Basong's exclusive Mind Power item was called the 【Boundless Hand Cannon】, an extremely powerful offensive item.
Its strength lay in two aspects: first, the user could freely adjust the cannon's power by injecting varying amounts of Mind Power.
If enough Mind Power was injected, a single shot could even destroy an entire building.
Furthermore, it could fire different types of shells. Basong himself had developed three types of shells: besides explosive rounds, there were also poison gas shells and incendiary shells.
After obtaining this Boundless Hand Cannon, he quickly eliminated his two former rivals, seizing their territory and interests.
If the Doomsday Rules were pure hell for most people, then for Basong, this powerful exclusive weapon gave him a sliver of solace.
However, the ever-confident him was now looking at that still-standing figure, doubting his own abilities for the first time.
Facing Guan Tong's mockery, Basong adjusted his hand cannon's ammunition type: "Try this one too!"
Bang!
This time, he fired a poison gas shell. With a hissing sound, a large amount of poisonous gas spread throughout the basement.
Basong himself wasn't afraid; he was immune to the poison gas created by his own weapon.
But once an enemy inhaled this gas, their skin would quickly fester, leading to a painful death.
"You're not afraid of explosions, are you? In this enclosed environment, let's see how you dodge the gas!"
Basong's shout was more to boost his own morale.
It just seemed somewhat laughable in Guan Tong's eyes.
He still needed to have the Shadow dematerialize to evade explosive attacks, but this kind of poison gas was completely ineffective.
He controlled the Shadow to stand right in the densest center of the gas, motionless.
Seeing this scene, Basong's face quickly fell.
Bombing doesn't work, and poison gas doesn't work either?!
"Basong, admit defeat. You're no match for me."
Hearing Guan Tong's voice, Basong's face darkened. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Then try this one too!"
He adjusted the hand cannon's ammunition to incendiary shells and fired. Flames instantly engulfed the Shadow.
This time it worked!
Watching the Shadow being devoured by the great fire, Basong's face showed delight.
Guan Tong, remotely controlling the Shadow to fight, hadn't expected Basong's hand cannon to have so many tricks. It was a bit like his Silver Hunt, capable of firing different types of bullets.
It was just a pity that this was still largely useless against the Shadow, only burning away the clothes the Shadow used for disguise.
Thus, Basong personally witnessed a pitch-black Physical Form walking out of the flames. In addition to fear, a flash of inspiration made him blurt out, "Shadow! You're the Shadow!"
Hearing this, Guan Tong was somewhat surprised.
Had his fame spread all the way to Andai State?
"So that's it, no wonder my attacks don't work on you, no wonder you could find this place, because you're the Shadow!" Basong exclaimed excitedly, "The world's number one Ascendant, Shadow!"
Listening to this, Guan Tong felt like Basong was hatching some other scheme. He temporarily remained silent, quietly watching him perform.
After judging the person before him to be the Shadow, Basong plastered an extremely greasy, obsequious smile on his face, saying with utmost flattery, "I never thought I'd meet the legendary, famously great Shadow! What an immense honor!"
"Great Shadow, I'm definitely no match for you, how dare I oppose you! If you don't mind, I'm willing to become your subordinate, to serve at your command!"
"..."
"I know the great Shadow is formidable, but as for me, Basong, I may not have much else, but I do have several hundred men under me, all available for your use! Ah, right, I also have connections with the Andai State officials. Whatever you need, I can satisfy and provide!"
As if afraid the Shadow wouldn't agree, Basong quickly listed the benefits of taking him as a subordinate.
"Right! You know about the eighth rule, right? I've raised a batch of 'meat pigs'. Back then, I relied on them to max out the 500-point Mind Power Upper Limit increase! If similar situations arise in the future, I can have them do the same for you..."
It would have been better if Basong hadn't brought this up. The moment he mentioned it, the image of those prisoners in the warehouse immediately surfaced in Guan Tong's mind, making him wish he could slaughter this guy on the spot.
But before that, there was one thing to do first.
"Hand over the fragment first," Guan Tong's voice rang out.
Basong's expression changed slightly. Though he still wore a smile, his eyes were now full of wariness: "Great Shadow, I think I'll hold onto the fragment for now. How about this: let's spend more time together. Once I'm sure you genuinely consider me a trusted subordinate, I'll give it to you then."
"..."
"Don't blame me for being cautious. What if I hand over the fragment and you immediately try to kill me... right? So I'll keep the fragment for now. Even if you threaten me, for the sake of my own life, I can only do this."
Basong was determined: since the Shadow came for the fragment, as long as he stubbornly refused to hand it over, he could preserve his life.
Conversely, once he handed it over, the Shadow might very well kill him the next second.
"Great Shadow, don't be angry, don't act impulsively. Otherwise, if you kill me, you won't get the fragment either, right?"
Listening to Basong's words, Guan Tong suddenly asked, "So, the fragment is definitely in your hands."
Basong nodded: "That's right. But as we said earlier, after we get more familiar, I'll consider..."
Halfway through his sentence, he suddenly felt something was off.
The next moment, with a crack, a black plate armor inside his clothes shattered—it had suffered some kind of Mind Power attack.
"Shadow, you?!"
Sure enough, he had an item that defended against Mind Power attacks...
This wasn't the first time Guan Tong had encountered this. Many Ascendants with strong financial resources and influence he'd met would purchase items that could defend against Mind Power attacks to carry with them.
This meant his attempt to use the Shadow's invasive sneak attacks against these people would easily fail and be detected.
Discovering he was under attack, Basong's face changed dramatically. His previous fawning expression vanished instantly as he cursed, "You're insane! Don't you want the fragment anymore? Kill me, and the fragment disappears with me!"
"Are you sure?" Guan Tong said. "What's the last line in the fragment's details?"
The last line?
Before Basong could remember, Guan Tong controlled the Shadow to launch another attack.
This time, he didn't hold back. Numerous shadow spikes stabbed towards Basong. In his haste, the latter could only raise his hand cannon and inject all his several hundred points of Mind Power into it.
"I'll fight you to the death, Shadow!"
BOOM!!!!!
An explosive shell injected with over 400 points of Mind Power was incredibly powerful. The explosion instantly destroyed the entire basement, collapsing walls, burning supplies, and causing the civilian house above to cave in.
Basong had huddled in a corner beforehand, avoiding being crushed by the collapsing roof. Panting heavily, just as he was thinking of a way to climb out, he felt a piercing pain!
"Pfft!"
A half-meter-long Shadow Blade pierced through his body from behind.
"Cough!!!"
Basong vomited a large mouthful of blood. In his fading consciousness, he finally remembered the last sentence of the puzzle fragment's details:
This item cannot be destroyed, can be traded.
"Cannot... be destroyed..."
At death's door, Basong finally understood why Guan Tong dared to attack him.
The key lay in those four words: "cannot be destroyed."
That's right. Typically, when an Ascendant dies, all the items they possess disappear along with them.
This disappearance could, in a sense, be understood as "being destroyed."
So, if a particular item was specifically marked with the words "cannot be destroyed," didn't that mean that even if the Ascendant who owned it died, this item wouldn't disappear along with them?
Guan Tong wasn't certain, but he was willing to gamble.
Because if he didn't gamble, with someone as cunning as Basong, no matter how sweet his words were, he would never hand over the fragment.
After his heart was completely destroyed, Basong died instantly.
And the moment he died, a shining fragment quietly appeared, dropping onto a piece of rubble beside his corpse.
When Guan Tong saw this through the Shadow's vision, he immediately knew his gamble had paid off!
"Indeed, items marked 'cannot be destroyed' will drop when the holder dies!"
Guan Tong immediately manipulated a shadow line to pick up the fragment and quickly withdraw.
By now, the massive explosion caused by Basong using his hand cannon had drawn the attention of the entire manor.
People within the manor rushed over, gathering confusedly around the collapsed building, watching, unsure what had happened. Afraid there might be a secondary explosion, they didn't dare to dig recklessly.
Their attention was all drawn to the collapse caused by the explosion, so naturally, they didn't notice the swiftly withdrawing shadow line.
When it returned before Guan Tong, the latter eagerly took the fragment into his hand.
At that moment, the fragment's ownership immediately changed, becoming Guan Tong's item from its previous unowned state.
【You have obtained: Kimos Star Chronicle · Fragment 1】
【Kimos Star Chronicle · Fragment 1】: A partial mural recording the past events of Kimos Star. There are a total of 5 puzzle fragments. Assembling them completely yields the complete "Kimos Star Chronicle". Fragment holders can sense the locations of other fragments. This item cannot be destroyed and can be traded.
"It's actually Fragment 1, meaning it's from the very beginning."
As Guan Tong was thinking this, a mural suddenly appeared in his mind.
Just like when he saw it in the fog gate cavern before, this time, the information from the new content's mural was directly poured into his mind.
"This is..."
Guan Tong quickly digested the mural information.
Its content primarily depicted various environments.
There was an endless ocean, a peak piercing the heavens, rolling hills covered in green grass. Each environment was painted with extreme grandeur and realism, as if those breathtaking scenes were right before one's eyes, within reach.
Within these environment-related murals, one could also see some strange beasts living among them. The images of these beasts were extremely vivid: some were chasing prey, some were raising their young, and some were gathered together jumping about, giving Guan Tong a feeling as if they were initially forming some kind of "tribe."
After Guan Tong fully digested the mural information from Fragment 1, a word that could summarize it surfaced in his mind: "home."
That's right. The brushstrokes of this mural revealed a profound love for home. One could imagine that the creator of this mural must have harbored an extremely intense love for this pla's environment and the creatures living within it.
Only then could they create such astonishing, perfect, lifelike murals. After viewing them, Guan Tong felt an inexplicable, tear-jerking sense of emotion.
He quickly reined in his emotions, silently thinking, "I now have Fragment 1 and Fragment 3. There are still 2, 4, and 5... Obtaining those three probably won't be as easy as this time."
Holding the fragment, based on the locations of other fragments displayed in his mind, Guan Tong could see that the original fragment location in the Suroma Empire had moved to a tropical region.
Clearly, the fragment holder from the Suroma Empire was also actively moving, heading to collect other fragments.
The remaining one stayed in Sakura Prayer Country. This country, with a pre-Doomsday Rules population exceeding 300 million and strong technological prowess, was also not to be underestimated.
...But there was still one more thing to finish.
Guan Tong hadn't forgotten: Basong was dead, but that manor wasn't destroyed yet.
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