Chapter 496: White Mask Snatching the Mandate of Heaven
The next morning, sunlight spilled all over the golden manor. Kaito Shirogane suddenly opened his eyes. A Log Pose appeared in his hand.
The needle was now completely upright, a sign that it was getting close to being usable.
With a thought, Kaito's figure disappeared. When he opened his eyes again, he had returned to his familiar personal space.
Now when Mercenary Tao returned to the shantytown, he received the treatment of a big celebrity. Almost all low- and mid-tier Reincarnators were observing him.
Previously, an "intelligence war" had occurred in the public space almost entirely revolving around Mercenary Tao. More than a dozen famous information brokers were involved.
Black Butler, Jin Ruohai, Faceless, and other information brokers with growing reputations also entered the fray. Some were hiding news, some were revealing news.
But without exception, they were all related to Mercenary Tao.
At this moment, no matter how slow-witted someone was, they also realized that someone was targeting Mercenary Tao, targeting this powerful Reincarnator who seemed to have had smooth sailing all the way.
And the existence of the so-called [Anti-Mercenary Tao Alliance] was also believed by many to truly exist as various rumors circulated.
It's just that regarding the confirmed members within it, no one could say for sure.
Therefore, the looks these Reincarnators gave Mercenary Tao at this time were all quite strange.
When Kaito arrived at his stall, a young girl with dark green long twin tails was sitting in mid-air above his stall.
The surrounding Reincarnators all scrutinized the other party covertly, but didn't dare to make direct eye contact.
"Yo, Mercenary Tao, you actually really showed up?"
Crusch was somewhat surprised, feeling that guy Ghost Daoist indeed had some skills.
She looked Kaito up and down. Clearly, with the barrier of the Space, even if she had some ocular jutsu, she completely couldn't see anything.
But she just made tutting sounds while looking.
Kaito didn't have any time to waste. With just a glance at the other party's uniform with a white background, black edges, and a high collar, he guessed the other party was probably a member of the [Throne of Reality and Illusion], and her rank wasn't low.
While he was thinking, as the other party walked, the casually written [03] on her chest was revealed.
03... Kaito remembered the one he met last time was [98]. He roughly understood that the young girl before him was a high-level member of the Throne of Reality and Illusion.
"Tsk tsk, hmm... I feel you are indeed a not-bad guy."
The young girl reached this conclusion, then raised her right hand.
An emerald-colored invitation letter appeared again.
"How about it? Join our Throne of Reality and Illusion, Mercenary Tao. The [Emerald Battle Group] is even more special than you think."
"Moreover, having an expert like me invite a newcomer is enough to show our sincerity, right~"
The young girl was very narcissistic, but Mercenary Tao didn't pick up the conversation, merely saying:
"Where is Ghost Daoist? I still have something with him."
With another flash of light in the young girl's right hand, a small dark purple sphere appeared in her palm.
"Ghost Daoist asked me to give it to you."
Kaito reached out his right hand, but the young girl suddenly took back the modified Hollow Core. Blinking her eyes, she said crisply:
"If you don't join the Emerald Battle Group, I won't give you this thing. How about that?"
Kaito didn't speak, but his face turned completely cold. He looked indifferently at this woman, and subsequently, a cruel smile appeared.
"Ha~ That's the expression!"
"I really wasn't wrong about you!"
The young girl suddenly revealed an expression of pleasant surprise. She watched Mercenary Tao's ugly face open up bit by bit. After the cruel smile appeared, the other party's sluggish eyes seemed to come alive.
That was the other party's true appearance.
[Reincarnator CC56799111 initiated a trade with you]
[You obtained Item: Unsealed Hollow Core]
[Unsealed Hollow Core]
[Special Creation, Biological Armor, Spirit Seed]
[Quality: Unparalleled Rare · Extreme]
[Description: A yet-to-be-born Hollow Core, kneaded into a seed of power by a Great Will. It will have an irreversible impact on the soul. The outer core has been cracked]
[Effect 1: Fusing it into any item has a probability of awakening Fullbring (Probability is related to the holder's Reiatsu)]
[Effect 2: Directly fusing it into the soul as a material at the Goddess's place can grant Hollowfication characteristics]
[Effect 3: Extremely small probability of birthing a new spirit seed creature]
[Effect 4: If touched by any spiritual body, it will devour the spiritual body and be born as a Hollow]
Kaito saw that after the outer core of this Hollow Core was cracked by Ghost Daoist, it was indeed much more convenient to use.
But in essence, it still couldn't produce immediate effects.
He wasn't a Reincarnator with Shinigami strengthening and couldn't fight directly with a spiritual body. A characteristic like Hollowfication also couldn't directly enhance combat power.
So now, for him, this thing could either be used to cultivate the so-called spirit seed creature, or... fused into some item to pursue a Fullbring.
Kaito knew that with the soul power in his body right now, awakening a Fullbring probably wouldn't be a difficult matter.
But into what item should it be fused...
While Kaito was pondering, a snap of fingers sounded before his eyes.
That young girl had a short stature but stood in mid-air on par with Kaito. She smiled and spoke:
"I advise you it's better to join the Emerald Battle Group. Those jackals outside are all staring at you..."
"Enemies aren't just the ones you see. In the places you can't see... they're all enemies. Heh..."
The young girl smiled and raised her right hand again.
[You obtained Item: Invitation Letter (Special)]
Kaito took this thing, but didn't care about the young girl's reminder. From the very beginning, he considered everyone as an enemy to think about, so naturally he wouldn't care about this kind of thing.
He checked the offers on the stall. Most of the offers couldn't move his heart.
He didn't see powerful materials or items like the [Bodhi Leaf], so he kept turning back.
Suddenly, his eyes fixed on an item named [Aghanim's Scepter]. The other party wanted to use this thing to exchange for the [Op-Op Fruit] in his stall.
Kaito's mind stirred. Watching the needle begin to tremble, he sent a message to contact the other party.
White Mask was still sitting in her room. Watching the countdown appear, the smile on the corner of her mouth became even more obvious.
She had already learned from other channels that Mercenary Tao had returned to his personal space. In other words, that fierce beast was highly likely really going to pursue her into the mission world.
"Heh, interesting..."
"Mercenary Tao, I hope you won't regret it~"
In the next moment, White Mask turned into a silver-white stream of information and disappeared into the pitch-black space.
When she regained her senses, she had already appeared in a dark city.
White Mask raised her right hand, and a transparent light appeared from it.
Countless illusory trajectories seemed to appear in the sky. White Mask searched constantly and finally found one of them. She leaped and plunged into it.
In the next moment, White Mask felt as if she had incarnated as another person and experienced a lifetime. Finally, White Mask took out a set of black priest robes and draped it over herself.
(End of Chapter)
~~~
Get early access to 50+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
~~~
Every 5 new reviews = 2 extra chapters
Every 100 Power Stones = 1 extra chapter