previously in chapter 58
Henry stood over him, his orange glow dimming as the night returned to its natural darkness. The road was silent once more as Henry effortlessly picked up Daniel. By the time Daniel woke up, he found himself inside a cell. His first instinct was to get out, but he immediately felt pain as he was bound by chains made of pure light essence. He was also locked in an underground facility that Henry had brought him to. The reason why Henry took him as a prisoner was simple: he wanted to constantly drain the dark force essence out of the guy, continuously. Yes, he had a new prison for people he wanted to benefit from, continuously.
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Chapter 59
This prison wasn't anywhere near his hideout; he was not stupid. He was currently in his hideout, working on a new project, and this new project required him to purchase several different materials. But he was currently smiling as he looked at a semi-translucent crystal. "Hm, guess a human soul is really something. No wonder demons want human souls. It's quite good," he chuckled as he looked at the crystal made from human souls.
[ Name: Crystal of Pure Soul Essence ]
[ Grade: 7th ]
[ Description: The Crystal of Pure Soul Essence is a flawless, ethereal gem formed from the pure essence of human souls. These souls were meticulously cleansed of any personality, negative emotions, and consciousness, leaving behind a pristine source of unparalleled spiritual energy. This crystal radiates a serene, otherworldly glow, embodying the quintessence of pure, untainted soul power. ]
[ Effects: +1,000% soul strength enhancement, +1,000% soul healing, +1,000% increase in soul-type attack potency, +1,000% soul preservation, +1,000% spiritual protection, +1,000% ethereal resilience, +1,000% soul purification ]
[ Deterioration-Rate: 0% ]
"For just a bunch of nobodies' souls to amount to tier 7, what tier would all of Earth's population be?" Despite having such a dangerous and evil thought, Henry didn't seem to care as he sighed. "Just trying to wipe the consciousness of the Hydra agents was a momentous task on its own," he groaned, just remembering the time he spent purifying the souls before he got up. He was feeling tired and burned out, so he wanted to create a potion to help with it, only for Kai's voice to sound. {Sir, a new "hero" has been spotted during ISFH.} This got his attention. ISFH was short for Internet Surveillance for Heroes. It was designed to help Henry spot potential problems before they became a problem. "Oh, and who is this new hero?" he asked as Kai replied, {This new "hero" is not known in the community with any particular code name, although most people state that he wears plain black clothes, a cloth mask that covers the top of his head, and wields a metal rod. He is based in Hell's Kitchen.}
"Hell's Kitchen, isn't that where Kingpin is?" he asked himself, remembering that hellhole of a place. The reason he remembered was that most of his drugs were sold there. "Kai, has any of our contacts been hit?" he asked as Kai replied, {Affirmative, sir. This new hero particularly targets drug dealers.} This made Henry frown as this was starting to affect his benefit. "What are the powers of this hero?" Henry asked as Kai answered, {None, sir. Aside from being athletically gifted, this new "hero" possesses no powers.} This let his frown relax a little. "Alright, put some surveillance on this hero. Send one of the flying ARDs," to which Kai replied, {I already did, sir. I sent ARD 08,} which made him smile.
[ Some time later ]
Still inside his hideout, Henry could be seen sitting bare-chested in the middle of his hideout as he inhaled and exhaled. "Alright, let's do this," and with no hesitation, Henry activated his MP and his essence extraction skill, not on any material but on himself. That's right, himself. He then targeted specifically his soul, and the moment he did so, the pain he felt from consuming the Phoenix Warrior Serum easily got forgotten. There was no comparison; the pain of having his soul extracted was so excruciating that Henry nearly passed out, but he didn't continue for long. In fact, he only extracted for a single second, a single second, and in that single moment, he felt as if he was in pain for eternity. "Oh, fuck," he couldn't help but curse out loud. "Is this what they felt, this pain?" He almost felt bad for his victims. Almost. Immediately, his mind was flooded with thoughts of torturing people who held information he needed using this skill, which brought a smile to his face.
He then looked down at his own soul essence. "Guess I know how to create my own soul clones," but this wasn't intended to create soul clones. No, he had plans for that, but it's not time yet. This small piece of his soul was intended for another use as he then got up and walked into
-scene change-
In a large park in Hell's Kitchen, sitting on the end of each bench were two people, a man and a woman, who kept stealing glances at each other, like they were in love, but hesitating to close the gap between them. But from the looks of it, they were inching together, slowly but surely, and once they closed the gap, they would be able to embrace each other, tell each other how they felt, and if they were feeling particularly bold, they would do something so lewd—they would hold hands. How embarrassing. However, before they closed the gap, a handsome man sat between them deliberately. The man and woman frowned and stared at each other with a glare, but the man, who was Henry, didn't care, not in the least bit. He was currently looking at a live feed from a strange perspective.
It was a strange perspective because he was looking inside a large warehouse from the perspective of something looking on the subject of the live feed, which were what looked like gang members. "Hmm, so not only are they embezzling money, they are also not doing their job," Henry muttered to himself as he frowned. Meanwhile, the two people whose blossoming love he interrupted got up and left the park, going in opposite directions, ruining a perfect and beautiful moment. But that didn't bother him, not in the least bit, as he continued to ponder. "It makes sense since they are going up against the Kingpin and the Russians and the Triads, but to be doing this badly," he sighed again. "I guess it makes sense since I wasn't there to micromanage anything, but I don't have to take responsibility for my actions against these low lives," he said righteously as he got up, only to bump into a child unwrapping a candy that looked quite appetizing. "Hm," Henry glared at the child before taking the candy as he then walked away, leaving the child crying.
-scene change-
In the dimly lit warehouse in Hell's Kitchen, the air was thick with the stench of sweat and stale smoke. Flickering fluorescent lights cast long shadows on the cracked concrete floor. Twelve gang leaders and club owners, each a small-time tyrant in their own right, sat around a large wooden table. Their demeanor was a mix of boredom and irritation, clearly resenting the mandatory meeting called by Henry.
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A/N well, you know what is coming.