Poison = Biochemical Weapon?

"My life is already in your hands! Do I have the right to refuse?" Tred said with a bitter smile as he watched Zhang Yao's air of absolute confidence.

"Can you give them to me?" Zhang Yao ignored Tred's bitter smile and asked again.

"Take them! Take everything!" Tred apparently felt that Zhang Yao was humiliating him and roared in anger! Honestly, anyone whose life was in another person's hands would feel toyed with if that person then politely asked for a few worldly possessions! Tred was no exception. Right now, he felt that Zhang Yao was playing with him like a cat playing with a mouse! Unfortunately, how could he have known the misery of the item-use rules Zhang Yao faced as a Chosen One?

With anyone else, Zhang Yao could simply have killed them and taken their possessions. But once he heard that Tred was an Alchemist, he had other ideas. If he had a chance to get a hen that could keep laying eggs, why kill it just to get the eggs inside?

"Thank you!" After hearing Tred's explicit answer, Zhang Yao swept his cloak over the items. The instant his cloak passed over them, they vanished. In fact, Zhang Yao had collected them using his Spatial Ring's special ability to automatically gather items within a ten-meter radius.

Zhang Yao knew this, but no one else did. Thus, when Tred looked at Zhang Yao again, the wariness in his eyes deepened considerably. Seeing that increased wariness, Zhang Yao merely smiled faintly. This was exactly the effect he had wanted.

"Now, let's discuss what to do with you, Mr. Tred! Since I don't want trouble, I'm giving you two options. First, I kill you and settle everything once and for all! But I was very satisfied with your earlier answer, so I'm offering you a second option: I'll lock you up somewhere secluded for now, then let you out once this storm has passed! Well, Mr. Tred, which will you choose?" Zhang Yao readily offered Tred two choices. Unfortunately, although there appeared to be two, there was really only one. Anyone with a functioning brain would know which to choose.

"I choose the second!" As an Alchemist, Tred certainly had nothing wrong with his brain, so he chose the most sensible answer.

"Very good! Then, for safety's sake, I'll still have to knock you out. But I'll go easy on you this time!" Without waiting for Tred to say anything else, Zhang Yao knocked him unconscious.

Picking Tred up, Zhang Yao hurried toward the inn where he was staying. He went around to the back, checked that no one nearby was watching, then slung Tred over his shoulder, nimbly climbed to the second floor, and slipped into his room.

By now, the room at the inn was empty. That afternoon, when Zhang Yao began his operation, he had drawn away more than half the men Fehr had left to keep watch. Luo De had seized the opportunity to move Amelia to a safe place, where they were hiding for the time being.

Zhang Yao tossed Tred into the bedroom, climbed back out the window, and jumped down from the second floor to continue his unfinished assassination mission. Before leaving, he stuffed a rag into Tred's mouth, afraid that Tred might shout and scream after waking up.

Zhang Yao soon eliminated his sixth, seventh, and eighth targets. Besides allowing him to complete his objectives, they also contributed a considerable amount of experience. The Arm Crossbow and poisons he had obtained from Tred proved invaluable.

Repeating Arm Crossbow: Special item. Damage: 30-50/bolt. Special effect: 20% chance to trigger piercing. Description: A type of crossbow crafted by skilled artisans. Features concealability and rapid fire. Once the bolts in the Arm Crossbow are depleted, it must be reloaded before it can be used again. Requirements: Strength 5, Agility 5. Uses: 5/5. Exchange value in gold coins: 600.

Cloud of Death: Consumable item. Deals 80 damage/second within a 10 × 10 area. Duration: 10 seconds. Description: A highly toxic potion created by an Alchemist from the extracted essence of dead creatures. Inflicts tremendous damage on living creatures. Exchange value in gold coins: 3,000.

Cloud of Poison Mist: Consumable item. Deals 50 damage/second within an 8 × 8 area. Duration: 10 seconds. Description: A highly toxic potion created by an Alchemist from the extracted essences of various highly poisonous plants. Inflicts tremendous damage on living creatures. Exchange value in gold coins: 1,500.

Poison-Coating Potion: Consumable item. Apply to a weapon to add 5 poison damage to its next 10 attacks. Description: A coating potion created by an Alchemist from the extracted essences of venomous creatures such as spiders and scorpions. Special treatment by a potion master prevents it from damaging weapons. Exchange value in gold coins: 800. Uses: 3/3.

Antidote Pill: Consumable item. Removes ordinary poison damage. Description: An antidote made from extracts of various plants. Exchange value in gold coins: 100/pill.

When Zhang Yao first saw the items he had obtained from Tred, his mouth fell open wide enough to fit a duck egg. The Repeating Arm Crossbow and Poison-Coating Potion were one thing, but the Cloud of Death and Cloud of Poison Mist were practically biological weapons! Not only did they inflict high damage, but they also covered a large area. They might not be particularly suitable against experts, but against ordinary people, they would absolutely kill whole swathes at a time! Unfortunately, there were too few-only one of each. At the same time, Zhang Yao felt that sparing Tred earlier had been a wise decision. Having this fellow was practically like having a biological weapons factory!

Since he had only one Cloud of Death and one Cloud of Poison Mist, Zhang Yao could not bear to use them and put them in his ring. He had no current need for the Poison-Coating Potion or Antidote Pills either, so those went into the ring as well. The Repeating Arm Crossbow, however, he equipped immediately. Honestly, ever since seeing Tred use it to take down Will's bodyguards, he had been drooling over this highly concealable and extremely powerful crossbow. Now that he finally had what he wanted, how could Zhang Yao possibly leave it unused?

When confronting his next few targets, Zhang Yao used his dagger if he could get close, and crossbow bolts if the distance was too great for him to approach. He dispatched them as easily as slicing melons and chopping vegetables. Often, before his victims even caught sight of him, a crossbow bolt from the darkness had pierced their throats.

Now Zhang Yao was heading toward his ninth target.

Toka was a minor leader in the Ironblood Brotherhood who managed the prostitutes near the docks. He was a two-faced schemer, the kind who called you brother to your face and stabbed you in the back. He also had a pastime that Zhang Yao utterly loathed-brutalizing women. Every prostitute under him had suffered his cruelty, and quite a few had been beaten to death.

From a distance, Zhang Yao watched a human whose fatness already surpassed that of a certain kind of animal. This was his current target-Toka.

Moving his two short, fat, clumsy legs, Toka strutted toward Zhang Yao as though he were a king inspecting his domain, his flesh wobbling three times with every step.

As Toka drew closer and closer, a cold smile curled Zhang Yao's lips.