Chapter 21: The Harvest

“You mean to say our target is the child of someone bearing the ‘National Hero’ title?” Commander Froman asked, his head throbbing at the thought. He now fully realized the gravity of the consequences—if he had known their target had such a background, he would never have launched the attack.

Given their usual methods, they always eliminated witnesses to avoid being hunted, but if they killed David, they would be standing against the entire Interstellar Federation. Even the Starship Returnees alone could hunt them to the ends of the universe.

He even suspected that if they killed David, warships might be dispatched to pursue them.

“Cut off all communication with the outside world. We’ll move to our second safehouse and lay low for a while,” Commander Froman finally decided.

He no longer wanted to bother retrieving the ‘T3 Sniper Support Device’; the money lost could be considered compensation for the loss suffered by the child of a ‘National Hero.’

Kroc nodded emphatically, strongly supporting this decision. He himself was a retired Starship Returnee—‘National Heroes’ were his idols, and he secretly felt relieved at the mission’s failure.

Ed and Fischer were naturally in agreement as well. With the entire outside world searching for them, hiding out was their best option.

Soon after the four members of the Sirius Mercenary Group left, eight Armored Warriors surrounded the building.

The Sirius Mercenary Group’s whereabouts were now immensely valuable, and the information brokers would not miss such a golden opportunity.

In fact, the situation was even more severe than Commander Froman had realized. Their entry into Rock Star was under legal procedures, so it did not take long for them to be identified.

Previously, Abbott’s collision with nearly a hundred people was interpreted as an attack on David, the child of a ‘National Hero.’ No one cared to question why Abbott would pilot a non-combat personal shuttle to assault a completely unrelated high school senior.

Regardless, the Sirius Mercenary Group was branded as the culprits, and every member was quickly unmasked—each one now a wanted criminal, and a high-priority one at that.

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David placed his hand on Shadow Servant’s shoulder, and a familiar energy surged into his body, making him involuntarily let out a moan—a pleasure that resonated with his very soul.

Perhaps because the energy this time was not as immense as before, he did not fall unconscious but instead experienced the sensation fully and clearly.

When the wave of pleasure ended, his mind felt as if it had been cleansed by water—crystal clear.

“Show my attribute panel!” he commanded Shadow Servant.

Immediately, his current attribute panel appeared before him:

Name: David Kerr

Strength: 2.52 (1)
Agility: 1.7 (1)
Constitution: 2.1 (1)
Spirit: 3.0 (1)
Literature (3% proficient), Mathematics (5% proficient), General Studies (51% beginner), Martial Arts (99% beginner), Longsword Mastery (5% beginner)

His Spirit had increased by 0.2. Now he was certain: Shadow Servant had absorbed the souls of Amos and the female mercenary, returning a portion of their soul energy to him, thereby enhancing his Spirit.

He did not know exactly what the Spirit attribute did, but he knew one benefit—it made him learn faster.

“I wonder how many knowledge spheres Amos and the female mercenary brought me?” David was intensely curious, murmuring to himself.

He had always wanted to experiment to confirm some theories, but Shadow Servant required recently deceased souls to obtain knowledge spheres—where was he supposed to find fresh corpses?

Today, though dangerous, had brought him two excellent souls.

He was certain Amos was an Armored Warrior, and the female mercenary, to earn her place among interstellar mercenaries, could not have been lacking in ability.

He sensed within Shadow Servant an orange knowledge sphere and a yellow one, and his spirits soared.

There was a sphere even higher than orange—orange signified proficiency, so what could be above that?

Warhammer Mastery (82% proficient), Electronic Warfare (98% expert).

David’s eyes went wide—98% expert-level knowledge in Electronic Warfare, far beyond his expectations.

Even Amos’s Warhammer Mastery was only at 82% proficiency, but the female mercenary’s Electronic Warfare had reached an incredible 98% expertise. With a little more time, she might have broken through to an even higher level.

“What a pity! If only…” David started, then chuckled at his own greed. What took others a lifetime to achieve, he could obtain effortlessly; why ask for more?

Today, he had not yet absorbed or fused any knowledge spheres. It had been more than a day since he last merged with the Martial Arts knowledge sphere. His gaze locked onto the Electronic Warfare (98% expert) sphere—pure knowledge, with no physical side effects.

He had considered merging with the Heavy Axe Mastery (33% beginner) sphere, but he did not even possess a heavy axe; having the knowledge would be useless without the means to practice.

The same held for Warhammer Mastery (82% proficient). He decided to absorb and fuse with the Electronic Warfare (98% expert) sphere.

David relaxed completely, guiding the Electronic Warfare (98% expert) knowledge sphere into his body. On his attribute panel, the Electronic Warfare skill appeared and rapidly leveled up.

Suddenly, everything blurred. He found himself before a lightbrain terminal, fingers flying across the keyboard.

Lines of code streamed out at lightning speed, and he immediately understood their meaning.

The coding process went on for a long time, using multiple programming languages and techniques, all seamlessly integrated.

When his hands finally stopped, he thought the vision would end, but instead, the scene changed. He was now before a control console.

Instruments appeared one after another. Each time, the machine automatically disassembled before him, its structure and all related knowledge flooding into his mind.

Military and civilian devices alike, even later he found himself aboard a spaceship—at the main control room’s lightbrain terminal, and another torrent of knowledge surged into his mind.

Only when the final wave of knowledge entered his brain did David finally emerge from the vision, his head lolling to the side as he collapsed onto the floor and fell asleep.

Any notion of absorbing two knowledge spheres per day was shattered by this 98% expert-level sphere.

In fact, had David’s Spirit not reached 3.0, the sheer influx of knowledge would have left a normal person unconscious for days, or even unable to absorb all of the 98% expert knowledge.

The electronic warfare knowledge possessed by Edna the Electronic Warfare Specialist was anything but simple. For Commander Froman to go to such lengths to recruit her showed that even among specialists, her skills were top-tier.

Edna was a genius in electronic warfare, and with the full backing of the Sirius Mercenary Group, she had reached such extraordinary heights.

All this vast knowledge, absorbed and integrated in a single moment—only the legendary deities of the Divine World were said to possess such abilities.

The powers of David’s Shadow Servant had long since surpassed the boundaries of its original concept, transforming into a truly mysterious force.

David himself had no inkling of this; he knew Shadow Servant was special, but as it was only mentioned in the sacrificial manual that had cost his predecessor’s life, he placed little faith in its claims.

The next morning, David awoke to find himself still lying on the floor. He recalled the events of the previous day and jolted upright, hurriedly summoning Shadow Servant to activate his attribute panel.

When he saw Electronic Warfare (98% expert) now solidly displayed, he finally relaxed. If he had wasted that yellow-grade knowledge sphere, he would have been beside himself with regret.

He also discovered the identity of the item he had stored away—it was an Electronic Warfare Specialist’s weapon, the ‘K2 Military Electronic Warfare Device.’ Like the ‘T3 Sniper Support Device,’ it was a piece of military hardware unavailable on the open market.

Only mercenaries unconcerned with the law could acquire such gear through various channels. Unlike the T3, however, the K2 Military Electronic Warfare Device was a complete kit for an electronic warfare specialist.