Chapter 60: Let's Have Fun Dying Together
Inside the villa's living room, the shark-toothed man picked up the black crystal, instantly sensing the malice radiating from those around him.
"You got a problem with that?"
Tossing the black crystal in his hand, the shark-toothed man's eyes swept across the room.
"Don't look at me. Take it if you want."
Elegy shrugged. She had gotten this from Mr. J, who had suddenly approached her and tossed out the Space-Time Core without a second thought. At first, Elegy thought Mr. J had some scheme—this precious item, worth 25% of the World Source, was just casually handed to someone else?
After observing for a while, Elegy found no issues with the Space-Time Core, but she still couldn't believe Mr. J would do something like this for no reason. Out of caution, she sent the Space-Time Core's info to a few lone wolves, claiming she had an important mission and couldn't compete for it, so she was selling it cheap.
However, just as Elegy gathered six lone wolf contractors and was about to name a price, Su Xiao showed up with his team and surrounded them. From the current situation, selling it was clearly off the table. Giving it away for free was already a good deal.
"Sea Shark, how about we cooperate?"
The seductive woman with blue lipstick and a nose ring spoke up.
"Do I look like an idiot to you?"
Sea Shark sneered, rubbing his short, spiky yellow hair. His gaze shifted to the Transformation Bigshot.
"Well, uh..."
Sea Shark didn't know how to address the Transformation Bigshot. Given his earlier attitude, the Transformation Bigshot snorted coldly and said:
"Zhao Tiezhu."
"?"
Sea Shark stared at the Transformation Bigshot in shock.
"Chris. Call me Chris."
"That I can accept. Zhao Tiezhu—no, Chris—want to cooperate? After this is done, I'll pay you five big souls."
What Sea Shark called "big souls" were actually five Soul Crystals (Large). That was no small price.
"You sure you want to mess with that guy? He's..."
"So what if he killed Stan? I'm not fighting him head-on. Even if I get exposed, I just drop the Space-Time Core and run. As long as I'm willing to give it up, he'll go for the core first instead of chasing me."
Hearing this, not only Chris but the others were tempted. It was true—the Space-Time Core couldn't be stored in inventory, but it wasn't a forced binding item either. Worst case, they could just abandon it and flee.
"Seven."
"Six max. Don't be too greedy, you coward."
"Can you stop running your mouth?"
"Deal?"
"I'm only handling perception."
"Salvation, not interested in teaming up?"
Sea Shark's gaze turned to Salvation. They still had some time before the Execution Agency's search reached here. He needed to draft a plan first, not just charge out of the encirclement.
"Me? I'm really weak. And playing it safe is my life motto. You want me to go after a mission item from someone in the top tier of the fourth rank?"
"Top tier of the fourth rank?"
Chris looked confused, then quickly figured it out.
"That's right. That guy is now widely recognized as the top tier of the fourth rank," Sea Shark raised an eyebrow at Chris and continued, "Exciting, huh?"
"A bit... too exciting."
The corner of Chris's mouth curled up. Normal people wouldn't have that expression at a time like this. Both Sea Shark and Chris were very much in tune with Reincarnation Paradise.
"Anyone else joining?"
Sea Shark looked around. Elegy tilted her head. The seductive mature woman walked out of the villa. The worker-killer had long since disappeared into the shadows. As for the other two, they had left as soon as Salvation brought out the Space-Time Core.
"So, let's have some fun dying. This time, our opponent is one of the top tier of the fourth rank. If you don't dare to take risks, you'll end up as dried-up fish sooner or later."
Sea Shark patted Chris's shoulder. It was soft. Chris slapped his hand away. Sea Shark didn't mind. He opened his mouth wide and shoved his hand inside.
"Ugh~"
Sea Shark pulled a fleshy ball out of his mouth. Chris stepped back several times, her fair fists clenched, goosebumps rising on her skin. She had severe germophobia.
"Say hello. This is my 'dear son.'"
Sea Shark released the fleshy ball. It shattered in midair, turning into a miniature tiger shark about twenty centimeters long.
The tiny tiger shark splashed into the ground, kicking up a spray of dirt. The area it touched seemed to turn into an ocean.
At the factory district near the west city, on the bell tower.
Not all civilians could afford watches or pocket watches, especially in the relatively poor factory district, so this bell tower hadn't been demolished yet.
A ring of yellowish-brown railings circled the top of the bell tower, with a spire just within reach above.
Su Xiao crouched behind the railing, the Devouring Annihilation resting on it. He was surveying the surrounding area through the scope. The blue indicator light on his wireless earpiece flickered occasionally.
Click~
Su Xiao switched the Devouring Annihilation to hunting mode. He was lucky—the first time the Space-Time Core was indicated was at 11 PM. By then, civilians were resting, so any target appearing outside buildings was likely a contractor or a ghost.
Su Xiao slowly adjusted the scope. The view inside was as bright as day. A sneaky figure appeared in the scope—a man of average build.
"Reinhardt, head to the sewage river. Suspicious target spotted."
Half a kilometer away, Reinhardt pressed the wireless earpiece on his ear. This thing felt unfamiliar to him.
...
In a dim alley, the sneaky man sat on a trash can, seemingly waiting for something. Just then, faint footsteps reached his ears, and he immediately became alert.
Both ends of the alley were blocked by over twenty Awakeners, led by Reinhardt.
Clang—a meat cleaver fell to the ground. The man in the alley leaned against the wall, legs trembling. He was a two-eyed ghost, one of the weakest among ghosts.
"I, I surrender. I, I haven't eaten any living people."
The two-eyed ghost shivered. It had planned to sneak into the morgue at night to steal some corpses to eat. But who would have thought dozens of Awakeners would come for it?
For some reason, the two-eyed ghost felt wronged. It just wanted to steal a few corpses. Did it really need this many Awakeners to catch it?
"Sir, it's just a ghost out foraging."
"Oh."
Su Xiao adjusted the scope and continued scanning the area for suspicious targets.
A sound of flowing water came, very faint. Su Xiao looked down at the base of the bell tower. Nothing unusual.
With a crash, a giant shark over thirty meters long burst out of the ground, sending up a wave of dirt. Like leaping out of the sea, it tilted its head sideways and opened its massive jaws to bite the top of the bell tower.
Debris flew. The upper half of the bell tower was swallowed. The giant shark splashed back into the ground.
Midair, Su Xiao slowly descended. He was now fairly certain that a contractor had taken the Space-Time Core. Otherwise, they wouldn't have attacked him.
Two kilometers away, Chris stood in front of a massive bubble. Inside the bubble was the image of a bell tower with its top half bitten off.
"Not bad, my summon, huh?"
"It's not bad, but it's probably about to die."
"I know. So... let's hurry up and retreat. That thing cost me 300,000 Paradise Coins to raise."
Sea Shark stepped out of a street-side shop and quickly ran in the opposite direction of Su Xiao's area. That was where Amu was stationed.