Chapter 571 - 341: The Target Appears
'What if... I just capture and interrogate them?'
Su Ze thought about it. Before he got his hands on the fourth puzzle piece, he didn't want to cause any extra trouble and risk alerting his target, so he decided to play it safe.
He stopped by Inheritance Point No. 4 to see Mr. Ya, telling him that other people might be staking out the location soon and warning him to be careful.
...
Over the next few days, the promotional reach for the auction continued to expand. It wasn't just the two major shelters anymore; all the surrounding settlements were gradually receiving the news as well.
The auction was to be held in Dawn Shelter, so many people, including even those from the Daybreak Shelter, were converging on Dawn Shelter.
Within just a few days, a large number of high-level evolvers from out of town had flocked to Dawn Shelter.
During this time, aside from his daily surveillance of Frank, Su Ze also visited Mr. Ya's location a few times each day to check on the situation. In between, he even returned to the Lin Hua Continent twice.
Nothing major was happening on the Lin Hua Continent. The Alien Party had not yet managed to retake the Ancient An Country. On another note, Chen Suifeng had helped Su Ze gather more of the materials he needed to strengthen and upgrade his skills.
Su Ze went to see Chen Suifeng and picked up the materials, only to find that they were all strengthening materials, with no upgrade materials among them.
However, after absorbing these strengthening materials, the cumulative effect finally allowed his "Regeneration Body" skill to advance to the fifth rank.
Regeneration Body (Rank 5, S-Class): Grants a powerful Self-Healing Ability and recovery capabilities. Condense a "Regeneration Core" anywhere within the body. When the Regeneration Core shatters, the life energy it contains instantly heals all injuries. External energy can be absorbed to accelerate the Regeneration Core's condensation. Life energy can be extracted from the Regeneration Core to create Regeneration Fruits with healing properties. The amount of life energy used determines the fruit's healing efficacy.
Aside from the enhanced healing effect, the fifth-rank "Regeneration Body" skill didn't have many other changes.
The most significant change was related to the "Regeneration Core."
Now, after the "Regeneration Core" shattered, it could not only absorb external energy to accelerate its re-formation, but its maximum capacity for life energy had also increased.
Previously, the life energy could heal all of Su Ze's injuries while he was in his normal state; it could restore him even if his entire body was blown to bits.
But if he was under the effects of his "Expansion" and "Bloodthirsty" skills, the life energy in the Regeneration Core was somewhat insufficient. At best, it could only restore him to his normal state.
Now, however, the Regeneration Core could continuously accumulate life energy, its capacity having been greatly increased. As long as he stored enough, he could be instantly restored to his peak state, even if his body was completely destroyed while at its maximum combat power and size.
Now, only his "Furious Waves" skill had yet to be upgraded.
This was the final stumbling block on his path to the sixth evolution.
In the past few days, Su Ze had even met with Frank again, asking him to use the Stu Commerce Association's channels to help collect upgrade materials for "Furious Waves."
...
A few uneventful days passed, and then there was finally some movement on Mr. Ya's end.
Previously, the Wol Family had dispatched a Venerable Powerhouse to stake out Inheritance Point No. 4. However, he hadn't noticed Mr. Ya; on the contrary, Mr. Ya had spotted him.
So now, the Wol Family's Venerable Powerhouse was watching Inheritance Point No. 4 every day, and Mr. Ya was watching the Wol Family's Venerable Powerhouse.
On this particular day, a disguised, furtive figure approached Inheritance Point No. 4.
Mr. Ya spotted the person immediately but didn't make a move, waiting until the Venerable Powerhouse from the Wol Family couldn't hold back any longer and captured the intruder.
The Wol Family's Venerable Powerhouse removed the man's disguise and recognized him. "Billy Hogan? What are you doing here? I thought you'd be Baliss."
The man who had been furtively approaching was an Overlord-level powerhouse himself, but he stood no chance against a Venerable Powerhouse.
"Who sent you? Was it Baliss?" the Wol Family's Venerable Powerhouse demanded.
Billy Hogan just shook his head, refusing to speak.
The Wol Family's Venerable Powerhouse considered this for a moment, then grabbed Billy and flew away.
Mr. Ya initially wanted to follow them, but on second thought, he restrained himself and continued his stakeout.
He then quietly took out a walkie-talkie to contact Su Ze.
This walkie-talkie was part of the equipment from the Magic Cube, connected to its proprietary communication channel, which had a range even wider than the base station made from the skull of a Spiritual Venerable.
Su Ze frowned upon hearing the news. This was not a good development.
Obviously, Baliss was also afraid of an ambush and didn't dare to appear himself, so he had sent an Overlord from his own family to test the waters.
Now that Billy Hogan had been captured by the Wol Family, Baliss would likely be even more hesitant to show his face.
Baliss wouldn't dare appear at the auction, since it was hosted by the Stu Family. And now, the Wol Family's actions at Inheritance Point No. 4 would also deter him from going there.
'At this rate, if Baliss continues to hide like a coward, where am I supposed to find him?'
But unexpectedly, just after the Wol Family's Venerable Powerhouse had left with Billy Hogan, another figure approached Inheritance Point No. 4 like a phantom.
Mr. Ya's eyes narrowed. 'This is probably the real Baliss Hogan!' he realized.
'He deliberately used Billy as a decoy to draw away the Wol Family's Venerable Powerhouse. Now that Inheritance Point No. 4 is unguarded, he plans to sneak inside.'
Mr. Ya immediately relayed the news to Su Ze while preparing to capture Baliss alive.
Meanwhile, the moment Su Ze received the message, he raced toward Inheritance Point No. 4.
Su Ze had deliberately chosen puzzle piece No. 1 for the auction advertisement precisely because the corresponding Inheritance Treasure Vault had never been opened.
He guessed that Baliss must have seen the auction promotion and wanted to confirm whether the last Inheritance Treasure Vault of the inner inheritance had been opened.
If all the Inheritance Treasure Vaults were already open, then the puzzle piece at the auction would be nothing more than one of the four keys, holding no other immediate value.
But if a treasure vault remained unopened, that was a different story. Compared to the vague, distant prospect of the full inner inheritance, the treasures within an unopened vault were tangible and far more alluring.
Mr. Ya took a deep breath and shot forward, closing in on the man he suspected was Baliss.
But just then, someone beat him to the punch. A giant arrow shot toward Baliss.
It was the Venerable Powerhouse from the Wol Family—he had returned!
"Baliss, I saw right through your petty trick!" the Wol Family's Venerable Powerhouse boomed with laughter.
Baliss's expression faltered. He glanced in Mr. Ya's direction and yelled, "Come on out! Stop hiding!"
Because Mr. Ya had been preparing to strike, he hadn't been carefully concealing his presence, and his position was now exposed.
The Wol Family's Venerable Powerhouse looked toward Mr. Ya and frowned. "Someone from the Lin Hua Continent?"
Just then, from the opposite direction, another Venerable Powerhouse appeared. It was a Venerable Elder from the Stu Commerce Association.