Empty Fruit

"There is nothing we can do. Only Wang Yuhang can pull away the creature we seek. Its retrieval will be impossible if we do not have him." Manager Qu continued his cold dialogue, saying, "It is fortunate its maturity will come soon; sometime within the next two days."

Sun Chenggong replied, "Chen Cheng and the third team made use of their shura liquid. It will take a week for them to recover; I do not believe they will be able to accompany us any further on this mission."

Manager Qu nodded and said, "Have them stay in camp as back up, at least, just in case the need arises."

They both went on to discuss another matter, but Han Sen couldn't hear. At the very least, he now knew why they had come here. They too had come for the Empty Fruit.

"These people are out of their minds. Do they believe such a small number of people can rival the creatures and obtain the fruit? They have no idea how many monsters have been attracted to this place by the Empty Fruit!" Han Sen laughed in his heart.

Although they used the shura liquid to strengthen their bodies, its side-effects were extreme. Not to mention the short length of time the concoction boosted their bodies for. Even for the elite who used a vial, it was not enough to thwart and beat a super creature. If they had a lot more men, all of which could use the juice, then they might have had a chance of defeating a single super creature.

But in this place, there was sure to be far more than just a single super creature. Lord knew how many lurked around the Empty Fruit, hungry and waiting for it to ripen.

Having watched them face-off against the goose, Han Sen already believed them to be doomed.

But if they were still adamant in trying to obtain the fruit, he was happy to watch them. It was possible their intrusion could work out for the best, and he'd benefit from their meddling.

If Han Sen went against the Devil-Blood King face-to-face, he did not believe himself able to compete.

So, for now, Han Sen decided to leave the people be. And he also decided to allow Wang Yuhang to remain with them for now, too. He'd feel safer this way—a whole lot safer than he would if Wang Yuhang was hanging around him, at least.

"To make some creepy tonic such as that, I'm afraid it must be the work of the Zhao family or the Qi family." Han Sen started to wonder, but he was leaning towards it being the Zhao family who produced the blood-horn shura juice.

"When this concoction becomes known to the market at large, I am afraid the Alliance and the Second God's Sanctuary will be in for a period of turmoil. Hunting in the Second God's Sanctuary would not be as difficult, but if they could not absorb Life Geno Essences, then their killing of super creatures would be pointless. The best they could hope for would be beast souls." Han Sen pondered the ramifications of such a product in the Alliance.

Regardless of what could happen, it was guaranteed to cause an imbalance for humanity. If it was produced by the Zhao family, Han Sen feared their reputation would only increase and perhaps make them an unstoppable force.

"I need to find a way to get my hands on that shura liquid. I need to do some tests and research on it myself." Han Sen acknowledged its power, but he knew he'd be unable to discover much of what lay inside the compound by himself. If he handed it over to the Ji family, however, he reckoned they could do the deep-dive he could not.

Han Sen remained in the area for two days, waiting for them to move. The garrison that left to retrieve the fruit departed towards the center of the island with Wang Yuhang in tow, but a few men remained in the camp.

Han Sen followed them from afar, and the further they went, the more he could begin sensing the presence of terrifying lifeforces. Han Sen believed they must be suicidal to blindly march forward to the center.

The sensing abilities of the people that marched forward were far too low, and it was remarkable how unaware they were of the wretchedly powerful creatures that were around. They seemed to have no idea they were walking into what was looking to be a certifiable bloodbath.

They said they needed Wang Yuhang for the purpose of attracting a certain creature away, and so they had treated him well enough since his return. He had been healed and fed.

But being locked inside a cage like the latest exhibition at a zoo was unkind. With a grim, disheartened face, Wang Yuhang clutched the bars of the cage the entire time, waiting for Han Sen to spring him free and rescue him.

Han Sen continued to follow the troops until they reached the center. It was strangely quiet there, and they did not seem to recognize the presence of a single creature in the area. That was because the Empty Fruit hadn't matured yet—the creatures that would vie for its consumption were all in hiding!

After walking half the day, Han Sen was finally able to gaze upon the splendor of the Empty Vine. It came out of a mountain like a spring, wreathing its slopes in green vines. And the vines coursed all the way around to cover the mountain's hundred meter tall heights.

A vine stuck out of the mountain's peak, and four grape-sized fruits hung from it. They were all purplish in color, with shiny skin. They were on the precipice of becoming ripe.

A pleasant fragrance was bursting forth from the four Empty Fruit, and their scent shrouded the entire mountainside.

Near the top of the mountain, a black-feathered bird waited. It was entirely black, save for its white head. It didn't look too dissimilar to an owl, but it was far bigger.

Manager Qu commanded his people to fire at it. With the arrows incoming, the owl flapped its wings and waved them all away. Not a single arrow reached its target.

It didn't leave the mountain, though. It remained where it had been, seemingly not wanting to leave the Empty Fruit for a single moment. It was teetering on the brink of being ripe, after all.

Manager Qu employed many different ideas to evict the owl from its spot, but none of them worked. Unable to shoo it off, they brought Wang Yuhang out of his cage and sent him up to draw the owl away.

Wang Yuhang nervously approached the creature against his will. He rambled across the vines, and when in firing distance, shot an arrow at the owl.

The arrow, after hitting the owl, incited no reaction. The arrow merely shattered upon hitting the owl's wing.

Everyone anxiously watched the owl, still expecting it to do something. But nothing occurred, and the owl did not seem to care. Manager Qu shouted at Wang Yuhang, "Fire at the creature again!"

Wang Yuhang turned around and saw the countless arrows and pointy weapons drawn and aimed towards him. Realizing the futility of resistance at a time like this, he had no choice but to fire another arrow. After doing so, the owl raised its eyebrows in a manner that seemed to suggest it was merely holding its anger in.

When Wang Yuhang fired a third arrow, the owl could no longer maintain its composure. It raced down towards the man who had been forced to pester it.

Wang Yuhang screamed and jumped down, scrambling down towards the people behind him.

But Manager Qu commanded his men to fire arrows at him. With no other choice, he was forced to run in a different direction.

Seeing the owl chase Wang Yuhang, the people there seemed so excited. They all climbed the mountain, wanting to get their hands on the four Empty Fruit.

"They have no idea what they're doing. Whoever places one finger on one of those fruits is a dead man." Han Sen shook his head. Ignoring them, he ran to catch up with Wang Yuhang. His first task involved keeping him alive.

Han Sen wanted to stay away from the bloody battle that was sure to unfold near the Empty Vine.