CHAPTER 712: I Will Protect You!

"Do... do you have any more?" It only took a few minutes for the bag of five thousand black crystal coins to disappear into Andrina's stomach. After consuming the coins, she asked for more.

Han Shuo's appearance started to become unsightly. He handed over another large bag of black crystal coins. His heart shed tears as he mourned for the black crystal coins that had been consumed...

"Do you have any more?"

"Do you have any more?"

"... More?"

Han Shuo's face turned ashen. Finally, he looked at Andrina fiercely and shouted, "You have already eaten ninety thousand black crystal coins. Hasn't that filled your stomach yet? Han Shuo began to show signs of anger.

Han Shuo had earned a total of ninety-six thousand black crystal coins by selling the medicine he had worked so hard to produce. These crystal coins were more than enough for Han Shuo to live comfortably for years, if not decades. However, Andrina managed to finish all the black crystal coins for him in just half an hour. It would be a miracle if he didn't get angry.

Andrina seemed somewhat embarrassed after hearing Han Shuo's roar. Not daring to look at Han Shuo, she kept her head down as she replied quietly, "It's far from filling my stomach, but my injuries have improved. Oh, I feel a bit tired. I will take a nap..." After finishing these words, ignoring Han Shuo's murderous looks, Andrina grabbed Han Shuo's arm and fell asleep on it. She even began to snore heavily.

"My crystal coins!!!" Han Shuo cried. He looked at the sleeping Andrina and shouted angrily, "What kind of monster are you?! How could you eat ninety thousand black crystal coins just like that?" Unfortunately, Andrina could no longer hear Han Shuo's complaints.

Han Shuo discovered that after Andrina consume the crystal coins, her originally serious injuries had miraculously improved rapidly. Although she appeared inactive on the outside, the inside of her body was hard at work - it was like a complex machine that was breaking down the energy within those black crystal coins before distributing it to every injured spot on her body.

The crystal coins used as currency on Elysium were themselves a type of energy stone. The black crystal coin was one of the energy stones that contained the most energy. However, according to Han Shuo's current knowledge, although the energy in crystal coins had a variety of uses, it was usually limited to powering interplanetary transportation matrices, energy towers, boundary towers, refining divine weapons, and other similar devices. Han Shuo had never heard that it could be directly used or consumed by living beings like Andrina had done.

What is its origin? Han Shuo doubted.

Andrina had fallen asleep, completely unaware of the dangers around her. She had completely entrusted her safety to Han Shuo. Knowing that the Godhunters from Greenfire Swamp were still after them, Han Shuo did not dare to stay in this region for too long. Han Shuo was determined to take Andrina with him after she ate ninety thousand of his black crystal coins so that he could get his money back when she finally woke up.

After half a month, Han Shuo arrived at a mountain range near the City of Shadows. He was very familiar with this area. Without much effort, he found the underground cave where he had stayed for a few months earlier and burrowed into the cave with Andrina.

During the half month that Andrina had been hibernating, her body had been extremely busy, with energies flowing all around her. A healthy blush began to return to her pale face and her badly injured body seemed to have healed considerably.

However, Han Shuo was rather annoyed that Andrina showed no sign of waking up after sleeping for half a month. The City of Shadows was right in front of them, but it didn't seem appropriate for Han Shuo to enter the city with a little girl who was deep asleep and unconscious. However, if Han Shuo left her alone in this place and someone else discovered her, her fate would be grim. Besides, Andrina still owed Han Shuo ninety thousand black crystal coins, and Han Shuo wasn't going to leave her until she repaid this enormous sum.

For lack of a better option, Han Shuo stayed in the underground cave with Andrina. All three of his bodies would cultivate while he waited for Andrina to awaken.

During this time, Han Shuo had been monitoring the events above ground with the help of his demon generals. From the chatter of those divine guards patrolling the mountain range, Han Shuo had learned a little about the current climate in the City of Shadows.

Having lost his only son and daughter, Avery used the influence and power of his Fifth Corps and the House of Lavers to the full. He began to investigate every person with the slightest possibility of murdering his children. During this time, there wasn't a night when those who had animosity towards the House of Lavers and Avery himself could sleep soundly. They had to live in constant fear.

Some of those who had grudges against Avery, and who happened to be in the vicinity of Fort Hassell during the days of Cage and Eve's murder, suddenly disappeared without a trace...

The patriarchs of all the major family clans in the City of Shadows understood that Avery was becoming somewhat psychotic during this period. They warned the members of their clans not to provoke Avery, who had lost all reason. Those family clans who had a grudge against Avery increased the defences of their family residences.

After learning of Avery's recent wild actions, Han Shuo deduced that Avery probably did not consider him a suspect. After all, his strength was far too weak in their eyes, and logically speaking, there was no way he could successfully assassinate Cage and Eve.

With that, Han Shuo felt a bit more at ease. He knew that even if he returned to the City of Shadows right now, Avery's crosshairs probably wouldn't be on him.

***

Inside a secret chamber, Steiss crouched on the floor and reported in a deep voice, "Master, Avery is now investigating Carmelita. It seems that Avery is suspicious of her."

The elderly man with white hair but a face as translucent as jade smiled gently and said, "Avery is suspicious and paranoid by nature. In addition to the fact that this incident was indeed very strange, he wouldn't only be suspicious of Carmelita, but also of any of his enemies. But of course, we have to make him think that Carmelita did it, so that the two sides will fight each other. Hehe..."

"Master, as for that boy, he's completely disappeared and I still can't find any trace of him," Steiss reported in a low voice.

The white-haired old man unconsciously tapped his chair with his index finger. With a puzzled expression on his face, he said, "This boy is really quite amazing. It's hard to believe that even Avery couldn't kill him. Forget it, at least he is no longer in the City of Shadows. You can stop searching for him. So many great family clans have tried, but they have all failed. It's to be expected that you won't find him either. Still, it's a shame that we didn't get his medicine formulas."

"Master, how shall we proceed?" Steiss asked respectfully.

After a moment's thought, the old man replied, "Use our pawn in the house of Sainte. Get him to deliver a message that will convince Avery that Carmelita has sent men to Fort Hassell!"

"Understood!" Steiss smiled darkly and dismissed himself.

***

"Are you sure?" Avery asked with a face as cold as ice.

"Last night, a divine guard of the House of Sainte inadvertently revealed the information after a night of drinking. He said that Carmelita had sent a person to Fort Hassell eight days before Cage and Eve were murdered. Based on the travel time, that fits the timeline perfectly," a shadow in the darkness replied indifferently.

"That vicious, ugly woman, it was her, it really was her! Eve had only said that she looked ugly, but she actually went so far as to treacherously murder her. What a heartless bitch. I'm going to finish her off!" Avery cursed through clenched teeth. His body shook with rage.

"My Lord, this is the House of Sainte," the shadow reminded him gently.

"So what if it's the House of Sainte? If the worst comes to the worst, I will simply leave the City of Shadows. Given my strength, I can make a living anywhere in the Darkness Dominion. She killed my son and daughter. How could I let her go so easily?!" Avery roared hysterically. He seemed borderline insane.

The Shadow dared not give any more advice. He knew that once Avery had made a decision, he would stick to it, even if he knew it was a bad one. No advice would have any effect on Avery.

After a long time, Avery gradually calmed down. He said calmly, "Still, this has to be planned and prepared properly. That ugly bitch has extraordinary strength. Even I am not sure I can defeat her alone. Carmelita had about as much strength as he did. Avery wasn't sure he could defeat Carmelita alone, so he didn't want to attack her too quickly.

***

Several months had passed. On that day, Han Shuo, who was in the middle of his cultivation, suddenly felt movement near him. He immediately opened his eyes and looked straight at Andrina, whose long eyelashes were trembling.

Andrina, who had been asleep for almost four months, no longer looked as pale as paper, her pale skin showing a healthy flush. Her lashes fluttered for a moment before she opened her beautiful purple eyes. She then stretched her body in a lazy manner and put a contented, comfortable smile on her face before saying in her melodious voice, "How long have I been asleep? Mmm... I feel much better already. Even the pain in my body has diminished greatly!"

"I want my money back!" Han Shuo's handsome face immediately turned dark as soon as he saw Andrina wake up. He shamelessly asked for a refund.

"Erm..." Andrina forced a smile before looking at Han Shuo pitifully, "How could you ask me to pay your money right after I woke up? That's not very polite of you."

"It was ninety thousand black crystal coins! It was all the money I had! Do you have any idea how much money that was? Do you know how hard I worked to earn it? How much time it took to save that much money? Do you know how many things ninety thousand black crystal coins can buy? Do you know..." Han Shuo grumbled on and on and on.

"I don't have a single crystal coin with me!" Andrina replied succinctly after patiently listening to Han Shuo finish his grumbling.

Han Shuo was speechless.

The long speech was all for nothing. Han Shuo hung his head down in despondency. But suddenly, Han Shuo seemed to remember something and his eyes lit up. He looked at Andrina smiling like a big bad wolf looking at a rabbit as he asked, "Do you have anything of value with you? Maybe something like a... a divine weapon... I can accept that in exchange for my crystal coins..."

"No!" Andrina suddenly wrapped her hands around herself, as if to protect the object on her body. She took a step back and said, "I don't have anything on me that can be exchanged for crystal coins. Don't even think about it!"

"Then how are you going to compensate me for my ninety thousand black crystal coins?" Seeing that this method was ineffective, Han Shuo dropped his fake benevolent face and put on an angry one. During this time, Andrina had been very quiet and often made pitiful faces at Han Shuo, so much so that Han Shuo had forgotten how wild she had been when they first met.

Obviously, Andrina was not afraid of Han Shuo. She pulled the corners of Han Shuo's lips and giggled, "Don't pretend to be so fierce! I know that you are actually a good person. You are not like those Godhunters, and you definitely did not hide in that tree with evil intentions. Hehe, and when I was badly injured, you saved me and were very kind to me. I know you won't hurt me," Andrina added after a short pause, "Besides, you can't hurt me now!"

Han Shuo's face fell after hearing these words. The anger in his face disappeared as he asked dispiritedly, "Have you healed from your injuries? If you have, get a job, earn some money, and return my crystal coins to me. After that, you can get back to whatever you were doing!"

"Not completely healed yet, but more than enough for self-preservation," Andrina replied with a smile. She then turned around in front of Han Shuo to smooth out the wrinkles on her little dress and nodded in satisfaction. After that, she suggested in her adorable voice, "I don't know how to make money, but I'm willing to protect you for a period of time as compensation for eating your crystal coins!"

"You? Protect me?" Han Shuo's immediate reaction was to groan in disdain. But immediately after that, he shut his mouth tightly as he remembered Andrina's terrifying methods as well as the Cauldron Spirit's assessment of her. After quickly weighing his options, he asked, "With your current strength, can you stop the sneak attack of an Early-stage Highgod expert?"

"Should be no problem. Although I can't win right now, I have more than enough strength to carry you and escape. But if you can get me another ninety thousand black crystal coins, we might not even need to escape!" Andrina replied after thinking for a moment.

Han Shuo's heart trembled when he saw that Andrina didn't seem to be bluffing. He knew that for this little girl to have the confidence to withstand the attack of an Early-stage Highgod even under such conditions, her true strength at full health must be beyond terrifying.

"One year for every ten thousand black crystal coins. Since you ate ninety thousand of my black crystal coins, you will have to protect me for nine years," Han Shuo said.

The fee for employing a Highgod as a bodyguard was much, much more than just ten thousand Black Crystal Coins per year. Han Shuo was willing to haggle with Andrina and keep her for at least a year.

Han Shuo had expected Andrina to refuse his offer, but instead, she immediately agreed: "Okay! Anyway, you seem to be a decent character and I have nothing to do for the moment."

Han Shuo was stunned when he heard these words. There was no way that a mere ninety thousand black crystal coins could buy nine years of a Highgod's services anywhere on the material plane. In fact, Han Shuo was rather suspicious of Andrina agreeing to his terms so easily. He thought to himself, "Is she planning something against me? This little girl is definitely not as innocent and naive as she seems on the surface. She's a little freak who has no qualms about killing. Will it be a blessing or a curse to keep her around for so long?

"What are you worried about?" Andrina asked worriedly. It was as if she knew what Han Shuo was thinking.

"Nothing..." Han Shuo then put on a straight face and said, "Let's go, we will enter the City of Shadows."

Han Shuo decided to stop hiding from the public. With Andrina around, Han Shuo would have no fear that Avery would try to assassinate him again. Therefore, he openly returned to the City of Shadows with Andrina.

Most of the major family clans learned of Han Shuo's return as soon as he took a few steps into the City of Shadows. They immediately activated their forces and rushed to the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy!