Hell's Handbook

Chapter 282: God Level Spirit Power Item

For a long time, Su Jin had seen Hell’s Handbook as an MMORPG of sorts, except that once you died, the game was over for good. That made it easier for him to understand the different weapons and items made available in the Handbook. But this Boning Knife looked like something that only the gamemaster would have given to the player. It was too unreasonably powerful.

“What in the… this thing…” Su Jin wasn’t sure what to say even.

The Mad Hatter laughed and said, “It’s shocking, isn’t it? It’s a weapon forged by many deities, after all. There were more than ten alone when I sent it to hell. It’s been refined in many types of hellfire, blessed by holy places that resemble heaven, and given energy by the runes of places of worship. All the elder gods on my side have had a hand in making this weapon. It’s not too bad, right?”

“It’s not about that… is this thing… is this thing just an illusion of sorts?” Su Jin sensed something amiss. Hell’s Handbook would never allow something like this to exist in its universe. With such a weapon, the Challenges wouldn’t be a problem to him anymore. He could literally hack his way through them.

The two skills required a lot of Spirit Power, but each skill caused significant damage. If he were in a Level A Challenge, he could use Judgment at least twice. Launching two ridiculously destructive attacks would make such a Challenge no longer challenging.

The Mad Hatter was still grinning as he said, “Of course, you can forget about bringing this knife into a Challenge. Hell’s Handbook wouldn’t allow it. But it’s very useful in the many real worlds and universes you go to!”

.

“I knew it!” Su Jin felt like he had just been trolled. But the value of this boning knife was certainly a lot higher than the old one. At the very least, with such a weapon in hand, the difference in ability between himself and Shen Wu would decrease by a lot.

“The one who wears it is a god? What does that mean?” asked Su Jin puzzledly.

“You can take it as an honor! Just like how your worlds have things like an honorary chairman, this will allow you to have a say among us gods,” replied the Mad Hatter.

Su Jin’s gaze flickered as he looked quizzically at the Mad Hatter. “And what’s the reason for that? Wasn’t this just to return the favor for what I did? I don’t think you’d have to go this far, right? I remember you said before that we would eventually end up fighting each other, so if that’s the case… why are you giving me the chance to become stronger just like that? What do you hope to gain from this?”

“You!” said the Mad Hatter without hesitation.

“Saying that in this flirtatious manner really doesn’t convince me at all.” Su Jin rolled his eyes. He didn’t think a god would fall for him, and he didn’t think a god would spend so much time and effort to create a weapon that was as good as a bug in the system.

But the Mad Hatter’s expression became serious and he said to Su Jin, “It’s really you. To put it simply, if the future new gods and the elder gods have to go to war someday, I hope the one we fight will be you.”

“Why?” Su Jin was still confused.

“I see a possibility in you. If the ones we fight are people like Shen Wu or Xu Ran, then… the result will be obvious right from the start. But with you… something else might happen.” The Mad Hatter got up after saying these words. “About going to save that girl: I’m more or less ready to go. Once you’re ready, crush this thing.”

The Mad Hatter passed Su Jin a small wooden block that was the size of a thumb. He bowed slightly at Su Jin and Kano Mai, then leaped into his top hat and disappeared.

Su Jin looked at his new boning knife and the wooden block and went into deep thought. Long ago, the Mad Hatter had already told him that the new gods and the elder gods would eventually have to go to war. But he had forgotten, or rather, he had purposely left out talking about current gods. Su Jin believed that if that day really came, the current gods would definitely be part of it. Did this boning knife mean that the new gods could become the knife in both current and elder gods’ hands?

“I have some idea about the secret of the universe, but if that’s really the case… why does it end in a battle and not an alliance?” Su Jin sighed and shook his head. Most of his ideas were just guesses. He needed a lot more information to confirm if these were true. But he was confident that this information would slowly surface over time.

In an empty void, the Mad Hatter sat across from Pinocchio. They were fiddling with some things that resembled toys, but if anybody treated these things as toys, they’d end up dead.

“A God Level item? Ohoho… even when we ruled the world, that was something very rare. If I remember correctly, only a few top deities had God Level items,” said Pinocchio with a grin as he continued fiddling with the toys.

The Mad Hatter glanced at him, then said quietly, “If we want something, we have to give something first. I think that’s quite obvious.”

“But why him? I mean, he’s not bad, yes, but he’s not better compared to people like Natasha, Durand, Shen Wu, or Xu Ran. Those people are truly impossibly powerful, powerful beyond belief.” Pinocchio couldn’t understand the logic behind this decision.

But the Mad Hatter smiled back. “You’re right, but these impossibly powerful characters are all very mature. Mature fruit tastes better, but there’s very little you can do to change them. Only people like Su Jin, who has tremendous potential yet not mature enough, would be able to give us more surprises in the future.”

“So, we’re going to help him to deal with Shen Wu and take away some woman who’s in Shen Wu’s hands?” said Pinocchio with a frustrated sigh.

The Mad Hatter stopped smiling and said in a stern voice, “You don’t know what that woman is holding onto? If Shen Wu gets his hands on what she has, then everything will go out of control within a short time and we won’t be able to do anything in time to stop it.”

“That woman is holding onto something that could have such severe repercussions? What could it be? Something useful to Shen Wu? You mean it’s a… no, wait, what?! Are you… are you serious?” Pinocchio had been quite laid back before this, but once he thought of what it could be, his entire body trembled and he nearly dropped what he was holding.

The Mad Hatter nodded slightly. “Shocking, huh. After escaping from the Fairytales of Horror, I received some news and spent a long time investigating. I eventually confirmed that that item is now in the hands of Ye Yun. If Shen Wu gets his hands on that, we’re doomed.”

“Shit! I get it now!” Pinocchio immediately continued fixing the toy in his hands.

In the real world, Su Jin and Kano Mai had returned to China. They had caused a huge commotion at the International Mercenary Exchange, but everything had concluded well. Or at least Tang Ning felt that everything had ended the way she had hoped.

Su Jin activated his team’s access to Hell’s Bar and invited everyone in. He wanted to throw a party for Chu Yi some time back, but couldn’t because of what happened in Africa. Now that he had free time on his hands, he decided to go ahead with it.

Everyone quickly responded to the call. Chu Yi was the most eager of them all. He was already there by the time Su Jin and Kano Mai arrived, which meant that he had gone in before Su Jin had even sent the invitation out.

“Boss! Sister Mai! You guys are here!” Chu Yi greeted them. Situ Jin and Bo Ya came over shortly after that, while Wu Chen came in last.

“This party is for you, so go ahead and order anything you want! It doesn’t matter how much it costs! As long as I’ve got the points, I’ll pay for it!” said Su Jin boastfully, as though he were some millionaire.

Chu Yi wasn’t particular about his drink, so he casually ordered something. Everyone started chatting as usual, but Kano Mai looked like she was worried about something. Wu Chen noticed it and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Wha-?” Kano Mai snapped out of her daze. Actually, the rest had noticed the expression on her face as well.

“Mai, what’s bothering you? Are you okay to share with us?” asked Su Jin.

Kano Mai hesitated for a while, then finally decided to say it. She looked at Su Jin and said “Jin, the Mad Hatter said you were going to save someone. Who is it? Is it… Ye Yun?”

Su Jin didn’t expect Kano Mai to be worrying about something related to himself and wasn’t sure how to respond. Chu Yi piped up, “Where is this happening?”

“In Shen Wu’s universe, a different universe from ours,” said Su Jin with a sigh. Since Kano Mai had mentioned it already, there was no point in hiding it from the rest. Doing that would only make them even more worried.

“Shen Wu?” Situ Jin’s expression immediately fell. After what happened at Cloud Mountain, he had done a thorough investigation. Once he put together his investigation and what he had heard about Shen Wu from Su Jin, he had a good idea of how powerful this Shen Wu really was.

Su Jin told everyone about what happened to Ye Yun and how he would be going along with three deities, so they need not worry about him.

“Jin, have you ever thought about… why those gods are willing to help you with this? Do you think it’s really just to return the favor? Of course, if that’s really the case, then I don’t have anything to say to that. But at the same time… have you also thought about why Shen Wu wants to capture Ye Yun so badly?” said Wu Chen quietly.

Su Jin paused. He hadn’t thought so far. His only focus had been to rescue Ye Yun. But now that Wu Chen mentioned it, he did notice something a little fishy about the whole thing.

“Are you saying… that Ye Yun is holding onto something that is very important to both the gods and Shen Wu?” Su Jin wasn’t stupid. On the contrary, he was supposed to be the strategist of the team. He had been a bit overly focused on Ye Yun’s matter, but now that he thought about it more carefully, he noticed the link between these matters.

Wu Chen nodded slightly, then suddenly smiled as he said, “Jin, can I sign up for this alternate universe trip?”

“What?” Su Jin was surprised at first, but he shook his head immediately and said, “No, this matter has nothing to do with the rest of you, and it’s too dangerous for you to go. You have no way of protecting yourself in Shen Wu’s universe.”

Wu Chen shook his head sadly and said, “Alright then. If that’s the case, I won’t insist. But if you need any help, let me know!”

“Of course,” said Su Jin with a nod.