Chapter 28: Counter-Hunt
The two pieces of news brought by the Gourmet were not good. The survivors had joined forces, forming two temporary factions.
Among them, the bad news was that the contractors on their own side had actually "united." The Gourmet considered this bad news not because he thought their group of over 40 people was stronger than the "Survivor Alliance" of over 200.
In the Gourmet's view, the sudden unity of these contractors on their side would definitely not lead to anything good. These people might pull some kind of stunt that needed to be guarded against, unlike the "Survivor Alliance" over there, whose purpose was pure—either completing tasks or acquiring resources.
The Gourmet didn't stay long before leaving. He planned to go see what exactly the contractors on their side were up to. These people had not only invited survivors to join but had also extended an invitation to the Gourmet himself, a hunter.
Less than an hour later, Su Xiao received a message from the Gourmet, delivered by a giant-beaked bird.
The reason the Gourmet was willing to share intelligence was mainly that if their own people were going to cause trouble, he would choose to join forces with Su Xiao to kill all 40-plus contractors on their side.
Su Xiao crushed the black crystal in his hand. Tentacles spread out, tracing words in the air before him.
Seeing the content of the Gourmet's message, Su Xiao felt much more at ease. Just a few hours ago, the 40-plus contractors on their side had indeed gathered together. After discussions, they formed a temporary organization called the Dark Faction.
This kind of temporary organization was different from alliances in a war world. They needed a leader, and that was where the problem lay. The process of selecting a leader had stalled.
After holding a "friendly" and lively gathering, two people ended up dead, and then the group disbanded on the spot. In reality, these lone wolves had all come to watch the excitement. In a survival-type world, they didn't need to ally with anyone else.
It was precisely for this reason that the Gourmet suspected they were up to something. When a bunch of lone wolves get together, either they fight, or they're about to cause trouble.
The black tentacles in midair slowly dissipated. Su Xiao sat cross-legged near the water curtain, deep in thought. The current situation was that, aside from the contractors on their side, all other survivors had united to form the Survivor Alliance.
This meant the hunt had become two-sided. No matter which side, killing an enemy would yield significant benefits. Especially for the survivor side—if one of them killed a hunter like the Gourmet or Tank Man, who had already killed multiple survivors, the rewards that person would receive would be astronomical.
It probably wouldn't be long before the Survivor Alliance began searching outward from the water source area in teams of 20, spreading out radially to find traces of the hunters.
Given the contractors' mobility, this kind of operation could start very soon, or perhaps it was already underway to some extent.
"Woof!"
Bubu Wang suddenly barked, signaling that a suspicious target had entered within 800 meters—a few insect-type summons.
Bubu wasn't using his perception ability to detect enemies; instead, he used his Ice Aura. When not in combat, he would switch the Ice Aura to neutral mode, meaning enemies would also receive the aura's buff. The moment an enemy entered the aura's range, they would receive a notification.
Even if the enemy refused the aura's buff, Bubu Wang would still detect them. That was enough. This kind of early warning was sometimes more effective than specialized perception skills. The reason was that 99% of contractors would guard against perception-type abilities, but few would guard against buff auras.
The Survivor Alliance was more efficient than expected. Four hours ago, they were still fighting over the Life Dragon's essence. After that fight ended, they used the opportunity of everyone being gathered to form the Survivor Alliance.
The water source area was the most densely populated area for contractors. The Survivor Alliance would definitely use that as their center to search for hunters.
It had only been a few hours, and a survivor's summons had already reached the Tiger Bee Zone. This meant they had probably finished their preliminary search of the water source area and were preparing to move into the adjacent Tiger Bee Zone and Swamp Zone.
The Twin Apes in the Swamp Zone were already dead. The Bee Queen in the Tiger Bee Zone, who could threaten the Survivor Alliance, was a super homebody. This meant that soon, survivors could move freely within these three major areas.
Thinking this over, Su Xiao decided not to stay in the Tiger Bee Zone any longer. Instead, he would head to the area behind the Tiger Bee Zone—an unexplored region. No one had gone there, mainly because the supply drop points for the past three days had all been in the water source area, Tiger Bee Zone, and Swamp Zone.
Su Xiao walked past the water curtain. The moment he stepped out of the semi-open cave, two afterimages burst out from the bushes—two beetles with bluish-green carapaces.
Bang. Bang.
The two beetles exploded, releasing a cloud of green smoke that spread over a dozen meters.
Su Xiao raised his left arm. On his sleeve, green light particles had stuck to it.
"Amu, Baha, take Xibei'er to the rendezvous point and wait."
"Understood."
Baha soared into the sky. Amu hoisted Xibei'er onto his shoulder and disappeared into the dense forest with long strides. Bubu Wang, meanwhile, blended into the environment, patrolling near Su Xiao without following Amu and Baha.
Since the enemy wanted to hunt, Su Xiao chose to play along. In Reincarnation Paradise, the Black Sail Merchant Guild, which dealt in intelligence, had once conducted a survey. They invited experts from various fields—Mage Lords, Technique Masters, Assassins, Summoners, Children of the Forest, Tanks, Space Users, Battle Healers, and others—to engage in random-terrain encounter battles within the Paradise's arena.
The result was that when dealing with Lord-type or Overlord-type boss units, Mage Lords and Tanks were universally recognized as the strongest.
But for contractor-versus-contractor encounters, the universally recognized strongest were three types: Technique Masters, Space Users, and Battle Healers. The other types weren't just a matter of being countered; they were liable to get utterly crushed.
Su Xiao didn't use Azure Steel Shadow energy to devour the light particles on his sleeve. Now wasn't the time.
Twelve kilometers away, a man sitting cross-legged inside a tree hole opened his eyes. His entire body was emaciated, skin and bones. His withered, paper-thin face was covered in holes of various sizes. A green beetle crawled into one of the holes on his cheek. He opened his mouth, revealing yellowed teeth, and tilted his head. The beetle fell into his mouth.
Crunch, crunch~
The Insect Man chewed the beetle in his mouth. What it tasted like, no one else knew, but the texture was probably quite crispy.
"Asiva, found another one. Should we notify the others?"
The Insect Man sitting in the tree hole spoke. The "Asiva" he addressed sounded like a male name, but it was actually a woman standing under the tree with her arms crossed. She wore black gloves on her hands. She didn't look particularly strong, but the explosive power within her body was evident. Her gaze was aggressive. The name "Asiva" was from a low-level world's language, translating to "War Paradise."
"Is it one of the five?"
Asiva was referring to the five people currently universally recognized as the strongest: Bai Ye and the Gourmet from Reincarnation Paradise, the Death Beast Gask from Death Paradise, the Living Tank from Apocalypse Paradise, and the Divine Stick from Sanctuary Paradise.
"Over 70% chance it's Bai Ye from Reincarnation Paradise. The blood energy on him is very distinctive."
"As long as it's not Gask. Lock the position. Find him."
The moment Asiva finished speaking, nearly twenty figures leaped down from the surrounding canopy trees.
"Be cautious. Bai Ye is strong—strong like a monster. Even with 20 of us, we can't underestimate the enemy. Arrogance will blind your eyes and heart."
Asiva tied up her short hair. Fighting contractors was what she did best, because she, too, was a Technique Master.