Chapter 71: The Transaction
The chill dissipated, and droplets of condensation slid down the walls of the test tube as a bottle of Ancient Secret Medicine was successfully brewed.
Sealing the bottle with a cork stopper, Su Xiao stored the last bottle of Ancient Secret Medicine into the team storage space. The supplies were all prepared, and the remaining time in Reincarnation Paradise was nearing its limit.
Su Xiao flexed his still-sore arms—a drawback of training in the Land of All Beings·Fifth Layer. It left him exhausted, but it was well worth it. Among the self-developed Blade Dao techniques, all except Blade Path: Demon Blade had been refined.
As for Blade Path: Demon Blade, it was essentially an improved version of Dragon-Slaying Flash·Demon Blade—faster and easier to land on an enemy.
Su Xiao quietly awaited his return to the Real World. Soon, the sensation of teleportation arrived.
*Bam~*
As usual, there was the familiar "blunt-force" feeling. When Su Xiao regained consciousness, he was already in the living room on the second floor of the Accessory Shop.
Interestingly, this "blunt-force teleportation," though not the most pleasant experience, was extremely safe.
In contrast, teleportation while fully conscious either ended with being imprisoned at the start or ambushed during the return journey—never anything good.
Su Xiao habitually checked the security mechanisms in the living room. No anomalies.
He opened the window to let in some air. The afternoon was overcast, and a cool breeze drifted through the window, clearly signaling an impending storm.
Every time he returned to the Real World, Su Xiao had little of importance to do. He had no family or attachments there, but oddly enough, if he didn't return, he felt noticeably unsettled.
After each bloody struggle in a mission world, returning to the Real World brought Su Xiao an inexplicable sense of relaxation. Perhaps that was precisely why Reincarnation Paradise sent contractors back.
*Bang, bang, bang...*
A knock came from downstairs. Without opening the door, Su Xiao knew who it was—the brainhole girl, Li Murui, the shameless girl who had shouted "Daddy" in the Trade Market. After being scared off by a Reincarnation Paradise prompt last time, her "fear" had quickly cooled down, and she was back again.
"Open up! I know you're all in there. Don't ignore me!"
Outside the shop door, Li Murui, dressed in a white tracksuit, was glancing around nervously, clearly on guard against being followed. In reality, she was overthinking it—aside from her, no other contractor dared to come near this area.
As Bubu Wang opened the rolling shutter door, Li Murui's eyes lit up.
"I found a really interesting place."
"Woof?"
Bubu Wang seemed intrigued.
"Let's go... explore."
Li Murui let out a sinister chuckle, clearly planning to investigate some haunted house or the like. Before becoming a contractor, she was interested in such places but too scared to go. Now that she was a contractor, her courage had multiplied.
Bubu Wang's dog face froze. He flopped back onto the sofa, making his stance clear: "He doesn't play with idiots."
"Come on, I don't dare go alone."
"Woof! (Go away!)"
After being ruthlessly rejected by Bubu Wang, Li Murui sneakily glanced at Su Xiao. Seeing him brewing something, her expression stiffened, and she made a strategic retreat with the excuse of "having things to do."
Su Xiao set down the finished potion. Clearly, the little white rabbit had learned her lesson after the "unknown eyeball" incident.
A calm and peaceful Real World life began. Su Xiao spent most of his time resting, recovering from the physical exhaustion of before, preparing for the upcoming new world.
When Su Xiao was fully recovered, the stay time in the Real World reached its limit.
[The Hunter has returned to Reincarnation Paradise.]
[A new world is about to open. Please prepare, Hunter.]
The teleportation sensation faded. Usually, a new world would open in about an hour. Just as Su Xiao was about to leave his Exclusive Room and head to the Trade Market, another prompt from Reincarnation Paradise appeared.
[Prompt: Detected that the Hunter has traded with 'Worker No. 15053' multiple times (over 100 times).]
[Worker No. 15053 is currently in a highly special situation. Due to her innate ability, 17 natural days ago, she was selected as the diplomatic personnel for the 'Space-Time Power Transaction.']
[This transaction has been interrupted. Transaction party: Holy Light Paradise.]
[In this transaction, 3 Hunters and 58 Contractors have been killed. Diplomatic personnel 'Worker No. 15053' is currently alive and carrying 10,850 ounces of Space-Time Power.]
[A rescue mission is about to be issued. The Hunter must retrieve the '10,850 ounces of Space-Time Power.' If possible, Worker No. 15053 may also be brought back.]
[Location of Worker No. 15053: Wizard Continent. The 'World Core' of this world has been collected by the Void Tree, making it a 'Fully Open Primordial World.']
[Fully Open Primordial World: Contractors from any Paradise can enter this world, activate missions, treasure chests, etc., obtain World Source, and trigger missions.]
[Warning: A large number of Violators exist in this world (over 500).]
...
Seeing the prompt from Reincarnation Paradise, Su Xiao, with a cigarette between his fingers, let out a dry cough.
"Worker No. 15053?"
Su Xiao was clearly stunned for a moment. Beside him, Bubu Wang was dumbfounded.
"Woof?"
Bubu Wang's dog face seemed to scream confusion, because Xia's number was exactly 15053, and she was a Worker.
Su Xiao organized his thoughts. The information from Reincarnation Paradise was substantial. First, the starting point was a transaction between Reincarnation Paradise and Holy Light Paradise.
Although Holy Light Paradise had previously waged war with Reincarnation Paradise, that was a normal resource grab, especially since Reincarnation Paradise had been dominating Holy Light Paradise for a long time before that.
After the last World War, Reincarnation Paradise and Holy Light Paradise reached a deal. Reincarnation Paradise would provide Space-Time Power, as it frequently won World Wars and was an absolute tycoon in that resource.
In contrast, Holy Light Paradise had many Healing-Type contractors. They were good for beauty contests, but in a contractor free-for-all, they were only slightly better than Apocalypse Paradise. Going 1v1 against Reincarnation Paradise would truly be a recipe for depression.
Reincarnation Paradise, on the other hand, lacked resources other than Space-Time Power, as its contractors had little productivity. They couldn't just steal everything—if they did, the contractors of Reincarnation Paradise would have no time to grow.
In this transaction, Xia was chosen as the diplomatic angel. Given her temperament, this wasn't surprising. With many Hunters and Contractors protecting her, she was the face of the operation, responsible for only two things: "daily cooking" and "cooking during negotiations," using her powerful culinary skills to ease tensions.
Clearly, Xia had a protection mechanism as a key asset of Reincarnation Paradise. Most likely, even threatening words toward her would trigger a warning from Reincarnation Paradise.
Moreover, as a Worker, the chance of her embezzling the Space-Time Power was negligible. Unlike a Contractor, she wouldn't defect with the resources, and given her combat ability, she couldn't even if she wanted to.
The transaction parties had likely met, but for some reason, aside from Xia, most of the Hunters and Contractors had been killed. Holy Light Paradise's side probably didn't fare well either.
As for the cause, it was unknown for now. Although Reincarnation Paradise issued a rescue mission, the content was clear: the Space-Time Power must be brought back. As for Worker No. 15053, Xia, it was entirely up to Su Xiao's discretion.
Regarding this transaction, Su Xiao had many doubts. Did Reincarnation Paradise and Holy Light Paradise really need to send their own Contractors to meet in person for a transaction? Or was it restricted by some regulation, forcing them to trade this way? And why did it have to be in a Fully Open Primordial World?
However, Su Xiao could understand the Fully Open Primordial World aspect. Most Primordial Worlds were in a plunderable state. Allowing Contractors from other Paradises into one's own world could lead to severe consequences.
By assigning this mission to Su Xiao, Reincarnation Paradise was maximizing Xia's chances of survival. Su Xiao frequently ate at Xia's restaurant, resulting in many transaction records—one of the reasons he activated this mission.
As for the location of the Space-Time Power transaction, it was even more interesting: the Fully Open Primordial World·Wizard Continent. This was Su Xiao's first encounter with such a world.
The Wizard Continent had three characteristics: first, Contractors from any Paradise could enter this world, provided they randomly drew it; second, its World Core belonged to the Void Tree; third, a large number of Violators existed within.
In other words, a Fully Open Primordial World was essentially a den of Violators.