Chapter 44: Perfect Infection
While Mogro was slaughtering on a grand scale, Su Xiao's side was progressing surprisingly smoothly.
There were many undead in the peripheral areas of Origin Island. Through his observations along the way, Su Xiao discovered that these undead did not easily gather together; some even competed for territory and food with each other.
Furthermore, the undead did not disrupt the local ecological balance. They were like predatory creatures on the island—dangerous, but as long as one didn't court death, they wouldn't be surrounded and attacked.
Clearly, the previous ambush was no coincidence. Now, with Bubu Wang scouting ahead, they could avoid enemies when possible and kill when avoidance was impossible.
Against fewer than thirty undead, Su Xiao had no fear. Even if they self-destructed to form "Fission Type II," he could still defeat them.
The problem was that there were simply too many undead nearby. These creatures were like minor mobs in the peripheral areas of Origin Island—extremely troublesome to deal with, and the rewards for killing them were mediocre.
With a *shua* sound, the long blade in Su Xiao's hand was pulled from an undead's head. The undead struggled a few times before crashing to the ground with a *putong*, continuing to twitch—practically dancing after death.
When dealing with undead, true damage was a perfect counter. As long as over 60% of the undead worms inside their bodies were destroyed, the undead were essentially just minor minions with absurdly high health.
The main issue was that there were too many of these minor minions. If too many were attracted at once, even Su Xiao could be surrounded and killed. He had no doubt about this—there were at least ten thousand undead in the nearby area, and even more in other regions.
"Amu, keep quiet."
Baha used his wing to tap Amu's head. Amu scratched his head.
From landing on the island until now, Su Xiao had already penetrated over ten kilometers, yet he still hadn't reached the island's center.
Su Xiao continued forward for less than a hundred meters when a notification from Reincarnation Paradise appeared.
[Notification: The Hunter has entered the peripheral area of Origin Island.]
...
Baha also saw the notification. He stared with his bird eyes, full of disbelief.
"Just... just the peripheral area? What was that stretch before, the sightseeing zone of Origin Island?"
Baha was clearly shocked by Reincarnation Paradise's notification.
"Quiet. Bubu Wang has found something."
Su Xiao quickened his pace. A few minutes later, he rendezvoused with Bubu Wang.
At this moment, Bubu Wang was lying on a tree, his head resting in a fork of the branches. From behind, it looked like Bubu Wang had hanged himself.
Su Xiao stopped under the tree, glanced ahead, then quickly moved behind it.
Several hundred meters ahead was a small-scale tribe. The houses were built from tree trunks as thick as an arm, raised half a meter off the ground to prevent moisture and insects.
Preliminary observation showed about a dozen such wooden houses. Nearby was a swamp, with a manually built wooden bridge leading deeper into the marsh.
A human dressed like a primitive was sitting on that wooden bridge. From his slightly dark skin, he wasn't an undead—or rather, he was a normal human, just with a somewhat strong aura.
[Comparing both parties' intelligence attributes... Comparison complete. Our intelligence attribute is 1.88 times that of the enemy. Obtained 100% of the enemy's data.]
Data as follows:
Name: Black Marsh
Category: Diba Tribe (Perfect Infection)
Health: 100%
Plant Energy: 5000/5000 points
Strength: 120 (True Attribute)
Agility: 119 (True Attribute)
Stamina: 130 (True Attribute)
Intelligence: 67
Charm: 13
Skill 1, Sacred Object Symbiosis (Passive, Lv.60): Health +3100 points, Physical Defense +30 points, True Strength +10, True Agility +8, True Stamina +12, Pain Reduction 20%, Ignores Virus, Infection, and Curse-type damage.
Skill 2, Long Weapon Master (Basic Passive Ability, Lv.26): Black Marsh has mastered the use of three types of long weapons through prolonged hunting, making him an excellent hunter within the tribe.
Skill 3: Perfect Infection (Passive, Lv.45): Unlike the undead who failed the Sacred Object Ritual, Black Marsh did not lose his sanity due to "Infection," thus avoiding erosion by the undead worms.
Tip: Perfect Infection (Passive) increases Physical Defense by 42 points, Neural Reflex Speed by 39%, and when successfully injuring an enemy's body in melee combat, adds 105 points of Virus-type True Damage.
Skill 4, Uga (Active, Lv.37): Black Marsh lets out a loud roar, attracting tribesmen within a 3-kilometer radius and driving away undead in the surrounding area.
Skill 5, Symbiotic Power (Active, Lv.50): Black Marsh fully releases his limits, gaining extremely powerful vitality for a short time, recovering 2% of maximum health per second. Effect lasts 60 seconds.
...
After reviewing the data on Diba Tribe·Black Marsh, many of Su Xiao's doubts were resolved. He had previously wondered why there were so many undead on Origin Island and why the rewards for killing them were so low—he hadn't received any so far.
Origin Island was not the undead's territory. On the contrary, the undead were failures—those who, after undergoing some ritual or transformation, couldn't withstand the plant infection and became undead.
The undead were exiled to the peripheral areas of Origin Island, coexisting with wild beasts. The true masters of this island were the Diba Tribe.
The Diba Tribe, the transcendent plant·Dibamu, and the so-called Sacred Object Ritual—Su Xiao had already guessed the gist of it.
But the current problem was: how many Diba Tribe members were there? This randomly encountered Diba tribesman had a Stamina attribute higher than Su Xiao's. The Long Weapon Master skill indicated these were no pushovers.
Moreover, compared to the undead, the Diba Tribe had stronger survivability. Although they didn't have undead worms inside them, they had extremely high physical defense, plus the freakish recovery effect of Symbiotic Power—this was far superior to undead worms.
The Diba Tribe's offensive capabilities were also strong. Each attack would inflict 105 points of Virus-type True Damage.
"This... is a boss?"
Baha squinted, looking at the distant enemy.
"Doesn't seem like it."
Su Xiao was confident he could handle about five Diba tribesmen at once. Any more, and he'd need to use his ultimate move to instantly kill them.
"Bubu, scout the nearby situation."
As soon as Su Xiao finished speaking, Bubu Wang ran toward Diba Tribe·Black Marsh.
Black Marsh, sitting on the wooden bridge, seemed a bit bored. He raised his left arm and scratched his armpit with his other hand. Because his skin membrane was too tough, the scratching made a *sisi* sound.
Bubu Wang first observed Black Marsh for a while, then stuck out his tongue at him before entering a nearby wooden house. Shortly after, Bubu confirmed that this small tribe only had Black Marsh.
Su Xiao stepped out from behind the tree and slowly approached Black Marsh.
Fifty meters, forty meters, twenty meters, ten meters.
When the distance was only ten meters, Black Marsh suddenly straightened up, tilting his ear as if listening to something. The next moment, he turned his gaze, staring directly at Su Xiao.
"Baka masa (Su Xiao's self-created language)."
Su Xiao said a "native dialect" that even he couldn't understand. Fighting required intelligence.
Black Marsh: "???"
Black Marsh clearly didn't understand what Su Xiao was saying. After a moment of confusion, he immediately leaped up, stomping his foot, and a wooden spear flew up.
The wooden spear in Black Marsh's hand was embedded with many shiny black undead worms. Although these worms had lost their vitality, they greatly enhanced the weapon's strength.
Su Xiao suddenly vanished, reappearing behind Black Marsh.
'Blade Path Sword: Time.'
The long blade stabbed downward, and the shockwave spread. Black Marsh's movements immediately slowed.
Cyan Steel Shadow Energy surged along the blade. Su Xiao slashed at Black Marsh's back. The blade cut into the flesh.
*Puchi!*
The blade sank deep, even reaching the spine, but after cutting to a certain depth, it couldn't go further—unlike the undead, whom Su Xiao could cleave in two with one slash.
After delivering the slash, Su Xiao lightly leaped backward. Black Marsh's long spear whistled through the air, drawing a white line in midair, the spear tip brushing past Su Xiao's face.
"U..."
Before Black Marsh could finish his "Uga," D·Assassination appeared in Su Xiao's hand.
*Pu.*
The bullet left the muzzle, instantly entering Black Marsh's mouth, forcing his call for tribesmen back down.
Compared to the undead who kept twitching even after being killed, Su Xiao preferred dealing with strong enemies like this, where every cut hit flesh. Moreover, he felt that the rewards for killing Diba tribesmen would definitely not be low.
Origin Island was indeed dangerous, but as long as one passed through the outermost layer, it was time to reap the benefits—provided one had enough strength.