Chapter 1588: Workshop (20)
The chance of someone being punished for blasphemy until they were no longer human, then receiving a corresponding "weapon" as a gift, wasn't zero, but it seemed exceedingly unlikely.
Add in the belt's familiar design and the fact that Ess was wearing three pieces of equipment, and at first glance, Fu Qian had immediately wondered what the woman in the pool—who seemed to be Sophia—had been used for.
He'd also wondered what the three newcomers, himself included, had been used for.
After suffering a devastating setback during an expedition, returning to rebuild the organization and make a comeback was a plausible enough reason.
But now that the three people they'd been waiting for had finally arrived, and seemed to match the three pieces of equipment Ess was wearing, it was hard to see that as a coincidence.
There was one other thing. When Lady Yingzhu had sent him here and heard Ess say that the others were getting impatient, her reaction had been rather strange.
It seemed as though this wasn't supposed to be a group activity.
Putting it all together, Ess had a plan that required the Vacuum Flower and three volunteers whose affinities matched the equipment she wore.
And back in that first building, after recognizing the pattern on Ess's equipment, Fu Qian had decisively chosen and found the corresponding coin, filling the final vacancy.
The development had made Ess so excited that she'd tolerated his less-than-subdued behavior and arranged for him to be put to work immediately.
For some reason, she was in a real hurry.
Unfortunately, though, even with everyone in place, the Vacuum Flower seemed to have vanished.
Ess had no choice but to put her plan on hold and find the Vacuum Flower at all costs—even if that meant relying