Chapter 31: They Are… Hope
Su Xiao soon saw the big guy Baha had mentioned. It was a giant lizard nearly 40 meters tall, with a body length reaching an exaggerated degree.
The giant lizard stopped near Shelter No. 9. Upon closer inspection, one could see a flat metal cabin fixed to its back, equipped with a shock cannon.
A large cloud of dust rose as the giant lizard crouched down. Several figures walked from its back toward its neck, eventually standing atop its head.
"Fire Skull Gang."
Broken Fang, standing behind Su Xiao, swallowed hard. He had seen this giant lizard once before. This terrifying creature had destroyed Shelter No. 3, and he had witnessed that scene firsthand—unforgettable.
The Fire Skull Gang from Shelter No. 17 had come knocking. This was expected, as the Fire Skull Gang was one of the largest powers in this wasteland.
A man wearing a half-face metal mask leaped down from the giant lizard's head. The mask covered his mouth and nose, his hair was fluffy and draped behind his back. The metal mask on his face was thick, with numerous tubes connected beneath it. His upper body was embedded with armor plates, and several dark tubes hung naturally.
"F-Fire Skull… Mogoro!"
The hunters who had been preparing to fight all stepped back in unison upon recognizing the newcomer. This was also why Su Xiao had no interest in developing this force—compared to the insect race, these hunters were utterly useless.
At the end of the day, they only wanted to survive. Their willpower was far less firm than that of soldiers, let alone comparable to the fearless insect race.
If Su Xiao had an army of demon beasts by his side now, no matter what Fire Skull or Sun Head you were, they would just pounce and tear you apart.
Fire Skull Mogoro, leader of the Fire Skull Gang, had ruled Shelter No. 17 for 28 years. To this day, no one had been able to defeat him.
"You…"
Mogoro spoke, his voice somewhat muffled. His eyes, red to the point of turning black, narrowed. This guy had severe blood-burn syndrome. To have survived to this extent while maintaining his sanity, he was definitely a ruthless one.
Mogoro's eyes swept over the hundreds of hunters blocking the way. Everyone who met his gaze instinctively looked away.
Mogoro raised his hand to press on the lower jaw of his metal mask, took a deep breath, and let out a somewhat eerie hissing sound.
As the saying goes, a man's reputation is like a tree's shadow. Mogoro's terrifying atrocities of destroying 12 shelters instilled fear in the hunters. They feared not only Mogoro but also the Fire Skull Gang and that mutant lizard.
A hunter holding a gun with both hands, not daring to aim the muzzle at Mogoro, suddenly felt someone push him from behind. He was about to curse under his breath but immediately swallowed it back, because someone he couldn't afford to offend had arrived.
"Mogoro?"
Su Xiao looked Mogoro up and down. His preliminary estimate was that within five minutes at most, he could cut off the other's head.
"Holy Flame Kukulin."
Mogoro was also sizing up Su Xiao. After a moment, he raised his hand, signaling his subordinates to retreat with the undying lizard. Mogoro had basically figured out what was going on with Shelter No. 9.
"Let's talk inside the shelter."
Su Xiao turned and walked toward the shelter's entrance. Mogoro followed, leaving deep footprints with each step. His mechanical equipment weighed at least 300 jin.
"Chief! We're coming with you!"
A shout came from the back of the undying lizard. Mogoro glanced sideways and simply waved his hand. His subordinates immediately fell silent. Though their expressions were anxious, the chief's orders were absolute.
As Su Xiao and Mogoro walked forward, a path opened through the crowd.
Ten minutes later, in a three-story building in District A, Su Xiao and Mogoro sat facing each other.
"I came here to take the medicine, in exchange for Dibamu."
Mogoro grabbed a tube at his neck, exerted force, and with a *puchi* sound, light gray liquid splattered.
Mogoro tossed the tube onto the table. This thing was biological in structure, only wrapped in a layer of gelatinous material on the outside.
"Are you sure?"
Su Xiao's hand rested on the hilt of his waist sword. He felt that this leader of the Fire Skull Gang had come to die.
"Draw your blade. I'll die here, but my children will raze this place."
Mogoro's red-black pupils stared at Su Xiao. The moment he saw Su Xiao, Mogoro knew this was a monster—the kind he could never defeat. In his life, he had seen this kind of invincible monster twice. The other one might be even stronger.
"Should I call you a good father, or mock you for coming here to die?"
"It doesn't matter either way. As long as I can get the medicine, they are the hope. I am no longer."
Mogoro laughed, an ugly laugh.
"Oh? Having your people raze this place and then searching for the medicine—wouldn't that be a better choice?"
"..."
Mogoro fell silent. Before meeting Su Xiao, that was indeed what he had thought. He had brought his people, ready to wage war on Shelter No. 9.
So far, only a few traitors had appeared in the Fire Skull Gang. Most of the hunters there chose to follow Mogoro to seize the treatment medicine, showing the strength of Mogoro's personal charisma.
"You've seen the transcendent plant Dibamu?"
Su Xiao released the sword hilt. Though only a few words had been exchanged, he sensed the other's sincerity. Mogoro was vastly different from Yahada. The former was brutal and violent but willing to sacrifice for his offspring and subordinates at critical moments; the latter was simply greedy.
If Su Xiao killed Mogoro inside the Fire Skull Gang, he would most likely be unable to fight his way out alive.
"I've seen it once, and I obtained one."
Mogoro picked up the tube on the table, tore it open, and revealed a few green leaves.
Crack, crack, crack…
A crystal layer climbed onto Su Xiao's hand. He used two fingers to pick up the small plant. A notification from Reincarnation Paradise appeared.
[The Hunter has obtained the Transcendent Plant Dibamu Seedling (Damaged).]
[Note: Burning this quantity of seedlings to ash is insufficient to locate the main body's position.]
...
Su Xiao looked at the green plant stem in his hand. It was at most five centimeters long, with some leaves already withered.
Dibamu, the Great Calamity, the Undying, the Polluted World Core.
Many of Su Xiao's doubts were resolved. If his guess was correct, the Mogoro before him had the nature of an Undying. But he seemed to be deeply eroded, combined with the erosion of blood-burn syndrome, the two counteracted each other like poison against poison. That was why Mogoro had survived until now.
"There isn't much treatment medicine left…"
Hearing Su Xiao's words, Mogoro clenched his fist.
"Tell me where the main body of Dibamu is, and I'll give you the formula for the treatment medicine."
Su Xiao leaned forward, looking at Mogoro with a smile.
"You… are crazy."
Mogoro showed a surprised expression for the first time. He had been there once and obtained many things there, but he never wanted to go there again—never.
"Take me there. The treatment medicine formula, Shelter No. 9, and over 84,500 hunters—all yours. No, they should belong to your offspring."
"..."
Mogoro fell silent. After thinking for about a few seconds, he extended a hand and said in a deep voice, "Deal."
"Deal."
Su Xiao shook Mogoro's hand, which was wrapped in metal armor plates.
[Note: The Hunter has formed an alliance with Fire Skull Mogoro.]
[The Shelter No. 17 reputation system has been activated. Current reputation: 370/3000 (Friendly).]
Seeing this sudden notification, Su Xiao was momentarily stunned. Mogoro, who looked neither human nor ghost, turned out to be the kind of person who was extremely trustworthy.
People like this either die young or are betrayed. Once such a person builds up power, combined with a sufficiently brutal personality, that kind of charisma would absolutely overshadow all protagonists in derivative worlds.
The information on the transcendent plant Dibamu had suddenly come to him. Su Xiao wasn't too surprised. As they say, things are unpredictable. Besides, he had sent out so many hunters with two purposes: one was to search, and the other was to spread the news.
"We leave in an hour."
Su Xiao had no interest in staying longer at Shelter No. 9. The chances of gaining benefits here were lower than imagined. Some hunters did have good items, but most were like Broken Fang and his brothers—so poor they only had mechanical exoskeletons.
Moreover, the mutual distrust meant it was hard to buy items with Shork coins. The hunters weren't unwilling to sell; they didn't dare. With unequal strength and status, selling would inevitably turn into robbery. This style was deeply rooted in Shelter No. 9. This wasteland was simply too savage.
"Give me one day."
Mogoro clearly had matters to discuss with his subordinates, even to complete the succession of the chief position.
"Five hours."
"Fine."
Mogoro stood up and left without any hesitation.
After Mogoro left, Naga, who had been guarding the door, stepped forward.
"Mr. Kukulin, is Mogoro… trustworthy?"
Naga's expression was normal, but his eyes were desperately hiding some emotion.