Chapter 60: Return
Sunlight streamed down through the hole in the cave ceiling. Su Xiao paid no attention to the rumbling sounds coming from behind him. He had vaguely sensed that some contractors were still alive earlier, but since Amu and Baha had already arrived, he simply didn't bother checking the bodies one by one.
After passing through the stone door, Su Xiao finally reached the inner greenhouse. As soon as he entered, there were upward steps ahead.
The stone material of these steps was clearly not sourced locally but was white rock transported from afar. It could absorb the sun's heat, raising the temperature inside the greenhouse even further. The pool water in the adjacent channel evaporated into steam.
After climbing over a dozen steps, Su Xiao arrived at a raised platform. On the platform was a circular flower bed, about ten meters in diameter, enclosed by rows of bones. Inside was pitch-black soil.
Scattered specks of crystals were embedded in the soil. A plant with oval leaves and tangled roots grew there—this was the supernatural plant, Dibamu.
As if sensing Su Xiao's arrival, Dibamu's stems and leaves stretched out, slowly creeping toward him. Soon, they wrapped around his feet and calves.
[Tip: The Hunter has received a gift from the supernatural plant, Dibamu.]
[Your Plant Affinity has been permanently increased by 13 points.]
...
Seeing the prompt from Reincarnation Paradise, Su Xiao pulled the Dibamu stems off his calves.
"So you do know fear."
Su Xiao found Dibamu a very interesting plant. It wasn't exactly bullying the weak and fearing the strong, but it was the type that wouldn't shed a tear until it saw the coffin.
Why did Dibamu show a friendly attitude? Because Reincarnation Paradise's style was completely different from Apocalypse Paradise. Reincarnation Paradise would directly storm in and seize the World Core.
"Hand over the core."
Su Xiao knew that this supernatural plant could likely understand what he was saying.
Whoosh! Dibamu's stems retracted, coiling into a defensive ball.
Seeing this, Su Xiao took a metal rod from his storage space and summoned Amu and Baha.
Soon, Amu came running into the inner greenhouse. As for the two contractors pretending to be dead, they had already been dealt with by it and Baha.
Su Xiao gestured for Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha to stand behind him. As for Beini, who was thousands of miles away, he couldn't contact her for now, but that cat was clever and probably wouldn't have trouble.
Su Xiao stood the metal rod on the ground and stomped it into the soil.
Thud!
Spatial ripples spread. Dibamu's stems trembled, then suddenly rose upright and surged toward Su Xiao.
Clang!
The long blade was drawn. Dibamu's stems stopped. Its more combat-capable offspring had all died at Su Xiao's hands. If its main body rushed forward, it would be throwing its life away.
Dibamu let out a silent roar, vowing not to hand over the World Core.
Boom!
A blood-colored beam of light descended from the sky. Reincarnation Paradise wouldn't negotiate with Dibamu at all—it directly stripped the core.
Rumble...
Dark clouds gathered in the sky, slowly rotating to form a massive vortex. Blood-red lightning flickered within the vortex.
Inside the greenhouse, the supernatural plant Dibamu writhed in agony under the blood-colored light. All its roots coiled together into a spherical shape.
Bang! Bang!
Plant fragments flew everywhere. Dibamu, nearly fused with the World Core, shattered piece by piece. Reincarnation Paradise was forcibly stripping the World Core.
'Give it back...'
A whisper came from beside Su Xiao's ear. The next moment, Dibamu's stems coiled into a human form, flesh and bones rapidly growing.
Crack...
A long-haired beauty emerged from the plant ball formed by Dibamu and walked slowly toward Su Xiao.
"Give it back."
The long-haired beauty walked barefoot to Su Xiao. She was about to raise her arms to embrace him.
Pfft! The long blade slashed through. The long-haired beauty burst into leaves, scattering around.
Crack, crack, crack...
Cracks appeared in the surrounding space. A terrifying sense of crisis surged around him, as if the entire world would shatter in the next moment.
A hexagonal crystal shot up from Dibamu's roots—it was the World Core. Originally transparent, most of it had been stained a light green.
The World Core visibly recovered. Within a few seconds, the light green color faded.
Meanwhile, in the western part of Siren Star, a forest covering 11.527% of the land area...
Large spatial cracks spread through the forest. Just as it was about to collapse, space-time power surged from the cracks, repairing the area on the verge of collapse.
Plants, animals, and geographical features were all affected by the space-time power. This region was about to become extremely dangerous.
Inside a bush, a raccoon writhed in pain, but soon recovered and stood up.
This "crispy snack"... the raccoon raised its furry paw, stared at it for a moment, then sat down. The look in its eyes was clearly one of thought.
Whoosh! A jungle tiger leaped over. Normally, the cute "crispy snack" would have fled, but this time, it didn't.
"Ooh~"
The little raccoon called out, as if trying to express something. The jungle tiger sat down, raised its front paw, and scratched its chin with its sharp claws. This movement was hardly something a beast could do.
The jungle tiger curled one side of its lips, revealing its fangs. It... grinned.
...
[Tip: The World Core has been successfully stripped.]
[The Hunter's temporary Overlord skill has been removed.]
[The supernatural plant, Dibamu (main body), has withered.]
[Due to spatial collapse in over 70% of Siren Star during the World Core stripping, space-time power has been transmitted for repairs.]
[Repairing... Estimated completion in 163 natural days.]
[This world is about to undergo a high-intensity transformation. Some areas will become extremely dangerous, and over 43.9% of native creatures will gain higher intelligence.]
[Reincarnation Paradise has obtained ownership of this world.]
[Due to Dibamu being caught in a space-time power vortex during its withering, the world's composition has changed.]
[This world's danger level has significantly increased. In approximately 39 natural days, all areas will match the danger level of Origin Island.]
[In approximately 105 natural days, this world's danger level will rise to Lv.17~Lv.25.]
[World renaming in progress...]
[World name has been changed. New name: Origin·Siren Lapu (Ultra-High Risk War Zone, Survival World, Trial World).]
[Promotion Quest: Polluted World Core (Completed).]
[Due to this world being in an unstable state, the Hunter will return to Reincarnation Paradise in 5 seconds. Please prepare. Due to the world's transformation, the teleportation will be extremely unstable.]
...
Seeing the last prompt from Reincarnation Paradise, Su Xiao suddenly had a very bad feeling.
"What does 'teleportation will be extremely unstable' mean?"
Baha instinctively pressed its wing against the back of its head. Five seconds passed quickly.
Spatial fluctuations spread. Unlike what he imagined, Su Xiao didn't feel like he'd been hit with a hammer. Instead, he was directly pulled into a spatial rift.
This was the first time Su Xiao had left a world while conscious. He looked around. He was still in the greenhouse, but everything around him seemed a bit illusory.
A layer of light membrane protected Su Xiao. Bubu Wang, Amu, Baha, and Beini were all nearby. Beini looked completely confused, clearly not understanding the situation.
Tick, tick, tick...
Like the ticking of a clock's second hand, the light membrane around Su Xiao contracted. The next moment, the world around him seemed to be stretched, the scene shifting dramatically into a starry sky.
The starry sky was breathtakingly beautiful. The tick, tick, tick sound continued. Every five ticks, a teleportation occurred.
Clearly, this teleportation was different from usual. Based on Su Xiao's understanding, although he would usually be "knocked out," he would be directly teleported back to Reincarnation Paradise in a single jump.
This time was special. The newly developed world "Origin·Siren Lapu" was very unstable. Using the usual method would bring adverse consequences.
After five crisp sounds, spatial power surged again.
Just then, a pitch-black spear suddenly appeared in front of Su Xiao. It wasn't particularly imposing, but it was extremely sudden.
Clang!
The black spear was blocked by a blood-colored light barrier. Su Xiao's eye twitched. If he had taken that spear head-on, he would have died for sure.
A muffled groan came from nearby. The attacker was clearly injured.
The teleportation began. As he was being transported away, Su Xiao reached out and grabbed the black spear tip. Since he was about to return to Reincarnation Paradise and had the [Miracle Stone] with him, he chose to do this.
A stinging pain came from his palm. He clearly sensed a black energy surging into his hand. Cyan Steel Shadow Energy immediately rushed forward, beginning to mutually annihilate with the black energy.
After consuming nearly 8,000 Mana Points, Su Xiao finally completely annihilated that small amount of black energy. This was the first time he had encountered energy that could mutually annihilate with Cyan Steel Shadow Energy.
"This is..."
The reason Su Xiao took the risk to grab the black spear tip was mainly to find out who had attacked him.