Chapter 516: Chapter 517: The Disappearing Foe_1
Professor Dodge was silent for a moment before he answered, "The Divine Artifact in question is right here in my hands, one is this statue, and the other..."
As he spoke, a small, delicate blade suddenly materialized in his hand as if by magic. It looked a bit like a scalpel and a bit like an engraving knife, its metal composition unknown, presenting a dark golden color with rust marks all over it, evidently quite ancient.
"This scalpel?" Aiden asked.
"With this, one can make incisions or wounds on any object, and if you press together the cut edges of two separate objects, they will fuse into one. The Empire and the Kingdom of Gistas used this to create their demonic offspring," explained Professor Dodge, before tossing it with a flip of his hand, "You take it first."
He had stolen it after killing the other technicians, although it was originally locked away in a Mithril safe. But with the power of the Hand of Annihilation, all security measures were futile.
To him, this thing had lost much of its value anyway.
Aiden, watching the scalpel spinning towards him, was momentarily stunned, thinking that catching it without getting hurt would be somewhat difficult.
Just when he was hesitating on how to catch it, Lamia suddenly leapt out, seizing the scalpel first by taking advantage of her higher position.
Of course, this action also revealed her form.
"I’ll hold onto the payment for now!" Lamia laughed heartily.
"The Queen of Magic Potions, Lamia..." Professor Dodge fixed his gaze over here.
Aiden glanced at Lamia but said nothing, for this was not the time to quarrel over the loot. He turned his gaze back to Professor Dodge, "Can I take this as you having agreed?"
"You take the Divine Artifact, you heal my son. As for the Hand of Annihilation, I can’t just hand it over to you lightly," Professor Dodge answered calmly, "All you need is to ensure the Hand of Annihilation isn’t stolen, right?"
He would pay any price to heal his son, but that didn’t mean he would lose his cool in judging gains and losses in a trade. The Hand of Annihilation was his trump card to protect his son and himself; he couldn’t just part with it easily.
"I want that thing," Qiqimora suddenly appeared, staking her claim before Aiden could respond, "If you want to completely heal your son after leaving here, give the sole authority to me."
"So you’re the Great Witch who commands the power of ’Void’?" Professor Dodge sized up Qiqimora, sensing an aura similar to his own emanating from her.
"Let’s do it this way," Aiden broke in, "We’ll take the Divine Artifact, and I’ll get your son out of danger first. We can discuss the rest of the trade once we’re out, okay?"
He turned his head and shot Qiqimora a look.
It meant that the situation was urgent and they should handle it after they got out; I’ll help you with the negotiations later, don’t get hung up on this issue here.
Qiqimora frowned slightly, obviously dissatisfied, but she didn’t say anything.
"Aw, are we upset?" Lamia teased from the side.
"Alright, we’ll do it that way," Professor Dodge agreed somewhat briskly.
It was then that Aiden took out the "Wordless Code" and wrote down a rule: "All persons within the domain shall have their bodies healed and maintain normal function."
Before he wrote down the rule, he reduced the effective area of the rule to only this room – he had spared the lives of those base soldiers outside the room, they were just too injured to move. If the rule also applied to them, they would instantly be revived in full health.
Professor Dodge immediately turned to look at his son on the operating table, feeling some force at work.
Tony Dodge suddenly coughed a few times, then began to gasp for air. His eyes widened, and he struggled unconsciously to sit up.
"Tony!" Professor Dodge immediately rushed over to help him up.
But Tony sat up before his father’s hand could reach him, looked at his father incredulously, and said, "My body... suddenly feels lighter."
His body was still that of a half-demon, only slightly more fleshed out. But at this moment, Tony felt an unprecedented lightness—no pain, no fatigue, no dizziness or nausea, breathing smoothly, his heart beating normally. For the first time, he had a tangible sense of truly being alive.
While the rules were in effect, even his half-human, half-demon crippled body could maintain normal physiological functions and remain in a healthy, complete state.
It was only temporary, but his wish had been fulfilled—a body free from sickness.
Professor Dodge watched his son climb nimbly out of bed and didn’t say anything, just stood still, with the bird mask concealing his facial expressions.
"Dad?" Tony looked at his father, who was motionless, with some confusion.
That’s when Professor Dodge suddenly reached out and gave his son a firm hug.
"Dad..." Tony felt his father’s emotions, and just as he was about to say something comforting to match the mood, he remembered all the things his father had done for him, and his heart sank.
The arrival of these mysterious people proved they had the ability to heal him, and his father would surely find a way to make a deal. But his father’s crimes would not change; that probing conversation had confirmed the things he once doubted and feared, and the truth was even more gruesome than he had imagined.
Everything his father had done was for him, no matter how much his father insisted that it was his own unilateral decision. Tony was well aware that he was inextricably linked to his father’s actions. He, of all people, had no right to judge his father. What he could do was only share the burden with his father and perhaps find a way to seek redemption in the future, no matter how difficult it would be; he was willing to undertake it with his father.
"Sorry to interrupt your touching moment, but we need to prepare to leave," Aiden reminded.
The scene hadn’t moved him much. He did feel a certain sympathy for Tony Dodge, but he still couldn’t quite accept what Professor Dodge had done.
"The Divine Artifact can’t be moved, so just extract the divinity and the divine words from it," Lamia immediately crawled toward the artifact.
"Lamia, don’t think about taking all the benefits for yourself; the divinity should be shared equally. This time, I’ll do it," Qiqimora stopped her.
"Let’s extract the divinity of the Divine Artifact last; I’ll summon back the demon statue first," said Aiden.
The power of the Divine Artifact was tied to the personnel restrictions of the forbidden zone. Once its divinity was extracted, that safeguard would disappear.
As for Mr. Bloodshirt’s location... before he could speak, the Goddess of Revenge shared it with him once again.
Aiden focused again—it was less than a kilometer away. The strong presence felt as if a torch was blazing into the sky.
This was already inside the research institute, but to reach the entrance of the forbidden zone, even rushing would take two or three minutes. Outside in the camp, they could ride horses as fast as cars with throttles pressed down, but there was no means of rapid transit inside the research institute.
He had enough time to escape!
Just then, without warning, the presence of Mr. Bloodshirt in his consciousness suddenly vanished.
