I Contracted Myself

Zhang Ping took a long while before looking at Situ Shibai and couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Situ, is the process of creating special equipment always this cruel?"

However, Situ Shibai didn't answer. Instead, he sipped his tea with his eyes closed.

With his power, he could have easily ignored Zhang Ping's wishes and forcibly copied his abilities.

But he didn't do that; he respected Zhang Ping's choice.

Zhang Ping was naturally aware of this.

Moreover, when he asked the question, he remembered that Situ Shibai's offer included two pieces of equipment and answering all his questions. Since he hadn't agreed to the deal yet, Situ Shibai wouldn't easily answer any of his questions.

He looked at the Fear War Scythe and the Golden Treasury, lost in thought.

If he hadn't just ordered himself to stay calm, he knew he would have agreed in a moment of rashness.

The main reason was that these two pieces of equipment were too tempting.

The Fear War Scythe was definitely the most suitable weapon for him at the moment.

And the Golden Treasury was a priceless spatial storage device, a strategic treasure for any force.

Time passed bit by bit. Neither Zhang Ping nor Situ Shibai spoke, sitting quietly like an old man and his grandson, drinking tea together.

When the pot of tea was finished, Zhang Ping stood up to add water and then poured another cup for Situ Shibai.

"Mr. Situ, your offer is too good. I agree."

Zhang Ping put down the teapot and finally decided to accept Situ Shibai's terms.

Firstly, Situ Shibai's offer was too generous.

Secondly, Situ Shibai had no reason to deceive him.

Through his Wind Whisperer ability, he knew a lot about the Sweep Team. Situ Shibai had copied all their abilities, so the possibility of harm was extremely low.

In fact, what he truly worried about was the unknown. Situ Shibai had never copied an Infinite Grade ability before, and no one could predict what would happen when two such abilities collided.

But as mentioned earlier, Situ Shibai's offer was too generous, enough for him to take the risk.

Situ Shibai put down his teacup and smiled, "Good, from now on, they are yours. Extend your hand."

Then he extended his hand to Zhang Ping's. The whole process took about a second, and after it ended, he sighed slightly.

"Mr. Situ, is it over?" Zhang Ping withdrew his hand, puzzled.

He couldn't help but speculate that Situ Shibai's copying condition might just be a handshake.

Situ Shibai nodded, "It's over. I can't copy your ability, not even the derived ones. It seems your ability is very special; all of them have the potential to become Infinite Grade."

The abilities he copied didn't have this infinite potential; at most, they could only be trained to the limit of the ability itself.

For example, if he copied a Nation Defense Grade ability, even if trained to the extreme, it would still only be Nation Defense Grade, impossible to break through to Infinite Grade.

Moreover, he hadn't realized his own limited potential early on and used it on many low-potential abilities. As a result, he had exhausted his potential, making it difficult to improve even with new abilities.

This was why he was interested in Zhang Ping's ability.

If he could obtain the Contract Gem ability, he could slowly recover his potential and eventually break through to the King Grade.

Unfortunately, the experiment showed that Infinite Grade couldn't copy Infinite Grade abilities.

Although Situ Shibai was disappointed, he wasn't surprised.

This result was within his expectations.

Even when he made the decision, his intuition vaguely gave him the answer, but he was unwilling to give up and decided to try.

Next, he helped Zhang Ping bind the Fear War Scythe.

The binding method was simple.

It involved transferring ownership from him, the original owner, to Zhang Ping. Otherwise, no one could take the Fear War Scythe's ownership.

After Zhang Ping stored the Fear War Scythe in the Golden Treasury, he asked again, "Mr. Situ, are all special equipment manufacturing methods this cruel?"

"Two hundred years ago, it was almost like this. Later, after hundreds of reforms and governance in Mingzhu City, such methods of human sacrifice for equipment were gradually banned, and only death row prisoners were treated this way," Situ Shibai explained.

Two hundred years ago?

Zhang Ping suddenly realized that the knowledge taught in school mentioned very little about events from two hundred years ago.

"Mr. Situ, what was Mingzhu City like two hundred years ago?" Zhang Ping asked curiously.

Situ Shibai looked at the bracelet on Zhang Ping's wrist and answered, "Two hundred years ago, Mingzhu City wasn't called Mingzhu City. It was called Zhu City, ruled by a family, the Zhu Family of Beast Tamers."

"The Zhu Family of Beast Tamers? What did they do?" Zhang Ping asked.

Situ Shibai fell into memories, "What did the Zhu Family do?"

His eyes seemed to traverse over two hundred years, seeing scenes from the past:

"Under their rule, everyone in Zhu City was a slave to the Zhu Family. No one could see the future or hope."

"Men toiled day and night for a meager amount of food, and women with any beauty were selected as maids for the Zhu Family, becoming playthings for their scions."

"Children were managed collectively, indoctrinated day and night with loyalty to the Zhu Family, and those elderly who couldn't work were fed to Mutated Beasts."

"At that time, anyone who became an Awakener was either controlled and enslaved or used as materials for making equipment."

"Because of this, many Awakeners fled outside the city. Some set up camps outside, while others quietly accumulated strength, hoping to overthrow the Zhu Family's rule one day."

"I see."

After listening, Zhang Ping could imagine the situation back then. Perhaps Awakeners were even worse off than they are now.

"Any other questions?"

Situ Shibai sighed and asked after a long pause.

He had plenty of time to answer Zhang Ping's questions slowly.

In fact, when Liu Sishan contacted Zhang Ping, he confirmed through the changes in Liu Sishan's Luck Fire that Zhang Ping wasn't a Mutated Beast.

And after learning that Zhang Ping's ability was Infinite Grade, he wanted to meet Zhang Ping.

Any force that obtained such a precious talent would protect him at all costs, not send him as an undercover agent.

Even for ordinary out-of-city missions, there would be several strong protectors in the shadows, fearing the precious talent might perish.

Situ Shibai's visit this time was mainly to deliver treasures and answer questions, with copying abilities being secondary.

The current situation in Mingzhu City was unclear, and Zhang Ping was only half-informed, easily falling into enemy traps.

For example, the little Tianchang Fox in the park earlier.

Under normal circumstances, how could a child be swinging in the park in the middle of the night?

To Liu Sishan and others, it was obviously a trap, but Zhang Ping almost fell into it foolishly.

Therefore, Situ Shibai came specifically to answer Zhang Ping's questions and analyze the situation in Mingzhu City to prevent Zhang Ping from falling into enemy traps.

"Mr. Situ, you're so powerful. Why don't you take action against the Moon Prince?"

Zhang Ping had many questions, but after careful consideration, he decided to ask the most puzzling one first.

He was sure that the Moon Prince was no match for Situ Shibai. If Situ Shibai took action, the Moon Prince would undoubtedly die, and fewer people would have died in the city over the past two days.

But Situ Shibai didn't take action and instead watched as the Tianchang Fox captured and ate people.

Situ Shibai shook his head, "It's not that I don't want to, but I can't."

He then walked to the window, looking at the distant street, and continued, "You might mistakenly think that Mingzhu City's defenses are weak, unaware of the Tianchang Fox's invasion, but... that's wrong!"

Wrong?

Zhang Ping was even more puzzled.

"In fact, Mingzhu City's defense system is quite perfect. Not only does the perimeter have an Investigation Team to investigate and expel new Mutated Beasts, but the Patrol Guard also regularly clears threatening Mutated Beasts outside the city. Inside the city, the king's artifact 'Sun and Moon Pearl' suppresses all foreign races.

It is a treasure left by Zhu City, automatically activating when a king-level Mutated Beast invades.

A king-level Mutated Beast entering the Sun and Moon Pearl's domain will automatically be downgraded to a top-level Mutated Beast, and I am undoubtedly the strongest among the top-level ones," Situ Shibai explained seriously.

This meant that a king-level Mutated Beast entering Mingzhu City would surely die.

"But now..."

Zhang Ping was about to say something but stopped, realizing the problem.

His face turned pale as he looked at Situ Shibai and asked, "Mr. Situ, do you mean... there's a traitor in the city?"

"Yes. Since the Zhu Family's rule was overthrown, only the City Lord and I, and the remnants of the Beast Tamer Family know how to control the artifact," Situ Shibai said.

Zhang Ping clenched his fists, recalling scenes he had seen before: Su Jingyao's bloody tears, the Moon Prince tearing apart girls, the Tianchang Fox gnawing on limbs...

His eyes seemed to blaze with fire.

"Why didn't you kill all these scum back then?"

Zhang Ping clenched his fists, unable to understand why the Zhu Family, who had committed so many atrocities, weren't completely eradicated.

Hearing this, Situ Shibai smiled bitterly, "The Zhu Family had operated in Mingzhu City for hundreds of years, with unfathomable foundations. Moreover, when their rule was overthrown, the city's order was chaotic, and many brainwashed people still harbored deep hatred for us. Under such circumstances, there was little we could do."

The situation back then couldn't be explained in a few words.

Although they had defeated the Beast Tamer Zhu Family, many brainwashed people secretly remained loyal to them.

These people, though not a threat to Awakeners, could secretly help the Zhu Family hide their descendants, even killing their own children to let the Zhu Family's children take their place.

These people were beyond saving, yet they were hidden among the masses. By the time Situ Shibai and others had the resources to investigate, all evidence had been destroyed.

For the past two hundred years, the remnants of the Beast Tamer Family had been active in the shadows of Mingzhu City.

They acted discreetly and inherited many of the Zhu Family's treasures, possessing numerous special pieces of equipment. Despite multiple investigations by the Sweep Team, no traces were found.

This time, the Tianchang Fox's invasion raised many questions.

Why didn't the Sun and Moon Pearl activate?

Is the City Lord dead or alive?

What is the Beast Tamer Zhu Family's goal?

What abilities does the Tianchang Fox's king possess?

Without answers to these questions, Situ Shibai had to act cautiously. If he fell into the enemy's trap and died, Mingzhu City would be doomed.

It was like the wars of the past.

Nuclear weapons were only for deterrence, not to be used lightly.

After calming down, Zhang Ping realized Situ Shibai's importance.

At this moment, Situ Shibai indeed couldn't act rashly. Even if the Moon Prince continued to provoke and kill, everyone could be impulsive, except Situ Shibai.

Zhang Ping continued to ask questions, and Situ Shibai answered them one by one.

The situation in Mingzhu City gradually became clear, and Zhang Ping felt as if the fog of war was lifting.

The most important thing now was to find the traitor and investigate the Tianchang Fox, especially the Moon King, to understand his abilities.

However, the Moon King was currently in the City Lord's mansion, guarded by countless Tianchang Foxes, making investigation impossible.

All Zhang Ping could do was investigate the Moon Prince, as he was the Moon King's bloodline. By examining the Moon Prince's attributes, he might indirectly understand the Moon King's abilities.

Other people with Appraisal Skills couldn't see through the Tianchang Fox's disguise, but this was something only he could do.