Chapter 15: Good News and Bad News
Seeing the Butcher shift its gaze, Baha in the alternate space was startled and immediately disengaged from it.
"Butcher, I f*** you…" Baha was about to say something provocative, but after careful consideration, decided against it. If the Butcher actually understood, things would turn bad.
"Look over here!"
After shouting with a mix of steadiness and cowardice, Baha teleported near the Butcher, then quickly distanced itself, frantically testing the limits of death.
Baha had only been scared twice: once when the Butcher nearly chopped it in half, and once when it was intimidated by Ni Tianba's arrow. Now, whenever it saw someone jump up and shoot an arrow, its heart skipped a beat.
The Butcher didn't even look at Baha and made a move to charge at Su Xiao.
Slap~
A pebble hit the Butcher's shoulder. The Butcher slowly turned its gaze toward Baha. Before long, amidst Baha's yelp, the Butcher charged at it.
Throughout the process, the Butcher had killed 10 contractors in total, dropping two Scarlet Cards. Both cards were far away, and Su Xiao wasn't in a hurry to retrieve them for now.
As for the 52.7% probability of dropping Scarlet Cards mentioned before entering the world, Su Xiao simply treated it as if he hadn't seen that prompt. The current probability might not even be 25%.
[Notification: Your temporary summon, Life Butcher, has killed the Overlord-level creature, Black Ape. The Life Butcher dealt over 75% of the damage to the Black Ape. You will receive 100% of the kill reward.]
[You have gained 10.8% World Source.]
[You have gained 620 Soul Coins.]
[You have gained an Overlord Chest (Opening this chest has a certain chance of granting an Overlord Equipment, or a 100% chance of granting one Overlord Essence. Three Overlord Essences can be randomly exchanged for one Overlord-level equipment in Reincarnation Paradise).]
...
Su Xiao leaped down from the stone pillar, walked to the Black Ape's corpse, and drew his blade. With one slash, he opened the Black Ape's chest. Banishment detached from his sleeve and extracted the heart from inside.
A heart floated in front of Su Xiao. Though the Black Ape was dead, its heart was still beating, containing a vast amount of life force.
[You have gained Ape Heart (This is a special item and cannot be taken out of this world).]
The purpose of the Ape Heart was unknown. Su Xiao only knew that the Bee Queen desperately wanted this item. Although it contained a large amount of life force, it was very impure. Su Xiao didn't plan to use the Devouring Core to absorb the biological energy within this heart.
Killing an Overlord creature only yielded 10.8% World Source. Obtaining World Source in this world was clearly much harder than in the Source World.
With a whoosh, a spike flew past Su Xiao's ear. He tilted his head, shifting his gaze to a puddle of muddy water a few dozen meters away. Someone had been hiding there.
This kind of stealth, completely devoid of any aura, was the second time he had encountered it in this world. It was a member of the Rain Throat Tribe. If they missed their strike, they immediately vanished.
The Illusionist had brought people to besiege the Overlord creature and had prepared a backup plan: the assistance of the Rain Throat Tribe.
Unfortunately, this tribe, which loved to ambush, hadn't shown up earlier, clearly fearing the Life Butcher. As for their purpose here, there was no need to think about it—the Illusionist must have promised to share part of the Ape Heart with the Rain Throat Tribe after the battle.
This siege was a trap. If any Hunter came to snatch the chest at the last moment, they would be riddled with arrows or blow darts by the hidden Rain Throat Tribe members.
Having been ambushed twice in a row, although the losses weren't significant, Su Xiao had decided to find a way to deal with this tribe. The current problem was that he didn't know where the tribe was located.
Putting aside the Rain Throat Tribe for now, Su Xiao first wanted to use the Ape Heart to reap a huge profit. He had no use for it, but that didn't mean others didn't crave it. For example, the Bee Queen's [Natural Grace] honey was something Su Xiao wanted to obtain—it could permanently improve physical attributes.
On the messy battlefield of the shallow water area, just as Su Xiao was about to leave, several announcements appeared.
[Announcement (Void Tree): As more than half of the Hunters have been killed, all Survivors receive a survival time reduction reward. The survival trial will be reduced from 15 natural days to 10 natural days.]
[Announcement (Void Tree): The quantity of supply drops has changed. 6 to 8 supply crates will be dropped daily.]
[Announcement (Void Tree): The blue supply crate (Life Dragon Essence) will be dropped on the third natural day. The unique purple supply crate will be dropped on the seventh natural day.]
[Announcement (Void Tree): On the tenth natural day, a Holy Spirit rank set (Night Walker Set, 4/4, unique) will be dropped at the center of the Frenzied Forest.]
...
A large number of prompts appeared. The quantity and timing of resource drops had changed because of the heavy casualties among the Hunters.
Moreover, because more than half of the Hunters had been killed, the Survivors had received a reward: they now only needed to survive for 10 days.
There were 300 Survivors and only 25 Hunters. Su Xiao wasn't surprised that more than half of the Hunters had died. The Gourmet had killed three yesterday, and the Illusionist's side wouldn't have killed fewer. It was normal for more than 12 Hunters to have died.
What truly caught Su Xiao's attention were the blue supply crate, the purple supply crate, and the Holy Spirit rank set, the Night Walker Set, to be dropped on the tenth day.
The strength of a Holy Spirit rank set could be gauged by comparing it to the current Black King Set. The Night Walker Set was a set coveted by Assassination-type contractors. For example, Gulu, who was half an Assassination-type, would immediately go dark and berserk if she saw this set, then desperately fight to snatch it.
Tomorrow was the time for the Life Dragon Essence drop. Su Xiao decided not to participate in today's supply scramble. At least 200 Survivors would appear in today's supply scramble. With more than half of the Hunters dead, the Survivors were no longer trembling in fear.
Su Xiao wanted to conserve his strength to seize the Life Dragon Essence tomorrow. This was crucial for whether he could upgrade his Azure Steel Shadow ability.
Walking through the muddy water of the swamp, Su Xiao didn't return to the Water Source Area but headed straight for the Tiger Bee Zone. He wanted to negotiate face-to-face with the Bee Queen. As for whether she would turn hostile, if the Bee Queen did flip out and ordered a large number of elite Tiger Eye Bees to surround Su Xiao, he would directly detonate one of the [Blazing Sun's Wrath: Apollo] he had brought this time.
An hour later, Su Xiao arrived at the edge of the Tiger Bee Zone. Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha quickly joined him.
"Boss, did we forget something?"
"Can't recall."
"Woof~"
Su Xiao hadn't taken a few steps before he suddenly remembered that he had forgotten Xibei'er. She was still waiting in the wooden house in the Water Source Area.
...
Water Source Area, inside a treehouse near Mirror Lake.
"Achoo~"
Xibei'er sneezed, then sniffled. She felt her face burning and her whole body weak. This feeling was both familiar and strange to her. It seemed she had caught a cold, but as a Seventh Rank contractor with 80 points in Stamina attribute, she simply couldn't catch a cold.
Just as Xibei'er was waiting in a daze, a sound of wind breaking came, and the treehouse door was slammed open.
"No time to explain, get on."
Baha spread its wings. Seeing it, Xibei'er quickly stepped forward and lay down on Baha's back.
"I think I have a cold."
"Don't talk nonsense. If something's wrong with your body, my boss can fix it... ah, no, he can perform surgery. Trust me, you'll remember that process vividly."
Baha carried Xibei'er high into the sky and soon rendezvoused with Su Xiao in the Tiger Bee Zone.
Standing on a tree branch, Xibei'er looked into the distance at the massive beehive. Her nose slightly red, she felt a chill in her heart. If this were a normal team, she wouldn't worry about her teammates attacking that five-story-tall Tiger Bee hive. Any contractor with common sense wouldn't do that. But Xibei'er hadn't forgotten that the team she was in this time came from Reincarnation Paradise.
"In a moment, there will be an explosion inside the hive. After the flames subside, summon the Plant King within 300 meters of the hive."
"Ah~?"
Xibei'er spoke with a trembling voice. The thing she feared most had happened. These madmen were really going to attack the hive.
Su Xiao leaped down from the tree branch and walked at a moderate pace toward the Tiger Bee hive a kilometer away.
Walking through the waist-high flower field, as soon as Su Xiao approached within 700 meters of the Tiger Bee hive, dozens of elite Tiger Eye Bees flew out of the hive, staring at the approaching Su Xiao.
Buzz~
A large swarm of Tiger Eye Bees surged out of the hive. Su Xiao raised his hand, and a huge heart appeared in his palm. The next instant, a wave of mental energy spread from the hive. All the elite Tiger Eye Bees gathered together, forming a humanoid shape.
"Human, let's... talk."
A voice came from inside the hive. The surrounding millions of Tiger Eye Bees parted, forming a passage.
With one hand holding the Ape Heart and the other gripping Apollo, Su Xiao leaped into the nearly four-meter-high entrance in the middle of the hive. The first step of the plan was successful.