Chapter 176 Soul Parasitism

[【Soul Parasitism】: This character is currently parasitized by a foreign soul, and their spirit is being controlled – originating from the Soul Transference Device, duration unknown.]

Izo's status bar displayed his current condition.

Han Xiao immediately focused on the name "Soul Transference Device," which had evidently bypassed his detection devices unnoticed and successfully ambushed Izo. He wondered what kind of device it was.

He recalled his past life, confirming that he had never heard of this name before. This was the first time he had seen it.

"Soul Transference Device, I wonder what its specific functions are. Sounds like a mechanical device..."

Just as he was muttering to himself, Izo, the burly man, suddenly stiffened. His pupils dilated, revealing extreme shock.

What did I hear? Black Star accurately said the words "Soul Transference Device"?!

How could he know the name of the Soul Transference Device! Where was the leak?!

The Modo deathsworn's soul within Izo naturally didn't know that Han Xiao was seeing the information through his interface. His first thought was that information had been leaked, and his mind went blank with terror.

Han Xiao noticed his unusual behavior, and his heart stirred. "Such a big reaction, this Soul Transference Device must be something special."

Now that he knew the symptoms, the problem was easier to handle. Specialization was key; it would be better to let a cadre specializing in the soul domain handle it.

With that thought, Han Xiao stood up, beckoned Fording over, and pointed at Izo.

"The old man is soul-parasitized. You take a look."

"Alright." Fording nodded, releasing ripples of psychic power from his brow, probing into Izo's brain.

Everyone waited aside. After a dozen seconds, Fording withdrew his psychic power, his expression hesitant.

"What's wrong? Is there a problem?" Han Xiao raised an eyebrow.

Fording frowned slightly. "There is indeed another soul aggregate in his mental brain domain. The strength isn't high, at most Grade B. I can solve it. But the problem is, this parasitic soul has already perfectly merged with Izo's own soul. There's almost no rejection. I've rarely seen this kind of situation..."

"So you mean there's a risk?" Ames interjected.

"Indeed. Because they've merged so deeply, the difficulty of removing the parasite is like performing delicate soul surgery. There's no room for error. Once a mistake occurs, it will damage Izo's own soul..."

"If you're not confident, don't force it. At worst, I'll ask Kessuye for help. He'll definitely give me face."

Han Xiao wasn't surprised. He had encountered a similar situation with the Seven Eyes, so he had some experience. Izo's situation was much milder than his back then.

Fording shook his head. "It's not that I'm not confident. I can eliminate the parasite, but I can't preserve their souls from perishing. So I need to confirm, before you heal Izo, do you want to interrogate them first?"

The Soul Transference Device's soul transfer had almost no side effects, but normal Supers couldn't achieve that level. For most Supers, the soul was a mysterious domain that shouldn't be messed with.

For example, Fording couldn't even separate his wife, so he could only have spiritual communication day after day. Naturally, he couldn't remove the parasite and allow it to survive separately.

"Is that so? Then don't heal him yet." Han Xiao's reply was without any hesitation.

The parasite was the biggest source of information right now. He naturally wanted to interrogate it and squeeze out all the information before healing him.

As for Izo's body being tortured during the interrogation... ha, anyway, with Aurora's life potions, as long as he didn't die, he would be tortured to death.

The conversation wasn't hidden from others, and the Modo deathsworn within Izo heard it, feeling utterly hopeless.

He wanted to hide all the information, but he knew very well that under a Calamity Grade's soul abilities, he couldn't hide anything at all.

Without the Soul Transference Device, unable to come and go freely, his flesh became a prison. He was trapped inside Izo's body, unable to do anything, passively enduring the torment.

"Then leave the interrogation to me." Fording waved his hand, ordering the legion soldiers to take Izo to the interrogation room.

Fording's personality was relatively kind, and he didn't like interrogation, but when faced with enemies who maliciously stirred up trouble, he didn't mind using some drastic measures.

The surrounding soldiers processed the scene, taking away the captives one by one. At this time, Ames approached Han Xiao and asked softly:

"Now that you have the person, what do you plan to do next?"

"First, find out who sent the parasite, and then act depending on the situation. Anyway, I won't let it go like this." Han Xiao replied casually.

He only knew that the Machinery Country had participated in this matter, and he didn't know if there were other forces behind the scenes. Although the other party didn't succeed, he wouldn't let it go.

He also planned to use this as a clue to investigate the information about the Soul Transference Device and see if he could get his hands on it to study.

"Okay, if you want to retaliate, count me in." Ames' tone was decisive.

"...I guess they're coming for me. You don't have to get yourself involved in this trouble. Leave everything to me." Han Xiao shook his head.

He was in the whirlpool of the three great civilizations and knew the dangers inside. He didn't want Ames to get involved.

Moreover, he didn't want Ames to disturb his love-hate relationship with the Machinery Country. A peak Super-A Grade battle was still too dangerous for Ames.

"What are you saying? I'm not afraid of trouble either. If someone messes with my people, I'm not to be trifled with!" Ames frowned, then relaxed, and smiled softly, "Besides, you helped me, so I have to help you. That's what allies should do. Even if you reject me, I won't give up."

As soon as she finished speaking, the interface suddenly moved, and a new mission popped up.

[You have triggered a new mission [Ames' Fury]!]

[Mission Introduction: Because her loved one was plotted against, Ames is enraged. She hopes to retaliate against the mastermind behind the scenes with you.]

[Mission Requirement: Implement revenge against the mastermind behind the scenes with Ames.]

[Basic Reward: 250,000,000 EXP, Ames Favorability +40, Izo Favorability +10, Longtan Floating Island Faction Contribution +30,000, Random Reward x2, Character Summon Card x1]

[Note: Additional rewards depend on mission evaluation]

Han Xiao glanced at it. Now, these general missions were becoming less and less helpful to him, but even a mosquito was still meat. Anyway, it was a matter of convenience, so he accepted it.

The main thing was that he saw Ames' determined eyes, making it clear that she wouldn't give up. Rather than letting her take risks alone, it was better to act with him, so she wouldn't do anything too drastic like in his previous life.

…

About an hour later, Fording came to the command room and handed the report in his hand to Han Xiao.

"The interrogation is over. All the information is inside. Nothing was missed."

Han Xiao took the document and flipped through it. The contents were extremely detailed, writing about the Modo Civilization's conspiracy goals, the nature of the Soul Transference Device, the existence of the Soul Transference Twins, and other information. Everything was clear.

Under Fording's psychic operations comparable to a soul search, the Modo deathsworn's soul spat out everything he knew.

"Heh, so it's Modo. As expected, it's Modo."

Browsing through the document, Han Xiao finally understood the whole story and sneered. He had expected it.

The only thing that surprised him was the Soul Transference Device, which was actually a universe treasure. The Modo Civilization actually had such a good thing in their hands, but it wasn't exposed in his previous life.

But this wasn't surprising. Advanced civilizations had trump cards, and some were always hidden very deeply, not displayed in front of the public. Han Xiao naturally didn't have relevant memories of universe treasures that players hadn't come into contact with in his previous life.

But now that he knew, his heart became active.

"Since Modo has such a good thing, there's no reason to let it go."

Han Xiao's heart was burning.

On the one hand, he had taken a fancy to the Soul Transference Device's wonder, and on the other hand, he wanted to prevent Modo from using the Soul Transference Device to plot against him again in the future. Whether for public or private reasons, he had to make Modo lose this trump card.

At the same time, Han Xiao also felt a sense of vigilance.

"I still can't underestimate any advanced civilization. Who knows what weird trump cards they might pull out one day. It's impossible to guard against..."

Closing the document, Han Xiao thought for a while and asked, "By the way, did you eliminate the parasite?"

"I haven't treated Izo yet." Fording shook his head.

"Okay, don't treat him for now. Although the information has been squeezed out, he's still useful. He's an important piece of evidence."

A strange light flashed in Han Xiao's eyes.

The Modo Civilization was the mastermind, and the goal was to force back the Black Star Army. The Machinery Country was secretly cooperating with Modo, probably just wanting to trick me. But there was room for manipulation here... Using a little art of language, he could say that the Machinery Country chose to stand on the side of the Super Star Cluster Alliance to fight against the three great civilizations.

As long as he complained to the three great civilizations, Old Man Mac's situation would become even worse.

Doing so wasn't just because of personal grievances. Han Xiao boldly assumed that since the Machinery Country's people had contacted Izo, would they also have inquired about the existence of the Soul Transference Device and were secretly searching for it, wanting to snatch it?

If so, then Manison was his competitor. Therefore, complaining to the three great civilizations to keep a close eye on the Machinery Country could affect his power and increase the difficulty for the other party to find the Soul Transference Device, which would be beneficial to him.

"Since the three great civilizations are on my side, there's no harm in borrowing this momentum. It's worth a try."

Various thoughts flashed through his mind. Han Xiao analyzed it and felt that he could do this, so he walked to the side and took out his communicator to dial Urranrell's personal number.

After a while, the call connected, and Urranrell's face appeared on the screen.

"Black Star, I'm in a meeting. What's the matter?"

"I recently discovered some information about the Machinery Country..."

Han Xiao told the story, naturally with no shortage of embellished details and "refinements." He also presented evidence such as Izo to prove that what he said was true.

Hearing this, Urranrell's expression became serious.

"You mean, after the Intelligent Plague incident, the Machinery Country didn't repent and instead got worse, secretly defecting to the Super Star Cluster Alliance, carrying out secret missions, and helping them deal with the three great civilizations?"

"That's right, that's how it is."

Han Xiao's face didn't blush, and his posture of throwing the blame was extremely skillful.

"...Okay, I understand the situation. This is very important information. I will notify the Shattered Light and the Arcane Church to make a response as soon as possible."

Urranrell nodded solemnly and quickly hung up the call, decisive and efficient.

Seeing this, Han Xiao smiled secretly.

As the saying goes, happiness is always built on the suffering of others. The more unlucky the Machinery Country was, the happier he was.

Old Man Mac, don't blame me for being dark-hearted. It's all because your head is a magnet. It's not that I'm throwing the blame at you, but the blame chose you.

This treasure is destined for me. You already have so many universe treasures, so don't fight with me.

Just as he was being shameless, Nero walked over.

"Godfather, where should we start investigating?"

"Well, Izo had his last contact with the Modo Civilization's troops before he was attacked. Start with that troop." Han Xiao immediately decided.

Now that he knew the real mastermind was Modo, the time when Izo was attacked was very clear. This was a clear clue. The Modo Civilization's secret transport fleet was the troop that transported the Soul Transference Device, and they definitely had to return via a secret stargate route to transport the Soul Transference Device back. Therefore, he had to find them as soon as possible.

At this time, Han Xiao suddenly remembered something and said:

"By the way, I remember that there was one ship that survived in the tracking team that accidentally encountered the Modo Civilization's fleet. Immediately control them."

After learning about the function of the Soul Transference Device, he thought that there might be an internal traitor. The tracking team that survived at the time was likely suspicious.

…

"Hmm? The ship has lost contact?"

Manison received the report from his subordinate and was a little surprised.

There seemed to be only one explanation for this situation, and that was that Black Star caught up with Izo and took down the ships of his affiliated forces as well.

"Strange, where did Black Star get the information?"

Manison frowned slightly.

His recent focus had been on searching for the Soul Transference Device, and he had already made some progress, but he had also been paying attention to Izo's progress.

In Manison's opinion, his affiliated forces in the Shattered Star Ring were hidden very deeply. With their help, it should be easy to send Izo out of the Shattered Star Ring.

But the actual situation was completely different from what he had imagined. Black Star seemed to know the whereabouts of his affiliated forces like the back of his hand. No matter how they ran, they couldn't escape the Black Star Army's grasp.

Manison had originally thought that his affiliated forces were very secretive and cooperated with the Modo Civilization with this as a bargaining chip, feeling that the success rate was very high.

But now it seemed that the affiliated forces had already been targeted by Black Star and were at risk of being completely exposed. If that was the worst result, then his years of operation in the Shattered Star Ring would be wasted by a large margin, a huge loss!

Manison suddenly clenched his fist, then slowly loosened it, his face not looking good.

"No matter what, Black Star has captured Izo and will also learn about the Soul Transference Device, turning into my competitor... I have to speed up. Only by getting the Soul Transference Device can I make up for my losses!"