Chapter 707 - You’re So Devious, but I Like It

Han Wu returned to the mine shaft with his upgraded Explosive Locust Blade, only to see a crowd gathered around the mine shaft where they had previously killed the Steel Beetles.

Qin Shuang appeared to be arguing with them.

Picking up his pace, he got close enough to hear their argument.

“This mine is huge. How can you prove that you killed these Steel Beetles? I can easily make the same claim too!”

“We’re just collecting the materials. You can continue hunting them down. No one’s interfering with you! Also, my brother is the deputy of the Noir Group in charge of this area. You won’t get off easy if you dare to go against me!”

They surrounded Qin Shuang, spitting ridiculous declarations left and right. If they hadn’t witnessed Qin Shuang’s strength firsthand, they would’ve attacked her.

Qin Shuang was rightfully fuming at their shameless behavior. The mine was huge, and there were many mine shafts. They could’ve gone to another mine shaft to hunt the Steel Beetles, but they purposely surrounded her and used some special tool to attract the fallen carapaces to them after she killed the Steel Beetles with lightning.

They were even shameless enough to try goading her into hunting the Steel Beetles so they could collect the carapaces with ease. If she hadn’t been trying to keep a low profile, she would’ve killed them long ago.

Han Wu pushed them away and asked loudly, “What’s going on here?”

Qin Shuang explained the situation to him. He frowned at her story. Their audaciousness shocked him. This was the first time he had met people bold enough to steal fallen loot, even after knowing their intended victim’s strength.

“We won’t leave just because your man is here. We can collect carapaces wherever we want. No one can stop us.”

“Don’t try attacking us. My brother is the deputy of the Noir Group. If you harm even a single strand of hair on our heads, the Noir Group will toss the two of you into the Steel Beetle swarm as food!”

“Afraid, aren’t you? Start killing the Steel Beetles if you are. We’re still waiting to collect the carapaces.”

Han Wu was speechless at their sheer gall. Qin Shuang was also furious. There was no world where she was going to kill Steel Beetles for them.

At that moment, Han Wu thought of an idea and whispered to her. Qin Shuang lit up when she heard the plan.

“You’re so devious,” she whispered with a giggle, “but I like it.”

The two ignored the crowd and continued killing the Steel Beetles as before. With Han Wu’s improved Explosive Locust Blade, the speed at which they culled the Steel Beetles was rapid.

More people gathered around them, each with a special ore that attracted the carapaces up from the mine shaft for them to bag up. All of them worked hard and quickly gathered plenty of carapaces.

They only stopped when it was nighttime. Qin Shuang and Han Wu stared in shock at the mountain of carapaces behind them. They hadn’t expected to gather that many carapaces within a single day.

The people surrounding them stopped working when the two stopped killing.

“This is probably enough carapaces for now,” one of them said. “We’ll stop today and come back tomorrow.”

As they went to haul the bags of carapaces away, Han Wu stopped them. “Sorry, but you can’t take them with you.”

“Who do you think you are? We’re not going to leave them here just because you tell us to. I’m going to take them with me. What are you going to do about it?” taunted a tanned middle-aged man, the one previously claiming that his brother was the deputy of the Noir Group.

Grabbing one of the bags, he turned at the same time as he lifted it so it would slap Han Wu in the face.

Han Wu wasn’t about to let this slide. Controlling his three Small Locust Blades, he pierced the man’s torso. The man died on the spot, and the bag fell, the carapaces scattering around the man.

“Murder! Murder!” one of them shouted.

The rest summoned their Divine Weapon for the imminent fight, but the three Small Locust Blades hovered menacingly around them like evil spirits, and none of them dared to move.

“Thank you for collecting the carapaces for me. You can leave now,” Han Wu said plainly.

One of them shouted angrily, “Based on what claim? We—”

Han Wu’s Small Locust Blade zipped past the man. Its cold, sharp edge silenced him forever.

“Based on what claim? Perhaps the fact that we killed the Steel Beetles in the first place. Also, based on my blades here, and on your fear of death. Any more questions?” Han Wu’s threat was clear.

The remaining crowd said nothing. They knew that gathering the carapaces from someone else’s kill constituted theft. In fact, they were stealing them in front of their rightful owner!

Han Wu was merely taking back his property. Still, the group had spent time bagging the carapaces and, not wanting their labor to go to waste, refused to leave.

“Not going to leave? Scram!” Han Wu shouted.

They were intimidated and left with disappointment. After putting some distance between them and Han Wu, they gathered and plotted.

“We can’t let them go just like that. Someone go and contact the Noir Group. Tell them that the younger brother of the deputy has been killed.”

“But it’ll take too long for them to arrive. What if those two run away?”

“How? There are too many carapaces for them to move on their own. It's impossible for them to leave tonight!”

“True. Alright, let me go and call the Noir Group.”

Meanwhile, back with Han Wu, Qin Shuang was staring at the huge mountain of carapaces in worry. Although glad that they had taken back what was rightfully theirs, there was still the issue of transporting the carapaces. She also couldn’t help but wonder what they would even do with all of it.

Han Wu saw the unspoken question on her face and answered, “I can use them to nurture my Divine Weapon.”

Han Wu’s Divine Weapons came from the locusts, meaning he could absorb the carapaces of insects to upgrade them. While Steel Beetle carapaces granted very little essence, the sheer quantity was bound to do something at least. With that in mind, he decided to upgrade his first Divine Weapon, the Small Locust Blade.

The Small Locust Blade was his strongest weapon at present. Its speed and maneuverability made it excellent for assassinating people. The only downside was its low durability.

Even with the dedicated effects, its durability was still low. The only way to resolve this was to continue upgrading it so its durability could go up. He stabbed the Small Locust Blade into the mountain of Steel Beetle carapaces.

It absorbed the minuscule essence within the carapaces and slowly upgraded itself, steadily rising from 20 to 30 to 40, until it finally reached rank 100!

The Small Locust Blade could be upgraded once more! If Han Wu could find the corresponding materials, he could upgrade it to the Divine grade!