Chapter 49: Powerful Hired Muscle
Su Xiao had just slain the Diba clan warrior when Bubu Wang came trotting back from ahead.
"Woof!"
Bubu Wang's expression was somewhat anxious, meaning: "There's a guy up ahead stealing kills."
"Oh?"
Su Xiao furrowed his brow and quickened his pace. Before long, he heard sounds of battle from up ahead.
At least several dozen Diba clan warriors were besieging a monster with pitch-black skin and a long tail. The monster was roughly humanoid, under two meters tall, with a massive eyeball on its left chest. The eyeball had no pupil and was covered in bloodshot veins.
Su Xiao activated his Apostle's Eye to investigate, but the results were somewhat unexpected. He only obtained a small amount of data—the humanoid monster had anti-detection capabilities.
[Investigation complete. Only 7% data obtained.]
The data was as follows:
Name: Gluttony Monarch
Health: 61.3% (Rapidly regenerating...)
Plant-Energy: 9650/17300 points
Strength: 139 (True attribute, growing through devouring...)
Agility: 130 (True attribute, growing through devouring...)
Endurance: 142 (True attribute, growing through devouring...)
...
Clearly, the Gluttony Monarch was not to be trifled with. However, fighting several dozen Diba clan warriors simultaneously was not something these attributes alone could accomplish.
Within the battle group, explosions rumbled incessantly, broken spears flew in all directions, and several lines of fire fell from the sky.
The Gluttony Monarch grabbed a Diba clan warrior with one hand. Its sharp claws crushed the enemy's skull, then it tossed the corpse behind itself. Its long black tail split open, swallowed the body whole, and chewed it to pieces.
After devouring this corpse, the Gluttony Monarch's health rapidly recovered, reaching over 90% in less than a second.
Not only that, but upon closer observation, one could see that within several hundred meters around the Gluttony Monarch, large patches of gray dust particles floated in the air. All the Diba clan warriors within this area showed clear signs of weakening.
Some Diba clan warriors had their physical attributes temporarily reduced, while others fell to the ground coughing violently. They were half-dead before even engaging the Gluttony Monarch in battle.
This was also the reason the Gluttony Monarch could simultaneously deal with several dozen Diba clan warriors. The abilities it had evolved were specifically designed to counter the Diba clan.
Su Xiao's team did not join the battle. Instead, they hid behind a pile of ruins as tall as a low wall, observing the situation.
"Not seen for a few days, and Mogro has gotten this strong? Even changed his name to Gluttony Monarch."
Baha clicked his tongue in amazement as he stared at the battle group. Clearly, he had already guessed the Gluttony Monarch's identity.
"He won't last long. The power gained from devouring in a short time will be very unstable."
Su Xiao pulled out D·Assassin, aimed, and fired. The bullet sank into the eye socket of a Diba clan warrior at the edge of the battle group. This Diba was already half-dead, and after taking the shot, he kicked the bucket.
[You have gained 0.3% World Source.]
Seeing this notification, Su Xiao felt that the ferocious-looking Gluttony Monarch had become much more agreeable. This was a super laborer—no, a super helper.
"The alliance relationship hasn't been terminated yet. Even eroded to this extent, it still has rationality?"
Su Xiao signaled Bubu Wang, Baha, and Amu to find cover. He himself quickly moved away from the battle group.
After pulling back about two kilometers, Su Xiao leaped onto the head of a ten-meter-tall sculpture. It was a rattlesnake statue, now only a third remaining.
He took out the Devouring Annihilation sniper rifle from his storage space, switched it to continuous-fire mode, and loaded a nearly half-meter-long, arm-thick "muzzle suppressor." Mechanical Sister had sworn that as long as he didn't use the hunting mode (single-shot energy gathering), this muzzle suppressor wouldn't explode.
He pulled the bolt, adjusted the adaptive scope to 15x magnification, and assumed a prone position to aim. The stock pressed against his shoulder, and as his breathing slowed, the crosshairs in his sight steadied.
Bang!
The bullet left the barrel. Mid-flight, it slowly rotated in the air, forming a spiral of air currents at its tail.
Two kilometers away, with a crack, the head of a Diba clan warrior in the Gluttony Monarch's hand was blown apart.
The Gluttony Monarch's movements came to an abrupt halt. Its gaze swept around, but unfortunately, there were too many Diba clan warriors nearby, and it couldn't locate the source of the bullet.
While the Gluttony Monarch at the center of the battle group couldn't find the bullet's origin, the Diba clan warriors at the edge could. A dozen Diba warriors charged toward Su Xiao's direction, their eyes filled with rage. What awaited them, however, was Bubu Wang.
Su Xiao ignored the dozen charging Diba warriors. It was more efficient to snipe the Diba that the Gluttony Monarch had already severely wounded—one shot, one kill, and the World Source gained wasn't too shabby either.
Bubu Wang led the dozen Diba warriors in a "magic love circle" around the battle group. After two rounds, the Diba warriors saw through the trick and changed course toward Su Xiao, but Su Xiao had already switched positions.
Using a strategy of changing positions every five shots, Su Xiao led those dozen Diba warriors, whose agility had been greatly reduced, on a wild goose chase until they were completely confused.
After half an hour of fighting, the dozen Diba warriors were "delighted" to discover that all their other clansmen had died. The Gluttony Monarch was now charging at them, filling them with despair.
The Diba warriors near the Gluttony Monarch had their endurance reduced to under 100 points by some ability. Once they lost their greatest advantage—physical toughness—the Diba warriors were nothing but lambs to the slaughter.
If it were just the Gluttony Monarch, it might have been manageable. But what made it worse was that someone was sniping them from a distance—one shot, one shattered skull. Utterly hopeless.
"Ah!!"
The last Diba clan warrior let out a mournful roar before being swallowed by the Gluttony Monarch's black tail.
These Diba warriors died a very frustrating death. Without that weakening ability, they could have besieged the Gluttony Monarch until it doubted its own existence.
The Gluttony Monarch's gaze swept around. After a moment, it headed toward the center of the island.
Su Xiao's team followed at a distance of about one kilometer. With the Gluttony Monarch clearing the way ahead, it was obviously much safer. Moreover, in the previous battle, Su Xiao had gained 6.25% World Source.
As they advanced, Su Xiao was somewhat surprised to find that the Gluttony Monarch wasn't as reckless as it appeared. When it reached a Diba clan settlement with at least several hundred wooden huts, it chose to go around.
The Gluttony Monarch was clearly very familiar with the terrain of the central area. After weaving through the ruins for a few rounds, it arrived at a pool of water.
Standing before the pool, the Gluttony Monarch extended one hand forward. A mass of writhing biological tissue detached from its palm and fell into the water.
A few seconds later, large splashes erupted from the pool. Dozens of semi-transparent tentacles surged out, writhed for a moment, then retracted back into the water.
The Gluttony Monarch stood still for a few minutes, then reached its hand toward the eyeball on its left chest. Its sharp claws pierced into it.
A half-face metal mask was pulled out from the eyeball. Muscles tore with a crackling sound as the Gluttony Monarch trembled all over. It took several pulls before the metal mask was completely extracted.
The Gluttony Monarch then tossed the metal mask into the pool. Electric arcs flickered across the water's surface, and the pool fell into complete silence.
With a splash, the Gluttony Monarch leaped into the pool. The ripples on the surface gradually subsided, and the Gluttony Monarch was nowhere to be seen.
Su Xiao arrived at the pool's edge and waited for news from Bubu Wang.
"It seems... your goal is the same as mine."
Su Xiao tossed a coin in his hand. After a moment of hesitation, he decided not to use it.
Over ten minutes later, Bubu Wang sent a message. Su Xiao leaped into the pool.