Red Wood Beads

Chapter 40

The two girls rushed towards Alex and hugged him tightly. "Father, are you okay? Are you going to leave again?" Lilith asked with a hint of reluctance.

"Are the bad guys gone?" Rose inquired anxiously.

Alex finally understood why the two girls were so worried. "Look, I'm perfectly fine. There's no need to be afraid. Did those people do anything to you?"

"No, it's just that they were very scary," Rose replied timidly.

"Yeah, they were really scary!" Lilith added, shuddering at the memory of the encounter.

Understanding their fear, Alex nodded. If the other party turned out to be hostile, he would surely deal with them swiftly.

Then, Alex thought about how to improve the security of his family, but he still didn't have a clear plan.

As Alex continued hugging the girls, Lily finally arrived home. He looked at the three of them with a puzzled expression, wondering what had happened.

"What's going on? Why are you three hugging each other?" Lily asked curiously.

"There were scary people, Mom!" Lilith exclaimed, still feeling frightened.

"Yes, brother-in-law, I'm scared just thinking about it," Rose added.

Lily was now even more confused, so Alex decided to explain the situation.

"Yeah, there were some intimidating individuals who came by. They were worried that I might be a spy from a rival gang, and they also asked me to join their gang," Alex explained.

Lily, who heard this, became even more scared. "Then what is your decision?" she asked anxiously.

"I refuse. I've wanted to live quietly for a long time, so naturally, I won't step into that crocodile pit again," Alex explained firmly.

Lily supported Alex's decision, but she couldn't help but worry about him. She knew that those people were capable of anything, and Alex's rejection might not sit well with them, possibly bringing disaster upon their family.

Despite her concerns, Lily didn't press Alex further and decided to let him rest. She rushed to clean up the house while Alex went to his room, still thinking about the previous incident.

Due to his focus on hiding his breakthrough, Alex hadn't paid much attention to the other party. However, he could recall that the red bear had taken out a gun similar to the one Alex possessed. Strangely, Alex had a feeling that there was something different about the gun held by the red bear. It was as if there was more to it than meets the eye.

With this, Alex couldn't help but take out a gun from the storage ring and examine it closely. He held the gun in his hands, trying to dig into its secrets, but he found nothing of particular value. However, his curiosity only grew stronger, especially because the only thing stored in the safe was a box filled with these mysterious items.

Realizing that it would take him a long time to figure out the gun's peculiarities, Alex finally decided to enter the ring room. As soon as he stepped inside, he noticed a significant change. The space around him seemed clearer, and it was as if an additional sense had been awakened within him. His divine consciousness had expanded, allowing him to perceive things up to 32 meters away with great clarity.

While testing his enhanced divine sense, Alex sensed that there was something truly peculiar about the gun he was examining.

From Alex's observations, he could see that the flintlock gun was passively absorbing chakra from its surroundings. Before, Alex couldn't perceive this, but now, after breaking through to the fifth layer of his onion-like energy levels, his senses had become more sensitive. Moreover, within the ring space, he felt an even deeper connection, as if the ring space were an extension of himself. Without this breakthrough, it might have taken Alex several more attempts to discover this phenomenon.

With this newfound awareness, Alex observed the gun very carefully. After making sure there were no apparent issues, he decided to channel his chakra towards the gun. As he did so, the gun absorbed the chakra seamlessly, and Alex felt a sense of danger emanating from the weapon in his hand.

"Ahhh, the sense of danger and energy from this gun seems even greater than that of the red bear," said Alex, both conscious and amazed at the discovery.

Curious to test its power, Alex headed toward the location where he had last tested the gun.

Bang!

Bang!

Seeing the impressive results of the shot, Alex couldn't help but nod in approval.

"Indeed, it's very powerful, much stronger than ordinary firearms. It appears to be a magical item," Alex mused, contemplating the origins of this powerful weapon. Despite its somewhat inefficient reloading process, its attack impact was several times that of regular firearms.

The more Alex thought about it, the more cautious he became about this seemingly peaceful world. He couldn't help but wonder where these extraordinary items came from and who else might possess such powerful artifacts.

With his curiosity piqued Alex shifted his attention towards the mysterious box. After his breakthrough, he noticed a slight change in the box, and like the gun, it was also passively absorbing the chakra.

Intrigued, Alex approached the box for a closer look. After a few moments of careful examination, he decided to send his chakra toward the mysterious item.

With this, the mysterious box absorbed Alex's chakra rapidly, and he started to feel a bit scared. He tried to cut off the chakra supply to the box, but unfortunately, it proved to be completely impossible.

The box continued to greedily suck in Alex's chakra until he was almost completely drained. Luckily, the mysterious box stopped absorbing when Alex's chakra level was dangerously low, preventing him from fainting.

Considering this, Alex couldn't help but feel grateful towards the red bear and brown bear. "My brother and sister are my lucky charms. One provides me with wealth, and the other grants me the key to unlocking that wealth. What wonderful siblings," Alex said sincerely.

If the two were to hear Alex's words, they might be taken aback and feel like they had assisted Alex while suffering significant losses themselves.

Undeterred by his fatigue, Alex promptly opened the mysterious box. Inside, he found the same items as before, except there was no additional flintlock gun.

"Is this just a flintlock pistol kit? Then why was it hidden so carefully?" Alex pondered curiously.

Alex realized that things weren't that simple at all. He decided to reload the flintlock pistol with all the kits from the bottom box. Once everything was in place, Alex headed in a specific direction to try out the gun. This time, he used his chakra to see if it had any effect.

The gunshots rang out.

Bang!

Bang!

Alex was genuinely surprised by the result because the shot was hundreds of times stronger than that of an ordinary gun! "Fabulous!" Alex couldn't help but shudder at the thought of being hit by a weapon with such power.

He carefully packed the kit back into the box, thinking it was worth keeping.

As Alex meticulously packed, he made another discovery using his now even more sensitive divine sense. He sensed something else that was passively absorbing chakra from the air. This excited Alex and he began to search for the source. Finally, he found a red bead inside an ammunition bag.

The bead was the same size as the bullets and had a round shape, but it was red and made of a type of wood that Alex couldn't identify. He was tempted to immediately infuse the bead with his chakra, but he hesitated, remembering how he had been nearly drained before. Giving excessive chakra to the bead could have serious consequences, possibly even leading to the absorption of his blood essence.

With this, Alex immediately took the dew of life and began meditating to replenish his body. After Alex's chakra was fully restored, he directed it toward the red wooden bead.

Once again, the mysterious phenomenon occurred, just as Alex had anticipated. He smiled bitterly at the repetition. Restoring his energy required intense concentration and the help of the dew of life.

For a while, Alex remained silent, holding the bead in his hand. Eventually, the growth of the bead ceased, stopping at the size of a basketball.

Curiosity led Alex to investigate the potential of this red wooden ball. However, upon close examination, he felt a tinge of disappointment as it didn't seem to possess the qualities he had hoped for. None of the powerful attacks he attempted with the bead proved it to be a weapon, and the memories triggered by the bead didn't reveal anything meaningful. Frustration settled in.

It seemed that time, energy, and even the precious dew of life were wasted in this endeavor."

With renewed hope, Alex decided to try one more thing with the red wooden bead. He wondered if the bead required a blood offering to activate its true potential, as some mystical artifacts often did.

Carefully, he took a very sharp item and made a small cut on his hand, ensuring he didn't harm himself too much. With a drop of fresh blood, he allowed it to fall onto the red wooden bead. Suddenly, a strange light emanated from the bead, causing Alex to shield his eyes in discomfort.

Despite covering his eyes with his hands, the intense light still managed to penetrate through, causing Alex to cry out in pain. "Ahh, my eyes!"