Chapter 291

【Name: Meybis Curse Silver (Curse, Flesh, Metal)】

【Appearance: Bright silver special metal…】

【Ability: Curse Amplification, Flesh Assimilation, Metal Body】

【Cost: The user’s five senses will be permanently halved, and the soul will also suffer irreversible damage (no cost if the holder gives permission)】

【File: The city of curse silver, Meybis, has a huge reserve of silver mines and was once one of the most important mining cities in the kingdom. Since its initial construction over three hundred years ago, it would annually pay a very substantial amount of taxes and minerals to the kingdom.

Until eleven years ago, the secret association “Great Elemental Gems Society” attacked the city of Meybis, causing all 3,615 residents in the central district of Meybis City to be eroded by falling silver rain, turning them all into immobile metallic statues. Only a young man named Pione Alpha managed to escape successfully and joined the Clearing Bureau Virgo Branch the following year…

Afterward, during a raid on the boarding tower mission, when it was learned that Leon Lane, a third-level accident handler of the Virgo Subdivision, was in mortal danger and unable to act, Pione Alpha voluntarily gave up partial ownership of the curse silver, temporarily transferring it to Leon Lane, hoping to help him evacuate safely…】

【Evaluation: A very powerful anomalous item, but this mass of curse silver does not entirely belong to you; the most critical part still belongs to its former owner. Don’t forget to bring this part back for him】

【Taint Value: 19.9 (5.4)】

【Your Taint Value has increased】

…

“Whoosh!”

Seemingly sensing Leon’s presence, the shiny silver butt wiggled slightly before transitioning from solid to liquid with a splash, leaving behind only…

╰ひ╯

Got it, thanks for your help, Senior. I’ll make sure to bring this crucial part back to you.

Upon witnessing this, Leon couldn’t help but twitch his lips slightly. Then, after directing the puppy to collect Senior Pione’s portion, he tentatively extended his will toward the pool of mercury-like liquid metal on the ground.

“Hummm!”

With a soft hum like a vibrating blade, under Leon’s will, the mercury-like liquid metal twisted and deformed, instantly forming a thin and long silver sword that swung down toward the cracked hot water bottle nearby.

“Clang!”

A sharp and crisp metallic clang rang out as the iron-cast hot water bottle borrowed from the Red-haired Bureau Director split open like soft tofu, cracking into two halves with a snap.

And it wasn’t just the hot water bottle; even the ground beneath it couldn’t withstand the slash, being cut into a fine groove more than half a meter deep.

Seriously, this sharp?! Watching the destruction caused by the curse silver sword, Leon couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

Impressive, an anomalous item with nearly 20 points of taint value—just a casual strike could cause so much destruction. If I put in more “effort,” I bet I could slice through a pneumatic shield twenty centimeters thick.

As for Pione Senior’s butt, though not as versatile as my Holy Spirit Pendant, its speed and stealth aren’t great—”range” is only about two or three meters; any farther and control is lost.

But speaking of destructive power…

After dividing the curse silver into two parts and trying a “self-contradictory” test, Leon exhaled deeply upon seeing the hardened curse silver shield effortlessly blocking the stab. He now had a clear understanding of the curse silver’s defensive capabilities.

It’s equally strong!

It seems Pione Senior anticipated I’d come looking for his butt, so he temporarily transferred control of this part of the curse silver to me, hoping to lend a hand.

And with my anomalous items sealed multiple times, while War Diagonal hasn’t completely failed yet, I can still rely on the puppy’s electric therapy to deal with enemies, but both defensive and offensive means are currently lacking. This help came at just the right time!

Gratefully acknowledging Pione Senior’s assistance, Leon eagerly controlled the floating curse silver sword, attempting to see if he could “ride the sword and fly” to leave before other soldiers arrived.

Unfortunately, Pione Senior’s butt doesn’t seem to support such operations.

The moment Leon’s feet left the ground, the originally freely moving curse silver lump lost all vitality, liquefying and falling back down.

Is this because the curse silver, as a mineral, draws its strength from the earth? Or is it because Pione Senior himself is afraid of heights?

After failing twice, Leon abandoned the idea of flying away directly. Instead, he manipulated the curse silver like he usually does with the Holy Spirit Pendant, using mental control to spread it around himself as a barrier, then began sprinting away from the boarding tower.

I must hurry.

After breaking out of the encirclement under the tower, I first fell victim to the Scale Gold Religion snake spirit’s ambush, and testing the effect of Pione Senior’s butt took some time too. If I don’t quickly retreat, I might get blocked by the reinforcements, which would be troublesome!

…

“Suspicious target spotted! Quick! Blow the whistle!”

Vaguely spotting a streak of silver rapidly racing across the plain, the soldier on the lookout platform immediately tensed up, blowing the warning horn and waving flags towards the distance.

At seven o’clock, one target, suspected to have special weapons? Squinting at the lookout platform and deciphering the flag messages, a commander leading a squad of over twenty power armors speeding towards the boarding tower pointed to one of his squad members’ power armor with his own, then pointed to nine o’clock, making a grabbing gesture, signaling him to confirm the target.

In the solemn warning horn sound, the squad member’s power armor returned a sign of understanding, slowing down to separate from the group, then changed direction and chased after the target position.

Hopefully everything goes smoothly this time…

Not paying much attention to this little incident, watching the airship balloon still tangled on top of the boarding tower that hadn’t burned out completely, the commander of the power armor squad sighed, then adjusted the pressure gauge of his power armor, increasing the already fast speed a bit more.

Although I’m not the direct guard of the boarding tower, just an emergency response team sent by the military department, whose duty is only to assist in defending the boarding tower when there are many hostile targets.

But this time, the commotion was so big that even Crocodile Kingdom’s airship got burned. Even though I only have the responsibility of assisting in defense, I’m likely to get implicated.

Those damn attackers really… they didn’t come earlier or later, but precisely when I was assigned to assist in defense! Now, I hope I can arrive in time to intercept and even kill the attackers of the boarding tower, to alleviate some of the blame on myself.

Otherwise, even if I’m not the main person responsible and only bear some secondary responsibility, I probably won’t get promoted anytime soon, at least staying in my current position for another three to five years…

“Beep… beep beep!”

Surprised by the signal, he opened the periscope and glanced at the lookout platform. The flags on the lookout platform changed color, from beige to a higher alert level of deep orange.

Nine o’clock direction, still the previous target, did the guy I sent out get defeated? After estimating the time since the squad member left, the commander of the power armor squad immediately became serious.

According to the lookout platform’s flag message, the suspicious target isn’t wearing power armor but is a person running on foot with unknown weapons.

Yet the squad member I sent, driving a power armor over four meters tall, was defeated in no time? What kind of weapon does that person carry? “You go!”

Slightly reducing the speed and making a window-opening gesture to the rear, the commander of the power armor squad also opened the outer shell’s air window and shouted directly to the deputy officer’s power armor:

“There’s a dangerous target at nine o’clock. You take two people and check what’s going on!”

“Understood.”

The deputy nodded, then picked two people from the power armor squad. Three towering power armors successively slowed down and separated from the squad, heading towards the nine o’clock direction.

Theoretically, a squad of three power armors can easily take down a firepoint defended by hundreds of soldiers. Going after a walking target with unknown weapons is somewhat overkill.

But the last dispatched squad member went down too quickly, so the commander of the power armor squad wasn’t quite sure about the situation and decided to play it safe. Not only did he send out more manpower than necessary to find the target, but he also ordered the entire squad to reduce speed and prepare to turn back for support at any time.

No mistakes allowed!

This time, although the waiting period was longer than last time, it didn’t take long for a more urgent warning horn to suddenly sound, and the flags on the lookout platform changed color again.

The red flag representing the second-highest alert level, only below the black flag? Seeing the flag color, the commander’s heart skipped a beat. He then pressed his eyes against the periscope and carefully identified the flag signals sent from the lookout platform.

Eleven o’clock direction, same target, everyone defeated?!

“Turn back!”

Realizing something was wrong, the commander directly opened the air window and yelled to the power armor squad behind him:

“The rear ten power armors continue forward, the rest set the pressure gauge to the yellow zone! Eleven o’clock direction, full-speed reinforcement!”

…

Indeed, running on two legs is too slow.

Seeing several souls approaching him at speeds of sixty to seventy kilometers per hour in his soul vision, Leon couldn’t help but frown, then controlled the curse silver to form a crowbar, forcefully prying the hidden door on the back of the power armor.

“Creak!”

Thanks to the immense strength brought by the 5-point taint value, combined with the force enhancement of the curse silver crowbar, the solid hidden door as thick as a pneumatic shield groaned under the strain of metal deformation and unwillingly burst open with a bang, revealing the complex gear assembly inside and the large energy storage block in the center surrounded by a purple-red copper casing.

Still good, plenty left.

Looking at the deep-purple liquid reserves through the semi-transparent resin scale, Leon nodded in satisfaction, then used the curse silver crowbar to push aside the copper wires and deformed gears, wedging the tail of the energy storage block held by a thick spring, and creaked as he forced it open.

“You’re dead!”

Spitting out the dirt he chewed, the deputy officer pulled out from the cockpit and thrown to the ground gritted his teeth, glaring at the madman who was prying the power armor’s energy storage block: “If you weren’t the mastermind, attacking the boarding tower may not necessarily be a capital offense, but destroying the military department’s power armor and stealing the power armor’s energy storage block… each of these counts as a capital offense!”

“Creak!”

“Stop it, you bastard! Do you know what you’re doing? These power armors are our Lane Family’s private property!”

“Creak creak”

“Don’t pry anymore! Our new Duke of Lane Family is about to marry into the royal family and regain control of the Upper House! Even if you manage to escape today, you’ll be wanted throughout the kingdom!”

“Creak creak creak”

“Are you even listening to me?”

Yes, definitely listening.

Glancing back at this little golden puppy after circling the spring with the crowbar, Leon gave him a cryptic smile, then stepped on the curse silver crowbar, snapping the power armor’s energy storage block off with a crunch.

Remember that the mechanical intelligence “Arthif 128” on the airship said that as long as the power armor’s energy storage block is connected to her, she can be reactivated. And these things aren’t easy to come by, so better stock up when there’s a chance.

“That’s our Lane Family’s property! Damn it! Put it down!”

Watching Leon pick up the energy storage block worth over ten thousand golden wheels and roughly drop it onto the ground with a clang, stacking it together with the other three, the deputy officer, whose intestines were knotted with pain, couldn’t help but shout angrily: “You’re done! Our Lane Family will never let you go, and your wanted notice will be posted on every bulletin board in the kingdom!”

Ah, yes, yes!

Calling the puppy to take away the stacked energy storage blocks, Leon jumped down from the fallen power armor under the glare of several little golden puppies, preparing to leave when a rhythmic rumbling sound came from afar.

Leon squinted and saw twelve power armors over four meters tall emerging from the distance, kicking up clouds of dust as they charged straight toward him without a doubt.

They sure came fast enough…

Gazing at those mechanical giants rushing toward him, listening to the increasingly closer steam engine roaring, Leon clicked his tongue, turned around to run, but the little golden puppy’s shouting voice came from behind again.

“I told you, you’re dead!”

Glaring fiercely at Leon in front of him, the deputy officer from the Lane Family, shaking his head of golden hair, gloated:

“You almost died taking us three down, and this time so many are coming at once, you’re definitely finished! And unlike us, the captain’s power armor is expensive from the Crocodile Kingdom… what do you think you’re doing?!”

“You’re right, I can’t handle so many power armors; just the thermal weapons alone would give me a hard time.”

Giving a nonchalant reply, Leon took out a rope, tied the panic-stricken golden puppy deputy officer back-to-back with himself, then carried him and ran off while calmly answering: “To avoid getting killed by all those cannons, I’ll have to trouble you to block them for me… oh, by the way, I can guarantee that your new duke of the Lane Family will sincerely thank you for your sacrifice!”

(End of Chapter)