Chapter 177 – Less Struggle for Ten Years


ps. I’m in a bit of a rush, so I’ll update first and make corrections later. Sorry about that, the reading experience will be better in twenty minutes.

This round of attack was probably also the last joint effort of the experts from the Oliver family.

Su’en slashed two second-tier melee fighters and severely wounded a spellcaster.

The few who were still alive didn’t make a sound anymore.

Without the restraint of melee professionals, the ranged spellcasters didn’t dare to show their faces. If they cast spells again, the spatial rifts created by the Black Scythe would definitely be faster than their casting speed.

Having taken a heavy punch to the chest and with his blood still churning, Su’en didn’t rush to make any big moves.

He casually harvested the Ash Mist fragments from the corpses of “Iron Tiger” Rein Lute and “Viper” Bright Gals beside him, gaining a large amount of melee experience.

It must be said, the quality of the souls of the inner city professionals was indeed very high.

Rein was originally a professional from the inner city military academy. With this harvest, Su’en directly gained a wealth of military-grade mechanical knowledge and various military insights.

In terms of mechanical knowledge alone, this was the highest quality harvest he had ever had.

Half of the six second-tier enemies in the space were gone, and the most critical moment had passed.

As his churning blood settled, Su’en calmly took out two more undead corpses and replaced the Black Scythe.

That “Magician” Lloyd indeed had a treasure that could resist the Black Scythe’s attack, but using it was not without cost.

Two ordinary undead plus an abomination could normally strike ten consecutive blows.

That was enough to kill him.

Su’en smiled lightly in his heart, slightly flexing his fingers, and controlled the undead to slash towards the location from where the sound had come.

His ability to “determine position by sound” had already pinpointed Lloyd’s exact location.

But the target was small, so the arc of this slash was very wide, to ensure a hit.

As the slash came down, the undead wielding the blade triggered an immediate backlash, suddenly bursting into two pieces.

However, Su’en didn’t care.

Because at that moment, he heard a faint noise, like the sound of glass beads shattering.

Su’en smiled lightly, knowing he had hit his mark.

At the same time, he had also pinpointed Lloyd’s exact coordinates!

“Now it’s simple…”

He calmly switched the Black Scythe to another undead and swung the blade again, another slash down.

In the smoke, another “clink” of a faint shattering sound came.

Then another slash, and another sound.

Su’en thought he would have to slash five times, as the information he had was that the glove could hold five “Curse Source Crystals.”

But after the third slash, as he was about to swing the fourth, the mindset of that dwarf master collapsed.

Three slashes and still three more to go…

Endless.

Being fixed in place as a target, anyone’s mindset would probably collapse.

Su’en watched as the cross in the sky suddenly dispersed, and the black line he was wrestling with also lost its strength at the same time.

“Ah…”

A painful scream came from the thick smoke.

Su’en knew that the spell had collapsed, and Lloyd had suffered a backlash.

With the collapse of the 【Puppet Theater】, Su’en was no longer restricted and let out a breath of relief.

The last threat was gone, and he felt a great relief.

He collected his hair and controlled the puppet to rush towards the direction of the sound.

Upon closer inspection, in front of a broken building guarded by more than a dozen heavy-armored knight puppets, Lloyd was already lying there, spitting blood, on the brink of death.

Seeing that he still had a breath, Su’en raised his gun and pulled the trigger without any courtesy, sending him on his way.

“Bang!”

The gunshot sounded, and Lloyd fell dead in response, and the more than a dozen black knights also instantly collapsed into pieces of various sizes.

These more than a dozen heavy-armored knights were also the famous puppet legion of this puppet master—【Twelve Heavy Armored Knights】.

They were treasures excavated from ancient ruins as well.

Forged from a special alloy, they were light, easy to control, and sturdily crafted puppets. Much better quality than the intermediate explosion-proof dolls Su’en was currently making.

Unfortunately, against the space rifts that ignored obstacles, they had no chance to be used.

Looking at the Ash Mist emerging from the corpse, Su’en then walked through the debris.

With a wave of his hand, he devoured the fragments.

A flood of memories instantly surged into his mind.

「You have obtained ‘Lloyd Rodney’s’ memory fragments*5」

「You have gained a piece of information: ‘There is an ancient relic in the Oliver family’s treasury, which is a perfect match for my puppetry lineage…’」

「You have gained some ‘puppet-making experience’」

「You have obtained 【Secret Art·Puppet Theater (Incomplete)】」

「You have mastered the control thread technique 【Secret Technique·Hundred Finger Dance】」

「You have gained a large amount of ‘puppetry experience’」

「Mental Strength +0.7」

After a moment of rest.

A growing joy began to emerge in Su’en’s eyes.

This fishing ambush was largely for this guy.

And the harvest was richer than expected!

Su’en quickly digested those memory fragments in his mind, his eyes unable to hide his joy.

He muttered to himself in a voice only he could hear, “I didn’t expect to actually strip away 【Puppet Theater】…”

Instantly, his mind was filled with detailed controls of that secret technique, as well as Lloyd’s years of combat experience.

This made Su’en feel an instant sense of fulfillment.

Directly stripping away such a “finished skill” with a high proficiency saved him at least several years of hard cultivation.

Looking at the “incomplete” mark, he didn’t care much.

Although he didn’t know which part was missing, he had a complete scroll of the technique’s detailed explanation in his hand.

When he returned, he could slowly compare and immediately complete it.

And the surprises were not just stripping away 【Puppet Theater】.

That 【Hundred Finger Dance】 technique was also a skill that all puppet masters dream of!

Lloyd’s ability to control so many threads was directly related to this control thread technique he had honed through thousands of trials. It wasn’t that he had a hundred fingers, but because his thread control skills were so refined that his ten fingers moved as if a hundred were dancing.

This was a truly “master-level” thread control technique.

Normal puppet masters would have to practice hard for several years, even more than a decade… and that also depended on their learning talent.

Su’en achieved it in one step.

It couldn’t be anything but a great surprise.

He gained two scarce puppetry techniques and a bunch of puppetry fragments and crafting skills…

Su’en felt that this was the real big win.

Stripping away Lloyd’s fragments, his own proficiency in the field of puppetry surged dramatically.

Not to say he reached “master level,” but at least “expert.”

This was the gain of less struggle for ten years!

And finally, there was a piece of obsession in the memory fragments…

“A curse object that fits puppetry well?”

Su’en looked at the information, his eyes narrowing slightly.

What could be the treasure that even the puppet master Lloyd coveted?

But in the Oliver family’s treasury, even if he coveted it, it seemed impossible to obtain…

Suddenly, looking at the slowly gathering prosthesis on the corpse, an idea popped into Su’en’s mind.

Perhaps… there was still a chance?

Su’en pulled off several storage rings from Lloyd’s hand.

He glanced at them, and a large amount of puppet materials and finished products were all good things he could use.

It had to be said, as Danze Junior’s teacher, this guy really had a lot of good stuff.

Last time he harvested a bunch from killing his alchemical golem, and now he had so much more…

Tsk tsk.

Su’en didn’t look closely at the items in the storage rings. At this time, he also took off a glove from the other hand of the dwarf.

The glove seemed to be woven from silver threads, very soft to the touch, with five gems embedded on the back of the hand.

Three of them were already shattered, and two were intact.

This guy was able to withstand three spatial slashes from the Black Scythe without exploding, all thanks to this glove.

Upon identification, Su’en felt like he had struck it big again.

【Kronos’s Space Glove】

Description: An ancient alchemist, bored, transformed a spoils of war space magical device into a crude alchemical product, just so his rival couldn’t teleport away during a duel.

Details: The glove solidifies the super-tier spell ‘Titan’s Grasp’ (duration 8/15), consuming energy to cast the spell, solidifying space in the target area and imprisoning any space fluctuations within that area not higher than the spell’s own law level; of course, it can also consume energy to passively resist a space rift near the wearer; minimum energy consumption 1 unit of Curse Source Crystal per use;

Evaluation: This is a very chicken-rib alchemical item, consuming ten times the energy to cast a not very practical spell; but in reality, it is a space magical device, space affinity +30%, space spell power amplification 7-16%;

Su’en looked at the detailed explanation of the glove and felt a mix of laughter and tears, “Wasn’t this supposed to be a ‘sealing item’?”

Obviously, it wasn’t.

The glove was borrowed by Danze Junior from the Clark family.

It seems that even the Clark family, as the owner of the item, didn’t fully understand its use.

However, after seeing the detailed explanation of the glove, Su’en’s expression became a bit strange.

They borrowed this thing, which indeed was very restraining to his abilities.

But it shouldn’t be used like this.

If they had found a professional with space abilities to actively cast “Titan’s Grasp” and solidify the space around Su’en, he wouldn’t even be able to teleport, and he would be finished on the spot.

But they only understood a passive ability and used it to resist the Black Scythe’s attack.

Probably because they thought the cost of experimentation was too great, and the ability was too chicken-rib?

Su’en raised an eyebrow, guessing why the Clark family didn’t fully understand the use of this glove.

After all, it really is a… very chicken-rib ability!

Su’en looked at the three shattered gems on the glove, not knowing what to say.

These gems were not small in origin.

They were called “Curse Source Crystals.”

The same kind as the hard currency Curse Crystals.

Ordinary Curse Crystal = 10,000 riso;

Top-grade Crystal ≈ 100,000;

Curse Source Crystal, valued at 10,000,000, and that’s the theoretical price!

These top-tier gems, said to only produce one or two from a vein, were priceless on the market.

Even the financial tycoons of the inner city didn’t have many, and they were extremely scarce strategic resources that money couldn’t buy!

But it was such a huge consumption, and the spell cast couldn’t control people, nor did it have any damage… it just solidified space, preventing the target from casting space spells to escape.

Even the information Sabina got thought it was a “sealing item.”

Su’en had just slashed three times to prevent a long night of dreams.

One billion per slash, it seemed a bit painful…

However, Su’en never dwelled on the unchangeable past.

There were still two intact ones.

Just the gems alone were worth two hundred million.

This was the most valuable trophy so far.

He tried on the glove on his left hand and found that it didn’t affect his finger dexterity at all, nor did it interfere with his thread control.

Moreover, regardless of whether the “Titan’s Grasp” skill was chicken-rib, Su’en valued the other properties of the glove more.

He himself already possessed space abilities, and once he put on the glove, the “space affinity +30%” boost property was immediately felt.

He reached out and grabbed in front of him, and space immediately twisted into ripples, much easier than before.

“Very nice…”

Su’en suddenly became quite fond of it.

With this glove on, his ability to control space visibly surged by several degrees.

This space magical device, in the hands of a space ability user, could truly show its power.

This time, it was really a “loophole.”

The rich spoils of war brought Su’en continuous surprises.

But he didn’t look any further.

There were still a few survivors in this space, and he couldn’t be careless.

Although they probably wouldn’t show up again.

Originally, Su’en’s plan was to leave here after killing the “Magician” Lloyd.

After all, the barrier was now full of thick smoke, and it was impossible for Su’en to find those few survivors in a short time.

The longer he delayed, the more reinforcements would arrive outside.

But now, he had a new idea: “Try the new spell?”

Thinking of this, Su’en suddenly became interested, his hands forming thirty-six mysterious sorcerer’s seals.

The next second, a blue six-pointed star array that almost covered the entire sealed space lit up in the sky, and a huge cross phantom slowly condensed from the alchemical array into reality.

Yes,

He was casting 【Puppet Secret Art·Puppet Theater】!

Although he didn’t know what was missing from this sorcerer, the basic functions were unaffected.

It was at the moment this spell was condensed that countless silver hairs floated out of the sky.

Su’en formed the sorcerer’s seal, feeling connected to the cross in the sky, as if it was an extension of his own body.

That magical feeling, the threads extending out, felt like his perception was slowly spreading in all directions. It wasn’t that his mental power could focus on every thread, but like a spider web, whenever a thread touched something, it would immediately send back information.

For example, the two simplest pieces of information: inanimate, animate.

Su’en had infinite hair, and he paid special attention to one direction. He quickly found the one he had shot earlier, Raphael Jemha.

Sure enough, he wasn’t dead, and that guy was hiding in a corner and didn’t come out.

Once the thread went there, there was immediately a movement, like someone touching the hair on his body, and Su’en immediately sensed it!

“Hehe… caught one!”

Su’en felt the prey in the net struggling and controlled more threads to surge in that direction.

Probably because of the severe injury, it quickly became motionless.

Not far away, Su’en walked over and saw the purple-robed sorcerer who had been strangled in the pile of threads.

The “Ash Mist” had already emerged, and after harvesting a bunch, he gained a lot of rune, casting, and alchemy knowledge experience.

At this moment, Su’en truly appreciated the power of 【Puppet Theater】.

In this space, the enemy can’t hit you, but you can easily kill anyone.

Within the range of this theater, the caster can control everything!

The silver hair spread endlessly, and soon found several more survivors from the siege team. Su’en didn’t need to go there himself, and they were strangled one by one.

There were still two second-tier professionals hiding in the space. It was during the spread of the silver hair that they hadn’t realized what was happening.

But as the threads wrapped around them, panicked voices came through the communicator.

“Damn it, Lloyd, what are you doing!”

“Nidam, be careful, these threads aren’t Lloyd’s, they’re Su’en’s!”

“How is that possible, how could he know 【Puppet Theater】?”

“…”

Anyone would probably be puzzled.

How could a wanted criminal suddenly know the unique secret art of Lloyd’s lineage?

But puzzled or not, they still had to fight.

The prey in the net struggled more and more fiercely…

Suddenly, the communicator transmitted the angry curses of “Blood Raven” Langfero again: “That kid might have some fast learning skill talent, or a cursed item! Damn it, our operation plan has been completely exposed, there’s a mole around Danze Junior!”

Su’en listened without any change in expression.

It didn’t matter if they guessed it, at this point, they couldn’t turn the tables anymore.

Although they were second-tier professionals with strong methods, the two were trapped by threads and still struggling to fight back, but their positions were completely exposed, and they were sealed in a limited area.

Su’en didn’t have time to waste with them, he raised his hand and the Black Scythe slashed over.

On the other side, because the hair had already caught someone’s foot, he pulled out his fire gun and fired three precise shots.

Both sides fell silent at the same time.

Su’en walked over, first stripping the soul of the fire mage Nidam.

Then…

Upon closer inspection, the “Blood Raven” Langfero’s corpse actually harvested the soul of a first-tier professional named “Roz.”

Su’en let out a light sigh, then realized something.

He chuckled, “These guys from the Crow Gang really have some strange life-saving abilities…”

The attire was Langfero’s, and so was the storage ring.

There was no heartbeat or breathing nearby, this feigned death was flawless.

If it were someone else, they might have been fooled.

But the soul fragments couldn’t be faked.

This corpse was just a scapegoat.

Su’en looked at the more than a dozen corpses nearby, unable to tell where the guy was hiding.

But he didn’t want to waste time.

Without warning, he pulled out 【Blue Demon】 and chose to… shoot each corpse!

“Pop!”

“Pop!”

“Pop!”

“…”

Just as he was about to shoot each corpse again, one of the corpses suddenly came to life.

Langfero realized his feigned death had been discovered and “whooshed” up.

He wanted to escape, but how could Su’en leave this guy alive?

At such a close distance, 【Thunder Snake】 was drawn, and three more shots were fired, hitting the back of the heart.

The body crashed down, and Langfero’s face still held an incredulous expression.

With this, all six second-tier professionals in the space were killed.


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