Chapter 1245 Welcome to the Underworld
Oathkeeper looked around and said with a surprised tone, "I didn"t expect the trump card you mentioned to be the Underworld. I thought they perished along with the two sisters."
When the actor chat group was discussing the plan, Han Xiao had said he had a trump card that could disable Sorokin"s ability, and he just needed an opportunity. He did not say what the trump card exactly was. Since the others had the same goal as him, and Black Star was usually quite reliable, Oathkeeper trusted him.
Only now did the Holy Accord members present discover that the trump card Han Xiao spoke of was the Underworld, which they were familiar with.
"Did the two sisters revive too?" Beiger asked with shock.
"Nope, the Underworld has a new master now."
Han Xiao shook his head, told Hila to land beside him, and patted her shoulder. He did not share the detailed information about the two sisters" inheritance.
At this time, the seven Hero Spirit Kings suddenly appeared around Sorokin and sized up the Holy Accord members present with shock and disbelief.
"You guys are still alive‽"
"What, you guys too‽"
The few Holy Accord members and the seven Hero Spirit Kings looked at each other with dismay.
Both sides were Primordial Ones who chose different paths of reviving. Both achieved that goal at this point. Meeting each other in the modern age after countless years, they felt complicated and surprised.
However, comparatively, the seven Hero Spirit Kings felt somewhat regretful.
They thought the Holy Accord was nonsense and the path they chose was the only right one. They never expected the Holy Accord to really succeed…
I should"ve joined the Holy Accord back then!
Looking at this, Sorokin was already completely dumbfounded.
The existence of the Holy Accord was already unbelievable enough. He never would have thought the Underworld still existed too. So many Primordial Ones lived till now, and he was not the only one at all.
Sorokin suddenly felt that his sense of superiority all these years was nothing but a joke.
This time, Han Xiao squatted, leveled with Sorokin"s eyes, and said slowly, "I"m someone who always prefers to give others a chance to make a choice. There are two paths in front of you now. One, get wiped out by us, and you will then become fertilizer for Hila. Two, become an Underworld Hero Spirit and be controlled by the Underworld. Which do you choose?"
Sorokin was a top-level combatant. The external enemies of the explored universe had yet to be dealt with, so Han Xiao preferred not to eliminate him.
In fact, if not because Sorokin accidentally found out the Holy Accord"s secret, Han Xiao would not even have targeted him. He was only displeased about how many times Sorokin plotted against him in the past and felt this guy was too much of an *sshole, but he did not see him as someone he had to kill.
Now that Sorokin was completely in his hands, Han Xiao almost wanted to say some cla.s.sic villain lines… Go on and scream, no one will come!
Sorokin looked around at everyone and said with indignation, "What… are you guys planning‽"
It was horrifying to find out that Black Star was both related to the Holy Accord and the Underworld. In fact, it was unfathomable. He felt Han Xiao was certainly planning something big secretly, and he could almost smell the stink of conspiracy.
Are these people trying to overthrow the universe‽
Also, since Black Star is together with these guys, is he also one of the Primordial Ones who lived till now‽
Having discovered these secrets and linking them with Black Star"s history, Sorokin could not help but to fantasize in this direction.
"You think I"d tell you now?"
Han Xiao chuckled.
Telling the enemy all my plans when the mission is about to succeed is a huge no-no for villains. I"m not going to fall for it.
This time, the seven Hero Spirit Kings had heard about Sorokin"s real ident.i.ty from Oathkeeper. The head of the Hero Spirit Kings, Rega, walked over, patted Sorokin"s shoulder, and comforted him. "Stop hesitating. When you join the Underworld, you"ll realize that it"s nice to be a Hero Spirit."
"Rega, you got domesticated too?" Sorokin said sarcastically. They were all from the same generation, so of course, he knew the seven Hero Spirit Kings.
Rega was not offended. He smiled and said, "Don"t make it sound so bad. As long as the Underworld still exists, Hero Spirits will never die. You"ve borderline survived in the main universe for so long, I"m sure you"re not willing to die. What"s so bad about being happy with us? You"ll never have to worry about being killed, think about it."
The other Hero Spirit Kings also started to enthusiastically promote the advantages of becoming a Hero Spirit King. It was like a company"s interviewer promoting the company"s benefits during an interview.
It was not that they actually cared about Soul Emperor"s life, but living in the Underworld while not being able to go out was quite dull. The seven Hero Spirit Kings already knew everything there was to know about each other, the freshness was long gone. Now that a possible new member was finally here, they did not want to let him get away.
Even the Holy Accord members on the side nodded in agreement.
The history of the exploration era already proved that as long as the Underworld was fine, the Hero Spirits could do whatever dangerous things they wanted to. Honestly, they were quite jealous too.
Since Oathkeeper had hidden some of the Sanctums" information due to certain reasons, the current Holy Accord members all thought that they could only be revived once. Seeing the Underworld, they also started to have some ideas.
They originally thought they could only revive once, but with the Underworld, would that not mean they could keep living?
Although they would have to become someone else"s subordinate… as long as they could live, what was so bad about becoming dogs!
"Black Star is closely related to the Underworld. I have to maintain a good relations.h.i.+p with him…" Beiger mumbled softly, saying what everyone was thinking.
Han Xiao heard his whisper and laughed in his mind.
This was part of the reason he had brought them to the Underworld. Using the fact that the Holy Accord members did not know the truth about the Sanctums, he increased the importance of the Underworld in the ears of the revived Primordial Ones so that his plan in the future would be easier to execute.
Even those Holy Accord members with other goals could not ignore his existence for the sake of having a backup plan, which meant he could influence these people and prevent them from doing things too out of the line to a certain extent.
Seeing Sorokin was shaken, Han Xiao said, "You already love to cower. Now you"re just cowering somewhere else. Plus, you won"t have to worry about your safety. What"s there to hesitate about?"
Sorokin stayed silent for a while. He sighed with frustration and resignation. "… I admit I"m done for. I"m willing to join the Underworld."
He always believed in living as a coward was better than dying a hero, so he had no choice but to say goodbye to freedom and choose to live with regrets.
Han Xiao looked like he expected and gave Onicelu a look.
Onicelu raised her hand. Cl.u.s.ters of Underworld energy flowed out from the ground and hovered beside Sorokin. She then smiled and said, "Lower your guard and accept the transformation. It might hurt a little, but don"t resist no matter what, alright?"
Swoos.h.!.+
Before Sorokin responded, the Underworld energy rushed into his soul the next moment.
The color of Sorokin"s soul was gradually painted with the Underworld energy"s color as he transformed into a Hero Spirit.
Sorokin felt like burning iron bars penetrated his soul. His soul was scorching from inside out as if it was going to be burnt to ashes any second.
Seeing this, the seven Hero Spirit Kings were so overjoyed they wanted to beat the drums on the side to welcome another unlucky fellow joining them.
The Hero Spirit transformation lasted for quite some time before finis.h.i.+ng.
The chains formed by Underworld energy disappeared. Without them, Sorokin slowly stood up, looked down at his soul that had now turned into an Underworld Hero Spirit, and felt his connection with the Underworld. He was filled with complicated emotions.
After so many years of cowering, to think he became an Underworld Hero Spirit he once despised; fate was really full of surprises…
The seven Hero Spirit Kings surrounded him and smiled pa.s.sionately.
"From now on, you"re the eighth Hero Spirit King. Welcome to the Underworld!"
"Hehe…"
Sorokin could not laugh at all. His lips were twitching.
Onicelu suddenly turned to look at Han Xiao and said, "He"s not like the other Hero Spirit Kings. Although he"s transformed, he still kept his original strength."
Han Xiao expected this. He asked, "He"s special, can you restrain him?"
"That"s not a problem. After being transformed into a Hero Spirit, he"s already connected to the Underworld and is under my control." Onicelu nodded.
"That"s good." Han Xiao nodded.
Normal Hero Spirits had no combat capability. They could only regain their strength with the help of life energy. However, Sorokin had [Immortal Soul] and [Spiritual Energy Foundation], so he maintained the strength of a Beyond Grade A even as a Hero Spirit. This was his uniqueness.
However, after the developments made by the two sisters, the Underworld was already a treasure close to the s.p.a.ce Wonder level. Its operating mechanisms were impeccable, so restraining Sorokin when it was at its peak state was not a problem.
Seeing that Sorokin"s face was filled with regret, Han Xiao smiled and said, "Stop being so down. One day in the future, you might be glad you joined the Underworld."
"I don"t think that day will ever come." Sorokin was filled with sadness.
"Hehe, we"ll see."
Han Xiao smiled and shook his head.
With the increase of his strength, position, and connections, the enemies he once felt were tough to deal with were no longer so tough. Having gotten rid of another hidden threat, he was quite satisfied.
Sorokin"s value was not just his strength; the resources and information this guy had was also very valuable.
Having thought of that, Han Xiao turned to Hila and said, "Go talk to Sorokin and have him share the information he knows."
Hila nodded and pulled Sorokin aside to question him. As the current master of the Underworld, she was perfect for this task.
Seeing that Sorokin had been dealt with, the Holy Accord members present were all relieved. They went to chat with the seven Hero Spirit Kings about the old times.
On the other hand, Han Xiao and Oathkeeper walked to the side on their own and talked about something else.
"How"s the collection of the Third Sanctum keys?"
"Still working hard on it. With the experience from the last time and the channels you provided, it should be much quicker this time," Oathkeeper replied.
"Do it fast. I have a feeling that the peaceful times won"t last too long," Han Xiao whispered.
He still had missions related to the Sanctums that were not yet complete. Even not for the missions, since the Sanctums were the future of the Beyond Grade As, he had to go in and take a look.
Oathkeeper nodded. He suddenly changed the topic and asked, "Although I"m not in the Beyond Grade A a.s.sociation, won"t Sorokin suddenly going missing cause problems?"
Han Xiao glanced at him and said with a deep voice, "Yes, Gaud went missing a few years ago and now Sorokin too. It"s easy for people to link these two events… However, the difference is, no one will step up for Sorokin, so the problem won"t be too big, and the impact won"t be too strong. It"ll mainly cause doubts among the a.s.sociation itself and investigations."
"It won"t affect you, will it?"
"Not much if it"s dealt with properly. The dynasty has been secretly investigating Sorokin recently. I can find a way to make Sorokin look responsible for what happened to Gaud, then fake the reason he went missing, saying he fled due to fear of having what he did discover. Thus, creating a motive for him and closing the case… As for the future, there"s no need to worry if others discover Sorokin is here. His Esper Ability allows him to change his soul frequency, which will solve most problems."
Han Xiao was prepared for this.
Sorokin was now tied up to the fate of the Underworld. Although he had no freedom, it was not all bad. Han Xiao was someone who knew Sorokin"s personality well. This guy"s biggest trait was that he knew his situation well. He would basically never do something that would damage both parties, so there was no need to worry about him not cooperating.
Oathkeeper agreed. "As long as you have a plan. You"re an expert at these shady things."
"Sarcasm, huh? Don"t copy my words." Han Xiao glanced at him.
The two of them did not chat for long. The other Holy Accord members were still waiting in the main universe. Han Xiao used another King suit to send Oathkeeper back to explain what had happened to prevent them from worrying.
After sending the outsiders away, Han Xiao went to where Hila and Sorokin were. The two of them sat opposite each other. One asked, and the other answered; the atmosphere was peaceful.
Although Sorokin had regrets, what was done was done. He had no choice but to let go of his pride. He was quite cooperative.
Han Xiao walked beside Hila and asked, "How"s it going?"
Hila looked up at him and had a playful expression.
"You came at the right time. He seems to have just said something huge…"