Chapter 197: Chapter 197: An Arrangement Plan That Cuts Out the Middleman
Through force and terror, Qi Suian quickly seized control of the entire Riveting Knight Sanctuary.
The pure-blood civilians had never witnessed such a spectacle and were all scared into submission.
Any Warriors who dared to resist were thrown into the Melting Furnace by Qi Suian.
The remaining Second Elder and Third Elder quickly fell in line.
Qi Suian extracted a great deal of information from them. There were also numerous written records within the Riveting Knight Sanctuary.
Through interrogation and subsequent reading, Qi Suian gradually began to understand this world.
Of course, his primary focus was the Fire Seed.
A Fire Seed was required to create a Sanctuary.
Possessing a Fire Seed allowed for the creation of a sheltered environment—what Qi Suian had previously called a technological barrier.
In essence, the entire Sanctuary *was* the Fire Seed.
After a Fire Seed transformed into a Sanctuary, it would leave behind half of itself as an embryo, which was the precursor to the Fire Seed Armor.
Once the Sanctuary’s construction was complete, the embryo would become an armor intrinsically linked to the Fire Seed, sharing its fate—two bodies as one.
This endowed it with immense power.
The armor’s name was generated on its own during the embryo’s growth process.
It would later gain abilities like Awakenings and Awakening Skills.
Qi Suian also discovered the drawbacks related to lifespan, but he wasn’t particularly concerned.
For him, lifespan could simply be reset through death and reforging.
With this information, Qi Suian understood one thing: it was basically impossible for him to acquire a Fire Seed Armor.
While the Fire Seed Armor was a living thing, its consciousness was unique, consisting only of instinct.
This meant if he wanted one, he had to make it himself. To do that, he needed to find a Fire Seed that had not yet become a Sanctuary to use as a raw material.
As for a Fire Seed that had already become a Sanctuary, it could be reclaimed using its corresponding Fire Seed Armor, reverting the Sanctuary back into a Fire Seed.
However, this process wouldn’t reset its existing progress.
For example, if Qi Suian used the Riveted Knight Armor to revert the Riveting Knight Sanctuary back into a Fire Seed, it wouldn’t become a pristine, initial Fire Seed, but a Rivet Knight’s Fire Seed.
The advantage was that it could be moved and wouldn’t need to be developed from scratch.
While this was a convenience for others, for Qi Suian, it was an obstacle.
He wasn’t a human from the Wasteland World, so there was no way for him to pass its subsequent identity verification.
Only by modifying a pristine Fire Seed from the very beginning could he pass the required verification to bind with it. Only then could he proceed.
Otherwise, he couldn’t even complete the first step, let alone anything that followed.
So, he decided to use the Fire Seed Armor to reclaim the Sanctuary, reverting both back into a Fire Seed for his research.
The problem was, neither the Sanctuary nor the Fire Seed Armor would recognize him.
They possessed an unyielding arrogance, as if they were above being swayed by power or circumstance.
Qi Suian had a solution for this. ’It doesn’t matter if they won’t recognize me.’ He would simply force the Sanctuary’s two Elders to help him.
Faced with Qi Suian’s command, the two Elders refused on pain of death.
After all, if they did as he asked, they would lose the very environment that sustained them.
Even if they managed to take refuge in another Sanctuary, they would be stripped of all their power.
It would be better to just die. At least in death, their suffering would end.
"Since you’re both so stubborn, I’ll grant you your wish," Qi Suian said, preparing to act.
The two men’s expressions changed. Second Elder Meinier quickly interjected, "Wait! We can help you, but you have to tell us what you plan to do with the Rivet Knight’s Fire Seed."
He was trying to give himself a way out, a means to justify his capitulation.
"To research the mysteries of the Fire Seed." Qi Suian wasn’t lying. He had offered them an out. If they still refused to cooperate, it wasn’t as if he *had* to use the Elders.
It would just be more of a hassle for him, but there were always alternatives.
"This..." Hearing Qi Suian’s answer, the two couldn’t help but exchange a look.
It wasn’t an unheard-of idea. Bionic armor, for example, was created by Tier-1 Sanctuaries through studying Fire Seeds.
And that wasn’t even mentioning combat armor, which was itself an imitation based on Fire Seed Armor.
"We can help you obtain the Rivet Knight’s Fire Seed, but what will happen to the pure-blood humans in our Sanctuary?" Third Elder Murillo asked, then tried to appeal to his emotions. "You’re a pure-blood, too. You can’t just watch your own people be cast out into the Wasteland World."
"They’re all civilians. Forcing them into the wasteland is no different from sending them to their deaths, is it?"
"So I’m begging you, make a proper arrangement for them."
The hard approach had failed, so now they were trying the soft one.
If the person hearing these words had truly been a pure-blood from the Wasteland World, he might have actually been swayed.
But not only was Qi Suian not one of these so-called pure-bloods, he wasn’t even the same species as the humans of the Wasteland World. At best, he could be called a Profound Human.
So when he heard this emotional appeal, he felt not a single ripple of empathy. In fact, he found it almost laughable.
He was far more terrifying than a proper invader or even a desperate survivor.
"Fine. Once I have the Fire Seed, I will make a proper arrangement for all of you," Qi Suian said without hesitation.
’It’s not a lie. Stuffing them all into the Melting Furnace... how is that not a "proper arrangement"?’
’The arrangement even fits Third Elder Murillo’s logic. If being cast into the wasteland is a death sentence, why not skip the formalities and go straight to the dying part? It cuts out the middleman.’
Hearing Qi Suian’s promise, the two were first overjoyed, but then they realized something was off.
"Then... how exactly do you plan to arrange for them?" Second Elder Meinier asked quickly.
"That’s a secret," Qi Suian said. Of course he couldn’t tell them; that would give the game away. "I want to see the Fire Seed first."
"You need to understand your place. You are nothing more than defeated captives."
Qi Suian wasn’t about to coddle them. He spoke in a harsh tone, reminding them to be mindful of their station and not get ahead of themselves.
He wouldn’t mind teaching the pair a lesson, to let them understand the meaning of a loser’s lament.
He was speaking to them civilly only because they were useful, and he wanted them to recognize their place.
It wasn’t an invitation for them to think he was a pushover and take advantage of his perceived goodwill. If they tried, Qi Suian would have no choice but to slap them back into place.
They were only alive because they were useful. The useless ones were already dead.
Faced with Qi Suian’s words, the two struggled for a long while before finally understanding that their fate was no longer in their own hands.
There was nothing they could do to change their situation.
From the corner of his eye, one of them glanced at the Riveted Knight Armor locked in a cage. It was covered in cracks; the damage was clearly severe.
If even a Fire Seed Armor that powerful was no match for him, they certainly had no ability to resist.
"We’ll help you get the Fire Seed, but you need to—" Third Elder Murillo, feeling he had already made a concession, tried to set a condition.
But before he could finish his sentence, Qi Suian struck him with a vicious slap.
"Why can’t you understand plain language? I told you to understand your place." Qi Suian stared coldly at Third Elder Murillo, whose head he’d just slapped a full 360 degrees. It was clear he wouldn’t survive.
The scene made the hairs on Second Elder Meinier’s arms stand straight up.
’He really kills people without a second thought,’ Meinier realized. ’He didn’t even blink.’
"You seem to understand plain language, so I won’t kill you," Qi Suian said, turning to Second Elder Meinier. "You should be able to handle this on your own, right?"
"Yes. I’ll retrieve the Fire Seed for you as quickly as possible." At that moment, Second Elder Meinier had no other thoughts. Any ideas he might have had before had vanished with Third Elder Murillo’s death.
"Good. I have high hopes for you," Qi Suian offered, a rare sliver of praise. "I require efficiency. When can you have it done?"
Qi Suian was asking for a deadline. If he exceeded it, the solution was simple: send him to the Melting Furnace.
"One hour. I guarantee I’ll bring you the Fire Seed within one hour," Second Elder Meinier replied instantly.
"Good. One hour. If you fail to retrieve the Fire Seed..." Qi Suian trailed off, then pointed at Third Elder Murillo’s corpse. "Your head will spin one more time than his did."
He had no use for a "carrot and stick" approach. Ruling through pure terror was far more effective than engaging in petty mind games.
"Yes, I’ll be on time!" With that, Second Elder Meinier practically fled the room.
After the man had gone, the Tai Sui God leisurely stuffed Third Elder Murillo’s corpse into the Melting Furnace.
"The yield isn’t bad, but it’s just scraps."
"Still, it’s better than nothing."
"If I didn’t need to study this Fire Seed Armor, you would have been the first one in the Melting Furnace," Qi Suian muttered, yanking the Riveted Knight Armor from its cage and beginning his research.
[Please be careful during your research.]
[The Riveted Knight Armor has not fully recovered from the previous battle. If you handle it too roughly, you could cause the entire Sanctuary to collapse.]
The AI wasn’t concerned about the pure-blood humans in the Sanctuary. It was just reminding Qi Suian not to break his new toy, or he’d have to find another Sanctuary to study.
"I know. I’ll be careful."
"I have a question. When I install the modules, would it be better for the Fire Seed Armor and the Sanctuary’s Fire Seed to each occupy a separate module slot, or to combine them into the single Fire Seed form, which would only require one slot?" Qi Suian asked.
As far as he could tell, the two were a single entity.
[From my analysis, I recommend the former. This would allow the Tai Sui God to gain two SSS-rank modules that would complement each other, resulting in far greater power.]
The AI naturally favored the first option. Although it would require more resources, the results would undoubtedly be superior.
Given the Tai Sui God’s unique traits, it was better for its modules to have specialized functions rather than generalized ones. Single-purpose modules would allow it to maximize its effectiveness.
"I know that, of course, but... it’s a matter of resources," Qi Suian sighed. That was a problem of his own making.
The Tai Sui God wasn’t the one with an expensive problem. The problem was that Qi Suian was too poor.
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