Chapter 33: The Gourmet's Choice
The underground space fell silent. As a perception-type contractor with little combat capability, Su Xiao naturally retreated to the sidelines to watch the show.
Slap, slap, slap...
Naji Ga clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention.
"Everyone, kill him."
Hearing this, the crowd turned their gazes toward the Gourmet. He had already exposed his aura. Clearly, his disguise wasn't as reliable as the Primordial Mask—he had transformed into tentacles and possessed a contractor's body.
With a thunderous crash, a mass of dark red tentacles scattered in all directions as various attacks came flying in. For a moment, the underground space became lively and dangerous.
Su Xiao symbolically pulled out his D·Assassin handgun and aimed at the Gourmet. Just then, he received a brand communication.
Gourmet: "Are you serious?"
White Night: "[Metal·Tyrant (Holy Spirit Rank)], [Soul's Whisper +8 (Holy Spirit Rank)], [Assasaye (Holy Spirit Rank·Three-Form Weapon)], [Destroy·Assassination (Legendary Rank)]. Pick which one I use to attack you."
Gourmet: "I choose you to watch from the sidelines."
White Night: "Then it's the Tyrant."
Gourmet: "Calm down."
White Night: "If you don't die, we share intel afterward."
Gourmet: "Fine, I'll take the handgun."
...
The Gourmet was besieged by numerous contractors, but he had come seeking "death." A dead man would gradually be forgotten, letting the enemy let their guard down completely.
Pfft, pfft, pfft...
The unique suppressed gunshot of D·Assassin rang out, inconspicuous among the many attacks, but every shot hit the head.
The besieged Gourmet was charging toward the exit, but with over forty contractors in the underground space, the Gourmet was strong, but there were other powerhouses present as well.
A swarm of beetles surged like a tidal wave. The Bug Man, with several holes on both sides of his face, kept his hands in his pockets as beetles crawled out from under his clothes, seemingly endless.
The loud blasts of a shotgun continued without pause. Shotgun Bro pulled out his beloved shotgun again and unloaded on the Gourmet.
Dark red tentacles surged but were quickly shattered. The Gourmet crushed a spatial item. It had to be said, the Gourmet was willing to invest heavily when acting.
Under the relentless insect tide, the Gourmet's dark red tentacles grew fewer and fewer until his true body was exposed. He grabbed two dead contractors, using them as shields, and charged forward with a bloodied face.
Puchi.
A blood-colored war scythe swept past, followed by Mu Xiao's Sin Dance. Her strength was originally close to the Gourmet's, and with over forty contractors helping, within a few minutes, the Gourmet's arms were severed, and half his head was chopped off.
'Original Sin·Eternal Slumber.'
Mu Xiao traced a blood-red line, and only then did the crisp sound of the slash ring out.
"Killing... ability?"
The Gourmet lowered his head, his trembling pupils fixed on his chest. Deep red was rapidly eroding his body.
"The Immortal Gourmet, you're too arrogant. Arrogance is also an original sin."
Mu Xiao, wearing a backless outfit, turned her back to the Gourmet and slightly tilted her head. The others could only see her profile.
At this moment, Mu Xiao felt utterly relieved. Her experiences over the past few days had been nothing short of torment. First, she dealt with Gray Gentleman's puppet, cowering in fear. Then she got pummeled by a swordsman, nearly dying. And this morning, she ran into three idiots.
"Careless. I didn't expect... to be able to kill an Original Sin."
The Gourmet fell with a thud, his tentacles slowly turning to ash and dissipating into the air.
"Mu Xiao, I want to see the result."
Naji Ga narrowed his eyes and spoke.
"A kill notification appeared."
Mu Xiao walked to the Gourmet's corpse, moved it aside, and picked up a Scarlet Card from the ground. She opened it immediately.
A blood-red vortex appeared. Mu Xiao pulled out three items one by one and displayed them. There was no equipment from the Gourmet—the probability of drawing equipment was very low. Clearly, Su Xiao wasn't the only one who felt Scarlet Cards didn't yield good stuff.
Mu Xiao showed the three items. Two were daily necessities, and the last was a potion, produced in Reincarnation Paradise.
"The Immortal Gourmet... is dead?"
"Nothing is truly immortal. Naji Ga guessed he might come, and that's why he compromised, paying a price to team up with Mu Xiao."
"One of the top five, the so-called Immortal Gourmet, is the first to fall."
The contractors watched the Gourmet's body gradually dissipate, feeling quite pleased. After all, they had eliminated seven Hunters in a row. Only four Hunters remained in this world.
The corpse might be fake, but the kill notification and Scarlet Card were ironclad proof. Still, the Gourmet often liked to say: "What you see isn't necessarily reality."
After successfully ambushing the Gourmet, the contractors were in good spirits. Earlier, they had been like rats on the run, hiding everywhere, and even those who had formed teams worried about Hunters infiltrating them.
But today, they had turned the tables. Of course, they felt good. If things went as Naji Ga promised, the subsequent rewards would exceed what they'd gain from two or three mission worlds.
Before long, the underground space quieted down, leaving only about a dozen contractors. The others had gone out to hunt Hunters. This time, each team was larger, with four teams of over forty contractors each. They planned to clear out the Water Source Zone, Swamp Zone, and Tiger Wasp Zone.
Su Xiao sat against the wall. His disguise still had over five hours left. As a perception-type, no team was willing to take him in. Each team already had a few perception-types. The more people, the more shares when dividing the spoils from hunting the rainforest's supernatural creatures. In actual combat, perception-types had limited use. Two or three per team were enough.
The female sniper and the healer, Cocoa Bean, were very popular and had already joined other teams. As for Shotgun Bro, given his "brave" performance earlier, no team wanted him.
Amu and Baha had already sent word. After reaching the edge of the Tiger Wasp Zone, they were blocked by a layer of "dust particles." Amu entered these particles, and within about 1.5 seconds, his health dropped by 57%.
Based on Su Xiao's judgment, the three zones combined formed a circle. The only exit was at the edge of the Swamp Zone, but there was the Death Forest there, and passing through it was no easy task.
Su Xiao's decision was to have Xibei'er join a team in the Survivor Alliance. Then, based on Xibei'er's position, Amu and Baha would move two kilometers away from that team, reducing the chance of detection—hiding in plain sight.
Su Xiao leaned against the wall and dozed off. He was waiting for Naji Ga to open the so-called altar. When that happened, Bubu Wang would see how Naji Ga obtained the White Amber through the altar.
Time ticked by. With 2 hours and 35 minutes left before the disguise expired, Bubu Wang was already yawning from waiting when the Bug Man approached Naji Ga and whispered something in his ear.
Naji Ga walked to the center of the underground space and took out a stone disk embedded with gems, placing it gently on the ground.
Rumble.
A rectangular section of the floor slid aside, revealing stairs leading downward. As soon as Naji Ga stepped inside, the Bug Man spread his arms, and a swarm of beetles enveloped the area, blocking others from approaching while also shielding against perception.