One-Eyed Monster

After the elderly man finished speaking, he clenched his fist, clearly unwilling to let go of the fact that they had been tricked.

This was the first time their smokescreen had been played with like this.

”Third one, is everything in the box intact?”

”No problem, only some clothing and the like got burnt, nothing important!” said the Thin and Tall Pole, named Ruben, who was a Hunter.

”That’s good, the mission must remain unchanged. We managed to escape Luona’s men thanks to the Alchemy Workshop’s name; otherwise, our smokescreen wouldn’t really have a way to deal with these Thunder Army.”

”That’s because the master cannot move. If the master could act, what would those Thunder Army amount to?” said the big man, named Grim, who was a Fighter.

”Anyway, we cannot be careless. That young man seems to have noticed something special about us, or he wouldn’t have set fire to our things. Second one, did you detect any movement from that young man on this road?”

”No, I haven’t sensed anything at all.” said the hooded wizard, named Sims, a Flame Wizard.

”Still, caution is paramount. We’ll keep this Exotic Fire Spark for now and return it with interest to that youngster later!”

”Yes!” The three responded in unison once again.

”Also, Fourth one, go find another young girl. You know what the master wants, this girl’s vessel probably won’t last through the night.”

”Yes!”

”Alright, get prepared!” After the elderly smoker gave his orders, he escorted the woman to the bed in the room. He cautiously lowered the bed curtains, slowly retreating, while on a nearby table, a blue flame flickered inside a glass container.

”Hmph—” Soon, a muffled groan emerged from the bed in the room, full of resentment and anger!

”Master, calm down!” The smoker dropped to his knees in fear of the sound.

”Blood! Blood! I need blood!” From the bed, emanated an old man’s eerie groans from the woman.

”Fourth one is on the way, master please endure for just a moment more!” The kneeling smoker trembled, sweat dripping like beads from his head.

”Blood! Give me blood!” The voice still insisted, repeatedly demanding.

”Yes, yes, yes!” The smoker dared not delay any longer; he drew a dagger from his boot and slashed his wrist, collecting his flowing blood into a wooden basin.

When the blood had reached a certain volume, the smoker, looking pale, delivered his blood to the bedside.

”Master… blood…” The voice was weak; clearly, the elderly man had lost too much blood!

A rotten black arm protruded from beneath the bed curtain, which did not look like a young girl’s arm at all.

In an instant, the rotten arm snatched the basin from the old man’s grasp, and devouring sounds followed as if the creature behind the curtains was consuming the entire wooden basin!

When the devouring sounds gradually diminished, a muffled hum of satisfaction issued from beneath the bed curtain, followed by the figure sprawling down, snoring loudly.

Throughout the process, the smoking elder remained kneeling on the ground, daring not to raise his head.

”Big brother!” Sims entered the room and exclaimed, seeing the pale smoking elder.

”Hasn’t Fourth one returned yet?” The elder asked weakly, clearly affected by the blood loss earlier.

”Why didn’t you call us inside?” Sims questioned reproachfully.

”You know the master’s needs come first, there’s no time to think!”

”Today was all because of that young man wasting too much time!”

”Stop saying so much, let’s see if Third one has discovered anything.”

”I’m here to inform you of the findings!”

”Found that kid.”

”In a tavern to the west, probably taking the money and drinking away!”

”Our money!” The smoking elder suddenly grew agitated!

”We’ll make sure that kid gets what he deserves!”

”Everything awaits the master’s orders, have the second one keep an eye on that kid!”

”Alright!”

This group named Smokescreen was initially just an ordinary mercenary group. Amidst the Dark Cabinet and Alchemy Workshop’s conflicts over the past two years, they joined the Alchemy Workshop for self-preservation and are now a branch of the Alchemy Workshop.

The so-called master is not their original team member but someone parachuted in from the Alchemy Workshop.

This master quickly integrated with them, mainly because these individuals were exceptionally obedient, rarely resisting. As long as they were given gold coins, they would do anything, paying no heed to anything else.

Their recent mission was to go to Gaga County to capture a Spirit Core and bring it back to the Alchemy Workshop!

The Spirit Core’s form would appear when the master unleashed his Spirit Power. They only needed to follow the collected intel to seek it out.

Their intel was scarce, stored in their luggage, but unfortunately, the luggage was set ablaze by Kadi!

This meant that the information they had about the Spirit Core was now reduced to fragments in their minds.

But they weren’t afraid as long as their master continued to take charge.

The master couldn’t unleash Spirit Power but could still give them directions.

In order to awaken ahead of time, the master destroyed his own vessel and needed a new one in this place. Such matters were all too familiar to mercenaries like Smokescreen, guys driven by gold coins with no regard for morality, never the good guys.

Not long after, the burly Grim returned carrying a young girl over his shoulder.

The girl was completely unconscious, evidently knocked out by Grim.

The smoking elder instructed Grim and Sims to deliver the girl inside the bed curtains, who bowed their heads as they silently handed her over.

”Master… new…” the elder whispered weakly, now truly exhausted.

Before the smoker’s words were finished, a beast-like growl erupted from the curtains, followed by more devouring sounds.

At this moment, Sims and Grim also knelt, heads lowered, sweat dripping down their heads like beads.

None dared to face the bed directly; whatever happened inside, they did not dare imagine. Inside was their master, a mysterious, powerful being, which, more accurately, could not be called a human!

Soon, the entire curtain became quiet again, with thick white smoke billowing around the bed, as if the smoke had completely enveloped it.

”Welcome, master, to your awakening!”