[Enemy proximity decreasing. Estimated time to contact: five minutes.]
The AI brain presented the report to Qi Suian immediately.
Qi Suian glanced at it and immediately dismissed it. The enemy was using spatial jumps.
Spatial Element, well, that’s just another type of element.
"Poison element..." Qi Suian muttered.
The ’opportunity’ on the Chief Judge of the Seventh Execution Chamber was, without a doubt, the puzzle-piece sacred relic he possessed.
Since he was proficient in various elemental abilities, it meant he must have access to the poison element as well.
Judging by how he operated, his abilities had a certain Western fantasy style, similar to the Low-level Poison Element Attachment Magic that Qi Suian possessed.
’This opportunity is a great thing, but I can’t get my hands on it.’
’The guy is ridiculously strong.’
The Plague and Disease Suite module was indeed effective, but for it to work on the enemy, it would have to break through the defenses, attribute enhancements, and other effects formed by his elements.
In fact, the enemy’s combat experience far surpassed Qi Suian’s. Combined with his elemental abilities, even the AI brain was no match for him.
That was why, after initially misjudging Qi Suian’s strength out of caution, he had immediately crushed the Tai Sui God the moment he perceived its true condition.
[Data analysis predicts a large no-fly, no-airspace zone will appear in approximately three kilometers.]
[The enemy likely possesses special clearance and will not be affected. It is almost certain that we will be affected.]
"When it rains, it pours," Qi Suian said, though he hadn’t despaired yet.
At this point, the AI brain was essentially useless. According to its calculations, there was no way for Qi Suian to survive.
No plan could get around Sharp, the Chief Judge of the Seventh Execution Chamber, causing all models and simulations to fail.
So it could only act as support, but Qi Suian hadn’t given up.
"Land in an uninhabited area. You, with maximum efficiency, repair the issues with the Tai Sui God."
"Leave the rest to me and the protagonist halo." Qi Suian knew that what happened next would depend entirely on the strength of the protagonist halo’s intelligence-lowering effect and its ability to find a way out of a desperate situation.
In favorable conditions, the AI brain could pull off ingenious tricks. In adversity, it could barely scrape by. In a truly desperate situation, it would just go idle.
Under Qi Suian’s control, the Tai Sui God quickly completed the command and landed in an uninhabited area.
’Can’t count on the Tai Sui God. The power gap is too wide.’
’Then...’ Countless ideas flashed through Qi Suian’s mind.
Finally, his memory locked onto the terrified expression of Harrington, the Son of Thunder, as he described unleashing the plague from the "Book of Revelation."
’I get it. A bluff based on a bigger threat!’
’Protagonist halo, whether or not I can scare him depends on how much you can lower his intelligence.’
"AI brain, use the Viral Bloodline Armor to regulate the hormones in my body according to..." Qi Suian knew his acting skills were terrible.
But that didn’t matter. What he lacked in acting, he would make up for with technology. Using the Tai Sui God’s modules, he could maintain all his hormones at a stable level.
This would keep him from losing his composure and eliminate any signs of nervousness, agitation, or other tells.
Combined with his Extreme Will and Unyielding Spirit, the intelligence-lowering effect, and a good dose of luck, the probability of Qi Suian surviving his encounter with Sharp was actually quite high.
[Your plan is likely...]
"If you have an escape plan with more than a fifty percent chance of success, I’ll follow it," Qi Suian cut the AI brain off.
[Yes. Complying with your command.]
Qi Suian knew the AI brain meant well. After all, from its perspective, the disparity in power had completely negated the factor of luck.
"You didn’t run? Did you realize you can’t fly up ahead and decided to stay here to die?" Sharp ended his elemental incarnation and stepped out of the spatial rift.
To avoid repeating the mistakes of Sandton the Lion Scorpion Beast, he had chosen to use his elemental incarnation for protection. This ability not only provided the defense of elementalization but also enhanced his elemental powers.
Soon, however, he noticed something was wrong. The Iron Armor Man showed no reaction at all, yet through his Elemental Life Sense, he could tell that there was nothing wrong with the person inside.
Before he could make a move, he heard Qi Suian’s murmured whisper.
"And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying..."
Sharp was confused at first, but then his expression changed drastically.
That was the opening of the "Book of Revelation."
"Damn it! The original sacred relic of your puzzle-piece relic contains the ’Chapter of Disease’!" Sharp was about to act immediately.
’It had always been a rumor before, but now it’s finally confirmed.’
"...’Come and see.’ And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer."
As the words reached this point, Sharp’s attack came to an abrupt halt.
He saw large amounts of flesh and blood surging from the gaps in the iron armor, the gore a horrifying, grotesque color.
At the same time, the elemental power he used for protection began to fluctuate wildly, and his sensory-type elemental abilities started blaring insane warnings.
This made Sharp’s figure flash backward until he reached what he considered a safe distance.
But the problem now was that this was likely not just the "Chapter of Disease"—there was a very high chance it was the Plague from the "Book of Revelation."
He had experienced the horror of war from birth until now.
If a plague were added to the mix, Sharp... no, both the Eternal United States and the Xuan Empire would be terrified.
The more he thought about it, the thicker the cold sweat on Sharp’s brow became.
He watched until the flesh and blood had completely enveloped the iron armor, transforming it into a horrifying, grotesque form.
As the mutation completed, the passionate, resonant chanting suddenly plummeted, becoming a sinister, ghostly sound.
After the entire passage was finished, two terrifying, inverted eyeballs opened on the head of the Iron Armor Man.
The body of flesh began to tremble, emitting a sound that made even Sharp uncomfortable.
"War brings death. Corpses carry plague. Your greed is the famine for power."
As it spoke, the man of flesh and iron slowly began to stride toward Sharp.
Sharp saw the traces of gore left on the ground.
Normally, he would have felt nothing, but this time was different. He could clearly and instinctively feel fear.
"Come, let us sing praises to the Plague, sir." The voice came again.
Then Sharp distinctly felt a sense of affection for the being of flesh and iron, like the bright, sun-drenched memory of his first love.
He subconsciously wanted to agree.
But his powerful conditioning allowed him to suppress this impulse.
At this moment, his mind was in turmoil, caught between the psychological terror of the Plague and a forced, physiological affection.
This contradiction made him realize one thing: the Plague... had truly been unleashed.
"The Plague is a merciful father. He will unconditionally accept all who are willing to enter His embrace. Sir, I think you should..."
Sharp didn’t hear the rest of what it was saying. He only knew that as it spoke, his psychological fear was fading while the physiological affection grew stronger.
In an instant, he understood why.
The fear came from his mortal instinct for survival, urging him to get away from this terrifying presence.
The physiological affection was the seduction of the Plague.
Once his psychological fear completely vanished and the physiological affection took over, what awaited him was exactly what the creature had said: he would fall into the Plague’s embrace.
And so, only one word remained in his mind: Run!
His brain issued the command. The elements within his Elemental Chalice surged forth, indiscriminately suppressing both fear and affection. Then, he fully elementalized himself, turned, and fled.
This wasn’t the first time he had run in his combat career, but he did not want this escape to be his last.
So he put more effort into it than ever before.
After all, how many of his past enemies could compare to the Plague from the "Book of Revelation"?
As for it being a bluff? Perhaps. But his mind was no longer capable of considering that. The desire for life had overwhelmed all other thoughts.
After Sharp left, the flesh and blood covering the Tai Sui God slowly retracted.
"Damn, that almost hurt like hell. Deboning myself and turning my skin and flesh inside out... but at least I finally scared him off."
"Let’s get out of here. What are we waiting for? If he comes to his senses and doubles back on us, we’re dead for sure," Qi Suian said.
The AI brain received the order and bolted without a trace.
"The main credit goes to the protagonist halo, followed by the Mutual Aid Necklace and the Ring of Unwavering Loyalty," Qi Suian muttered.
Qi Suian had studied these two sacred relics extensively.
The entire process was actually just using the research findings from these two sacred relics to affect Sharp’s hormone secretion with the Abyssal Virus, while using environmental and psychological suggestion to make Sharp scare himself away.
The feeling of affection, needless to say, was fundamentally a hormonal effect from the Mutual Aid Necklace.
The fear, on the other hand, was induced by reducing the secretion of cortisol, the "stress hormone," thereby weakening his ability to regulate stress and fear.
And that’s what led to the situation.
So, from the very beginning, the protagonist halo’s intelligence-lowering effect had hammered his thought processes, reducing his reaction time and reasoning ability.
Then, Qi Suian used the external environment for psychological and mental suggestion and guidance, and finally, combined it with hormonal control, putting on a show to make Sharp scare himself.
The most crucial parts of the whole process were the intelligence reduction and the fact that the enemy knew too much, which made the rest of the plan possible.
Otherwise, if it were some clueless hothead, the bluff might not have worked.
As for that bizarre and frightening appearance, that was part of the research findings from the Ring of Unwavering Loyalty. He never expected to use it at such a critical moment.
’Combined with my own messed-up body, the plasticity is pretty good.’ he mused.
"Can’t stay in the Eternal United States any longer. Best to run first."
"And I can’t go through with robbing the capital. That would be walking right into a trap."
"Let’s run to the Xuan Empire for now," Qi Suian decided. He knew the fake could never become real.
With Sharp’s status, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to confirm the truth.