Reincarnated in the Royal Family with a Plunder System-Chapter 50: This is just a normal situation

Ryan stumbled, dragged to the side by connected chains. The cold earth crunched beneath his boots. His eyes stayed low. Silent. Brooding.

"Where are we being taken?" a girl asked, her voice trembling.

"To the center of the Great Wilderness," muttered a short boy with moss-green hair, barely louder than the wind. "They want to use us as hostages."

Ryan didn’t respond. But in the silence that followed, his thoughts sharpened like blades.

Not just hostages. These giants probably want to use us to boost their own army’s morale. We are princes for fucksake. This is totally a race war. I need to escape before I become a banner of morale for either side.

But how can he escape?

The person taking him was absolutely not weak. That giant had killed Black Thorn so easily. It was at least much stronger than Seraphina—and probably stronger than even Barbezz, Ryan’s butler.

It all depends on my luck. If this skill is too overt, I will be noticed but if it is not that overt, I can keep myself hidden.

"Don’t dawdle, walk forward!" the giant shouted coldly.

Stronger than Seraphina... maybe even Barbezz, but even giants won’t put people stronger than level 30 just to move hostages. He is probably around that level, Ryan thought, lips pressed tight. If I make one wrong move—

"Don’t dawdle! Move!" the giant barked, its voice like stone grinding against stone.

Ryan was at the very back of the chained crowd, so no one was looking at him. Thus, the moment the giant turned its head, Ryan shifted—just a step—veering toward a heap of flesh barely recognizable.

What remained of Black Thorn: brittle limbs, collapsed chest, a ruin of flesh and pride.

It was to his back, so not even him was facing it.

To others, it might be stinky and disgusting. But to Ryan, it was a treasure.

He narrowed his eyes.

Focused.

The chains clinked, and it would soon be clear that he had stopped.

He could not remain long.

Heavenly Plunder.

A ripple of darkness bloomed within him, a blackhole—silent, devouring. Space itself bent for a heartbeat. Black Thorn’s remains trembled. Then disintegrated, collapsing into a cloud of ash. From within the ash, something rose. Faint, colorless, formless—like smoke trapped between realities. It vanished into Ryan from his back.

Power slammed into him like a wave.

He gasped.

It was painful, but he hid the pain under a cold facade. Muscles swelled beneath his skin. Tendons pulled tight like newly forged wire.

The world felt... slower. Lighter.

This was the power of Heavenly Plunder.

Unlike Plunder Sucker which could only plunder skills, Heavenly Plunder could plunder anything from a target and make it Ryan’s own. Talent, physical strength, anything abstract enough with real logical reasoning behind it.

As in, if someone was a very talented singer, there would be a reason for that talent. A logical reasoning for that talent, for example, would be a naturally clearer throat that releases better soundwaves. Or a better breathing system. If Ryan wanted to plunder that talent, his body would be altered inwardly to help him gain that same logical reasoning.

A clearer throat.

And physical strength was one such thing. All the hidden physical strength of Blackthorn now flowed through Ryan’s body, increasing his physical stats wildly. He had plundered it from that corpse.

Physical Body: 46.

He was not even 30 points strong when he last checked.

The strength was clear, but Ryan had no time to enjoy the fruits of his labor. Blackthorn’s corpse had turned to ash behind them—and it was just a meter or so away from him. The skill was rather covert, but it made the bodies of people he plundered break down.

His heart skipped a beat.

Did he notice it?

The Giant turned to look back at them, it squinted at the flesh that was ashening up, then ignored the sight.

Ryan’s heart thudded in his chest, his mind screamed in regret.

Was I too hurried?

The giant looked forward again, moving on his horse.

Ryan licked his lips.

As the group passed by a tree, a chameleon looked at them from the bark.

Ryan’s sharp eyes passed over it, his hands stole it without letting it make a fuss.

Heavenly Plunder.

This was the second difference between Heavenly Plunder and Plunder Sucker. Unlike Plunder Sucker, which could only be used a few times a day, Heavenly Plunder could be activated multiple times. Of course, it also had a limitation—but that was only when Heavenly Plunder was being used on living beings.

Ryan crushed the chameleon under his fist.

He absorbed all its Physical Strength again.

He could only absorb one thing from a corpse, so he did not want to waste the chance on anything else. And he did not dare to have color changing skin—genetically modifying himself without much knowledge did not seem like a good idea.

Physical Strength: 50.

A girl, pink haired and short, broke down infront of him, making Ryan look at her.

She sobbed.

Her sob began to move into a scream of hysteria.

Ryan held her hand. "Don’t cry. Don’t make a scene. He will probably make an example out of you."

The girl looked at him, pink eyes moist. Then, she nodded and bit her lips to silence.

They continued walking.

"Tsk. Look at the chaos the war has brought even to this region. You humans are much more venomous than you look."

Ryan’s heart skipped a beat.

They had reached a part of the forest where a battle seemed to have happened.

And in the center of this region, there was the corpse of a decapitated Giant.

And a flag was planted on the giant’s chest.

There was a bold set of words written on the flag, fluttering in the wind.

"Gift from the Human Giant Slayer. Bring more, I’ll kill more."

Ryan took a deep breath.

The giant infront of me said that we are in the middle of the Giant’s territory, if someone came here to kill them, this place is not that protected. My family can still come to save me.

But Ryan would not wait.

First, I need to level up my connection with Seraphina.

He had some points in his system that he could use to improve one Skill. He decided to use that on their Twin Bond—once he had her contact, things would be simpler.

This is just a bit of an overblown situation. If I can calm down and handle it well, there is nothing to be scare about.

Ryan’s calculating gaze moved through the surroundings.

Each person, each surrounding object, everything was a part of a puzzle.

A chesspiece for him to use.