Chapter 61: The Dangerous New World
Inside the accessory shop, Su Xiao packed Tang Hong into his blade bag, took two flashbangs from under the counter, then pulled open the rolling shutter door and stepped out into the night.
It was nine in the evening, and the streets were pitch black. Because Su Xiao lived in such a remote area, it was already deserted after seven o'clock.
The shop next door, owned by Fatty Ma, was brightly lit, and the faint sound of his angry shouts could be heard. Although Fatty Ma was a feng shui master, he was also an avid gamer—"Bro, come slash me~"
Ignoring the overly enthusiastic Fatty Ma, Su Xiao leaped onto the roof of the small building. He took a spray bottle from the backpack behind Bubu Wang and sprayed a faint red mist, revealing a series of footprints on the rooftop.
From these footprints, Su Xiao deduced that the enemy was about 176–180 cm tall, most likely male, and leaned toward melee combat. Judging by the depth of the prints, his strength and agility attributes were not low, and there was a certain degree of corrosive, devouring, and assimilating properties.
"Woof."
Bubu Wang barked, indicating that the general direction had been locked. Baha flew high into the sky and began aerial reconnaissance.
Su Xiao jumped down from the rooftop and, following Bubu Wang's tracking, headed east of the city.
Half an hour later, Su Xiao stopped in a small alley. The smell of garbage spread here. This was a village within the city, with most of the houses abandoned. At night, stray dogs and wild cats roamed here. A few years ago, there had even been incidents of stray dogs attacking people, but recently, the area had stabilized a lot.
Bubu Wang had already infiltrated a civilian house. The previous intruder was nearby, and the scent was distributed across this area.
Soon, Bubu Wang returned. According to his reconnaissance, there was a male contractor in his thirties inside the house. His aura was not weak, but his exact strength could not be determined yet.
Upon learning this, Su Xiao leaped onto the courtyard wall next to the house and moved silently along it.
"Coming to my place in the middle of the night—not a good idea, is it?"
A male voice came from inside the house. Hearing this, Su Xiao took Tang Hong from his blade bag and tossed the bag to Baha.
A man wearing loose shorts and shirtless walked out of the dark house. He scratched his messy hair, looking half-asleep.
"So it's you. What do you think? Want to join the 'gathering'?"
The scruffy man looked relaxed. After all, before approaching Su Xiao, he had already investigated him. Su Xiao, known as the Night of Decapitation, was sixth rank and had only recently advanced to that level.
The gathering the scruffy man mentioned was actually a loose organization formed by contractors, coexisting peacefully with the Scavengers.
The strength of the Scavengers was always a mystery. Their policy was to appease when possible and only resort to force when absolutely necessary.
"Coming with a blade? You want to fight me here? Are you out of your—"
Bang! The courtyard wall shattered. Su Xiao vanished and reappeared right in front of the scruffy man.
"!"
The scruffy man's eyes widened. The enemy's speed was absurdly fast. Even without equipment bonuses, it shouldn't be this fast.
"You son of a—"
As the scruffy man spoke, a heavy pressure spread around him. As the face responsible for "negotiating" with fifth- and sixth-rank contractors, he was no pushover.
Boom!
A shockwave spread. Su Xiao delivered a straight kick to the scruffy man's abdomen. The enemy's speed was too slow.
"Wait—"
The scruffy man began to panic. The newcomer didn't say a word and was already trying to kill him. He had intended to intimidate and then profit, a tactic he had used many times. Almost all fifth- or sixth-rank contractors would negotiate first. They wouldn't mess with a madman who couldn't be reasoned with.
Pfft.
Blood splattered. A headless corpse stumbled back a few steps before falling to the ground with a thud.
Too weak. So weak that Su Xiao was surprised. A seventh-rank contractor shouldn't be this weak. Even without equipment or active skill bonuses, this level of strength was pathetic.
Flicking the blood off his blade, Su Xiao walked out of the courtyard. He wasn't worried about retaliation. Someone who would do something like this wasn't the kind of relentless madman who would never stop. Even if they came for revenge, he wasn't afraid.
On the contrary, if he pretended nothing had happened, it would only lead to endless trouble. People bully the weak. Doing nothing was the same as giving in.
He packed Tang Hong into the blade bag and walked out of the courtyard. The Scavengers would handle the aftermath.
When Su Xiao returned to the accessory shop, it was already midnight. On the way back, he ran into the Scavengers. They were clearly in a good mood—they had long disliked that loose organization, and now it had finally stepped on a landmine.
Back in the shop, Su Xiao placed the blade on the coffee table. Beside it was the bucket of instant noodles, now just soup.
Jingle~
The shop door opened. A man in black clothes, carrying a large bag, walked into the accessory shop.
When the man in black saw the empty noodle bucket on the coffee table, a vein bulged on his forehead.
"To be honest, our gathering isn't that bad. At least it's not as stupid as you think."
The man in black sat across from Su Xiao. He picked up the noodle bucket and tossed it into the large cloth bag by his feet.
"That idiot... that unlucky bastard sometimes loses his mind. Of course, it's also because of his greed. If he became your referrer, he could take a 20% cut from your first three intelligence trades. He's pulled this stunt more than once. The secret gathering's reputation will eventually be ruined by him."
The man in black took out a pack of cigarettes, pulled out two, and raised his chin toward Su Xiao. Su Xiao waved his hand to decline.
"Really not considering it? At the secret gathering, you can buy a lot of intelligence about primordial worlds. We also offer Paradise Coin exchanges for Soul Coins, at 163,000 to 1."
"I was interested before, but not anymore."
"Sigh. Too many people really mess things up. I'm out, brother. No one will come after you for revenge. Oh, I forgot to mention—my name is Greedy Wolf."
The man in black picked up the large bag and walked toward the shop door. Just as he reached it, he stopped.
"Really not considering it? There are a few sixth-rank girls at the secret gathering who are pretty good. Just a bit fierce. The aura of a sixth-rank girl... tsk tsk~"
"..."
"I'm going, I'm going."
The man in black laughed and left. Once outside the shop, he pulled out his phone and dialed.
"Yeah, it's settled. That idiot Dead Fish sneaked into someone's house and even ate a bowl of instant noodles. Hah, it had nothing to do with the guy. If it were me, I'd kill Dead Fish too. But his code name really suits him—now he's a dead fish. Haha. Yeah, yeah. Dispose of Dead Fish's body and head back. Don't worry. Mm, bye. I'll talk to this brother again later. He's as strong as a monster. Killed Dead Fish in one slash. I suspect even the three big shots in the real world can't take him on... No, I'm not exaggerating. Mm, okay, bye."
The man in black hung up. He glanced back at the accessory shop before slowly disappearing into the night. He regretted it. If he had been the one to negotiate, the secret gathering would have gained another ruthless player.
Not long after the man in black left, the Scavenger's representative for this area, Peacock, arrived. She looked at the accessory shop across the street, took out a small mirror to touch up her makeup, took a few deep breaths, and then walked toward the shop.
From today onward, the area around this accessory shop would be a forbidden zone in the circle of seventh-rank contractors. In the mission worlds, some of them might indeed be stronger than Su Xiao, but here, no one was his match.
By the time Su Xiao finished negotiating with the Scavenger's regional representative, it was already one in the morning. His peaceful real life resumed.
Time passed unnoticed. In the real world, Su Xiao occasionally went fishing in the nearby river or spent time in the shop tackling puzzle games. He had already cleared 90% of one game. The remaining 10% was nearly impossible to beat, but that didn't mean it was unbeatable.
The afternoon sun was especially bright. Su Xiao sat cross-legged on the bed on the second floor of the accessory shop. Sunlight streamed in through the gaps in the curtains. He was meditating as usual. Based on his estimation, his stay limit in the real world was about to expire.
Sure enough, as soon as Su Xiao finished meditating, a notification from Reincarnation Paradise appeared.
[Hunter's stay limit has been reached. Returning to Reincarnation Paradise.]
[Hunter is about to enter a new world.]
[World has been selected. This world's characteristics are extremely special. Five Hunters have already died in this world.]
[You have received Honor Recovery Potion (Sixth Rank) ×5.]
[Honor Recovery Potion (Sixth Rank): Instantly restores 100% Health Points and 100% Mana Points upon use, and rapidly heals physical injuries, such as severe organ damage, partial brain tissue damage, severe penetrating wounds, etc.]
[You have received Warrior Clan Emblem (Special Item). Holding this item will increase the Hunter's initial status upon entering this world.]
[This world has no permanent spatial coordinates. The location of the World Core is unknown. Only fifteen temporary spatial coordinates exist, belonging to: Reincarnation Paradise, Apocalypse Paradise, Death Paradise, Sanctuary Paradise.]
[A large number of Violators have previously invaded this world. In this world, a total of 5 Hunters·Seventh Rank (Reincarnation Paradise), 16 Battle Angels·Seventh Rank (Apocalypse Paradise), 7 Pioneers·Seventh Rank (Sanctuary Paradise), and 6 Rangers/Disciplinary Knights·Seventh Rank (Death Paradise) have died in battle.]
[Hunter will enter this world. Currently, only 1 Violator is located in this world. It is estimated that in 10 to ??? natural days, 3 Seventh Rank Violators will return to this world.]
[Hunter must eliminate all Violators! After completing the elimination, the Hunter must find the Darnesius Halberd before the Battle Angels, Pioneers, and Rangers/Disciplinary Knights, and bring it back to Reincarnation Paradise.]
[Tip: Failure to find the Darnesius Halberd carries no penalty.]