Chapter 28: Pick One at Random
The Blood Beast lunged instantly, and all the fat on Yahada's body tensed up.
Boom!
Blood energy exploded. Su Xiao's attack was far too sudden; no one had expected him to strike before this.
With a clang, metal armor fragments flew, and the servant who had been standing beside Yahada was already slumped in the corner, the lower half of his body missing.
Wood shavings, food scraps, and blood splattered everywhere. A ring carved from Shoke stone rolled to Su Xiao's feet. To him, this ring would be several sizes too large even as a thumb ring.
"Cough, cough..."
Yahada lay in the hole in the wall, the flesh on his chest blasted open, revealing a heart the size of a washbasin still beating.
"You... bastard."
Yahada struggled to stand, but with half his skull shattered, he had no strength left to get up. His confidence in his own strength and his distrust of others meant he never had many people protecting him.
To be fair, Yahada's strength wasn't weak, at least in terms of defense. Taking a close-range Blood Beast head-on and not being instantly killed was impressive.
Su Xiao leaped up and stood on one of Yahada's ribs.
"Ah!"
Yahada screamed, his massive hand swatting at Su Xiao.
Clang.
The long blade swept through, and a chubby arm flew off, landing with a thud on the ground.
With a sharp whoosh, the blade light cut through Yahada's neck. This time, Yahada couldn't hold on, and the light in his eyes quickly faded.
"You're useless now."
Su Xiao flicked the blood off his long blade. Just then—
Bang!
The door was kicked open, and over a dozen hunters rushed into the room. Seeing the scene before them, their pupils rapidly contracted.
"Chief!!"
The Iron Jaw woman roared, the mechanical exoskeleton on her upper body powering up and fully conforming to her form.
A wave of cold air spread, and Iron Jaw's skin turned pale as she instantly charged at Su Xiao.
Hum~
The mechanical exoskeleton emitted its unique operating sound as Iron Jaw punched toward Su Xiao's head.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out. A spiral bullet pierced Iron Jaw's rear shoulder. After successfully hitting the target, the energy on the bullet dissipated, its kinetic energy greatly reduced, and it finally embedded into the wall.
A hunter missing one ear, his face covered in tattoos, raised a metal firearm. He was the one who fired.
"Mr. Holy Flame, you can't die."
The tattooed hunter had barely finished speaking when Iron Jaw took a few more shots. She collapsed with a thud, her legs broken.
"You... were bribed by this traitor?"
Iron Jaw tried to crawl up, but the dozen or so hunters had already surrounded her.
"Sitra, after death, there's nothing. Why should we avenge Yahada?"
The tattooed hunter pressed the metal firearm against Iron Jaw Sitra's forehead and pulled the trigger. Blood splattered.
Bang, bang, bang...
Each of the dozen or so hunters gave Iron Jaw Sitra a shot. These bloodthirsty thugs knew that once Yahada was dead, his faction would dissolve in no time. That was just how Shelter 9 worked; the chief had changed hands countless times.
When Su Xiao arrived at the shelter, he had actually given Yahada two choices. The first was to hide the existence of the healing potion.
If Yahada did that, Su Xiao would frequently "move," because other factions would often attack Shelter 9 and invite Su Xiao to live in their shelters in exchange for healing potions.
The second choice was cooperation. Su Xiao would brew potions, and Yahada would expand his influence, helping Su Xiao find the supernatural plant Dibamu. This was a win-win situation. Unfortunately, Su Xiao saw no sincerity. The first batch of Shoke coins hadn't even arrived, let alone risking an expedition to other shelters for the supernatural plant Dibamu.
Yahada was clearly used to exploiting others. He planned to use Su Xiao to expand his power while also stealing the method for brewing the healing potion.
Yahada's approach showed he had no intention of cooperating with Su Xiao. So Su Xiao chose to replace him. Iron Bear Naga was a good candidate. That guy was bold but cautious, as shown by how he saved Broken Fang.
"Holy Flame, are you... the next chief?"
The tattooed hunter wiped the blood off his face, his gaze fixed on Su Xiao. He was waiting for an answer, one that would put him at ease. If it wasn't what he expected, the tattooed hunter would choose to fight to the death, because he wanted to survive in Shelter 9 and didn't want the rules here to collapse.
"You, go call Iron Bear Naga."
Su Xiao randomly picked a hunter.
"Huh? Me?"
A hunter as skinny as a monkey spoke, pointing at himself.
"Yes, you. Hurry."
"I'll do my best."
The skinny guy quickly left. Seeing this, the tattooed hunter holstered his metal firearm.
Su Xiao found a chair and sat down beside Yahada's massive corpse. He first contacted Baha and Amu, telling them to intercept the Broken Fang brothers. The plan was going more smoothly than expected.
After about ten minutes, Iron Bear Naga walked into the room.
Naga was confused. Chief Yahada had suddenly summoned him, and now, entering the room, he was even more uneasy.
A dozen metal firearms were aimed at his head. The back of Naga's shirt was instantly soaked with cold sweat.
"Holy Flame, save me."
Naga was sharp-witted. Seeing Su Xiao sitting beside the corpse, he quickly guessed the situation.
"'Holy Flame' sounds a bit awkward. Call me Kukulin."
"Kukulin... sir, save me."
Naga had a strong will to survive and immediately judged who held the power in this room.
The tattooed man was different from the other hunters. He didn't aim his metal firearm at Naga; instead, he stood beside Naga, blocking two of the guns aimed at him.
To be honest, Naga was a bit touched. He couldn't even remember the tattooed man's name. But while touched, Naga vaguely guessed what was coming.
"Naga, from today on, you are the chief of Shelter 9. You only need to do one thing for me: use every possible method to find the supernatural plant Dibamu."
"Dibamu?"
Naga thought for a moment, then knelt on one knee.
"As long as I, Naga, live, I will find the supernatural plant Dibamu."
Though his head was bowed, something called ambition began to grow wildly in Naga's heart.
"Since that's the case, I support you. You can have as many healing potions as you want. As for how many hunters you can recruit, that's up to you."
Su Xiao had no interest in becoming the chief of Shelter 9. First, he didn't know how to manage this shelter. The shelter had its own ecological balance, and Su Xiao never thought he could do better than Yahada or Naga.
These people were natives. They had always lived in Shelter 9 and naturally understood it better.
What Su Xiao needed was just a partner, a controllable one. He would provide healing potions to help them expand their influence, and in return, the partner would help him find the supernatural plant Dibamu, even if it meant attacking other shelters.
Naga remained kneeling on one knee, not even raising his head. Because the corpse of the previous chief, Yahada, was still right there, and that made him very nervous.