Chapter 48: I Want to Lay Low Too
Watching the two Battle Angels flee into the distance, Su Xiao sheathed his long blade. He had no intention of pursuing them; if the enemy managed to pull the spear from his shoulder, the loss would outweigh the gain.
After resting for over forty minutes, the Dibamu seed within the spear fell silent.
With a *shiiing* sound, droplets of blood splattered through the air as Su Xiao pulled the spear from his shoulder. The pain caused his cheek to twitch.
The spear was tossed into the water, and the blood attracted a swarm of large aquatic creatures.
After pulling the spear from Amu's shoulder in the same manner, Su Xiao looked at Bubu Wang.
Bubu Wang quickly shook his head and took half a step back, indicating that his injury wasn't serious—the arrow stuck in his left buttock was 'not painful at all.'
"Woo-woo~"
Bubu Wang's ears were grabbed by Su Xiao, and then there was no 'then.'
Su Xiao tossed aside the arrow in his hand and continued deeper into the shallows along the wooden bridge. Behind him, Bubu Wang looked utterly astonished. He had only felt a pain in his ears, and then the arrow in his butt was pulled out.
This restored Bubu Wang's vitality, and his steps became lively again.
Walking at the front, Su Xiao glanced at his current World Source. His previous plan had somewhat fallen through; relying on killing the Diba tribe to gain a large amount of World Source wasn't very feasible.
Killing the first dozen or so Diba had indeed yielded a substantial amount of World Source for Su Xiao, but after the kill count exceeded 15, the World Source gained began to decrease gradually.
Now, each Diba he killed only yielded 1.2% World Source.
Even so, the amount of World Source gained was still considerable, but the current problem was that it was already very difficult to find Diba in the outer area.
After advancing half a kilometer, Su Xiao spotted a treehouse and decided to sort out his gains there.
The treehouse was somewhat dilapidated, and with Amu's weight, it could collapse at any moment, falling into the green water below.
Su Xiao first checked the drop-type rewards. Aside from Soul Crystals, they were mostly various materials. These materials were all biological in nature, and Su Xiao decided not to sell them, keeping them for future needs.
His current World Source was 62.71%. As for the selection-type rewards, both 'Blood-Burning Blade' and 'Virus-Blocking Constitution' were fully accumulated. Su Xiao had obtained a total of 15 Dibamu Roots, reaching the maximum reward limit.
In other words, killing a Diba now only yielded about 1% World Source, plus a certain chance of dropping items. Even so, it was still a decent gain.
Unfortunately, the outer area had been largely cleared out by Su Xiao, making it hard to find any more Diba.
Su Xiao took out a piece of 'Dibamu Root.' After being processed by Reincarnation Paradise, it was now ready for direct use, permanently increasing HP by 150 points and body defense by 5 points.
As for how many times one could consume it, it depended on individual constitution—at least 3 times, at most 5.
Tossing the less-than-five-centimeter 'Dibamu Root' into his mouth, Su Xiao crunched it. The texture was crisp, with a faint sour taste.
After eating a small piece of 'Dibamu Root,' Su Xiao pressed his hand to his chest, sensing the changes in his body.
A strange life force spread through him, eventually absorbed by his body's cells. Su Xiao could clearly feel a significant increase in organ activity, and an even more pronounced enhancement in the strength of his muscles and bones.
[HP permanently increased by 150 points.]
[Physical Defense permanently increased by 5 points.]
...
Closing the Reincarnation Paradise notification, Su Xiao tossed another piece of 'Dibamu Root' into his mouth.
Half an hour later, Su Xiao let out a long breath. He had consumed a total of four pieces of 'Dibamu Root,' which was his limit. This permanently increased his HP by 600 points and his physical defense by 20 points.
Su Xiao checked his personal information and saw that the 'HP bar' had increased by a small segment, which put him in a good mood.
Indeed, a permanent increase of 600 HP only resulted in a small segment of increase on his original HP bar. At some point, Su Xiao's HP had become astonishingly high.
There were 11 Dibamu Roots remaining. Su Xiao gave 4 to Amu, and 3 each to Bubu Wang and Baha. After all, Amu was the frontline tank and needed the HP and physical defense more.
Amu tried first. Fortunately, he could also use the Dibamu Root and received the enhancement effect.
After all the Dibamu Roots were consumed, Su Xiao checked the notifications.
[Notification: Your subordinate follower 'Fierce Winter Bull·Amu' has permanently increased HP by 650 points and Physical Defense by 19 points.]
[Notification: Your contracted beast 'Venom Demon Eagle·Baha' has permanently increased HP by 420 points and Physical Defense by 16 points.]
[Notification: Your follower 'Void Hound·Bubuteni' has permanently increased HP by 1380 points and Physical Defense by 30 points.]
...
Su Xiao scrolled through the notifications, reading them carefully twice before turning his gaze to Bubu Wang.
"Burp~"
Bubu Wang let out a satisfied belch, his heart utterly unperturbed.
The increases for Amu and Baha deviated from the fixed values, which was normal. As for Bubu Wang, the deviation was enormous.
This guy had eaten three Dibamu Roots, averaging 460 HP and 10 Physical Defense per root. In terms of life force enhancement alone, one root for Bubu Wang provided more than three roots for Baha.
"Did we eat counterfeit goods? The gap is too big, hey!"
Baha also saw the Reincarnation Paradise notification and looked at Bubu Wang.
"Sigh~"
Bubu Wang let out a long sigh, as if to say: 'This dog wants to lay low too, but the circumstances won't allow it. Such is a dog's life, hahaha, burp.'
Su Xiao moved his left shoulder. After consuming the Dibamu Root, his injury recovery had noticeably accelerated. He simply tore off the bandage on his shoulder.
After resting for a while, the team continued forward.
"Woo-ga!"
The Blood Crow cawed loudly, but disappointingly, no more Diba appeared.
Clearly, the outer area of Origin Island had been cleared out by Su Xiao. In reality, as long as the benefits were sufficient and time was ample, even the outermost ring infested with the Undying, Su Xiao could find a way to clear it out. But if there were no benefits, he wouldn't bother to expend the effort.
Confirming that there was nothing more to gain in the outer area of Origin Island, the team began to advance deeper. In truth, Su Xiao hadn't wasted much time; he had been following the wooden bridge all along.
As expected, after less than twenty minutes of travel, the wooden bridge came to an end. Ahead lay land and a vast expanse of ruins.
Among the ruins, wild grass grew rampant, and a dirt path trampled through the grass wound its way deep into Origin Island.
A pale blue crystal spike formed in Su Xiao's hand. With a flash of blue, the spike embedded itself in the ground.
Pushing aside the grass, a mass of black biological tissue was writhing, pinned to the ground by the crystal spike.
"Mogoro."
Seeing this mass of biological tissue, Su Xiao immediately identified it as Undying cells. The one possessing Undying cells was only Mogoro; the Undying had Undying Worms inside them, while the Diba tribe followed a different evolutionary path.
"Who... who is... over there."
A weak voice came. Su Xiao looked toward the base of a broken wall, where a severely injured Diba was leaning.
Drawing his blade, Su Xiao stepped forward and pressed the long sword against the neck of the injured Diba.
"You are... a human... Gluttony... has returned. Kill... kill it. Don't let it... approach... the Source."
The Diba warrior leaning against the broken wall was on the verge of death. Three-fifths of his torso had been bitten off, leaving only half his heart exposed. If not for the Diba's formidable life force, he would have died long ago.
"Oh."
As Su Xiao spoke, he slashed, severing the Diba warrior's throat, gaining a 0.2% World Source reward.
The Diba tribe also understood the common language. Su Xiao wasn't too surprised, given that the Undying chieftain he had encountered earlier also knew the common language, let alone the Diba.
[Warning: The Hunter has arrived at the central area of Origin Island.]
[Warning: The central area of Origin Island is being invaded by the Gluttony Monarch.]
[Warning: The Gluttony Monarch is the ultimate form of 'Fission Body Type VI.']