Defection is impossible, at least not for now.
And perhaps interest is the reason the Fire King Family holds him accountable.
For the first two times, he paid fivefold what was required, Ban Jiu and another amiable lieutenant visited him.
They saw the population and wealth of Iron Hoof Mountain City.
They took Charles for interrogation alone.
Lin Suo, without a word, starts with severe torture, pulling out fingernails, grinding finger bones, gouging knees, slicing skin and flesh.
Stimulating pain nerves, but it seems ineffective.
So, he changes the method.
Using witchcraft to enhance stimulation, hormone inducement, administering drugs, then bringing in the native creature from Jigerde-001, the Black Pig Cu Beast for the torture.
Whether proactive or passive, Charles is initially scared a bit, but later he is completely immersed in it.
His resilience exceeded Lin Suo’s imagination.
No other choice, time to use a special tactic.
The Beastman’s dung pit.
After choking him in water for an hour.
Used witchcraft to peel off Charles’ skin, finding the man numb.
Lin Suo personally performs nerve surgery.
Making his brain sensitive again.
After trying over a hundred forms of punishments,
He returns to the interrogation process, refreshed.
"Do you have anything to say?"
"Say... I... ugh! You... let me talk! Ugh...just ask!!!"
"Is Lieutenant Ban Jiu one of the colonels from the Giant Dragon Small Star System?"
"What’s the relationship between the colonel and Constantino?"
"Good, is the colonel from the Fire King Family short on money?"
"Last question, who is the highest-ranking officer in the military hierarchy of the Fire King Family?"
"Clifford Nuo, King of Fire, a Legendary colonel, serving at the headquarters..."
Lin Suo snaps his fingers, looking at Charles with a sense of incompletion.
"You see, you have a mouth but you prefer a feast before speaking."
"Baron, Autain, you two help our Lieutenant Charles, he says he still wants a three-hour feast."
"No! No!! You can’t do this to me, I answered everything."
"Who knows if what you said is true or false, take action!"
The two tall Beastmen reveal ugly grins, escorting Charles out.
After a while, gurgling sounds can be heard.
Lin Suo breathes a sigh of relief, feeling comfortable.
As frustrated as he was before, now he feels just as refreshed, but of course, the primary concern is how to deal with the aftermath.
With such a bright future, he cannot possibly defect.
Lin Suo keeps busy the entire following day, interrogating every guard, summarizing the intelligence gained from them.
Meanwhile tampering with the Transport Ship.
Honestly, he’s curious about the technology inside, no need to dismantle, as a Wizard, intuitively there must be backdoors to his own creations.
Putting on "locks" is also quite normal.
So, he takes the unconventional approach, collecting tiny bits of biological tissue from the starship’s exhaust port.
As long as the gene analysis goes well, growing a new one from a culture base isn’t impossible.
But obviously, there’s still an influence of witchcraft inside; the subject can be studied later.
The pressing issue — dealing with the attack on the prosecutor!
Regarding this, the preparations he made in advance are of no use, unaffordable.
Then he has to let the pretense become reality.
A planet, the transport ship’s docking time is about two days, only this time Charles is here to confiscate all of Lin Suo’s possessions.
Wanting to move everything at once, it will take more time.
Therefore, the Giant Dragon Small Star System’s response time to the colonel isn’t that fast.
Conservatively estimated, there should be a 10–30 day gap period, leaving him time for action.
This is an opportunity.
Since it is a state activated by the war protocol, to die in war is quite normal, isn’t it?
His location is very close to the domain of the Star Sky Demons.
It is possible to be attacked.
The Giant Dragon Small Star System has been attacked, wouldn’t it be normal for something to happen here?
Combining the information from the interrogation, he assigns the task of continuing the reconstruction of the Wizard Tower to the Earth Elves.
At dusk of the same day, Lin Suo boards the transport ship alone.
The main Beastmen and Chimeras don’t have the ability to survive in space; approaching it with the mindset of disposing trash, it’s more convenient to go alone.
After starting the ship.
Lin Suo skillfully activates the space jump feature.
Passing by the Giant Dragon Small Star System, Lin Suo gives them the middle finger and diverts to the territory of the Star Sky Demons.
After another five days of journey, he finally arrives at the outpost of the demons - Fortress Star.
The Star Sky Demon, also called an Evil Energy Demon.
It is a kin of the Dark Titan race, fundamentally different from the Abyss Demons; although they revel in slaughter and warfare, reason and order still exist.
Not as utterly mad as the Abyss.
The two actually have quite a resemblance in appearance, or rather, it’s copied.
Evil Energy Demons, are made to look like Abyss Demons...
The so-called Fortress Star - Outpost.
More symbolic than practical.
In the eyes of the Evil Energy Demons, not invading other forces is a stroke of luck for others.
No one would be foolish enough to mess with demons.
Today, Lin Suo is coming...
The elite demons and the Legendary Great Demon had all gone to fight the invasion war far away.
No one even came to attack, so what defense?!
That’s why it’s said to be more symbolic than practical—a bunch of sick and disabled staying here like boundary markers.
Skillful demons eager for success and power all rushed to the front lines for the sake of their future and strength.
Thus, when Lin Suo landed the transport ship on the planet’s surface with the intent of self-destruction without being detected, it was outrageous.
In fact, this is also a common sense blind spot.
In the known universe, Evil Energy Demons and Void Worm Race are both extremely aggressive species; nobody ever thought of attacking their borders.
Just like drinking water is a basic need.
If one day he started drinking sand, you’d find it unbelievable.
That’s the current situation.
There are only a few thousand disabled demons stationed at the outpost of the Evil Energy Demon’s fortress star, though they did have Demon Starships in their fleet.
After calculating the parabola and the area of explosion,
Lin Suo dismantled the navigation records and communication equipment of the Wizard Transport Ship, incinerated them on the spot, and then set an automatic piloting trajectory positioned above the outpost.
Self-destruct countdown: five minutes.
As the transport ship took off, Lin Suo sank underground and sneaked towards the location of the Demon Starship.
Along the way, he encountered demons, knocked them out, sealed them with Absolute Forbidden Curse, shrunk them with Shrinking Spell, and strung them together with Dragon Tendon Rope, attaching it to his waist.
Just as he reached the location of the Demon Starship, a loud explosion sounded overhead, and the ground shook.
Most of the buildings and the drunkenly merrymaking demons at the outpost were instantly destroyed.
The power of a Starship’s self-destruction is immense.
The remaining thousand or so Evil Energy Demons were not afraid or terrified; on the contrary, they were excited.
Muttering to themselves that war had come.
Gleeful smiles spread across their faces.
Inside the Demon Starship.
Lin Suo had strung hundreds of Demon Dolls around his waist, holding in his hand the palm of a demon officer, which was used to start the Starship.
Regardless of the mumblings of the gathering demons outside, they couldn’t get in.
The creative ability of Evil Energy Demons is basically zero, so the Starships were made by Dark Titans.
Even if this Demon Starship was an old, retired model from ancient times, its utility value was still quite good.
One of the characteristics of Demon Starships: they are durable!
After all, one couldn’t expect a bunch of foolishly strong demons to do delicate work like weaving.
Therefore, the operation was exceptionally simple.
Lin Suo briefly studied it and got the hang of it. He had been invading for less than half an hour when he started his own captured starship and wobbled away.
Shortly after he left,
The reserved sound-based witchcraft began playing back in Demon Language.
"I am the Commander of the Giant Dragon Small Star System, the future of the Fire King Family, poor demons! Enjoy the blood and flesh of your kin, enjoy the explosion, enjoy the art of flames! Hahaha!!"
"This is the crown of artistry of the Fire King Family!"
These two sentences looped back and forth for three hours.
At this time, the nearest Demon planet to the fortress star sent three Starships to assist.
Hearing the enduring screams, they reported back to their major forces and, taking the disabled demons from the outpost, charged towards the Giant Dragon Small Star System.
In the blink of an eye, it was the sixth day.
Or the sixteenth day since Lin Suo left.
Giant Dragon Small Star System.
Blue Scale Star - Southwest Defense Line Headquarters.
A colonel of the Fire King Family, frowning, listened to the officer’s report, tapping his index finger on the desk, pondering for a moment before speaking.
"Are you saying that three Demon Starships attacked our outpost yesterday evening?"
"Yes, sir! The Dragon Man troops have eliminated them, not letting a single one escape."
Hearing this, the colonel finally showed a satisfied smile.
He no longer needed to fabricate a reason to invoke the war regulations; this was very good.
Due to some friction and escalating conflicts, he had his sights set on Lin Suo’s [Jigerde-001].
Nearly a million slaves—that’s no small number, very valuable.
Just in time to fill the deficit incurred in trading tasks with Constantino.
While a lot has been recouped in the past two years, even profiting greatly from Constantino’s development,
And many benefits had yet to come his way, making him feel a severe loss, so he set his eyes on the labor force on the planets developed by Lin Suo.
He had several resource stars in his possession; what he lacked was the manpower to mine them!
"By the way, has Charles returned?"
"Not yet, sir. Counting the days, today is the sixteenth day, so he should be back soon."
"Understood, you may leave."
The colonel did not grow suspicious because he had previously estimated Lin Suo’s assets. If things went quickly, he would return in the next few days; if it took longer, it could be half a month.
There was no rush—good things come to those who wait, and the longer, the more one gains.
A communication soldier rushed into the command room frantically.
His voice was faltering.
"Co...Colonel, the Demon Fleet is attacking, led by the Legendary Demon Star Destroyer Castaga..."
The colonel tumbled off his stool, his gaze flickering uncertainly.
"Quick... get me on the phone with my brother."
"Co...Colonel... Who is your brother?"
"Clifford Nuo, King of Fire, get in touch quickly, he’s the closest Legendary Wizard to us, make it fast!"