Promise

Chapter 57: Promise

"Death Immunity Substitute Card?"

Seeing Xu Yue turn into a wooden figure, Yan Jun and the other man, who had used their Omni-directional Mobility Gear to reach him, both felt their hearts sink.

Unlike the Substitution Technique, which required hand seals and had only average practical combat use, Authority Items that granted immunity to death were always among the most expensive tier in the Reincarnation Space. Most required A-Rank Plot Points.

This guy…

"He got away. Li Si, he… sigh."

Seeing Li Si lying in a pool of blood, the two could not help but sigh.

They had once been an elite squad much like the Yanzi Squad. After fighting their way this far, only the four beside them remained. Yet now, another one had fallen here!

"I remember his life aura. Don’t let me run into him again!"

Yan Jun’s eyes were bloodshot. If he had not stubbornly insisted on his course of action, Li Si would not have died here. He would not blindly shift the blame onto others; he bore a large part of the responsibility for Li Si’s death.

Since he had taken on this karma, he had to avenge him!

"There are still survivors down there. Kill them all. Leave no one alive."

After taking a deep breath, Yan Jun calmed himself down. Although he indeed bore much of the blame, the murderer who had killed Xiao Yan and Li Si absolutely could not be spared!

"Fine. But when he was fighting earlier, he seemed to have thrown down a bundle. I wonder what it is."

The other man, with a neatly trimmed full beard, spoke as he walked toward the bundle Xu Yue had set down earlier.

"Be careful. We watched their battle from afar earlier. Though that guy used a Death Immunity Substitute Card to trade his life, his strength is not to be underestimated. It could be a trap."

"Relax. Don’t forget my ability. If there’s danger, I’ll foresee it beforehand."

Zeng Yang, the bearded man, confidently walked toward the bundle. Even among Reincarnators of the same rank, there were distinctions based on the rarity of their abilities. And he happened to possess an exceptionally rare skill that could predict danger.

He had obtained it in a Mission Space with fairly ordinary combat levels. Everyone there had only physical strength and combat technique, yet their spiritual realm allowed them to foresee fortune and misfortune.

In terms of importance within the legion, he was even above Yan Jun.

After sensing no problem, he bent down and picked up the bundle, then took out its contents.

"A Sealing Scroll? And it’s still active. Strange."

Looking at the Sealing Scroll, Zeng Yang’s face filled with surprise. This was cooperative mode. Even if the other side had used a death immunity item, it could still count as a kill drop. But in this mode, it was impossible for Reincarnators to drop items above white-grade when killing one another!

What was wrong here?

"See what’s inside."

Since his companion felt no danger, Yan Jun still trusted his ability. Sealing Scrolls were not confidential items; as long as they had not been turned into white-grade items, anyone could open them.

When the scroll was opened, the two stared at the five bottles of strange liquid in special syringes. After consulting the Space, horror flashed through their eyes as they looked at each other!

"Th-this is the secret behind Titan transformation?! It has to be! It must have been because Xiao Yan discovered this secret that she was silenced!"

Yan Jun was already incoherent, both excited and grief-stricken.

Zeng Yang frowned and said,

"But it’s strange. Why were we able to get this? Even if it was a special item guaranteed to drop, at worst he could have destroyed it and made sure we got nothing. Why would he hand us such a benefit for free?"

"Anyway, we’ve rendered a great service!"

"Haha, what service are you talking about? Am I late? Where’s that kid Li Si, uh…"

At that moment, the final teammate arrived—the straightforward fellow who had really waited five minutes before coming over. This somewhat dim-looking man had barely finished laughing when he saw Li Si’s corpse, and his expression immediately darkened.

"Han Ju, look at this first."

"What is it?! Li Si is dead, dead! Another one is dead! Damn it!"

Han Ju, who had arrived last, was clearly hot-tempered. His face was filled with grief and rage.

"Li Si is dead, but this is what he exchanged his life for."

Yan Jun clearly understood this teammate’s temperament. Sure enough, Han Ju’s attention was drawn after he said that.

But after reading the item description, Han Ju froze. Then he said blankly,

"Let me put it this way. If I had obtained something like this and had no choice but to give it up, unless I was certain I could take it back later, I would definitely destroy it. Besides, aren’t we in cooperative mode?"

Han Ju’s blunt words made the other two look grim. Zeng Yang had already considered this issue.

"Wait, I seem to remember a card that Staff Sergeants can use. It can make a mission item enter a guaranteed-drop state, but it can only be used on one’s own items. Could it be that thing? I always thought it was pretty useless."

Zeng Yang felt a chill creep over him, as though something were watching their group.

"What’s there to fear? That person may be strong, but he’s only about on par with any one of us. Still, don’t create unnecessary trouble. Let’s leave first. Mm, let’s silence these people first so they don’t cause problems later…"

With that, Yan Jun was the first to enter the basement where he had sensed living auras…

Wall Rose, humanity’s second line of defense!

After Wall Maria fell, artillery platforms were being urgently installed atop Wall Rose.

The members of the Garrison Regiment bustled about, and the scene was somewhat chaotic.

At that moment, Xu Yue’s true body stood at the edge of the wall with Queen Frieda Reiss and Grisha Yeager, the father of the protagonist Eren, looking out below.

The breach of Wall Maria meant that a minor accident had occurred on the Wood Clone’s side. However, because he had saved Frieda Reiss, he could still complete this alteration to the plot.

As the Founding Titan, once she recovered from the injuries she had suffered in World War I and began to familiarize herself with her power, driving the Titans out of Wall Maria would not be too difficult. It would merely require additional time.

Xu Yue’s main task during this period was to mediate the conflict between the two sides, which also counted as building connections by another route.

As for his origins, Xu Yue had disguised himself as a member of the United Kingdom Allied Forces, an enemy faction of Marley that had been oppressed for many years. He had come to assist them under the principle that the enemy of one’s enemy was a friend.

Both the Queen and Eren’s father readily accepted this explanation.

Because it was the only explanation that made sense.

However, Xu Yue suddenly frowned at that moment.

Notice: Because you proactively attacked another Reincarnator, 1,000 Reincarnation Points have been deducted.

He had previously received a kill notification and a defensive counterattack notification, but had not paid much attention to them. Since he had not received any memories, that meant the Wood Clone was fine.

But after so much time had passed, the Chakra of the Wood Clone that had fought earlier was nearly depleted. If it had been forced to start attacking proactively, was it activating the backup plan?

Not long after, the next notification arrived.

Notice: Because you killed a Veteran Reincarnator, the level weighting of both sides has been adjusted. 224 Reincarnation Points have been deducted.

The second notification meant that the Wood Clone had still succeeded. As for the weighting adjustment, that was because he was still a novice. Even in cooperative mode, the punishment for a novice attacking a Veteran Reincarnator was not severe, much less than the deduction for the first kill.

But in the next instant, the Wood Clone dispersed, and a flood of information surged into his mind. A trace of coldness appeared in Xu Yue’s eyes.

I don’t really mind intelligence of this level getting leaked. If you’re happy, go farm it yourselves. But you should never have set your sights on something in my hands…

After murmuring inwardly for a moment, Xu Yue turned to the two people beside him, whom he had finally managed to reconcile, and said calmly,

"I have something to take care of, so I need to leave for a while. Her Majesty the Queen, you still need to master your power as soon as possible."

"Of course. Where are you going? Do you need help?"

The golden-haired goddess-like girl from the Training Corps had inherited much of her personality from this sister of hers. Although Xu Yue had drawn her original fluid, injected her, and done some terrible things, she did not hold a grudge against him.

Instead, she remembered that Xu Yue had saved her from the man beside them.

"Do you think he needs help? Even transformed, the two of us couldn’t deal with that monster. He’s basically a humanoid Titan."

Eren’s father grumbled inwardly, seemingly still harboring considerable resentment toward Xu Yue for deceiving him.

"In that case, I’ll take my leave first."

As Xu Yue finished speaking, he leaped down from the wall. Then he ran straight down its surface as if walking on level ground, disappearing into the ruins beyond Wall Maria after several bounds.

He stepped on a rooftop for leverage, sending fragments flying as he shot into the distance like an arrow.

Unlike before, when Xu Yue would actively seek amusement and wear a sunny smile behind a mask, his expression this time was calm, even cold.

I hate owing favors. I hope you won’t do anything to make me unhappy…

As he sped forward, another Veteran Reincarnator was cautiously avoiding Titans and risking travel during the day. He happened to pass Xu Yue in the opposite direction. However, Xu Yue was moving too fast for him to notice the fleeting figure. He only looked at Wall Rose ahead with excitement written all over his face.

He had finally arrived. Hopefully, he could truly persuade Her Majesty the Queen to send troops for rescue. With the elites of the Survey Corps, bringing out a few children would not be a problem at all.

My promise… I kept it…