Book 9: Chapter 70: Ten Thousand Slaughter

Kelly’s words made Qin Lun realize a major crisis for the first time. However, after thinking again for a moment, he immediately felt relieved. The five of them, Serial Killers, had all survived roughly a dozen Quest Worlds. They had been at Devil’s Horn for over half a year. It was really not strange at all that their actions would attract the attention of large teams.

“According to your employment arrangement, our mission is important but not dangerous. That sounds pretty good, but…” Qin Lun shook his head at Kelly, frowned, and said, “Since you’ve heard about those guys, then please believe me, this is not a good idea. Including me, none of us are suitable to be babysitters!”

“You don’t need to be babysitters. In fact, the Apostles who will travel with you next are also elites. They might not be as cunning as you, but they each have their own specialties. Working together, they have strong combat power.” Kelly seemed very patient this time, explaining persuasively.

“Then can you accept a victory with a few casualties?” Qin Lun’s eyes flickered as he probed.

“Whether it’s Chaos or Apostle Monument, they probably won’t use too extreme methods!” Kelly frowned slightly, hesitated for a moment, but still said, “If they truly resort to deadly force, then even if casualties occur, it won’t be blamed on you.”

“That’s good!” Seeing that Kelly didn’t understand his meaning, Qin Lun didn’t explain further. As long as Lost could accept the final outcome, it was fine. He smiled meaningfully and said, “If you don’t mind a few casualties, then I believe my companions would be willing to accept the employment. It’s just the matter of payment…”

“Lost will provide you with a batch of Magic Scrolls and recovery items. However, don’t expect us to offer other rewards for this mission. After all, as subsidiary members of the Order Front, you are already enjoying the conveniences provided by the alliance. Now it’s only right for you to contribute to the alliance!” Kelly said somewhat seriously.

Qin Lun nodded noncommittally and didn’t try to bargain further. The vote during the Serial Killers’ discussion had already shown their attitude. Four abstained, one agreed, indicating that overall, they didn’t really care about switching Apostle Alliances.

From Kelly’s perspective, Lost could provide some logistical resources, but absolutely could not offer payment for their support. This was a matter of principle. The order of the orderly camp felt unnoticeable during peace, but during wartime, order that didn’t rely on force or benefits was the true order, and could become a belief in people’s hearts more important than life and death.

Especially since most alliance members were Apostles who followed free will. Force and benefits couldn’t make Apostles comply with order. Lost indeed needed the strength of elite Apostles like Qin Lun, but would never accept help in the form of extortion. If the alliance members themselves lost faith in order, then why should the Lost Team pay the price with their lives.

“However, as a senior who has experienced many upheavals, I can give you some special advice!” Kelly said with a light laugh. “You don’t have any urgently needed equipment or items right now, do you?”

“I wanted to buy one or two more pieces of armor. In the last Divine Comedy World, several pieces of my armor were damaged, and two were completely destroyed!” Qin Lun’s eyes shifted as he probed, “But it’s not very urgent. Do you have any good suggestions?”

“You’re too pragmatic. You immediately use respectful language when there’s a benefit!” Kelly muttered discontentedly, but still perked up and replied, “The Order Front’s statistics on this external invasion are roughly out. Professional Apostles at Devil’s Horn lost about thirteen hundred people, which is 8.2 times the normal rate in Quest Worlds.”

“Over a thousand people died?!” Even though he knew there would be significant losses in such external wars, this number still surprised Qin Lun.

“Yes, over roughly the interval of two Quest Worlds, more than ever before. Preliminary estimates suggest that three Superstring Spaces attacked Star Void this time.” Kelly said with a serious expression. “Not just Devil’s Horn, other Apostle Cities in Star Void were also heavily hit.”

“Then what is your special advice?” Qin Lun asked, puzzled.

“If you don’t urgently need equipment or items, keep all your Apostle currency. In the coming period, a large amount of equipment and items will appear on the market, and the prices will be quite low.” Kelly said with a smile.

“A large amount of equipment and items?” Qin Lun raised an eyebrow and asked sensitively, “You mean the legacies of those Apostles? But… when Apostles die, aren’t their equipment and items taken back by Star Void?”

“Correct. Once an Apostle falls, the equipment and items on them do disappear, except for one situation!” Kelly’s expression was somewhat helpless as she slowly shook her hand. “That is, equipment and items that were unbound from the soul and put into the Team Warehouse!”

Kelly smiled weakly. “After a team advances to the Silver tier, the Team Warehouse can not only store recovery items and consumables but also share Apostle equipment. If the team members share a very deep bond, an Apostle in a very dangerous situation might put their equipment into the shared warehouse, so that if they fall, it increases the survival chances of the others.”

Qin Lun fell silent, suddenly thinking of himself and the three servants at home. He wasn’t sure if he would leave his equipment and items to them if he fell. Kelly’s topic made both of them feel somewhat gloomy, and for a moment, they lost interest in continuing the conversation.

When he came out from the Demiplane Trading Floor, the sky was already dark. After speaking with Kelly, Qin Lun didn’t purchase any other equipment or items. He finally asked the Female Martial Artist to use Contribution Points to repair his Earth Drake Leather Armor and Glove of Sacrifice.

Kelly agreed, but charged fifty thousand for the repair cost. According to the Female Tyrannosaurus, given the extent of damage to the two pieces of equipment, this price was quite fair.

Qin Lun didn’t bargain. His Apostle title still couldn’t use Contribution Points through normal channels. Moreover, the cost for moving the Dryads’ Artifact Spirit had reached about three hundred Contribution Points. His current Contribution Points were only 112/406.

…

“Cerberus, go!” On a large Training Ground, Didi cheered loudly for his supported one.

“Venus, go!” Next to Didi, Sif was glaring fiercely at the little Goblin, but the young girl still wasn’t very used to speaking loudly. Her cheer was so soft even she could barely hear it.

Qin Lun watched happily as the two summoned beasts fought in the center of the field. Cerberus had grown a whole size larger. After devouring Alucard’s black hound beast in the Divine Comedy World, it advanced to the seventh rank and began to truly display the power of a High Rank demon hound.

The Inferno Hound, standing over three meters tall with a body length of five meters, now looked like a prehistoric giant. Every pounce made the entire Training Ground shake. But such a huge size caused Cerberus’s Agility to drop sharply. If it didn’t use its innate abilities, it couldn’t even touch the Shadow Gale Panther’s body.

Of course, Venus basically couldn’t do anything to it either. Its innate Wind Blades couldn’t break through the Inferno Hound’s Protection, let alone its teeth and claws. These two High Rank summoned beasts were completely different types. If not for Qin Lun urging them on, they wouldn’t have any desire to fight.

After reaching the seventh rank, Cerberus could use Lava Spit. If it went all out, it could destroy this Training Ground in an instant. Its enormous size, strong vitality, and area attacks had already made it an excellent defensive summoned beast.

The Shadow Gale Panther was entirely different. The excellence of this jungle creature lay in stealth and speed. Its Shadow Talent of appearing and disappearing without a trace allowed it to have excellent scouting ability in complex terrain. Having them fight each other was just Qin Lun’s way of killing boredom.

“Alright, Cerberus, Venus, stop!” Seeing the two summoned beasts weren’t very enthusiastic, Qin Lun stopped the fight at the right moment. He turned to look at Frank beside him. “Frank, come, let me see your current strength!”

Qin Lun walked into the Training Ground, which was scorched black in patches from the lava corrosion. He took out the Dagger of Sin and held it horizontally in front of his chest.

The Dagger of Sin was now very different from before. Though its color and style hadn’t changed, the dark luster on its surface had become deeper, covered with a layer of lively and vivid black glow, as if it had its own Soul. The blade edge occasionally flashed with sharp black blade light, making it fearsome to behold.

A couple of days ago at the Demiplane Trading Floor, although Qin Lun didn’t buy any other equipment or items, he spent over a hundred thousand Shattered Crystals to purchase a batch of special items containing Remnant Souls, upgrading the Dagger of Sin, whose Remnant Soul quality was originally over eight thousand, to Ten Thousand Slaughter.

Sin: (Short Dagger)

Faction Type: Life-Taking Relic (Chaotic Evil)

Remnant Soul Quality: 10537 (Ten Thousand Slaughter)

Weight: 215 grams

Length: 230 mm

Adds: +7 Mental Will, +5 Agility, +2 Strength

Equipment Abilities: Fate Severance, Soul Devour, Soul Chain

Fate Severance One: This item has an extremely sharp blade. It can not only kill the enemy’s body but can also cut the enemy’s equipment. It has the ability to damage all equipment items below Legendary Second Order.

Fate Severance Two: This passive ability has a 5% chance to ignore Protection. For every 100 Remnant Souls consumed, it can increase the ignore Protection chance by 7%. A one-time consumption of 1000 Remnant Souls will grant one 100% ignore Protection attack.

Soul Devour (Life-Taking Relic Special Skill): Can absorb the Soul power of victims, as well as faction attribute power. Autonomous Soul Devour targets beings below Legendary rank. Under specific conditions, such as when the enemy loses the ability to resist, it can devour part of the Soul power of Legendary Creatures.

Note: Clashing with equipment of Legendary quality or above may also damage the dagger’s sharpness. Remnant Soul energy can be used to repair the dagger’s sharpness. Can be combined with “Blood of Dissection” to form the Forbidden Scissors, possessing the ability to sever causality and fate.