Having said that, Feixiao looked at Jingliu with no small amount of envy.
She sighed emotionally, "You're the lucky one—getting a chance to personally capture Hoolay. Me? I can only casually bully a few small fries at the level of tribal chieftains."
"If only I'd been born a few hundred years earlier. I'd recite those lines and piss Hoolay off so badly that smoke would pour out of his seven orifices, drive him mad on the spot, then finish him off myself. That'd be far more glorious than an ordinary great victory."
Feixiao wallowed in a bit of self-pity, lamenting that she had been born in the wrong era.
These days, the Borisin, Wingweavers, Houyhnhnm, and other Denizens of Abundance races—count them one by one—had all declined.
If the Xianzhou Alliance weren't afraid that wiping them out completely would cause itself to degenerate into a universe-threatening Abundance aberration, they would have slaughtered them to the last.
Now, if they wanted to find an enemy with enough weight behind them, they likely had only two options left: waiting for the Plagues Author to once again bestow divine power upon some race, or going to war with the Antimatter Legion.
And no matter which one it was, neither would be good news for the Xianzhou.
Although Jingliu greatly admired the soaring literary flair of that piece of text, she had little interest in its practical application in battle.
As for Feixiao's many regrets, she simply said, "It's not like there's no chance now. That old wolf—isn't it locked up in the Shackling Prison?"
"What does that count for? Just a trapped beast. Beating it wouldn't feel like much of an achievement."
Feixiao crossed her arms and shook her head in dissatisfaction.
But she quickly stopped dwelling on it and chuckled. "Still, learning something like this once in a while isn't a bad thing. Who knows when it might come in handy? Even if you don't curse someone to death, just enraging the opponent and making them lose their rationality is enough to lay the foundation for victory."
She had already acknowledged the value of this keyboard.
Sylvester said calmly, "That's exactly why you shouldn't underestimate it. Sure, it's got a tiny bit of a bizarre side to it, but its power is nothing to sneeze at. You should know—many strong individuals didn't die because they were weak. A considerable number of them lost because their trash talk couldn't beat the other guy's."
One of his hands lightly slid across the keyboard, stirring up a clatter-clatter of sound.
Facing the group, he smiled. "And this thing completely makes up for the weakness of many powerhouses who aren't good with words. Practice with it a bit, look at it a bit, and your skill goes up two and a half years; take a sip of tea and have a look, and you can open your mouth and verbally send someone straight to the River of Forgetfulness."
"And even more precious than that, this keyboard has an automatic update function. It won't miss a single exquisite line of speech anywhere in the universe—even a newly coined word can be collected!"
"It effectively keeps verbal warfare fresh for your enemies, reducing resistance. This ensures that trash talk remains a powerful skill—enduring, evergreen, and able to shine brilliantly even in a new era."
"Mm… it really is quite valuable."
Jingliu weighed her words carefully and could only conclude as such.
She knew the [Keyboard Immortal] was a decent item… probably.
But hearing Sylvester pile all these glowing descriptions onto it still made her a bit uncomfortable.
With her personality, it was still difficult to imagine herself spouting off on the battlefield. It wasn't that she looked down on that sort of… verbal warfare.
It was just that she genuinely couldn't muster much interest in these tongue-based techniques.
Mm… maybe that just proves I need this kind of thing even more?
Forget it. I'll go with the flow.
Jingliu temporarily set aside the matter of making up for this "shortcoming" and turned her gaze back to the Curios on the counter.
Looking at the war vehicle that resembled a model toy, she frowned slightly.
Could this really be the purple Curio she had obtained this time?
Obviously, the Keyboard Immortal couldn't possibly reach that level—if that keyboard could speak on its own and curse enemies to death, then maybe it'd have a chance.
But staring at this tiny toy, she truly couldn't connect it with sinister Curios like the [Thousand Demon Daggers] that carried its own baleful aura.
The gap was simply too large.
She hesitated and said, "Sylvester, this is…?"
"Yes, this is indeed a purple Curio!"
Sylvester immediately saw where Jingliu's concern lay and answered without hesitation. "This is just its shrunken, portable form. There's a button on it—once you press it, it'll return to its normal size."
Hearing this, Jingliu suddenly understood. "So that's how it is. Then just how strong is it?"
The moment she asked this question, Feixiao and Jade, along with the other two, didn't speak—but all of them perked up their ears and listened intently.
Especially the three from the IPC, whose expressions were the most serious.
Their previous gains had been far too meager. Aside from a Devil Fruit, they hadn't obtained a single purple Curio, let alone a gold one.
After experiencing the shock of the [Thousand Demon Daggers] earlier, their emotions had become even more complicated—both curious and heartbroken.
They wanted to avert their eyes for peace of mind, yet couldn't bear to block their ears, torn to the extreme.
Seeing everyone's attention focused on him, Sylvester smiled. "Compared to sinister Curios like the [Thousand Demon Daggers], this war vehicle's strength is plain and unadorned. Its name is—[Type 59 (Modified)]."
He lifted the palm-sized miniature war vehicle and counted the road wheels wrapped by the tracks. One, two, three, four, five.
Mm. Authentic.
"Judging by appearance alone, it's just an unremarkable tank. The Xianzhou and the IPC phased out this kind of armament long ago. But the one I have is vastly different. After being modified by a special power known as the Power of 'WAAAGH!', it possesses combat power that far surpasses that of a Star Destroyer!"
He tapped on the tank turret. "Mounted on this is a 100mm Planet Buster. One shot won't just blow up a planet—it can directly pierce through ninety-nine standard planets. Even the IPC's latest technology can't hope to catch up."
"..."
Jade lightly bit her lip, her brows tightly furrowed.
Just the power of that cannon alone was already approaching the level of an Imaginary Pulse.
If not for the fact that it could only fire in a straight line, its explosive power might actually stand a chance of comparison.
But what was an Imaginary Pulse? It was a terrifying weapon the IPC only mastered by discarding its morals and squeezing every last drop of wisdom from Chadwick of the Genius Society.
If not for Herta, the IPC could have relied on that weapon alone to tower over all known forces!
"It can really be that strong?!"
Compared to the IPC's wariness, Feixiao was simply delighted.
One hundred planets—smashing them one by one wasn't a difficult task for her. But blowing up a hundred with a single strike? That was something she couldn't do.
This power truly was, just as Sylvester said, plain, unadorned, and overwhelming.
===BREAK===
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