Pretending To Be A Boss

People with identity and ability mostly got away unscathed.

For example, Ke Ye and Shang Lu were still living their lives in their original positions.

But many people without identity became judgement knights.

Bai Mansheng seldom saw Tang Xian like this.

He couldn't quite pinpoint what was off, but looking at this figure from behind, he thought Tang Xian seemed a bit lonely.

He walked in the night, not uttering a word, merely letting his gaze sweep across the faces of each temporary worker.

Tang Xian did not miss the old days, nor did he miss some of the people from before.

Or perhaps he thought he wouldn't miss them.

But at least these people needed to survive.

"Screw the Mapo tofu and damn the bean paste sauce, I just want tits and butts! And mines! Preferably the damn purple ones."

Tang Xian seemed to hear a familiar voice, but when he turned around, he didn't see the person speaking.

Tang Xian remembered this line.

It came from an old mining buddy when he used to be a temp.

Back then, Tang Xian always liked to talk about food, stealing moments to relax.

Even though the old miner wasn't interested in food, he was still willing to listen to Tang Xian ramble on.

Today, he saw some familiar faces, like Jiang Ming, Bai Ling, and Shang Lu.

But there were others he would never see again.

"Did you hear that voice?"

"What voice?" Bai Mansheng looked at Tang Xian, puzzled.

Tang Xian felt a bit desolate and shook his head. He continued deeper into the night.

Besides the sound of mining, there was nothing else.

His face grew increasingly somber, as if carrying a smoldering anger.

"Tang Feiji, do you remember those mech bodies we fought on the second level of Fortress Thirty-nine?"

Suddenly, Tang Xian asked.

They had reached the edge of the newbie village.

Tang Feiji nodded, replying,

"Of course I remember. That toy-like riffraff, they were no match for your lordship. But their methods of attack were indeed a bit annoying."

Tang Xian was puzzled over what Tang Feiji regarded as toys compared to the Rubik's cubes and Lego bricks he played with.

But as conceited as Tang Feiji was, to add a but clause, it seemed the judgement knight's strange ray indeed posed a hassle.

Tang Xian also remembered how little Qing JiuYu took nearly a month to recover after being hit.

There weren't many guards on the edge of the safety zone, and if Song Que could strike unnoticed, it would be even easier for Tang Feiji.

"We're going to capture a judgement knight tonight."

"As easy as flipping my hand."

"Good, you can even use idioms now."

Tang Xian said, nodding with a smile.

Bai Mansheng also started laughing.

Tang Feiji said proudly,

"Human language is so simple, your lordship grasps it with ease."

"It's 'grasps it with ease,' not 'occupy it with ease.'" Bai Mansheng shook his head and corrected.

Tang Feiji coughed twice.

Tang Xian's sense of smell allowed him to detect the position of the judgement knight from a great distance.

He quickly discussed a battle plan with Tang Feiji and Bai Mansheng.

For a cataclysmic creature and a disaster-level creature to deal with a judgement knight was far too easy.

Despite the judgement knights being on high alert, Tang Xian's sense of smell covered the entire green zone.

Before long, Tang Feiji appeared, holding the body of a judgement knight in one hand and the head in the other.

Bai Mansheng also captured a judgement knight, slightly slower than Tang Feiji and with more damage.

Of course, the judgement knight Tang Feiji brought back wasn't too intact either.

A human, a dragon, and a snake met at the border of the green zone.

Tang Feiji said,

"After fighting them for some time, I discovered these things are almost immortal, unless you twist off their heads."

"Or break their spines," Bai Mansheng added, and then threw the judgement knight he captured to the ground, mocking Tang Feiji.

Listening to their conversation, Tang Xian pondered.

"Ordinary mechanized bodies can't operate in the mining area due to a special field here that isolates most machinery."

"However, mechs made from biological elements seem to have broken through this limitation, which may be why judgement knights require biological components to be constructed."

Bai Mansheng and Tang Feiji didn't understand and weren't interested either. They just watched Tang Xian fiddling around.

Tang Xian flipped through the remains of the judgement knight.

He noticed the additional patterns etched on the body of the Trial Knight, all indicating the integration of various mechanical technologies.

Such as night-vision goggles and thermal biological monitors.

Therefore, in the Pyramid, these Trial Knights would be even more difficult to deal with.

But it was different here.

The devices on their bodies would lose their function. For this reason, Tang Feiji and Bai Mansheng could approach the Trial Knight undetected.

Tang Xian grew more puzzled.

Because the body of the Trial Knight had no human flesh and organs whatsoever.

But there was a simulated spine.

Following the spine, Tang Xian's gaze finally settled on the severed head.

Although he couldn't figure out what was inside the head of the Trial Knight, and there was no blood or flesh in the remains—

Tang Xian indeed smelled it.

"Well hidden, must be only a few human organs."

"The thalamus is the most important sensory transmission station for animals with a developed cerebral cortex.

It occupies only a small part, a pity indeed, looks like I'll have to consult with the neurosurgeon Zhong Xiuxiu next time.

Maybe she could provide a sample for me to confirm what the thalamus smells like."

"Exactly, you haven't eaten humans," Tang Feiji said proudly, sharing his findings.

This time Qing JiuYu didn't interrupt.

Tang Xian ignored this.

The manufacturing process of the Trial Knights was extremely complex.

He wasn't concerned with the principles, just as ancient people would regard calculus as book of the heavens without a foundation in mathematics.

The Orderers had even more complex and refined mechanical bodies than the Trial Knights.

Even with the blueprints, one might not understand the advanced physical principles involved.

But he had found what he was looking for.

"The ability of the Trial Knight, or that peculiar ray, might be innate." Stay updated through My Virtual Library Empire

"Innate?" Bai Mansheng asked, confused.

"The talents of the Gifted are hereditary. Non-Gifted individuals turned into Trial Knights might have been forcibly implanted with a terrifying innate ability during transformation, an ability specifically designed to counter me."

Tang Xian shook his head, wishing Song Que and Li Xiaoyu were here.

Or Yu Xiaozhe and Lin Sen, at least to have someone to help analyze the situation.

It wasn't that Bai Mansheng and Tang Feiji were too stupid, but rather they, as beasts, didn't understand these matters.

"Why is it targeting you?" Bai Mansheng didn't understand but was very interested.

"Because it's hard for me to die, and the Trial Knight's ability just happens to erase my strongest reliance."

Tang Feiji nodded in agreement.

Having been struck by the Trial Knight's death ray before, he knew well how that ray restrained Tang Xian.

Since he'd fought Tang Xian, under normal circumstances, Tang Xian should have died a thousand times over.

Surviving even a piercing by ice spears wasn't because the Azure Dragon's attacks weren't strong but because Tang Xian's lifeforce was incredibly robust.

But if Tang Xian's rapid life recovery was removed, in a near-death state, Tang Xian might not die, but his bodily functions would drop to freezing point due to the inability to recover.

"You are a Child of Eden, can't you defend against it?"

"That depends on whether the Trial Knight belongs to the mechanical or the living."

As long as it's a biological entity, Tang Xian can develop resistance.

But if it's a lifeless machine, then there's no way to do so.

Just as humans can injure themselves with firearms.

If it really is the latter, Tang Xian wouldn't find it strange that Eden's children were defeated by the Orderers.

After a thorough inspection and toying with it for a while, Tang Xian was sure he couldn't discern any further clues, so he stopped caring and instructed Tang Feiji to cleanly melt everything away.

He was not a person who allowed crises to unfold unchecked.

The Trial Knight had become a threat to him and also posed a vague threat to the future of humanity.

Even if he spoke out, people wouldn't believe him.

Who would be willing to give up such obedient, powerful, and low-cost mechanical bodies?

However, his understanding of the Trial Knights was still too limited.

And to make the people at the bottom aware of this scam, he still lacked a bit of influence.

But Song Que wasn't lacking in that, Yu Xiaozhe wasn't either.

Thinking this, Tang Xian had a plan in mind.

"What's next?" Seeing Tang Xian's mood slowly returning to normal, Bai Mansheng asked softly.

Tang Xian produced the fruit of the Zudun Sacred Tree.

"There's much to do, but for now let's find a prey to observe what effect this fruit truly has."

(Twenty thousand words, counted as ten chapters at two thousand words each for today, the working group really cannot squeeze out time to write more, I've done my best~)