Chapter 53: Adventure Group
"Our team storage space has been frozen."
Although Sandstorm's tone was calm, his fists were clenched so tightly that his nails pierced his palms.
"And so?"
Su Xiao didn't care at all whether the Spark Adventure Group's team space was frozen. He wasn't a philanthropist; the changes in the other party's team had nothing to do with him.
"So we can't come up with the kind of huge sum you're imagining. Without the resources in the team space, we're poorer than rogue cultivators."
Sandstorm took a deep breath. He had already discussed this with Old Smoke and Mizaki, but unfortunately, they hadn't offered anything that tempted both of them.
"Meaning you're trying to get something for nothing?"
"No, I'm prepared to give you the entire adventure group!"
Sandstorm's gaze met Su Xiao's directly; his eyes were red.
"Oh?"
"The entire adventure group, including everything in the team space. Let me state upfront: after our group leader died, the team space was completely frozen. Unless the adventure group's rank is upgraded, it's absolutely impossible to retrieve the items inside. As for the difficulty of upgrading a B-rank adventure group—it's very hard. We can't do it, but you should be able to."
Sandstorm's bargaining chip was interesting: their adventure group.
"After the adventure group is transferred to you, you must allow all of us to leave without any penalties."
"Whatever. I'll think about it."
Su Xiao considered whether to agree to this deal. If he obtained the Spark Adventure Group, he certainly wouldn't recruit external members—that was beyond doubt. As a Hunter, recruiting members would be asking for trouble, no, it would be asking for death.
What Su Xiao was interested in were the abilities attached to the adventure group and its special mechanisms. If he actually took over the adventure group, he would immediately change its nature within Reincarnation Paradise, converting it into a solo adventure group.
A so-called solo adventure group is a balancing mechanism prepared by Reincarnation Paradise for lone Contractors. This type of adventure group cannot recruit formal team members externally, which is fundamentally different from a multi-person adventure group.
In other words, aside from enjoying the adventure group's skills, this type of group is completely unchanged from going solo. Coincidentally, Su Xiao was only interested in the abilities attached to the adventure group.
The abilities attached to an adventure group are very special; they cannot be obtained through professions or bloodlines. Many lone wolves spend a fortune to purchase suitable adventure groups.
As for why not participate in the assessment to form an adventure group, the reason is simple: it requires at least five Contractors to participate. You can't just find any five people, since you'll have to enter a derivative world for the assessment later.
If Su Xiao obtained an adventure group, it would only have him as a member. At most, he might try to add Bubu Wang or Amu.
There are two benefits to setting up an adventure group: first, the unique skills exclusive to the group, and second, the massive team storage space.
Based on Su Xiao's understanding, not everyone who ventures alone in Reincarnation Paradise is called a "lone wolf." This term only applies to a minority.
Most lone Contractors are called rogue cultivators. They either don't want to join an adventure group, or the groups don't want them. When they execute missions, they use the derivative world contact platform to find teammates in similar situations. So they aren't truly alone; solitude is just a necessity.
A true lone wolf must first have sufficiently comprehensive abilities to handle all kinds of emergencies alone. Second, they must have a solo-mode adventure group, because the skills attached to adventure groups are very unique.
How unique can adventure group skills be? Su Xiao didn't know yet. He had only seen one team skill—that of the Red Spider Lily Adventure Group.
Based on Su Xiao's guess, that skill's characteristics were as follows: after someone kills a core member of the Red Spider Lily Adventure Group, a special mark is generated on them. This mark cannot be sensed or detected. When that person approaches the group leader of the Red Spider Lily Adventure Group within a certain distance, the mark activates.
This ability reminded Su Xiao of the Hunter's unique tracking function. Their effects differ, but the nature is very similar.
Red Spider Lily was a first-rank adventure group, so their group's rank should be low. The Spark Adventure Group, on the other hand, was B-rank, which is considered mid-to-low tier.
The highest-ranked adventure group Su Xiao had seen was the Traveling Group, which was SS-rank. It was said that the Traveling Group's team skills were very strong—not directly enhancing combat power, but assisting members' growth and accelerating their development.
The Traveling Group was already an anomaly among adventure groups, and even more anomalous were solo adventure groups. No, this couldn't really be considered an adventure group anymore; it was more like a piece of equipment, or rather, a kind of ability.
That's right, a solo-mode adventure group is essentially a special ability with two functions: first, it comes with one or several special skills, the number depending on the group's rank; second, it has a huge storage space, the size also determined by the group's rank.
"How is Mr. White Night's consideration going? By the way, after transferring the adventure group, it has one chance to rename and can change its mode."
Sandstorm was clearly getting anxious from waiting, and at the same time, she felt a bit uneasy. In her view, Su Xiao was a madman drenched in bloodlust. Perhaps he would be laughing and chatting with them one moment, then suddenly draw his blade and kill them the next.
Thinking of this, Sandstorm frowned under her mask and habitually bit a small piece of her lipstick-stained lower lip. Actually, she was overthinking things. Even if the deal fell through, Su Xiao wouldn't be so deranged as to kill them. That would be meaningless and would only affect his later sale of the Ant King's heart—the gains wouldn't match the effort.
Scaring oneself is sometimes the most terrifying thing, like Sandstorm now. The thoughts in her mind made cold sweat seep from her forehead. What a... bizarre, rational-to-the-point-of-coldness woman.
"Alright, let's sign the contract."
Su Xiao took out a piece of the Ant King's heart. Seeing this piece, Sandstorm's gaze burned with intense heat.
Su Xiao had already drafted a contract. Of course, the adventure group couldn't be transferred within the derivative world; that would have to wait until returning to Reincarnation Paradise.
To transfer an adventure group, the group leader and over 95% of the members must agree. If the group leader unfortunately dies in battle, then the vice group leader plus 100% of the members must agree for the transfer to succeed.
Adventure groups are obtained by Contractors through assessments, risking their lives. They are the Contractors' personal property, so they can naturally be transferred.
The Spark Adventure Group was now in the second situation. As for these people taking the Ant King's heart and not transferring the group—that was impossible.
Once they signed the contract Su Xiao drafted, if they breached it, each Contractor would be penalized with a mandatory deduction of 800,000 Paradise Coins plus a 15% reduction in all attributes.
There were even harsher penalties, but the harsher the penalty, the higher the cost to draft the contract. For example, forced execution or a 90% reduction in all attributes could also be drafted. Of course, there were also very bizarre penalties, like forced gender change or complete loss of calculation ability.
Leaving aside forced gender change, just losing calculation ability would be a nightmare. If subjected to that penalty, you wouldn't even know what 1+1 equals.
The remnants of Spark naturally wouldn't try to breach the contract Su Xiao drafted. If they did, they would likely have a large number of equipment deducted due to insufficient Paradise Coins, and the attribute reduction would be fatal.
The deal was done, but Su Xiao wouldn't get the benefits immediately; that would have to wait until returning to Reincarnation Paradise. In this transaction, Su Xiao not only gained an adventure group but also had the chance to obtain the items sealed in the Spark Adventure Group's storage space—another huge profit. The prerequisite was that he could upgrade the group's rank by one level.
These matters would have to be considered later. After Su Xiao obtained the adventure group, he would not only rename it but also change its nature, converting it into an invisible piece of equipment, or perhaps a visible one? The specifics were unknown for now.
Even if this adventure group didn't meet Su Xiao's requirements, he could still sell it, though the price would be somewhat reduced, since not many Contractors would buy adventure groups.
But one thing puzzled Su Xiao: why did Old Smoke and Mizaki reject this deal?
The reason was actually simple. Old Smoke of the Revolutionary Army had once had his own adventure group and was the group leader. Unfortunately, his members revolted and nearly overthrew him. Old Smoke was "very gratified," so he converted that adventure group into a solo one.
Old Smoke could revolt against others, but if others revolted against him, that was a different story...
Mizaki, on the other hand, was willing to obtain an adventure group. But the 30 grams of heart were provided by both of them together. An adventure group plus frozen team assets were very valuable, but Old Smoke needed immediate benefits, because his cooperation with Mizaki was already very unstable. The two of them participating together in the assessment to upgrade the adventure group was basically impossible, which led to the deal's failure.