Chapter 19: The Winner
High in the sky, fifty kilometers away, ripples of spatial distortion appeared one after another. The swamp below seemed quiet, but in reality, it concealed many contractors, all waiting for the supplies to drop.
In the dense forest, Su Xiao watched the spatial fluctuations in the distant sky. He had no intention of competing for the second day's supply crate. The Life Dragon Essence was far more important.
By not contesting today's supply crate, Su Xiao gained ample freedom to act. After searching the Tiger Bee Zone for a while, he found a semi-open cave that wasn't particularly hidden but had a good vantage point. The cave was shielded by a curtain of water cascading down from the mountain, surrounded by lush vegetation. Unless someone passed nearby, it was hard to discover.
Passing through the water curtain and entering the semi-open cave, Su Xiao leaned against the rock wall and began contemplating his next plan.
Bubu Wang and Baha were responsible for the Rain Throat Tribe. They needed to head to today's supply drop point first, wait for the Illusionist to show up with his people, then tail the Illusionist to locate the Rain Throat Tribe's position.
Su Xiao wouldn't let the Illusionist develop unchecked. As soon as Bubu Wang found the Rain Throat Tribe's location and confirmed the Illusionist and his group were inside, Su Xiao would directly confront them. The sooner he could eliminate the Illusionist, the better.
With this plan set, the next step was to wait for news and adapt accordingly. The ideal outcome would be to deal with the Rain Throat Tribe and the Illusionist before tomorrow's Life Dragon Essence drop.
Bubu Wang and Baha set off, while Amu was tasked with guarding outside the water curtain to prevent any supernatural creatures from approaching the semi-open cave.
The not-too-loud sound of flowing water reached Su Xiao's ears. He was sitting cross-legged on the ground, holding a test tube containing 100 grams of [Nature's Blessing].
The honey made by Tiger Bees entered his mouth. It wasn't as cloyingly sweet as imagined, only carrying a faint sweetness.
Downing the [Nature's Blessing] in one gulp, Su Xiao carefully sensed the changes in his body. Soon, he felt his blood flow speed up slightly. Aside from that, there was no strong reaction. [Nature's Blessing] was a relatively mild permanent enhancement item.
As for [Stinger Venom], Su Xiao didn't plan to use it for now. With his stamina attribute, he could inject [Stinger Venom] twice, but he intended to try modifying it after obtaining the "Second Era Alchemy: Toxins and Potions" book.
To get "Second Era Alchemy: Toxins and Potions," Black Scales were crucial. As for the origin of Black Scales, Su Xiao first thought of other Overlord creatures.
Before determining what properties Black Scales had, it wasn't wise to seek out other Overlord creatures, because Black Scales might be obtained through other means.
"Where is this? My head hurts."
Hibier woke up groggily, her expression dazed. After a moment, her pupils contracted sharply, and she immediately grabbed the pendant at her neck. Once she grasped it, she relaxed completely. But when she noticed Su Xiao was also present, her hand holding the pendant hesitated to lower, afraid her actions might arouse his suspicion.
Hibier's emotional changes weren't too obvious, but Su Xiao, who was meditating, immediately sensed them. First came a panicked gray-white, then an angry red, followed by a relaxed light yellow, and finally an anxious light purple.
During meditation, everything in the world had color, albeit faint. Not just plants and trees, but even emotions had color.
"You're anxious."
Su Xiao partially withdrew from his meditative state. He could perceive everything around him, except for the pendant on Hibier's neck.
"I'm just scared. After a girl faints, she always worries something bad happened to her. This is my guardian charm. Whenever I hold it, I feel at ease."
Hibier tapped the pendant on her neck, then curled up in a corner with her knees to her chest. For some reason, this girl always liked to curl up in corners.
"..."
Su Xiao opened his eyes and looked at Hibier in the corner. Around her neck hung a green gemstone pendant. It looked like equipment, but somehow different.
Just then, a rapid electronic beep sounded. Su Xiao took out a signal receiver and opened the screen. Footage relayed by Bubu Wang appeared.
Beams of blazing red-white light crisscrossed ahead, pinning a corpse to the ground. Surrounding it were over a dozen contractors in various outfits.
"Are you sure this is a Hunter?"
"No, wrong target."
After a brief exchange, the group of over a dozen quickly left to search for other suspicious contractors.
The footage Bubu Wang relayed showed the scene at the supply contention zone. A chaotic battle had already broken out. The Tank Man, Gourmet, and Gask were all present—three confirmed Hunters.
As soon as these three arrived, they were besieged by the contractors. Nearly all survivors had shown up. Though not united, they were willing to temporarily cooperate to attack the Hunters.
The Gourmet and the others were driven back because there were too many survivors—over two hundred.
An amusing scene unfolded. Among these two hundred-plus people, anyone who dared to grab one of the seven supply crates was immediately labeled a Hunter and attacked by the group.
Over two hundred people loosely formed a large circle, staring wide-eyed at the few crates in the center, none daring to take them. This sight nearly made Bubu Wang die laughing.
An even funnier scene appeared a few minutes later. Someone shouted, "The Illusionist wants to hog the supply crates!"
Due to the extreme chaos, the Illusionist was brutally attacked by "allies." He firmly remembered the voice of the person who shouted—the same bastard who had yelled "The Illusionist is awesome!" That voice, the Illusionist wouldn't forget for a long time.
After the Twin Ape battle, the Illusionist had only 17 contractors left under his command. Through subsequent recruitment, the number rose to 25. But with that one shout, his group instantly dwindled to 11, with over half retreating.
The Illusionist turned and left. After the Twin Ape battle, his reputation was completely ruined. Soon, the team leader might become Mu Xiao, who would continue recruiting survivors.
After the Illusionist withdrew, a massive free-for-all began. Over two hundred survivors fought so fiercely they nearly beat each other's brains out. In the chaos, the returning Gourmet snatched one crate, Tank Man one, Gask three, and the remaining two vanished somewhere.
In this battle, Gask from Death Paradise displayed formidable strength, even surpassing the Gourmet. After fully beast-transforming, his strength attribute crushed everyone present.
Facts proved that a scattered group could accomplish nothing. Earlier, some survivor had suggested opening all seven crates, auctioning the contents on the spot, and splitting the Soul Coins equally among everyone—each person would get about 7 to 10 Soul Coins.
That well-meaning suggestion was met with cold stares. Now, the survivors got nothing, their chaotic fight was in vain, and Gask ended up the winner.
After the chaos ended, Bubu Wang began tailing the Illusionist. He followed for over two hours until the Illusionist's group entered a very hidden underground cave.
Bubu Wang entered the cave and discovered an underground space inside, filled with many vine-like plants. This was the location of the Rain Throat Tribe.