Book 9: Chapter 71: Grouping

“Young master, watch out!” Frank lifted the heavy “Skullcrusher” and charged at Qin Lun like an armored tank.

Frank at that time was clad in steel armor, wearing a horned helmet that resembled a medieval heavy knight’s helm. A cold gaze flickered within the helmet’s cross-shaped slit, and the broad axe in his hands flashed with a chilling light that cascaded like a waterfall towards Qin Lun.

Qin Lun’s eyes brightened. This hunchbacked servant, having experienced six Quest Worlds, now displayed a completely transformed demeanor. He no longer showed any of his former timid and unconfident behavior, having fully become a qualified Apostle.

“Excellent!” Qin Lun laughed heartily, tapped his feet lightly, and activated the Shining skill of his Indian Feather Boots. A series of afterimages trailed from where he stood as he distanced himself from Frank.

“Tiger Roar Impact!” Seeing this, Frank’s gaze flashed. He lowered his head, and his charging speed suddenly accelerated. The curved horns of his helmet began to shimmer with a dazzling, fierce light.

“A charge combination skill?” Qin Lun felt even more pleasantly surprised in his heart. Tiger Roar Impact was an innate skill of the “Xiana Scale Armor,” but the floating light on the horned helmet was clearly another kind of combat energy skill.

The Quest Worlds were indeed the most tempering adventure careers. This originally steady-natured hunchbacked servant, after being cleansed of his flaws, had finally revealed his own combat talent.

Watching Frank charging towards him like a wild bull, Qin Lun smiled and stretched out his palm.

“Crack, crack, crack…” Countless small thorns broke through the uneven stone slabs of the training ground, twisting together to form a thorny wall blocking Frank’s path. Looking closely, numerous slender, vein-like thorny vines were spreading and growing around Qin Lun’s calves, deeply rooting into the ground.

This was not Qin Lun’s wood-element magic skill, but a variation he created using the Holy Crown of Thorns within his body.

“Boom!” Amidst the flying splinters of broken branches, Frank’s massive body crashed through the thorny wall like a tank, reappearing in Qin Lun’s line of sight. However, after being blocked like this, his charge skill lost its momentum and he had to come to a stop.

Qin Lun shook his head. The defensive thorny wall produced by the Holy Crown of Thorns clearly did not satisfy him. The thorny vines on his calves rapidly decayed and fell off. His outstretched palm twisted and deformed, rapidly swelling into a multitude of writhing thorny tentacles that lashed out towards Frank, attempting to entangle him.

Frank was in a tough spot. Although he could sever these thorny vines with his double-bladed broad axe, there were too many and they were too dense. Soon, they bound his hands and feet.

Qin Lun glanced at the Death Notice and frowned slightly. He seemed to have trapped Frank effortlessly, but the result still left him somewhat dissatisfied. Catalyzing so many Holy Thorns consumed too much Stamina. It had to be remembered that Frank had not yet undergone Class Change, while he was already a Second-Order Apostle. Compared to the Stamina consumption, this combat efficiency was too low.

“Whoosh!” A huge, shadowy eagle figure materialized behind Qin Lun. The giant eagle lifted its head high, shook its wings, and a sharp bird cry echoed in the void. He shot into the air like a rocket, then turned and dove down towards Frank, who was trapped in the thicket of thorns.

Frank’s pupils behind the horned helmet contracted sharply. He let out a loud shout, struggled free from the thorns binding his upper body, curled up, and used the broad surface of his axe like a shield to protect himself.

“Ding, ding, ding…” Qin Lun’s right hand, holding the Dagger of Sin, became a blur of afterimages. The crisp sounds of stabbing strikes rang out like raindrops hitting plantain leaves. In just a few seconds, the dagger and the axe surface clashed dozens of times.

Among the numerous strikes, a few were distinctly different from the others. The Dagger of Sin’s defense-ignoring ability was activated. Several black rays ethereally passed through the axe surface and Frank’s Xiana Scale Armor, leaving a few shallow bloody holes on his chest.

“Alright, let’s stop here!” Qin Lun leaped and landed. The thorns trapping Frank retracted into his body, and his expression showed great satisfaction.

His fight with Frank was merely to test the abilities of his newly acquired equipment. The Dagger of Sin had been upgraded to ‘Ten Thousand Kills,’ and the newly appeared defense-ignoring ability finally showcased the true value of this Life-Taking Relic. Even though triggering the defense-ignore 100% would consume many Remnant Souls, it was still worth it relative to the overpowering defense-ignoring ability.

After leaving the training ground, Qin Lun paid over a hundred Shattered Crystals as a site fee. After the devastation caused by Cerberus and the thorns, this training ground was basically wrecked. However, the attendants serving the Apostles at the training ground were already used to such sights. Compared to the cost of over a hundred Shattered Crystals, using machinery to level the training ground and then replacing some stone slabs was practically a business with immense profits.

“You all go home first, I’ll go take a look at the auction house!” Looking at the Devil’s Horn Auction House not far from the training ground, Qin Lun suddenly felt a spontaneous urge to visit.

For Apostles who had undergone Class Change, the Devil’s Horn Auction House was no longer part of their regular activity venues. Their trading places were mostly in the Demiplane Trading Floor. That city-official auction house actually served the majority of non-Class Changed Apostles. After all, among the over twenty thousand Apostles in Devil’s Horn, more than two-thirds were non-Class Changed Apostles.

…

“Huh…” What Qin Lun didn’t expect was that during this spontaneous visit to the official auction house, he actually spotted an unexpected piece of equipment.

“Hexagonal Prism Shield!” Looking at the small shield that resembled glazed crystal glass on the projector, Qin Lun felt somewhat surprised.

However, he quickly realized that this shield probably wasn’t the same Dark Gold Equipment he had obtained before. While its equipment skills were identical, its external appearance was different. It was likely Apostle equipment remade by the Shattered Starry Sky.

“I have no use for this thing myself, but it would work for Frank!” Qin Lun stroked his chin, and soon contacted the seller of the equipment.

The Hexagonal Prism Shield possessed three innate skills: Mirror Reflection, Light Beam, and Shield Defense. It offered defensive capabilities against both physical and magical attacks, and the Light Beam skill even had some counter-attack ability. It was a very good piece of Dark Gold Equipment.

“Is it you who wants to buy the shield?” A masked Apostle soon appeared on the other end of the projector.

“Yes, how many Shattered Crystals are you asking for?” Qin Lun found it a bit strange why the other party didn’t go to the Demiplane Trading Floor. However, he wasn’t foolish enough to raise that question explicitly, as he already had some suspicions in his mind.

“100,000 Shattered Crystals, or a Dark Gold Equipment for attack!” The Apostle on the other end seemed somewhat hesitant but still quickly gave a price.

“No specific type specified for the attack equipment?” Qin Lun couldn’t help but smile.

His guess was absolutely correct. The Apostle before him was definitely a newbie, just like he had been once. He just didn’t know if this Hexagonal Prism Shield was something the other obtained himself or a relic belonging to a companion. Given the current situation in Devil’s Horn, the latter was more likely.

Actually, considering the current chaotic state of Devil’s Horn, the price of 100,000 Shattered Crystals for this equipment wasn’t very high.

However, Qin Lun didn’t have many Shattered Crystals left at the moment. Repairing the Earth Drake Leather Armor and the Glove of Sacrifice had cost him fifty thousand, taken by Kelly. Purchasing Remnant Soul items had cost over a hundred thousand. He now had roughly one hundred and seventy thousand Shattered Crystals remaining. If he bought this shield, he wouldn’t have much liquid funds left.

Furthermore, Kelly had reminded him to stockpile as many Shattered Crystals as possible recently. With so many Apostles dead in Devil’s Horn, after about half a month of buildup, many good and cheap Apostle equipment would appear on the market. At that time, no amount of Shattered Crystals would be enough for buying, so for now, it was best to save wherever possible.

“I don’t have that many Shattered Crystals right now. However, I can trade items. Take a look at the things here; which ones do you need?” Qin Lun blinked, a mysterious smile appearing on his face. He remembered the time when he had sold his own Hexagonal Prism Shield.

When Qin Lun walked out of the auction house, the transaction was already completed. He used two intermediate training scrolls and the Bakh Ring from his possession, plus twenty thousand Shattered Crystals, to buy this Hexagonal Prism Shield.

On the surface, it seemed like a trade of roughly equivalent value. But the Bakh Ring… Qin Lun couldn’t help but shake his head and chuckle silently. He didn’t feel any guilt about deceiving a newcomer; this was the path to maturity that every Probationary Apostle had to go through.

Thinking back, he himself had suffered losses many times before he gradually grasped the true value of Apostle items. This transaction not only allowed him to obtain a new Hexagonal Prism Shield but also stirred some feelings within him.

After returning to the villa, Qin Lun gave the Hexagonal Prism Shield, along with the Pym Particles obtained from Hawkeye Clint, to Frank.

“Frank, how much longer until you face Star Void rejection?”

“Young master, we probably have about ten days left before entering the Quest World,” Frank replied without hesitation. He had now formed a temporary team with Didi and Sif, and their mission times were synchronized.

“Disband the temporary team. For the next Quest World, you will come with me!” Qin Lun nodded slightly, pondered for a moment, and then spoke.

“What about Didi and Sif…” Frank suddenly looked up, a trace of delight flashing across his face, but it was soon replaced by a worried expression.

“They have experienced two or three Quest Worlds themselves; they must become independent eventually. Their destiny must be borne by themselves,” Qin Lun said indifferently. “Besides, this time, other servant Apostles will be carrying out the mission with them, so there’s no need to worry too much!”

After meeting with Kelly, Qin Lun had another discussion with the other Serial Killers. According to the Lost Team’s requirement, the five of them would be divided into three groups for the next mission, entering three mid-to-low-tier elite teams separately.

Firecracker Rand and Disciple Hansen formed one group, Shepherd Hill and Clown Grant formed another, and Qin Lun, being the strongest, formed a group alone. Among their Servant Apostles, Frank would go with Qin Lun. Lili, Silva, Integra, Didi, and Sif would form an independent team, led by Integra.

Although Frank had only experienced six Quest Worlds, his body originally inherited from an Apostle with an Undead Bloodline, so his foundation was good. He was nearly ready for Class Change. Qin Lun specifically brought him along hoping that in the next Quest World, Frank could meet the requirements for Class Change.

It must be said here that Integra’s queenly attribute was overwhelmingly powerful. This master of HELLSING, who had just entered the Shattered Starry Sky from the Divine Comedy World, had, in just over ten days, not only subdued the young ones Didi and Sif, but even Lili and Silva were won over, willingly accepting Integra’s command, which made the Serial Killers click their tongues in amazement.