Pale Emblem

Chapter 89 Tune or Heal?

Vertoc attempts to heal Annie and Katie's psychic damage.But the two old adventurers thought that he had a special affection for Annie and Katie, and did not hesitate to rescue them from the hands of the bone collectors.After all, they are young and beautiful, with outstanding looks, and they are professionals who have graduated from academy, and they are very attractive to the boys in Braun Town.

However, they should not use common sense to speculate on Vertok's mind.In fact, Vertoc's purpose is very pure. The case of the hobgoblin enslaving the half-elves aroused his keen interest. He was eager to intervene. The emphasis was on full observation and participation. The final result was not really important.

So, Vertok never thought about what to do with Anne and Katie after they returned to normal?

Max bluntly warned him that Annie and Katie, who had returned to normal, could reveal their details, with unpredictable consequences.It's a good choice for Vertoc to use his charisma to turn them into pet maids, but it's not the safest way.Because they are not ordinary female professionals, they have backgrounds in the city-state academy and the famous golden sunflower family, bringing them back to the alliance city-state may cause trouble.

Max asked Vertok to consider whether to take Annie and Katie with him and leave them when the half-elf settlement was found.

Vertoc resolutely rejected the other party's proposal. In a rare special case like Annie and Katie, how could he easily let go?He does not set a time limit for the treatment and observation of the two of them. As for the troubles in the future, he will find a way when the time comes.

Seeing Vertok's firm attitude, Max didn't say anything, except that it was inconvenient for him and Huck to take care of the two young women, and things like stripping and bathing for them had to be done by Vertok himself.Otherwise, they will become Vertok's personal favorite maids in the future, then everyone will be very embarrassed.

Vertok has to admit that Max can offer a lot more useful advice than Huck, who is obedient to himself.Although his and Max's ways of thinking are often not on the same line, he also tries to draw from Max's life experience.

For example, Max proposed to recruit his subordinates, cultivate power, and then carefully investigate the culprit behind the persecution of Vertok.That's very reasonable advice.

Vertoc agreed with him, and hurried to Carwyn in Rapids.But they still have to figure out a way to find a half-elf settlement and return to civilization.

The wild jungle is full of dangers and unpredictable. The terrible poisonous insects and beasts are just the tip of the iceberg. Most of the victims often die of hunger and thirst, hypothermia, heat stroke, and energy exhaustion, which are collectively referred to as getting lost.The forest is littered with deadly traps that are hard to detect, just as the hiding spot Max picked for himself is overgrown with poisonous thorns and has no steady source of water.Birds and beasts are extinct here, and it is of course safe to hide in it, but if Vertok hadn’t found Max, he wouldn’t be able to hold on for too long.

In fact, most of the plants in the forest are inedible, and most areas are not suitable for survival, otherwise it would not be called a virgin forest, but a prosperous and prosperous city-state.

In a sense, the wild forest is a natural barrier to protect the city-state from foreign invasion.Just imagine how difficult it would be for a large number of invaders to traverse a forest where food and water are scarce.Vertok has only a few companions.They are few in number, and the restrictions on their activities are much smaller.

The top priority is to find a water source.

This is not difficult for Vertoc, who has absorbed the memories of the Hobgoblin.Annie and Katie's problem is a little trickier.They basically lost the ability to communicate with people, and they have no desire to communicate, and they showed strong resistance to their partners who once fought side by side and fought together against the Orcs.Although they have retained some living habits of civilized countries, they only show that there is still a chance to return to normal.Before that, they refused to cooperate with Vertok's actions and waited for an opportunity to escape.

Max, who was cursed with a cold heart, needed the care of his companions, and it was impossible for Vertoc and Huck to carry two women on their backs.

In order to make them a little more obedient and make everyone less troublesome, Vertoc decided to correct some of their bad habits first.His method was to fight until they were afraid.

Vertoc untied the ropes on their bodies, took off the damaged armor by the way, picked a cane whip, and indiscriminately aimed at the two half-elf women, it was a slap.

The petite Katie was not bad. After being beaten, she huddled into a ball, trembling and crying, not daring to resist.The quick-witted Annie is far more fierce than Katie, and she tries to fight back against Vertok.

Although Annie had forgotten the fighting skills of the bow fighters, the physical fitness of the second-level professional was still there.She clawed with her hands, kicked her feet, banged her head, and bit her teeth, stubbornly resisting Vertok's whipping.Finding that the resistance was ineffective, she actually started running away again.

Vertok first let Annie run for a while, then grabbed her back and threw her on the ground, targeting her round buttocks with two whips.He was very measured, leaving hot welts, but it wouldn't make Annie's skin rip and she couldn't move.

The endurance of a professional is far beyond that of an ordinary half-elf. Regardless of Annie's usual delicate appearance, she can fully withstand this level of beating and whipping. After a short rest, she jumped up and ran away.

Anne's endless escaping, Vertok smashes her attempts by catching her back each time.

Huck and Max had been hiding on the other side, taking a peek from time to time.Later, they found that the scene of Vertok training Annie was a bit irritating.The two old guys felt that they couldn't watch any longer, so they turned their backs and pretended to be deaf.

Vertok carried back Annie with long legs and a slender waist. Annie even took the initiative to poke her butt and asked him to hit him twice, then ran away, and then got caught, and so on.

On the surface, they seem to be enjoying it a little bit, but if you put aside the general cognition of half-elves, you will find that there is a meaning closer to the essence of life.

Vertoc has noticed that Annie and Katie's minds and bodies have been distorted by the secret ritual held by the goblins, and the part of the soul that belongs to human nature has been destroyed.As one trades off, the animalistic part on the will side begins to gain the upper hand.The changes in their mind and body are fed back to their bodies, and their reaction speed, ability to fight attacks, wound recovery, pain tolerance, physical fitness and other traits have been slightly improved.

This is especially evident in Annie.She is not a beast, but the wildness in her body is sprouting and growing, and there is one word to describe the process - ferocity.

That's right, if this trend continues, Annie may complete the ferocity.

As for Katie, she's an intelligent animal trainer, and the intelligent ones are especially hard to be violent.

Unfortunately, the transformation of their minds and bodies did not happen naturally. When it comes to human factors such as Hobgoblin's secret rituals, special medicines, etc., there must be major human-made flaws.

To put it simply, Vertoc has killed the hobgoblin leader of the Bone Collector gang, and Annie and Katie still want to run back to the hobgoblin master.Even if they have become two corpses, they have been eaten by scavengers.

Their cognition has man-made defects, that is, it is difficult to get rid of the control of the Hobgoblin.

Max and Huck only saw Vertok using abusive tricks to train Annie, but if Vertok lets her go and Annie finds a chance to escape successfully, she will surely die!
It's a matter of life and death, who cares whether to be ashamed or not to be ashamed?

Vertoc is not training a beautiful young half-elf woman, he is taming the beast.Besides, he has no better way, and he has not succeeded in suppressing Annie's wild instinct.

Vertok took Annie back again and again, but she still had to flee in the direction of the Bone Gatherer's camp.

No way, only boil.

Let's see who can't stand it first!

Annie pulled Vertok into a game of cat and mouse, and it was enough that Vertok caught her, and Katie, who was just about to move, also joined in the fun from time to time, and was then strongly suppressed by Vertok.The three tossed all night.It wasn't until the next morning that the exhausted Annie was honest.

Vertok was also tired, mostly mentally, but he fed Annie and Katie with food and water, and tied them together with a string.From now on, Vertok and Huck no longer have to carry them on their shoulders, they can walk on their own.

This is also the result of Vertok's busy afternoon and night's labor.

Max held back his laughter and ran to ask Vertok, "Sir, what are we doing now?"

Vertoc held the two wild half-elves and said, "Look for the water source first. If you find the water source, you can know the approximate direction of the nearest settlement."

"Well, let's go!" Huck shouted happily, carrying a rattan basket full of supplies.

As they climbed over the valley slopes, they gradually walked away.A dark-skinned figure stood up in the bushes on the other side of the valley. He was the leader of Rhodes who completed the symbiosis with the daughter of the "Eternal Sleeper".

Rhodes has been quietly following Max.He's seen members of the Iron Cross part ways with Max, but it doesn't matter if the former slave trader is alive or dead.His goal is to capture Vertoc, and then take Vertoc to a place designated by the Eternal Sleeper to complete the final sacrifice.

So, Rhodes followed Max to this barren Stranglethorn Valley, lurking nearby, waiting patiently for Vertok's arrival.

However, Rhodes was just afraid of losing track of Max and thus missing Vertok's whereabouts.He had no intention of attacking Vertok here.

Although the Son of the Eternal Sleeper endowed him with great strength and a near-immortal body, he did not forget that there was a god sleeping within Vertoc.After spending so many days with Vertok, Rhodes did not see his details clearly, but felt that Vertok was becoming more and more unfathomable.

What's more, there is also a Huck who masters the heart of the realm next to Vertoc.

The fighting skills of the Mirror Heart Powerhouse can only be described as divine.As a third-level shield guard, Huck also has the ability to be vigilant. Every ten seconds, he can predict a fatal attack.Rhodes couldn't sneak up on Huck and killed him in one hit.He wasn't even sure he could beat Huck.

The child of the eternal sleeper still has room to grow, and it needs to absorb more flesh and blood with wisdom and spirituality in order to obtain full strength.But the special form of sub-body symbiosis allows Rhodes to release his spiritual power.The symbiote helps him manipulate his body, he can think more, and his mind becomes smarter.

Rhode is very clear that his ability has not yet reached the upper limit of the symbiotic daughter, and I am afraid that he cannot solve Huck.However, he had to deal with Huck first before he could capture Vertok alive.

In this case, he can only wait patiently for the moment when Vertok is singled out.

Rhodes lurked in the bushes next to the valley, stopped breathing and heartbeat, and was maintained in a state of suspended animation by the symbiont, thus avoiding the keen perception of the dark hunter Max.During the incubation period, Rhode's mental power was only focused on listening and thinking.He thought of a lot of questions and overheard some of Vertok's secrets.

First of all, if Vertok can be directly captured by violence, why does the "Eternal Sleeper" need to retain Rhodes' self-will?
The "Eternal Sleeper" is actually relying on Rhodes' autonomous wisdom.He wants to complete the sacrifice task designated by the "Eternal Sleeper", which is difficult, and it is definitely not enough to rely on strong personal force.

Secondly, symbiosis with the sub-body is a road of no return. Sooner or later, the "Eternal Sleeper" sub-body will completely assimilate Rhodes.If he completes the sacrifice mission, is it his own death date?
For Rhodes, whether to complete the sacrifice is no longer the primary goal.He needs to weigh the gains and losses, buy time, and find ways to solve his own problems.

He is not a fanatic of "Eternal Sleeper", and selling "Eternal Sleeper" to Vertok is also an option!

This is exactly in line with the cunning qualities of the abyss demon.

Rhode was glad that he did not act rashly. He overheard the conversation between Vertok and Max. It turned out that Vertok still had an unknown powerful enemy in the Disa Alliance.Their power is very large, and they even collude with the goblin kingdom to do shameful things.

There are precious opportunities hidden under the veil of conspiracy. As long as he keeps an eye on Vertok, Rhodes also wants to profit from it and become the final winner.

He jumped down the valley, picked up the cane that Veltok had used to beat Annie and Katie, and stretched out his scarlet tongue to lick the remaining blood on the cane.

The faint sweetness of the blood stimulated the symbiotic daughter, and Rhode's eyes were smudged like ink, showing a pitch blackness; two canine teeth stretched out of his lips; the muscles of his hands wriggled, quickly turning into a pair of terrifying claws.

He smiled strangely in a low voice: "The blood of pure girls is so sweet... The blood of professionals is full of vitality... I remember, you can't escape, I can always find you."

Rhodes dropped the vine whip and cast his deep eyes to the east.That was the direction the survivors of the Iron Cross were evacuating.

As Huck said, Leeson and others should not be left alive, to prevent them from betraying Vertoc's secrets.And Lisson and the others did more direct harm to Rhodes.If they return to Fallen Leaf City alive, they may not recognize Vertok after the make-up, but they will definitely report the death of Captain Rhodes and divide up his inheritance.

Rhodes didn't want to give up his identity, he had to use his hard work to accumulate wealth and connections, set up traps in Fallen Leaves City, and wait for Vertok to take the bait.

Vertoc can let Lisen and others go, but Captain Rhode must eliminate this hidden danger.

The demonized half-elf struggled inwardly, and finally lowered his head and muttered to himself: "I'm sorry, a few old buddies... the arrogant Mr. Vertok disdains to kill and silence, so I'll do it for him. Do it... your family will be taken care of."

(End of this chapter)