by <unknown>
This woman looked very young. She had long hair, and covered in blurry stardust, she looked almost ‘transcendent’. She appeared to be a normal Galaxy Human Race. She wore heavy alloy cuffs all over her body, a type of cuff specially made for Supers. The material used could make energy flow slower to a certain extent, making it hard to control it, hence reducing Supers’ explosive power. She wore a self-destructive collar, so any strange movements would decimate her skull.
Yet, this woman was very calm. Completely different from other slaves, she was neither numb nor enraged. She closed her eyes and sat in the corner, very relaxed, not caring about the situation that she was currently in at all.
When Han Xiao was observing her, this woman opened her eyes in a flash, and a pair of attractive eyes that looked like they contained the sea and the galaxy looked into Han Xiao’s eyes. She was staring into the one-way window in the prison, but it was like she knew someone outside the window was looking at her.
Looks like a very strong Super… Han Xiao thought and went back to being calm. When he was shocked by her beauty, it had been a completely subconscious reaction. He got rid of this emotion very quickly, and after looking at her, he realized that he did not know this woman.
Just as he was about to look elsewhere, a new mission was triggered in the interface! The trigger was obviously this woman!
Chapter 367. Aroshia |
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You have triggered the mission [Visitor from Afar].
Mission Introduction: From your first look at her, these eyes were already printed on your heart and soul, mysterious like the fog. Like a dark well, a deep abyss, a voice appeared in your heart—you want to bring this woman away.
Mission Requirements: Save her from the slave market and stay by her side for 6 days.
Reward: 1,800,000 Experience, one unknown reward.
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Is this mission introduction an introduction to a love game‽ Han Xiao was covered in goosebumps.
Just one look triggered the mission—this woman was certainly not ordinary. He had never seen this character in his previous life, so he had completely no impression of her. Maybe back then no player discovered her, so she was one of the hidden characters that had not been exposed.
“What’s special about her?” Han Xiao asked.
“The projector shows her body structure is not a normal universe race,” Horlaide said. “She has the blood of some kind of an ancient creature in her body, and no match could be found. It’s unknown what race hybrid is she. Through the energy detector examination, the energy reaction in her body far exceeds normal creatures, and it fluctuates. The lowest is at least at grade C Super level, and the highest even went beyond grade B…”
“Why is such a strong Super controlled by you people?” Han Xiao was surprised. He pointed at the cuffs and self-destructive collar and said, “These things can’t kill a grade B Super.”
Horlaide rubbed on his ring and said with a smile, “Of course, we don’t have the ability to control Supers above grade C, but she doesn’t know how to use the energy in her body. She has no combat power; plus, it was her own choice to stay here.”
Han Xiao was stunned in place.
“There are some problems with her memory, so she can’t remember most of her experiences, only language, but her intelligence level is not like an infant. She has very high intelligence and can speak and communicate…”
“So, she suffers from amnesia?
“Haha, it’s not that simple.” Horlaide pointed at his head and said, “Normal people suffering from amnesia will be afraid and curiosity toward their identity and the environment they’re in, but her mind activity is very unique. She does not search for who she is, why is she here, or what is she going to do. She does not have that curiosity and impulse, and she does not panic at all from not having memories, like a person who’s dreaming, half awake. She’s staying here peacefully, without any intention of searching for her memories. Her life form is very special, and it seems like she does not have instincts or desires. She needs neither to consume food nor excrete, such a unique being.”
Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled. The stranger this woman was, the bigger the secret it contained. Thus, he became quite curious. “What’s her name?”
“I named her Aroshia Cecolama Doranis…” The name had a total of fifty-six words, and it took Horlaide quite some time to finish rattling it off. “I usually call her Aroshia.”
Han Xiao’s eyes twitched. [What’s the point of giving her such a long name? Do you have too much spare time?
The experience of this sudden mission was quite an amount, and there was also an unknown reward. The reward had a certain correlation with the mission difficulty, so Han Xiao decided to give it a try. Since he could not rob Horlaide, he would use money to purchase her. “How much is she?”
A standard businessman smile appeared on Horlaide’s face. “Not expensive at all, only 300,000 Enas.”
“Farewell.” Han Xiao turned on the spot and left with an expressionless face. [Are you learning from me! Why does a profiteer have to make life hard for another profiteer‽
Horlaide chased hastily and yelled, “We can negotiate if you feel it’s too expensive. How about 200,000? 100,000? No? 50,000? Okay, count it as I’m making a loss, I will sell it to you at 10,000. That’s the lowest!”
Han Xiao was full of doubts. A discount of 97% off, why would there be such a thing? Something strange was going on. Thinking of the six days in the mission requirement, he was alarmed.
After some consideration, Han Xiao temporarily placed this mission aside and continued his testing. “Now that’s a good price, but I still want to buy other rare slaves. Do you not have any other goods?”
Horlaide grinned and said, “Haha, you’re quite lucky, there’s going to be a new batch of rare goods coming in very soon. When they come, you can take a look again.”
This badge of new goods should be the Silvers. Luckily, they’re not here yet. The ambush plan still has a chance.
“That’s great! I will come to look at the goods again and buy that Aroshia at the same time.” Han Xiao purposed acted contented and expressed his sincerity in wanting to buy, but he did not pay the money no matter what. As he was getting ready to leave, Horlaide had no choice but to let his subordinate sent Han Xiao away.
Horlaide was the only one left in the underground prison cell corridor as he mumbled, “What will he pay then? He definitely doesn’t want to buy Aroshia…”
When he took over this slave market, Aroshia had already been locked here. The last owner had told him that there was no need for special treatment, just sell her normally. However, there was one customer who bought Aroshia, and a few days after, Aroshia appeared out of nowhere in the prison cell again, giving him quite a shock. The customer rushed back in rage, and only then did he know that Aroshia would suddenly disappear after being brought away, then return to the cell in an extremely strange way.
Horlaide asked the previous owner, then he came to know Aroshia had already existed not long after Floating Dragon Island was built. The owner back then reported the situation to the Superiors, and this message went to the ears of Floating Dragon Island’s ruler. That beyond grade A boss came to take a look, and with his belief of ‘if he didn’t understand it, kill it’, he wiped Aroshia out, turning her into ash.
Yet, a few days later, Aroshia appeared once again as if nothing had happened. The boss then came to kill her once again, and after repeating for more than thirty times, a conclusion was made. This was a Space Wonder, an unexplainable strange phenomenon.
Through observation, only one ‘Aroshia’ would exist at one time. If she died, she would revive again after some time, but the memory of the time that she spent before she died would disappear, going back to her original state of amnesia. If she left this cell, she would also disappear from the other places. No matter what building was there, she would go back to where the cell was.
From the conclud
ed pattern, whether she was dead or bought, Aroshia would not leave there for more than six days.
Floating Dragon Island’s ruler was very carefree, so he let the slave market deal with a Space Wonder. The owner sold her as a slave, scamming the buyers’ money and making money with zero cost.
Horlaide shook his head. He subconsciously looked at Aroshia’s cell, and Aroshia, who had originally been sitting in the corner, was now standing in front of the window suddenly. He could only see a pair of deep and calm eyes through the window!
Horlaide was shocked. He took a while to calm down, and only after that did he leave.
In the cell, Aroshia’s eyes moved, following Horlaide.
However, this was a single-sided window; the outside could not be seen from inside the cell.
…
“I’ve asked around, and the Silvers have yet to arrive.” Upon returning to the team, Han Xiao shared the intel. The other three leaders felt energetic.
“Great, the rescue plan can be carried out!” Purple Gold’s leader, Cerleni, said. “Time is scarce, and we don’t know when will the scavengers arrive. Since we don’t know their identity, its best to split up and lay an ambush on every route toward the slave market. There is only one chance, and we can’t miss out on any suspicious target. It’s a must to save the Silver captives before they are sold to the market.”
They decided their division of labor for the ambush. The ambush areas extended from the pier all the way into the slave market, and there had to be mercenaries in every street and every intersection.
By using the distance from the slave market as a measurement, the ambush could be divided into four layers. The first layer was the furthest away, near the pier; the fourth layer was the closest to the slave market, right beside the market.
The three leaders had considered that, unlike them, Black Star was not unafraid of criminals, so Han Xiao was in charge of the third layer. This location was a little safer than the pier full of criminals, and the last layer locked down by Goa’s team.
With some simple disguises, every team went to their position, set up the ambush, and waited.
Chapter 368. Scrimmage |
A bronze bullet was thrown in the air casually, and a fixed star bolted pass the floating island at this moment. A flash of light passed across the buildings on the street and shone on the spinning metal bullet, reflecting the light onto Han Xiao’s handsome face just centimeters away like an arc mirror. The bullet spun a few rounds and reached the peak point, then fell slowly. At this moment, a droplet of bright red blood splashed this way, like a shot from a precise sniper; it hit the dropping bullet.
Pa!
With fingers closed, the bullet was caught. Han Xiao opened his hand, and the bullet was lying there quietly in the middle of the black mechanical suit glove, painting a warm tint of red onto the cold metal.
Not far away, an arms fight was underway between two groups of brutes that looked like galactic pirates. The sound of growls, ferocious laughs, and firing mixed together into a deafening noise. The brutes who fell onto the ground and died found their peace, and blood splashed across the entire street like leaves rolled up by the wind. At the side of the street, a group of Floating Dragon Island residents were watching the show stealthily. Han Xiao and a few players sat on the scaffolding of a drilling machine by the side of the road and watched this fight from afar.
“Tsk tsk, another fight. How many times has this happened in the past two days?” Han Xiao shook his head. He was covered in the mechanical suit at this time, but his helmet was folded, exposing his head. The players beside him were wrapped completely in Sunil Enlistee Class armor.
“This is the seventh time,” Bun-Hit-Dog replied instantly. Reporters sure had a good memory.
They were waiting. The Black Star Mercenary Group was guarding the third layer. They had split up and were standing by around various intersections. It had been two days, and in those two days, just the street that Han Xiao was in charge of had already witnessed seven group fights between brutes. The temper of the criminals was like a fuse, easily lighting up with just a tiny spark. It had made the player realize clearly how dangerous this place was. Three of those seven times had been different brute groups provoking Han Xiao. The Great Mechanic Han was very civilized and kind, so he helped them to cremate their corpses for free.
After wiping out three batches of brutes and showing their fangs, they had a much more peaceful time.
At this time, the brutes in the midst of the intense fight fired a cannon in the wrong direction, collapsing a small half of a house. It made quite a loud noise and killed many residents who were watching the show. In a split second, all the brutes stopped fighting, and terror appeared on their faces. They ran in all directions without caring about anything else.
Not long after, the sound of a flying device shooting across the sky could be heard. Three small, low-altitude flying devices, which were about eight meters long, had appeared. They were covered in full dark-golden color, designed like a dragon spreading its wings. A tiny dragon symbol was carved on the ship body. They were the Dragon Guards’ transportation. The three flying devices caught up to the brutes, and rows of cannons extended from below their bases, which shot out golden lasers, penetrating these brutes with ease. After chasing for a while and killing more than half of the escaping brutes, only then did the Dragon Guards turn around and leave.
Only the Dragon Guards were allowed to operate combat flying devices in Floating Dragon Island. If civilians were killed, the Dragon Guards would be out to enforce the law immediately. Han Xiao had seen scenes like that a few times over the past two days, and he felt that this rescue plan was really dangerous. If they could not save the captives quickly and accurately, the risk would increase largely if they got stalled.
At this time, Goa sent him a message. “Blades’ people locked onto the suspected target, action!”
Han Xiao received the location information. All the mercenaries had joined the same channel and shared the location of the suspect. The suspect had just landed at the dock, and they were guarding many large metal boxes. It was indeed a slave trader team. One mercenary in the Blades’ team could shapeshift into a half-wolf half-dog beast, so his smell was extremely sensitive. He could smell that these slave traders had the scent of Silvers on them, so they locked onto the target.
Cerleni of the Purple Gold Army commanded, “Do not alarm them, continue following. Porter, Black Star, you guys bring your people and gather here secretly and set up an ambush on their route. We outnumber them, so we must defeat them with one fast and heavy wave of attacks; don’t get stalled. Goa, bring the people of Sky Ring and guard the exterior. If we fail, you’re our insurance.”
Since the target was already locked onto, there was no need to continue waiting. The plan sounded quite reliable. Of course, Han Xiao did not have any objections, so he summoned all Black Star members, split up, and headed toward the ambush location given by Cerleni. It happened to be the junction between the dock and the city area, a very chaotic place.
…
Peggy walked down from the spaceship. All the slaves were in large, electrified boxes, controlled by cuffs and self-destructive collars, waiting to be brought to the buyer.
Thinking that they were going to make a huge fortune, these scavengers were filled with excitement. Peggy was not that excited, however. He brought the team and headed toward Horlaide’s slave market.
Entering the dock streets, this slave trader team was very conspicuous, attracting the attention of many brutes on the street. Many people were tempted to make a move, and there were also people who recognized Peggy. They greeted each other from far away and did not have any further communication. Peggy was a renowned slave trader in the Shattered Star Ring, so he had done business with quite many pirates and scavengers. He had some prestige, which meant that would not be attacked on Floating Dragon Island.
After walking for a while, Peggy suddenly stopped. His pupils constricted alm
ost into a vertical line, and his head gradually turned flat like it was going to turn into a snake head. The snake scales on his body became clearer and harder, and he opened his mouth and flicked his forked tongue in the air. Peggy was a shapeshifting Esper. Some kind of snake blood in his body had gone through atavistic changes, so he had extremely sharp senses. He noticed that he was being followed and a hint of murderous intent in the atmosphere. His strong intuition told him he was going to meet something if he kept walking ahead.
“The smell of enemies, they came for me. Who could it be?” Peggy’s eyes were cold. He flicked his forked tongue in the air and stopped walking. Then, he waved his hands to command his subordinates. “Return along the same route, back to the spaceship.”
Then he turned on the communicator. “My dear Horlaide, I’ve arrived at Floating Dragon Island. Come to retrieve the goods yourself this time.”
“What happened to you? You normally bring the goods yourself. Why do I need to go there this time, and why are you shapeshifting for nothing? You look just like a snake, so ugly.”
“I noticed murderous intent—someone is onto me,” Peggy said impatiently. “It might be related to the captives. I feel someone wants to cut off our goods. I’ll wait for you in the spaceship.”
“It’s too troublesome for me to retrieve the goods,” Horlaide said unhappily. “I don’t want to go to the dock filled with pirates and scavengers.”
“Then you can invite the Dragon Guards to protect you. You’re the ruler’s subordinate, after all, so you certainly have the ability to order them.”
“You’re making this hard for me.” Horlaide’s expression collapsed. He did not have the authority to order the Dragon Guards. Although they belonged to the same organization, he definitely had to pay if he wanted to ask people for help, and he was unwilling to do any actions that increased the cost.