Chapter 75: The Fragile Boat of Friendship
Compared to the Divine Emperor, Su Xiao's friend Mad Fox was far less formal, having also sent a barrage of emails.
'Bai Ye, are you a damn demon? I feel like Matcha is about to bite me any second now.'
'Hey, where are you?'
'Matcha and my boss are looking at me more and more strangely. Don't drag this out, or I'll come block your accessory shop.'
'Bro, is the boat of friendship going to capsize just like that? Give me a reply.'
……
Compared to the Divine Emperor's emails, Mad Fox spoke freely, after all, the two had a pretty good personal relationship.
Su Xiao didn't reply to the Divine Emperor's email but responded to Mad Fox with the following content:
'Only notified you all. A bit busy for now. Latest by tomorrow.'
Just as Su Xiao replied, inside the Divine Emperor Adventure Group headquarters, a modern living room.
"Don't you dare bite me, are you a dog or what?"
Mad Fox shook his arm, with a delicate girl hanging from his hand. She was none other than the Divine Emperor Adventure Group's chief healer, Matcha.
"I don't care, I don't care, I want to be a flying healer! Contact him, keep going!!"
Matcha bit down hard on Mad Fox's arm. Mad Fox, sitting on the sofa, looked utterly helpless.
"He replied."
Mad Fox's words made a goatee-bearded old man and Matcha's spirits soar.
"What did he say?"
Matcha clenched her little fists, looking as if she would punch Mad Fox if Su Xiao gave bad news.
"Only notified us. Latest by tomorrow."
"Nice!"
Matcha grinned, revealing two small fangs. Judging by the teeth marks on Mad Fox's arm, this girl was quite strong at biting her teammates.
"Only notified us..."
The goatee-bearded old man pondered for a moment before finally sighing. This situation was the hardest to haggle over. The other party was very sincere. Even if they had been kept waiting for a long time, it was under the premise of not seeking other buyers.
"Let the boss prepare to bleed."
The goatee-bearded old man smiled, a smile both bitter and relieved. He was in charge of the Divine Emperor Adventure Group's finances. Although their finances were about to take a heavy hit, it was well worth it.
While the Divine Emperor Adventure Group was gathering resources to prepare for purchasing the Ascension Set, Su Xiao had already left his exclusive room and headed straight for a very secluded street in Reincarnation Paradise.
Inside Lide's forging workshop, Su Xiao held a can of ice-cold beer in his hand, while Lide was sweating profusely in front of the forging furnace, repairing Su Xiao's equipment.
After waiting a full hour, Lide finally finished the repairs. The Wild Hunt Night, full of holes, had been restored by Lide. As soon as he finished, he fished out a can of ice-cold beer from the coolant, gulping it down noisily.
"Lide, there's one more thing I need to ask you."
"What is it?"
Lide wiped the sweat from his face and turned to look at Su Xiao.
"The specific functions of the Equipment Decomposition/Reshaping/Synthesis Machine."
"You got that permission?"
Lide stared intently at Su Xiao.
"That's right, 30 minutes."
"30 minutes, huh... Not a lot, but not a little either. Enough to synthesize one or two pieces of equipment. My advice is to ignore the decomposition and reshaping functions. Just use three to five pieces of equipment of the same rank to synthesize, or simply get a hundred low-rank pieces and try your luck with one synthesis. Trust me, if your luck is good enough, you might even synthesize equipment of 'that' rank."
Lide seemed hesitant to say more, as if afraid of triggering some kind of punishment mechanism.
"Epic rank?"
"You've encountered it?"
"Of course."
Su Xiao drew the Dragon-Slaying Flash from his waist. Lide took a few big strides forward and pressed his finger against the blade of the Dragon-Slaying Flash.
"You really are something. You're still fourth rank, huh? Tsk tsk."
"Thanks for the advice. Keep these things here for now."
Su Xiao took out 31 Legendary Medals. As a collaborator, Su Xiao kept his Legendary Medals with Lide. If Lide needed to use them, he could do so freely. When Su Xiao needed them, Lide would, even if it meant selling everything, gather the required Legendary Medals as quickly as possible.
Long-term cooperation wouldn't just benefit one side. Not to mention anything else, just the fact that Lide repaired Su Xiao's equipment for free each time saved Su Xiao over a hundred thousand Paradise Coins. Over time, that was no small amount. The Legendary Medals stored here were nothing in comparison.
With a full 31 Legendary Medals in hand, Lide, though not ecstatic, was very pleased and wanted to keep Su Xiao for dinner. Su Xiao had other things to do and politely declined.
"Take the unfinished beer with you. It's my 'homebrew.'"
After Su Xiao left, only Lide remained in the forging workshop, seemingly lost in thought.
As soon as Su Xiao stepped out of the forging workshop, he emptied the beer in his hand, leaving only the aluminum can. He began to examine the can in his hand. Finding no abnormalities on the outside, he tore the can open with his bare hands.
On the bottom inside of the can, a string of small characters was written.
'There's a sixth-rank contractor inquiring about your whereabouts. Seems like a casual question, but their intentions are malicious.'
Crack, crack, crack...
Su Xiao crushed the can into a ball. He was puzzled. From first rank to fourth rank, he didn't seem to have offended any sixth-rank contractors. Could someone be seeking revenge?
From the perspective of revenge, it was actually unlikely. Su Xiao's modus operandi was either to kill no one or to kill everyone cleanly.
At the moment, his only enemies were the Blood Gate Adventurers. If those sixth-rank contractors really had malicious intent, it was likely related to Stan. Could Stan have noticed Su Xiao's rapid strength increase? Wanting to solve the problem once and for all by hiring sixth-rank contractors at a heavy price?
Given Stan's ruthlessness and decisiveness, this wasn't impossible; it was very likely. That guy wouldn't let an enemy grow. If pushed to the edge, hiring sixth-rank contractors was just a standard move.
After thinking for a while without reaching a conclusion, Su Xiao temporarily put the matter aside. What he needed now was just an opportunity—an opportunity to crush the Blood Gate Adventurers until they doubted their own existence. After the Blade Awakening, Su Xiao wasn't afraid even of facing Stan himself. He was now at the top tier of the fourth rank.
While Su Xiao was wandering around Reincarnation Paradise, Bubu Wang and Beini sent a message. The Embrace of Death had been sold. Due to its harsh prerequisites, it only sold for 720,000 Paradise Coins. For a legendary-rank skill scroll, this price wasn't high, but it was within Su Xiao's expectations.
The Incense Temptation hadn't been sold. Su Xiao really couldn't figure out what use it had. For dealing with female enemies? Knocking them out until they were dazed and then cutting them down?
In derivative worlds where life could be lost at any moment, Su Xiao had no interest in getting involved with women who were stronger than most. A woman strong enough to be Su Xiao's enemy might be giggling and flirting with him one moment, and the next, she might stab a knife into his throat.
With a large sum of Paradise Coins in hand, Su Xiao headed straight for the Equipment Enhancement Hall. The Dragon-Slaying Flash needed to be re-enhanced.
At the entrance of the Enhancement Hall, contractors were coming and going. Their expressions varied—some looked as if they had lost their mother, while others walked with their heads held high, full of confidence. Last time, Su Xiao had enhanced the Dragon-Slaying Flash to +13, and he had decided not to come here anytime soon. Unfortunately, he hadn't managed to stick to that plan. He was back again.