Chapter 611: The Useful Armor (Monthly ticket first-place bonus)

Lu Mian glanced at Lugano with a smile before turning his attention to the "Armor of Pride," observing its next reaction.

"What kind of experiment is this? Are you testing the effects of this armor?" Lugano asked, feeling both apprehensive and puzzled.

No sooner had he spoken than the air on the dark deck, illuminated only by the faint crimson moonlight, suddenly solidified.

The next second, Lugano saw the suit of full-body silver armor, worn by no one, spontaneously manifest a greatsword of light, its invisible gaze locking onto him.

This... Before Lugano could react, the silver full-body armor took long strides, charging toward him with the greatsword of light poised to strike.

Lu Mian dodged to the side, stepping in front of Lugano. His body suddenly expanded, causing his linen shirt and black trousers to nearly burst at the seams.

Bang!

The significantly larger Lu Mian threw a punch, striking the side of the "Sword of Morning," creating a sound like clashing metal.

Only then did Lugano snap out of it. Though he didn't know why this empty suit of armor was attacking him, he instinctively turned and fled at full speed.

After he had run a certain distance, the "Armor of Pride" stopped and stood still.

The greatsword of light condensed from radiance dissipated, turning into shards of brilliance that scattered the crimson moonlight, bringing a feeling like the approach of dawn to the dark deck.

This feeling vanished in an instant.

Lu Mian didn't dare turn his back on the "Armor of Pride," standing sideways as he estimated the distance between the armor and Lugano.

"Nearly twenty meters... combined with Lugano's running speed, the sensing range is roughly fifteen meters..." Lu Mian quickly reached his conclusion, his body returning to its normal size, a smile reappearing on his face.

That's enough; a fifteen-meter sensing range is sufficient on a ship!

He put away the "Armor of Pride" and said to Lugano, who was still running toward the bow:

"The experiment is over."

Huh? Lugano stopped and looked back, discovering that his employer had already returned that eerie silver suit of full-body armor into the magical item disguised as a coin purse.

He breathed a sigh of relief, ran back, and asked curiously:

"Was the experiment successful?"

"Very successful," Lu Mian replied with a radiant smile.

Lugano didn't understand the point of such an experiment, but he vaguely guessed that his employer might be figuring out a way to find Father Montserrat.

Returning to the first-class suite, Lu Mian immediately instructed Lugano:

"Go find the captain and have him gather all the 'Earth' pathway Beyonders on the ship—and the 'Apothecary' pathway ones too—to this room. I won't return until I've caught Father Montserrat. If they don't come, that's fine; they can bear the risks themselves."

Lu Mian wasn't sure if Captain Pedro knew every unstable element or Beyonder on the ship, so he planned to keep a close watch later to avoid the "Armor of Pride" killing off hidden wild Beyonders—having Pedro go through this process first would effectively lighten his burden.

After watching Lugano leave the suite, Lu Mian said to Ludwig, who had started eating his midnight snack again:

"Keep an eye out later and see if any 'food' tries to hide in here."

Ludwig, his mouth stuffed with cake, gave a "no problem" gesture, just like a child.

While waiting for the captain to arrive, Lu Mian held the "Armor of Pride" and patrolled the entire top deck of the ship, finding no trace of Father Montserrat.

Nearly twenty minutes later, Captain Pedro entered Lu Mian's suite with a man who appeared to be the security chief and a passenger with a lowered hat.

Lu Mian offered no explanation, pointing toward the sofa area:

"Wait for me here."

Having said that, he didn't wait for a response, adjusted the golden straw hat on his head, and walked out the door.

Entering the stairwell, Lu Mian "pulled out" the silver full-body armor, held it by the armpits with both hands, and slowly "patrolled" each deck of the ship.

Every time he was within fifteen meters of his suite, he was especially careful, but the "Armor of Pride" did not lash out at anyone.

"Does the armor also have no extra reaction when the distance is over five meters and there are multiple layers of obstruction?" Lu Mian pondered the reason as he descended deck by deck.

Nearly two quarters of an hour later, he entered the cargo hold at the very bottom.

Before he had even rounded a few stacks of wooden crates, the "Armor of Pride" in Lu Mian's hands suddenly trembled slightly and broke free from his control.

The silver full-body armor manifested a greatsword of light and took two long strides, slashing at a wooden crate in the corner.

With a clanging sound, the crate split open, and several steel ingots slid out.

At the same time, Father Montserrat's clean, young face emerged from the surface of the crate, and his body manifested along with it.

Facing the greatsword of light raised by the silver armor once more, the priest's already sturdy frame became increasingly heavy and massive, as if he had transformed into a brown grizzly bear.

Bang! He slapped his palm down, knocking the "Sword of Morning" askew, causing it to land on the wooden cargo crates behind him.

That strength was no less than a real grizzly bear!

Just as Father Montserrat was blocking the "Armor of Pride's" attack, Lu Mian's figure—wearing a linen shirt, black vest, and golden straw hat—flashed into existence beside a stack of crates behind him.

"Hmph!"

Two beams of white light erupted from Lu Mian's nose, striking Father Montserrat before he could even turn his body.

The focus in Father Montserrat's eyes vanished instantly, and he collapsed, unconscious.

Following this change, the vitality within his body surged, as if a steam engine had begun running at full power.

This surging vitality transformed into an extremely powerful self-healing ability, rapidly repairing Father Montserrat's spirit.

The essence of the "Heng-Ha Technique" was quite similar to a "Mental Pierce," both targeting the spirit body and being difficult to defend against. The latter primarily caused uncontrollable pain, trapping the target, while the "Heng-Ha Technique" imposed a sleep-like or comatose state on the spirit body, which also counted as a form of damage.

Since it was damage, it could be healed.

Relying on the self-healing ability derived from his surging vitality, Father Montserrat's eyeballs moved beneath his closed eyelids.

Even before he had fully collapsed, he was about to wake up!

But for Lu Mian, the one second of control provided by the "Heng-Ha Technique" was enough.

Considering that Father Montserrat might also be a product of human alchemy and some abilities might not work, Lu Mian lunged at him, extending his right hand.

In his cupped palm, crimson-white flames coiled and compressed continuously, turning into a quite solid sphere.

On the other side, the "Armor of Pride" raised the "Sword of Morning" once again.

Just as Father Montserrat opened his eyes and instinctively tried to maintain his balance, his peripheral vision caught the sight of the Great Adventurer Louis Berry's emerald eyes, the crimson-white dangerous fireball, and the greatsword of light slashing toward his head.

He only had time to lean to the side to avoid the "Sword of Morning" before Lu Mian pressed the solid crimson-white fireball directly onto his body.

Boom!

With a massive explosion, Father Montserrat was sent flying.

A large area from his right shoulder to his abdomen was torn open, flesh shredded, bones broken, revealing his writhing internal organs.

His right arm dangled precariously, nearly detached from his body.

The surging vitality within Father Montserrat did not disappear; at the site of the massive wound, flesh writhed, healing itself.

Thud!

Father Montserrat crashed to the floor, greeted by the heavy running footsteps of the "Armor of Pride" and the greatsword of light slashing toward him.

He pointed a finger, and the blood and flesh that had detached from his body due to the explosion surged together with a life of their own, stretching into a blurry, thin, blood-colored human figure.

The blood-colored figure lunged at the silver full-body armor, wrapping around it and continuously seeping inside.

Points of dawn light suddenly brightened, filling the cargo hold, and the blood-colored figure encountered dissolution, gradually fading.

The light brought by the dawn was very gentle, not forcing Father Montserrat to blink, and thus, his pupils reflected a flock of crimson-white fire crows.

Those dozen or so fire crows circled Lu Mian, who stood with one hand in his pocket, staring at Father Montserrat as they flew toward him along different trajectories.

They were going to tear his body apart completely, igniting every piece of flesh, making it impossible for him to recover even with his powerful self-healing ability.

When every piece of your flesh is twenty or thirty centimeters apart, it's very difficult for them to "crawl" back together and recombine!

This wasn't flesh magic!

Father Montserrat's pupils dilated, his mouth instinctively opening to emit an eerie yet strangely intimate sound.

Accompanying this sound, thick darkness descended, black grass with plump grains grew, and all the dawn light filling the cargo hold was swallowed up.

Part of the crimson-white fire crows lost their way in the darkness, unable to cross the "distant" space, and gradually dissipated, while the rest landed successfully on Father Montserrat's body.

Amidst the continuous booming explosions, Father Montserrat's figure became transparent, and a massive, illusory oak tree grew in its place.

The oak tree was unaffected by the explosions and flames, and Father Montserrat, still covered in bloody wounds, appeared on a branch covered in mistletoe, his arms bent as if holding an invisible infant.

He looked at Lu Mian, revealing a smile from the bottom of his heart.

So you aren't a demigod after all...

"Waa!"

For the first time, Lu Mian heard that illusory, hollow infant cry.

"Waa, waa, waa!"

Amidst the continuous wailing, Lu Mian felt his vitality draining away, his entire being growing increasingly weak, even his spirit beginning to grow hazy.

And the draining vitality seemed to be surging toward the invisible infant held by Father Montserrat, becoming its nourishment.

PS: Bonus chapter delivered, monthly ticket first-place bonus, asking for monthly tickets at the start of the month~

(End of chapter)