Chapter 32: All Sorts of Characters
After opening the doors and windows completely, the smoke in the room gradually thinned out.
Three people stood or sat in the room—two men and one woman. Among the two men, one was thin and gaunt, around fifty years old. He was the heavy smoker. The other was younger, about eighteen or nineteen. Despite his youth, his gaze carried a sense of weariness, as if he had experienced much.
As for the only woman in the room, she could no longer be described merely as sexy. She wore a thin top on her upper body and ultra-short denim shorts, so short they were barely over ten centimeters long. Two short curved blades hung on either side of her waist.
These three were the other members of the Ant King Extermination Team. Having earned Netero's approval, their strength was beyond doubt—all were at least experts within the Third Rank.
"This is... not good."
The woman in the room locked eyes with Su Xiao. She seemed to recognize who he was, but with Netero present, she didn't say anything.
"Three of you, this is the new member of the Ant King Extermination Team. I have some matters to attend to and will be away for about an hour. If everything goes smoothly, we'll head to the East Gorteau capital in an hour. The four of you should get acquainted first."
Netero turned and walked out of the room. He seemed to be leaving deliberately. Having lived for 110 years, Netero had likely sensed something was off but chose not to call it out.
As soon as Netero left, the female contractor gradually crouched, her hands resting on the hilts of the two curved blades at her waist.
"Old Smoke, Dust, let me introduce you. This is Night of the Beheading—the madman rumored to love chopping off heads."
The female contractor slowly backed away, her face full of vigilance.
"Long time no see. Last time I saw you, even though we were the same rank, you were far stronger than me. Now, you still give me that feeling of being impossible to defeat."
Dust, who had been sitting in the inner part of the room, lifted his head. His originally handsome face was crisscrossed with three ugly scars. He had left them deliberately, a constant reminder of how dangerous the Paradise truly was and how naive he had been before.
"Adam is dead? Not long ago, he wanted to buy some Soul Crystals from me."
"The leader... died, in a War World. But the Brotherhood wasn't completely wiped out. I'm still alive. A one-man adventure group is still an adventure group."
"I see."
Su Xiao showed no emotional fluctuation. He had no real connection with the Brotherhood.
This contractor named Dust—Su Xiao had met him once before, back in the Naruto World. He had been a member of the Brotherhood. Unlike other adventure groups, the Brotherhood wasn't driven by profit; they valued bonds above all. Dust was a new member back then. As a five-element mage, he had been somewhat arrogant and not very talkative. He seemed mature on the surface, but his mind was still immature. However, he never put on airs or acted superior toward other Brotherhood members.
Something must have happened. The mid-sized Brotherhood adventure group was almost completely annihilated. Aside from Dust, there likely weren't any other survivors. Otherwise, given how tightly knit the Brotherhood was, Dust wouldn't be appearing alone.
"When the leader was alive, he once said you were strong—strong enough to wipe out the Brotherhood single-handedly. I didn't believe it then. Now, I do."
Elemental magic energy surged around Dust. The elemental aura was faint and not very active.
Sensing this elemental aura, Su Xiao studied Dust carefully. He could tell that Dust was no longer the five-element skill-type mage he had been. He was transitioning into an academic-style mage lord. Though Dust couldn't yet be called a mage lord.
Pain could make a person grow quickly. Dust had always been talented, and within the Brotherhood, he had access to abundant resources. But a few derivative worlds ago, he had experienced pain—not physical pain, but the agony of watching teammates as close as brothers die before his eyes. Though he had inherited all the Brotherhood's assets, that wasn't the outcome he wanted.
For one person to obtain the assets of a mid-sized adventure group—the level of wealth was unimaginable.
"Dust, Night of the Beheading won't suddenly chop off my head, will he? If that's the case, I won't fight alongside him. After all, he has a reputation—no, a bad reputation."
The female contractor wasn't trying to be hostile toward Su Xiao; she was just extremely wary of him.
"Not sure. But if you keep stirring things up, the situation you mentioned might actually happen."
Dust leaned back in his seat and stopped talking.
"Rumors stop at the wise. Though I, Old Smoke, am no wise man, I won't blindly believe rumors either."
Old Smoke held a cigarette in his hand—no, he was gripping it. This cigarette was at least five centimeters thick and thirty centimeters long. It was completely unsuitable for a human mouth. If a donkey or horse had it in its mouth, the size would be just right.
"Then consider what I said earlier as nonsense. I'm Mizuki, close combat."
The female contractor named Mizuki did a complete one-eighty. Earlier, she had been full of vigilance, but now she threw a flirtatious glance at Su Xiao, almost baring her chest in sincerity. Without a doubt, she was a scheming bitch who loved to sow discord. Her mental state wasn't exactly normal.
"Bai Ye, close combat."
Su Xiao had already assessed the situation. Including Netero, the five of them would face the Ant King together.
Before dealing with the Ant King, the contractors' relationship was one of cooperation while each fought for themselves. Once the Ant King fell, a free-for-all could break out at any time.
This was Su Xiao's first time experiencing this kind of cooperation. In the past, he rarely got involved in such arrangements, simply because of the Violators.
This time was different. The Violator had been dealt with early in the derivative world, so Su Xiao could operate freely without worrying about his identity as a Hunter.
The personalities of these three were all interesting. Dust had originally been quiet and reserved—or rather, a peculiar kind of shy. After the annihilation of his group, his reticence had shifted slightly. He became the type who could kill a conversation within three sentences. He wasn't sharp-tongued; he was a conversation killer. The moment he opened his mouth, awkwardness began, and silence followed instantly.
As for Old Smoke, he was clearly a good-natured old man—a good-natured old man with ulterior motives. He never offended anyone normally, but once his interests were at stake, he turned vicious.
Mizuki was a scheming bitch with strong possessiveness and a desire to dominate. She had a sexy figure and a terrible personality. Her greatest hobby was making friends with soft, gentle girls in the real world. Don't misunderstand—she wasn't interested in women. She was interested in those soft girls' boyfriends. After using sweet talk to steal their boyfriends, she would then "kindly" comfort the soft girls, savoring their pained and helpless expressions. What a terrible personality.
Having these three together was already quite a "lively" affair. Now, Su Xiao had to temporarily cooperate with them. The Reincarnation Paradise never lacked all sorts of strange and eccentric characters.
"Though we didn't know each other before, when it comes to dealing with the Ant King, we absolutely cannot hold back. Let me be blunt—everyone here wants the Ant King's heart. But... the Ant King isn't easy to deal with. As for waiting for Netero to blow up the Poor Man's Rose and cripple the Ant King—that's basically impossible."
Old Smoke stubbed out his cigarette, his expression turning serious.
"Bai Ye, did you hear about what happened two days ago? Some idiot tried to assassinate one of the three Royal Guards, the Cat Girl, and ended up getting killed by her instead."