Chapter 6: It's All Fake
On the streets of District 17 in Smoke City, the passersby were either gaunt and malnourished or burly and robust. It was an extreme—here, the strong grew stronger, while the weak gradually approached death.
There were many shops of various kinds on both sides of the street. Due to insufficient sunlight, the entire city's colors were somewhat dim, but because of its age, it instead exuded a warm tone.
As a long-term resident of Smoke City, Houselow was recognized by many of the vagrants on the street. Seeing him approach, these drifters made way.
"Woof."
Bubu Wang ran over from across the street. Its teleportation starting point with Baha was not far from Su Xiao. As for Amu and Beini, their locations were unknown for now, being very far away.
"Bai Ye, someone's following us. Your enemy?"
Houselow spoke with a calm expression. He stepped up to a barbecue stall, pulled out a few crumpled Gulang notes, grabbed several half-cooked skewers of meat, tore off his mask, and ate heartily. His mouth was full of sharp teeth, like shark fangs.
"Probably not."
Su Xiao also sensed someone spying on them. Though the observer was cautious, their killing intent was somewhat obvious.
"Then it's my enemy. Who have I offended recently? Too many to count. Probably a secret mage from the Magic Association. This is a personal grudge, nothing to do with the promise. See you later."
Houselow finished the skewers in a few bites, then dashed into a small alley, with the Bo brothers following closely behind.
Su Xiao continued forward. The previous observer was definitely not an Eighth Rank contractor. An Eighth Rank contractor wouldn't reveal such obvious killing intent.
In less than two minutes, Houselow returned carrying a large cloth sack. The person inside was struggling.
"Bai Ye, this is a female secret mage. Want her? If you're not interested, I'll sell her to the Alchemy Alliance. They offer the highest price. This is a bargaining chip for negotiations with the Magic Association."
Houselow's flat tone revealed his disgust for the Magic Association.
"Not interested? Fine, I'll sell her to the Alchemy Alliance then."
As he spoke, Houselow touched his throat. Maybe the barbecue was too heavy on the seasoning; he felt his throat dry.
They continued on. Before long, Su Xiao, Bubu Wang, Baha, Houselow, and the Bo brothers arrived at a deserted street. The surrounding buildings were dilapidated, clearly uninhabited for a long time.
"This is... District 30? Why am I here? This place has been abandoned for a long time since the Black Tide outbreak."
Houselow tossed the large cloth sack aside, pulled off his hood and half-face mask, then suddenly raised his hand and slapped his own head.
Blood and bone fragments splattered. Houselow stepped back half a pace. Flesh surged at his severed neck, and a new head grew out.
"Someone was influencing me just now. I'm clear-headed now. Bai Ye, your enemy is troublesome."
After breaking the mental control effect in an extremely hardcore way, Houselow put his hood and half-face mask back on.
A man and a woman appeared at both ends of the street, blocking Su Xiao and Houselow. Bubu Wang and Baha vanished simultaneously. The Bo brothers assumed a fighting stance. Just as the elder brother was about to slap the younger, his body froze.
"Boring sideshow."
The bald man at the end of the street clenched his fist. Three parallel blades extended from the outside of his forearm. Each blade was about half a meter long, curving backward with the edge facing outward.
The bald man swung his arm forward. The three blades cut through the air, and tens of meters away—
Puchi.
Blood splattered. The heads of the Bo brothers were severed. Almost simultaneously, several slash marks appeared in front of the bald man, but he blocked them with his ability. These were the counter-slash feedback from the younger Bo brother.
"Bo brothers!"
Houselow roared, his eyes wide with fury. He pressed one hand to his forehead, his shoulders trembling.
"Hehehehehe, just kidding."
Houselow moved his hand away from his forehead, a full smile on his face. He snapped his fingers. With a *pop*, the "headless bodies" of the Bo brothers exploded, gradually turning into a substance like black iron sand, which eventually dissipated into the air.
"Bai Ye, you handle the woman, okay? I'll take this bald guy here. He 'killed' the Bo brothers. That was inspiration. It took me a long time to construct the Bo brothers with soul energy. What a shame."
Houselow stepped toward the bald man, even raising both hands as he walked, his whole body full of openings.
"Houselow, don't get too carried away. Your enemy is tough. Even for you, one slip-up and you're dead. Bald head plus critical hit—be careful."
Baha's voice came. Hearing this, Houselow's smile faded a bit. He nodded toward Baha's direction to show gratitude.
Jingle~
Metal chains clinked. A woman with a ponytail and five rings on her right hand stared at Su Xiao in shock. Her name was Tiff, an Eighth Rank contractor from Death Paradise.
Tiff had just transformed herself into a charm-type. Her charm attribute reached a single attribute of 208. As a cost, her true agility and intelligence attributes were reduced to below 170 points. But she wasn't a dedicated perception-type, and since charm wasn't a true attribute, her detection judgment rank was limited.
"What the hell is this attribute?"
Tiff couldn't help but curse. She had detected Su Xiao's information through charm judgment. The prompt read:
[Your charm attribute is ??? times higher than the enemy's. Due to differing attribute characteristics, you have detected ???'s information.]
After seeing this prompt, Tiff was momentarily stunned. But after scanning Su Xiao's data, she was shocked to find that Su Xiao was a Seventh Rank contractor, and his charm attribute was -1 point.
As for other information, due to the differing charm attribute characteristics, the detection had failed. Tiff couldn't understand—both were charm attributes, so why were the characteristics different? Did she need a true charm attribute to make a judgment against that -1 point charm attribute?
What Tiff didn't know was that making a charm attribute reach -1 point was no easier than making it a true attribute. If she had a true charm attribute, she would have achieved 100% data detection.
Tiff felt she had fought from First Rank to early Eighth Rank and was well-traveled, but she couldn't comprehend how a charm attribute could reach -1 point. Didn't this guy negotiate with plot characters? Didn't he join factions within mission worlds? With such a charm attribute, he was likely naturally hostile to some factions.
"Never... never mind. No matter what, he's Seventh Rank."
Tiff glanced at the Undying Houselow out of the corner of her eye. She had already sensed that Houselow had Eighth Rank combat power. One of his abilities couldn't be detected because he had just "died" once and was still in a very special state.
The Eighth Rank plot character Houselow reassured Tiff a lot. If it were just Seventh Rank Su Xiao, she would have turned and fled. How strong did you have to be within Seventh Rank to be judged as someone who could reach the Western Continent alone? That was an enemy she couldn't handle at all. But with Eighth Rank powerhouse Houselow, it was different.
With a jingle, the thin chains on Tiff's hand writhed like five thin snakes. The chains representing agility and intelligence attributes coiled around her wrist. Two emerald-green rapiers appeared in her hands. Pale green liquid dripped from the sword tips, corroding the ground with a hissing sound.
Zheng~
Su Xiao drew his blade. This was his first time dealing with an Eighth Rank contractor. He needed to be cautious. Though he didn't know exactly how strong he was now, caution was still necessary.
Boom.
Blood aura exploded from Su Xiao as the center point. He slashed out once. Azure Demon shot straight toward Tiff. After mastering the sublimation of technique, the power of Su Xiao's self-developed blade techniques surged.
Tiff crossed her dual rapiers. A circular formation appeared, with faint beast roars coming from within. Clang—the dual rapiers met Azure Demon. The moment of contact, Tiff sensed something was wrong. The slashing force was far stronger than expected.
Tiff angled her dual rapiers and immediately sidestepped. Azure Demon flew past her, diagonally slicing off the top of a building behind.
Tiff swung her dual rapiers repeatedly, slashing out streaks of green poison chains that engulfed Su Xiao.
'Execution.'
Tiff pointed her rapier forward. The green poison slash chains converging on Su Xiao gathered together. With a sizzle, they were horizontally compressed into a hair-thin thread. The control of this ability was not to be underestimated, and the instantaneous compression force was astonishing.
Emerging from spatial penetration, Su Xiao was now two meters behind Tiff. He felt a bit puzzled. Eighth Rank contractors didn't seem as strong as he imagined. Maybe it was because this was an early Eighth Rank contractor.
Su Xiao appeared suddenly. Tiff crossed her dual rapiers behind her back. With her rich combat experience, she was avoiding a fatal strike to her vitals. If she blocked this slash, she could unleash a super-fast continuous attack until the enemy was severely injured and paralyzed by the potent poison.
Bang!
Su Xiao kicked Tiff in the lower back. The moment she was hit, Tiff's eyes widened to their maximum. Her body gradually bent into a reverse C-shape. Blood spattered from her mouth in specks. Her entire body went numb.
Whoosh—Tiff broke through a wave of air, turning into a blur as she flew into an abandoned building by the street. After crashing through who knows how many walls, she landed amidst a shower of rubble, rolling several times before stabbing her rapier into the ground to steady herself.
Tiff vomited a large mouthful of blood mixed with organ fragments. She gasped heavily, her eyes filled with disbelief.
"What kind of joke is this? This is... a Seventh Rank contractor?!"
Tiff stood up. She felt she had been tricked. What Seventh Rank contractor? What -1 point charm attribute? It was all fake. It was the enemy's trap.