Seeing that the man was seriously injured and on the verge of death, Aurora out her hand and placed it on his body. Dazzling life energy was released from her fingertips, and golden light spots floated, looking like soft gauze, and flowed into the man's body.
The next moment, the man's gruesome wounds healed rapidly before the naked eye. The torn flesh closed up, the shattered bones reattached, and his pale face quickly regained its color. He was soon back to normal, with all his wounds healed. Only the bloodstains covering his body proved that he had been beaten like a grandson.
"Hmm." The man's eyebrows twitched, and he gradually awoke from his coma.
"Where am I...?" He was dazed for a moment, then suddenly remembered what had happened before he fainted. His expression changed drastically, and he stood up abruptly, cautiously looking around. "Where did all those lunatics go?"
Fording coughed to get his attention. "Your enemies have fled, and we've rescued you."
"They escaped? This is terrible! I finally found their trail, and now the clues have gone cold." The man looked distressed, then examined Fording and his companion for a moment before realizing, "You were the ones I saw before I lost consciousness."
"That's right." Fording pointed to the Blood Hand on his clothes. "You even told me to stop them."
The man slapped his forehead and said helplessly, "I'm sorry, friends, my injuries were too severe. I was already delirious at the time. I didn't mean to drag you into danger. If I were conscious, I would have told you to run away quickly."
As soon as he finished speaking, he belatedly remembered his injuries and hurriedly checked his physical condition. What he found shocked him.
"Hey, where's my wound? Where did that huge hole in my chest go?!"
Aurora an eyebrow, perfectly mimicking Han Xiao's expression, "I healed you; it's my ability."
The man hurriedly moved his body and found that not only were his injuries completely healed, but his body was also full of vitality, as if he had returned to his prime. He was immediately astonished.
He wasn't unfamiliar with healing abilities, but this was the first time he'd seen such a powerful healing power. Looking around, he realized only a few minutes had passed; the healing efficiency was terrifying.
"I've struck gold!" The man was overjoyed, his heart pounding with excitement. He quickly stepped forward, wanting to grab Aurora's hand, "Are you interested in joining us?!"
Fording sighed and reached out to separate the overly enthusiastic guy. After a brief encounter, he found that the guy seemed a bit slow-witted and dull-witted.
"At least introduce yourself first; it's basic courtesy."
"Oh, right, I was too excited, I forgot." The man sheepishly withdrew his hand, his expression turning serious as he said in a deep voice, "My name is Raymond, and I'm a member of the Punisher Alliance."
"What alliance?" Fording asked, puzzled. He had never heard of this organization.
"Uh... you're not from this galaxy, are you?" Seeing the two looking blank and not recognizing him, Raymond scratched his head awkwardly and explained, "The Punisher Alliance is a superhuman group dedicated to protecting mortals and punishing evildoers. We mainly operate in this galaxy."
Once that was explained, Fording and Aurora understood.
The Punisher Alliance are a civilian superhuman group in this galaxy, known for their chivalrous deeds and often referred to as "superheroes" by some interstellar citizens.
As the saying goes, heroes break the law with their martial arts, and the same is true in interstellar society. Those who gain power will have their thoughts and desires changed accordingly. New wanted criminals emerge from time to time in every corner of the universe. The root cause is the rampant superpowers, which breed a large number of villains with their own ambitions, and also give rise to opposing superheroes.
Being a superhero is also a profession, but unlike being a mercenary, it's an extremely tough one. Not only do they have to go around rescuing people from disasters, but they may not even get paid. Their moral standards are at least as high as a five-story building.
Few people are willing to dedicate their extraordinary powers to this cause. Most people would rather use their superpowers to obtain a better life, more wealth, and greater power. Therefore, very few truly strong individuals become superheroes. Generally, superhero teams are composed of a group of like-minded people.
However, this profession also has its advantages, namely, its prestige among the people far surpasses that of mercenaries.
Although there aren't many superheroes, their numbers across the entire universe are still considerable. Most of them operate locally, so long ago, the Three Universal Civilizations established a Superhero Association for easier management. Anyone who registers can obtain "hero qualifications" and "exercise justice" in designated areas without being summoned for questioning.
In addition to a salary, the association will help compensate for any incidental losses incurred in the process of "exercising justice"... Simply put, in the eyes of civilization, superheroes are just a bunch of vigilantes recruited by the community.
After listening, Fording thought for a moment and did not reveal his real name.
"I am... cough, Morning Star, and she is... Ora."
"Thank you for saving me." The faces of the two people were blurred, and Raymond did not recognize them.
"Tell me, what exactly happened?" Fording nodded.
Raymond initially didn't want to involve outsiders, but Aurora's abilities changed his mind, and he explained the whole story in detail:
"The group that attacked me just now belongs to a fanatical cult. They worship some evil god, call themselves the Blood Hammer Church, and use blood sacrifices for their rituals. They've committed many crimes in this star system and are long-time adversaries of our Punisher Alliance."
Fording frowned upon hearing this; he disliked this barbaric act of using ordinary people's blood for sacrifice.
The territories of the three major cosmic civilizations are generally safe, but it is impossible to completely eliminate all criminal activity; occasionally, some criminals will slip through the net for short periods.
Unless it's a wanted criminal with exceptionally high combat capabilities or a particularly serious case, a cosmic-level civilization won't always handle things personally. Ordinary wanted criminals are usually dealt with by local vassal civilizations or mercenaries to save security resources. Only if the vassal civilizations can't handle it will a cosmic-level civilization intervene.
The Blood Hammer Church doesn't sacrifice many ordinary people each time, and many of their operations have been thwarted by the Punisher Alliance. They also don't dare to go to the Empire's direct colonies to capture people for blood sacrifice, so the destructiveness hasn't reached the point where the Empire has to deal with it personally, and they haven't been arrested.
"I stumbled upon these lunatics' trail at the Aynia Hub. Fearing they were planning a blood sacrifice here, I secretly followed them to find out their whereabouts. Unfortunately, I was discovered halfway there, and you all know what happened next. If it weren't for you, I would be dead by now," Raymond said with a bitter smile.
"I see..." Fording pondered, "So what are your plans now?"
"Don't worry, I've already notified my other partners. They're on their way to the Aynia Hub. Until then, I need to continue tracking the Blood Hammer Church. I can't let them harm ordinary people here." Raymond grinned as he spoke. "But I'm no match for them alone..."
"You can contact Ainia's garrison and Police Department." Aurora remained unmoved.
"I will report it to the police, but I'm just an ordinary superhero. They won't let me join their work, and I can't just sit around waiting, so I have to do something myself." Raymond said sincerely, "I hope you two can help me out. I sincerely invite you to join the Punisher Alliance."
Fording remained noncommittal, noting that many superheroes share this common trait: a preference for being lone wolves, and that the other party was clearly interested in Aurora's powers.
"How about this, let us think about it."
After pondering for a while, Fording didn't rule out anything. He decided to report it and hear Han Xiao's opinion.
It's not that they necessarily want to meddle, but this is within the Empire's territory, and they are allies of the Empire. They've run into a group of wanted criminals who seem to be up to no good. It wouldn't be good to just turn a blind eye, given their status. If they can stop them, they should try to. For the Black Star Army, it's just a minor matter.
"The Punisher Alliance? The Blood Hammer Church?"
In the practical training room, Han Xiao opened his eyes and looked at the remote projections of Fording and Aurora in front of him, his expression somewhat strange.
He was training his strength when he received a message from Fording and Aurora, learning of the situation.
Han Xiao searched his memory for information from his previous life and surprisingly had some recollection of these two forces.
The Punisher Alliance had a minor reputation in the previous life, serving as a secondary faction. Joining didn't affect other identities, and some Punisher Alliance joined to experience being superheroes. However, the Blood Hammer Church was long gone by then, Blood Hammer Church accessed its storyline through faction-generated Dungeon Crystal.
When Han Xiao was leveling up an alt character in his previous life, he had played the Blood Hammer Church dungeon many times. The priests there used the Evil God Blood Sacrifice Technique as a healing method, wielding a warhammer with great skill and power. They could fight, tank, and heal, which left a deep impression on him.
Before the Blood Hammer Church, priests who only know how to heal are no match for the true priest. The proper image of a priest should be that God doesn't save me, but I save others, wielding a warhammer to shatter the mortal world!
In the previous life, the Punisher Alliance had a side story where they defeated many villains and seized a lot of loot. One of the unknown loot was the relic of a powerful superhuman, which contained a powerful Secondary Dimension creature.
Years later, this creature broke free of its seal, causing heavy casualties to the Punisher Alliance.
Han Xiao remembered it clearly because the reward for defeating this unique sealed creature BOSS was two feats: one to increase mental resistance and the other to increase magic resistance, both of which were significant.
This relic itself is also very valuable, as it can greatly enhance the abilities of a telekinetic practitioner.
Seeing Fording's complete ignorance, Han Xiao's expression was very complicated.
Do you... always find money on the street?