Chapter 99: Five-Party Melee
[The Hunter has reached the maximum stay time in Reincarnation Paradise and will soon return to the Real World.]
[Teleportation has begun.]
When Su Xiao's vision cleared, he was already sitting on the floor of the second floor of the accessory shop, with Amu and Bubu Wang both present.
"Where is this?"
Baha's voice came through.
"Meow?"
Beini also looked around. After Su Xiao participated in the Strongest Battle, both Baha and Beini could reach the Real World.
"Bubu, explain things to Baha and Beini. Amu, put down that back scratcher; that thing isn't edible."
Su Xiao changed his clothes, went down the stairs, opened the shop door, and sat down on the sofa inside the accessory shop.
Still no business. Su Xiao was used to it. He was just about to take a short nap when loud music came from outside.
"Woof?"
Bubu Wang ran to the shop door and came back shortly, its eyes conveying: "Master, there are people on the street doing heavy metal health punk."
"Heavy metal health punk?"
Su Xiao got up and went to the shop door. He found a group of people dancing square dancing on the empty lot across the street. This was what Bubu Wang meant by "heavy metal health punk."
It was very noisy. Su Xiao certainly wasn't going to negotiate with those elderly people. He sat back on the sofa, picked up his phone, dialed a number, and after two rings, it connected.
"Mr. Su, what is it this time?"
"Someone is square dancing in front of my house. It's very noisy."
"Wha, what?!"
The woman on the other end of the line was clearly shocked, her voice cracking. She couldn't imagine what level of suicidal behavior this was. Compared to Sixth Rank contractors, those heinous criminals were as cute as kindergarten kids.
"Handle it immediately. That street you live on is very remote. Please forgive me. I'll send someone right away, no, I'll go myself."
Hearing this reply, Su Xiao hung up. A few minutes later, the annoying music from across the street stopped. Su Xiao closed his eyes to rest.
In his hazy state, Su Xiao sensed someone approaching him. His eyes opened.
A moment later, Fatty Ma from next door walked into the accessory shop. His big belly looked like he was nine months pregnant. He sat on the sofa opposite Su Xiao.
Creak~
The sofa let out a helpless groan.
"This was mailed to you. You weren't here, and I happened to run into the courier, so I accepted it for you. It's from abroad, but the courier seemed to recognize me and handed it over without any trouble."
Fatty Ma placed the package on the coffee table, chatted with Su Xiao for a while, and then left, agreeing to have hotpot at his shop next door tonight.
Su Xiao opened the outer packaging of the package. A black-and-gold wooden box appeared. He glanced at the sender on the packaging, which read "Garfield Shakespeare," clearly a pseudonym.
The note on the packaging was interesting: "Christmas Gift." Seeing this, Su Xiao knew who sent the package. It was from Brother Wu San, whose code name in Reincarnation Paradise was Christmas.
Opening the wooden box, an ancient ring came into view, even covered with green patina.
Inside the box was also a card that read: "The kindness of sending charcoal in the snow is beyond repayment."
[You have obtained the Prison Guard Copper Ring.]
[Hint: Using this ring allows you to enter a fully open state for 10 minutes.]
[Fully Open State: After activating this state, if the Hunter is in the Real World, you can lift some restrictions for 10 minutes. During this time, the Hunter can use active abilities and temporarily retrieve one piece of equipment from the storage space.]
Seeing the attributes of this copper ring, Su Xiao raised an eyebrow. If he could activate the Azure Steel Shadow ability in the Real World and retrieve the Dragon-Slaying Flash from his storage space, his combat power would skyrocket.
Su Xiao already had a bunch of passive abilities, plus four true main attributes. His combat power in the Real World was at the absolute top tier among his rank. If he could also lift restrictions and wield the Dragon-Slaying Flash, he was confident he could take down a Seventh Rank contractor.
If he encountered danger in the Real World, this item was definitely a lifesaver. Su Xiao never actively provoked others in the Real World, but that didn't mean he didn't make enemies in the mission worlds.
Back when Brother Wu San was being hunted by Stan's men, he fled with his daughter. At that time, Su Xiao provided him with a residence abroad, a grape vineyard. If not for receiving Brother Wu San's thanks today, Su Xiao would have almost forgotten about it.
Peaceful real life began. After no one danced heavy metal health punk across the street, the street was very quiet. After all, the end of this street was wasteland. The total length of the asphalt road was less than half a kilometer, the very edge of the city. The accessory shop was just over a hundred meters from the wasteland, so basically no vehicles came nearby.
Come to think of it, from the day Su Xiao's accessory shop opened until now, it hadn't sold a single piece of jewelry. It would be strange if it did in such a location. Next door, Fatty Ma's funeral supply store was the last face of this street.
The antique shop across the street couldn't hold out anymore and had closed down not long ago. It was said that the rat-like owner signed up for a "training class" that provided free food and lodging. After ratting out a bunch of accomplices, he saved his own skin, but his remaining years would basically be spent in that "training."
After the antique shop kicked the bucket, the street became even quieter. No wonder someone came to dance heavy metal health punk.
Time passed unconsciously. Su Xiao's condition was getting better and better.
[Hint: A new world is about to open. The Hunter will return to Reincarnation Paradise. Please ensure there are no witnesses nearby.]
[Hint: The new world is an ultra-large world, involving Paradise confrontation, large-scale battlefields, World Core contention, and resource contention (the resource is a Space-Time Force aggregate).]
[Paradise Merit System is about to open.]
[World War is about to begin.]
[Opponents in this round of World War: Death Paradise, Apocalypse Paradise, Holy Light Paradise, Sanctuary Paradise. The four Paradises have not reached a cooperation agreement.]
[Teleporting... Teleportation location: Reincarnation Paradise.]
[Teleportation completed.]
[Announcement: Void Tree notarizing...]
[Announcement: Notarization completed.]
[War location: Ten Thousand Beasts Continent.]
[War intensity: Medium-High!]
[Announcement: According to Initial Law Article 1548762, Void Tree is absolutely neutral.]
...
In the Exclusive Room, Su Xiao frowned after seeing this series of prompts. Last time, Reincarnation Paradise fought one against three and won.
This time, it wasn't one against four. The five Paradises were all mutually hostile because, besides competing for the World Core, they were also competing for another resource: the Space-Time Force aggregate.
Due to the existence of this resource, the four Paradises—Death Paradise, Apocalypse Paradise, Holy Light Paradise, and Sanctuary Paradise—could not reach a cooperation agreement.
After all, whichever side grabbed the Space-Time Force aggregate, that thing belonged to them. From the looks of it, there wasn't just one Space-Time Force aggregate, but many.
An ultra-giant world near the Ten Thousand Beasts Continent had collapsed, and the Space-Time Force formed aggregates scattered across the Ten Thousand Beasts Continent.
Compared to these Space-Time Force aggregates, the World Core was the last thing to compete for. This meant that in the World War, the other four sides couldn't unite; they were all enemies with each other.
Even for a "soft girl Paradise" like Holy Light Paradise, grabbing the World Core wasn't that important. They probably couldn't get it anyway. Those girls' war missions should prioritize competing for the "Space-Time Force aggregate."
Opportunities to grab the World Core were plentiful, but the collapse of an ultra-giant world, with Space-Time Force aggregates scattering in nearby worlds, was extremely rare.
With five sides opposing each other, even before arriving at the Ten Thousand Beasts Continent, Su Xiao could imagine how lively this World War would be. Too many scenarios were possible.
For example, a "Space-Time Force aggregate" appeared in the Holy Light Paradise area. The neighboring Death Paradise and Apocalypse Paradise would cooperate, beat the hell out of Holy Light Paradise, and rob the "Space-Time Force aggregate."
But the next day, if a Space-Time Force aggregate appeared in the Death Paradise area, then Apocalypse Paradise and Holy Light Paradise would cooperate, counterattack Death Paradise, and after successfully robbing it, the contractors from both sides would then fight each other for the "Space-Time Force aggregate."
The fact that there wasn't just one Space-Time Force aggregate meant that in this World War, there would be no true allies. Backstabbing would be common.
After awakening the Azure Shadow King and consuming a large amount of resources, Su Xiao was very curious about one thing: how many Sixth Rank contractors could he take on?
"Five-party melee."
Su Xiao muttered softly, a smile appearing on his face.
[Hint: Some Space-Time Force aggregates have completed landing.]
[Landing location: Ten Thousand Beasts Continent.]
[The Hunter needs to reach the assembly point as soon as possible and board the World Shuttle within 30 minutes to prepare for departure to the Ten Thousand Beasts Continent.]