Chapter 151: Fragment of the Divine Artifact

The man who had been showing off while standing atop the spear finally realized that what had been pinned to the ground was not Ou Xiaolu, but a solid wooden stake.

How could he fail to understand that Ou Xiaolu had escaped at the very last moment? By then, he had exposed himself squarely within the enemy's attack range. The man immediately prepared to defend himself, but it was already too late. Ou Xiaolu materialized behind him, and with a swift flash of his blade, severed the man's head.

Kicking the corpse away with a sweep of his foot, Ou Xiaolu still seemed unsatisfied with venting his anger. He used his longsword to specifically nail the dead man's head to the ground, mimicking the exact gesture the man had attempted to use against him moments before.

Only then did the Ghost King and Emilia rush over. Looking at the spear driven into the earth and the pinned wooden stake, both of them gasped involuntarily, realizing how close a call it had been.

Ou Xiaolu, however, was not paying attention to that right now. He was anxiously contacting Arrow, terrified that something might have gone wrong on his end.

Fortunately, communication with Arrow was established immediately. No unexpected incidents had occurred on his side; apart from Cheng Ming, there was only a robot-like fellow protecting him.

Arrow had spent some time grinding down all the metal on that robot's body and absorbing it into the black wind. Only then did he discover that the robot was actually a human who had lost all four limbs and was left with only half a torso. It remained a mystery how he had integrated himself into the mechanical body, but one thing was certain: his control over it was remarkably precise, completely devoid of any stiffness or clumsiness.

Arrow had even salvaged the robot's left arm and left it for Ou Xiaolu, wondering if he might want it.

Ou Xiaolu knew the exact condition of his own left arm; what he wanted was for his natural flesh and blood to regenerate, not to strap a mechanical contraption to his shoulder.

In the end, Ou Xiaolu declined the offer, simply urging Arrow to return and rendezvous as quickly as possible.

Only then did Ou Xiaolu turn his attention to the spear. It looked as though it had been fashioned by forcibly twisting ordinary reinforcing steel bars together. Judging by the material, it had most of all been stolen from some nearby construction site. Realistically speaking, even if such an item were given to him for free, he would never want it. How could it possibly possess such terrifying power?

Full of curiosity, Ou Xiaolu pulled the spear out of the ground and weighed it lightly in his hand. He quickly noticed that the weapon was top-heavy. Inspecting it closer, Ou Xiaolu was startled to discover that something seemed to be embedded right at the spearhead.

Since Ou Xiaolu only had one hand, he had no way of prying it open, so he handed the spear over to Emilia.

"Could you help me take out whatever is embedded in the tip?"

Emilia took the spear and uttered a cry of disdain, "Such a terrible spear, completely unergonomic. How on earth was this thing even thrown?"

Ou Xiaolu shook his head. If Emilia hadn't shouted out a warning earlier, he wouldn't even have realized he was being targeted, let alone figured out how the assailant had managed to hurl such an object.

At that moment, the Ghost King drifted closer and said, "This fellow is extremely suspicious. He arrived via instantaneous teleportation."

"A spell? A superpower? Or something else?" Ou Xiaolu immediately asked.

"Unclear. I only sensed space distorting twice. The first time was when the spear was thrown—actually, the spear should have been launched from less than three meters behind your back. The second time was when this fellow manifested. He probably would have had a third opportunity to distort space, but your strike was simply faster."

How fortunate!

Ou Xiaolu patted his chest. It was a good thing he had severed the fellow's head at the very first instant and nailed it to the ground. If that bastard had truly managed to escape, Ou Xiaolu honestly had no idea where he could possibly hide.

After all, being targeted by someone who had mastered spatial abilities was one of the most terrifying things imaginable.

Knowing the adversary's capability, Ou Xiaolu naturally understood how the object within the spearhead had been embedded. Emilia exerted some strength, forcibly prying open the tip of the spear, and finally retrieved the item inside.

It was a metal fragment no larger than a thumb's tip. Ou Xiaolu was entirely unable to recognize what kind of metal it was, sensing only that such a tiny surface area was covered in hyper-intricate patterns.

Taking the fragment into his hand, Ou Xiaolu noticed that the object was emitting a faint blue glow and automatically projected a data readout.

[Shard of the Spear of Longinus, Item Card, Blue Quality. Legend has it that the holy spear was broken into three main sections and more than twenty fragments due to certain events. Each of the three broken sections is of Purple Quality, while all the fragments are of Blue Quality. Gathering all components allows them to be reassembled into the Orange Quality Spear of Longinus.]

[When this fragment is embedded in spear or lance-type weapons, it grants the effect of ignoring all defenses.]

No wonder!

After reading this information, only a single thought echoed in Ou Xiaolu's mind. Wasn't this the fragment of that very spear which Western monotheistic religion claimed was used to slay the Son of God?

This was a genuine divine artifact, far more powerful than the gun Bus had used to assassinate the emperor surnamed Lin. Even as a mere fragment, this item would be considered a supreme treasure in the eyes of certain factions. How on earth did it end up here?

A sudden thought flashed through Ou Xiaolu's mind: should he take this to ask the former Grand Archbishop if he wanted it? Perhaps he could trade it for something truly valuable.

On second thought, however, Ou Xiaolu dismissed the notion. This item was far too hazardous to one's karma. With its ability to ignore all defenses, if word of it ever leaked out again, endless trouble would surely follow.

With that realization, a flash of inspiration crossed Ou Xiaolu's mind. After pondering deeply for a moment, he finally recalled Carissa's phone number.

At that moment, Arrow arrived riding the black wind. Just as he was about to speak, he saw that Ou Xiaolu was on the phone, so he quietly waited off to the side.

Carissa was somewhat surprised to receive a call from Ou Xiaolu, but she quickly understood that he wasn't calling her for a chat; rather, he wanted to get in touch with Fast.

Carissa gave Fast's contact information to Ou Xiaolu and then angrily hung up the phone.

Ou Xiaolu dialed Fast's number. Before the other end could even respond, he spoke straight to the point: "Today I went to deal with the people from Future Tech and almost lost my life at their hands. They possess a shard of the Spear of Longinus, an item that can bypass all defenses. Naturally, that fragment has now fallen into my hands, and I have no intention of handing it over. If you have time, come take a look. That's all!"

While Fast sat in silence, far away in Modu, inside the Future Tech building within Jin Guanyu's office, two of the Four Heavenly Kings had been summoned on temporary orders.

Jin Guanyu stood with his back to them, remaining silent for a long time before speaking in a measured tone: "Guo Fuhang and his squad were completely wiped out in Xinxiang. Order all members of the Secret Corps and the Esper Corps to return to active duty. In addition, select a batch of operatives from the Web, and send them into Xinxiang in staggered waves, led by the two of you. If you fail to bring back Ou Xiaolu's head, don't bother coming back."