Chapter 4: Scavengers
Within the Fallen City on the Shattered Continent.
“Your payment.”
An old goat-headed demon tossed out a money pouch. Though aged, this old demon was not to be underestimated; most goat-headed old demons were formidable, a lesson learned by other races through bloodshed.
Bubu Wang set down the stone sculpture in his paw, nodded to the old goat-headed demon, then picked up the money pouch and turned to leave.
“A polite little one, but... it seems an old acquaintance has arrived in Fallen City. That familiar feeling...”
The old demon’s eyes narrowed. With a wave of his hand, an image appeared before him.
Crack, crack, crack...
Blue veins gradually enveloped the image, then burst apart.
“Indeed, an ally has arrived. The problem is, the ally doesn’t quite trust the demon race. A wise choice.”
The old demon smiled, seemingly satisfied with this ally. However, compared to the Law Destroyer entering the Void, there was a more troublesome matter awaiting him: the growing hidden danger in the shallow layers of the Black Abyss. The demon race needed to send someone to deal with it, otherwise, once the ‘Soul Vine’ grew, the shallow Black Abyss would become a chaotic battlefield.
The issue now was that while the demon race controlled one of the entrances to the Black Abyss, the shallow layers weren’t their territory. Other major races held the remaining fifteen entrances. Resolving the ‘Soul Vine’ problem wasn’t something the demon race could decide alone.
Thinking this, the old demon felt a vague headache.
“Lord Wobor, Chief Judge Om summons you.”
The true owner of the general store, a burly demon, spoke in a low, respectful tone.
“Om? He still has the nerve to summon me?”
The goat-headed old demon, Wobor, snorted coldly.
“Please don’t make things difficult for me, Lord Wobor. I am merely following orders.”
“Hmm, you may go. I once crawled up from the bottom myself. Tell Om that I’ll settle both matters—the loss of that fat prize from the Void Arena and the Soul Vine—with him together.”
Wobor’s words startled the middle-aged demon greatly. As a special envoy sent to Fallen City, Wobor naturally had the authority to oversee the Demon Tribunal within ‘Mammon-Mord Fortress.’ Not long ago, they had lost the ‘fat sheep’ Alice, a treasure so rich it could have been devoured by the demon race.
Wobor extended his palm, and a formation of molten rock emerged on the ground, the spatial fluctuations growing intense.
In an instant, a young female demon with goat horns and cyan-glowing pupils appeared. Her skin was slightly dark, and her upper body wore only a chest piece resembling armor, revealing arms and a stomach adorned with cyan patterns that flickered with her breath.
Goat horns, cyan-green eyes, goat hooves, a figure that wasn’t particularly voluptuous but had its curves, and a slight bulge of abdominal muscles—this female demon didn’t care much about her appearance, pursuing greater combat strength instead. Yet, this very trait gave her a wild, aesthetic appeal.
“Lilis, go. Enter the Black Abyss and let the Law Destroyer know the demon race’s sincerity.”
Clang.
A blade hummed softly as Wobor tossed out a war scythe. At the base of its handle was a blood-red eye, half-open at the moment.
“Yes, my lord.”
The young female demon, Lilis, took the scythe. Without much ceremony, she turned and walked out of the shop. She called Wobor ‘my lord’ only because this place was different from home, requiring formal respect for this elder.
With a clatter, Wobor placed a demon chess piece on the table. Looking at the wooden table now, over a hundred demon chess pieces were already arranged.
An hour later, on the train heading to the Black Abyss, Bubu Wang was in the third carriage, while the female demon Lilis was in the seventh.
On a high-tech civilization continent far from the Shattered Continent, a woman in a red robe, her face pale, moved through the crowd. Originally wearing a gray robe, her escape had stained it blood-red. This woman was Sha, rushing toward the shallow Black Abyss at top speed.
...
Wind and sand swept across the land. Su Xiao leaned against the corpse of a black dragon, bright red blood dripping from Dragon-Slaying Flash.
“Cough, cough, cough...”
Su Xiao coughed lightly. He grabbed a spike embedded in his lower abdomen. This thing could accelerate and change direction remotely, otherwise, it wouldn’t have been able to wound him.
Su Xiao tossed the metal spike aside. It struck an overturned armored truck, sparks flying. The tantalum fission fuel on the ground ignited, producing a ghostly blue flame.
Beside the truck, a scavenger who had been cut in half was engulfed in flames, soon letting out blood-curdling screams and pleas for help.
“So, you were planning to wait for the black dragon to feast, then scavenge something valuable from my remains?”
Su Xiao was adapting to the local language, having spent 30,000 Paradise Coins to learn the Black Abyss language.
“No, no, that’s not it. We...”
A bald, pale-skinned man knelt on the ground. He had no hair, not even eyebrows, looking like a boiled egg—no, his skin was too pale; a peeled hard-boiled egg was more accurate.
“So, you were kindly trying to save me?”
Su Xiao’s condition was poor. Numbness still coursed through most of his body, but it was clear that even a sluggish beast wasn’t something an ordinary wolf pack could provoke.
Pfft!
A head flew into the air. Su Xiao lightly flicked his long blade.
“You, come here.”
Following the direction of Su Xiao’s blade, over a dozen eggs—no, over a dozen scavengers—were squatting with their hands on their heads beside the truck. Due to their peculiar appearance, it was hard to tell male from female.
These scavengers huddled together, most trembling, while a few plotted escape and bringing back a swarm of kin for revenge.
“First question: Where is the Atonement Heights?”
“?”
The scavenger squatting before Su Xiao was stunned, then shook his head.
“Since you don’t know, you’re useless.”
“Wait, I know the Redemption Heights.”
“Redemption Heights?”
Su Xiao’s mission displayed ‘Atonement Heights,’ but this scavenger hadn’t heard of it. He only knew of a place in the Black Abyss called Redemption Heights...
The names were so similar. If there wasn’t a hidden reason, it was likely a translation issue.
“I... I’ve told you what you wanted. Can we leave now? I swear, I won’t hold a grudge. We’re just trying to survive.”
The scavenger kneeling before Su Xiao raised one hand, likely a unique gesture in the Black Abyss.
“Of course... not.”
Su Xiao sheathed Dragon-Slaying Flash.
Clang!
A ring-shaped slash spread. Before the dozen or so scavengers could react, a bloodline appeared on their chests or necks.
These creatures were the hyenas of the Black Abyss. Individually, they were among the weakest, but with tens of millions of them in the Black Abyss, and their pack behavior, they could cover vast areas when they moved.
Scavengers also acted as garbage collectors in the Black Abyss, picking up anything. They were opportunists, and upon finding Su Xiao and the black dragon both wounded, they immediately surrounded him.
No living creatures remained around Su Xiao. After a moment’s hesitation, he pulled a potion from his leather pouch and drank an Ancient Secret Medicine. The numbness in his body receded slightly. He had only five bottles of Ancient Secret Medicine left.
“Caw, caw, caw~”
A pitch-black bird, resembling a crow but several times larger, landed. Through the Apostle’s Eye’s detection, Su Xiao learned it was called a Shadow Crow. Its strength, agility, and endurance were all above 50 points. And this was just a low-level creature in the Black Abyss.
As one Shadow Crow landed, hundreds circling above dove down. They dared not approach Su Xiao, who sat on the dragon corpse, so they fought over the scavengers’ bodies. Flesh and blood flew, and some greedy crows even burrowed into the corpses.
Su Xiao walked toward the overturned truck. Perhaps too engrossed in their feast, the Shadow Crows didn’t dodge. Su Xiao kicked aside a dozen of them, pulled a pipe from beside the truck, and twisted the valve.
Clear water sprayed from the metal valve. Su Xiao began gulping down large mouthfuls. The splashing water attracted hundreds of Shadow Crows to compete.
On the Gobi desert, a dragon corpse lay prostrate. Nearby, an overturned truck stood, and a man leaned against it, drinking water with his head tilted back. The water sprayed, forming a small rainbow in the scorching heat, while countless Shadow Crows danced in the spray, fighting for this rare chance to drink.