Chapter 171: Intelligence and Accidents
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In a different space.
Honest lay on the ground, his body twitching.
"I didn't expect this guy to be quite strong," Aoki remarked as he kicked him.
Though Honest appeared overweight, he was actually packed with muscle. In terms of physical fitness, he was stronger than the previous batch of enemies.
But it didn't matter.
The "King of the White Walkers" had reached its maximum level, so no matter how strong Honest was, it was meaningless.
Aoki bent down and pulled off the jeweled decoration from Honest's head.
He recognized it as an imperial weapon named Ireston, an artifact that could destroy other imperial tools and was usable once a week.
In the original story, Leone was tricked by it and fell just before dawn.
"I never thought the first imperial weapon I'd obtain would be this," Aoki mused, shaking his head.
He had wanted an imperial weapon to increase his strength, but this one, which merely destroyed other imperial tools, was of little use to him.
The compatibility with an imperial weapon depends on the resonance wavelength, a somewhat abstract concept. A more intuitive way to explain it is that the first impression is crucial.
If someone's first impression of an imperial weapon is negative, it's nearly impossible for that person to earn the weapon's approval.
Of course, even a good first impression doesn't guarantee recognition from the imperial tool.
First impressions are just the starting point.
Aoki didn't have a good first impression of Ireston, so naturally, he didn't gain its approval.
After examining it and confirming it wasn't helpful, Aoki tossed Ireston into the corner.
It could gather dust for all he cared.
He didn't want the empire he would eventually acquire to have such a natural enemy.
Aoki looked down at Honest.
"It looks like it'll take some time for him to complete the transformation."
Time passed, and Aoki waited patiently.
Suddenly, Honest opened his eyes. He was dazed for a moment before memories flooded back from just before he lost consciousness.
He checked his body.
"I'm not dead? Hahaha! Of course, I didn't die so easily. Was it Esdeath who saved me? By the way, what happened to that trash? Next time, I'll rally all my forces—"
His words cut off abruptly as he noticed the figure standing before him.
"It wasn't Esdeath. I'm the one who saved you," Aoki said with a smile.
At first, a surge of rage filled Honest, but it quickly shifted to terror, spreading across his face like wildfire.
"No!"
Before he could finish, his expression went blank.
Aoki grinned.
There was no need to sever his connection with Honest. Now transformed into a demon, Honest had tried to resist, but he couldn't even maintain his self-awareness.
The King of Demons had absolute control over other demons.
This ability was an excellent tool for gathering intelligence.
However, this method wasn't without flaws.
Even if Aoki didn't deliberately erase memories, a demon could still lose recollections under extreme stress.
Additionally, a small percentage of people couldn't transform into demons at all.
Luckily, none of these complications affected Honest.
"Now, tell me everything you know."
Aoki reached out and gripped Honest's head.
After a while, an invisible vortex appeared, swallowing Honest whole.
"You should be glad to die this way," Aoki said, clapping his hands.
In the original story, Honest was tortured to death.
To die painlessly like this was a blessing.
Aoki quickly pushed Honest from his mind and began sorting through the information he had obtained.
Honest had known quite a bit, and Aoki had essentially gotten all the knowledge he was seeking.
The location of the Shikoutazer was indeed inside the mountain, just as Aoki had suspected.
He now knew the entrance and the method of entry.
But at the same time, he had received some bad news.
First, the summoning medium of the Shikoutazer is the high platform in the palace, located at the highest point of the imperial palace, closely connected to the palace and the mountain below it.
Unless a part of the mountain is cut off, there's no way to move it.
The Shikoutazer stands over two hundred meters tall and is incredibly heavy. Without activation, moving it would be virtually impossible.
Second, only the royal family can use the Shikoutazer, and it is nearly impossible to bypass this restriction.
Honest had also set his sights on the Shikoutazer. He mobilized the power of the entire empire and tried countless methods, including breaking the bloodline requirement and attempting to modify the Shikoutazer, but all his efforts ended in failure.
"It seems my previous plan may not work out after all," Aoki thought to himself, and with that, he left the different space.
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The air outside was thick with vapor and mist.
The three of them stood there, staring at one another.
Crash!
Akame grabbed Kurome, and they both sank into the water.
However, the clear pool could not fully conceal their graceful figures.
Kurome, though still young, had great potential.
But as a demon, her body was frozen in time, and her potential would never be realized.
Akame, on the other hand, had a perfect figure.
Aoki turned around and asked, "Why are you taking a bath at this time?"
Akame replied, "Don't we always take baths before bed?"
Aoki was momentarily stunned, then realized.
"Has an entire day already passed?"
"You've lost track of time again!" Kurome smiled and said, "Aoki, want to join us for a bath?"
"If I did, Akame would probably draw her sword," Aoki said, waving his hand as he walked outside.
Leone, bored and fidgeting with her fingers, perked up when she heard the commotion and turned her head.
"Akame, are you done with—"
Halfway through her sentence, she widened her eyes, first looking at Aoki, then glancing toward the bathroom.
"Aoki, what happened to you?"
Aoki responded, "Something unexpected occurred."
This incident was entirely Kurome's fault.
Even though there were other space markers, lately Aoki had gotten into the habit of targeting Kurome's location.
In fact, he'd already discussed this with her, advising her to place the space marker in a safe location when doing personal things.
Since demons don't need to eat, drink, sleep, or perform other bodily functions, bathing was their only private activity.
Kurome hadn't followed his advice, and that led to the situation today.
Leone grinned mischievously and draped her arm around Aoki's shoulders. "Hehehe, did you catch a peek? Oh, how lucky you are!
How was it? Akame's figure is something, right? She eats a lot, but she's not fat at all. Long legs, perfectly shaped—her chest isn't too big, but not too small either."
You're kind of vulgar... Aoki thought, glancing at Leone.
The women of Night Raid each had their own unique charms, and all were quite beautiful, but in terms of figure, Leone undoubtedly stood at the top.
Leone tightened her grip around Aoki, teasing, "What's that look for? You want to see mine too? Just say the word, and it's all yours."
Sorry, I'm not interested… Aoki thought but replied, "Actually, I need your help with something."
Seeing the seriousness on his face, Leone blinked in surprise. "What is it?"
"I need to study your body," Aoki said.
While studying the physical changes in the Four Rakshasa Demons, he had also considered another approach to controlling the Shikoutazer.
However, there were two major issues with it.
First, there was a certain degree of risk, and second, the sample size was too small to determine whether the idea was feasible.
Because of this, he hadn't devoted much time to it before.
But after gaining access to Honest's memories, Aoki realized his original plan had little chance of success.
Seeing Leone brought the idea back to the forefront of his mind once again.
Leone's expression suddenly turned mischievous again. "Oh, I see what this is about! Hehehe, I didn't expect Aoki to be such a hypocrite.
I don't mind, but will Kurome be okay with it?"
What a mess.
Aoki replied, "You should know that imperial weapons are made from materials taken from extremely dangerous creatures and rare metals like Orichalcum."
Leone nodded, still looking confused.
This was basic knowledge. Anyone familiar with imperial tools would know that. But why had the conversation suddenly shifted to imperial weapons?
Aoki continued, "You might also be aware that many of the materials used in creating imperial tools retain a significant amount of activity, and in some cases, they are still alive."
Leone thought for a moment and said, "You mean like the spirit-possessed ones? Those can evolve and adapt to their environment."
Aoki nodded. "Exactly. Because of this powerful vitality, if someone uses an imperial weapon for an extended period, there's a risk of being assimilated by it. Take the spirit-possessed weapons you mentioned. Once the user is assimilated, the armor gradually fuses with their body, and Tyrande's muscles could return to life."
"This means that the dangerous creature Tyrande could be reborn in the body of the imperial weapon user."
Leone's expression became serious. "Is that really possible? Bulat should be careful then."
Aoki replied, "Actually, the danger is relatively lower with armor-type imperial weapons. The ones most susceptible to assimilation are transformation-type imperial tools."
Hearing this, Leone quickly understood where he was going with the conversation. She was silent for a moment before her bright smile returned. She gave Aoki a hard pat on the shoulder.
"Hehehe, don't worry, I'm doing just fine. I haven't shown any signs of assimilation."
Aoki said, "You may not have been assimilated yet, but it's also possible that the assimilation hasn't reached a certain level to be noticeable."
Leone waved it off nonchalantly. "It doesn't matter. As long as I'm alive now, that's enough. No need to think so far ahead. Living happily every day is what's important!"
I can't tell if she's carefree or just oblivious.
Aoki smiled and added, "I'm not saying I want to save you. I'm simply interested in the phenomenon of assimilation with imperial tools and want to study your body."
Leone was momentarily stunned. Then she hugged his neck and gritted her teeth. "I knew you were up to no good!"
Just then, Akame and Kurome, now fully dressed, walked out of the bathroom and glanced at the two of them.
"What are you two doing?" Akame asked.
Leone, still irritated, responded, "I'm about to teach this annoying guy a lesson! You don't know the outrageous things he's been saying!"
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T/N: There is a patreon for this work, and any new work I add will be dropped there first. check it out for an early access of 40 chapters.
Patreon link:- patreon.com/ANelite
And also:
Imperial weapon = Teigu
Teigu = Imperial weapon