Returning to the Mysterious Era

Chapter 131 - Adequate Pre-Battle Preparation

Chapter 131 - Adequate Pre-Battle Preparation

"Slight increase? Just how much is this slight increase?" Cassius excitedly began experimenting, eager to see the effectiveness of his level 1 Skin Hardening.

The chamber soon echoed with the dull thuds of blows, and after a few minutes, he came to a rough conclusion. When Cassius was in his normal state and didn't purposefully exert or channel his energy, the Stone Armor Technique enhanced his defense by forty percent. But in a fully explosive state, the Stone Armor Technique boosted his defense by eighty percent, nearly doubling it!

It was quite a significant feat. Prior to training in the hardening Qigong, Cassius could already withstand bullets coming from small firearms, with the only injuries he suffered superficial. But now with this 80% increase, small firearms wouldn't be able to even break his skin, and light machine guns or automatic rifles would likely be of no threat. It would be as if Cassius was wearing a permanent bulletproof vest.

Not only could Skin Hardening render a person completely impervious to bullets, it could also effectively withstand slashes or stabs from cold weapons as well as strong blunt force, almost like wearing an all-purpose leather armor.

Furthermore, this was only Light Armor. If he were to master Heavy Armor, Cassius's physical defense might improve by leaps and bounds.

Admittedly, there were some highly effective techniques. By specializing and focusing on one aspect, one would eventually be totally unmatched. Additionally, techniques had their own unique advantages.

In an open area, Cassius took on a combat stance and performed a simple set of Wind Elephant Fist exercises. As he punched and kicked, the initial discomfort from the various changes to his body faded away. The side effects the Hellsings claimed would arise from rapid, excessive enhancement was negligible, practically non-existent, for Cassius.

One reason was because Cassius had spent the past six months studying the Stone Armor Technique and was well-prepared. Another reason was that, at the second-level accelerated blood flow stage, his body had fully adapted to the rapid enhancements from the hardening Qigong.

Five minutes later, a tall figure in a cloak walked briskly down the gray road of the Black Rain Manor. His cloak fluttering slightly behind him, it vaguely revealed the strong muscles underneath along with a layer of gray stone.

The next day, a conversation was taking place in a simple, dark room within the Black Rain Manor.

"How much do you need? Sticky Oil may not be rare, but each bottle is worth at least a thousand Federation dollars. How about this? If you buy more than five bottles, I can give you a ten percent discount," a man said slowly, a black pipe in his mouth. His hair was disheveled, and he dressed sloppily. He looked to be in his forties.

"Give me a thirty percent discount," the customer in front of him haggled in a low voice.

"No way, that’s too much—"

"I’ll buy ten bottles, thirty percent off."

"Sold!"

The man quickly shook Cassius's hand. Then, he took out a small box where ten transparent bottles, each about the size of half a fist and containing a thick, dark green liquid, lay. Though all the bottles were sealed, the box emitted a foul odor of swamp gas.

"Ten bottles of Sticky Oil, a total of seven thousand Federation dollars!" The man wore a shrewd smile on his face.

The Hellsing rarely used dark essence for ordinary transactions, because it seemed like such a waste to exchange it for money or mundane luxuries.

Ordinary marked-ones struggled even with the compulsory missions every three months, much less having the strength to complete extra tasks. Furthermore, a low-level compulsory mission only rewarded a mere pittance of one or two units of dark essence. To survive their next task, they'd have to use most of the dark essence they had earned to enhance their abilities. As such, marked-ones usually used money to conduct ordinary transactions.

"Mr. Twilight, Joachim Manor is now yours. Use it however you wish. I also wanted to thank you for your generosity; you gave me the chance to make some extra cash. Alright, I'm off. Goodbye." The middle-aged man got into the carriage beside him.

As the black carriage stuttered to a start, the curtain at the left window lifted up, and the man waved with a smile.

A tall figure in a suit stood silently at the entrance. In his hand, the man held a blueprint that detailed the structure of Joachim Manor. In addition, there were many kinds of designs within the manor that had yet to exist in reality—specifically traps, spikes, pits, stakes, explosives, landmines, and so on.

That evening, many young and strong farm laborers in the villages nearby received news that a generous lord had arrived at Joachim Manor with plans to hire some workers to completely renovate it. The more people, the better! Moreover, they'd be paid an ample hourly rate! The more work they did, the more they earned.

For a while, the entire village was restless.

A few more days passed until one night in Nington City, two boxy cars parked on the decaying floor in an abandoned warehouse under a hazy moonlight. They emitted a rotten smell. Two groups were in the midst of a deal.

"Shall we inspect the goods first?"

"Sure."

One of the boxy cars opened, revealing a considerable number of smuggled arms. There were landmines, grenades, submachine guns, heavy machine guns...

"Hmm, not bad." The tall shadow nodded.

"Where's the money?" the slightly shorter figure asked.

"Here." The tall one handed over a briefcase directly.

Ten minutes later...

"Pleasure doing business," the two said. Both satisfied parties got into their boxy cars and drove off in opposite directions.

Late in the night at Joachim Manor, a car drove into the nearby warehouse.

Half an hour later on the second floor of the villa, Cassius sat on the sofa, sipping his freshly brewed black tea. He pondered for a moment and shrugged off his cloak, revealing a set of hard, silver, tight-fitting armor. The armor not only boasted strong defensive capabilities but was also fairly flexible. If Cassius were to use his full strength, it'd still hold together even with his bulging muscles. He raised the teacup and took a big gulp of hot tea.

Glancing at the pistol on the coffee table, Cassius stood up. Behind him was a counter that looked like decoration with all kinds of brand-new cold weapons and a set of metal armor.

He walked through the living room to the balcony, glancing over the manor's vast interior space. On the surface, it seemed peaceful, but danger lurked beneath, with various traps hidden within. Oh right, he still had a few landmines left to bury.

Although having prepared to this extent, Cassius was still somewhat dissatisfied. Due to the tight timeframe, he couldn't implement many of his ideas, but it should still be enough to deal with the first assassination attempt.

He had a magnificent gift waiting for his dear Decaying Knights...