Chapter 187 A Devil

Boom!

The explosion woke the night.

The Blue Shield Knights in the camp emerged from their tents, looking with surprise and uncertainty at the nearby forest, where thick smoke was rising. They turned to look and found that Rezole had disappeared from the prison wagon, and they were shocked.

"The prisoner has escaped!" At that moment, someone shouted.

The knights hastily picked up their shields and steel swords and rushed to the scene of the explosion.

Entering the woods, they saw Han Xiao standing in front of a large pit, filled with charred fragments of a corpse, unrecognizable.

Rix "hurriedly" arrived, looking solemn. "What happened here?"

"Your prisoner almost escaped, but I discovered him." Han Xiao shrugged. "You see the result, I got a little carried away."

"Rezole is dead?!" The arriving knights looked surprised.

Rix's expression changed, and he shook his head. "The king wanted him alive. He wouldn't have died, but he sought his own death. What a pity..."

As the commander, he quickly defined the nature of the incident with a few words, feigning severity and punishing several guards on duty. Then he ordered his knights to go back to sleep. Seeing this, no one delved deeper. Since Rezole was dead, there was no need to escort him, and they didn't have to be nervous along the way. Many breathed a sigh of relief, secretly pleased. Most of them shared Rix's sentiment and wished they could kill Rezole. Some of the knights came from the Southern Territory, and Rezole had almost killed their families in the countryside. If it weren't for the warriors from the upper realm, the consequences would have been unimaginable. An attempted crime couldn't be treated as if nothing had happened.

A few veterans who had been following Rix for a long time noticed something and gave Rix meaningful glances. They understood their commander. This "escape" was probably planned, a show for the king and nobles who demanded Rezole be captured alive. Killing Rezole would prevent anyone from having ulterior motives. Rix had a high reputation in the army and was well-loved, while the soldiers had no good feelings toward the nobles. They understood each other tacitly and pretended not to know anything.

When everyone dispersed, Rix nodded to Han Xiao and left together.

Han Xiao did not return to the camp but walked into the distance. In the dark night, he came to the back of a small hill, where Rezole was thrown. Melos stood beside him with his arms crossed.

In the end, Rix handed Rezole over. Although he wanted to kill Rezole to prevent future troubles, he didn't have much choice in front of Han Xiao and could only believe Han Xiao's explanation.

"How is he?"

Han Xiao asked.

"His chest wound is bandaged, he won't die," Melos replied.

"Good. I'm going to the royal capital with the Knights, you stay in the wild with Rezole. After I'm done, call the spaceship and leave together."

Melos nodded, then looked at Rezole, puzzled. "Black Star, do you want to recruit this mage? He's not a good person."

"Do I look like I'm short on manpower?" Han Xiao patted him on the back. "Don't forget, I promised to bring hundreds of thousands of Esper warriors to solve your Sunil's problems. I don't even look at him."

"Alright, I'll listen to you. I'll stay and watch him. If he tries to run, I'll chop him down."

Melos trusted Han Xiao very much. He knew that his fate and Han Xiao's were bound together. He had initially joined Black Star with a skeptical attitude, but after so many events, he firmly believed that Han Xiao had the ability to fulfill the promise he made when he recruited him and had the ability to change the future of the race.

"If you're not recruiting him, then what do you want him for?" Melos asked.

Rezole looked up at Han Xiao, his old face full of fear and anxiety, not knowing what awaited him next.

"You'll see."

Han Xiao took out a suction-cup-like device with many tiny needles in the center. He pressed it against Rezole's arm at the blood vessels. The needles inserted into the blood vessels, slowly extracting blood, which gradually took on a magical glow.

Rezole suddenly felt the magic in his body was draining away and looked in horror at the device on his arm like a blood-sucking worm.

This thing was extracting his magic!

"No, no!" He struggled desperately, but his strength was rapidly disappearing.

Magic was constantly fading away. Soon, the wrinkles on Rezole's face increased rapidly, as if he had aged ten years. A wave of weakness ran through his body, as if he had returned to his childhood, when he was just an ordinary person. The magic in his body was drying up, as if he had become an ordinary person again.

"Where's my power?! Give my power back!"

He had only obtained the power of a Beyond Grade A for less than half a day and hadn't even had time to experience it properly before he lost the power he had finally obtained. From high to low, Rezole collapsed.

Even when his twenty-year plan failed, his mentality had not been as despairing as it was now. Power was the foundation of his confidence, and Han Xiao had taken his foundation away.

Losing his power, Rezole's state of mind seemed to have returned to that of an ordinary person... No, even worse than an ordinary person, crying and begging repeatedly.

Han Xiao shook his head. Some people have power and run amok, doing whatever they want, but once they lose their power, they become cowards, strong on the outside but weak on the inside.

The device in his hand was the [Esper Gene Extractor - Experimental Model] he had obtained from the DarkStar Secret Message Orb. When Melos saw this thing, he shuddered. "Put it away quickly. I'm scared."

A few months ago, Han Xiao had experimented with the effect of the extractor. The first experimental subject was Frenzied Sword. The effect on players was to absorb 20~50 random attribute points and a certain amount of stamina, adding it to himself, with one rising and the other falling. The effect lasted for 10 minutes to 120 minutes. In his previous life, the Esper Gene Extractor was in the hands of DarkStar. Only by completing relevant high-difficulty tasks could players obtain the [Damaged Esper Gene Extractor], which had a similar effect to the one in his hand, but was weaker. The extractor was very impractical in battle, because it needed to touch the target's body to take effect. Most people had physical or magical armor, making it difficult to work, and the prerequisite was to control the enemy and prevent them from moving around. The preconditions were very strict.

However, the hidden function of the extractor would take effect when the target was unprotected. Examples of unprotected states were hibernation, captivity, paralysis, willingness, and other harsh conditions, that is, the target was under your complete control. If a player was unlucky enough to be hit, they would fall into a 12-hour period of weakness known as "sheep tail", with a 30~90% decrease in attributes (depending on the extractor's power). If an NPC was hit, they would not only be weakened, but also generate ability potions, which, when drunk, would temporarily grant the target's ability, which would be displayed as a temporary character card on the player's panel.

The second experimental subject that gave Han Xiao this result was Melos. Melos clearly remembered the panic and weakness he felt when he was deprived of his power. He was terrified. He only endured a small amount of power and it took him several days to recover. This thing that could take away the genes of an Esper was simply the nemesis of Espers!

How many Espers did the organization that developed this device ruin...

Han Xiao took out three empty potion tubes and filled them with the blood extracted by the device.

[You have obtained [Ability Potion] x3]

He drank one tube directly. The fishy and sweet taste filled his mouth, and the warm blood flowed down his throat, very pungent. Then, a warmth unique to magic rippled in his body.

[You have obtained [Character Descent Card - Rezole (Temporary)]!]

[Character Descent Card - Rezole (Temporary): [Source Water Magic] - Temporarily gain power beyond yourself, all attributes +20%, lasts 5~15 minutes, uses 0/1 (this character card has a time limit: 15 days)]

"Buff bonus, not bad ability." Han Xiao was very satisfied.

Rezole's loss of magic was temporary, but the crying old guy didn't know it, which meant that Han Xiao could constantly fleece him for wool and mass-produce ability potions. Although the temporary character card ability he obtained each time was different, he believed that players would pay for this new product.

In his previous life, DarkStar also used the Esper Gene Extractor to implement this plan. The difference was that Han Xiao would not randomly catch people as batteries. The temporary character card was icing on the cake for him, not a requirement. He would only do it when he encountered a character he could comfortably target.

"I remember you begged me to take you to the upper realm, hehe, I promise you now."

Han Xiao's smile looked like a demon in Rezole's eyes. The old guy trembled, his face full of horror and pleading.

Going to the upper realm like this was completely different from what he had imagined. A strong sense of regret arose from his heart and climbed into his eyes.

"You... you are a devil..." Rezole wanted to roar, but could only make a weak sound.

Han Xiao was amused. You're accusing me first.

…

Two days later, the Blue Shield Knights returned to the royal capital. This city was located on a plain, and a Source Water River divided the city in the middle, turning it into the West Bank and the East Bank, and also distinguishing the classes. The East Bank was the aristocratic residences and the palace, exquisite and luxurious. The West Bank was the crowded civilian area, with many turrets, and various arches and sewage pipes formed a complex street. Only people who had lived here for more than ten years remembered the route. Ordinary people would get completely lost after a few circles here.

It was noon, and the sun, the size of a soybean, hung in the sky. The light was dim, plating the city with a dark yellow color. The buildings and streets covered each other, the light and shadow were scattered, like the twilight of the setting sun—this was the brightest moment of the day on Dusk Star.

Rix led the group to the East Bank and settled down near the palace. An administrative officer came to greet them. Facing this group of guests from the upper realm, the administrative officer's attitude was even more respectful than when facing the king, wishing he could lower his head to the ground.

"On behalf of the Vein Kingdom, I welcome you to Dusk Star. His Majesty the King invites you upper realm warriors to attend the palace banquet. I hope you will grace us with your presence. At that time, our Beyond Grade A will communicate with you through the National Guardian Mage Group and pay the remuneration for this employment."

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Naturally, everyone had no objection.

Han Xiao's main goal in this trip was to inquire about signs of the Heteromorphy Disaster. It was best if the king offered himself. If the palace banquet was the kind where people could move around freely, then he could just ask the king for information.