Watching the Winter Soldier continuing to attack him, the Joker-like Eren seemed to have lost interest in playing along.
Without hesitation, he fired off two consecutive [Gaze of Despair], knocking the Winter Soldier, Bucky, unconscious once again.
After ensuring that Bucky was out cold, Eren returned to his room and rummaged through a pile of loot in the corner.
Before long, he retrieved a small bottle filled with white pills, walked back to Bucky's side, and—without any concern—forced seven or eight of them down Bucky's throat, washing them down with a bottle of mineral water.
These pills were among the spoils of war Eren had collected while dismantling Kingpin's dark operations over the past few days.
Don't misunderstand—these weren't illicit drugs trafficked by Kingpin, but rather a rare and extremely potent sleeping medication.
With seven or eight of these strong sedatives in his system, even a fully grown elephant would have to lie down obediently, let alone the Winter Soldier.
Ensuring that Bucky would remain unconscious for a long time, Eren pulled out a dagger and forcibly removed the cybernetic left arm from his body.
That high-tech prosthetic—Eren was almost certain—contained a tracking device installed by Hydra.
If he didn't dismantle it, was he supposed to just keep it and invite trouble from Hydra?
Of course, as a trophy, Eren didn't just discard the cybernetic arm.
Half an hour later…
Inside an abandoned warehouse in Hell's Kitchen, Eren reunited with his clone, whom he had just recently parted ways with.
"You arrived just in time. Check if this cybernetic arm can be sacrificed. I have a strong feeling that the signal blockers I set up in this warehouse won't be able to jam this thing for too long. Oh, and if it can be sacrificed, see if you can exchange it for a [Instigator] potion."
"I can't wait to see this guy turn into a witch and then meet Steve Rogers."
"Hehehe, imagine the noble and pure Captain America faced with his best friend transformed into a sexy witch—will he be able to resist such temptation…?"
Eren's clone had an unmistakable glint of gossip in his eyes.
For a moment, Eren couldn't help but feel that his clone had been influenced too deeply by Jerome's deranged Joker mask.
Otherwise, why would he, just like that madman Jerome, have such a strong interest in watching righteous men of high moral standing fall into darkness?
Of course…
Eren would never admit that he himself found the idea quite intriguing as well.
Nor would he confess that as soon as he received his clone's message, he had immediately retrieved [Assassin] and [Witch], two potions from the Witch pathway's Sequence 9 and Sequence 7, from the Balance Space and rushed over to the warehouse to meet up.
Taking the blood-stained cybernetic arm from his clone, Eren wasted no time. He entered the Balance Space, summoned the phantom of the Scale of Fate, and placed the mechanical arm on one side of the balance.
As he watched the illusionary scale tilt before him, a hint of surprise flickered across his face.
The good news was that, while this cybernetic arm wasn't an extraordinary artifact, it was still an incredibly advanced piece of black technology.
Moreover, it bore the bloodstains of someone favored by fate.
This greatly increased its value, allowing it to meet the threshold for a sacrificial offering to the Scale of Fate.
The bad news? …It wasn't enough.
The mechanical arm alone, despite being qualified for sacrifice, wasn't particularly valuable.
Even if Eren added the 500 Fate Points he had just obtained, it still wasn't enough to exchange for a [Instigator] potion, the Sequence 8 potion of the Witch pathway.
After a few seconds, Eren withdrew from the Balance Space and returned to reality.
Upon hearing this, the Joker-like Eren didn't hesitate. He took out his [Cursed Scarecrow] along with the Iron Monger's severed head and handed them to Eren.
The [Cursed Scarecrow] was an extraordinary item in its own right.
As for the Iron Monger's head, it seemed to possess some unique properties as well.
Since the Winter Soldier's cybernetic arm had exchange value, there was no reason the Iron Monger's head, which once carried Obadiah's soul, wouldn't work.
Even if it wasn't a perfect trade, the Joker-like Eren figured that the Iron Monger's head should at least reduce the Fate Point cost required to exchange for the [Instigator] potion.
Without any delay, Eren once again entered the Balance Space, placing these two additional items alongside the cybernetic arm on the Scale of Fate.
As weights were adjusted, the heavily tilted side of the scale slowly lowered.
Simultaneously, on the opposite side of the scale, the image of the [Instigator] potion grew clearer and more tangible.
It actually worked.
Seeing the gradually lowering scale, a smile appeared on Eren's face.
It seemed the value of these two items wasn't bad.
However, just as he was about to conclude that everything was going smoothly, something unexpected happened.
As the Scale of Fate neared perfect balance, it suddenly stalled.
It was as if the scale had become frozen in place, refusing to move any further.
"As expected… I still have to pay a little extra."
With a wave of his hand, a portion of his Fate Points materialized into glowing Fate Coins, which then dropped onto the scale.
After consuming exactly 298 Fate Points, the scale finally reached perfect balance.
Without hesitation, Eren confirmed the exchange.
The next moment, a vial of dark gray [Instigator] potion materialized in reality.
Holding the vial in his hand, Eren glanced at his attribute panel, where only 202 Fate Points remained. It felt just like getting paid and watching his salary evaporate before he even had time to enjoy it.
With a faint sigh, he exited the Balance Space and returned to reality.
Eren handed the [Instigator] potion, along with the [Assassin] and [Witch] potions—the perfect Witch pathway set from Sequence 9 to Sequence 7—to his clone.
The Joker-like Eren's eyes gleamed with excitement upon receiving the full Witch transformation set.
Without hesitation, he picked out the Sequence 9 [Assassin] potion, preparing to force-feed it to the unconscious Winter Soldier.
(End of Chapter)
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