Chapter 247 - 150: Is Mei Yuan Parasitized?
"No, no~~"
Xiong Liang waved his hands repeatedly, declining Lin Kong’s offer.
"By the way, do you still want these heroes? If not, we should just kill them. A creature infested by an Eye Demon is a lost cause unless the Eye Demon decides to leave on its own."
Seeing that Xiong Liang was no longer suspicious, Lin Kong prepared to pack up and leave. This discovery was already a huge gain.
"However, if you’re willing to pay some points, we can help you get rid of the Eye Demons."
Xiong Liang was a bit stunned by Lin Kong’s words.
"If you get rid of the Eye Demon, can they be saved? Didn’t you just say they were a lost cause?"
"Oh, being a lost cause mainly applies to ordinary territories like yours. Most territories can’t get rid of Eye Demons, so of course, their people can’t be saved."
"But my territory has spent a month specifically researching Eye Demons. We have a way to remove them, so in our hands, they can be saved."
"Then... after the Eye Demon is removed, will they still be of the Exquisite Tier?"
Lin Kong pursed his lips. "Of course not. Without the attribute bonuses from the Eye Demon, they’ll drop back to the Excellent Tier."
Xiong Liang thought for a moment. It didn’t seem worth spending a large number of points for a few Excellent Tier heroes. He knew that the price of an "Excellent Tier Hero Summon Scroll" had already risen to 1,500 points. He figured the cost to save these heroes, even if it was less, wouldn’t be much less.
"In that case..."
He was about to give up on the heroes and have them killed, but then he saw the pitying and sorrowful gazes of Jin Peng and Jordan beside him, as well as the surrounding soldiers, all directed at Moore and Cole.
He remembered that these eleven Excellent Tier heroes were veterans of his territory. If they hadn’t been, he wouldn’t have impulsively had Mei Yuan upgrade them to the Exquisite Tier in the first place.
"Then... what’s the fee for removing the Eye Demons?"
"It’s not expensive. Since you’re our territory’s first customer, I’ll give you a discount. 100 points per person will do."
"Phew~" Xiong Liang heaved a long sigh of relief. The price really wasn’t expensive. Although he didn’t know what fate awaited them after this month without him as their lord, they had been together for so long that Xiong Liang couldn’t bear to see them die just because of one of his mistakes.
"Then get rid of these Eye Demons!!"
"Alrighty. You’ll have to wait a little while then. Our ’surgeon’ is still on the way."
"Huh?" Xiong Liang looked doubtfully at Lin Kong and the syringe in his hand.
"No, no, no, not me. You can’t get rid of these Eye Demons with ordinary methods. I don’t have that kind of ability."
"If you don’t believe me, we have some time. Why don’t you give it a try? They’re anesthetized right now, so it’s a good time to operate."
Xiong Liang hesitated for a moment but decided to try. It wasn’t that he doubted Lin Kong’s words; he was mostly just curious.
On his command, Jin Peng took charge of Moore, and Jordan took Cole.
The two of them drew their weapons and, with swift cuts, carved away all the visible scar-like tissue, leaving the backs of Moore and Cole a bloody mess.
When there was nothing left to carve, the two stopped and had a Priest on the side cast a healing spell.
Under the effect of the healing Divine Art, the backs of Moore and Cole rapidly healed. Before Xiong Liang’s astonished eyes, the scars representing the Eye Demons reappeared.
The restored Eye Demons were about to attack Jin Peng and Jordan, but Lin Kong, with his quick reflexes, injected each of them with another dose of anesthetic, and they quieted down.
"See? After being infested by an Eye Demon, a large scar appears, but most of its body has actually integrated itself throughout the host’s body. Simply cleaning the surface is useless."
"Besides, a part of it is in the brain. You can’t just destroy the brain, can you? So, without special methods, it’s impossible to clean it out completely."
After trying to remove the Eye Demon once and hearing Lin Kong’s explanation, Xiong Liang was completely convinced.
Thus, he ordered the other nine upgraded Exquisite Tier heroes who were in the territory to come to the city gate.
"My Lord, what’s going on?"
"Aren’t we supposed to be guarding the Lord’s Mansion?"
"Yeah!"
...
The nine heroes hadn’t even exited the city gate before their complaints could be heard.
Hearing these familiar words, Xiong Liang sighed with emotion. ’The Eye Demon’s control is incredible,’ he thought. ’I didn’t notice a thing.’
"Stop pretending. I know you’ve been controlled by Eye Demons. Come here obediently, or else..."
As he spoke, the surrounding troops aimed their weapons at the heroes.
"My Lord, what are you talking about?"
"What’s an Eye Demon?"
"My Lord, did these outsiders say something to you?"
"My Lord, let us help you capture him."
...
The nine heroes continued to feign ignorance.
"Fine. Lift up your clothes and show me your backs."
Xiong Liang’s words made the faces of the nine heroes change instantly. They looked at each other, but ultimately, none of them lifted their clothes.
"My Lord, since you insist on humiliating us like this, don’t blame us for leaving you."
"That’s right, My Lord. It seems our time together has come to an end."
...
Seeing that these men were still being stubborn, Phantom could no longer stand it. He transformed into a gust of wind and flew past them from behind.
The nine men were immediately immobilized by him, falling silent.
Xiong Liang lifted their clothes one by one. Seeing the obvious scars on their backs, he sighed, shook his head, and stepped aside.
...
A short while later, a Death Devourer flew over, riding a giant eagle.
When he saw the Tree-man dismount the giant eagle, and then watched the giant eagle itself transform into a handsome elf, Xiong Liang’s jaw dropped.
’We’re both participating lords from Cuiwei Star, so how is the style of this unknown lord’s members so drastically different from mine?’
His astonishment grew as he watched the Tree-man release a gray mist that enveloped the eleven infested heroes. A few minutes later, the Tree-man retracted the mist, mounted the giant eagle that the elf had transformed into, and departed.
"Is that it? Is it over?"
"Of course not!"
Xiong Liang breathed a sigh of relief. But when he heard what Lin Kong said next, he nearly choked on that same breath.
"You still need to heal them. Right now, basically all the nerves in their bodies are gone. They’ll be fine after you heal them. Otherwise, they’ll all be vegetables."
"COUGH, COUGH! That’s it?"
"What do you mean, ’that’s it’? Without my territory’s special units, no one else could have removed those Eye Demons." Lin Kong looked at Xiong Liang, wondering why he would say such a thing.
"But... in such a short amount of time..."
"Oh, that? How about... I have him come back and put on a show for another hour?"
"No, no, that’s not necessary. This is fine."
Xiong Liang had no choice but to accept the fact that his own territory was simply too weak.
Seeing that the matter was concluded, Lin Kong said his goodbyes to Xiong Liang and flew down the mountain with Phantom in a Floating Car.
Xiong Liang was shocked once again. He felt he truly deserved to have been eliminated. Other people were already using flying vehicles for transport, while his territory was still riding horses.
...
Lin Yu (Private Message): "Lord Li Hua, are you there? I have some new intelligence that you might need to know."
Li Hua (Private Message): "What is it?"
It was rare for Lin Yu to initiate a message, so Li Hua was very curious about this new intelligence.
Lin Yu (Private Message): "That thing about Mei Yuan’s Northern Expedition Legion advertising that their minimum hero tier is Exquisite—I’ve confirmed it. It’s true!"
Li Hua (Private Message): "That’s not exactly new intel, is it? Many lords have already said the same thing. The Northern Expedition Legion has a huge number of Exquisite Tier heroes. Even if that’s not the minimum, it’s close."
Lin Yu (Private Message): "I figured out how Mei Yuan is doing it!"
Li Hua (Private Message): "How? interested.jpg"
Lin Yu (Private Message): "They’re infesting Excellent Tier heroes with Eye Demons..."
Li Hua (Private Message): "o_O??? Don’t Eye Demons control their hosts? They can raise a hero’s tier, too?"
Lin Yu (Private Message): "Yes, they can raise the tier, up to the Exquisite Tier. And of course, the Eye Demon still controls the host."
Li Hua (Private Message): "So, their heroes are actually on the Eye Demons’ side? And the Combat Points they earn go to the Eye Demon Lord?"
Lin Yu (Private Message): "Yes."
Li Hua (Private Message): "Why? Why would someone do something that harms others without benefiting themselves?"
Lin Yu (Private Message): "I suspect Mei Yuan has been infested as well. He’s deceived most of the lords in the Northern Expedition Legion, but I have no proof."
Li Hua (Private Message): "This is huge!!!!!"
Lin Yu (Private Message): "What I just said is only my suspicion. There’s no proof, so I’m just letting you know so you can be on your guard."
Lin Yu (Private Message): "Mmm... you’d better not go posting this on the world channel, or they’ll be prepared. Let’s discuss countermeasures within a small circle first."
Li Hua (Private Message): "Okay!!"
...