Chapter 207: Chapter 207: You Want to Give Me a Gift?! Such Good Friends
At the Frosty Noble Sanctuary, Qi Suian resorted to his old method: kill first, intimidate later.
The main focus was on killing. After all, once everyone who dared to resist was dead, the rest could be handled with simple intimidation.
Then, he arranged for people to retrieve the Fire Seed for him.
The remaining task was to figure out how to stuff the entire Level 3 Sanctuary into the Melting Furnace.
This Level 3 Sanctuary already involved spatial technology. From the outside, it looked no bigger than a town, but once inside, it was the size of a city.
Qi Suian even wondered what would happen to the facilities inside if the Sanctuary was reverted back into a Fire Seed.
’Levels 4 and 5 are just protective shields, and Level 3 involves spatial technology. So what about the higher Level 2 and Level 1 Sanctuaries?’
’And then there’s the Eden of Triumph, which was originally known as a large-scale Sanctuary.’
A Level 3 Sanctuary had a population of at least one hundred thousand.
Even if it were a hundred thousand pigs just standing there, it would still take Qi Suian a considerable amount of time to stuff them all into the Melting Furnace.
Not to mention a group of Pure-bloods whose two lowest attributes were at 2 points.
As he sifted through the various records of the Frosty Noble Sanctuary, no solution came to mind.
"Cummings, do you know about the resource crisis affecting the various Sanctuaries?" Qi Suian suddenly asked.
He had just been looking through the relevant reports from the Frosty Noble Sanctuary and confirmed that this Level 3 Sanctuary was also facing a resource crisis.
By extension, that meant all Sanctuaries were dealing with this issue.
But to be safe, he still wanted to probe Cummings. After all, he was from the Steel Brotherhood and was bound to know something.
"I know a little," Cummings said, sitting off to the side. "According to our intelligence, there’s a problem with the legendary Source of Fire Seeds in the Eden of Triumph, the origin of all Sanctuaries."
"The Elders of the Level 1 Sanctuaries have been actively searching for a solution, but they can’t find the entrance to the Eden of Triumph."
"It seems the Eden of Triumph has sealed itself off, making it completely impossible to contact."
"This is also why the Sanctuaries in the south have been attacking the Steel Brotherhood with increasing ferocity."
"They need slaves to make up for their production shortages," Cummings said with a sigh.
This was precisely the reason that forced the Steel Brotherhood to consider expanding northward.
Before, the sieges were born of hostility. But after the resource crisis emerged, it was no longer just about hostility; it was driven by self-interest.
Naturally, their actions became even more terrifying.
"Can you tell me about the Eden of Triumph and the legendary Source of Fire Seeds?" Qi Suian asked.
Cummings, of course, did not refuse and gave Qi Suian a brief overview.
The situation with the Eden of Triumph was more or less what Qi Suian already knew.
As for the legendary Source of Fire Seeds, this was the first time he had heard of it.
According to the intelligence, it was the world’s first Fire Seed and the origin of the world war back then.
It was later divided up by the Twelve Victory Clans. It was precisely because of this division that the Source of Fire Seeds unleashed a terrifying power that irradiated the entire globe.
After that, Sanctuaries and Fire Seed armaments were born, and the world officially entered the wasteland era.
"That doesn’t sound right. How come I heard that the Twelve Victory Clans orchestrated the world war?" Qi Suian asked, a little confused.
"That’s also correct. It’s just that the Source of Fire Seeds came first. The Twelve Victory Clans started the world war in order to divide the spoils."
"Then, they divided the spoils during the war, and their attempt to partition it triggered the radiation disaster. At the same time, Sanctuaries and Fire Seed Armor were born, and finally, the world was reduced to a wasteland," Cummings said nonchalantly.
He didn’t know if this story was true or not. To him, it no longer had any meaning.
The world was already in ruins. Whether or not the culprits were willing to take responsibility was irrelevant; even if they were, there was no way to return to the pre-wasteland environment.
The planet’s entire ecosystem had changed. With the current level of technology, there was simply no room to reverse it.
"Then do you know what the Source of Fire Seeds is, exactly?" Qi Suian asked.
He estimated that the story of the Source of Fire Seeds was most likely true.
After all, his protagonist halo wasn’t just for show.
But the way this Source of Fire Seeds sounded... it seemed a bit strange.
"Well, that was a long time ago."
"Perhaps there are records in the Eden of Triumph."
"We in the Steel Brotherhood didn’t descend from the Twelve Victory Clans. If you go up our family trees, you’ll just find ordinary people who were sacrificed." That was the extent of Cummings’s knowledge.
But just as he said that, his tone suddenly shifted. "However, the Steel Brotherhood should have some records. If you want to know, I can make the decision to take you to review them."
"After all, I’m not in charge of documents or archives, so what I know is rather limited. I’m much better at fighting and killing."
He said this to plant an idea in Qi Suian’s mind, waiting for his subsequent attempts to win him over to take root and sprout.
"Too far. I’m not going," Qi Suian refused outright. "It’s not like I have to know the truth. It wouldn’t be useful even if I did."
Qi Suian was lying. He definitely had to go to the Steel Brotherhood, just not right now.
For them to have survived for so many years under the siege of numerous Pure-blood Sanctuaries, it was impossible that they didn’t have a few tricks up their sleeves.
The best approach was for Qi Suian to evolve the Tai Sui God a few more times and install a Fire Seed in it as a module. It wouldn’t be too late to set out then.
Otherwise, if he went unprepared and without enough strength, not only would he have no say in matters, he might even lose his personal freedom.
Faced with Qi Suian’s refusal, Cummings wasn’t too dejected. From the very beginning, he never thought he could recruit Qi Suian immediately.
"No problem. The Steel Brotherhood will come to the north eventually. I can show you the records then, it’ll be the same," Cummings added, trying to smooth things over.
Then he asked, "What are you going to do with the Fire Seed you took?"
"To optimize my Steel Armor. I need a large number of Fire Seeds for reference," Qi Suian said bluntly.
Fire Seeds were useless to mutants because, like Qi Suian, they were not recognized by the Fire Seeds.
Therefore, they could use neither Sanctuaries nor Fire Seed Armor.
Hearing this, Cummings committed it to memory: Steel Armor was related to Fire Seeds.
’Too bad it’s just a general direction with no specific details. But that’s normal. How could he possibly reveal his core secrets to a group of strangers?’
"Wait, that rumor about the Steel Brotherhood destroying a Level 5 Sanctuary... was that you?" Cummings asked, the realization dawning on him.
"You’re mistaken. It wasn’t just one Level 5 Sanctuary. There was also a Level 4 Sanctuary. And now you can add a Level 3 Sanctuary to the list," Qi Suian corrected him.
It wasn’t that the Steel Brotherhood had never destroyed a Sanctuary, but every time they did, they had to pay an enormous price.
But Qi Suian had handled it all by himself, effortlessly.
This made Cummings’s breath come a little faster. He had still underestimated the power of the ’Steel Armor’.
’Just one is this powerful. If there were more, they might be able to breach a Level 2 Sanctuary on their own, and even easily withstand an assault from a Level 1 Sanctuary.’
’At that point, the Steel Brotherhood’s crisis would be alleviated by having sufficient military power.’
"So... what are your plans now?" Cummings asked, suppressing his excitement.
"Oh, continue destroying Level 4 and Level 5 Sanctuaries to collect Fire Seeds."
"Taking down a Level 3 Sanctuary this time was honestly an accident. I have you guys to thank for your help."
"If you hadn’t lured the Grand Elder away, I really wouldn’t have been able to kill my way through so smoothly." Qi Suian, not to be outdone, gave them a hint.
He was indicating his great need for Fire Seeds—preferably high-level ones. If the Steel Brotherhood had any, they should send him more.
One or two wouldn’t be too few, and eight or ten wouldn’t be too many.
He could also disregard the level. For the current Tai Sui God, Fire Seeds were high-quality fuel.
An idea immediately struck Cummings.
’Giving gifts is, naturally, the fastest way to build a relationship.’
’The Steel Brotherhood did indeed have several Fire Seeds from Level 2 Sanctuaries.’
’But the problem was the distance. They were too far away to be delivered, and even contacting them was a hassle.’
’On the other hand, if he and his men recovered and then went to destroy these Level 4 and Level 5 Sanctuaries, they could obtain the corresponding Fire Seeds to give to Qi Suian.’
’Not only would it be a gift to build the relationship, but it would also demonstrate their sincerity, since they would have worked hard to acquire them.’
Meanwhile, the barrier of the Level 3 Sanctuary disappeared, and the interior of the entire Sanctuary began to compress and leak outwards.
Qi Suian didn’t care about any of this at all. As far as he was concerned, he had never encountered space-related technology before.
Even if he wanted to research it, he wouldn’t make any progress without the proper foundation.
So he simply ignored it. He was more concerned with the Level 3 Fire Seed.
Once he had it in his hands, he immediately went on a killing spree.
Cummings was also shocked by Qi Suian’s actions.
’Are you really this reckless? This is a Level 3 Sanctuary! Even for the Steel Brotherhood, wiping out all the Pure-bloods inside would require a significant investment of manpower and resources.’
But he soon realized he was wrong. Qi Suian’s speed was astonishing.
Wherever the Tai Sui God passed, all the Pure-bloods were thrown into the Melting Furnace.
Qi Suian’s thinking was simple. He couldn’t guarantee they would all die, but he had to turn most of them into fuel.
’It’s a bit of a hassle, sure, but every little bit counts. Even the meat on a mosquito’s leg is still meat.’
’Frugality is a virtue,’ he thought.
Seeing this, Cummings and his men could only bite the bullet and join Qi Suian in the slaughter.
’What else could they do? They were the ones who wanted to get on Qi Suian’s good side. If they just stood by and watched, he’d probably leave without even a second glance afterward.’
’They had to show the right attitude. You can’t expect to gain something without being willing to give anything.’
’If you ever encounter a situation like that, it’s highly likely the other party has ulterior motives.’
"Most of the mutants in the north are cowards. He was born in the wrong place. If he were in the south, he would absolutely be the undisputed God of War in the Steel Brotherhood!" Cummings began to flatter him.
His voice wasn’t loud, but his timing was perfect, ensuring that Qi Suian would hear him as he passed by.
Such little ploys were normal, but Qi Suian didn’t believe a word of it. ’They’re just drooling over my Tai Sui God, aren’t they?’
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