Chapter 964: Come with Me

The shadow army circled Qilin and Surnamed Li, weapons piercing through them. Zhong He needed a moment to process what he saw; their bodies had turned translucent green, like spirits. It was Unreachable!

Realization struck Zhong He.

Edmond, from Tails!

Qilin had turned Edmond's body into a puppet, converting the man's Talent for his own use. The damage from Zhuang Mei—the life monster—meant Qilin could only use it for less than two minutes.

Qilin had refrained from using Unreachable back at the Qingyang Bridge because it wouldn’t be cost-effective.

Level 7 Puppeteer could control at most four corpse puppets at Azure Dragon’s level, but the puppets weren’t valued based on their actual strength, but simply based on the Talents.

Which meant that Edmond and Blood Amber, possessing the bottom twelve Talents, were considered as powerful as Azure Dragon by Puppeteer, thus occupying two spots.

Azure Dragon and Blood Amber were paired for strategy, requiring two spots. The life monster was insurance, demanding another. Using the final quota on Edmond, who offered only brief defensive capability, would have been unwise. Instead, Qilin used it to control his substitute while maintaining flexibility with lower-level puppets.

In theory, Qilin could’ve hidden Edmond near the bridge and kept swapping in and out the puppets he had to manipulate more powerful puppets, but that was a strategy only viable on paper.

Things changed too quickly on the battlefield for Qilin to execute such a plan.

Moreover, while Qilin had tremendous Willpower with the Summon Rune Circuit on him giving him a buff, he had his limits as a human.

If Qilin had kept swapping puppets from the beginning, it would drain his energy too quickly for him to use the life monster later.

Now, things were different.

With Azure Dragon and the life monster gone, two major spots lay empty. While controlling Edmond and Blood Amber, he could still command many minor puppets.

Yellow Lotus stood motionless, her connection to her master severed, Surnamed Li still in her arms. While Unreachable was active, all other Talents were suppressed. Qilin turned and waved—Surnamed Li's spirit-like form flew from Yellow Lotus' arms, breaking free of the shadow army's siege.

Qilin phased through the army and approached Zhong He. "I told you I wouldn't give anyone a second chance, Zhong He. I regret to say you'll be coming with me in another form."

Woosh

. Zhong He instantly retracted his shadow army for defense, black energy swirling around Qilin's unreachable form.

"Alright!" Zhong He's eyes blazed with determination. "Let's see if your Eidos is quicker, or my Phantom!"

Qilin smiled with faint pity.

In the next second, Unreachable was deactivated.

Whoosh

. Black energy surrounding Qilin morphed into countless spears, penetrating his body like a beehive. Meanwhile, Phantom's defense slowed Brain Formatting's invasion, allowing Zhong He to strike before losing his mental faculty.

“It seems that I am the winner...” Zhong He clenched his teeth, his face pale with the shadow retracting, but his expression was pleased. “Eidos...is nothing...”

His pale smile froze two seconds later.

Qilin, bleeding from his orifices, remained graceful.

“Zhong He,” he said ruefully, watching Zhong He calmly, “You already lost when you saw me.”

...

In reality, Zhong He had turned off the main switch and conjured the shadow army in the dark, while Qilin had protected himself and Surnamed Li with Unreachable.

But what happened next existed only in Zhong He's mind. The moment Qilin saw him, he had planted a seed of illusion—one that took root and sprouted the instant Zhong He pulled the switch and Qilin used Unreachable.

Under the illusion, built upon reality, Zhong He became still and retracted his shadow.

Qilin walked up to Zhong He slowly. Before Zhang Wei, Lovely Lamb, Wang Weiyan, and Vermilion Bird, he pierced the man's heart with his cane effortlessly.

“Brother Zhong He!”

“No!”

The shock shattered Qilin's reassurance over the two little girls. They shouted, running toward Zhong He.

"Forget," Qilin uttered.

The girls collapsed, unconscious.

"Carry them." Qilin turned his back to Zhang Wei and Quiet Book.

"Yes..." Quiet Book rushed to pick up the unconscious Lovely Lamb, tamping down her heartbreak and fear while quietly sobbing. Zhang Wei, face pale and body shaking, went to pick up Wang Weiyan.

"Good." Qilin retracted his Black Gold cane from Zhong He's chest. Blood splattered on his face.

Zhong He collapsed to the ground, dead.

Qilin tightened his grip around his cane and focused his mind. A deep green web emerged on Zhong He's shoulder, the Puppeteer's brand quickly taking shape.

Then he frowned, sensing a disturbance of energy—like a fish bone disrupting the enjoyment of delicious fish.

He raised his cane slightly, picking the glinting Black Gold hairpin from Zhong He's breast pocket. The hairpin quickly dimmed, and the Puppeteer's contract formed without problem.

Ten seconds later, Zhong He's chest stopped bleeding. His eyes flickered with cold green light.

He rose to his feet silently—now a loyal, cold, powerful perfect puppet with a use time of fifteen minutes.

Qilin controlled Yellow Lotus to pick up Surnamed Li and carry Zhong He on her back. A powerful puppet's use time should be preserved as much as possible.

Then Qilin slowly turned around. "Let's pack up and go home."