Chapter 8: Core Objective
Kaisa gave Su Xiao and Bubu Wang a look, signaling that it wasn’t suitable for catching up just yet, and that they should first enter the Wizard Association headquarters.
Following Kaisa, Su Xiao walked into the Wizard Association’s main hall, headed straight for the reception window on the right, and after entering a small door, arrived inside the wooden reception counter.
Kaisa sat on a wooden chair, holding a cup of suspicious-looking beverage. After hesitating for a moment, he gritted his teeth, pulled a clay cup from under the wooden table, and poured half of his drink into it.
For the stingy Kaisa, this was already an act of hospitality, after all, old friends hadn’t seen each other in a long time.
Su Xiao held the half-cup of suspicious beverage, glanced at the black residue floating inside, and had absolutely no intention of drinking it.
Kaisa took a small sip of the suspicious drink and let out a long, warm sigh.
“You’ve probably guessed that I’ve defected to Reincarnation Paradise. Being a plot character in a war world has no future; latching onto Reincarnation’s thigh is the real deal, right?”
Kaisa winked at Su Xiao.
“Are you… a Worker?”
“Of course not! I’m an Arbiter.”
Su Xiao: “…”
Bubu Wang: “??? (Mind in chaos)”
“Ahem, last time I arbitrated a war, due to an economic miscalculation, I got demoted a rank. Now I occasionally work as a quartermaster or something—still my old trade.”
Clearly, Kaisa had taken bribes during his arbitration of a war and was punished by Reincarnation Paradise. ‘Economic miscalculation’ my ass—only Kaisa could make taking bribes sound so innocent.
“If I’m not mistaken, the mission I received this time is similar to yours: reclaim that over 10,000 ounces of Space-Time Power. But you’re the main force; I’m just here to assist.”
According to Kaisa’s account, he had entered this world earlier than Su Xiao, but due to the different nature of their imprints, he had climbed the ranks through ‘special’ methods. Now, he was a receptionist at the Wizard Association headquarters, responsible for purchasing supernatural materials from civilians and distributing supplies to wizards.
Let’s just say, with a receptionist like Kaisa, the Wizard Association headquarters and its wizards were utterly screwed.
“How far have you climbed? Can you get in touch with the three Immortal Wizards?”
“We’ll talk about that later. There’s something more important. Kukulin, have you made contact with the other two teams?”
“Other two teams?”
Su Xiao looked puzzled; he had never heard of any other teammates.
“One team is 36 Contractors, and the other is 5 Hunters. You wouldn’t have… ah~, I see.”
Saying this, Kaisa looked at Su Xiao helplessly.
“Kukulin, you’ve killed at least a hundred Contractors, right? Has your Charm attribute already turned red from killing?”
“…”
“I knew it. It’d be a miracle if you could contact those two teams,” Kaisa slapped his thigh and continued, “Reincarnation Paradise isolated you from them, but that doesn’t matter. Both teams are already completely wiped out. Let me think, hmm…”
Kaisa pondered for a moment and concluded that he and Su Xiao weren’t on the same team. He was originally meant to guide the other two teams, while Su Xiao was the trump card sent by Reincarnation Paradise.
Su Xiao hadn’t contacted the other two teams, not only because his 1-point Charm attribute had already turned red from killing, but also because he had received an independent mission. In this situation, contacting the other two teams could risk Su Xiao’s exposure.
“Right now, in the Wizard City of Heru, there are at least over a hundred Violators scattered across other branches. Each Wizard Association branch has a teleportation array. Joining the Wizard Association allows paid use—50 silver coins per use. Don’t underestimate those 50 silver coins; this currency is empowered by some kind of energy and has incredible purchasing power.”
Kaisa pulled out a silver coin, flashed it in front of Su Xiao, then quickly tucked it back into his pocket, afraid of losing his property.
“As for those three Immortal Wizards you mentioned, unfortunately, I can’t reach them yet. How much reputation do you have now?”
“I haven’t activated the reputation system yet.”
“Did you come in through the ‘Old Tree Root’?”
“…”
“That old bastard, I suspect he’s in a wheelchair because some Hunter crippled him.”
As Kaisa spoke, he pulled a rusty iron token from his pocket. It was about the size of a thumb, and surprisingly, Kaisa generously handed it to Su Xiao.
“My dear friend, this thing lets you gain Wizard Association reputation at 17 times the speed. But, there’s a tiny flaw—just a little one.”
Kaisa grinned slyly, rubbing his thumb against his index finger.
“Spit it out.”
“Hehehe, you know me so well. I made this myself—it’s definitely not fake! But, uh…”
Kaisa ‘shyly’ scratched his butt, then brought his hand to his nose and sniffed, choking himself into a white-eyed roll—clearly high on it.
“Reputation gained through this can’t be used to exchange for supplies, but I guarantee it won’t affect your status. To meet those three Immortal Wizards, you’ll need to get your reputation to ‘Arcane Level,’ which is really hard.”
“Oh?”
Su Xiao wiped the iron token with a cloth. As soon as he touched it, the reputation system activated.
[Hunter has activated the Wizard Association Reputation Shop.]
[Due to interference from Nicholas Kaisa, the reputation shop is in a non-exchangeable state. Forcing an exchange will expose both the Hunter and Nicholas Kaisa to significant risk.]
[Your Wizard Association reputation gain speed has been greatly increased.]
[Current Reputation: 0/3500 (White/Turbid).]
[Reputation has three tiers: White/Turbid, Gray Calamity, and Arcane.]
…
“You got the prompt, right? Reaching Arcane reputation lets you see the Immortal Wizards. Speaking of which, why do you want to see those three old farts? Mission requirement? Looks like your mission is completely different from the other two teams.”
Kaisa looked at Su Xiao with eager anticipation. Clearly, when Su Xiao gained Wizard Association reputation, Kaisa would get some benefit.
“Eighty-twenty split.”
Su Xiao put away the iron token; he wouldn’t pass up a chance to profit.
“What? You want twenty percent? My black-hearted friend, you can’t do this to Kaisa. I saved you in the Death God world, and when Unohana Retsu suspected you, I helped cover for you.”
Kaisa’s face was full of indignation as he said, “At most, a ninety-ten split.”
“…”
Su Xiao signaled Baha to block the door and patted Bubu Wang’s head. Seeing this, Kaisa’s mindset shifted—Bubu Wang was his nemesis.
“Bubu, I’m breaking up with you, starting just now.”
Kaisa tilted his head back, while Bubu Wang flipped a dog paw and pulled a Soul Crystal (Complete) from the team storage space.
“Oh ho ho, I was just farting earlier, my good brother Bubu.”
How did Bubu Wang deal with Kaisa? Simple: act goofy first, then use his 105-point True Charm attribute to temporarily weaken Kaisa’s intelligence.
“Sigh~, I knew it.”
Kaisa looked reluctant but ultimately decided on a fifty-fifty split of the derivative benefits from the reputation, and he would help Su Xiao fend off surveillance and suspicion from the Wizard Association.
Facing a behemoth like the Wizard Association head-on was clearly not an option. Arcane Wizards alone had Sixth-Rank combat power, and there were over 200 of them just at the headquarters, with even more scattered across Heru City. The current problem was how to gain Wizard Association reputation.
This time, Reincarnation Paradise sent four teams into the Wizard World. Kaisa entered first, followed by a team of Contractors and a team of Hunters.
Under normal circumstances, these three teams should have completed the mission and brought back the over 10,000 ounces of Space-Time Power. But for some reason, two of the teams were wiped out, leaving only Kaisa, and negotiations broke down.
After that, Su Xiao was teleported into this world. Given his solo victory in the World War and his achievements during the invasion of the Apocalypse Paradise, Reincarnation Paradise’s intention in sending him was clear.
Since negotiations had failed, just go straight in and kill until ‘they’ submit, or slaughter ‘them’ all.