Chapter 247: The Enemy Is Too Strong, So I’m Going to Turn on Cheats

"As expected of my protagonist’s halo, it subconsciously picked the best one for me!"

Qi Suian assessed his body. He had used the Ring of Unwavering Loyalty to fuse with a piece of level-two bionic armor from the Wasteland World.

This allowed him to possess all the functions of the level-two bionic armor. It wasn’t that he was wearing it; he had truly obtained its corresponding power.

However, he also discovered the ring’s flaws. First, it couldn’t fuse with Sacred Artifacts. Second, it couldn’t fuse with living beings.

These two points didn’t matter much, but the third point was what he truly found intolerable: it couldn’t fuse with items of a higher quality than itself.

In fact, when he first learned about the fusion ability, his initial thought was to fuse with the Tai Sui God.

But unfortunately, it failed immediately.

Qi Suian then ended the fusion, and the price began to be paid.

He could feel a sense of unwillingness to part, a mental resistance to the separation. Even after it was done, he felt a desire to fuse with it again.

So, he decisively threw the level-two bionic armor into a Melting Furnace and burned it. Only then did the feeling gradually fade.

’I’ll develop feelings for the fused item. Using it too many times or for too long will intensify this mental distortion.’

’But I have Extreme Will and Unyielding, plus this was my first time using it, which is why I was immune to the mental distortion this time.’

’Fortunately, there’s a solution. Destroying the item after each fusion can effectively clear the price.’

’This is only effective in the early stages, though. I’m afraid it won’t work in the middle to late stages.’

’So the best way to use it is to find a combination with high compatibility to further enhance the fusion ability and reduce the price.’

Qi Suian now understood that the ring’s Trait 1 was the fusion ability, while Trait 2 was its side effect, or price.

He had no intention of giving this Sacred Artifact to the Tai Sui God as a module, even though it had two empty module slots.

The reason was simple: whoever used the Sacred Artifact would become the dominant party in the fusion.

It was fine for him to fuse with the Tai Sui God, but it was not acceptable for the Tai Sui God to fuse with him.

Once the Tai Sui God obtained everything he had, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Even if Qi Suian trusted the Tai Sui God, he didn’t trust a version of it that had fused with him; it would definitely develop selfish motives.

It was just like with the Abyssal Virus back then—whoever served as the primary host was critically important.

"So I have to start collecting the ’Eternal Beloved’ series of Sacred Artifacts now?" Qi Suian muttered. "I’m counting on you, protagonist’s halo!"

Otherwise, he’d have to rely on himself? To put it bluntly, he could search until he died and still not find them.

As for the ’Apocalypse Psalm’ series, Qi Suian didn’t really need it.

The ’Eternal Beloved’ series, on the other hand, which enabled fusion, would allow Qi Suian to merge with the Tai Sui God, making it no longer an external object but a part of himself.

This would compensate for one of Qi Suian’s own weaknesses.

But there was one prerequisite.

The combined Sacred Artifact from the series had to reach SSS-rank quality. Otherwise, he could only look on helplessly.

Fortunately, the Tai Sui God was neither a living being nor a Sacred Artifact.

’But... it seems the Xuan Empire and the Eternal United States don’t know that Sacred Artifacts have prefixes.’

Qi Suian suddenly realized this blind spot.

As Sacred Artifacts from the same series, their compatibility and synergy were bound to be extremely high.

So wouldn’t splitting them up be completely redundant?

’It would be one thing if they didn’t know Sacred Artifacts came in sets. But if they knew and still deliberately split them up...’

’...Then it means the secrets hidden within the Sacred Artifacts are far deeper than I imagined.’

’So I need to conduct different experiments.’

’I’ll collect the ’Eternal Beloved’ as a full set, but for the ’Curse Chapters,’ I’ll choose scattered components.’

"Protagonist’s halo, I also need an auxiliary Sacred Artifact that can bring out the plague and disease effects of the ’Curse Chapters’ to use as a module," Qi Suian said aloud.

The moment his voice fell, a bolt of lightning struck down from the sky.

If the Tai Sui God hadn’t reacted so quickly, he would have been hit.

Thunder roared and lightning flashed in the sky as a burly, middle-aged man descended with the storm.

"The power wielded by you Survivors is truly astonishing to the United States."

"Allow me to introduce myself. Lieutenant Colonel Harrington of the United States, the Son of Thunder."

"Hand over the Sacred Artifact and tell us what you know. The terms Luke promised you will still be honored." The lightning around the middle-aged Harrington crackled.

His expression held no arrogance, only stern seriousness.

As for who Luke was, Qi Suian guessed from the man’s words that he must have been the previous owner of the Ring of Unwavering Loyalty—the mud giant he’d killed before even having a chance to ask for his name.

"A small fry like me, actually warranting the personal attention of a lieutenant colonel... How impressive." Qi Suian could tell that his opponent’s two main attributes were around 7 points.

However, the attributes weren’t the main point. The main point was that the man was wearing a Puzzle Sacred Artifact formed from at least five individual Sacred Artifacts.

Moreover, their compatibility was high. Combined with his control over lightning, the Tai Sui God was truly no match for him.

In the Sacred Artifact World, the Sacred Artifacts themselves were the Extraordinary Source, capable of granting immense power even to an ordinary person.

And that was to say nothing of the fact that his opponent was a battle-hardened Warrior.

Harrington didn’t waste words. He attacked directly, his entire being transforming into a bolt of lightning that shot toward them.

From Qi Suian’s attitude, it was clear he had no intention of backing down.

He was fast, but there was still a huge gap compared to true lightning.

CRACK!

An Evil Dragon and Evil Tiger manifested with the force of the punch, which pierced straight through Harrington’s body.

It didn’t pierce him in the traditional sense; the man had already completely elementalized himself as he attacked.

"Thunder—Divine Descent!"

Harrington’s voice echoed as he seemed to activate an ability from the Puzzle Sacred Artifact he wore.

The next moment, winged Little Angels with halos above their heads emerged from the lightning. They glowed with a purple radiance, circling around the Tai Sui God.

Before Qi Suian could make a move, these Little Angels began to sing in unison.

However, their song was not one of pleasant hymns, but the sound of countless electrical currents crackling.

"Thunder—Judgment!"

Lightning tore through the clouds, coalescing into a Thunderous Archangel with eight pairs of wings, wielding a spear of lightning.

As Harrington’s voice fell, the Thunder Angel hurled the lightning spear in its hand down at Qi Suian.

The Little Angels locked on, controlled, and weakened the target, while the Archangel delivered a powerful strike.

This entire single-target attack combo inherited the speed of lightning, all happening in a mere instant.

By the time Qi Suian and the AI could react, the lightning spear had already struck them.

First, their shields shattered, and then the Dragon and Tiger Primordial Divine Force was annihilated.

Fortunately, the Tai Sui God was equipped with material and defense modules. Although it had no specific lightning or electrical resistance, it managed to tank the hit.

It was also a good thing he had transferred the other modules to the Dimensional Folding Space. If they had still been equipped on its body, the impact would have caused significant losses, even if they didn’t explode.

’Too fast. I can’t win,’ Qi Suian assessed the situation clearly.

’So I’m getting the classic "beat up the kid, and his dad shows up" treatment, huh?’

Harrington’s expression grew increasingly grim. The Divine Descent Judgment was his most powerful attack.

Yet his opponent seemed completely unscathed.

However, this only made him more excited.

It meant that his opponent possessed something of even greater value. If he could obtain it, it might be the key for the Eternal United States to defeat the Survivors.

"Farewell!" Qi Suian turned and had the Tai Sui God flee.

The opponent was clearly a walking opportunity, but there was nothing to be done. Qi Suian couldn’t kill him.

The guy had elementalization, high agility, and a single-target attack that dealt massive damage and had built-in crowd control.

The Tai Sui God appeared fine on the surface only because the AI was using the transformation module to camouflage the damage.

In reality, if the enemy hit it with another so-called "Descent Judgment," the Tai Sui God would be scrapped.

And judging by the enemy’s relaxed appearance, he didn’t look like he needed a cooldown or was suffering from any backlash.

The skill couldn’t be so ridiculously weak as to be a minor ability, but he could definitely cast it consecutively.

Seeing Qi Suian about to flee, Harrington naturally wasn’t going to stand by and do nothing.

You’ve run rampant in our Eternal United States, massacred three towns, and wiped out a squad of our regular army.

It was a complete slap in the face. No matter what, he had to die here today.

The honor of the United States was at stake; they absolutely could not let this go.

"If one time won’t kill you, what about ten times? A hundred? I refuse to believe you can withstand it," Harrington said coldly.

He then repeated his technique, once again casting "Thunder—Divine Descent" on Qi Suian.

Qi Suian was immediately caught. Seeing the Thunderous Little Angels appear around him, he knew he wasn’t getting away without killing his opponent.

"Protagonist’s halo, drop everything else. Help me kill him first, and we’ll talk later."

After saying this, Qi Suian instantly took direct control of the Tai Sui God.

He then injected a large dose of Death Agent and began to output Feast Energy.

"Soul-Devouring Evil Force!"

The sound of a Dragon’s Roar and a tiger’s howl filled the air as the Evil Dragon and Evil Tiger materialized. They opened their massive, bloody maws and directly swallowed the Thunderous Little Angels circling Qi Suian.

After tearing through the encircling lock-on, Qi Suian took out a Floating Cannon. Without even aiming, he flicked his wrist, and it fired a Dark Energy Beam toward the sky.

Qi Suian didn’t even look to see if it hit, instead ordering the AI to push the Wind Master aeronautics system into overload.

"So what if you’re elementalized? This punch of mine is loaded with passive effects."

A fist materialized, its force piercing through Harrington’s head. Numerous Extraordinary modules activated, simultaneously inflicting various types of damage: viruses, kinetic force, special abilities, cryo-energy, fire seeds, and more.

Harrington’s expression changed drastically. Logically, his lightning form should have allowed him to ignore enemy damage.

However, the Floating Cannon’s Dark Energy Beam had directly struck the Thunderous Archangel that had emerged from the clouds.

The attack was interrupted, causing a slight disruption. By sheer coincidence, this tiny disruption happened to affect one of the lower-compatibility Sacred Artifacts within his Puzzle Sacred Artifact, creating a hairline crack.

When Qi Suian’s attack landed, this tiny crack immediately widened, causing the entire situation to spiral out of control.

An attack that should have been ineffective not only hit him head-on with its full force, but it even affected the Puzzle Sacred Artifact itself.

It instantly caused the Puzzle Sacred Artifact to break down into its component Sacred Artifacts.

It was a coincidence of coincidences, a perfect storm that sealed his defeat.

SPURT... "You... This is impossible!" A massive hole had been blown through Harrington’s chest.

But he wasn’t dead yet. Lightning flickered within the gaping wound, sustaining his life force.