Chapter 22: Approaching Ripeness
A metal hospital bed was placed on the east side of the room, surrounded by transparent film barriers, with indicator lights on various instruments gradually lighting up.
Sss~
Bubu Wang, wearing a gas mask, was spraying something near the metal bed. It was actually creating a sterile environment. Since storage space couldn't be opened within the Black Abyss, the resources Su Xiao could use were limited, so he naturally had to be cautious when treating Sha.
Covered in bloodstains and wrapped in tattered bandages, Sha was completely exhausted. She had been severely injured, and now that she was in a safe environment, she didn't even have the strength to move a finger.
Out of respect for Sha's gender, it was Lilith who cleaned her body, which indeed caused Sha some physical discomfort.
Twenty minutes later, Sha lay on the dry, soft hospital bed.
"Ah~"
Sha couldn't help but let out a groan, her eyes narrowing like a dozing female leopard. However, in the next moment, a crisp sound made her drowsiness vanish.
With a clang, an alloy hammer fell to the floor. Sha glanced at the alloy hammer, then looked around.
"These are all..."
Before Sha could finish asking, an injection gun had already pierced her neck.
"Wait... wait, are you... going to... repair a tank..."
Leaving these words behind, Sha was anesthetized. She wasn't unconscious, but sedated.
"First, deal with the poisoning."
Su Xiao put on an oxygen mask and other life-support devices for Sha, then casually picked up a miniature cutting saw.
Vroom!!
...
Drip, drip...
The sound of dripping water woke Sha. She instinctively tried to sit up, but the pain all over her body made her give up. That wasn't the key issue. The key problem was that during the treatment over a dozen hours ago, she had done something very embarrassing. Not only had she begged for mercy, she had almost cried out loud. That feeling of despair and helplessness had only appeared when she was very weak.
Sha clenched her fist, and the bandages on her chest gradually stained red, indicating that the poisoning symptoms had been resolved and her blood had returned to a healthy red color.
"Hey, Su... keep this matter... buried in your stomach."
Sha suddenly spoke. Su Xiao, who was adjusting medical equipment, looked puzzled.
"What?"
"Don't play dumb. You know exactly what."
"It was you on the operating table crying and saying, please..."
Before Su Xiao could finish, he suddenly felt a very penetrating gaze.
"This matter... whoever brings it up, dies!"
Sha said these words word by word, clearly having developed a psychological shadow from Su Xiao's treatment. In Sha's view, Su Xiao's treatment was more terrifying than torture. It wasn't because of the pain, which wasn't actually that bad. What was terrifying was the feeling of having her body casually manipulated by Su Xiao. Even knowing he was saving her, the despair in her heart still surged endlessly, which was even more devastating.
Nagato, Karin, Sasuke, Umbrella Brother, Amu—all of them had received Su Xiao's treatment. If they heard Sha's summary, they would absolutely slap their thighs in agreement.
"You're the boss."
Su Xiao turned off the oxygen machine. With Sha's constitution, she no longer needed it.
Now that he had successfully rendezvoused with Sha, as long as Sha's injuries recovered a bit, Su Xiao would have the qualifications to confront Saint Zacha head-on. As for fully healing Sha, that wasn't something achievable with the available resources. Sha's peak strength might reach around Seventh Rank, but for now, she could probably recover to about Fifth Rank. Unless she could enter Reincarnation Paradise, returning to her peak would be very difficult.
As he gradually rendezvoused with his allies, the situation became clearer. Su Xiao now only needed to wait—not for the Soul Fruit to ripen, but for Sha to recover her combat effectiveness.
Once Sha recovered, Su Xiao could bring Sha, Lilith, and Bubu Wang—three people and one dog—to the central area to seize the Ashes Sprout. Su Xiao had never planned to complete this mission alone. Under 400% difficulty, he couldn't do it alone either.
It would take at least two more days for Sha to regain mobility. Su Xiao didn't want to waste this precious opportunity to enter the Black Abyss. He planned to take the chance to complete one of Asaka's assassin missions and reap some benefits.
Client: Unknown (Confidential)
Mission Content: Capture the wealthy magnate, Ulysses.
Mission Reward: Polymeric Subacid Enhancement Agent.
...
A tactical assault vehicle sped across the desert. The rough tires suddenly stopped spinning, leaving two long tire tracks behind.
The car door was pushed open. As Su Xiao got out, he dragged a Lizardman out with him. This Lizardman's head and lower body resembled a lizard, standing upright with a somewhat stout figure.
This Lizardman was muttering something in a language Su Xiao couldn't understand. Perhaps feeling it was completely impossible to bribe Su Xiao, he was praying in his native tongue.
After waiting about an hour, an assault vehicle that looked like a hedgehog drove over. The person who arrived was covered in scales, giving off a cold and ruthless feeling.
The handover went smoothly. Su Xiao opened the metal cryogenic container in his hand, and wisps of white mist rose up. An injection gun was embedded in the soft filling. He tentatively touched the injection gun.
[Polymeric Subacid Enhancement Agent]
Origin: Void, Lolo Biological Laboratory.
Quality: Legendary
Type: Enhancement Agent
Effect 1: After injection, Strength +10, Stamina +15 (Invalid if attribute is above 80 points).
Rating: 500 points (Legendary item rating range: 400–530 points).
Introduction: Sometimes what seems useless to you is what others dream of.
Selling Price: 178,000 Paradise Coins.
...
This enhancement agent was useless to Su Xiao, but for Contractors from First to Third Rank, it was absolutely priceless. A 25-point attribute boost was equivalent to the attribute gains of 2–3 derivative worlds for an ordinary Contractor.
Although it had no effect on Su Xiao, this item still held considerable value. For example, when an adventure group was cultivating seed members, they would greatly need such an item and be willing to pay a high price for it.
Capturing a wealthy magnate was simple. Throughout the entire process, Su Xiao only killed three teams of guards, not even bothering to waste D·Assassination bullets. This made him realize that as long as one was strong enough, gaining benefits in the Black Abyss wasn't too difficult—provided one was willing to take risks.
Compared to such simple missions, there were naturally harder ones.
Client: Unknown (VIP)
Mission Content: Kill Abyss Venom·Mogoro.
Mission Reward: Negotiable.
...
This was a mission that had just appeared recently. It could be confirmed that the reward for this mission was generous, but few people were interested in it, because Abyss Venom·Mogoro was a Boss-level creature.
In the Black Abyss, any wild beast with a unique prefix was at least Boss-level. Abyss Venom·Mogoro was a giant spider. It was said that its venom killed on contact, leaving no chance to use medicine, let alone the fact that this creature was renowned as "Abyss Venom."
Just as Su Xiao was preparing to complete a few more missions and make a profit through the Asaka organization, Bubu Wang suddenly sent a message. More precisely, it was information provided by Lilith: the Soul Fruit was about to ripen.
According to the intelligence from Saint Zacha, the Soul Fruit still needed nearly three days to ripen, while the information from Lilith indicated it would be no more than 12 hours.
Su Xiao had never trusted Saint Zacha. He was willing to wait because he had accurate intelligence sources from Lilith's side.
The tactical assault vehicle sped away. The veins on Su Xiao's hand gripping the steering wheel gradually bulged. If he wasn't mistaken, the chaotic battle in the central area of the Atonement High Ground was about to begin.