Chapter 774: Chapter 608: Come Catch Me
The blood warriors watched as Long Yi hid within the range of the crystal stone, they howled in fury, yet they dared not rush over. Whenever they got slightly closer, the blood warriors would immediately turn into dust and could not regenerate.
Long Yi observed carefully and found that within the rather small area around the crystal stone, the ground had the color of regular rocks, whereas further afield, the ground was a decaying hue.
"Hey, can you communicate?"
Long Yi knocked on the crystal stone and asked.
"Buzz——"
A hum resounded from the crystal stone. It seemed to have a communication method, but it wasn’t something Long Yi could understand.
"Was it you who lured Little Zi and I here?" Long Yi asked, "If it was you, emit two waves."
Two waves passed over.
"So it was indeed you. But why us? Is there something special about fulfilling the condition of absorbing all power to you?"
Two more waves followed.
Meanwhile, a beam of light shot out from the crystal stone and entered Long Yi’s eyes.
Long Yi immediately understood what had happened.
In the beginning, it was just an ordinary planet with no rock power. The people used something known as life force, an endless energy that any living being possessed.
One day, however, a deranged mage discovered the anti-life force, an ability that could not only negate the magic of others but could also kill a person outright. In an attempt to extort money from the Emperor of that time, the mage used the anti-life force to massacre the inhabitants of a city.
But an unexpected consequence occurred.
The anti-life force had not killed the people, it had turned them into monsters driven only by the instinct to kill.
The world was powerless toward this.
The foolish mage was killed while trying to control the anti-life force creatures. Any life form slain by the anti-life force creatures would turn into one of them and the world was on the brink of collapse in a blink of an eye.
To prevent the ultimate destruction of the entire planet and to stop these terrifying creatures from infecting other worlds, the last remaining people on the planet gathered together, used all their life force to form this Life Stone, and used the Life Stone to wrap the entire world in rock layers, hoping that the passage of countless years would kill the anti-life force creatures.
But they failed.
These monsters were essentially immortal and could continuously absorb power from the earth!
To finally exterminate these monsters, the soul stone analyzed their source of power, imitated their way of obtaining power but in reverse, and injected life force into the intelligent species originally on the planet, making them more intelligent and ultimately turning them into the present Mountain Giants. As long as the Mountain Giants stood on the ground, they could have endless power and would not die, just like these monsters.
And when someone could have acquired all six kinds of power, they would have the real power to deal with the monsters.
Life force!
This story stirred up countless emotions in Long Yi. The people of this planet had an unimaginable selfless spirit and could even think of wrapping up the whole planet. If it was ordinary people, they would definitely think: ’I’m already dead, who cares at this point!’
"Tell me, what should I do?"
Long Yi said.
The crystal again shot out a ray of light, and Long Yi saw the people who had given up their lives standing in front of the stone. One of them said.
"I believe that in the future, someone will find a way to transform the anti-life force back into life force. At that moment, call that person, tell him our story. We believe, he will certainly lend this power to you."
"I understand!"
Long Yi raised his hand and firmly punched the crystal stone. The tree within him immediately extended a root system into the crystal stone.
Buzz!
Green waves rippled outwards, and Long Yi immediately felt a wave of relaxation all over his body! The fatigue from the previous battle was all but gone! And the blood color creatures around him exploded!
Little Zi suddenly flew out from the crystal stone, Long Yi immediately held her in his arms. The crystal stone then flew out by itself, the waves that were originally spreading around started to retract, and in an instant, the huge crystal stone smashed into the ground. Instantly, the originally decaying land regained its original color, and almost at the same time, a small sapling broke through the soil from the top of the crystal stone, its roots spread rapidly, and in a blink of an eye, it grew into a towering tree! Soft light sprinkled on the earth, and gentle dew fell from the sky. Those anti-life force creatures were burnt up as the light shone on them, and those touched by the dew turned into ice. Some creatures desperately dug into the earth’s layer trying to hide from the destructive light, but another tree burst from the ground. In the blink of an eye, it turned into a forest!
"Life force has returned to this world. At least my task is complete." Long Yi, holding Little Zi, said with a smile.
"I knew it, my master is the best!" Little Zi hugged Long Yi’s neck and gave a peck on Long Yi’s big mouth.
"Where do we go now?"
Long Yi asked.
"I do not know, the last time I was here, it was a thousand years ago." Little Zi replied helplessly.
"I’m late..."
"It’s okay, I’ve been sleeping here the entire time. A thousand years feels like a good nap for me." Little Zi shook her head and replied.
"All right, I think we may need a slave trader to help us out."
"A Slave Trader? Why?"
"Because, as I see it, if we want to leave this planet, except for flying out by ourselves, it’s only the slave traders who can find a way."
Leaving the underground and seeing the sunlight again made Little Zi extremely happy. Of course, a significant part of her happiness was due to Long Yi’s appearance. Even though they were captured by a slave trader initially, it wouldn’t be easy now to find another one. Especially after Long Yi and his group had killed a bunch of them, these slave traders would definitely be more cautious now.
However, with Little Zi joining them, finding people wasn’t as difficult.
Soon, Long Yi discovered a group of red-skinned fellows. They were shorter than the mountain giants but still taller than Long Yi and his group. After trailing them for some time, Long Yi found out they were searching for the young Mountain Giants–people just like Long Yi. It seemed that they had already captured some. There were six young Mountain Giants trapped in a cage made not out of wooden stakes but metallic bars. The cage itself was suspended in mid-air, as the base of the cage obviously contained some sort of magic.
In terms of technology, these guys were way better than the goblins who were using wooden stakes.
Long Yi stood nonchalantly in the middle of the road, waiting for them to come.
"Big brother! There’s another one!"
"Haha! We’re on a streak! He looks pretty dumb! Let’s just snatch him up!"
Saying this, a warrior charged forward with a spell initiating right from his hand. Long Yi curled his lip disdainfully and raised his hand – a rock spike appeared, hitting the oncoming warrior between the legs. Not losing momentum, Long Yi reached out, catching the warrior by his head. A light twist, a snap, and the warrior’s neck was broken instantly.
"Okay, let me lay out three things."
"First, I’m coming with you."
"Second, half of whatever you make off me is mine. The rest is travel expenses–yours to keep."
"Third... I’ll come up with the third when I’m ready."
"Now, any objections?"
Holding up the fallen warrior, Long Yi looked around at everyone. But those muscly red-skins were staring back at him in shock, no one uttering a word.
"Why is no one talking? Where’s your leader?" Long Yi asked, frowning.
Finally, one of the warriors pointed at the man Long Yi was holding up and spoke.
"Our leader... is in your hand."
It was only then that Long Yi looked down at the man in his hand, eyes rolling back into his head.
Things became simpler after that. The leader, his neck reset, was initially unwilling, but after seeing Long Yi willingly walk into the cage, then forcing the cage bars to bend, his attitude quickly softened. Obviously, a Mountain Giant who didn’t fear being off ground was a terrifying opponent.
However, even after Long Yi opened the cage, the captured Mountain Giant children had no intention of leaving. It seemed that these kids were the ones who wanted to leave. On second thought, it made sense. With the abilities of the Mountain Giants, could anyone really trick them into leaving if they didn’t want to? So, this was like a classic give-and-take. They were willing victims.
Long Yi initially thought these red-skins had used a Teleportation Gate to get here, but boy, was he wrong! Most slave traders were dirt poor. They had no way to afford the exorbitant fee for using the teleportation gate– especially the interstellar ones. So, they all traveled by ships. Many ships in the multiverse ran on Mana, often imitations of ancient Giant-made vessels. As long as there was Mana, these ships could function and weren’t slow, either. Slave traders bought these second-hand junk ships from wealthy individuals or big Families, renovate it slightly and then used them. Nowadays, a Mountain Giant fetched a good price; basically, on this planet, capturing ten Mountain Giant children could get you a ship. Unfortunately, many slave traders didn’t come here simply because it was too remote, and interstellar travel was far too risky.
Moreover, there was the threat of space pirates.
Like.... right now.
The group’s red-skinned big brother had a face as black as coal as they found their asteroid-disguised ship surrounded by three other vessels. The attackers’ motive was clear: they were after the cargo of Mountain Giants.
On the command array aboard the ship, a sleazy old man was laughing heartily. He was the leader of the opposing side, a notorious pirate known as the Iron Hook.
"These bastards! There’s no such thing as something for nothing!" the big brother roared in anger.
"Well, you guys are slave traders, and kidnapping is your labor, right?" Long Yi was almost lost for words at the thought.
"We are screwed. That bastard is a notable frequent offender. I didn’t expect him to wander to this part of space! I thought we could avoid him!" Big Brother was on the verge of tears.
"Hehe, who doesn’t know you red-skins are experts in interstellar travel? As soon as we saw you in this part, we followed. Didn’t think we would actually hit the jackpot! Hahahaha!"
The sleazy old man was laughing raucously.
Disgust curled up Long Yi’s lip, and he looked at the old man. Compared to the red-skins, Long Yi disliked this old man more.
"One-time offer. I take care of these pests for you, and all the money you make from this trip goes to me."
Said Long Yi.(To be continued. If you like this work, please come over to qidian.com to vote for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)
