Chapter 892: Great Price

Chapter 892: Great Price

Qilin's preparation for tonight far exceeded both allies' knowledge and enemies' predictions. The substitute, Azure Dragon, and Blood Amber were mere preludes. His true ace was a puppetized life monster.

Though Qilin dismissed Gao Yang's intel about holy water from dead life monsters helping awakeners merge with Rune Circuits to reach level 8, it had sparked another idea.

Theoretically, if Dr. Jia could extract holy water from a life monster's corpse, Qilin could establish a connection through that water and control it with Puppeteer.

A life monster's body was still a body. Any corpse with an intact core could become a puppet.

Yet bridging the species barrier came at a terrible cost: Qilin's right eye.

For an Eidos user, the eyes were as vital as the heart. Damage to them brought unimaginable consequences.

The same Qilin who had refused Vermilion Bird's urging to wear contact lenses out of fear had now willingly carved out his own eye, in a manner of speaking.

For his ideal, no sacrifice was too great.

The life monster would obey his will for three minutes—his current limit.

He'd held this card for two reasons:

First, he didn’t think it would be necessary. Then the life monster, a one-use card, could be kept for later. Perhaps it would be of greater use then.

Second, such a costly move should devastate the enemy's core strength to justify its price. Yet tonight, his greatest adversaries were absent.

Luck or misfortune? He couldn't tell.

Still, victory would be his if he could turn tonight's combatants into puppets. Wang Zikai and War Tiger alone would strike terror into any opposition.

The mummified life monster rose above Li River. The night wind died. The air grew dense as an invisible energy field manifested.

Slanted eyes flickered green through the cracks of the bandages.

Boom! As Wang Zikai's mind cleared, Qilin was already striking, his Black Gold cane charged with energy and aimed at Wang Zikai's heart.

Wang Zikai barely managed to raise his arms in defense before the impact launched him backward.

Like a stone skipping across water, he and Zhang Wei bounced across the river, finally crashing onto the opposite shore. Wang Zikai rolled up, shaking his numbed arms. He was unhurt, but...something was wrong.

"Ah!"

The binder at his waist had loosened. Zhang Wei lay face-down eight meters away, blood seeping from his mouth, multiple bones clearly broken.

Wang Zikai rushed to him, slapping his face. No response.

"Hey, don't die!" These past days, Wang Zikai had grown attached to his personal cheerleader. Good flatterers were hard to find nowadays.

A quick check confirmed Zhang Wei was still breathing.

"Sea Medicine, Sea Medicine![1]" Wang Zikai fumbled a metal case from his pocket, extracting a Medicine C syringe and plunging it into Zhang Wei's chest.

"Hmph..."

Zhang Wei groaned, color returning to his pale face, but remained unconscious.

Wang Zikai exhaled in relief. As long as he was alive.

Gao Yang's warning echoed in his mind: never confront Qilin without Zhang Wei. His gaze lifted to the towering life monster that dominated the sky.

I may not be able to go after the owner, but I can go after the dog!

Drawing a deep breath, Wang Zikai coiled and sprang upward, shooting into the night like a human missile.

1. This isn’t a typo. In the raw, Wang Zikai mistakes C for xi, west, in Mandarin. ☜