Chapter 3: Stripping the Imprint
Closing the world introduction, this world was originally very similar to the real world, only with more advanced technology, but now all of that no longer exists.
There are many reasons for the disaster's arrival, and it hasn't been fully determined yet, but even a civilization with advanced technology couldn't withstand the sun's scorching. In six days, humanity was nearly completely wiped out.
Su Xiao felt that the cause of this situation might not just be the sun's scorching. Within those six days, something should have been born; otherwise, there wouldn't be the appearance of 'Immortals.'
So-called Immortals are clearly a result of human evolution and mutation under extremely harsh environments. The fact that they can reproduce indicates that Immortals have certain biological properties, while 'immortality' is a supernatural property.
Su Xiao knows very little about this world, but he is very concerned about one thing: the birth of a new order. This new order should not be a civilized force like a nation. In this environment, any force that emerges would definitely be quite barbaric and insane.
Compared to the secrets of this world, Su Xiao is more eager to know the content of the promotion mission. He opens the mission list, and the promotion mission appears.
[Promotion Mission: Contractor Camp (First Ring)]
Difficulty Level: Lv.50
Mission Information: Arrive at the 'Contractor Camp' and establish a branch space coordinate (temporary).
Hint: The Hunter must first strip an imprint from a contractor of the Apocalypse Paradise to successfully enter the 'Contractor Camp.'
Hint: A large number of rare resources are stored within the 'Contractor Camp' of this world, accumulated over 16 world progressions from a total of 5972 contractors executing missions. It is estimated that within 20 world progressions, the Apocalypse Paradise will uniformly reclaim these resources (requiring the consumption of space-time power). These resources have been imprinted with the unique mark of the Apocalypse Paradise, and the Hunter cannot directly obtain them. After establishing the branch space coordinate, the Reincarnation Paradise will plunder them and conceal all actions of the Hunter during this period.
Mission Duration: 15 days
Mission Reward: Golden Skill Point ×5, Authority to forcibly seize some items within the Contractor Camp (3 times).
Mission Penalty: None, forced return to Reincarnation Paradise, promotion mission fails, Hunter permanently loses qualification to invade other paradises.
...
After reading the mission content, Su Xiao confirmed his suspicions. This time, invading the Apocalypse Paradise was to seize resources.
The mission reward was generous, a full 5 Golden Skill Points, a good thing that could directly enhance strength.
As for the rewards accumulated by those 5972 contractors from executing missions, Su Xiao wasn't the least bit envious. That was a resource between paradises. With his current strength, he had no qualification to compete for or use it. What he was doing was just setting up a coordinate; the one truly plundering was the Reincarnation Paradise.
Furthermore, without the disguise provided by the Reincarnation Paradise, he probably couldn't even get close to those resources. Setting up a coordinate for 5 Golden Skill Points was already quite generous.
Moreover, this opportunity itself was a kind of reward. The 'Contractor Camp' was a place where the Apocalypse Paradise stored supplies. The rare resources indeed couldn't be seized, or rather, seizing them would be useless. What those things were was unknown; they were most likely not equipment or materials, but supplies needed by the paradise.
Su Xiao didn't believe there were no other good things inside the 'Contractor Camp.' The three-time authority to forcibly seize items given by the Reincarnation Paradise implied exactly that.
The only problem now was where the 'Contractor Camp' was, and stripping the imprint of a contractor from the Apocalypse Paradise was also a major issue.
Su Xiao took out a 30-centimeter-long metal tube from his storage space, covered in space runes. This was the temporary coordinate generator. The other item in his hand was a metal plate the size of a playing card, 1 centimeter thick.
Su Xiao pressed the metal plate onto the [Black King's Fall Sacrifice] bracer on his left arm. The metal plate quickly split apart and attached itself to the bracer.
After covering the bracer with his sleeve, Su Xiao carefully sensed it. He himself couldn't detect any fluctuation on the bracer, so the chances of a contractor from the Apocalypse Paradise noticing it were even lower.
To strip another contractor's imprint couldn't be done in a short time. It required Su Xiao to have brief physical contact with a contractor from the Apocalypse Paradise. Within the following 64 hours, the distance between them couldn't exceed 1 kilometer. After 64 hours, the stripping would be successful.
By now, Su Xiao's blood energy had disappeared. Coupled with the [Traveler] title he was wearing, his Charm attribute was slowly increasing.
Title Effect 3: In non-combat state, increases Charm attribute by 1 point per hour, up to a maximum of 50 points. Upon entering combat state or completing one interaction with a plot character, the Charm attribute will revert to its initial value and start accumulating again.
...
With Su Xiao's base Charm attribute of 1 point, wearing the [Traveler] title was extremely cost-effective, boosting it by a full 49 points. The problem at hand was that he had just finished a battle, so [Traveler] had entered a cooldown phase and needed some time to accumulate Charm attribute.
Not long after, Bubu Wang ran out of the forest. Within half an hour, Amu and Baha also arrived. Baha liked to land on Amu's shoulder; in its words, their temperaments matched well.
"How much fertilizer did these plants get, growing so tall?"
Baha started talking nonsense again but was quickly interrupted by Su Xiao.
"Baha, Bubu, did you encounter any other contractors along the way?"
"Saw none, just trees, and more trees."
"Woof."
"Oh? Where are they?"
"Woof!"
"Lead the way. We'll target them."
Su Xiao jumped down from the tree. Bubu Wang had passed by an abandoned city along the way and encountered a few contractors there. Those people were clearing out Immortals in the abandoned city, probably executing a mission.
Those people didn't see Bubu Wang; it was cautious and had been blending into the environment.
Following Bubu Wang's direction, in less than an hour, Su Xiao walked out of the forest and saw several towering buildings in the distance, covered in vines.
This was an abandoned city at the edge of the forest. The city was large, with ruined buildings standing everywhere. Over a hundred years had passed, and it hadn't been swallowed by the forest, indicating that Immortals lived here, and in considerable numbers.
Su Xiao hadn't seen an Immortal yet. Based on the information from the world introduction, Immortals shouldn't be too strong, but their numbers were extremely large, potentially tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands surging in. They couldn't be underestimated, and under such numbers, elite individuals would definitely emerge.
Baha flew over the abandoned city and soon transmitted an image back. It was a human with grayish-white skin and red eyes. It had no hair, was bare-bodied, with indistinct female characteristics, but its fingertips had turned into claws, sharp at the tips.
This was an Immortal. Just as Su Xiao was about to find one to test its strength, Baha relayed another message: it had found those contractors. There were six of them, four men and two women, most of whom were combat-type contractors.
Seeing the words 'combat type,' Su Xiao felt a bit uncomfortable again. There was no such classification in the Reincarnation Paradise. In fierce battles, even a healer could swing a staff to hit, and do it quite skillfully, with some poison healers being astonishingly powerful.
Su Xiao walked along the highway between the tall buildings. Plants grew in the cracks of the asphalt road, some even bearing fruit that looked poisonous at a glance.
After walking for over ten minutes, Su Xiao's steps paused. He had entered the perception range of a certain contractor.
Within a few dozen seconds, a sound of breaking wind came. Su Xiao suppressed the urge to draw his blade.
With a bang, asphalt fragments flew, and a bullet embedded into the road surface.
"This place is taken."
At the top of a tall building stood three men and two women, with the remaining one hidden somewhere.
Su Xiao slowly exhaled, a smile appearing on his face as he raised his hands.
"I mean no harm. I'm just looking for a temporary team."
Su Xiao smiled warmly, and with his blood energy concealed and his gradually increasing Charm attribute, he looked like a harmless 'researcher.'
"Oh? Tell us your specialty."
A one-eyed man spoke from the top of the building.
"Summoner."
Su Xiao snapped his fingers. Bubu Wang ran out from a nearby ruined building, Amu jumped down from a height, landing with a crash behind Su Xiao, and Baha swooped down from the sky, landing on Su Xiao's shoulder.
Obviously, this really was a 'summoner.'