Chapter 911: Three Hands
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Detect Transparency!”
“Reveal Spirits!”
“Life Search!”
The sorcerers were roused after seeing what happened.
Under Heinze’s lead, a whole series of spells hurtled silently toward where Baggins had been standing.
Unfortunately, there was still not a soul in sight in the empty room.
The apple swiftly disappeared, eventually leaving only the core that was thrown into the trash can.
Wires, wrenches, and other lock-picking tools floated into the air before disappearing.
“Take note. Number A-172: Invisibility cloak, able to render the wearer invisible. Immune to any detection magic… no, all investigative techniques!”
Heinze picked up a thermal visualizer before quickly putting it away. “The target is still present in the physical world. The fact that he leaves footprints on the carpet and the things that he takes with him will vanish all point toward that!”
It was apparent that he was very experienced, as he was able to quickly deduce the peculiarities of this cloak.
“In other words, when he puts on the cloak, he will no longer exist in this world. One can only infer the existence of the cloak’s owner through his interactions with other objects…”
Fang Yuan seemed to be contemplating. “It seems… it isn’t that powerful after all!”
“No! You don’t understand. This is an absolute peculiarity!” Heinze shook his head solemnly. “I suspect that it isn’t only our devices and normal detection spells that are unable to detect the cloak’s owner. I would hazard to guess that even those locking spells are unable to do anything, including the Finger of Death. Curses wouldn’t do any good either since he no longer exists in this world after putting on the cloak!”
Fang Yuan nodded, understanding more now.
In other words, even if there was a King of Hell in this world and he killed off everyone on this planet, the person wearing the cloak would survive. Even the world would ignore his existence.
Beyond the Three Realms, outside the Five Elements, and written off from the Book of Life and Death!
The level that countless Daoists were unable to reach even after bitterly cultivating could be attained simply by putting on the cloak.
“However, he’s still the same thief underneath that cloak. Any agent could subdue him.”
Fang Yuan shook his head. “A Derivatives’ usefulness depends entirely on the person using it! Baggins is just unfortunate!”
Heinze shook his head. “He is completely oblivious to us and believes that he is a lucky man. Not attempting to hide his newfound powers was the main reason for his downfall.”
“That’s true!”
If Baggins was smart enough, he could have found many other methods of earning money using this Derivative. Furthermore, it would have been possible for him to interact with another world.
He was a victim of his habits. After getting his hands on the cloak, his first thought was to use it to steal.
The black market merchants had betrayed him without a second thought, attracting this group of trouble led by Heinze.
If only he had paced himself, he would have never landed in this situation.
“Ready… Begin!”
Heinze waved his hand upon seeing the doorknob turning.
Crash!
Glass shattered.
After the crashing sound, two shadow agents tumbled into the room and lunged at the void behind the door.
“Ahh!” a shocked voice rang out, followed by the sound of heavy objects falling to the floor.
“I’ve got him!” an agent yelled excitedly. The remaining members rushed forward and clumsily removed the cloak, revealing Baggins’s face.
“Apologies… Mr. Baggins. Your adventure stops here!” Heinze stepped forward. Covering his nose and mouth with a handkerchief, he looked at the disheveled man in disgust. “Secure the Derivative and bring him along as well!”
One had been plotting for a long time, while the other was caught off guard. It was that simple.
From the start to the end, Fang Yuan had simply observed, playing the role of a perfect bystander.
It appeared that Heinze was right, and this mission was indeed extremely simple. He was only here to get a portion of the credit.
“No! I didn’t steal anything. You can’t arrest me! I demand to see a lawyer!” Baggins began struggling and shouting. “And that cloak… it’s mine.”
“Apologies, Mr. Baggins. We aren’t law enforcement officers!” Heinze stepped forward without a hint of apology on his face. “We’re just… umm, a grassroots organization. Also, we didn’t come here regarding your thefts. We came for this!”
He held the black cloak in his hands, his face filled with obsession. “What a perfect piece… Oh, no, I meant that it’s too dangerous. It’s not suitable for you!”
“No!!!” Baggins began hollering. “You bandits have your eyes on my treasure. You can’t do this… It’s a family heirloom!”
“Stop lying to me, Mr. Baggins!” Heinze shook his head. “According to my knowledge, from your grandfather’s generation, your family has been a bunch of paupers… Even this apartment was rented using your filthy lucre! Sorry… I’ve told you so much. You’ll forget everything after I cast a simple spell! ”
“Something’s wrong!”
Watching from the side, Fang Yuan sensed that something was off.
Although Baggins indeed appeared extremely scared and helpless, there was a hint of craziness in his eyes.
If someone exhausted all his trump cards and his family details were completely figured out by another, he would not have such a look about him.
“Careful!” he exclaimed. But alas, he was too far from Heinze.
“Ah… You forced me to do this!”
Just as Fang Yuan was charging toward the two, Baggins roared. A third hand suddenly appeared beside him!
The hand without a wrist or arm seemed to have appeared out of thin air and grabbed forward!
“Protect!”
Heinze backed off swiftly, and a series of protection spells appeared on his body.
But it was still useless!
Neither his body armor nor the protection spells did anything to stop the hand. The hand dipped into Heinze’s body and took out something red.
“M-my liver…” Heinze collapsed in pain and covered where his right liver had been. “It stole one of my livers!”
“Bypassing defenses and attacking the body directly?”
Fang Yuan grabbed Heinze and retreated quickly.
Then he noticed that there were no scars or bloodstains on his clothes.
Bang! Bang!
Suddenly, the hand swept across swiftly. The people holding Baggins yelled out pitifully before collapsing. Their hair and beard turned white, as though they had suddenly aged tens of years.
“Was it youth that was stolen? Or was it time?”
Fang Yuan retreated to the edge of the building. “But it seems… that there’s a range limit on it!”
“Die!”
Heinze’s eyes turned red and uttered an incantation swiftly.
Whoosh!
Lightning flashed!
In the darkness, lightning flashed and directly hit Baggins.
Rumble!
Sparks flew everywhere.
Baggins turned into a piece of coke and fell to the ground.
“Dead?!”
Heinze looked around and pointed at an unlucky Red Shirt. “You… go and check!”
“Yes!”
That unlucky fellow stared at Fang Yuan viscously. He applied a bunch of protection spells on his body before daring to approach Baggins.
Even though he knew that it was useless, it managed to give him some confidence.
This… Fang Yuan was dumbfounded seeing the look in his eyes. He doesn’t dare to hold a grudge against Heinze, but it’s a different story with me. What have I done to deserve becoming a guinea pig?
The Red Shirt deacon approached the coke and poked it before heaving a sigh of relief. “He’s… dead!”
Heinze and Fang Yuan approached it and summoned light. “Light!”
“Eh?” Even ordinary people could realize that there was something wrong with the corpse. Although the majority had been turned to coke, a white glove on his right hand was untouched. It was extremely noticeable.
“Glove? Hand?”
Heinze shifted his eyes and tried to approach it.
However, the white glove flashed before appearing on the right hand of the Red Shirt deacon.
“Ryan? What’s the matter?”
Heinze retreated in a hurry.
These types of Derivatives that automatically attached itself to other things were generally trouble. They often carried some secondary peculiarities that made their host utterly miserable.
“I-I don’t know!” The Red Shirt deacon named Ryan was on the verge of tears. “I didn’t even touch it!”
“How do you feel?”
Heinze approached him, ready to fire the lightning in his hands.
“I feel… normal. However, information has been added to my brain, information about this glove!”
Ryan took a deep breath. After seeing the sorcerers that were surrounding him, he decided to divulge all of the information. “This glove is known as ‘the Third Hand’. It can steal anything on a target. However, the chance of success is random. Additionally, it can only be used once per target. The target must also have clear ownership over the item to be stolen. The item stolen can be anything, and it’s not limited merely to money, external objects, internal organs, and facial features. It can even steal intangible things like life and luck. It would then be given to the host…”
Fang Yuan and Heinze exchanged glances after hearing what the Red Shirt deacon said, realizing that they had just dodged a bullet.
If Baggins had stolen their ‘strength’, what would have happened?
Can this glove steal Dao paths? Fang Yuan immediately transmitted this question to Heinze.
It can’t… After all, it’s a Derivative of the Impermanence Great Dao and can’t stand up to a Great Dao itself. However, our strength and abilities would have been stolen for sure! Heinze replied with a pained look.
Fang Yuan thought of something. Wait a second… what happens when Derivatives of the same class have conflicting peculiarities? For example… if the sharpest spear meets the strongest shield?
Simple… check their priority! Heinze was very familiar with this hypothetical situation. The priority of first-class Derivatives is usually higher than the classes below. As for those affected by the Derivative, their priority would be even lower.
All right. What is the cost of using it?
Heinze looked at Ryan with disbelief written all over his face. “Don’t tell me that there’s no cost. From our past experiences of handling similar Derivatives, that’s impossible!”