Chapter 404: Immortality and S-Rank

The next morning.

A Er returned to the church from the legion base.

Due to the “disappearance” of the legion commander, the Burning Iron Legion fell into chaos in the power struggle. He took the opportunity to kill the adjutant who was at odds with him, and then randomly collected a lot of top-secret information on his body. Although he couldn’t understand a word of it, he couldn’t report to the boss empty-handed.

“The Howler operation is interesting.”

In the pile of papers, Jiang He found several practical incomplete technical records, including the Iron Burning Suit, Malice Detector, and Fallen Warhorse Breeding Technique, which all had considerable value.

Among them, the Howler surgery is the most eye-catching. This technology can transplant the flesh and blood of the materialized Abyss Ghost to the Burning Iron Soldiers, so that the trained Silver Humans can obtain elite-level comprehensive combat power.

It should be noted that the usage period of this type of howler is only three to five years. The flesh and blood of the Abyss Ghost will continue to erode the spirit of the soldiers. Once it exceeds the critical point, it will cause irreversible degeneration.

The good news is that the evil army is full of unruly people, and they have no spirit for the abyss ghost to erode their flesh and blood.

For Jiang He, the level of this kind of biological surgery is far from being a masterpiece filled with the painstaking efforts of a master. The general outline can be deduced through the overall thinking and some experimental data. What is lacking now is nothing more than the Abyss Ghost material.

“A’er, A’san.” Jiang He tilted his head and ordered, “You two follow A’da. He only has the golden aura now, but not the corresponding strength. Help him when we need to take action.”

“clear.”

“As ordered.”

Ah Er and Ah San left the church arm in arm. As the three brothers were born at a similar time, they formed a small group in private. As for the Taoist soldiers starting from Ah Si, they now served as middle-level commanders in the Evil Legion and gradually faded out of the core vision.

It was dawn, and the streets were deserted.

A small white snake climbed onto someone’s collar, wrapped itself tightly around his neck, and then began to rest.

Jiang He and the old priest went to the original site of the Scarlet Theater. After a night of waiting, the nobles of the state and military officers at all levels, summoned by Lady Ash, all rushed to Carmel City.

The collapse of the extraction tower was a major event that affected everyone.

When Jiang He arrived at the theater, there were many makeshift palaces around, with exquisite white bricks and stones piled together, which were out of place with the dilapidated city.

Lady Ash stood in the center of the crowd. Facing the compliments from the nobles, she handled them politely and skillfully, looking very comfortable with it.

Seeing this, the old priest said quietly, “The father of this lady was once the strongest and the leader of the nobles, the only marquis in the empire. Later, due to excessive use of power, he began to degenerate and had to be sealed in the Ash Academy. Since he has not died, the title cannot be inherited. In view of the special status of the marquis, the Obsidian Council specially conferred the title of knight on Miss Sylvia.”

Jiang He kept silent. In fact, nobility was not just a title. It involved a large number of rights such as exemption from blood tax, recruitment of soldiers, withholding of taxes, and raising of servants. Once the direct descendants entered the Burning Iron Legion, they would start as squad commanders.

When the two arrived, Lady Ash turned and nodded.

Hundreds of nobles and officers greeted each other and saluted in tacit understanding.

In the overall concept of the empire, gold is a clear-cut boundary. Above it are undoubtedly the top leaders of the empire. Below it, even if one holds real power, he is just one of the countless people who can be replaced, sacrificed, and abandoned at any time.

As the Golden Governor of the Eye of Ashes, the old priest usually seems a little timid around someone, but he actually has a very high status both in the previous Ashes World and the current Ashes World.

Under such circumstances, the man standing shoulder to shoulder with the old priest was young, but was directly classified by everyone as someone who should not be provoked. Some nobles and officers might lack the ability, but the ability to judge a person by his actions was almost an innate talent.

“This is Amber, Your Excellency.” Lady Ash emphasized and said loudly, “He has the ability to restore the theater and the extraction tower, but this incredible power naturally has a price. As we discussed before, you need to gather 500,000 abomination crystals.”

The scene fell into silence.

The brief meeting just now did not specify a specific amount, but 500,000 crystals are equal to the total output of the state in five years, which can supply the full military expenditure of 30,000 Iron Burning Legion for a full ten years. It is a sky-high price.

Among the nobles and officers, an old man with white hair and beard walked out with a cane. He was the father-in-law of Count Felix and the blood father of the legion commander. His identity, status and qualifications were impeccable.

“Madam,” the old man said sincerely, “This is an impossible request. I believe that none of you present here are willing to join the End of the World Society. Regarding the specific numbers, can you be a little flexible?”

Lady Ash stared at him for a long while, then said coldly, “Then I’ll give up half a million tons of gold, or five million tons of silver. I’ll ask the Silver Sin Mage to deal with half of it, and I’ll give the other half to you.”

“Or, let’s all be in trouble together. Anyway, my title will probably not be revoked.”

The old man was secretly shocked. The Silver Sin Magician was not a golden creature. To produce such a number of silver stones, he had to be corrupted. The other party’s determination was extraordinary.

After a while, the old man asked in confusion: “But why is it 50%?”

Since fall is inevitable, if the Silver Sin Mage tries hard, there is a 60% chance of success.

Lady Ash ignored it, because half of the whole was equal to 50%, and she didn’t want to explain this to the other party.

The old man groaned and said, “I wonder if I can…”

Lady Ashes interrupted, “Don’t mention methods like installment payments, arrears, and mortgages. It’s embarrassing. To be greedy is human nature to some extent, but if you still don’t know when your death is approaching, you are no different from a fool. That’s all I have to say. You can decide for yourselves.”

In front of the ruins of the theater, people were arguing and even verbal abuse and fighting broke out because of the proportion of capital distribution. The old man took the lead in forming a temporary “small parliament”, taking the opportunity to increase his own influence while successfully complicating a simple issue.

On a long boulder, Jiang He coiled a snake with one hand and watched the excitement with interest.

Because interests are involved, everyone tears off their disguises and shows their true selves: pretentious, greedy, hypocritical, two-dealing, sanctimonious, and shameless.

The old priest was accustomed to this.

Lady Ash had a blank expression on her face.

It was not until after noon, when three stubborn nobles had died, that everyone reached a consensus.

“We are willing to accept this price,” said the old man.

Lady Ash couldn’t help but slap her forehead hard a few times.

The old priest clapped his hands with a smile. Judging from the results, spending most of the day on it actually didn’t have much decisive significance. It was basically just a waste of time watching the fun.

“Then let’s get started.”

Jiang He stood up and walked to the ruins of the building.

As he squatted down and touched the ground with his two fingers, the Dan Jin spread out and covered the entire theater, and finally the time ring was activated.

Under the gaze of the crowd, everything seemed to go back in time. Countless dust gathered from all directions, broken stone carvings flew up and were embedded back into the original pillars, the stage was raised again, the walls rose from the ground, and the green plants serving as the landscape became lush and green.

In the blink of an eye, the theater was reborn.

The power of time made everyone present stay where they were, their faces filled with awe and shock of the unknown.

Lady Ash watched everything intently. Even though she had been prepared in advance, she still found it incredible when the miracle really happened before her eyes.

The old nobleman poked his cane uneasily, with greed flickering in his eyes. If this was the case with dead things, then could the living be young again?

The old priest raised his hands high and chanted like a poem, praising him generously: “He said he would return, and the broken tiles would find their edges again.”

“He said youth, and the dead trees were covered with green ribbons again.” “Let the decayed revive, and let the dead return.”

“He came from before the rain of gray, riding on a golden boat, heading for a new era.”

clang!
Jiang He punched the old priest and knocked him to the ground. This guy hadn’t given up on preaching yet. He was really weak and had a strong addiction to preaching. If the news got out, he would undoubtedly be in trouble, which seriously violated his plan to develop himself and weaken the combat effectiveness of all parties at this stage.

“If you don’t want to live anymore, just tell me directly.” Jiang He whispered.

The old priest looked up and replied with a sly look, “It’s just hearsay. It’s okay. No one would believe it if I told them. But look at the eyes of these guys.”

Jiang He tilted his head and couldn’t help frowning.

All the nobles and officers were looking at him in awe at this moment, and within the essence of awe was a deep desire.

The noble old man paced for a while, mustered up his courage and came over, saying respectfully: “Sir, can a person be young again?”

Jiang He didn’t answer, his face was cold.

The answer is roughly yes. The final time ring refresh status, the difference between old and young, is slightly less valuable than the sit-ups between life and death. The premise is that the target status must be below the skill, and in terms of reversing life and death, the soul can only be shattered at most, not destroyed, and no one can do anything about the latter.

As for how much the effect can be, that depends on the user’s skill level and energy value.

The nobles and officers were filled with thoughts and became increasingly agitated.

This kind of time travel means the art of immortality.

Seeing this, Lady Ash had no choice but to step forward and control the situation.

“Old sir, there is no need to be so fanciful. If it really could make people return to youth, then I don’t think you would have seen Lord Amber. He would never appear anywhere outside the Holy City. Besides, you know better than me whether you are included in the list of people in the entire empire who are eligible for a turn.”

After these words were spoken, the old nobleman looked gloomy.

Everyone is unwilling to accept this, but they have to admit that truly top-level and rare resources must have the right level of control to match them.

“Don’t waste time then,” Lady Ashes reminded.

……

Just three hours later.

The Holy City of the Empire – San Francisco.

In the magnificent obsidian palace, a secret letter engraved with the crystal of hatred was delivered to the commissioner directly under the Speaker of Parliament after going through layers of reports.

The commissioner came to the end of the hall and knocked gently on the door of the secret room. With a loud bang, the heavy stone door opened and a thick dark green gas wafted out from inside. This experimental smell had a nauseating stench.

“Sir, news from Carmel.”

A cloaked man walked out of the secret room, picked up a wine barrel outside the door and drank it gulps for a long time. The strong smell of alcohol completely suppressed the dark green gas. It was more like liquid magma than wine. Anyway, it was not something that humans could drink.

The Speaker was drunk, but he held the secret letter steadily.

The commissioner stepped back slowly. In the Empire of Ashes, the actual power of the speaker was greater than that of the emperor.

“Imperial Abyss Ghost + Group Abyss Ghost = Emperor Abyss Ghost.”

“The Cardinal, Emperor Yuangui, the Ninth Angel, and the Commander of the Carmel Legion, it’s quite lively.”

“Why is Felix so cowardly as a lizard? Shouldn’t the Anti-Summoning Array be kept as a decoration? A promotion in name only, a demotion in reality. Transfer him to the Holy City and investigate him carefully when you have time.”

“The human killers intercepted and killed them… Sylvia doesn’t have the ability to initiate space teleportation independently, so the timing is wrong. Find the guy who actually put down the riot. As for the rewards, just follow their own coordination. It’s the same for everyone.”

“The Death Sinner… He is as afraid of death as ever. He is transferred to the Holy City. He is not suitable for reconstruction work. He is too cowardly.”

“Ok?”

The Speaker’s gaze suddenly paused, and a rather young figure appeared on the crystal screen.

The commissioner was very perceptive and immediately narrated: “Amber, his last name is Ashes, just like the common people. He is most likely the main force that killed Emperor Yuan Gui and the Cardinal in this attack. Three hours ago, he activated his special ability and successfully restored the destroyed Scarlet Theater, which is of great strategic significance.”

The Speaker nodded, acknowledging his subordinate’s nonsense.

“He used his spatial ability to defeat Emperor Yuan Gui. So, we cannot ignore his suspicion in the death of Commander Carmel. There were not many people on the scene who had the ability, condition, and time.”

The commissioner corrected: “It’s missing.”

The Speaker immediately laughed and scolded, “There’s no need to save this little bit of compensation, just count it as death.”

“Yes.” The commissioner accepted the order.

“Since Sylvia is willing to take him to school, let’s wait and see for now. Remember to ask the Eye of Ashes for funding. If the extraction tower is successfully repaired, the matter of Captain Carmel will end here. Otherwise, a warrant will be issued for his arrest…”

Suddenly, the Speaker laughed, “Interesting.”

If Amber’s purpose of showing his value was to take into account the death of the legion commander, then to some extent it meant that there was something fishy going on, not just a suspicion.

At the same time, this also shows that the other party is almost certain to repair the extraction tower. On the other hand, imprisoning the Ninth Angel and killing the Cardinal will greatly reduce the effect of delaying time for escape.

“From now on, don’t investigate the matter regarding the legion commander. If you find out something, it will be a disaster.”

“clear.”

The Speaker also dealt with three months of government affairs, and the whole process was very quick.

The commissioner kept saying “yes” left and right. It would be a nightmare for anyone to have such a sharp-eyed superior. The other party handled government affairs as if he was fiddling with an alchemical model. Any inconsistency or discrepancy would be extremely obvious.

In just a few hours, more than a dozen barrels of liquor were consumed. The Speaker left aside some official business, turned around and walked towards the secret room without looking back. The real reason he came out this time was that the liquor in the secret room was all gone.

The commissioner has long been accustomed to it, and the rest can be handled by himself and the executives in a few days, so there is no need to waste the adults’ time.

“Sir, the last thing is about Amber’s student rating, which requires your personal decision.”

The Speaker turned around and stared at the crystal portrait for a moment.

“Of course it’s S-rank.”

The commissioner said in embarrassment: “He has not yet contracted the Abyss Ghost, and does not have the bloodline of the Sin Technique for the time being.”

“Bloodline is a stinky thing.” The Speaker laughed and said, “I only know that among the alchemists, all drunkards are strong.”

The commissioner was stunned. He did not realize that the target was an alchemist, nor did he know that the other party was a drunkard. However, the Speaker gave an almost affirmative answer.

(End of this chapter)