GDK 833: End him
Living in the Northwest region of the Fringe, Polo, the leader of a godhunter faction, had received the payment of two million black crystal coins from Little Skeleton. Polo did not show any anger or annoyance about Han Hao forcing the trade right outside of the City as he had received all the money he asked for.
One day, as he was tormenting one of the beauties under his captivity, one of his followers returned to him with breaking news from Ethereal City.
“My Lord, Baum is dead. According to the hearsays, the Space Overgod had razed the entire City Lord’s manor to the ground!” Kodiak, the godhunter who exchanged McKinley’s divine body from Baum, bowed and reported to Polo.
Polo was flabbergasted and he cried out in surprise, “He what?!”
“The Overgod unleashed his wrath upon Baum. The former Ethereal City City Lord was annihilated along with his manor house!” repeated Kodiak.
Polo was so alarmed that he stopped humping the beauty underneath him. He said, “I anticipated Baum’s death, but I did not expect the killer to be the Space Overgod Himself! This is so unimaginable! What’s the situation now in Ethereal City?” Polo thought that McKinley would join forces with Han Hao to kill Baum instead of something so unexpected.
“McKinley returned to Ethereal City with a Divine Decree of the Space Overgod and became the new City Lord. My Lord, I don’t think that McKinley is the kind of person who would do business with us. Him assuming the position of the City Lord doesn’t seem to benefit us!” said Kodiak.
Polo threw the beauty underneath him away and said in a deep voice, “Don’t care about McKinley. What’s most important now is Han Hao. Since he had rescued McKinley, and Han Hao is one of the leaders of our Godhunter Alliance, doing business with him is not entirely out of the picture. Right, any news about Han Hao? I’m more interested in him!”
“He delivered us a message through one of his men, asking us about that incident where a caravan of Goldstone Enterprise was raided. We have been asking around but we have not discovered anything,” replied Kodiak.
“Hmm, it seems that Han Hao and the master of Goldstone Enterprise have a close relationship. Goldstone Enterprise has branches in every Dominion. It is said that they possessed mineral ores that their competitors could never find. If we can build a connection with Goldstone Enterprise, it will be very beneficial to us! Investigate it with all of our resources, find out everything you can about the raid. Report back as soon as you learn a new piece of information!” instructed Polo.
“Understood, my Lord!” Kodiak bowed and retreated. He immediately left the base with a gang of godhunters.
***
Half a month later, Han Shuo and the party had finally left the territory of the Space Dominion and had officially stepped into the Fringe.
The very first thing Han Shuo noticed was just how chaotic the Land of Chaos really was. There were bloody bodies discarded and left to rot everywhere. Deadly battles were common. There were even godhunters openly devouring other experts as though no one was watching. It was utterly lawless.
And this was just the outermost area of the Fringe!
As Han Shuo and his party traveled deeper into the Fringe, the scene of battling and murdering became more frequent. There was no order in the Land of Chaos and no divine guard to maintain peace. People could get into fights for the slightest reason. Not only that no one will interrupt the fight, but most would also watch from the sidelines excitedly. They might even join the fight if they felt that they could steal a kill.
For one without sufficient strength, traveling in the Fringe would be the same as walking towards death. This was especially true if one was carrying valuable divine weapons or has attractive looks. One would also likely run into a stronger godhunter cultivating in the same energy and be preyed upon. In the Fringe, there can be countless possible motives for one to be murdered.
Han Shuo and the party had finally gained first-hand knowledge of just how chaotic the Fringe was. As they traveled, they gradually adapted their minds to the wretched sight of dead bodies covering every inch of the Land.
Of the party, only Rose was giving off the distinct aura of a highgod. Han Hao wore his callous face while fierce lights dazzled from his eyes. The Five Elite Zombies, after having survived on Elysium for many years, no longer looked like weak and puny characters that can be bullied. Therefore, the party did not meet anyone foolish enough to pick on a fight with them.
“Do not lower your guard. This is just the outskirts of the Fringe!” Rose knew the Land of Chaos pretty well. She constantly reminded throughout the journey, “The deeper we travel into the Fringe, the stronger the gods we will meet. As you have seen, all those that we met in the outskirts were merely midgods. Those godhunters with midgod strength dared not roam deeper into the Fringe, or they themselves might become prey to stronger godhunters.”
“Given our strength, no one should be stupid enough to start a fight with us, right?” asked Han Huo. He looked like he was itching to get into battle. He would shout and cheer when he saw a fierce battle along the journey.
“Not for now. But it’s hard to say when we are further inside,” Rose wasn’t as calm and unruffled as Han Shuo and the others. The Land seemed to cause her a lot of anxiety.
Three days later, Han Shuo and the party crossed into the inner part of the Land of Chaos. They started to find that those having fights were of highgod strengths. All those highgods had cold and cruel looks. It was as though they might immediately attack a random stranger if they looked at them the wrong way.
“Han Jin, is this the region where your caravan was raided?” asked Han Shuo after they came to a region filled with hills and mountains.
The last time that Metal Elite Zombie was at this place, there were a dozen or more divine guards with him. Every one of the divine guards possessed late-stage midgod strength. Metal Elite Zombie had chosen to travel through this region for it was hilly and they were unlikely to come across powerful experts. But despite his careful planning, his caravan was intercepted and the tragedy fell upon them.
“Yes, Father, right in the center of these mountains,” Han Jin seemed somewhat sorrowful when he recalled the scene of his workers being brutally murdered. He pointed at a few places as he explained to Han Shuo, “Over there, and there, I watched my workers being savagely killed. None of them survived. I would have joined them if there weren’t any mountains nearby.”
As Han Shuo traveled into the Fringe, he came to realize that in this chaotic land, the strong rules while the weak get murdered.
Those who had lived in the Fringe for a long time were mostly depraved or sadistic. When they commit murder, they would do so in various peculiar manner and procedures, some included torturing the victim, inflicting as much pain as possible while keeping them alive for as long as possible. They treated killing as a hobby or entertainment.
Han Shuo became very furious when he recalled that Metal Elite Zombie was nearly killed. He released several demon generals and said, “Let’s not travel deeper into the Fringe for now. We will stay nearby and ask around. Perhaps we could learn some clues.”
Rose and the rest of the party nodded and raised no objection.
Han Shuo stood straight and as still as a rock. He transformed the few demon generals he deployed into solo travelers of various appearances. As soon as he discovered people traveling in a pair or more, the demon generals would show up and start to provoke them, luring them towards where Han Shuo and the others were staying.
After a while, one of the demon generals taking human appearance managed to enrage a party of seven. They charged and followed the demon general without thinking.
Then, when the demon general arrived before Han Shuo, it abruptly vanished.
“Where did that asshole go?” shouted the highgod leading the party coldly. “Are you bunch a gang with that joker?”
Han Shuo put on a faint smile and said, “Hello, messieurs. I’m looking for a few people. Will you be of help?”
“What the fuck? Hand that guy over now or I’ll wreck you fucking pantywaist!”
Rose, who knew the proper manners of the Fringe well, charged forward without any warning and straightforwardly killed the few weak henchmen that came with the highgod. That highgod had only recently become a mid-stage highgod. He immediately understood Rose’s true strength when she attacked. A shiver traveled down his spine.
The Fringe, however, was filled with violent, ballsy characters who were not afraid of taking great risks. Although the highgod was not sure if he could defeat Rose, he nonetheless angrily shouted, “You bitch, you are so dead!” and charged at Rose.
<i>Whoosh!</i> The bone spear in Little Skeleton’s hand suddenly shot out. A terrifying sinister energy instantly filled the region. It was shooting at the highgod with the might of a doomsday asteroid.
The highgod was horrified and he immediately made defensive maneuvers. He had a frightened look after the short but perilous exchange. After gazing at Han Hao and Rose for a moment, he asked in a low voice, “Who are you looking for?” The highgod knew that he stood no chance against both Rose and Han Hao and that he would be dead unless he starts being cooperative.
“Just recently, a caravan was raided and their ores plunder when they traveled through here. Do you know who did it?” Han Shuo then asked Han Jin to describe the appearances of those attackers once through.
The highgod knitted his brows and thought for a moment before he shook his head and replied, “I don’t know. I’ve never heard of anything related to it.”
“End him,” instructed Han Shuo. He was still wearing a faint smile.
Han Hao and Rose immediately started to wildly attack him. The Five Elite Zombies also swarmed at him. They opted not to use the Penta-Elemental Undead Formation.
From how Han Shuo saw it, as Rose had already killed all of the highgod’s followers, they were destined to be enemies. Therefore, he might as well finish off the highgod now, lest he returns someday in the future and potentially causes him troubles. After all, there weren’t any laws to follow in the Fringe and there won’t be any consequences for committing murder. But most importantly, this person was a highgod and his divine soul was the best fuel source that the Cauldron of Myriad Demon could have. He saw no reason not to kill the highgod.
After having traveled in the Fringe for a few days, Han Shuo discovered not a single person worthy of the slightest sympathy. All those in the Fringe were the vilest criminals originating from every corner of the Elysium. They were devoid of conscience and had committed an untold number of heinous crimes. Han Shuo wouldn’t feel the slightest thing even if all of these creatures were dead.
Rose could easily defeat the highgod by herself. And with Han Hao and the Five Elite Zombies working with her, the highgod couldn’t even try to escape. It took just a few moments before Little Skeleton’s seven bone spurs impaled him.
The Cauldron of Myriad Demon hastily flew out and collected the highgod’s divine soul along with those of his minions. This divine soul could make up for that demon general which was accidentally killed by the Space Overgod back in Ethereal City.
After killing the highgod and his gang, Han Shuo did not leave the area but repeated the same modus operandi. He would question all those who fell for his bait before murdering them and collecting their divine souls. But unfortunately, although Han Shuo had asked many, he did not obtain the information he wanted.
Just when Han Shuo was going to give up and start traveling deeper into the Fringe, Kodiak, the henchman of Polo, came looking for them after hearing the whistling noises of Little Skeleton’s bone spurs.
