Chapter 21: The God Who Backed Down
The Goddess of Fortune took a deep breath. Her initial "escape" wasn't just out of fear of the Law Destroyer; influencing the luck of a Law Destroyer was an incredibly difficult task.
If changing the fortune of an ordinary person had a difficulty of 1, then changing the fortune of a Law Destroyer was at least 100 or more. Once a Law Destroyer reached a certain level of power, their fortune couldn't even be altered anymore—the Goddess of Fortune had personally tested this fact.
"I hope you keep your promise."
The Goddess of Fortune actually wanted to sign a contract or some kind of agreement with Su Xiao, but unfortunately, Su Xiao was backed by Reincarnation Paradise. The difficulty of signing a contract with Su Xiao was no less than killing him outright at that moment.
Under normal circumstances, the Goddess of Fortune would make a grand entrance, bestow abilities upon the Contractor, and then leave gracefully, taking nothing with her.
But this time was clearly different. She had initially tried to renege on her promise, only to be forcibly dragged back by Reincarnation Paradise.
The light surrounding the Goddess of Fortune grew increasingly dazzling. Golden threads converged in her hands, and she slowly pushed them toward Su Xiao.
Su Xiao stared intently at the golden threads drifting toward him, but no sense of danger came.
The cluster of golden threads merged into Su Xiao's body. He felt nothing particularly special.
"It's done."
The Goddess of Fortune snapped her fingers and vanished into thin air.
[The Hunter has mastered a new skill: Goddess's Favor.]
[Goddess's Favor: Lv.1 (Passive Skill)]
Skill Effect: Permanently increases Luck Attribute by +1.
Note: For every 10 levels this ability is raised, an additional +1 Luck Attribute is granted.
...
Su Xiao's Luck Attribute increased from 2 points to 3 points. The sensation of raising Luck was not as intense as the tangible feeling when increasing Strength or Agility.
"Don't think you'll be lucky. Your fortune is practically negative. This only stops you from being unlucky. It's a miracle you've survived this long with such fortune..."
The Goddess of Fortune's voice echoed, as if coming from another layer of space.
Inside an alternate space, the Goddess of Fortune, wrapped in holy light, stretched lazily.
"Time to go back to sleep..."
Undoubtedly, the Goddess of Fortune was very laid-back. Among the many powerful beings at her level, she was the most detached from worldly affairs—a classic case of coasting through life. Yet, as time passed, most of the powerful figures who rose alongside her had fallen, while she alone continued to live carefree.
Whether in the Void or the small world where the Goddess of Fortune resided, whenever anyone mentioned her, four words came to mind: Detached from worldly affairs.
In Su Xiao's private dormitory room, he lay on the bed, the wounds on his body aching faintly. For injuries that could heal naturally, he wouldn't waste recovery items.
Feeling the subtle sting from his wounds, Su Xiao soon drifted off to sleep. After this rest, he had no idea when he'd get another chance.
This World War prevented taking food or fresh water from the storage space, making the front lines even more dangerous.
Su Xiao didn't know how long he slept before a piercing alarm jolted him awake. He got up from the bed and, as soon as he pushed open the door, saw soldiers running through the corridor—all members of the Killing Squad.
Su Xiao picked up the black military uniform from the bed. The Killing Squad's uniform style was the same as that of ordinary soldiers; unique uniforms would only attract more firepower on the battlefield.
Putting on the black uniform, Su Xiao followed the soldiers in the corridor toward the prison courtyard.
Forty seconds later, including Su Xiao, 176 Killing Squad soldiers stood in formation. Skain glanced at the pocket watch in his hand.
"Not bad."
Skain snapped the watch shut.
"I am your new commander. Some of you may have heard of me..."
Skain didn't resort to the "new broom sweeps clean" approach—that method didn't work in the military. His message was much simpler and more direct: if you didn't want to die inexplicably on the battlefield, you'd better follow his orders.
After a brief address, the 176 Killing Squad soldiers boarded over a dozen trucks. As for the destination, it was obviously the battlefield, though Skain didn't specify the exact location.
During wartime, the Killing Squad didn't assemble as a single unit like other forces. They were dispersed among various units, following them into battle to find opportunities to infiltrate enemy camps, assassinate enemy officers, or destroy key enemy military facilities.
Su Xiao sat inside the canvas-covered truck, along with nine other Killing Squad soldiers. About to head to the battlefield, none of them seemed nervous; some were even sound asleep.
A soldier wearing a black helmet, holding a dagger and a whetstone, sat next to Su Xiao. This guy had been sharpening his dagger since boarding the truck. According to him, this dagger was his girlfriend, named Philomena.
Years of killing had left these Killing Squad soldiers with varying degrees of psychological issues. After retirement, most were sent to mountainous areas to enjoy life, kept as far away from cities as possible. These men were experts in assassination, demolition, and the like; placing them in bustling cities would be like planting ticking time bombs. "When the birds are gone, the good bow is put away"—it sounded cold, but there was no other way.
"Don't touch my hat, you dog-pig bastard. I swear I'll blow your head off."
"Hahaha."
"Those blue-eyes are the real dog-pig bastards."
Two soldiers got into an argument, but the others in the truck didn't stop them—they just watched the show.
"Dog-pig bastard blue-eyes. Even if their women are nice, they're still dog-pig bastards."
"According to Article 175 of the Geya Alliance Military Code, abusing or insulting enemy female civilians results in three months of confinement."
"Saint, why don't you go home and hold a baby to feed?"
"Feed the baby."
"Hahaha."
The soldiers' conversation was completely random, as if they said whatever came to mind. Su Xiao yawned, deciding not to join in.
One thing puzzled Su Xiao: before boarding, the other Killing Squad soldiers were issued their weapons, but he received none. The quartermaster in charge of weapons had just glanced at him, waved his hand, and signaled for him to hurry onto the truck.
Sending a soldier "unarmed" into battle was obviously impossible. Not receiving standard-issue weapons made Su Xiao realize one thing: his weapons were special and not uniformly distributed.
"White Ghost, how was the prison food?"
The soldier called Saint spoke up, referring to Su Xiao as White Ghost. Su Xiao thought of the code name Kukulin Bai Ye and easily guessed that "White Ghost" was calling him. This was likely the nickname other Killing Squad members had given him.
"Two dishes and a soup. There were women next door."
"Didn't think White Ghost could brag too."
"White Ghost rarely jokes. Let's play along."
Saint smiled, his expression saying, "Laugh, what are you waiting for?"
"Saint, that flattery was way too obvious," a burly man with a thick beard said. As he spoke, he extended his fist toward Su Xiao. "I'm Bone Crusher. We met in the Forest Mountain War Zone. Look out for me on the battlefield."
Su Xiao bumped fists with the man code-named Bone Crusher and nodded in acknowledgment.
"Call me Blind Mountain."
"I'm Trail Hound."
"Earth."
...
The nine Killing Squad members in the same truck all greeted Su Xiao, which surprised him. These weren't members of his previous squad, and judging by their tone, they all seemed to want to... get close to him?
Sensing their attitude, Su Xiao had already guessed his role in this squad. It was one of the things he was best at: sniper. Having a sniper watching your back on a battlefield engulfed in gunfire could definitely increase your chances of survival.