Blood Warlock: Succubus Partner in the Apocalypse

Although Meng Qi could also engrave runes on other things such as bracelets, rings, earrings, necklaces, and boots, Bai Zemin did not forge any such items. This was because his current bracelets, rings, earrings, and boots were of much use to him.

Even if Bai Zemin ignored stat points, what he really cared about were the skills and effects attached to his current accessories and boots.

Taking his boots as an example, the fact that he could activate a skill that increased his Agility stat by an extra 100 points was simply too tempting and useful for Bai Zemin to be willing to give up on them so easily.

100 points of extra Agility was no small thing at this stage, 100 points was more than enough to decide winner/loser and who lived or who died in a fight. This was especially true if the boot skill was used wisely at a crucial moment in the combat.

At least until Meng Qi could master more about the runes and expand her knowledge and ability about them, Bai Zemin preferred to keep his current treasures rather than replace them with accessories he had forged himself. After all, the Soul Record treasures had their own unique characteristics that a normal piece of equipment could never possess; attached skills, for example.

After the pieces of equipment, Bai Zemin rested some of his body weight against the wooden table before finally focusing on his records.

[Congratulations, you have fulfilled all the requirements to advance to the next stage in your subclass!]

[The intelligent existences under your rule are now over 300,000 and they all see you as a worthy and respectable leader to follow. Keep it up!]

[Your subclass 'Lord' has evolved to 'Marquis'.]

[Continue recruiting more subordinates to advance to the next stage!]

A faint smile slowly appeared at the corner of Bai Zemin's lips now slightly raised upwards.

These records had flashed in his retina exactly two days after Wu Keqian had announced to all the top brass of the base that Bai Zemin was taking full leadership and control from that moment onwards.

With the support of several workers and soul evolvers who admired, respected, and appreciated the courageous behavior of the young man who had gone days without sleep and refused to leave the front lines even for a single moment during the great war against the goblin army, Bai Zemin's feats spread like wildfire through every corner of the base and soon it was also announced that the previous leader had given up his seat in order to allow this new star to lead them to a better future.

At first, there were some problems as a certain group of people dissatisfied with the inevitable changes that would occur once the leadership changed from the previous one tried to spread evil rumors and even a mysterious group of survivors appeared claiming that Bai Zemin had been doing evil deeds in the shadows.

Fortunately, no one believed the words of those survivors who were clearly in disarray. Their words were not only senseless but even a fool would be able to realize that the reason they were doing what they were doing was solely and exclusively due to benefits received with threats mixed in.

As for the group of troublemakers, they all disappeared without a trace. However, everyone knew in their hearts that they had been purged during the night but no one dared to point it out. Everyone had understood that this new leader could be an angel but also a demon when it was necessary to change masks to adapt better to the situation, and honestly, no one wanted to see the demon's mask.

Bai Zemin scoffed in his heart before finally focusing on the records his new subclass possessed.

[Marquis: Increases your overall power by 9% and in situations of mortal danger your natural stats are multiplied for 5 seconds.]

[The number of Loyal Followers you can appoint is now increased to 10 and those who become your Loyal Follower will never be able to betray you. In addition, each of your Loyal Followers will have access to 20% of your total strength in life and death situations and will have access to 5% of your strength without affecting you when they go into combat mode].

Bai Zemin's new subclass was, by far, much more powerful compared to his previous one.

Marquis not only increased his overall power by twice as much compared to Lord but also granted Bai Zemin a huge lifeline by multiplying his natural stats; even if it was only 5 seconds, those 5 seconds were more than enough for him to dodge the decapitating guillotine or even end his enemy's life thanks to the massive stat buff!

Although the subclass Marquis did not grant overall power as a percentage based on the number of intelligent beings under his leadership, Bai Zemin thought it was natural for such a thing to happen considering the colossal step up that was required for Lord to evolve into Marquis. He was more than satisfied with the new ability to multiply his natural stats for a short period of time, and had only lost a pitiful 1.7% which was actually immediately outweighed by the 9% increase in his overall strength granted by this new subclass.

Bai Zemin looked at his pieces of equipment, and after confirming the potential of his new subclass, he came to the conclusion that the current him would not necessarily lose in battle against Shangguan Bing Xue even with the difference in stats and without him using his more destructive attacks. In fact, he was over 70% confident that he would be the victor in the hypothetical and clearly impossible event of such a thing happening.

"I need to forge new equipment for Bing Xue.... I'll take a few days off first and focus on her as we move south." Bai Zemin muttered under his breath as he rubbed his chin.

Shangguan Bing Xue was indisputably Bai Zemin's right-hand person on the battlefield; she was the only one who truly possessed the ability to take on not one but several Third Order existences at the same time. Moreover, in contrast to the current Bai Zemin, Shangguan Bing Xue was becoming stronger for every enemy defeated and Soul Power orb absorbed.

Because she was using the poor quality pieces of equipment they obtained in Oblon World during the war against the asura race, Shangguan Bing Xue's power did not shine as brightly as it could shine if she had better equipment. That was precisely why Bai Zemin was determined to forge for her as she was definitely worth it.

He fully trusted that she would never betray him, and thus, the stronger Shangguan Bing Xue was the better it would be for everyone in the Transcendent faction not only in terms of safety but also in terms of expansion speed.

Bai Zemin walked silently to the side of the forge furnace. His steps were light, trying to make as little noise as possible so as not to disturb Meng Qi and cause all the work she had done so far on the chestplate to go to waste.

There, in a corner, the metal-colored egg rested quietly. Bai Zemin embraced it and took it to a corner before he began to observe it carefully.

It was not difficult for him, who had been next to the egg practically every moment since the previous ant queen handed it to him, to notice that most if not all of the mana and records surrounding the egg's outer layer had been completely absorbed. Even those strange pulsating veins had practically stopped moving and now were mostly just there, still as if they had fallen asleep.

"What's going on?" Bai Zemin frowned tightly and a glint of worry shone in his eyes.

He had no idea how to be a father, he hadn't even changed a single diaper in his entire life forget about knowing how to hatch an ant's egg; a mutant ant and the queen at that!

Could it be that something went wrong? Bai Zemin's heart squeezed tightly and a wave of panic began to overtake him.

Putting aside the fact that Kong Jun would definitely not spare Bai Zemin ever, even if he could not hurt him directly because he was under the effect of the Loyal Follower subclass, Kong Jun would definitely find ways to give Bai Zemin a lot of headaches... and to fight against that monster perhaps only the union of him and Shangguan Bing Xue could lead them to a secure victory. But fighting him would also cause the Loyal Follower effect to fade away, which would mean total freedom for the Third Order Apocalyptic Ant.

But what mattered most to Bai Zemin was not the consequences or Kong Jun's reaction, what really mattered to him was that for the past few days he had been very attached to this egg and had actually become a little fond of the life that was supposed to hatch soon. No matter how one put it, the little creature sleeping in there was, at the end of the day, the adopted daughter he had accepted.

All this not to mention the fact that Bai Zemin had made a promise to Queen Shi Lin that he would guard with his life this little future queen yet to be born.

Seeing that Meng Qi was still working and would probably take another hour or two before finishing, Bai Zemin softly walked to the door and soundlessly opened it before stepping out and then closing it.

He needed to look for Lilith and ask her if she knew anything about it. Although Bai Zemin didn't have high hopes, it wasn't as if he could just stand still and do nothing.

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