“Rember this!” nlo finally roared in frustration after a mont. Without turning back, she fled into the distance.
She was the strongest among the three of them, and one of her opponents, the Female Knight Yin Shi, was heavily injured. Still, she was fighting against two enemies. Qin Lun, hidden in the shadows, was cunning and crafty. His attacks constantly made her feel incredibly ill at ease.
None of the hits were individually serious, but the accumulated damage was becoming unbearable. After a while, she had basically reached her limit. If she didn’t escape now, she really would die right there.
“Co out!” Seeing nlo flee, Yin Shi finally could not hold on any longer. She sat down on the ground without any grace, calling out weakly.
During the latter part of this battle, although the Female Knight had awakened her Knight’s Heart, she had lost her mount, and her purple plate armor on her upper body was shattered. Unable to unleash the plate armor knight’s signature high-attack, high-defense charge attack, she had been forced passively into the role of an MT. She was utterly exhausted, her stamina depleted.
Qin Lun slowly stood up from his hiding spot. However, he did not approach the Female Knight. He just looked down, playing with the Burial of Light and Darkness in his hand, remaining silent.
“Just state your terms!” Yin Shi sighed inwardly upon seeing Qin Lun’s posture. nlo had always assud they were partners, but the Female Knight herself understood that this Gunslinger in front of her wouldn’t help her for no reason.
“I know what you’re thinking. But killing
won’t be easy!” Seeing that Qin Lun remained silent, Yin Shi gritted her teeth. She pulled a small, crystal-clear bottle from her bosom and revealed its properties.
“This bottle of Ocean Star is my final trump card. By sacrificing it, I can revive my mount imdiately. I cannot fight anymore, but I can still escape to the territory of other powerful fighters. You wouldn’t want to end up with nothing, would you?”
Sacrificing the Ocean Star had consequences. Reviving the mount on the spot ca at the cost of burning its soul. After the battle ended, the mount’s spirit would dissipate and it could never be revived again. Yin Shi found using the Ocean Star truly unbearable unless driven to the very last resort. For a plate armor knight, finding a suitable mount was extrely difficult.
A flash of sharp light flickered in Qin Lun’s eyes. He pulled the Adis Short Staff, obtained from the Summoner Odo in the last selection round, from his own bosom and waved it expressionlessly.
A huge pentagram array lit up in front of him. In the center of the array, the shadowy form of an Inferno Hound appeared. Simultaneously, to the left of the array, a ball of milky-white mist coalesced. Within the mist, an Inferno Hound strikingly similar to Cerberus was also forming.
“Woof…?” Cerberus, having just erged, wagged its tail happily and pounced towards Qin Lun. However, the mont it took a step, it bared its teeth towards its left side. Both dog heads wore an expression of confusion.
Because on its left, there was another Inferno Hound looking exactly like it, as if carved from the sa mold. Yet this counterpart’s eyes were vacant, showing no trace of intelligence, a re walking corpse possessing only the outward form.
Summoning and duplicating two Inferno Hounds using the Adis Short Staff caused Qin Lun’s face to briefly turn pale. He quickly pulled out the Walnut Wine and poured the remaining liquid into his mouth.
Summoning Cerberus required nearly 385 Stamina. While the “Phantom Spirit” ability of the Adis Short Staff removed the spirit restriction for summoned beings, it still consud Stamina for the duplicate. Two Inferno Hounds equated to Qin Lun expending a full 770 Stamina, almost completely draining his energy reserves.
“Do you still feel confident about escaping?” It was only then that Qin Lun finally wore a warm and friendly smile again. He directed the two Inferno Hounds to block Yin Shi front and back.
The Adis Short Staff was Qin Lun’s final trump card. He had planned everything before joining this fight. Because Yin Shi had killed nlo’s two companions, these two won were unlikely to join forces to drive him out, but they might have ceased fighting simply because he showed up.
Therefore, he had to help one of them, ensuring the fight didn’t stall.
Naturally, he couldn’t just choose anyone to help. If he chose to help nlo, who had the upper hand, the Female Knight would undoubtedly flee the battlefield without hesitation. No matter the outco, nlo wouldn’t expend significant energy.
Even if the Kung Fu Girl were willing to share so spoils after the battle, she would take the lion’s share, which clearly conflicted with Qin Lun’s original plan. Moreover, if he turned hostile and attacked, even with two Inferno Hounds, he wasn’t confident he could stop nlo. Therefore, he couldn’t help the Kung Fu Girl; he had to aid the disadvantaged party, the Female Knight.
Yin Shi had lost her mount earlier and had been struggling desperately under nlo’s assault. Crucially, even if Qin Lun intervened in the battle, the Female Knight, having lost her mount, was nine tis out of ten unlikely to flee. She would ultimately have to choose to beco the shield for the ranged attacker, blocking all of nlo’s assaults for him.
This way, even if they couldn’t finish off nlo, by the ti the fight ended, the Female Knight would surely be completely exhausted, becoming the ideal quarry.
Yin Shi’s fingers tightened around the Ocean Star, and she fell silent. Her chances of escape were now less than thirty percent. Most crucially, with two Inferno Hounds, her opponent had the assurance to engage freely. Even if she determinedly broke out and escaped to the territory of other powerful fighters, she would still just be prey on soone else’s plate.
“I have five fragnts of the Treasure Map in total. Let
go, and I will give them all to you. How’s that?” Yin Shi pulled several pieces of map fragnts from her bosom and said coolly. “Otherwise, even if you can get my Invitation Letter, I will destroy these Treasure Map Fragnts!”
Yin Shi didn’t have many Invitation Letters herself, but her luck was good. One of the Apostles she killed had possessed three fragnts, which she had gained as a windfall.
“Treasure Map Fragnts?” Qin Lun raised an eyebrow, but a flicker of mockery passed through his eyes. What use did he have for Treasure Map Fragnts? That whole setup was his own trap.
“No need. With my strength, obtaining other Treasure Map Fragnts would be very difficult. Getting your Invitation Letter is more practical.” However, Qin Lun continued slowly, “But, if you voluntarily hand over the Invitation Letter, I’m willing to sign a contract with you. I will hide these fragnts at a location you specify, allowing you to retrieve them after the war.”
“You don’t want the Treasure Map Fragnts, just my Invitation Letter?” Yin Shi lightly furrowed her slender eyebrows, giving Qin Lun a puzzled look.
“You better decide quickly. I won’t give you much ti to recover,” Qin Lun said expressionlessly, calmly. “Besides, you managed to grasp the Knight’s Heart through this battle. Even if you gain nothing else, you haven’t lost out. Why risk further conflict just for a few Shattered Crystals!”
“Alright, I agree. But you must answer one last question!” Yin Shi forced herself to stand up, staring at Qin Lun as she asked, “Did you deliberately lure that Female Martial Artist here? And how did you hide within our shared perception range, concealing yourself in this area?”
Qin Lun hesitated slightly, then nodded. “I did lure them here. However, I wasn’t hidden here beforehand, nor did I have any Magic Scroll powerful enough to maintain stealth for that long. I waited for you to weaken each other, staying outside your detection ranges. As for how I got close enough…”
Qin Lun pointed with a smile towards a manhole cover in the park.
“Underground?” Yin Shi raised her eyebrows in surprise, shaking her head with a bitter smile. “I checked the tunnel system once, but I never imagined you could navigate that complex three-dinsional maze to find the exact location. Such formidable marksmanship, combined with powerful summoning creatures… you must be a Hunter!”
Qin Lun nodded faintly, feeling a complex emotion inside. The Female Knight assud he relied on the Hunter’s tracking abilities to locate them within the vast tunnel network. She completely ruled out the existence of a native little girl who had lived in those tunnels for over two years.
“An Apostle’s abilities are myriad and strange. Though your pure fighting power is less than ours, you won this battle. You deserve to have my Invitation Letter.” Yin Shi let out a soft sigh. A flash shone in her eyes, and a Soul Contract appeared before each of them.
A short while later, Qin Lun waved the Adis Short Staff in his hand. He recalled Cerberus into the summoning space and dispelled the duplicate Inferno Hound. The Female Knight had already voluntarily withdrawn her Invitation Letter and left the Domination War zone.
Only her Invitation Letter and the five Treasure Map Fragnts remained on the ground. The Invitation Letter belonged to Qin Lun. He only needed to hide the Treasure Map Fragnts at the location Yin Shi had specified, waiting for her to retrieve them after the war concluded.
Qin Lun grasped the Invitation Letter Yin Shi left behind, a flicker of joy passing through his mind. The Female Knight had fused five Invitation Letters, plus her own original one, adding the three Letters obtained earlier from nlo’s companions, totaling nine Invitation Letters. Combined with the one Qin Lun got from killing the one-eyed sniper, he now possessed exactly ten Invitation Letters. His plan’s objective was fulfilled.
These ten Invitation Letters contained so Shattered Crystals; others held equipnt or items pledged by other Apostles. Their total value unquestionably exceeded a million Shattered Crystals. It was indeed a bountiful harvest.
Though Qin Lun hadn’t found any Legendary Items left behind by the Atlantean Apostles within the Domination War area, judging from what he saw at the Celestial Wheel branch and the Underground Research Facility, there might not have been any team demiplanes or legendary items in this war zone at all.
After all, the technology embedded in that Apostle ch and the mission rewards associated with the Space-Ti Converter were also highly valuable, easily matching that of a single legendary item. Or perhaps this area’s demiplane coordinates and legendary item had already been acquired by so fortunate individual who simply hadn’t reappeared later.
After fusing the Invitation Letters, Qin Lun swiftly retreated into the underground passageway, heading towards the monitoring room.
“Hm?” He had only taken a few steps through the tunnel when Qin Lun halted, alertly staring down one of the sewer pipes.
A head of carrot-like hair slowly poked out from the pipe opening. A pair of large eyes, clear as distinct pools of black and white, gazed silently at him.
“Chitter chitter!” A Little Squirrel clung to the Little Mute’s long, black hair, scooting out from beside her neck. It called out to Qin Lun twice, almost like a greeting.
“Didn’t I tell you to wait in the monitoring room?” Qin Lun sighed helplessly. “And… don’t crawl through such narrow pipes anymore! That stench is really hard to wash off!”
“Yaa!” The Little Mute puffed out her cheeks, waving a small, indignant fist at Qin Lun.
“I don’t need you to worry about … I told you I would return, so I definitely would!” Qin Lun replied gruffly as he pulled the Little Mute out of the pipe. A faint smile finally touched his lips.
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