Crank.

Su Xiao looked at Crank—no, this was already the Duke. Crank might not be dead yet, but he was no longer the master of this body.

The brilliance in the Duke's eyes flashed and disappeared. Looking at the person disguised as himself in front of the stele, after having a rough guess in his heart, he decided to wait and see.

Su Xiao was also looking at the Duke. As he guessed before, the Duke didn't reveal that someone was disguising as him.

"Duke, did you find the last stone slab?"

The one speaking was the Crow Woman. She was holding a Church Stone Slab in her hand.

"Yes, he found it."

Five figures wearing white robes and loose hoods walked over. The leader was the Holy Mark Mentor Worm. His sharp gaze inevitably gave people a sense of being aggressive.

After the Holy Mark Mentor Worm arrived, he didn't talk nonsense and directly took out two Church Stone Slabs. It seemed sincere, but in fact, he had already explained that after the four stone slabs were spliced together completely, they would immediately make a move. Whether it was the holy marks on them or the god marks, they couldn't be replicated. Only by mastering the complete Church Stone Slab could one master these, so there was no possibility of sharing.

The 10 people who arrived faintly formed a circle.

"Less nonsense, start."

The Holy Mark Mentor Worm threw the two stone slabs in his hand. Seeing this, the Crow Woman looked at the Moonlight Maid on the side. The Moonlight Maid nodded, meaning that although this was her stuff, the Crow Woman had the final say now.

The Crow Woman threw the stone slab in her hand. In this way, everyone's gaze was focused on Su Xiao, who was disguised as the Duke.

Su Xiao threw out the stone slab. Following his action, the Holy Mark Mentor Worm shouted in a low voice: "Do it!"

Gray light suddenly appeared. Before the people present had time to make a move, the Book of the Dead appeared. The translucent tentacles extending from its interior entangled the four Church Stone Slabs, gathered them back, and finally, the Book of the Dead faded and merged into the Crow Woman's body.

The atmosphere was nearly solidified. Everyone's gaze looked at the Crow Woman, but what everyone didn't notice was that the four stone slabs appeared in the golden robe behind Su Xiao and had already been collected into his storage space.

The five people, including the Holy Mark Mentor Worm, all stared at the Crow Woman. They were no longer unkind in their gazes, but their killing intent was soaring.

"Well done, let's retreat."

The Moonlight Maid's gaze carried a bit of surprise. She really didn't know the Crow Woman had such a plan.

Not to mention the Moonlight Maid didn't know, even the Crow Woman herself didn't know. She really wanted to know where those four Church Stone Slabs went? Somehow, facing this confusing situation, she felt a sense of deja vu, a feeling of being calculated, which surged into her heart uncontrollably. ===== CHAPTER 3565 =====