CHAPTER 845: Rock Paper Scissors

It happened in less than a split second. Before Han Shuo could react, the Metal Elite Zombie had been pulled to the bottom of the swamp. The giant arm disappeared with Han Jin, leaving only a few bubbles on the surface.

Alarmed, Han Shuo immediately flew towards the swamp. The seventeen flying swords whooshed out and shot into the mud.

Metal Elite Zombie and Han Shuo had linked their minds and could sense each other's positions. Following Han Shuo's thoughts, the seventeen flying swords shot into the swamp in a flash. An earth-shattering rumble sounded from the depths as the mud splashed high into the sky.

"Show yourself!" shouted Han Shuo coldly as he shattered the swamp with his flying swords.

Some of the seventeen flying swords caught hold of the mud-covered humanoid creature and carried it out of the swamp. Several of the flying swords were still bombarding its body, making loud metallic clangs and sparks.

Metal Elite Zombie was not on the creature. He emerged from the swamp behind the creature and shouted, "What monster!"

Toxic sludge spewed from the humanoid creature's mouth as it spoke in a hoarse voice, "Rose? Why are you here?"

The sludge slowly fell from his body. Soon his metallic body was exposed. Though he had the form of a human, his flesh and skin seemed to be made of steel and rock. His eyes glittered with a greyish light that looked inexplicably bizarre.

The seventeen flying swords, which carried an intense corrosive power, had made loud metallic noises and sparks as they pierced the person. However, he didn't seem to be vulnerable to the power of the flying swords. Not only has his body not been corroded, but he also doesn't seem to be affected by the cold aura.

"Romon? Is that you?" asked Rose.

"Yes, it is!" replied the strange person. He looked up and down at Han Shuo and his party with greyish eyes and asked, "Why are you here? Who are they?"

"They are my friends. We were looking for you," Rose replied. She hesitated for a moment before asking, "Romon, how did you turn into this?"

"Father, the surface of his body is filled with rare metals and his organs contain all kinds of toxins. He is not afraid of your flying swords," Han Jin shouted after leaving the swamp. The Golden Cudgel, the supreme treasure of Metal Attribute Energy, suddenly grew to the size of a large tree and swung at Romon.

This alien called Romon seemed unperturbed by Han Shuo's seventeen flying swords, as if they were nothing more than tickles. But when he saw Metal Elite Zombie's Golden Cudgel, he made a terrified face. He even forgot to reply to Rose and desperately tried to run away from the cudgel.

"Hehehe, stupid, your body is filled with metal. How can you run away from me?" said Han Jin with a grin. The Golden Cudgel then flew from his hand and followed Romon like a guided missile.

No matter where Romon ran or how he tried to dodge, the Golden Cudgel always managed to hit him. Each hit made a loud bang and a painful scream. In just a few moments, Han Jin's Golden Cudgel had managed to land five good blows on Romon's shiny buttocks.

As an extraordinary metal energy weapon, the Golden Cudgel possessed an extraordinary power to sense and manipulate all metals. Since most of Romon's body was made of metal, there was no way he could escape the Golden Cudgel's attacks.

Paper beats rock, rock beats scissors, and scissors beat paper. This was the situation. Since Romon was made of rare metals and all sorts of poisons, even Han Shuo would have a hard time defeating him. However, the Metal Elite Zombie, although less powerful than Han Shuo, could give him a painful beating. Romon was immune to Han Shuo's deadly seventeen flying swords, but he was helpless against Han Jin's golden cudgel. He had tried every defence he knew, but none of them worked.

"Asshole, this is for trying to attack me!" cursed Han Jin as he hit Romon. "Hehe, if it was any other god, I might not be able to win. But when it comes to you, well, it cannot be easier!"

After a while, the dizzy Romon gave up trying to dodge the Golden Cudgel. He hastily pleaded with Rose, "I didn't know it was you and your friends! Please stop him. We fought together, and I even helped you escape from Buzz and Bertha. How could you just stand by and watch?"

"Please spare him," Rose pleaded as she looked at Han Shuo, "I owe Romon a favour, if it wasn't for him I wouldn't have managed to escape from the Fringe. He has learned his lesson. Can you please ask him to stop?"

Han Shuo did not travel so far to kill a potential follower. Seeing that Romon had been well punished, Han Shuo said to Han Jin with a smile, "Oi! You little vengeful brat, isn't that more than enough?"

Han Jin smiled mischievously. He raised an open palm, and the golden cudgel that had struck Romon immediately began to fly back towards him, shrinking rapidly. By the time it landed in his hand, the Golden Cudgel had shrunk to the size of a needle.

"Father, this guy has a very unique body composition, so even an average Highgod can't hurt him. But his greatest strength is also his weakness. Unfortunately for him, hehe, I'm his kryptonite. I can play with him like a puppet," Han Jin said proudly, as if he had achieved something.

After the Golden Cudgel was kept away, Romon, who had been seeing stars, gradually recovered. He grimaced and said to Rose, "It's been a long time. Is this any way to greet your old friends?"

Although every surface of Romon's body was made of rare metals, not all of them were as hard as rock. Some were extremely malleable. The metal of Romon's face was particularly so. It was as flexible as normal skin, and it didn't diminish the rich expression on his face.

"You hid under the swamp and attacked us without warning. How was I supposed to know it was you?" Rose replied, annoyed. But a moment later she put on a puzzled face and asked, "Romon, how did you turn into this? You didn't look like this when we last met."

Not only Rose, but also Han Shuo was very curious. They wondered how in the world this guy had changed into this form.

It was obvious to them that Romon was not born with such a body. He must have acquired it through some kind of chance encounter.

Han Shuo had been observing the surroundings, and he often found skeletons lying around. There must be many gods who died in this region. And if Han Shuo's guess was correct, they were all killed by Romon. This indicated that Romon's strength must be quite extraordinary!

"Shortly after you left, I was attacked by a group of people and suffered serious injuries. I did everything I could to escape them and ran to this place out of desperation. The myriad toxins around here began to attack my body and it slowly rotted away. By that time, I had lost all hope, so I dived to the bottom of the swamp to bury myself and await my death. The metals and toxins under the swamp began to adhere to my rotting body. I thought it would only kill me faster. I waited and waited, but after hundreds of years, not only did I not die, my body had changed. That's how I got this shiny new look," Romon explained.

"Here? Under this swamp?" Rose was astonished, not expecting Romon to experience something so miraculous.

Romon nodded and continued, "Yes, right under here. I don't even know what I've become. It's not just my body, even my divine soul has changed. There were even times when I felt like a rock, as if I'd been dead for eons... "

Romon has a hazy look in his eyes. He seemed empty and distant, as if he was there but his mind was not.

"I've noticed a lot of skeletons lying around the swamp. Were they killed by you?" Han Shuo asked smiling.

"Yes. Many years ago, I killed a group of people who invaded this place. One of them escaped and started spreading lies, saying that there was a treasure in my body. Since then, I've been hunted by a constant stream of greedy and foolish Fringedwellers. I would have been gutted if it hadn't been for the transformation that happened to me.

"For all these years, I would spontaneously attack and kill anyone who came into my swamp to scare the Fringedwellers away. I attacked you because I thought you were one of them," Romon explained.

Han Shuo nodded at Rose with a smile and said, "Good, very good! To have killed so many Fringedwellers, he must be quite capable! Alright, tell him what I'm here for."

Following Han Shuo's command, Rose turned to Romon and said, "Romon, my master would like to recruit you. Buzz and Bertha have been killed. You don't want to live under a swamp forever, do you?"

"What?! Buzz and Bertha killed?"

Romon was astonished. He looked at Han Shuo doubtfully and asked, "You killed them?"

"Yes, you could say that," Han Shuo put on a smile and said to Romon, "I doubt it was much fun living under a swamp. Besides, you will slowly lose yourself if you continue to live here. So join me, I will improve your body and make you stronger!"

Romon's body was a wonderful material that could be refined. If Han Shuo put his mind to it, he could rebuild Romon's body and increase his strength.

"You can run away from others, but not from me.

If you don't agree, I will beat you to death!" said Han Jin with a mischievous and evil smile. The Golden Cudgel was once again visible in his hand and he brandished it threateningly at Romon.

Convinced by Rose, seduced by Han Shuo, and threatened by Han Jin, Romon smiled bitterly and scratched his head. He soon realised that he had no choice. After a moment's hesitation, he nodded helplessly, but with some excitement.