Qi-Suppressing Stone

The Masha Virus was one of the deadliest artificial viruses created after the Third World War.

Its toxicity was dozens of times greater than botulinum toxin's; a dose of just 0.05 μg was enough to kill.

Developed by an island nation, the virus had once leaked accidentally, killing tens of millions on the island itself and even triggering a wave of emigration. The entire island nation had nearly suffered economic collapse because of it.

Originally, this virus was not only lethal but also highly contagious. It could destroy a city in mere hours, but Hawkins had crippled its infectiousness and retained only its deadly toxin.

He knew perfectly well how backward this world's sanitation measures were. Even with strange powers like Cursed Relics, once the Masha Virus spread, it would still be enough to drive most living things to extinction.

That was absolutely not an outcome he wanted to see.

Half an hour later, the Black Knife drew close to the wooden sailing ship.

Though they could not make use of Cursed Relics for the time being, collecting them was imperative.

Hawkins jumped from the rail of the Black Knife onto the wooden ship's deck, with Mark close behind.

It had to be said that Mark recovered much faster than Hawkins had expected. Hawkins's treatment had played a part, but Mark's physical constitution also far exceeded that of an ordinary person. Even with Hawkins's treatment, a normal person would have needed to lie bedridden for a week.

Five corpses lay on the wooden ship. Mark inspected them, but he could not tell how they had died.

Mark had always found Hawkins extremely mysterious. In the past, he had been confident that, with Curse Power protecting his body, Hawkins would not be his match. But now that his Curse Power protection had been broken, he could not be sure Hawkins did not have some similar means of breaking through it.

The feeling was utterly terrible.

It was like playing a game with a shield active, only for the enemy's attacks to deal true damage, ignoring the shield and inflicting massive damage.

"Captain, how did you do it?" Mark could not help asking.

Hawkins glanced at Mark and smiled. "What do you think the most terrifying kind of attack should be like?"

"The most terrifying attack? I don't know." Mark thought for a moment, then shook his head.

He had actually considered an attack like that of a sea monster. He had once seen a colossal sea monster thousands of meters tall; it had merely turned over and wiped out an entire fleet.

But he felt that Hawkins definitely would not agree with that answer.

"Invisible and deadly... that is indeed terrifying." After thinking it over, Mark nodded in agreement.

Compared to visible attacks like those of sea monsters, invisible lethal attacks were more frightening, enough to make one's heart tremble with fear.

He now felt a degree of awe toward Hawkins, because the deaths of the five corpses aboard the ship were simply too strange.

Hawkins smiled. "Mark, if I'm not mistaken, you should be able to touch Cursed Relics without being cursed, right?"

"I can, but it's actually very dangerous. Take that meteor hammer, for example. I can only hold on for one minute at most. After one minute, my Curse Power will be exhausted." Mark glanced at the meteor hammer in the fat man's hand and did not deny it.

Hawkins guessed, "In other words, Curse Power can offset a Cursed Relic's curse to a certain extent. But the more dangerous the Cursed Relic's curse is, the more Curse Power touching it consumes."

"That's right." Mark answered somewhat helplessly. He vaguely guessed what Hawkins was thinking.

Hawkins looked at Mark and smiled. "Then... sorry for the trouble."

"Ah, Captain, I'm starting to regret this. This salary really isn't easy to earn." Mark sighed with a bitter expression.

Hawkins had just saved his life, and Mark also stood in awe of Hawkins's mysterious power. Though coming into contact with Cursed Relics carried a certain degree of danger, he still consciously walked toward the scar-faced woman.

A moment later, he confirmed that the ring in the scar-faced woman's hand was a Cursed Relic.

"This ring's ability should be tracking prey. Since I haven't used it, I can't determine the curse, but judging from how much Curse Power the ring consumes, it should be a Fine-grade Relic."

Mark removed the ring from the scar-faced woman's finger and made his judgment after handling it for roughly half a minute.

Next, he walked over to one of the men and soon removed one of the man's eyeballs.

On the back of the false eye's pupil was a red hexagram pattern, its lines faintly flowing with red light.

Mark pondered for a moment before saying, "This false eye's ability should be something like appraisal, but its conditions of use are rather harsh. You must remove your own eyeball and install it in the eye socket before it can be used. The curse still can't be determined, but it should likewise be a Fine-grade Relic."

Afterward, Mark identified the effects of two more Cursed Relics, leaving only the meteor hammer untouched.

This team's abilities were extremely well-rounded. They had a false eye that could appraise the effects of relics held by enemies, a ring that could lock onto an enemy's location, a tooth necklace that could transform its holder into a crocodile-man, and a wooden cane capable of controlling roots.

The four relics alone covered intelligence gathering, close-range attacks, disruption, and defense. With the fat man's meteor hammer added in, there were no gaps in their long-range capabilities either.

Mark glanced at the fat man, let out a long breath, and said with a bitter smile, "This team was extremely dangerous. If I had been alone, I'm afraid I would have certainly died under their ambush."

"Aren't you going to take a look at that meteor hammer?" Hawkins leaned against the ship's rail with his arms folded and suggested with a smile.

Mark hurriedly waved his hands in refusal. "No, no, no. That thing can't be touched. It's definitely a Cursed Relic above Fierce Grade, and infinitely close to Death-Tier. It's too dangerous."

He still had lingering fear over the meteor hammer.

The curse power within the meteor hammer was like an erupting volcano. In truth, he had already understood the Cursed Relic's effect when he had jumped up to resist it.

The explosion and the upward-rushing air current were enough to blow all matter away. It was exceedingly tyrannical.

Cursed Relics with such powerful offensive capabilities often carried incomparably brutal curse effects. Mark had no desire whatsoever to get involved with one.

Still, he was also somewhat curious why this fat man could use such a Cursed Relic without dying.

He walked over to the fat man, crouched down, and carefully felt around his body before pulling open his clothes. At the fat man's chest, a metal ring was embedded in his flesh, and at the center of the ring was a multicolored gemstone.

"Qi-Suppressing Stone!"

Mark stared at the gemstone in astonishment.

In an instant, he understood why this fat man had not died beneath the meteor hammer's curse.

The Qi-Suppressing Stone had a suppressive effect on Cursed Relics. Though it could not make the curse disappear completely, it could weaken part of it.

But the Qi-Suppressing Stone alone should not have been enough.

Mark searched through the fat man's clothes again, but found nothing else.

"This is the Qi-Suppressing Stone?"

At that moment, Hawkins walked over beside Mark. Looking at the gemstone on the ring embedded in the fat man's chest, curiosity shone in his eyes.

The gemstone was neither crystalline nor translucent, yet it was exceptionally unique. Its surface was made up of dozens of colors, gathering toward the very center in a spiraling gradient. At that spot was a tiny black dot.

Hawkins tried observing it from different angles and found that the tiny black dot was infinitely similar to a black hole.

If the Qi-Suppressing Stone had formed naturally, it was absolutely the most magnificent gemstone in nature.