Preparation Work

Two months later, the students' summer came to an end.

The Fairy Tale Kingdom's journey ended at Adulis, where they were knocked into the loser's bracket in the round of 48, and then suffered a first-round exit.

Things didn't turn out as well as Sharks Chili had hoped. Sister Guozi had to leave the team temporarily and return to the Laiyang Club. It was a last-minute change that threw them into disarray, catching them off guard. But it's okay, they have many more summers to come. This story will be told in the epilogue. Let's go back to Gunsmith.

As October approached, Jiang Xueming had been closely following the trial of Mali Pero since returning from Forty-One District. After three rounds of review and sentencing, the murder charge against Claire Wolfe became a foregone conclusion.

However, considering the turn of events after Mali Pero, and the survival-oriented factors involved in the crime—and, to put it another way—the judge, after careful consideration with the jury and investigating officials, decided to grant the blood-giving entity some immunity, taking into account that Mali Pero did not intentionally become the Blood-giving Monster.

Just as the judgment of the mentally ill in the mortal world always takes the illness into account, Mali Pero's mental state, under the control of Pellegrini and Seraph, has similarities to that of a mentally ill person. The public opinion in Forty-One District cannot continue to ferment. This young man pointed out the location of the Immortals to the Nameless One, indirectly helping the Nameless One to capture Pellegrini. The crucial information written on the window of the Roman Holiday Hotel was seen by tens of thousands of people on the online live streaming platform—these people can all defend Mali and testify for Mali.

Because Pellegrini Tuan was an extremely powerful sorcerer, even under the control of Fragrant Dream, David Victor used Soul Power to search for information, and some of his memories were encrypted with a special language and sealed through self-hypnosis. For the time being, this baby-faced man would not die, and he could not face his own torture like Lawrence Madison, nor could he go to the Merit Forest to reunite with the villains.

Just as Ming De had thought, if the bandit leader didn't die, but instead sentenced Mali Pero, who had helped the nameless man, to death, it would be contrary to justice and a huge joke.

Mali Pero and Clare Barton were handed over to the Blackland Royal Hotel. Mrs. Clare, as an accomplice, was sentenced to eight years, which happened to be the age Little Barton turned thirteen and needed to start school. Mali Pero, on the other hand, was admitted to Hedland on medical parole as a patient—but as an aside, this reason was pure nonsense. It was another task that the Little Kitty had assigned to the child: to quietly spend eight years exchanging information with the criminals in Hedland, to leave his isolated hometown, and to seek enlightenment in Dragon Field.

If, in this cesspool, Mali can still hold onto his original wish—to resurrect Yukiko and his brother, and to resurrect Claire to atone for his sins—then everything will have an answer, and time will prove his resolve.

After learning of the verdict, the gunsmith returned to his life as a fisherman, still wearing his dirty overalls vest, tinkering with psionic gadgets in the workshop with Little Shark's two assistant apprentices, and repairing equipment for passing passengers.

When news of Mali Pero's move to Hedland reached the Anonymous, Jiang Xueming immediately sought out Mana and found Thumb Brother.

To be honest, he didn't have a good impression of the leader of the Hand of Omnipotence. They were the ones who brought Bai Bailu the Vita Imprint. Thumb Brother's actions from head to toe exuded an arrogant, fatherly air of teaching others how to behave. After his battle with Lawrence Madison, Thumb Brother spent more than three years in prison before returning to the Nine Realms. He wanted to use the Little Finger connection to climb the social ladder and find the next big spender for the Hand of Omnipotence.

However, Jiang Xueming did not assign any tasks to this fence-sitter. When it came to intelligence gathering, the brothers of the Gate of Wonders were all top-notch professionals. For more difficult tasks like tracking and scouting, there was Jason Megan. If it was just a simple task, Leslie's Silver Bay would take care of it.

When it comes to connections, Wuming is certainly not short of friends. Just the matter of manufacturing machinery and equipment is enough for Xue Ming to make friends with many VIPs who are struggling in the unknown territory.

A few years ago, Thumb Bro might have been somewhat useful to the anonymous person, providing a place for him to hide. That would be by acting as a double agent, revealing the names of several cult leaders he particularly followed on social media, letting Xue Ming take a look, and incidentally helping Mana clean up his unwanted and spam social media activity.

Before beating up the Rose Sect and the Terror Artist, Jiang Xueming had always turned a blind eye to Mana's tipping off Our Rose Virgin and John Berger. Now, what is this era?

In his Thumb Moments, Jiang Xueming followed almost every letter starting with the letter A all the way up to the letter Z.

"What brings you here today? What do you want me to do?" Mana asked nervously. He had changed into presentable clothes and was trembling as he entered the gunsmith's workshop.

--After all, the man squatting next to the tool table in the prefab house was a blood donation unit's one-click cleanup master.

The Hand of Omnipotence's body flows with the blood of the fundamentalist, Madness Butterfly Saint, containing a very high proportion of human beings and little of the calamity beast's essence. But who knows, the Gunsmith might suddenly decide to kill him on a whim?

"You are very knowledgeable about the witchcraft, curses, and psychic methods of the blood-granting unit." Jiang Xueming left the workbench, instructed Fuyanni to replace the water tank on the car frame, and said he needed to finish up for the client. He then led Mana into the snack bar of the club.

He pulled out two high stools and personally helped Mana onto the chair.

"I just want to know how Pellegrini did that spell—he can remotely unleash the power of his soul force, allowing someone else to use it."

"Oh! Oh!" Mana finally breathed a sigh of relief, certain that the gunsmith wasn't there for KDA. "This isn't anything new. Using elemental mediums to launch soul attacks is actually similar to your Chinese talisman culture."

Jiang Xueming raised an eyebrow. "Talismans?"

"Blood can survive for a while after leaving the body. The principle is simple, and usually, simple things are the most reliable." Mana then began to twist a Rubik's Rubik's Cube in the air, as if afraid the gunsmith wouldn't understand. "Pellegrini's method of bestowing blood was through the Holy Communion of the Elixir, combined with his own flesh and blood, that is, the eye in Mali Pero's hand, indirectly giving this kid superhuman abilities."

"In this operation by Forty-One District to eliminate the Immortals Pellegrini, there were blood donation units like Mali Pero, as well as CC and two other mercenaries."

"They all possessed a portion of the Storm Eye's power. Pellegrini gave his eyeballs, a third of his liver, and two fingers as gifts to these henchmen."

"The flesh of Blood-giving Monster is difficult to kill. After finding a host, it absorbs vital energy during the Holy Communion and parasitizes the host's body, immediately transforming into an ectopic proliferating organ."

"Thanks to this blood transfusion method, once Pellegrini lost his fighting ability, during the later stages of capturing his henchmen, these two mercenaries with the Storm Eye were almost powerless to resist, because the Soul Might's true form had lost consciousness, and the gods no longer protected them."

"The soul power of the Bartons isn't the Storm Eye because they didn't obtain Pellegrini's essence."

"Oh," Jiang Xueming pondered, then asked softly, "Can it make my blood leave my body and travel far away with the power of my soul?"

Thumb Guy asked cautiously, "Boss, are you trying to poison someone?"

"Just tell me how to achieve this effect." Xue Ming didn't intend to explain her motives and remained tight-lipped about the reasons behind them.

Thumb Guy thought for a moment, searching his brain for specific solutions. For Homo sapiens, blood only works when it's fresh. Some more dedicated VIPs will temporarily bleed themselves, using the blood as a decoy for Inspiration. Gunsmith had already personally demonstrated this technique once.

Splashing blood can increase the maximum range of Soul Power, but it lasts only a short time. These tissues will become inactive before long, so it cannot be used to remotely curse targets like a blood-granting unit.

"I think, how about this, Boss?" Thumb Bro, fearing Gunsmith's disappointment, offered a compromise—a somewhat clumsy method to ensure Soul Power's 100% long-range effectiveness. "Think carefully about how Soul Power works, what conditions are needed to activate its special abilities—then cut off that part of your body, freeze it, and send it far away. Many VIPs have tried doing this, and almost all of them succeeded."

Xue Ming clasped his hands together and nodded. "Understood, thank you."

"Hey! Hey! Don't be so polite, it's kind of scary," Mana replied awkwardly.

Then Xue Ming took out his notebook and started writing and drawing.

Mana finally couldn't contain his curiosity and wanted to get to the bottom of it.

His attitude was humble, almost excessively polite.

"Boss, I apologize first, but I'm genuinely curious, where do you intend to send the power of your Soul Might? I do know that information about your Soul Might has always been an Alpha-level secret at the station. I apologize for any offense. If it's truly important, then pretend I didn't ask."

The more he spoke, the more guilty and frightened he became, and then he gently slapped himself across the face.

--Mana thought to himself, he was a blood donor, and asking the Nameless One about his most important spiritual attributes was tantamount to suicide. It was like provoking a tiger; who would vouch for Thumb's innocence? Who knew if Thumb would sell this information to the remnants of the cult? If Gunsmith was unhappy, David Victor's psychic examination would definitely be in order. At that time, the great writer would have to dig his brain out and examine it repeatedly, exposing all the pornographic magazines hidden under his bed and the resources on his phone to more than a hundred people in the Qingjin.

As soon as Thumb said it, it immediately regretted it. "Oh no! I won't ask anymore!"

"It's not as complicated as you think." The gunsmith didn't mention Fragrant Dream's abilities at all, but explained from a different angle, "I don't have time to go to Hedland, but there's something I need to do, and it's not convenient to ask someone else to do it."

Thumb asked, "Mali Pero?"

"Yes." Jiang Xueming took out a small Universal Elixir from his tool bag, about fifteen milliliters. "If you have time, give this to this young man personally. You used to be the manager of Hedland, so you know this place well."

Thumb wanted to ask, "What is that?"

Jiang Xueming took out a thermos and filled it to the brim with ice from the snack shop's freezer.

He pulled Thumb Brother back to the workbench, and instead of bothering Fragrant Dream, he quickly turned on the table saw, set the speed to 5,000 RPM, and started working on it.

In just a fraction of a second, four fingers fell into the thermos. His other hand, coated with the Universal Elixir, was applied to the wound to seal the blood flow. The speed was incredibly fast; in the blink of an eye, the fingers grew back, covered in smooth, tender skin, with even the nails not yet fully grown.

Mana was stunned by the sight of the severed finger—he knew there were many wizards in the world with magical abilities and psychic powers, but the gunsmith's speed in healing himself with drugs was truly terrifying; such a will to survive could create many miracles.

Xue Ming turned off the table saw; the saw blade was still shiny and clean, without a trace of blood.

He casually screwed the cap back on, carefully preserving it with his Thumb. If Mana wasn't lying, then those four fingers, carrying a portion of the power of the Fragrant Dream, could give Mali Pero four chances—to meet Yukiko, or Groba, or even Claire, whom he had killed and eaten—to have a proper conversation with the victims. These experiences would become the source of strength within Mali.

Looking at Jiang Xueming's rough Thumb, and then at his other four fair and delicate fingers that had never been exposed to the elements, Mana was momentarily dazed. The spellcasting was just too fast!

"Should I just give this to Mali Pero?"

Jiang Xueming nodded. "Thank you. I'll need your help again in the future."

"Oh!" Thumb Guy finally realized, "Oh! Oh oh oh oh! Oh! Boss, you're finally willing to give me a job?"

Jiang Xueming pursed her lips, feeling a mix of amusement and exasperation.

--But Thumb is right. In the past, when he killed monsters, most of the heads he collected were Thumb "close friends and relatives," so it wasn't convenient to assign any work to this "traitor to the Holy Church" who had voluntarily surrendered.

Six years later, Pellegrini's capture leads to a series of new clues. To go to Shambhala to capture these Eagle Falcon, there is a lot of preparation work to be done. Thumb knows the blood donation unit very well, which is a good opportunity for him to re-employ himself.

The Gate of Wonders and Leslie couldn't delve into the social circles of the Blood-giving Monster, but Thumb could; they shared the same Madness Butterfly faith and should get along well with the Shambhala cultists.

"An undercover agent, huh?! You want me to go undercover?!" Thumb Guy got more and more excited as he spoke, "I've been fully prepared for this day!"

This guy pulled out a copy of "An Actor Prepares" from behind his back and started giving Xue Ming acting advice on the spot.

Xue Ming then pushed Thumb Brother out the door, saying, "Hurry up and find a cold chain to deliver this to me!"

After seeing Thumb off, Xue Ming was about to head to two other places. He didn't have time to take care of Mali Pero; Meteor would visit the young man with a tragic past and a strong heart on his behalf— Mali must be a smart man, having long since realized the true power of Fragrant Dream.

If he can emerge from his dream like Tang Ning did and accept a new mission, these four fingers would be a wonderful gift.

As for the "other two places" --

--One of them was the original starting point, Fang Feng.

David Mr. Bourne, the security guard, is still stationed here, but judging from Mr. Mr. Bourne's recent posts on social media, his beloved peaceful life of slacking off is over.

Sixteen engineering teams worked here for four years in search of the passageway left by Canaan. According to historical records, this road should lead directly to Edinburgh, and a hub comparable to Sky Station could be built here.

The underground world is most lacking in transportation capacity, the ability to transport all kinds of supplies, delicate electronic communication equipment, and weapons from the surface.

What kind of feeling is that?

For Mr. Bourne, he originally wanted to find a quiet place outside the Fifth Ring Road to rest and have a date with the gun girls of his dreams on a deserted beach.

As a result, the Fifth Ring Road has become the First Ring Road. The security guards here have to handle more than two hundred passengers every day, and this number is still rising as the new hub is gradually completed. Many colleagues also joked with Mr. Bourne that they would pay a lot of money to buy his temporary base and his job.

Under the BOSS's instructions, the HR department has not changed Mr. Bourne's position, but has only added two work groups and eight assistants to him.

This plunged the taciturn Mr. Mr. Bourne into a long period of seclusion, until the gunsmith had to return to this place again—for new weapon materials, for the BOSS's few "plague bones," to harmlessly process the Taowu's essence and turn them into "the remains of Mingde," which might require the help of Canaan.

After saying goodbye to his wife and children, Jiang Xueming once again embarked on his journey alone.

He arrived at the cabinet and brought two boxes that reeked of blood. The boxes were covered with all sorts of talismans and scriptures from both the East and the West, wrapped in sheepskin and yellow paper. It was as if the boxes were about to be labeled "dangerous items for Spirit Calamity."

The boss said kindly, "It's my little rib."

"What are you trying to do by being so proud!" Jiang Xueming couldn't help but exclaim.

The BOSS continued, "Since the claws haven't grown out yet, you'll have to make do with this. It'll eventually transform into another form anyway."

Jiang Xueming then asked--

"--Was it smooth? When the researchers were harvesting the bone, what should have happened?"

The BOSS interrupted arrogantly.

"Two of them went insane on the spot! One of them, who is mentally fragile, is still suicidal in his ward at the medical station and probably won't be able to get out of the restraints until next month--"

"--Afterwards, three officers found the little finger; they no longer wanted to be men and wanted to start their lives anew."