Chapter 43: Gluttony
Bang!
Su Xiao slashed apart a flying spear with his blade, a blue gleam flashing in his eyes.
With a *pfft*, the fragmented form of Banishment pierced out from inside an Undead. The Undead merely staggered a step, its expression unchanged, and it could even withstand four or five more hits.
"I see..."
The blue gleam in Su Xiao's eyes faded. He had just split Banishment into dust-sized particles and controlled it to invade an Undead's body.
Through Banishment's exploration, Su Xiao found the Undead's weakness. At the center of the Undead's chest, over 80% of the Undead Bugs were concentrated. If he stabbed through there and activated Cyan Steel Shadow Energy to kill the Undead Bugs with True Damage, then decapitated the Undead with another slash, he could eliminate it extremely quickly.
This method was likely feasible. Unfortunately, the number of surrounding Undead was increasing, and there was also a newly assembled monster, the Fission Variant Type II. This thing was at least a Sixth Rank mini-boss.
Boom, boom, boom!
The Fission Variant Type II charged to Su Xiao in a few steps, incredibly fast. It leaped up, raised its arms high, and smashed down toward the ground.
With a thunderous crash, a huge crater appeared, and the surrounding ground cracked extensively.
The Fission Variant Type II stood up from the crater, but Su Xiao was nowhere to be seen.
An Undead wearing a plank-shaped wooden mask, with red patterns painted on its upper body, came to the crater's edge. It was the one commanding the other Undead.
Just as Su Xiao retreated, a figure walked out from between the trees. He wore a metal mask covering the lower half of his face, with over a dozen tubes hanging from his upper body. It was Mogoro.
Mogoro looked up at the Fission Variant Type II, unconcerned about the growing number of Undead around him.
"Debts from the past always have to be repaid."
Mogoro walked forward slowly.
"To escape safely in a situation like this... he's ridiculously strong. I was planning to cover his retreat, but it seems that's no longer needed."
Mogoro hadn't fled earlier. He had been hiding in the shadows, waiting for a chance to cover Su Xiao's retreat before completing something else.
Unfortunately, Su Xiao wasn't intimidated by these Undead at all, which genuinely stunned Mogoro. By the time he came to his senses and prepared to cover Su Xiao, Su Xiao had already withdrawn.
With a tearing sound, Mogoro ripped off his mask. His face, a bloody mess, he charged at the Fission Variant Type II.
"Sudu! (Native language: Leave, get out, move aside)"
The Undead with the plank-shaped wooden mask roared, but it was too late. Mogoro was caught in the Fission Variant Type II's hand and crushed with a wet *squelch*.
The Fission Variant Type II froze in place. The crushed Mogoro in its hand had completely turned into Undead Cells. In terms of rank, this was more terrifying than Undead Bugs, as it evolved by devouring them.
After a moment of thought, the Undead leader turned and fled.
"To regain... this power... this time... it won't wake up again."
A voice came from inside the Fission Variant Type II. Its Undead Cells surged, and its body gradually shrank.
Mogoro was hiding some secret. Su Xiao knew this from the start. When Mogoro agreed to cooperate, he had agreed too easily. It felt like he also wanted to come to Origin Island but hadn't made up his mind.
Just as Su Xiao's true goal was the World Core, some matters, even between allies, couldn't be made clear.
...
Two kilometers away, Su Xiao suddenly appeared in a thicket.
"Woof."
Bubu Wang, blending into the environment, lightly bumped into Su Xiao, allowing him to see it. It was Bubu Wang who had used the Wolf Clan Heirloom to teleport Su Xiao here.
"So there is a weakness."
Su Xiao sat in the thicket. The previous battle hadn't yielded much benefit, but it had taught him the Undead's weakness.
Su Xiao's goal on this trip wasn't to fight the Undead to the death, but to find the Supernatural Plant Dibamu. Therefore, penetrating deeper into Origin Island's center was more important.
He tried contacting Amu and Baha through the Adventure Group channel, but the results were grim. There was basically no signal. Even the team storage space showed signs of isolation.
Having just entered Origin Island, the team was scattered. This was undoubtedly bad news.
Su Xiao took out a bottle of Ancient Secret Medicine and drank half of it. The stinging pain in his chest faded.
Fighting the Undead was a huge loss. Su Xiao had killed four Undead, but not only did he gain nothing, he had consumed half a bottle of Ancient Secret Medicine.
"Bubu, we'll infiltrate."
"Woof."
Bubu Wang, blending into the environment, raised its head and trotted forward quickly to test the maximum communication range of the team channel.
After some experimentation, they found that beyond one kilometer, the team channel was disrupted. As for the reason, there was no need to guess; it was definitely interference from Apocalypse Paradise.
Su Xiao suspected that their earlier exposure was likely due to Mogoro. This guy's aura was just too unique.
Bubu Wang scouted ahead, while Su Xiao followed at a distance. After traveling about two kilometers, the Goddess of Fortune finally smiled on Su Xiao once.
Baha: "Hey hey hey, is there a signal? Damn Apocalypse, dare to stop blocking!"
Bubu Wang: "???"
Baha: "Signal's back!"
Su Xiao: "Location."
Baha: "We're in... uh, a bunch of bushes."
Bubu Wang: "Be more specific."
Baha: "A very dense thicket. This damn place, can't tell north from south. The compass is spinning like a fan..."
...
By testing the signal blocking range of the team channel, Su Xiao quickly regrouped with Amu and Baha.
"That old guy didn't die, did he?"
Baha sighed. It had gotten along reasonably well with Mogoro.
"Probably not, but next time we meet, whether friend or foe will depend on the situation."
"Those Undead earlier..."
Baha, being sharp, immediately guessed what Su Xiao was implying.
"Most likely, yes."
Su Xiao habitually wanted to light a cigarette, but considering this was Origin Island, he gave up the idea and instead tossed a Soul Crystal into his mouth.
"That old guy is really good at pulling aggro. He probably wanted to accomplish something but was wary of your strength, Boss, so he used this method to scatter the team?"
Baha sighed softly. If Mogoro became an enemy next time they met, it wouldn't hold back.
They maintained the same formation. After traveling for about half an hour, Bubu Wang sent a message that two Undead were ahead.
Su Xiao raised his hand to signal Amu and Baha to slow down and take rear guard.
Moving quickly through the forest, Su Xiao soon spotted the two Undead ahead. They were crouched in front of a deer carcass, their hands and lower faces covered in blood.
*Crunch~ Crunch~*
The two Undead chewed on raw meat, their bloody hands still digging into the deer carcass.
Su Xiao completely concealed his aura, his feet stepping on the dead leaves without making a sound.
Five meters, three meters, one meter.
When Su Xiao was within a meter behind an Undead, his long blade thrust forward.
*Pfft!*
The blade pierced the very center of the Undead's chest. Cyan Steel Shadow Energy surged, flowing into the Undead's body through the wound.
The energy inside the Undead was devoured. Centered on Dragon-Slaying Flash, the surrounding flesh became transparent, revealing a light blue interior.
"Ooh~"
A half-scream rang out. Su Xiao withdrew his blade and slashed horizontally, decapitating the Undead in one stroke.
The raw meat in the Undead's hand fell to the ground. Black threadworms emerged from the wound, but they only writhed for a moment before quickly dissolving.
Two slashes, one Undead dead. This proved that Su Xiao's earlier speculation was correct. Undead were not perfect beings; they had weaknesses.
These powerful creatures, spawned by a virus, would 99% of the time have weaknesses. To be without weaknesses, one had to accumulate strength through their own efforts, constantly developing and perfecting their own abilities.
With a *thud*, the headless Undead fell. Across from Su Xiao was another Undead.
"Hello."
A smile appeared on Su Xiao's face. As Bubu Wang would say, when Su Xiao smiles, the enemy is usually in for a bad time.
...
On the outskirts of Origin Island, over a dozen figures moved quickly through the forest.
"Aren't these Undead too strong? And... is this damn place really a Fifth Rank area?"
A contractor from Apocalypse Paradise muttered to himself. He was among the first batch from Apocalypse Paradise to arrive at Origin Island.
"The stronger the Undead, the better. It's not like they'll attack us."
A twin-tailed loli spoke, her slightly chubby face quite endearing.
"Stop. There's another high-energy reaction ahead."
The perception-type contractor wearing glasses spoke up. He seemed quite gentlemanly.
"Another Undead. Let's go around them. They look pretty disgusting, all full of bugs~"
The twin-tailed loli hugged her arms and rubbed her forearms.
"Wait, this one's a bit special."
The glasses-wearing perception-type squinted, because that Undead was actually approaching them on its own.
Boom!
A loud crash rang out. Dirt flew past the glasses-wearing man's face. Just a moment ago, he had sensed the target 500 meters away, and the next, it appeared right in front of them.
All twelve contractors froze in place. Despite the earlier prompt from Apocalypse Paradise, seeing this Undead's appearance still made them uneasy.
This Undead was about 1.9 meters tall, wearing a metal mask on the lower half of its face. On its left chest was a huge eyeball, pupil-less and bloodshot.
The most terrifying thing was this Undead's tail. It was a long tail formed from Undead Cells, slender and sharp.
"This one... doesn't look friendly."
The twin-tailed loli swallowed her saliva.
"Run!"
The perception-type roared. The next moment, a pitch-black long tail pierced through his head, killing him instantly.
"How... can this be..."
The twin-tailed loli was stunned. Before she could recover, a cold, irresistible large hand grabbed her head.
"Help! Save me!"
White and yellow light burst from the twin-tailed loli's body, clearly activating a life-saving item. But it was useless.
The Black-Tailed Undead flicked its hand, casually yet cruelly, tossing the twin-tailed loli into the air. The tail formed from Undead Bugs opened wide and bit down on most of her body.
"Ah!! Someone save..."
A desperate, tearful scream rang out. After a bone-chilling sound of chewing, the twin-tailed loli vanished. The Black-Tailed Undead's gaze shifted to the other contractors.
The Black-Tailed Undead was none other than Mogoro. More precisely, he had now evolved into the Gluttony Lord, Mogoro.