’Progress is decent. But speaking of which, why hasn’t the Xuan Empire made any moves lately?’ Qi Suian noticed that recently, only people from the Eternal United States were still hunting him.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t encountered enemies from the Xuan Empire, but they were just soldiers on the battlefield, not people specifically sent to kill him.
The intensity of the pursuit from the Eternal United States had also decreased.
It was probably because Qi Suian hadn’t made any more moves, and they also had to resist a two-pronged attack from the Xuan Empire and the survivors. That was likely why they had eased up.
This also allowed the construction of Qi Suian’s missile silos and intercontinental missiles to proceed quite well.
Besides that, Qi Suian was studying a native Sacred Artifact called the Highly Poisonous Flying Dragon - Poison Dragon Crystal.
As for its origin, it was naturally a Sacred Artifact disassembled from the puzzle Sacred Artifact, the Elemental Chalice.
The other native Sacred Artifacts that were disassembled weren’t thrown into the Melting Furnace by Qi Suian; instead, they were being used for research.
The original three-piece set from the "Eternal Beloved" series had been put into storage by Qi Suian after being mostly researched, waiting for him to collect the next Sacred Artifact in the series.
On the other hand, there was the Elemental Chalice. If the research on it was successful, then the Low-level Poison Element Attachment Magic Qi Suian possessed could be used.
He could even upgrade it directly, removing the ’poison’ restriction to make it a Low-Level Elemental Attachment Technique.
And as for removing the "Low-Level" prefix, it wasn’t impossible, but it would require further research.
In Qi Suian’s view, the Elemental Attachment Technique was essentially a technology related to energy manipulation, storage, and output.
With this energy technology, Qi Suian could then develop a series of Tai Sui God modules, such as the Elemental Shield, elemental weapons, and so on.
Furthermore, it would greatly boost the enhancement of the Umbral Virus and the improvement of his virus talents.
Don’t be fooled by it just being a Low-level Poison Element Attachment Magic. It was a classic case of a big fish in a small pond, destined to undergo a Dragon Transformation once the opportunity arose.
Often, it’s not a lack of potential, but a lack of a platform to realize that potential.
What Qi Suian was missing was just that little favorable wind—a final push.
Therefore, Qi Suian started with the native Sacred Artifact most compatible with the Low-level Poison Element Attachment Magic: the Poison Dragon Crystal.
Progress was quite good. The poison-type energy restriction and control it demonstrated to Qi Suian proved to be very effective.
To be honest, Qi Suian had even considered making this Sacred Artifact a module for his Tai Sui God, but as his research progressed, he discovered it wasn’t a good fit for him.
He was a virus, while this native Sacred Artifact was based on poison. There was a difference between the two.
A virus is a biological organism, while a poison is a toxic substance produced by living things, including animals, plants, bacteria, and fungi.
And that was just their origin; they also had vast differences in nature, structure, and effect.
So, you couldn’t just lump them together because they were both toxic.
Even if the end result of both could be death.
Qi Suian only viewed this native Sacred Artifact as an extension of an energy technology.
"I hope no accidents happen before my missile silos and intercontinental missiles are finished," Qi Suian said.
He naturally preferred peace and quiet. Why would he go looking for trouble and court death for no reason?
Qi Suian wasn’t the type of protagonist who needed to experience life-and-death situations to achieve a breakthrough. He didn’t need so-called "trials" or have to fight to level up.
So, this peaceful life was actually more conducive to him growing stronger.
’They aren’t gearing up for a massive attack, are they?’
’How could a war let me be this quiet for so long?’ Qi Suian muttered to himself.
If this were any other Doomsday World, the peace might have actually continued.
But in this Sacred Artifact World, the war from the Destructive Sacred Object, the "Apocalypse," had already been unleashed.
If a day went by without some kind of conflict, everyone would probably feel restless.
[Abnormal personnel detected entering the reconnaissance network’s range.]
The AI brain suddenly interrupted Qi Suian’s thoughts.
"Who is it?" Qi Suian immediately became vigilant. It was a true case of "speak of the devil."
[Based on monitoring data, there is a high probability they are survivors.]
Qi Suian frowned upon hearing this and began to examine the data fed back by the reconnaissance network.
Both the Eternal United States and the Xuan Empire used the Sacred Artifact system. Having dealt with them so much, Qi Suian and his AI brain could naturally distinguish them easily.
This situation was indeed different.
"Analyzing the data, they have at least 8 points in dual attributes." Qi Suian couldn’t help but look pleased.
His own dual attributes had been stuck at 7 points for a long time.
The Extraordinary system of the Sacred Artifact World relied on Sacred Artifacts. Even with the influence of war raising the lower limit of the natives’ power,
the upper limit wasn’t much higher—it was 7 points, just like his.
After all, the mainstream focus was on Sacred Artifacts, not the user’s own strength.
However, they could use Sacred Artifacts to unleash power far exceeding that of 7-point dual attributes.
But this group of survivors was different. They probably relied on their own unique Extraordinary system.
’Judging from the trajectory projections, are they coming for me?’ Qi Suian wasn’t too surprised.
It wasn’t just the Xuan Empire that wanted to use him as a human shield; the survivors would surely have the same idea.
As for how they found him, that was also simple: Sacred Artifacts.
Given the survivors’ current power, even if it couldn’t match the combined national strength of the Eternal United States and the Xuan Empire, it was not to be underestimated.
Obtaining a large number of Sacred Artifacts wasn’t difficult, so assembling a puzzle Sacred Artifact capable of detecting Qi Suian’s location wouldn’t be hard.
The fourth wave of survivors was likely the strongest of all four waves.
As for the most pathetic, that was naturally the first wave.
"It’s not like the Xuan Empire again, is it? They just want me to be their human shield," Qi Suian narrowed his eyes.
People don’t visit without a reason. Why else would they come looking for him?
Of course, before Qi Suian had made a name for himself, they indeed wouldn’t have known a person like him existed.
Only when you have value do others think of using you.
Otherwise, if you had no value, they would probably just kill you on sight and be done with it.
[That is a significant possibility, but it is more likely they want to recruit you.]
[Based on the intelligence you have leaked so far, the survivors will likely guess that you are also a survivor.]
[Therefore, it is more likely that they don’t want you to continue attacking the Eternal United States, but rather want you to return to the survivor collective.]
"I get it. They just want me to go from a temp to a full-time employee, working for them for life." Qi Suian instantly understood the AI brain’s meaning.
Although there were some ambiguities in that analogy, the general meaning was the same.
[I suggest you accept, then scheme to acquire the survivor group’s Extraordinary system.]
[Since the survivors, with a population of only a million, can fight the native factions of the Sacred Artifact World on equal footing, it implies their Extraordinary system has significant potential.]
[Given your situation, trying to obtain it through violent means would likely be quite difficult.]
[Especially since these survivors, influenced by the war, are far more unified than the previous three waves.]
[Therefore, using methods like robbery or torture has a high probability of backfiring.]
Qi Suian admitted that the AI brain’s reasoning was sound, but he had no desire to be patient, much less engage in schemes and lay low.
’The best way is actually to cooperate.’
’I do things for them, they give me what I want.’
’Then, in my spare time, I can grab a few survivors as test subjects.’
’What’s needed is a pure, transactional relationship, with not a shred of emotion involved.’ After all, Qi Suian was a violator.
To put it bluntly, there was no possibility of harmonious coexistence between them.
The doomsday game might not give out alerts when Qi Suian gets close anymore, but there were surely other ways for it to give warnings.
So, Qi Suian definitely wouldn’t let his guard down.
[However, under the influence of the war, it is unlikely you can achieve cooperation as an independent faction.]
[The outcome will likely be another forced failure, just like the previous cooperation with the Xuan Empire.]
"Failure is normal. If we can’t cooperate, then I’ll just kill them and take their stuff," Qi Suian said matter-of-factly.
He wasn’t a good person to begin with. Countless people had died by his hand.
If cooperation fails, of course you kill them and take what you want yourself.
What else was there to do? That’s how he had gotten this far, and it wasn’t like Qi Suian had any other solutions.
Unless he truly couldn’t win a fight, Qi Suian couldn’t be bothered to waste brainpower on such matters. His mind was reserved for studying and researching how to become stronger.
As long as he was powerful enough, he wouldn’t need to worry about any of this.
In the end, it was just because he wasn’t yet strong enough to single-handedly dominate the entire world. Otherwise, he guaranteed he would turn this whole planet upside down.
-----------------
"It should be around here. What a piece of junk Sacred Artifact, it’s so hard to use." Geng Muquan impatiently smacked the puzzle Sacred Artifact in his hand.
He was a survivor, a person from another world, so naturally, he wasn’t used to the Sacred Artifacts of the Sacred Artifact World.
However, since these Sacred Artifacts were items and equipment recognized by the doomsday game, and possessed rather miraculous abilities, they served as a great supplement for the survivors.
After integrating their strengths and weaknesses, they became tools for the survivors.
It was just that there weren’t many useful Sacred Artifacts.
’Whatever, I’ll find the person first.’
’But speaking of which, the fact that he might be a survivor is really strange.’
’Aren’t all survivors from Longjing City? How can there be someone else?’
Geng Muquan knew that all the survivors who had arrived in the Sacred Artifact World were from the same city; there were no other outsiders.
In fact, it wasn’t just the people—the entire Longjing City had come to the Sacred Artifact World.
So when they opened their eyes, they found they had been moved to the Sacred Artifact World, assets and all. With this inherent advantage, plus their own original strength, they were able to establish a firm foothold.
This was what made Geng Muquan wonder about the origins of this survivor who had caused such a huge stir in the Eternal United States.
According to the city’s think tank, if this survivor wasn’t from their world, then he was likely a survivor from a previous wave.
If that was really the case, finding him might allow them to get the intelligence they needed about the doomsday game and the Doomsday Worlds.