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Douluo: Emerald Poison Emperor-Chapter 304: Douluo: Emerald Poison Emperor []
Chapter 304 - Douluo: Emerald Poison Emperor [304]
Under the guidance of Shui Xuan, Chen Ming spent the entire night visiting several Level 6 and Level 5 Soul Engineers.
When these people first saw Chen Ming, their initial thought was, "How the hell did you get in here? Where are the guards?" However, they quickly calmed down after witnessing the power Chen Ming displayed.
That said, not everyone was easily pacified. Among them, some hot-headed individuals immediately fired a Soul Tool laser at Chen Ming and Shui Xuan. These hot-headed individuals were then lucky enough to witness an extraordinary scene: Chen Ming catching the Soul Tool laser bare-handed and crushing a sturdy Level 5 or even Level 6 Soul Tool into a ball with his palm.
The people Shui Xuan gathered were all connected to him in some way—either old friends, disciples, or relatives of old friends or disciples. Under the combined pressure of both carrot and stick, these individuals quickly surrendered—or rather, they didn't dare to resist.
After all, the strongest among them was only an 81st-level Soul Douluo, comparable to Shui Xuan. When Chen Ming released even a fraction of his aura, they nearly had their souls leave their bodies. They wouldn't dare openly oppose him, even if given the courage.
Thus, one by one, these individuals were injected with a bit of life force by Chen Ming, had their internal toxins alleviated, and were ultimately implanted with a deadly poison.
This poison was inspired by the Life-and-Death Seal (or Dugubo's poison). Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't cause any problems, but over time, its effects would gradually manifest. When it did, the only way to alleviate it would be through Chen Ming's intervention—or that of a Super Douluo.
For those who truly refused to submit, Chen Ming didn't bother to take drastic measures. He simply erased parts of their memories and implanted false ones, leaving them with the impression that nothing had ever happened.
This method, however, was terrifying in the eyes of others. The ability to tamper with memories so casually was unsettling—even on the Douluo Continent, it was enough to strike fear into anyone.
In less than half a month, Chen Ming successfully recruited five Level 6 Soul Engineers, fifteen Level 5 Soul Engineers, and forty Level 4 Soul Engineers, surpassing his mission's requirements. A large portion of these recruits had been brought in by those who surrendered earlier.
After all, Shui Xuan had two sons who were Level 6 Soul Engineers, and these Soul Engineers naturally brought along their friends, relatives, and close associates into the fold.
Chen Ming temporarily did not recruit any Level 3 Soul Engineers, as he didn't see the immediate need for them. The next challenge was figuring out how to transport these people out.
Some of them had no family ties, but even these individuals had friends, children, or their networks and things they cared about. Those with family ties were even less inclined to jeopardize their clans or families.
As their leader, Chen Ming couldn't let his subordinates' clans be wiped out because of his actions—that would be too ruthless.
Chen Ming could have left a portion of his power behind on the Sun and Moon Continent in the form of an external avatar created by his second martial soul, but with Tang San likely making moves soon, he couldn't afford to leave such a vital part of his combat strength elsewhere.
If they were Level 9 or Level 10 Soul Engineers, he might have considered it, but a group of Level 6 Soul Engineers simply wasn't worth it.
Thus, Chen Ming could only transport these people in batches. Some remained behind to continue working in research groups, essentially acting as spies. In the future, they could continue leveraging the Sun Moon Empire's resources to develop new technologies.
For those left behind, Chen Ming spared no expense. He gave each leader and those who brought friends or family into the group a thousand-year soul bone. For Soul Masters who were at most Soul Saints in terms of soul power, this was a windfall beyond their wildest dreams.
Even on the Douluo Continent, thousand-year soul bones were precious treasures for Soul Saints. On the Sun Moon Continent, they were even more valuable.
Those Soul Engineers who had initially lamented their sudden transition to spies were utterly overwhelmed by this unexpected reward. They swore loyalty to Chen Ming, vowing never to betray or leak any information. Chen Ming distributed seven of the dozen or so thousand-year soul bones he carried. Of course, he didn't blindly trust them. Before leaving, he demonstrated a bit of his power.
On an ordinary day, a tiger emanating an aura of ultimate evil descended from the sky and landed outside Great Sun City. Its aura surpassed that of a hundred-thousand-year soul beast, and the oppressive energy it radiated made even Soul Kings too afraid to approach within a hundred steps.
The guards of Great Sun City launched an attack on this evil tiger, but neither Soul Tool lasers nor powerful fixed-mounted Soul Tool cannons left any visible injuries on it.
Level 5 Soul Tool cannons were ineffective. Level 6 Soul Tool cannons were ineffective. In desperation, the guards, under their commander's orders, fired a hidden Level 7 Soul Tool shell at the tiger, but, unsurprisingly, it was also ineffective.
Sun Moon Empire's Soul Sages and Soul Douluos rushed out from within Great Sun City, activating their martial soul avatars to surround the black tiger. However, with a casual flap of its wings, the tiger unleashed dark purple lightning that effortlessly shattered all of their martial soul avatars.
Even the Sun Moon Empire's strongest fighter—a Soul Douluo with 89 levels of soul power and a full set of soul bones, whose martial soul was the Sun—was instantly defeated by the dark purple lightning.
Just as the guards, residents, and nobles of Great Sun City thought the city would be massacred by this overwhelmingly evil soul beast, they saw the black tiger flap its wings and fly away as if nothing had ever happened.
After an internal investigation, Great Sun City found that nobody had died from the tiger's attacks. The few casualties on the battlefield were caused by soldiers stabbing each other amid the chaos.
Though the city consumed a significant number of Soul Tool resources and its high-level combat forces were weakened, nothing else happened.
This stark contrast even made the Sun Moon Empire's emperor wonder if some legendary soul beast had simply been bored and decided to toy with humans for fun.
Only the Soul Engineers recruited by Chen Ming knew that the black tiger had been casually summoned by their master.
During a gathering that night, those who had witnessed the tiger's overwhelming power during the day saw it shrink to the size of a kitten and be gently stroked by a man in a black robe.
It was also during this gathering that Chen Ming revealed his true appearance for the first time on the Sun Moon Continent and informed the gathered Soul Engineers that the organization they had joined was called the Hall of Souls, and his name was Chen Ming.
No one dared to resist. No one hesitated. All the Soul Engineers knelt before Chen Ming and swore allegiance. While none became fanatical devotees, they all became unquestionably loyal followers.
Leaving Shui Xia behind to lead the Soul Engineers remaining in Great Sun City, Chen Ming infused everyone with life force, helped a few Soul Masters break through bottlenecks, and then departed with a large number of Soul Engineers, as well as various precious materials, metals, and Soul Tools.
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Chen Ming left with 28 people. Aside from Shui Xuan, Shui Zhen, and Xu Bai, there were three Level 6 Soul Engineers, seven Level 5 Soul Engineers, and fifteen Level 4 Soul Engineers.
While Chen Ming could have flown with them, he instead summoned the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger in a concealed location, had it enlarge itself, and carried everyone on its back. Chen Ming used his spiritual power to distort the surrounding soul power, achieving both physical and sensory concealment.