Chapter 74 — What the Hell Is Glowing?
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 4
To be honest, Gao Yang had never guessed this opening—and he certainly hadn't guessed this ending. He never would have imagined that he'd actually establish a connection with a sphere, much less that the sphere would turn out to be such an infuriating little shit...
If no one had been watching, and if he hadn't needed to maintain the dignified image of the Xuanmai Sect, he probably would have immediately brought down a Champion's Slash and split this miserable ball clean in two. Sure, the Pioneer's Sword wasn't in his hand, but that didn't stop him from entertaining the thought...
He forced himself to steady his mind, swallowed the urge to start swearing, and reclassified the sphere before him from "frightened cub in need of help" to "spoiled brat who deserves a beating and absolutely belongs locked up in a lab for study." Then, with strained patience, he said, "What would I gain by lying to you? The research facility where you were held was abandoned a thousand years ago. A thousand years—do you understand?"
The sphere fell silent for a moment, as though thinking, then replied with absolute conviction: "You'll never trick me into leaving my shell!"
"I'm telling you the truth. If you don't believe me—"
"You'll never trick me into leaving my shell!"
A vein throbbed at Gao Yang's temple. "If you want to stay in that shell, that's your business! First, let my people go!"
Through the mental link, the sphere emitted a curious sound: "Your people? What people?"
Gao Yang was thrown off by the seemingly genuine curiosity. "You've got three of my soldiers stuck to your body—don't you dare deny it!"
This time the sphere was silent even longer. Then, with great alarm: "Wait—there were people attached to those steel plates?!"
Gao Yang: "..."
"It must be that my senses are impaired inside the shell!" The wretched sphere actually admitted its mistake outright, and as its words faded, a series of clicks and clatters rang out—the three soldiers were instantly released and dropped off the sphere's surface.
Their faces were tight with tension and sheer horror. The moment they hit the ground, they scrambled frantically to put distance between themselves and the sphere, then threw down every piece of metal on them—armor, weapons, everything.
Gao Yang, meanwhile, began to think this strange sphere might actually be reasoned with. So he asked, "Why did you latch onto those armors and weapons?"
The sphere answered with perfect self-righteousness: "What, a guy can't grab a few things for self-defense? Who knows what other nasty tricks you crazy savages have up your sleeves!"
"I already told you, the research facility was destroyed ages ago. How would I know how the people who captured you back then—"
"You'll never trick me into leaving my shell!"
Gao Yang: "..."
For the first time in his life, he had been defeated so utterly in a verbal exchange—and what especially depressed this former keyboard warrior was that he had lost to a sphere.
If the sphere really was a dragon egg, then he had lost to a fer. til. ized. egg...
From then on, no matter what he said, the stone sphere—suspected dragon egg—refused to respond directly anymore. Even when pressed, it would only repeat, "You'll never trick me into leaving my shell." Gao Yang was starting to suspect its true nature might be that of a damn broken record.
And whatever its true nature was, the conversation could go no further.
With a dark, strange expression, Gao Yang lifted his hand from the sphere's surface and ended his mana perception. He looked up to find both Amber and Pi Yun watching him with open curiosity.