Dutiful Sons and Loving Fathers Old Man: "???"
Dutiful Sons and Loving Fathers Old Man: "Do you even realize what you just said?"
Were all the people in this chat group really this arrogant?
Other Talismans, fine—Shendu could tolerate losing them if it came to that. But the Rat Talisman?
That one was directly tied to his resurrection plan. Without it, he was nothing but a stone statue. How could he possibly give that up to anyone?
Child of Nature: "Too bad the cross-world travel function hasn't been unlocked yet. Otherwise, I'd have already gone to retrieve it."
Child of Nature: "For now, the only option is to see if I can pull it from the lottery."
There was no doubt the Twelve Talismans were in the lottery pool by now. But among so many worlds, the odds of drawing the Rat Talisman specifically were infinitesimal.
Boil Daigu Into Soup: "Even Brandon White covets it… so that Rat Talisman really is that powerful?"
Ordinary Group Leader: "It animates the inanimate—it's terrifyingly strong."
Ordinary Group Leader: "Put it this way: with the Rat Talisman, I could even make an Uchiha Madara, a Whitebeard, or even you, Daigu."
Ordinary Group Leader: "Granted, they'd be more like clones, weaker than the originals, but they'd still have all the key abilities."
Ordinary Group Leader: "The only problem is, they might not obey."
Ordinary Group Leader: "That's the real flaw."
The Rat Talisman could bring dead matter to life—even something as trivial as pencils and erasers. But because those creations developed independent consciousness, they wouldn't necessarily obey the will of the Talisman's user.
That was no small drawback.
Ding! Group member Child of Nature has uploaded a memory archive.
Child of Nature: "I've uploaded what I know about the Twelve Talismans. But since this is only information I've collected, it might not be fully accurate."
Child of Nature: "For the exact truth, you'd have to ask Shendu himself. After all, the Talismans are his power."
Child of Nature: "Of course, whether he'll actually tell you is another matter."
Since it was only information, it didn't take long. Soon, everyone in the group had read through the Talismans' abilities.
Then came a flood of reactions.
Boil Daigu Into Soup: "???"
Boil Daigu Into Soup: "I feel like I've just seen something incredible."
Come Be My Son: "No wonder the leader and Brandon White want them so badly. The Twelve Talismans really are terrifying."
Uchiha Dance King: "Immortality and eternal youth? To grant the user everlasting life, immunity to aging, and resistance against all fatal attacks?"
Uchiha Dance King: "Such a broken ability actually exists?"
If he had the Dog Talisman, not only would he never die, but he would also never wither into old age!
That was the power of his dreams!
Come Be My Son: "The other Talismans are frightening, yes. But the Dog Talisman is the one I desire most."
Few powerful beings liked growing old. Age eroded strength and vigor, stripping away the ability to protect one's sons.
Most Evil Elf: "If you go after them, you'd better take me along."
Most Evil Elf: "The Dog Talisman was made for me!"
For someone like her—who needed time—the Dog Talisman was the perfect partner to her Zafkiel.
With no need to worry about her body wearing down, she would become every enemy's nightmare.
Boil Daigu Into Soup: "The Dog Talisman is terrifying, but I'm more intrigued by the Ox Talisman. That one feels truly monstrous."
Boil Daigu Into Soup: "It multiplies the holder's strength by at least a hundred times? And the stronger the holder is, the greater the increase—without any apparent upper limit?"
Boil Daigu Into Soup: "Wait… could Diga use that?"
How powerful was Diga already? If the Ox Talisman multiplied his power a hundredfold, why would he even need to fight monsters with beams anymore?
He could just crush them in close combat!
A mage?
Why the hell would Diga need to play at being a mage?!
Undefeated East: "The Rabbit Talisman grants the holder ultimate speed, basically teleportation over short distances. And it enhances reaction time as well."
Undefeated East: "That much I can accept. But after being struck by an ion beam, it even lets you travel through time? Isn't that a little excessive?"
Sure, you couldn't return from the past on your own. But with Shendu's crystal ball, you could come back.
That hardly counted as a weakness.
But wait—what even was an "ion beam"? It sounded suspiciously like a laser.
Would a Pika Pika no Mi work as a substitute?
Lazy Sister Umaru: "Which brings us to the real question—"
Lazy Sister Umaru: "@Dutiful Sons and Loving Fathers Old Man, with all these insanely powerful abilities, how exactly did you get sealed?"
Lazy Sister Umaru: "The first time was Lü Dongbin, sure. But what about the second?"
Lazy Sister Umaru: "Lü Dongbin was an immortal—I get that. But how did you lose the second time?"
Boil Daigu Into Soup: "Even if your opponent was an immortal, you could've just run. With the Rabbit Talisman, no one could have caught you."
Railgun: "And the Monkey Talisman lets you transform others. Make them animals, weaken them drastically. Didn't you try that?"
Railgun: "Or was there some restriction?"
Dutiful Sons and Loving Fathers Old Man: "I…"
Shendu wanted to say something, but as he read their words, he suddenly realized—
Back before Lo Pei sealed him, he had been stupid.
Forget escaping—how could a Demon Sorcerer flee? That would have been beneath him.
But why hadn't he simply used the Monkey Talisman to turn Lo Pei into an animal?
Oh. Right. He'd been too arrogant. After all, the man was just a human. How could Shendu possibly have feared a human?
So he had allowed Lo Pei to act freely.
And that damned scroll had pinned him down, draining his power until he was sealed away.
Child of Nature: "The first two seals aren't worth dissecting."
Child of Nature: "One was Lü Dongbin of the Eight Immortals, the other was Lo Pei—not exactly ordinary men."
Child of Nature: "Besides, Shendu was a ruler back then, brimming with power. Of course he never imagined he could lose to a human, nor that Lo Pei would have a scroll capable of binding him."
Child of Nature: "Those two I can excuse. But the ones after that…"
Ordinary Group Leader: "That was just bad brains and bad luck."
Ordinary Group Leader: "Every time he revived, he got sealed again. There was even one time he used the Book of Ages—a bug-level artifact—and he still lost."
Ordinary Group Leader: "Shendu, you're half Chinese dragon, half Western dragon, and a fire demon. Show some respect for your own power, will you?"
Ordinary Group Leader: "Stop acting like your Talismans don't exist and relying only on fire-breathing and brawling."
You're supposed to be a sorcerer, damn it!
And that vaunted Section 13—the so-called "safest place."
How many times had it been broken into?
A trash bin might have been more secure.
Dutiful Sons and Loving Fathers Old Man: "…"
So could they just… maybe send him the details of how he got sealed in the future?
Knowing he'd get sealed six more times—even with the Book of Ages in hand—his heart was breaking.
Was his future self really that pathetic?
Revived again and again, only to be sealed again and again?
What was he playing, some twisted version of "Urban Vacation Simulator"?
Once, he had a chance to change his destiny, but he had squandered it. From then on, he lived in endless regret. If time could turn back, he would have greeted every group member warmly from the start, calling them brothers and sisters, making himself part of their family.
(End of Chapter)