Chapter 202: Chapter 202: It’s Okay If You Can’t Win, You Can Gather Information First
With the death of Grand Elder Seth, the fall of the Corpse Ghost General’s Sanctuary was a foregone conclusion.
However, taking it over was not as easy as it had been with the Riveting Knight Sanctuary.
In fact, when the Warriors and civilians learned of Grand Elder Seth’s death, not only did they refuse to surrender, but they even dared to attack Qi Suian.
It wasn’t until rivers of blood flowed and bodies littered the ground that they were finally forced to submit.
Qi Suian didn’t understand the concept of using both carrot and stick, nor did he have any intention of learning such methods.
In this regard, he was nothing but a barbarian, killing until his enemies were terrified.
If not a single person was willing to yield, even down to the last one, Qi Suian would have undoubtedly chosen to kill them all.
Unfortunately, the pure-bloods of the Corpse Ghost General’s Sanctuary lacked such backbone. After enough of them were killed, they surrendered.
Next, of course, was the collection of corpses for fuel, an act that naturally provoked the dissatisfaction of the Corpse Ghost General’s Sanctuary’s pure-bloods.
However, intimidated by Qi Suian’s terrifying might, they could only be angry in silence. No one dared to stand up and stop him.
Because anyone who had dared to do so was already dead.
After collecting the bodies, he brazenly went to gather knowledge and intelligence, then notified the surviving Elders to bring him the Fire Seed.
The Elders were more or less the same. At first, some wanted to negotiate, while others tried to play tricks.
But after Qi Suian killed two Elders to make an example of them, the remaining two immediately fell in line.
The deaths of the Elders sent a clear message to the two survivors: ’You have no special privileges. If you don’t obey, you will die.’
So they became frightened and obediently carried out Qi Suian’s orders.
’Sure enough, the Corpse Ghost General’s Sanctuary is also in the midst of a resource crisis.’
’If it were just the Riveting Knight Sanctuary, it could be a coincidence. But since a Level 4 Sanctuary is also facing this situation, it probably isn’t one.’
’The Fire Seeds... or more precisely, the source of the Fire Seeds, has a problem.’ Qi Suian concluded as he looked over the various reports in his hands.
Even a Level 5 Sanctuary could be self-sufficient without issue, as long as its population was within a certain range and its management system was functional.
And this self-sufficiency was at a level where even commoners could enjoy a relatively comfortable, middle-class life.
This shows just how valuable the Sanctuaries’ self-sufficiency was.
But not long ago, this virtuous cycle of self-sufficiency had been completely broken.
Consumption hadn’t changed, but production had begun to stagnate, dropping by nearly thirty percent compared to normal levels.
And that percentage was still growing.
Qi Suian also found some communication records in Grand Elder Seth’s office.
They were all requests for aid, mostly directed to the same contact. The initial suspicion was that this contact was the Level 3 Sanctuary from which the Corpse Ghost General’s Sanctuary, a Level 4 Sanctuary, had split off.
However, judging by the communications, the situation was clearly not optimistic.
If this Level 3 Sanctuary had really been able to help, there wouldn’t have been so many messages.
Clearly, the other party was either unable to solve the problem or unwilling to help.
Either way, it was a huge blow to the Corpse Ghost General’s Sanctuary.
So, they had a solution: if they couldn’t be self-sufficient, they would enslave outsiders.
The Riveting Knight Sanctuary was still relatively discreet, using pretexts like "cooperation" and "recruitment" with the mutants.
The Corpse Ghost General’s Sanctuary, however, was different. With a larger population and higher consumption, they couldn’t afford to wait, so they directly established a Slave Capture Team.
As long as they had enough mutant slaves to provide labor, they could survive even if their self-sufficiency completely collapsed.
Of course, the commoners at the bottom wouldn’t live as well, but their standard of living wouldn’t decline too much either.
’If this keeps up, are we going to get a hundred free gacha pulls just for logging in one day?’ Qi Suian thought. ’They’ve already got Slave Capture Teams. Watermelon juice and fried chicken probably aren’t far behind.’
Especially now that the resource crisis within the Sanctuaries was confirmed, the pure-bloods would definitely target the mutants.
[The two surviving Elders seem to be contacting the Level 3 Sanctuary through some method.]
The AI reminded Qi Suian at the opportune moment.
"Don’t worry about them. Let the people from the Level 3 Sanctuary come."
"I happen to be looking for a new spot." Qi Suian had no intention of stopping them.
[With your current strength, you are highly unlikely to be a match for a Level 3 Sanctuary.]
[Barring any surprises, a Level 3 Fire Seed Armor will possess three stages of awakening abilities and an ultimate awakening skill, as well as more powerful bonus attributes.]
[Even if you go berserk with your protagonist’s halo, your chances of victory are slim.]
[Not to mention the Level 3 Sanctuary’s own defense mechanisms and its large number of Warriors.]
The meaning was clear. He had struggled this much against a Level 4; the difficulty of a higher level was certainly not something Qi Suian and the Tai Sui God could handle.
"I know. It will take them some time to get here, anyway." Of course, Qi Suian knew the AI was right.
’This world really is strange. At first glance, it seems to be about the collective power of technology, but it’s actually about the individual power of the Extraordinary.’
’The Fire Seed Armor determines a Sanctuary’s ultimate strength.’
Without the existence of the Fire Seed Armor, the Level 4 Sanctuary would have had no power to resist Qi Suian at all.
It wouldn’t have been like this, where he needed to rely on his protagonist’s halo just to defeat Grand Elder Seth.
’Thank goodness each Sanctuary only has one Fire Seed Armor. Otherwise, I’d really have to rethink my strategy.’
"Do you have any solutions?" Qi Suian asked.
Qi Suian had no intention of taking on a Level 3 Sanctuary anytime soon. He really couldn’t win.
So he was asking the AI if it had any new ideas.
[You could leverage the advantages of the Profound Virus and use a corpse tide to compensate for your own shortcomings.]
A corpse tide. Qi Suian had used one before, and his mind was now weighing the feasibility.
’The difficulty is considerable. Due to radiation-induced mutation, mutants’ cellular genetics are fundamentally different. Even if infected, they might not necessarily turn into zombies.’
’The pure-bloods are also a problem. Their average stats are too high. Even if infected, their immune systems might kill the virus.’
’The infectivity of the Profound Virus wasn’t my focus, so it’s lacking in that area.’ Qi Suian thought for a moment and realized that a low-tier virus really couldn’t keep up in a high-tier world.
Its original transmissibility was indeed the Profound Virus’s advantage, but that advantage was limited to its native Profound World.
If he had actually strengthened its infection and transmission capabilities back then, he probably would have screwed himself over.
Although the Profound Virus had lost its original advantage, for Qi Suian, this was exactly what he needed.
But now he had to enhance it again. The resources required were a small matter; the real difficulty was time.
And there was no guarantee of success. Even if he succeeded, it might not meet his expectations.
As for the Profound Virus growing along with him, that was true, but it grew in ways that enhanced Qi Suian’s own power, not in terms of infection and transmission.
’Besides, even if it works, it probably won’t pose much of a threat to a Fire Seed Armor.’
’You can tell from the Rivet Knight and the Corpse Demon General—they both came with their own mounts. Their mobility is definitely not lacking.’
’It wouldn’t even be a big problem for them to just carve a bloody path straight to us.’ Qi Suian was certain a corpse tide couldn’t stop a Fire Seed Armor.
As for the other Warriors and the Sanctuary’s defense mechanisms, they were no threat to the Tai Sui God at all.
[If a corpse tide is unreliable, then what about using the native lifeforms of the Wasteland World, such as mutants or irradiated creatures?]
"How long would that take to be effective? Let’s focus on the here and now. If all else fails, I’ll try using the Floating Cannons." Qi Suian had no intention of continuing this conversation.
Because it was meaningless. In the face of absolute power, schemes and plots, whether overt or covert, are extremely difficult to execute successfully.
A junior sister at the Foundation Establishment Stage forcing a senior sister at the Mahayana Stage to prove her innocence by crippling her own cultivation is something that would never happen.
Trying to use such petty tricks against a truly powerful expert would only make one a laughingstock.
A few minutes later, the technological barrier around the Corpse Ghost General’s Sanctuary officially disappeared. This meant the Level 4 Corpse Ghost General’s Fire Seed had been generated.
Before long, Third Elder Watson brought the Corpse Ghost General’s Fire Seed to Qi Suian.
"You’ve done a good job," Qi Suian praised.
"It is my honor to serve you," Third Elder Watson said respectfully.
The man before him was a bloodthirsty demon who didn’t listen to reason. Third Elder Watson was scared witless, terrified that Qi Suian would just smash his head in.
"Heh, such a smooth talker." Qi Suian paused after speaking, then continued, "The people you called for reinforcements—when will they arrive?"
The moment those words were spoken, cold sweat began to pour down Third Elder Watson’s forehead, and his face turned deathly pale.
"Please, let me explain! I didn’t..." Third Elder Watson hurriedly tried to defend himself to avoid being killed.
"I don’t want to hear your explanation. I just want to know when they’ll arrive," Qi Suian interrupted him.
’An explanation would just be a lie anyway.’ He didn’t care in the slightest.
He was far more interested in intelligence on the Level 3 Sanctuary.
A flash of insight struck Third Elder Watson, and he instantly understood Qi Suian’s intentions.
The man wasn’t satisfied with a Level 4 Sanctuary; he had his eyes on a Level 3 Sanctuary as well.
For him, this was excellent news.
If he could get this baleful star out of his sight as quickly as possible, his own life would be spared.
So, without hesitation, he divulged the entire plan, selling out the reinforcements coming from the Level 3 Sanctuary.
If he wanted to live, he had no choice but to let others die.
After listening, Qi Suian simply nodded. "I understand."
After saying those two words, Qi Suian killed Third Elder Watson on the spot and shoved his corpse directly into the Melting Furnace.
’Why keep him around? He’s a born traitor. The moment I leave, he’d definitely betray me.’
Besides, Qi Suian never had any intention of letting the pure-bloods of the Corpse Ghost General’s Sanctuary live.
Turning them into fuel for the Melting Furnace to provide evolutionary energy for the Tai Sui God had been Qi Suian’s plan from the very beginning.
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