Plunder!

Philomena, fresh from her bath, ran into Richard carrying three buckets as she walked toward her military tent. The corners of her mouth almost instinctively began to curl upward, but she suppressed the urge with subconscious force, leaving her expression looking grim instead. She already possessed a naturally brooding air, and after arriving at the front lines and constantly clashing with allied scouts, a chilling severity had settled over her demeanor. Faced with such a stare and expression, anyone else would have felt their scalp prickle and made an excuse to flee, but Richard was completely immune. "Hey. I know you've eaten, but you probably aren't full." Philomena said nothing and walked into her tent. When Richard stepped inside carrying the buckets, he saw Philomena already moving the stove. Indeed—even after polishing off the Corps Commander's portion and ordering an extra meal on top of that, she still wasn't full. Lately, her appetite had surged to a degree she found almost unbelievable. She felt like the camels everywhere in this desert—able to get by on reduced rations while out on missions, but ravenous the moment she returned to camp, wolfing down food desperately. Yet she didn't have two humps on her back. "Move that aside. We'll cook straight with this. The new supplies just came in, and I pinched plenty of hot pot beef tallow cubes from Karen again." Of Richard's three buckets, one held the shell casing of a magic crystal cannon. The artillery battalion hadn't fired much recently, only lobbing a few test shots from a distance, and he had pulled some strings to get his hands on this casing. Of the remaining two buckets, one was filled with beef tallow cubes and other seasonings. Corps Commander Karen's personal pantry was managed by Richard anyway, so this was an inside job. The other bucket held fresh hot pot ingredients, covered with a layer of ice cubes—something rarely seen in a desert environment and even harder to obtain. They had arrived with the latest batch of supplies, but items like these weren't part of standard rations; acquiring them required drawing from personal requisition allowances, which were generally modest. Richard hadn't broken any rules, though; his family simply had plenty of headcount in the army. He had pooled his own allowance with those of his father, mother, aunt, and uncle to trade for this beef tripe and yellow throat. They set up the pot and fired it up. Once the tallow melted and reached a rolling boil, Richard helped drop in the ingredients while Philomena sat nearby holding her bowl and chopsticks, waiting. "Lately, I seem to get hungry faster and faster, and I'm eating more and more." "That's a good thing. I asked my grandmother, and she wrote back saying it's because you're in a breakthrough phase for your next stage. My grandfather's letter was attached beneath hers, so after reading what she wrote, he secretly scribbled a note telling me that at your age, Grandma wished she could devour a whole elephant in one meal." "Will my appetite go back down after the breakthrough?" "Probably not, because Grandpa also said that when Grandma was pregnant, she could eat a whole dragon." In this world, someone who had an opportunity like Karen's—re-weaving a new body from the densest divine contamination—was exceedingly rare. The vast majority of those walking the path of physical enhancement had to undergo a process of "re-development" for their bodies. Muscles, bones, organs—all required round after round of tempering and elevation. Thus, these people were practically all voracious eaters, and in their youth, their appetite could even serve as a gauge for how high they might reach in the future. "I don't want to get pregnant." "No problem. If you ever run out of point coupons to buy food when you're pregnant, I'll lend you some." Richard promptly added, "You won't have to pay it back." "I mean I dislike children." "Same here. I absolutely detest noisy, screeching kids." "Really?" "Of course it's true. Do you know how terrified I am that my kid might turn out just like me? When the time comes, I'd probably be even more short-tempered and heavy-handed than my dad was when he beat me." At that point, Richard must have pictured the scenario in his mind, trying to put himself in Aisen's shoes. He barked, "Utterly outrageous!" Philomena offered no comment. Richard began scooping out the cooked food and dropping it into Philomena's bowl. She immediately lowered her head and started eating. The two had a clear division of labor and seamless coordination, with Richard keeping the rhythm perfectly. "Your son went inside carrying buckets. This war will temper everyone who survives, but when it's time for personal performance summaries, I think the most noticeable improvement your son will show is his culinary skill." At the very center of the military camp stood a towering earthen mound where array masters were laying down magic arrays. Aisen, Kaixi, and Lucie were all higher-level array masters. Having completed the top-tier structural architecture, they left the remaining sections for mid- and low-level array masters to fill in, allowing the three to sit atop the mound and rest. Thus, they had witnessed Richard's earlier actions with their own eyes. Aisen said to his wife, "I've noticed your mood is getting more and more erratic when it comes to this matter." Kaixi sighed and said, "I think I'm already the most emotionally stable of any mother facing a similar situation." Young people could disregard many objective realities because of affection, personality, or various reasons. But as a mother... perhaps no mother would truly want to accept a daughter-in-law like Philomena. Aisen spread his hands. Since joining the army and coming to the front, thick calluses had formed across his palms. He felt a bit of regret that he hadn't let his son experience this firm, rough layer of paternal love back in the day. He knew very well that opportunities to beat his son would only grow rarer. His wife had told him how their son had handled that spy. She said that in that moment, standing before her son, she had felt like a dazed quail that knew nothing. Parents facing such a moment often felt deeply gratified, yet alongside that gratification came a sense of loss. Kaixi remarked with emotion, "Sometimes I really feel it's a pity. When our son needed companionship, guidance, and education the most, your illness was acting up, and I was away on duty. By the time we both came back, we found that our son had grown up on his own. Though he still acts naughty and foolish, down to the bone, he's actually matured." Mr. Aisen thought: *You, his mother, didn't participate, but I, his father, accompanied our son the whole time as Memphis.* After hesitating a moment, Mr. Aisen comforted her anyway, "Look on the bright side. Maybe if we had been there to guide and educate him, our son wouldn't have turned out as well as he is now." Kaixi paused and looked at her husband. "Thank you for the comfort—if that even counts as comfort." *Snap!* Sitting beside them, Lucie lit a cigarette without joining the conversation. Truthfully, she was sick of it. Every time they took a break from work, her older brother and sister-in-law would sit together and talk about their son, making her miss her own daughter terribly. Kaixi spoke up, "Tell me, if things don't work out between our son and that girl in the end, won't it be humiliating?" "For you?" "I mean for our son." "No. That's youth for you. Experiencing it, living through it, and feeling it is what makes it wonderful. The beauty of youth lies in allowing yourself not to care so much about the outcome." "Those words sound familiar. When we were introduced and started seeing each other, didn't you say the exact same thing to me?" "Did I?" Lucie promptly chimed in, "Yes, you did. Because those were words left in Eldest Sister's notebook. My brother memorized them and said them to you." The "Eldest Sister" Lucie referred to was Karen's mother. Kaixi asked, "Did Eldest Sister have someone she loved before her incident back then?" Lucie shrugged. "I was young back then, so I don't know. But judging by her journal, she probably did. My brother was older at the time, and Eldest Sister liked taking him along, so he definitely knows." Aisen said, "Eldest Sister did have someone. Before her incident, they had already made their relationship official." Kaixi said, "What a shame. I know Eldest Sister was the true genius of your family. If nothing had happened to her, her child would certainly be exceptional too. Then our Richard would have had an older brother to look after him." "Yeah," Aisen murmured. *Indeed exceptional. We even have to salute when we see him. What's more, Richard has long been taken under his wing.* Kaixi smiled. "So back then, when you told me that nonsense about youth not needing to care about the outcome, you had already decided in your heart that you wanted me to bear your children, didn't you?" "Yes, I had." Aisen nodded. "The name Richard was picked by Eldest Sister when we were playing games as kids, for her younger brother's future son. She even picked a name for my daughter, but sadly, we couldn't have a second child." Lucie teased, "So since you two share a military tent, do you really spend your nights studying military array diagrams?" Aisen retorted, "What else?" "Heh." Lucie blew out a smoke ring. "If I could be assigned to the same battalion and share a tent with Dake, I'd have already made a little brother or sister for my daughter." Having suffered through long illness and learned from it, Aisen looked at his sister and cautioned, "You need to pay attention to your mental stress." "I'm fine." Lucie shook her head. "The array master sharing a tent with me acts like nothing's wrong at all—she hums songs and dances by herself every day. I can't be outdone by her." Aisen said, "She came out of the Frontier Space. Setting technical expertise aside, in terms of sheer psychological fortitude, we're already leagues behind them." "I know. But I think your psychological fortitude is remarkably resilient, Brother. I haven't seen you showing any stress; in fact, after arriving here, you've grown more and more cheerful. The old you has truly returned. Right, dear Sister-in-law? That's the man you fell for back then, isn't it?" Kaixi nodded. "Indeed. But I'm even more curious about what made him take a liking to me back then." Lucie said, "Probably love at first sight?" Aisen replied, "Do you think everyone is like you—falling in love at first sight, refusing to marry anyone else, throwing tantrums at Mom and Dad, going on hunger strikes?" Lucie and her husband, Dake, had truly fallen for each other immediately after working together on a mission. Delon had opposed it back then, but he couldn't overcome his daughter's stubborn insistence. As a result, for many years afterward, Dake would address his superior as "My Lord," only for that same superior to respectfully address Lucie as "My Lady" the moment she came to visit him or bring him meals. Kaixi pressed, "Then why was it?" Aisen waved a hand. "Why does there have to be a reason? I thought you were nice, so we got together." After so much build-up, that was all he had to say. As his wife, Kaixi was naturally unsatisfied. "Just that simple?" "Yeah, what needs to be so complicated?" Neo's voice drifted over from behind them. The three immediately turned around and saluted him. Dressed in pajamas, Neo waved a hand, yawning as he sat down, and continued, "In your lifetime, finding someone suitable is enough. Down the road, you might meet someone better, or someone worse, but none of that matters anymore. It's like a stock you can no longer trade—whether it goes up or down later has nothing to do with you, and you can stop caring entirely. Life may be long, but love really accounts for only a tiny fraction of it. Otherwise, why would humanity have invented music, opera, and painting? Isn't it just because people got tired and bored of loving back and forth and had to develop other hobbies?" Whether genuinely touched by Neo's words or simply deferring to his status, both Kaixi and Lucie wore thoughtful expressions. Aisen gave a cough. *Talking so casually—who was the one who constantly wanted to die, again?* Just then, Richard stepped out of Philomena's tent carrying his buckets. Neo remarked, "Doesn't that look just like he finished slopping pigs?" Kaixi and Lucie barely stifled their laughter. To divert her attention, Kaixi said, "I just don't understand why Philomena is always so lukewarm toward our Richard." Lucie chimed in immediately, "She must be testing him, right?" "Testing? Testing, my foot! What I look down on most is putting someone through test after test when dating—there's no such rule," Neo scratched his neck. "He's a believer of Order. The only one qualified to test him is the God of Order." In the distance, the bone dragon flew back carrying Karen. After it touched down, Neo saw Rekar carrying something wrapped in black cloth into the command tent. Judging by its shape, it looked like a person. "What is that?" Lucie asked. Aisen said, "Didn't you see the black cloth?" "I saw it. I want to know what's inside the black cloth." "If they wanted you to see, why wrap it in black cloth? Learn not to see what you shouldn't see." Scolded by her brother, Lucie sighed and quietly lit another cigarette. Neo clapped his hands and said, "Maybe our Corps Commander went out on patrol and captured an enemy priestess who genuinely adores him, and now he's about to take her into the command tent to whip some intel out of her!" Neo was spouting nonsense, but even he hadn't imagined that his nonsense was actually true. It could only be said that reality's capacity for absurdity far exceeded the limits of human imagination. Soon, Daliwenluo, Madame Gandiluo, and Philomena all arrived outside the command tent to set up a security perimeter. The isolation array exclusive to the command tent was also activated. "Oho." Neo rubbed his chin. His curiosity piqued, he decided to go have a look. When he walked over, Daliwenluo and the others didn't stop him. Lifting the tent flap and stepping inside, he actually saw a young girl bound and unconscious on the ground. Only, her skin was rather dark... Oh, not dark-skinned—she had suffered extensive burns. Neo asked, "Who is she?" Karen replied, "A priestess of the Laks line with a very prominent background. Inside her body is the artifact spirit of the divine weapon, the Spear of Sin." "I say, how is your luck so good? You pick up point coupons just going out for a stroll?" "She sent someone to assassinate me, but it failed, so I brought her back." "Delivered right to your doorstep." Neo walked over to Ruiqier, squatted down, and chuckled. "Karen, the most obvious benefit of your breakthrough is that you've drastically raised the cost for anyone wanting to assassinate you in the future." "Perhaps." Neo asked, "Carrying the artifact spirit of a divine weapon means her status must be extraordinarily high, which makes her very valuable. The war will end eventually, and her family will definitely pay an enormous price to ransom her back." "On the black market, how many point coupons is a divine weapon worth?" Neo blinked. "It's just the spirit." "The assassin died, but during the attempt, he drew upon the power of the Spear of Sin. No chanting, no altar set up, and I sensed nothing beforehand. That signifies one thing..." Neo's gaze finally turned serious. He stood up and pointed toward the Zuomaisi Mountains. "Damn it, they actually deployed a divine weapon to their battle line!" In this era, divine weapons were more or less damaged or lost, and furthermore, only gods could unleash their full power. Even so, the might of a divine weapon was not to be ignored. While a single divine weapon could not completely overturn the entire battlefield layout, it could at least tip the scales with tremendous force. Neo slapped his forehead and remarked, "Looks like we need to focus on reinforcing our defenses. Still, do you want to try controlling that divine weapon through its spirit?" Karen said, "Control is almost certainly impossible. I can only say I'll do my best to exert some degree of influence." "Then let's get started. Do you need me to stand guard outside?" "If you want to stay and watch, that's fine too." In this military camp, Karen's will held supreme authority, so there was no need to sneak off outside to try this somewhere secluded. The command tent was actually the safest and most secure location. Most importantly, if they went anywhere else, they would have to deal with Church of Laks operatives sent searching for her. The resonance between divine weapons was difficult to sever by outside forces, but if the mountain forces sensed the girl's location within the Church of Order's main camp... they would probably be powerless to act. In fact, Karen rather looked forward to the enemy losing their minds and launching an offensive of their own accord. Kevin trotted up to Ruiqier and sniffed her. Purr leaped down from Little Kanna's head and used her paws to knead and probe Ruiqier's body. The girl had carried two semi-forbidden curse scrolls alone; who knew what else she had on her, making a thorough security search beforehand crucial. Sure enough, Purr dug out another ring, extracted three silver hair strands from deep in her hair, and found two more scrolls in Ruiqier's boots. These were all formidable scrolls and sacred artifacts, and quite a few other miscellaneous items were uncovered as well. Neo smacked his lips and cursed, "Vile aristocratic brat." Karen said, "Don't insult aristocrats. People in the religious circles value bloodline far more than secular nobles." Secular pursuit of bloodline tended toward an illusory vanity, but bloodline within religious circles yielded tangible feedback and real power. Consequently, within this echelon, unions between men and women could unashamedly be equated to livestock breeding. Hearing this, Neo clapped Karen on the shoulder. "Why does hearing that kind of sarcasm from your mouth feel so strange?" After all, among everyone present—including the cat, the dog, and the dragon—none possessed a "bloodline" higher than his. Karen clapped his hands. "Time to get to work." With that, Karen opened his palm toward Ruiqier, sending a halo of light over her, and she woke from unconsciousness. She lifted her head with difficulty and looked around. When she saw Karen's desk and the neat stacks of books on it, a brilliant, excited smile broke across her face. "Ha, I love the layout of your command tent! I've kept that photo from the newspaper all this time, and I was even thinking of finding that Order Weekly reporter after the war to buy the original print." Neo blinked and said, "You want photos of him? I have plenty—not just work photos, but candid everyday ones too. After the war, I can give them to you, and even throw in some personal items he's used." "Really?" "Of course, provided the price is right." "Price isn't an issue. My family holds immense standing in the Church of Laks. My grandfather was once the partner of the Precept-Keeper." "Oh, is that so? That couldn't be better. Ah, I've already begun hating this damned war, praying from the bottom of my heart for peace to arrive soon." "Yes, me too. This war should have ended long ago. I can't bear to see anyone else die—it truly breaks my heart." Neo nodded vigorously, his finger lightly prodding the charred scabs on the girl's skin. Throughout this, her voice hadn't trembled in the slightest, showing an exceptional threshold for pain. "Then summon the artifact spirit from inside you. You must understand, such a terrible divine weapon of war has no place on a battlefield. Our Church of Order has a realm where we seal away those terrible divine weapons to seek peace for the world." "You make a lot of sense, and I would gladly do so, but my soul has already fused with the artifact spirit. They cannot be separated." Next, Ruiqier looked at Karen, continuing where they had left off before she was knocked out: "Excising me is tantamount to excising the artifact spirit along with me. And if the divine weapon's spirit disappears, the only result will be... after some time, a new spirit will be nurtured. "My suggestion remains the same: use me to ransom for a fortune instead, my dear Karen." *Smack!* A set of claw marks appeared across Ruiqier's face. She stared in astonishment at the black cat before her. Purr flicked her paw and said, "'Our Little Karen' is my exclusive title, meow. You're not allowed to use it." Ruiqier smiled, showing no hint of anger, and offered, "Could Lady Cat do the other side of my face as well, for the sake of symmetry? Treat it like applying makeup." *Smack!* Another set of claw marks landed on the exact same cheek. Purr said, "In your dreams. I love watching people with obsessive-compulsive tendencies suffer." Ruiqier stopped looking at Purr and turned back to Karen. "What I said just now is true. It and I cannot be separated. I don't want to see the person I admire waste effort on foolish futility—it would shatter your perfect image in my heart." Karen asked, "Kevin, do you have the plan ready?" Kevin immediately straightened up, wagging his tail furiously. Purr said, "The stupid dog already came up with a plan, meow. What she says is true—normally, separation is virtually impossible. But we have our ways. "First, lay down an invocation array. The stupid dog will personally serve as the invocation medium, connecting you and her. He will locate the portion where the artifact spirit resides, and then I will manipulate flame to slowly burn away the impurities of her soul. That way, we can extract the artifact spirit intact. "Oh, right—when I burn away the impurities, it might trigger a protective backlash from the artifact spirit, so Karen, you'll need to intercept that for me. That shouldn't be a problem for you." Ruiqier didn't believe what the cat was saying, but she feared Karen might force the attempt and kill her. She snapped immediately: "Are you insane?!" Ignoring Ruiqier, Karen asked Kevin, "Will an advanced invocation array suffice?" "Woof!" Kevin nodded. Karen gathered materials and began laying down the array. Although high in specification, the array covered a small area, and with the boost from the Key to the Rubik's Cube, it was quickly set up. Neo helped lift Ruiqier and placed her inside the array area. Karen stood at the opposite end, while Kevin crouched in the very center. Purr gently rubbed her paws together, producing a small flame. This time, she didn't need to borrow Karen's power; merely burning soul matter rather than fighting meant a flame of this degree was more than enough. "Hoo... hoo..." Purr blew continuously on the little flame atop her paw. With each breath, the flame shifted color—from yellow to red, then to purple, stopping once it turned azure. "Operation ready to begin, meow!" Ruiqier shouted, "Karen, is this how you treat someone who admires you?!" Karen replied calmly, "The moment you chose to launch an assassination against me, I gained the right to take any form of revenge." Although this girl constantly emphasized her admiration for him, Karen had already witnessed her ruthlessness and resolve firsthand. Anyone who took her for a fool would be the real fool. Ruiqier said darkly, "You want your soul consciousness to connect with mine? Don't you find that utterly ridiculous? I'm bound by you now, incapable of resisting or struggling, but if you dare enter my soul space, you will inevitably face slaughter by the will of the Spear of Sin! "Who do you think you are, to withstand the supreme majesty of a divine weapon?" Neo snorted, "Pfft..." Immediately afterward, Neo wiped his nose, coughed twice, and raised a hand in gesture to indicate he shouldn't have laughed. Karen did not reply. Instead, he closed his eyes, and under the control of the Key to the Rubik's Cube, the array activated. Kevin and Purr closed their eyes as well. A peculiar glow flashed from Kevin's bald scalp, extending several streamers: one wrapped around Karen's wrist, one around Purr's tail, and the last locked onto Ruiqier's neck. The consciousnesses of all four successfully connected. Karen "opened" his eyes and found himself standing atop a lake. The lake was swirling and flowing, half gold and half silver. This meant the girl possessed the dual inheritance of the God of Gold and the God of Black Silver. Behind Karen, an azure flame flickered gently. Right at that moment, the lake surface spun rapidly, forming a terrifying vortex at its center from which horrific pressure radiated outward. As the spearhead emerged, everything in the soul space began to warp, and even the flame Purr had condensed started to flicker erratically. Karen shielded the flame behind him. Before him, the Spear of Sin fully manifested. It was towering, even magnificent; before it, the originally vast lake seemed almost diminutive. At the center of the spear shaft, Ruiqier's figure slowly materialized. She didn't gloat, knowing that even if she destroyed Karen's soul here, she herself... could never leave Karen's command tent alive. Spreading her arms, the Spear of Sin shifted slightly, triggering a terrifying tremor. Innumerable whirlpools of sin spread across the soul space like moldy dark spots. Ruiqier said, "My dear Lord Karen, you must see how small and frail you are now. Please stop, and let us discuss selling me for a good price." Karen shook his head. Ruiqier flew into a rage, roaring: "Look closely! Before its sacred majesty, you truly are nothing—less than an ant!" The Spear of Sin began to tilt. Terrifying pressure materialized into solid shackles, binding Karen, while the descending spear shaft prepared to annihilate his soul entirely. The scene was like the blade of a guillotine beginning to fall. Karen watched it all with utter calm. Right now, he actually felt a hint of fondness for this young lady, because she had allowed him to experience that "sense of grounded certainty" twice in a single day. The situation was shattered completely by a single call from Karen. Karen said: "Hey, dinner's served." In the next instant, Beneath Karen, an enormous hand appeared, lifting him upward as it rose higher and higher. The form beneath the hand gradually emerged as well. It was a colossal, awe-inspiring figure. When it appeared, it didn't just shatter the Spear of Sin's dominion over the soul space—it mercilessly crushed it in sheer presence! For it represented the madness of that hegemon from the previous era; it profoundly embodied the brutal, bloody side of Order. The lake below began to evaporate, and the Spear of Sin began to tremble. The divine weapon that symbolized the execution of all sins now displayed the most craven response imaginable. It was shrinking back. It was repenting. It was... begging for mercy! Ruiqier stared in disbelief at everything before her. She saw clearly what it was, but that only made it harder to believe, because it was simply too absurd—so absurd that she even felt this ongoing war was an utter, complete joke! Just who were we fighting against? No, Who had the Church of Order sent out to fight this war? *Grandpa Qisang, is this what you called 'lowly bloodline'?* *If even this counts as lowly, then what are we, what are all the people of this world, what are those gods themselves?* "You... you aren't a Child of God... You're... you're actually... a God!" Karen looked down from above at the great spear and at the girl. As he spoke, the immensely majestic and solemn statue of hunger addiction behind him spoke in unison, its voice shaking the lake and cracking the spear: "And now, what are you?"