The Punisher Alliance lacked the financial resources to build a space fortress; their headquarters was a large, modified spaceship docked at an interstellar port, named the Punisher. Fording and his group arrived at their destination in no time.
Upon entering the spaceship, the two followed Raymond on a tour of the ship. The Punisher's cabins were designed as a circular hall, divided into different functional areas connected by corridors, resembling a string of beads.
"This is our base... This is the living area. Each member has their own room, which I've already arranged. It's fully equipped with all kinds of living facilities, so you can rest anytime... That's the combat training area over there, and the equipment warehouse is on the other side..."
The companions they encountered along the way nodded to each other. The group walked and stopped frequently, soon arriving at an area. Fording turned his head and looked at a plaque on a room, which clearly read "Trophy Hall".
"That's..." Fording pointed to the room, his intuition telling him there should be clues inside.
"Oh! That's proof of our Punisher Alliance's Glory." Raymond laughed. "These are all spoils of war we've won fighting criminals. Come on, let me show you around and tell you about our glorious deeds."
The group entered the room, which was quite spacious and filled with transparent display cases. Some were empty, while others contained various items, including badly damaged weapons, a mask with half broken off, and a charred electronic eyeball. At first glance, it looked like a postmodern-style junk art exhibition hall.
Raymond led the way, acting as a tour guide, and went on and on about the origins of everything:
"This is the heavy chainsaw axe of [Violence], a wanted criminal with a bounty of Three Hundred Thousand Enas. One of our comrades was killed in this battle..."
"See this electronic eyeball? That's Doctor Poison Heart's prosthetic eye. He was beaten to a pulp, leaving only this high-tech prosthetic eye..."
"Also, that's the Bishop Bloodhammer's warhammer. It's relatively well-preserved; the others just put it up..."
As Raymond explained, Fording toured the site, carefully observing the spoils and mentally comparing them to the pictures Han Xiao had given him.
Suddenly, Fording stopped in his tracks, his gaze fixed on a transparent display case.
Inside the cabinet was a simple, white box, about the size of two palms. The box had some charred stains on its surface and looked unremarkable and inconspicuous.
"What's this?" Fording's eyes flashed with delight as he pointed to the box.
This is what Han Xiao specifically instructed him to find.
Oh, it's so easy to find. It's just in the warehouse. I thought it would be much harder to find.
"Let me think..." Raymond recalled for a moment, then clenched his fist and smacked his palm. "I remember now, this is spoils of war from a surface civilization's operation. Some guy, relying on high-tech weapons smuggled from interstellar space, attempted to conquer a surface civilization and become its ruler. We received the news, went to suppress him, and killed him. From his lair's warehouse, we found many spoils of war, and this box is one of them."
What is it used for?
Fording was very curious, and this time he wasn't pretending; he was also very interested in what Black Star had specifically asked for.
"We don't know its principles or origins, we only know that carrying it will enhance one's mental barrier and psychic power to a certain extent. However, if used for a long time, the user will experience auditory hallucinations, feeling as if someone is speaking in their ear, and their mind will gradually become distorted. That's why we call it the [Box of Bewitchment]. After one of our companions went mad, we sealed it away..."
As they were talking, Raymond's expression suddenly turned puzzled. "Right, we sealed him up, so who put this thing in again?"
Just then, Fording, who had been staring at the box, suddenly frowned. He heard a faint whisper in his ear, as if a voice was tempting him to touch the box.
A quick scan with mental power revealed a layer of mental energy field enveloping the box, like an invisible coating, providing a certain degree of mental defense.
Fording wanted to see what was inside, so he used his telekinesis to form a drill and try to break through the box's Psionic Undercurrent field. However, as soon as his telekinesis touched the box, he felt a strong suction force. His expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly cut off his telekinesis. The mental energy that was cut off was instantly swallowed up by the box, like a mud ox sinking into the sea, and there was no further contact.
Seeing this, Raymond waved his hand and said helplessly, "Don't bother trying, it's useless. Our telekinetic masters have already tested it; telekinesis can't detect what's inside the box."
Can the box be opened normally?
"Okay, but there's West Capital inside." Raymond opened the display case and took out the box, which was completely empty.
At that moment, Aurora nudged Fording in the lower back and made a gesture.
Fording immediately understood; it meant there was a life signal in the box.
' Black Star doesn't speak without reason; what he wants is indeed strange.'
Fording whispered.
Raymond put the box back in the display case, gesturing for Fording and his companion to continue their tour, to which they had no objection.
After touring the base and meeting some new members of the Punisher Alliance, Fording and Aurora farewell to Raymond and returned to their respective rooms to rest.
After staying for several hours, the two finally left the room and headed straight for the trophy exhibition room.
Most of the spoils in the exhibition hall were only of commemorative value, and the security equipment was rather rudimentary. Aurora took out a Legion-standard automated intrusion device and was about to insert it into the interface on the room door when Fording stopped her.
"You're just going to walk in like that? It'll trigger the alarm," Aurora doubtfully.
"I know."
Fording said slowly, "Black Star wants their things, and they have no chance to fight back. I don't like bullying the weak, and besides, they're not a bunch of bad people. Even if we're going to take them, we should at least let them know why. I'm not willing to sneak away without saying goodbye."
"Isn't this a bad idea? What if Black Star has some other intention?" Aurora hesitated.
To be honest, she also felt that it was beneath them to steal from such a small, insignificant place.
"He didn't make any special requests, which means he didn't. Even if he did... he would only blame me."
Fording chuckled softly, walked in openly, and grabbed the Box of Bewitchment directly into his hand.
Beep beep beep--
Ignoring the sudden, piercing alarm, he took Aurora and swaggered toward the base's spaceship door.
They made their way through without any obstacles, and when they arrived at the hatch, they saw Raymond, Seli, and a group of members of the Punisher Alliance standing guard there, looking at the two of them with complicated expressions.
"Why did you steal the Box of Bewitchment?" Raymond asked, his face contorted with pain, unwilling to believe what he was seeing.
Seli gritted her teeth and said coldly, "I almost trusted you! You really did have ulterior motives!"
"Perhaps they've just had their minds warped by the Box of Bewitchment..." Raymond lacked confidence, and could only stare at Fording with a complicated look, a faint expectation in his eyes.
"I'm sorry." Fording shook his head, meeting the angry gazes of the crowd, and calmly said, "I came here for this."
"So rescuing me was also premeditated?" Raymond couldn't help but ask.
"Would you believe me if I said it was luck?" Fording helplessly.
At this moment, Seli stepped forward from the crowd, drew his weapon, pointed it at the two men, and shouted, "I told you, if I discover you have ulterior motives, I won't be polite. Since you've admitted it yourselves, either put down the Box of Bewitchment immediately and give up resisting, or come and test the power of my weapon!"
Calmly observing the agitated crowd, Fording slowly said:
"During the battle at the Aynia Hub, Ora and I saved you more than once. You... really want to fight us?"
Upon hearing this, the crowd's anger immediately subsided.
Yes, if it weren't for the healing ability, they would have suffered heavy losses at the Aynia Hub. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they saved all of their lives. Although those two people had ulterior motives, the kindness they showed was genuine...
Most people looked troubled, instantly losing their fighting spirit and finding it difficult to muster any hostility.
Seli was the same. He immediately shook off this mindset, hardened his resolve, gripped his weapon tightly, and said in a deep voice, "One thing at a time. If you try to steal the Box of Bewitchment, you're making an enemy of us. We won't let you leave!"
Fording glanced at everyone, then suddenly smiled slightly, rolled up the corner of his robe, and sat down on the ground.
"Okay, then I won't leave."
Everyone was immediately stunned.
What does this mean? Are you just going to cheat?
"What are you doing?" Raymond asked in surprise.
"Wait for backup." With that, Fording closed his eyes and began to rest.
"You're really something else." Aurora to the side, looked at the stunned crowd with a helpless expression and said weakly, "What are you doing holding a weapon? Do you really want to attack me?"
Seli's expression was uncertain. After thinking for a moment, he decided not to make a move directly. Instead, he put away his weapon, told everyone to prepare for the attack, and kept a close eye on Fording, monitoring his every move.
Just as everyone was ready and on high alert, the hatch suddenly slid open automatically, and a black-clad figure with a group of subordinates stood below the gangway.
The members of the Punisher Alliance quickly turned around to take a look, and what they saw stunned them all!
The arrival was none other than the Black Star Army, whom they had met once before, and the leader was none other than Black Star himself!
"You... you... you..." Raymond's eyes widened in astonishment.
Han and Tu Shu glanced at him, then led the guards into the cabin and headed straight for Fording.
The members of the Punisher Alliance hurriedly made way for them, their faces all showing deep shock... How could it be Black Star? What's going on here!
Looking down at Fording sitting on the ground, Han Xiao said helplessly, "Such a small matter, and you insist on bothering me to handle it personally? Stop playing around."
Fording chuckled, dusted himself off, stood up, and said softly, "You know my personality."
"Yeah, I knew that back in Sunil." Han Xiao rubbed his temples helplessly and joked, "If you keep acting like this, I won't dare to rely on you in the future."
"There are priorities. I don't want to lower my standards step by step over such trivial matters. Besides, you shouldn't have asked me to steal." Fording blinked.
"You're really giving me a hard time; it's so hard to slack off." Han Xiao sighed, rubbing his forehead.
People's hearts yearn for change. These protagonist-type figures have their own principles and cannot be ordered around Infinite. It's as if they can't show their extraordinary abilities without causing some kind of accident.
Listening to their conversation, everyone's eyes darted back and forth between Black Star and Fording, their faces filled with utter horror.
"Who exactly are you?!" Seli was a little flustered and couldn't help but ask, though his tone had lost its previous harshness.
Hadavy looked over, clicked his tongue, and said, "His name is Fording, the vice-captain of the Black Star Guard."
Upon hearing this, Seli froze.
He couldn't believe that the person he had been spending this time with was such a person!
Such a big shot, killing him is as easy as crushing an ant. It's laughable that I thought Fording was afraid of their numbers, but it turns out he just couldn't be bothered with them. He probably sees them like children.
Seli's face turned pale and then red. Thinking about his toughness towards Fording just now, he felt both shocked and ashamed.
At this moment, Han Xiao spoke.
"Alright, since you want them to know the reason..."
Turning his head to look at everyone, Han Xiao directly sucked the Box of Bewitchment into his hand, and with a sudden burst of force, crushed the hard box into pieces.
"Ah--"
Everyone present sensed that the moment the box shattered, a powerful mental wave erupted.
Most members of the Punisher Alliance turned pale instantly, covering their respective hearing organs as the piercing scream echoed in their minds, causing them psychological trauma.
The piercing scream that echoed in my mind was filled with excitement and exhilaration, like the excitement of someone who had been imprisoned for many years finally seeing the light of day again!