Chapter 138: Chapter 138: 20-Kilometer Surveillance Range? Outdated Intelligence.

"I find it hard to understand how you managed to have an affair with one of King Zhen Ao’s concubines."

"He’s a lobster and you’re a clam..."

As the smart-brain had predicted, the reason the giant clam knew about King Zhen Ao’s treasury was truly cringeworthy.

"Don’t tell me it was some so-called Extraordinary technique. You two don’t even have the right hormones or senses for that..." Qi Suian complained.

However, the giant clam could no longer answer. It had been dismantled into pieces by Qi Suian, and it was only thanks to its nature as an Extraordinary Life that it was still alive.

But Qi Suian didn’t care whether the giant clam answered or not. It was meaningless to him.

To be honest, if the giant clam had said it was King Zhen Ao’s illegitimate son, Qi Suian might have been blown away and decided to study it carefully.

Unfortunately, the reason was just too bizarre. He was speechless.

Actually, he had already guessed why. The two of them truly lacked any hormonal or sensory stimulation, but they possessed intelligence and emotions on par with humans.

This meant that a Platonic love that crossed species boundaries had a chance to take root and blossom.

However, this possibility was generally so small as to be negligible, yet Qi Suian had stumbled upon it.

The love between a clam and a shrimp, no less.

It gave him the distinct impression of a seafood... or rather, a freshwater-food hotpot.

Based on Qi Suian’s comparison, King Zhen Ao was actually a crayfish.

It was just that its large physique made it look a bit like a lobster.

The giant clam he had captured was also a freshwater clam; after all, the region Qi Suian was in was inland.

’From the looks of it, there’s a 99% chance I won’t be able to use a Qi Cultivation Method to benefit from the enhancement of Cold Energy.’

’Besides not being a human from Cold Winter, it’s also related to the fact that I can barely even be called human right now.’

’I can’t use the Cold Energy Monsters’ method either. Human Qi Cultivation Methods are, at least, a way to improve oneself after birth, while the Cold Energy Monsters’ use of Cold Energy is completely innate.’

After dissecting the giant clam, Qi Suian naturally understood the logic behind its utilization, circulation, digestion, and absorption of Cold Energy.

It was much like photosynthesis in plants—a pure instinct.

If you asked the giant clam, it couldn’t explain the reasoning itself.

So, if Qi Suian wanted to use Cold Energy to strengthen himself, he had two options.

One was to modify his own body to be like a Cold Energy Monster, able to absorb it actively and passively—essentially, to just lie back and grow stronger.

Qi Suian was quite fond of this kind of "AFK" growth.

But the downside was also obvious: Cold Energy Monsters could only survive in a Cold Energy environment, and the more powerful they became, the more they depended on that environment.

Just like King Zhen Ao, a Beast King of middling strength, who still hadn’t woken up.

Right now, only the newborn Beast Kings on the Ice Continent were active. This was their time to develop, lest they be crushed by the old-school Beast Kings.

So, fond of the idea as he was, Qi Suian didn’t plan on giving himself such an obvious weakness.

After all, he couldn’t stay in the Cold Winter World forever, not to mention that the Cold Energy itself was cyclical and highly unstable.

Therefore, he was more inclined toward the human method of utilizing Cold Energy through Qi Cultivation Methods.

However, this came with a precondition: he needed to obtain a good enough Qi Cultivation Method.

Qi Suian didn’t dare hope to get the Taiyin Refining Technique; just getting an upper-mid-tier Qi Cultivation Method would be enough.

He estimated there was a 90% chance that such a method was in the hands of the Cold Winter World’s protagonist.

In the current situation, that person had likely already mastered it. Prying it out of their mouth would be less valuable than just killing them and using their protagonist halo to strengthen his own.

[Intruder detected. Commencing live broadcast...]

A video feed appeared before Qi Suian’s eyes, but unfortunately, the sound was a mechanical voice.

The reason there was sound now was due to the existence of the communication, language, and translation modules, which allowed the reconnaissance network to provide intelligence more effectively.

Of course, the sound was translated and articulated by the modules.

"Here to kill me? Are they that reckless?" Qi Suian got the gist of it.

He had previously caused chaos in the capitals of various nations and killed many of their high-ranking officials, throwing them all into a state of panic.

It was precisely for this reason that no survivors had dared to make a move on him.

But not much time had passed, and now someone who didn’t know what’s good for them was coming to seek their own death.

[You don’t necessarily have to see them as a problem. Perhaps they’re not here to die, but to deliver a fortunate opportunity.]

"I wonder which of the nations they belong to. Well-trained and well-equipped." Qi Suian’s eyes were sharp.

He understood that his existence had always been a thorn in the side of the nations’ leaders.

They couldn’t wait to kill him and seize the Tai Sui God.

After all, the impression the Tai Sui God had left on them was far too profound.

To say nothing of anything else, the power of the Floating Cannons alone was enough to make them green with envy.

As for how they found him, the permanent "Violator" event had been broadcasting his position every half hour.

It was continuous and uninterrupted, working tirelessly without a single complaint.

Qi Suian naturally let it broadcast his location; he had no way of solving this problem anyway.

"Huh? It seems they have special abilities, too." Qi Suian suddenly noticed something was off.

[Correct. According to feedback from the reconnaissance network, the lowest dual attributes in this team have reached 1.2 points.]

[The highest has reached 1.5 points in their dual attributes.]

[Combined with their special abilities and firearms, it’s enough to give you a bit of a workout.]

"Shouldn’t this be the part where you say they’re ’not to be underestimated’? How did it turn into ’enough to give me a workout’?" Qi Suian was rather speechless about this.

’After all that buildup, it just comes out with a line like that.’

[Your dual attributes have reached 5 points, and the lowest-ranked talent you possess is S-class. The phrase ’not to be underestimated’ is not suitable for describing your situation.]

[You could even ignore their firearms and simply crush their heads. After all, your S-class talent, Person of Profound Darkness, has granted you a nearly indestructible body and Spirit.]

A difference of 1 point in dual attributes is basically a chasm, unless you’re talking about an out-of-spec existence like a protagonist or a chosen one.

Winning a fight against a higher-level opponent is always a low-probability event.

Not to mention, Qi Suian fought in the high-end leagues. Even if he was always getting his ass kicked and sent scrambling in those leagues, he was still on a completely different level from these survivors.

"So I’m basically Jiu Mozhi, is that it?" Qi Suian mocked himself, thinking of his situation.

[I recommend you capture them alive. They might be useful to you.]

The smart-brain didn’t know who Jiu Mozhi was; its database had no corresponding data.

It wasn’t as if Qi Suian mentioned everything to the smart-brain. Wuxia novels were of no use to it.

Besides, it wasn’t like he could remember everything either.

He had almost completely forgotten the plot of *Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils*. All he remembered was that the core theme seemed to be "Where’s my dad?"

A whole series of transformations revolving around the three protagonists’ fathers.

"I know. For them to just deliver themselves to my doorstep like this, they must have something good on them."

-----------------

"The Violator is extremely dangerous. We need to be careful," Captain Yu Pai said, giving a pre-battle briefing.

They were currently twenty kilometers away from the Violator, which was already extremely close for them.

According to post-incident intelligence analysis from the attacks on the various capitals, twenty kilometers was the Violator’s surveillance range. As soon as they got any closer, they would be detected.

That was why he was conducting the briefing at this specific location.

"Captain, he’s just a piece of trash who relies on external items. No need to be so scared," a burly man said with contempt.

His name was Pan Xuan. He possessed the "Bloodrage" ability and also cultivated the medieval Qi Cultivation Method, the Anger Fire Vajra Scripture. The two were highly compatible, making him the strongest person on this operation team.

Because of his unique nature, and because the low temperatures had drastically reduced the effectiveness of firearms even though they hadn’t failed completely, this led him to have great contempt for all firearms. After all, if the temperature continued to drop, firearms would sooner or later start having problems.

Yu Pai, however, gave Pan Xuan a strange look. "The Violator might rely on his armor for his strength, but the fact that so many survivors have died at his hands is also true."

To be honest, he knew about Pan Xuan’s disdain for firearms, but he never thought the man would bring that attitude into the mission.

So he offered a word of caution, lest it jeopardize their mission.

But his words were like stepping on Pan Xuan’s tail, and the man immediately bristled with anger.

"If that armor was on me, I’d be even stronger than him!"

"He has no special abilities, nor can he practice a Qi Cultivation Method. How long can he possibly survive?" Pan Xuan retorted.

At this, Yu Pai’s brow furrowed. "Calm down. Control your emotions."

He didn’t understand. Normally, while Pan Xuan was a bit hot-tempered and self-centered in his views, he wasn’t like this.

This gave Yu Pai a bad feeling.

Pan Xuan was breathing heavily, his skin flushing a hot red.

"I’m trying," Pan Xuan said, suppressing his rage. It was not a pleasant feeling.

"Otherwise, you should sit this mission out." Although Yu Pai was reluctant to lose such a key player, in Pan Xuan’s current state, he would only be a liability if he joined the operation.

’Could it be that his ability and Qi Cultivation Method are too compatible, making his mental state easily affected?’

Yu Pai’s words would have been better left unsaid. The moment he spoke them, Pan Xuan was completely enraged.

"Without me, are you bunch of losers just going to get yourselves killed?" Pan Xuan’s words were incredibly blunt.

It wasn’t just Yu Pai whose expression changed; the other team members also looked displeased.

"You’re being influenced by your ability and Qi Cultivation Method. All actions are temporarily halted!" Yu Pai said in a cold voice.

At his reminder, everyone present quietly took a few steps back.

As for halting the operation, it was to ensure it could proceed better later.

Otherwise, before the operation could even begin, they would have already suffered casualties due to infighting.

Yu Pai really couldn’t understand why Pan Xuan would lose control at this moment.

Moreover, he had never heard of anyone else losing control. Even people who were stronger than Pan Xuan, or whose abilities were a better match, had never shown such symptoms.

However, before they could take further steps to restrain Pan Xuan, a notification from the apocalypse game made their expressions change completely.

[Warning: The Violator is one kilometer away.]