Chapter 944: Box of Temptation

Chapter 944: The Box of Allurement

The Punisher Alliance lacked the financial resources to build a space fortress. Their headquarters was a large, retrofitted starship docked at an interstellar spaceport, named the Punisher. It did not take long for Fardin and his group to reach their destination.

Stepping aboard the ship, the two followed Raymond on a tour. The Punisher's cabin layout featured circular halls divided into various functional zones, connected by corridors that resembled a string of beads.

"This is our base... Here is the living quarters. Every member has a private room, and I've already arranged yours. All living facilities are fully equipped, so you can rest whenever you like... Over there is the combat training area, and down the other way is the equipment armory..."

Companions they passed along the way nodded in greeting. The group strolled and paused, soon arriving at a specific area. Fardin turned his head to glance at a plaque on a door, which prominently read "Trophy Exhibition Hall."

"That is..." Fardin pointed at the room, his intuition telling him there must be clues inside.

"Oh! That is the proof of glory for our Punisher Alliance." Raymond chuckled heartily. "These are all the trophies we've collected from striking down criminals. Come, come, come, I'll take you inside and introduce you to our glorious deeds."

The group entered the room, which was quite spacious and filled with transparent display cases. Some were empty, while others held various items: severely damaged blades, half-broken masks, and a charred electronic eyeball. At first glance, it looked like a postmodernist junk art gallery.

Raymond led the way, acting as a tour guide, and eloquently introduced the origins of each item:

"This is the heavy chainsaw axe of the wanted criminal 'Savage,' who had a bounty of three hundred thousand Inars. One of our comrades sacrificed himself in that battle..."

"See this electronic eyeball? It was the prosthetic eye of Dr. Poison Heart. He was blown to pieces, leaving behind only this high-tech prosthetic eye..."

"And over there, that is the war hammer of Bishop Bloodhammer. It's relatively well-preserved; the others just placed it there..."

Listening to Raymond's explanations, Fardin toured the room while carefully observing the trophies, mentally comparing them to the pictures Han Xiao had given him.

Suddenly, Fardin's steps halted, his gaze locking onto a transparent display case.

Inside the case rested an antique-style white box, about the size of two palms. Its surface bore some charred stains, looking utterly ordinary and unremarkable.

"What is this?" A glint of joy flashed in Fardin's eyes as he pointed at the box.

This was exactly the item Han Xiao had specifically tasked him to find.

What? It was this easy to find? Just sitting in the armory. I thought it would be much harder.

"Let me think..." Raymond recalled for a moment, then tapped his fist against his palm. "Got it. This is a trophy from a surface civilization operation. Some guy, relying on high-tech weapons smuggled from interstellar trade, attempted to conquer a surface civilization and become its ruler. We received the intel, went to subdue him, and killed the man. From the armory of his lair, we found many trophies, and this box was one of them."

"What does it do?"

Fardin was genuinely curious this time, not just pretending. Han Xiao had specifically requested this item, and he was quite interested himself.

"We don't know its principles or origins. All we know is that carrying it enhances one's mental barrier and telekinetic strength to a certain degree. However, prolonged use causes the user to experience auditory hallucinations, feeling as if someone is whispering in their ear, gradually twisting their mind. So we call it the 'Box of Allurement.' After a comrade went mad, we sealed it away..."

As he spoke, Raymond's expression suddenly turned puzzled. "Right, we sealed it away. Who put this thing back in here?"

Just then, Fardin, who had been staring at the box, suddenly frowned. He heard faint, indistinct whispers in his ear, as if a voice was tempting him to touch the box.

Scanning it with his telekinesis, he found a layer of psychic energy field enveloping the box, like an invisible coating that provided a certain degree of mental defense.

Fardin wanted to see what was inside. He formed a telekinetic drill to pierce through the box's psychic undercurrent field. However, the moment his telekinesis touched the box itself, he felt a powerful suction force. His expression changed drastically, and he hastily severed the telekinetic connection. The discarded psychic energy was instantly devoured by the box, dissipating into the ether, leaving no trace.

Seeing this, Raymond waved his hand and said helplessly, "Don't bother trying. It's useless. Our telekinetics have tested it long ago. Telekinesis cannot probe the inside of the box."

"Can the box be opened normally?"

"Yes, but there's nothing inside." Raymond opened the display case and directly opened the box, revealing it to be completely empty.

At this moment, Aurora poked Fardin in the lower back and made a hand gesture.

Fardin understood immediately. It meant there was a life signal inside the box.

'Black Star wouldn't act without a purpose. The thing he wants is indeed peculiar.'

Fardin thought to himself.

Raymond placed the box back into the display case and signaled for Fardin and the others to continue the tour. The two had no objections.

...

After touring the base and meeting some new members of the Punisher Alliance, Fardin and Aurora bid farewell to Raymond and returned to their respective rooms to rest.

After staying in their rooms for a few hours, the two stepped out again and headed straight for the trophy exhibition hall.

Most of the trophies in the exhibition hall held only commemorative value, and the security equipment was rather basic. Aurora took out a standard Legion automated intrusion device and was about to plug it into the door's interface, but Fardin stopped her.

"You're just going to walk in like that? It'll trigger the alarm," Aurora asked in confusion.

"I know."

Fardin said slowly, "Black Star wants their things, and they are powerless to resist. I don't like bullying the weak, especially since they aren't a group of villains. Even if we're taking it, we should at least let them know the reason. I'm unwilling to sneak around and leave without a word."

"Isn't that a bad idea? What if Black Star has some deeper meaning?" Aurora hesitated.

To be honest, she actually felt that, given their status, sneaking into such a small faction to steal things seemed a bit beneath them.

"He didn't make any special requests, which means there are none. Even if there were... he would only blame me anyway."

Fardin smiled lightly, walked in openly, and directly grabbed the Box of Allurement in his hand.

Beep, beep, beep—

Ignoring the sudden, piercing alarm, he took Aurora with him and swaggered toward the main door of the base ship.

They met no resistance along the way. Upon reaching the airlock, they saw Raymond, Seli, and a group of Punisher Alliance members waiting there, looking at the two with complex expressions.

"Why did you steal the Box of Allurement?" Raymond's face showed some pain, unwilling to believe the scene before him.

Seli gritted his teeth and said coldly, "I almost trusted you! You really did have ulterior motives!"

"Perhaps they were just having their minds twisted by the Box of Allurement..." Raymond lacked conviction, only able to stare at Fardin with a complex gaze, his eyes still holding a faint glimmer of hope.

"I'm sorry." Fardin shook his head, meeting the angry gazes of the crowd, and said calmly, "I came here solely for this item."

"So saving me was premeditated too?" Raymond couldn't help but ask.

"If I say it was luck, would you believe me?" Fardin said helplessly.

At this moment, Seli stepped out from the crowd, drew his weapon, and pointed it at the two, shouting, "I said that if I found out you had ulterior motives, I wouldn't be polite. Since you've admitted it yourselves, either put down the Box of Allurement immediately and give up resistance, or come test if my weapon is powerful enough!"

Looking calmly at the indignant crowd, Fardin said slowly:

"During the battle at the Aenia Nexus, Aurora and I saved you more than once. Are you... really going to fight us?"

Upon hearing this, the crowd's angry momentum suddenly stalled.

Indeed, if not for their healing abilities, they would have suffered heavy losses at the Aenia Nexus. It was no exaggeration to say they had saved all their lives. Although these two had ulterior motives, the favor they owed was very real...

Most people showed troubled expressions, instantly losing their fighting spirit and finding it hard to muster hostility.

Seli was the same, but he immediately shook off this mindset. Hardening his heart, he gripped his weapon tightly and said in a deep voice, "One thing at a time. You're trying to steal the Box of Allurement now, which makes you our enemy. We won't let you leave!"

Fardin swept his gaze over the crowd, suddenly smiled faintly, rolled up his coat tails, and actually sat down right there on the floor.

"Fine, then I'm not leaving."

The crowd was instantly stunned.

What did this mean? Just acting shamelessly?

"What are you doing?" Raymond asked in astonishment.

"Waiting for backup." Throwing out this sentence, Fardin closed his eyes to rest his mind.

"You're certainly unique." Aurora, standing nearby, looked completely helpless. Glancing at the dumbfounded crowd, she said weakly, "Why are you still holding your weapons? Do you really want to attack me?"

Seli's expression fluctuated. After a moment's thought, he decided not to attack directly. He simply put away his weapon, signaled the crowd to prepare for any response, and stood to the side, glaring fixedly at Fardin, monitoring his every move.

Just as the crowd had made their preparations and their vigilance was raised to the highest level, the airlock suddenly slid open automatically. A dark figure, accompanied by a host of subordinates, stood at the bottom of the gangway.

The members of the Punisher Alliance hastily turned to cast a glance, and at that very glance, everyone froze in their tracks!

The arrivals were none other than the Black Star Legion, with whom they had crossed paths but once before, and leading them was Black Star himself!

"Y-you-you..." Raymond's eyes bulged, his face a mask of sheer astonishment.

Han Xiao cast him a fleeting glance, stepping into the cabin with his adjutant and striding straight toward Fardin.

The members of the Punisher Alliance scrambled to clear a path, their faces unanimously etched with profound shock... How could it be Black Star? What on earth was going on here!

Looking down at Fardin, who was seated on the floor, Han Xiao sighed with a hint of exasperation, "For such a trivial matter, you had to trouble me to step in personally. Cut the games."

Fardin chuckled, dusting off his rear as he rose to his feet, and said softly, "You know my temperament."

"Indeed, I've known it since Sunur." Han Xiao rubbed his brow wearily, teasing, "If you keep acting so recklessly, I won't dare entrust you with heavy responsibilities in the future."

"Matters have their priorities and urgencies. I have no desire to lower my principles step by step for such trifles. Besides, you shouldn't have asked me to commit theft." Fardin winked.

"You truly give me no peace; taking a break is so hard." Han Xiao pressed his hand to his forehead.

Human hearts are fickle. Protagonist-type figures have their own principles and cannot be used without limit; it seems they must stir up some unexpected trouble just to prove their extraordinariness.

Listening to the exchange between the two, the crowd's eyes darted back and forth between Black Star and Fardin, their faces pale with utter horror.

"Just who the hell are you?!" Celi's heart fluttered with panic; he couldn't help but shout, though his tone had lost its former arrogance.

Hadaway glanced over, clicked his tongue, and said, "His name is Fardin, the deputy captain of Black Star's adjutants."

Upon hearing this, Celi's entire body went rigid.

He could hardly believe that the person he had been dealing with all this time was actually a figure of such magnitude!

A grand figure like this could crush him as easily as an ant, and it was laughable that he had just assumed Fardin was intimidated by their overwhelming numbers; he never expected the man had simply been too bothered to waste his breath on them, likely viewing them as mere children.

Celi's face turned pale and then flushed in turns; thinking of his earlier defiance toward Fardin, he felt a mixture of shock and burning humiliation.

At this moment, Han Xiao spoke.

"Fine then, since you want them to know the reason..."

Turning to glance at the crowd, Han Xiao directly drew the Box of Temptation into his hand, his five fingers clamping down with sudden, immense force, crushing the sturdy box into fragments in an instant.

"Ahh—"

Everyone present sensed that the very instant the box shattered, a formidable psychic fluctuation erupted with a thunderous boom.

The majority of the Punisher Alliance members suddenly turned pale, clutching their various auditory organs as a piercing shriek echoed in their minds, inflicting severe psychic damage.

This psychic shriek ringing in their minds was imbued with a sense of exhilaration and thrill, as if someone imprisoned for countless years had finally seen the light of day once more!