Chapter 9: Penitent's Heights
A tactical assault vehicle sped across the Gobi desert, with several barrels of fuel tied to the roof rack, making it a perfect target.
After driving at full speed for two full hours, Su Xiao finally left that Gobi desert and entered a plain overgrown with withered grass. If there was one thing that gave him the strongest impression of the Black Abyss, it was the harsh environment. Who knew what bizarre conditions would appear next? Snow and rain were manageable, but the real trouble was gravity faults or spatial rifts. Accidentally entering such an area would leave you half-dead at best.
Fortunately, Su Xiao's luck wasn't bad. Perhaps he had already used up all his bad luck, as he encountered no overly harsh environments along the way. After dealing with that previous group of Scavengers, he found that those people still had no money at all, just a ton of vehicle fuel. Su Xiao even suspected that the Scavengers might have such a bad reputation in the Black Abyss that no other races would trade with them, making carrying currency pointless.
The Scavengers weren't simply victims. An hour and a half ago, just as Su Xiao was about to leave that Gobi desert, over ten thousand tactical assault vehicles gave chase. This was the Scavengers' retaliation, and their leader had also arrived—a burly man with a mess of yellow hair and a metal face mask who vaguely gave Su Xiao a sense of threat.
Perhaps reluctant to waste fuel, the ten thousand tactical assault vehicles stopped at the edge of the Gobi desert. Only after Su Xiao had completely disappeared from their sight did these vultures give up.
The second raid on the Scavengers yielded a decent harvest. Su Xiao actually found a map in the driver's cabin of a truck. Although most of this Black Abyss map was moth-eaten, the remaining small section marked the exact location of Penitent's Heights.
Su Xiao's current location was called the Withered Plains. There were few wild beasts or intelligent races here because this damn place was extremely short of water—years without rain were perfectly normal.
"What are you going to do at Penitent's Heights?"
Perhaps unable to bear the silence of the journey, Lilim spoke up first.
"Looking for something. Compared to what I'm looking for, your purpose for going to Penitent's Heights is more intriguing."
"I'm going there because you're going. Following you is the order."
Lilim crossed her arms, her index finger lightly tapping the war scythe in her embrace.
"Is that so? But when I said I was going to Penitent's Heights, the look in your eyes clearly said, 'What a coincidence, I'm going there too.'"
"Impossible..."
Lilim suddenly realized she had let something slip.
"Oh? So your destination is also Penitent's Heights."
"You..."
Lilim gritted her teeth in frustration. She felt the vast gap between herself and Su Xiao in terms of being an old schemer—it was like being crushed over and then crushed back again.
"Even if you guessed it, so what? I'm just going to cooperate with someone to handle a troublesome matter. It'll be resolved quickly."
"Is that so? Good luck."
Su Xiao didn't continue to pry into Lilim's words, lest this demon girl completely shut down. He urgently needed an opportunity to make a name for himself. Whether that reputation was good or bad didn't matter—at least his name had to spread. Only then could he determine if Bubu Wang and Sha had both entered the Black Abyss and provide them with clues to find him and regroup.
The promotion mission was extremely difficult. Su Xiao felt that relying solely on himself to complete this mission would be very strenuous, perhaps even impossible. Thus, he needed to appropriately leverage the combat power of Lilim and Sha. Bubu Wang was also an indispensable scout.
Thinking this, Su Xiao glanced at the map in his hand. At most, another 25 hours of driving, and he would arrive near Penitent's Heights.
Along the way, aside from Lilim's most private secrets, Su Xiao had a basic understanding of her situation. As for Bubu Wang's side, he still couldn't get through. He had no idea what damn place Bubu Wang was in. When he tried audio contact, he only heard a soothing song. Text messages returned garbled code, but this was actually good news—Bubu Wang could reply to Su Xiao's text messages, indicating it had entered the shallow layers of the Black Abyss.
Sha's situation was still unknown, but Su Xiao's previous trick on her had definitely screwed her over badly. If they met later, he would need to be appropriately wary of her.
23 hours later, Su Xiao and Lilim, who had been alternating driving the tactical assault vehicle, arrived near Penitent's Heights.
As soon as Su Xiao jumped out of the tactical assault vehicle, a notification from Reincarnation Paradise appeared.
[Notification: The Hunter has arrived at the high-risk zone Penitent's Heights (also known as Atonement Heights).]
[This area is extremely dangerous. The Hunter has a chance of encountering high-rank enemies that cannot be fought.]
[Penitent's Heights is divided into four parts: Outermost Ring (current location), Outer Ring (relatively dangerous), Courtyard (dangerous, contains many guards), Central Area (extremely dangerous, not recommended for the Hunter to approach).]
Su Xiao looked ahead. What met his eyes was a vast expanse of tents and wooden huts rising and falling, all built on a highland. As for the center of the highland, it was truly endless—at least from the outermost ring, Su Xiao couldn't see the situation at the very center.
Such a massive gathering of intelligent races must have its unique order. Even if this was the chaotic Black Abyss, if no one could keep the scene under control, this super-large settlement wouldn't have developed to its current scale.
Without Bubu Wang, he couldn't scout the central area's situation. Su Xiao would have to take a different approach. Finding the local forces of Penitent's Heights and joining them was the fastest method. If he had a chance to make a name for himself, even better.
"What now? The person I'm waiting for hasn't arrived yet."
"I'll join the local forces. You can continue looking for the person you're waiting for. Contact me if things go wrong."
Su Xiao tossed the long-range communication device to Lilim. This thing could form a corridor signal within 20 kilometers to achieve communication.
Lilim agreed readily. Su Xiao then walked toward Penitent's Heights.
On a gradually ascending stone staircase, Su Xiao walked slowly upward. He saw various races beside the tents and houses he passed. These people all had one thing in common—they were poor. This was evident from their clothing and posture. There was also a strange smell in the air.
If he guessed correctly, the outermost ring of Penitent's Heights was a large circular slum. And the 'Ashes Sprout' Su Xiao was looking for was somewhere in Penitent's Heights.
After Su Xiao passed through the slums at the outermost ring of Penitent's Heights, a relatively flat area appeared ahead. But several men with different appearances and dusty faces blocked both sides of the road. Clearly, entering the outer ring and courtyard of Penitent's Heights wasn't simple, let alone the central area.
"Stop."
A gaunt-faced guard holding a thigh-thick shotgun spoke, chewing something in his mouth.
"Proof."
The guard pulled down the clothing on his arm. On his forearm was a tattoo that looked like both a wolf and a bear. The others wore rings and earrings of various specifications. These people were likely the local forces of Penitent's Heights.