Free Web NovelChapter 66: Chapter 66: Taotie and the Legion
"Here it comes."
Bai Wu knew that if the one coming to prey on him were a super expert, then he was doomed to stand no chance at all.
Unless Dwarf descended from the heavens, under absolute power, all of his trump cards would be useless.
The footsteps drew closer, and as he looked up, he recognized the approaching figure as the same freak who had plundered him before.
The man was not large in stature, but his muscles were solid and explosive, giving off the vibe of a Shaolin monk. Judging merely by his appearance, he was intimidating. frёeωebɳovel.com
Especially since the opponent had knocked him down in one encounter, the gap in strength was too big, and in an instant, Bai Wu realized there was no way out of this situation.
In the entertainment district, Bai Wu felt that the opponent had displayed at least three Talent Sequences. The offensive and defensive unity of Iron Armament, the powerful control of Evil Gaze and Phantom Gravity.
With these three abilities combined, he stood no chance of winning at all.
But the next second, when the remark popped up in his eyes, Bai Wu noticed something strange:
[An unremarkable heretic whose true strength is about the same as that of a passerby who died in the sewer. He has a well-developed set of muscles, which were honed by swinging a mining shovel in earlier years. But what you should really be paying attention to is — he is unremarkable.]
Hmm? Unremarkable...
This time, Bai Wu truly didn’t grasp the meaning of this phrase; the information given was somewhat baffling.
A passerby who died in the sewer?
He remembered that the first area he visited outside of the tower was a city block and its sewers.
At that time, a gambling den had sent someone to assassinate him.
Innate Force, second order, fourth stage, Talent Sequence Iron Armament, supposedly as good as General Pan Feng, killed by Evil Fallen of the blue area in a few blows.
Bai Wu didn’t quite understand.
With his current strength, he naturally would be able to easily defeat the person who had tried to assassinate him before...
But just a short while ago, he had been unilaterally overpowered.
This didn’t make sense... at least, Prayle’s Eye wouldn’t provide incorrect information at the moment.
He hadn’t figured out the reasoning behind it when the man found a chainsaw under a certain hanging corpse, under an operation table.
[A very representative tool, some people like to use kitchen knives for cooking, but the heretic before you obviously prefers chainsaws. Everything on you, except for your heart, will be sawed into mush.]
This truly was something to be horrified about, if he were still capable of feeling horror.
Bai Wu had originally thought he would be cut into many pieces, just like Lin had cut up Elijah’s corpse.
And the one coming to devour him should have been someone high up in a gambling den or a church.
But he hadn’t expected that the opponent would use something as exaggerated as a chainsaw.
Wait a minute... the remark hinted that the heart would not be touched.
Bai Wu roughly understood.
His heart would be left behind as a premium ingredient for that high-level person, while the heretic would deal with the rest of the body as he saw fit.
The situation was urgent. The muscular man looked calm; such a person, in a movie, would be the kind of villain who killed without a change in his expression.
The chainsaw had already started roaring, mocking like the Grim Reaper.
Bai Wu tried to say something to the man:
"I think you could use a more civilized approach. The chainsaw will cause blood vessels and organs to burst, covering your face in blood. Plus, minced meat is uninteresting, you should perform a standard dissection on me, neatly arranging each organ and bone, right? Wouldn’t that make it feel more ceremonial when you eat?"
The other party seemed even more excited.
"Actually, I’ve always admired your leader and wanted to join your church. Let me join you. There’s no point in eating me; rather, why not let me help you grow stronger and achieve greater glory?"
Cults and brainwashing pyramid schemes seemed to have quotas for recruiting people, but Bai Wu could tell from the other person’s disdainful expression that it was a no-go.
Luckily, while talking, Bai Wu had already broken free from his restraints.
Obviously, the adversary had underestimated Bai Wu’s strength.
Even Wu Jiu and Lin Wurou would underestimate him, unable to imagine that someone could step into the threshold of the third rank from the first rank third segment in just one week.
So the means used to restrain Bai Wu were feeble.
However, Bai Wu didn’t get up, still maintaining the appearance of being restrained. He still wanted to spar with the other party a bit more.
But this muscular man didn’t have the good tradition of villains talking too much.
The chainsaw was already aimed at Bai Wu’s shoulder, and without any hesitation, the muscular man lifted the chainsaw and savagely sawed down toward Bai Wu’s shoulder!
Fuck! This guy has no sense of martial ethics!
In the next instant, Bai Wu seemed to enter an overclocked state suddenly.
In the moment of life and death, the secretion of adrenaline put him in an unprecedented state of excitement.
Everything in his eyes slowed down.
As blood splattered, Bai Wu had a special perception of pain, which instead made his thoughts clearer and more agile.
He calculated that if the chainsaw deviated just a bit further down, his arm would say goodbye to his body.
Then, the chainsaw with a slanted angle would shred his stomach and intestines into pieces.
Without any hesitation, regardless of the effectiveness, Bai Wu decided to resist!
In this critical situation, he fiercely raised his foot and accurately kicked the opponent’s wrist!
He had thought the opponent would use Iron Armament or Evil Gaze to control him... but his kick successfully hit the target.
The muscular man’s hand immediately went limp, and the force of Bai Wu’s kick sent the chainsaw flying.
With a physique at the second rank ninth segment and expertise in life recovery, Bai Wu’s shoulder was partially penetrated by the chainsaw, but the flesh began slowly healing.
The speed wasn’t fast, nowhere near the rate at which the chainsaw damaged his body, but it quickly stopped the bleeding.
But Bai Wu’s offensive didn’t stop, he continued kicking, delivering a series of shadowless kicks that even Tsui Hark would admire.
With his left arm already unusable, he still had his right arm, which he used like a hook to fiercely clamp down on the muscular man’s collarbone.
The muscular man wasn’t simple either, he exerted force towards Bai Wu’s right wrist and delivered a sharp chop.
Bai Wu’s wrist was dislocated by the muscular man’s hit, and the hand clutching the collarbone naturally retracted. However, from the pain feedback, Bai Wu was certain the muscular man’s Innate Force did not exceed the third rank.
And now, Bai Wu’s real offensive was revealed!
He lunged at the muscular man, then like a zombie attacking a human, he violently bit into the man’s throat.
Furiously tearing and then violently jerking his head back, the process of ripping flesh was not as clean as the chainsaw cutting through Bai Wu’s flesh, but it was even more shocking.
"Ugh...Ugh!" The muscular man was in extreme agony.
If possible, Bai Wu absolutely did not want to touch human or Evil Fallen flesh, especially the former.
The battle was a matter of life and death, and it all happened in the blink of an eye.
Unable to use his hands to exert force, Bai Wu had no choice but to bite the prey’s throat like a starving wolf! The muscular man lost because he underestimated his enemy and was surprised that the cargo had such formidable strength.
But Bai Wu didn’t give him a chance to regret. He directly bit through the muscular man’s trachea, causing him to die outright.
Even in the apocalypse, Bai Wu had a strong aversion to cannibalism; he wouldn’t resort to Taotie unless it was a matter of survival, and aside from a hole in the neck, the rest of the body was intact.
After using Taotie, there was a clear feedback in his mind, which displayed in the form of Prayle’s Eye.
[Your wounds have slightly healed, your Innate Force is a step closer to the third tier, but devouring him further is valueless. If I had to say there’s any benefit, it would be health +1, hunger -1. Or do you relish the taste of flesh and want to eat him clean? I wouldn’t recommend it.]
The effect of Taotie was to gain strength by devouring the opponent, but how much to devour to trigger it, and what kind of strength to gain, was actually a matter of luck.
However, the information he got from the note made Bai Wu somewhat puzzled.
"The note only mentioned Innate Force and said the muscular man was worthless... What about the Sequence?"
Bai Wu looked at the muscular man’s body in astonishment.
Combining the previous note, which mentioned the muscular man had nothing distinctive, he suddenly understood...
"The opponent demonstrated three talents; the feedback from Taotie should have been effective. If the opponent had a Talent Sequence inside him, normally, I should be able to take the Talent Sequence through Taotie. But I only increased a bit of Innate Force, and given that Prayle’s Eye mentioned he had no particular qualities... so the truth is—he had no Sequence at all."
This conclusion was hard for Bai Wu to believe.
"Twice in a row, those who attacked me had Iron Armament; it’s too coincidental, and now to find out that this assailant had no Talent Sequence... I see."
Just then, the muscular man’s phone rang.
Bai Wu picked up the phone to see the caller ID read "Madam" and hesitated for a few seconds before he let out a neurotic chuckle, wiped the bloody stench from his mouth, and answered the call.
"Hello, Madam."
There was silence on the other end of the line for a few seconds, but then she didn’t hang up. Bai Wu thought to himself, there’s a play here.
"As the ’cargo’ you speak of, a chip that survived the death game, I feel it would be a poor bargain to simply consume me. Instead of eating my heart, why not have me as a person?"
Still silence prevailed, until after about ten seconds a young woman’s voice came through:
"It seems my man has been dealt with by you." freeweɓnøvel.com
"Yes, you should have arranged for someone more formidable. Thankfully, I was lucky and survived again. I have a rough idea of the Chairman’s ability; I am someone without a Talent Sequence, and I am quite willing to serve the Chairman."
"What do you know?"
From the voice, Bai Wu felt that the title "Madam" made this woman sound older than she was.
"Talent Sequence 101: Legion. I didn’t expect the Chairman to be so powerful, to possess that Sequence. Madam, you see, I’m rather clever, and I don’t taste good. Since I am a blessing from the Tower God, why not let me serve the church?"
Bai Wu’s intention was certainly not to join them because he could not beat them, but to take out the gambling den and church as early as possible.
"Madam" apparently hadn’t expected the "cargo" to guess the Chairman’s ability so quickly.
The Chairman of the Tower God Society did indeed possess a very rare Sequence, Legion.
This Sequence was ranked 101, and compared to the super Sequences, the description on the Sequence list was slightly more detailed.
Sequence 101: Legion—spread one’s own Sequence to others, allowing them to possess one’s own Sequence for a certain time. However, those who accept the Sequence spread will lose part of their Innate Force level after the Sequence disappears. A portion of the lost Innate Force level will be transferred to the Legion’s owner.
In simple terms, the Sequence owner can share their own Sequence. But, if others accept the shared Sequence, they must pay a certain price, a reduction in Innate Force level.
It’s worth mentioning that people who receive a Sequence have a slight chance of permanently possessing it.
Bai Wu speculated that the person who attempted to assassinate him in the sewer permanently possessed Iron Armament.
This Sequence ranks beyond one hundred, considered the strongest below the super Sequences, but in reality... it has significant limitations.
The main drawback is that it’s not very beneficial in combat; if one fights alone, it’s as if it has no effect at all. If others are unwilling to accept the diffusion of the Sequence, it’s equally useless.
Permanently losing cultivation in exchange for a temporary Talent Sequence? Naturally, this is not a desirable trade-off.
But if you use religious ideology to nurture a group of followers... then it’s akin to becoming a capital owner of Innate Force.
Bai Wu concluded that the chairman of this church was someone whose speech skills were no less powerful than his own; without good oratory skills, one couldn’t be a cult leader.
"I rent the Talent Sequence to you, allowing you to become powerful for a short period, and in return, when you return the Sequence to me, you also pay back some Innate Force as interest."
This indeed is a talent very suitable for a cult leader.
As long as you have the gift of gab, capable of enchanting and persuading these followers to prematurely indulge in possessing a Sequence now and then, you could continuously siphon off their Innate Force.
To obtain the Sequence, these followers would also regularly venture beyond the Tower to enhance their own Innate Force.
Presumably, the chairman must have used this as a reason to persuade the followers.
Bai Wu even conjured up a set of rhetoric:
"Going beyond the Tower to level up is the same for everyone, but by paying just a small price, you can possess the powerful strength of several more Sequences than others. While others are still striving to enhance their Innate Force and seek the awakening of a talent, you would already possess several Sequences and might even have the chance to permanently acquire them. Isn’t it all benefits with no harm?"
There are actually quite a few people who are easily swayed, probably like those in a former life who weren’t well off but still chose to consume in advance using services like Huabei, Jiebei, and credit cards, just like the modern-day Yang Bailao.
Clearly, this chairman had utilized this talent to its utmost extent.
The "lady" said:
"Do you wish to join our Tower God Society?"
"Of course. I have long admired the Tower God Society."
Yeah right, Bai Wu only just learned the name of this cult, and from the name, he sensed that the church’s existence might be related to some legends of the High Tower.
Hmm, I should look up some books about the High Tower afterward. I might uncover some clues about the sixth layer of the High Tower, even if it is just people’s fanciful imaginations.
Bai Wu continued:
"I did cause the casino to lose some money, but think about it, I could also make even more money for the casino."
By joining the church, he could find out where the church was located; perhaps he could use the church to do his bidding or directly arrange for the Investigation Corps to eradicate it.
After a long silence on the phone, the lady’s voice came through:
"The fact that you survived indeed surprised me, but if you wish to serve the Tower God, you must undergo a trial."
"What trial?"
"I will arrange for someone to contact you, as for what the trial is, I am not sure myself."
Bai Wu didn’t care either; at least he had steadied the other party. After cracking Yan Jiu’s case tomorrow, he would deal with the Tower God Society.
However, during this time, he’d better stick close to Dwarf; he couldn’t afford a repeat of today’s mishap.
"Alright, I’m looking forward to the trial."
