novelraw Chapter 253 Storm Scavengers
Chapter 253 Storm Scavengers
Chapter 253 Storm Scavengers
The great battle ended, and the entire gray forest was torn into pieces.
The curses and misfortunes that once lingered here have vanished along with their owners, leaving only scattered remnants that can no longer stir up any trouble.
Modi stood on the remains of a giant creature, his expression thoughtful.
The colossal creature beneath his feet was none other than the former Raven Demon Lord, now barely clinging to life, its once vibrant feathers now devoid of luster, reduced to a mere black.
Chiron gasped for breath and tried to move his body, but he was pinned down by the several giant pillars piercing through him and could not move.
"Ahem, who exactly are you? Aren't you afraid of our master's revenge?"
Knowing he was doomed, Chiron did not sit idly by and wait for death. Instead, he did everything he could to extract information, hoping to get more details out of him.
"Could it be that you were actually sent by the Blood God Cult?" He didn't believe a word of the supernatural mage's previous self-introduction and suspected that it was the work of their current enemy.
Modi stopped thinking and casually said, "That's not the case. I come from the Ring Realm and am a member of the Ring Realm Committee."
He didn't lie, but he also didn't fully reveal his identity.
Although he had never heard the term "ring" before, Chiron's intuition told him that these words were true.
"Ring Boundary...why did you do this?"
"The committee plans to deploy an outpost in the forgotten realm, and coincidentally, your realm has caught our eye."
17
Modi continued to deal with him, letting him pass on messages of dubious veracity through clandestine channels.
"Deploying outposts? You plan to...?"
'
Chiron wanted to continue asking questions, but was rudely interrupted: "You've asked enough. It's time to get going."
As they were talking, the stone pillar on Chiron's body was swallowed up by a fleeting gap. He seized the opportunity, flapped his wings, which were riddled with holes, and was about to escape from the place.
But to his surprise, the gap opened faster than he could, and in an instant, a cone-shaped object was delivered to him.
"It's this again!?" Chiron was startled. He recognized it; Styx had used it to shatter his domain during the battle just now.
Even a distorted and warped space will become more chaotic in the face of its powerful gravity, until it is eventually smoothed out.
The last thought flashed through his mind, and the next instant, the cone-shaped object in front of Chiron suddenly exploded, forming a point in his path.
With his current mutilated body, Chiron was naturally no match for the vacuum implosion bomb that exploded right in his face. Faced with the immense gravity of the micro singularity, his mutilated body was torn apart inch by inch.
Beyond the gray forest, crows scattered and fled, their faces bearing traces of human-like fear.
"The incredibly powerful technological creations, and those bizarre abilities, what kind of bullshit mages are they, they're clearly superhumans from some unknown world."
The crows thought resentfully, harboring deep resentment.
"Luckily, I have enough parts, so I have another chance..."
'
The crows' thoughts came to an abrupt halt as a glimmer of light flashed before them.
Inside the gap, Modi poked half his body out and threw a restoration aura at the flock of crows, watching them completely dissolve before retreating back into the gap.
This is only one part of Chiron's body; he has many more crows escaping.
But Modi has already locked onto their aura, and with the guidance of his divination and spiritual intuition, it's only a matter of time before he wipes them out.
After much effort, Modi drove the crows to extinction and returned to the desolate gray forest to prepare for the final cleanup.
Due to the recent astral storm and the detonation of multiple vacuum implosion bombs, the spatial structure here has become extremely unstable. If one is not careful, one could be dragged into the void by the turbulence.
Furthermore, even though the astral storm has passed, its effects linger, most notably in the astral creatures that have come to investigate.
These astral beings chased after the storm, following behind it and plunging into the dimensions it had destroyed, scavenging its remnants like vultures pecking at carrion.
After the storm, the coordinates of the Ravenlord's domain have been exposed to the astral plane. If the Ravenlord is still alive, he could suppress the astral raiders and modify and hide the coordinates.
But Chiron was dead, and Mordi had no intention of cleaning up the mess in this broken dimension, so the Raven Demon Realm was naturally invaded by a large number of astral creatures.
"Another dimension favored by the storm, let's see what we can get this time."
"Be careful, this dimension might already be occupied. If we run into a dimensional lord, we're doomed."
"Don't panic. I deployed probes before we came in to confirm that this dimension is unclaimed and there shouldn't be any threat."
In the center of the ruins of the Ancestral Tree Palace, three Storm Scavengers were talking. The leader was dressed as a traveling merchant, with a blue body and a cloud of smoke at the bottom, hovering in the air, pointing and gesturing from time to time.
"Quickly check what valuable items are here. We must pack up the best things and take them with us before anyone else arrives."
The leader of the scavengers, dressed as a traveling merchant, gave the order, his eyes revealing a mixture of anxiety and excitement.
This dimension has a high energy level; he might be able to find high-value red-quality items and make a fortune.
Just as he was lost in his fantasy, a cry of pain pulled him back to reality.
"Oh, my leg!"
The scavenger leader immediately looked in the direction from which the sound came, and saw his subordinate lying on the ground, one of his legs severed out of thin air, the wound clean and bleeding profusely.
"Damn it, it's a distorted space! Quickly pull him away, don't let him get near there."
The experienced leader remained calm. Together with another subordinate, he dragged the unfortunate fellow away and gave him a potion that allowed his severed limbs to regenerate.
"Damn it, I've already used a dose of medicine since I just arrived. I hope this trip doesn't lower my profit-loss ratio."
The leader muttered a curse, when another subordinate exclaimed, "Something's wrong with this place! The spatial structure here is extremely unstable; there are misaligned spaces and turbulent currents everywhere!"
"What did you say?" The leader looked up abruptly, intending to ask for clarification, but suddenly felt dizzy and the whole world before his eyes was upside down and chaotic.
When he came to his senses, he found that a figure had appeared in front of him at some point, staring at him with undisguised curiosity.
He moved his body and found that he was unaffected, so he took a deep breath, then prostrated himself on the ground and cried out for mercy.
"So pragmatic?" Modi looked at him with interest, as well as the two subordinates behind him who made the same gesture, and couldn't help but sigh, "There aren't many talents like you anymore."
As he spoke, the scavenger leader's body trembled involuntarily.
"Be pragmatic? Having seen this kind of scene, would I dare not be pragmatic?" He remembered the horrific scene he had witnessed in that fleeting glance.
The ground was littered with severed limbs and broken weapons, which were carelessly discarded. Various colored astral biological fluids were flowing all over the ground, producing all sorts of strange chemical reactions.
Even more horrifying, the heads of the dead were cut off and piled up to form a tall and terrifying altar.
He had seen this thing before in another world, where the extraordinary beings called it a "jingguan," which could both demoralize the enemy and summon some great being.
Among the piled-up heads were members of powerful scavenging groups known to the scavenger leader, as well as officially registered itinerant merchants. All signs indicated that the human in front of him was not someone he could afford to mess with.
Damn it, I should have known. The space here is so thin; there must have been a war between great beings. Maybe they even summoned that astral storm.
The more he thought about it, the more pessimistic he became, feeling that not only would he not be able to get the big prize this time, but he might even lose his life.
Modi noticed his nervousness and comforted him gently, "Don't be so nervous. I'm not some kind of demon. The people behind you are just reaping what they sowed."
Yes, demons aren't as vicious as you.
The scavenger leader forced a smile and said sincerely, "Of course, we certainly believe that. May I ask what you need us to do?"
"I need quite a lot, but you probably can't meet my needs."
After a moment's thought, Mordi's gaze fell on the merchant's clothes, and he had an idea.
"What's your name? Which astral merchant guild are you from?"
Astral merchants vary in strength; the strong can sell the world, while the weak can only follow behind the storms and pick up scraps.
But regardless of their strength, most of them belong to the Star Realm Merchant Guild.
This serves as both the trading platform and the back-end support and security mechanism.
The scavenger leader was taken aback for a moment, then honestly replied, "Paradon, a traveling merchant from the Arclight Merchant Guild, is still in his probationary period."
"The Arc Light Chamber of Commerce is still in its assessment period, so this matter is not difficult to resolve."
Modi stroked his chin. He was no longer a low-level figure and had a good understanding of the rules of the Star Realm Merchant Guild.
He knew exactly how to use connections to get a traveling merchant on probation promoted directly to a permanent position.
"Interested in working for me? The company is looking to expand its foreign trade," he asked.
"What did you say?" Paradon asked instinctively, then quickly replied, "Of course, it's my honor."
No matter what this person in front of him saw in him, he couldn't refuse for the sake of his life.
Seeing that he agreed so readily, Modi was not surprised and handed him a card.
"Of all these people, only you are pragmatic and only you survived. This proves that we have a deep connection, and I have always valued connections," Modi said.
The more powerful and higher a being is, the more they value abstract things, such as fate.
For them, if they are not destined for it, no matter how outstanding a minor role is, they will not value it.
Talent can be enhanced through various means, and temperament can be honed through appropriate training. However, fate, which is associated with those in high positions, is difficult to influence through later efforts.
Mo Di had heard that in some immortal realms, when powerful immortals accepted disciples, they would often foresee those destined to be with them and arrange various opportunities and trials for them, thus shaping a disciple with both excellent aptitude and character.
He wasn't taking on apprentices; it was just a normal recruitment process, so he didn't prepare anything else.
"Just fate?" Paradon was stunned, somewhat incredulous.
The thoughts of those in high positions are hard to fathom, so he simply stopped thinking about it, took the card, and glanced at it.
"Stix BioLabs Corporation ID card... wow, bright red!"
His hand trembled, and he almost instinctively put the ID card into his pocket.
"Your ID card has a teleportation spell that allows you to teleport two people together. Remember to attend the company's onboarding training as soon as possible."
After a pause, Mordi added, "Don't stay here too long, or the Lord of the Death Curse will come looking for you."
The Cursed Lord?
Paradon shuddered and asked, "Could this dimension be contained within the community of the Forgotten Realm?"
"To be precise, this place was originally a forgotten realm," Modi said calmly, "except that I killed the Forgotten Monarch here."
Leaving those words behind, he ignored the three still in shock and left through the gap.
He had already devoured a portion of the Raven Demon's domain, but he didn't have time to finish the rest, so he had to abandon it.
However, there was an unexpected discovery on this trip that he needed to confirm.
"You've finally let me go."
Lillian patted her chest, letting out a small sigh of relief, and then curiously looked around at her surroundings.
This should be a palace, with walls as white as snow and some strange biological specimens hanging on the walls, most of which are pale white skulls.
Not far in front of her, Mordi was leaning against the Frozen Throne, playing with the dragon bone pendant on his hand, looking at him calmly.
"Is this the material world?" Lillian said softly. "I thought your place would be more, well, luxurious, but I didn't expect it to be so monotonous."
"You call this monotonous?"
Modi glanced at the biological specimens on the wall, many of which came from his soldiers. They often offered him the skulls of powerful creatures they hunted as a demonstration of their faith and bravery.
This is also the most common form of sacrifice used by the Blood God Cult. Other less common methods include annihilating the enemy army and building a mound of skulls.
Lillian chuckled and replied, "Isn't that so? Without the embellishment of rare metals, gems, and ancient artifacts, it wouldn't be befit your high status."
"Of course, there's one more crucial thing," he said, walking barefoot on the chilling floor of the ice palace as he approached the throne, "You still lack a companion of equal status..."
""
His words abruptly stopped, and the world in his eyes went black.
"...?"
"If you don't know what you're talking about, don't say it in front of me." Mo Di stretched out his right hand, which had transformed into a dragon claw, covered his face, and threw him away with a little force.
Using his blood flames to burn the right hand that had touched him, Modi said with a hint of disgust, "Stop with your disgusting thoughts and abilities. I'm not interested in men."
Lillian rolled on the ground a few times, and when she got up again, there were many wounds on her head. The refreshing fragrance spread with the blood and gradually filled the hall.
Modi frowned, cast a healing spell on him, and then released blood flames to purify the air before asking, "Did you escape on your own, or were you released by your family?"
"6
"...He ran away on his own." A hint of confusion flashed through Lillian's mind. This was the first time his charm had failed. Even someone as powerful as the Death Curse Monarch could be slightly affected by him.
But this mysterious high-ranking person remained unmoved, as if he had a heart of stone.
"Could he be more powerful than the Death Curse Lord?" Lillian wondered to herself.