Chapter 8: Temporary Leader
“Nice one, Hoshilo.”
Baha emerged from the alternate space. This powerful ally that Kaiser had scammed into joining was very reliable. Against the bald man who was a cut above Tiff, he had perfectly taken him down.
“Hahahaha, I’m Hoshilo, you know. I could take two or three of those guys no problem, cough, cough～”
Hoshilo coughed dryly several times, even spitting out a few mouthfuls of blood. Clearly, the fight with the bald man hadn’t been easy for him.
“You’re bleeding, Hoshilo.”
“I got a fishbone stuck in my throat yesterday. You don’t actually think I’m hurt, do you? Wah～”
“With that much blood loss, don’t you need to drink some recovery potion?”
“No problem. Potions that heal injuries are rare treasures. You keep them for later. Let’s go fill our stomachs first. I know a decent restaurant.”
Hoshilo picked up a large cloth sack from a nearby abandoned building, slung it over his shoulder, and strode out of District 30.
Smoke City had a total of 32 districts. Districts 1 to 3 were the safest, housing a branch of the Healing Church. Because of their good relationship with the refugees, few people caused trouble here.
Districts 4 to 9 were the territory of the Magic Association. These areas were peaceful during the day but chaotic at night, a situation the Magic Association’s secret mages couldn’t do much about.
Districts 10 to 15 belonged to the Alchemy Alliance. This was where the refugees worked, and trouble was rare here. This was Smoke City’s industrial zone.
District 16 was where the prostitutes operated. Smoke City’s outlaws wouldn’t cause trouble here, since they needed to satisfy their physical needs, and besides, the prostitutes here were all controlled by various gangs.
Districts 17 to 29 were the chaos zone. It was extremely chaotic here. Every morning, corpse collectors would drive horse-drawn carts here to regularly pick up unclaimed bodies and sell them to the Magic Association in District 1.
Finally, Districts 30 to 32. These three districts were on the outskirts of Smoke City. Unless necessary, no one came here. District 30 was manageable, but Districts 31 and 32 were too dangerous.
Smoke City was enormous. Three districts combined were the size of a small to medium city. It could be said that Smoke City, to some extent, represented the Western Continent. The other scattered small and medium settlements couldn’t even compare to a single district of Smoke City.
Hoshilo successfully killed the bald man. Due to the temporary team setup, Su Xiao received 60% of the reward: 3 merit points and 9 Scarlet Medals.
Half an hour later, Su Xiao was sitting by a small round dining table. The food in Smoke City looked decent, but it had a faint strange taste, like something slightly burnt.
Su Xiao took out his pocket watch and glanced at it. From the moment he entered this world, 5 hours and 32 minutes had passed. In another 28 minutes, the first node would trigger a spatial resonance reaction. As long as he was within Smoke City, he could sense it. Each spatial resonance reaction lasted about 40 minutes.
If the node appeared in Districts 4 to 30, there would be no problem. These places were chaotic enough. But if it appeared in Districts 1 to 3, the territory of the Healing Church, things would be more difficult. If he made a move there, the Healing Church wouldn’t just stand by and do nothing.
...
Eastern Continent, Steam Alliance Territory, Windpipe City, inside a large theater.
A man in formal attire stood on the stage. In the seats below, there were about two hundred people. In the dim light, malice gleamed in their eyes.
“Everyone, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to come here.”
The man in formal attire smiled as he looked around.
“What the hell are you being polite for? If you have something to say, just say it.”
“Hurry up and get the World Core. I need to get back to the real world. My sister is about to give birth.”
“Why is it green? Why?”
A very dejected figure sat in the center of the theater. A green halo hovered above his head, as if he were about to ascend to heaven. It was Ascension Bro.
In a corner of the theater, a figure in a witch’s hat sat there, holding a long smoking pipe and exhaling light purple smoke. It was the Witch. She had just advanced to the Seventh Rank and had come to participate in the World War.
In front of the Witch, in a seat, sat a gray-haired man. He was also a member of the Travel Group.
“Everyone.”
The man in formal attire on the stage spoke. He took a deep breath, slowly tilted his head back, as if gathering his emotions, and continued, “I found the gathering point of the Apocalypse Paradise.”
“Where?”
“Misty Light Forest · Vatulan. Let’s go have a party there...”
Before the man in formal attire could finish, he noticed that the contractors below were all getting up and heading out of the theater.
“Everyone, the leader selection phase hasn’t started yet. This is the main event.”
Hearing this, the contractors on their side all stopped in their tracks.
“Everyone, calm down first. To avoid unnecessary casualties, we’ll vote to decide who will be the temporary leader. Note, temporary leader.”
“...”
“I don’t care.”
“Agreed.”
As the normal person among a bunch of lunatics, Ascension Bro raised his hand high.
Soon, the voting began. Including the man in formal attire, almost everyone voted for themselves. The ones with the most votes only had two votes each, which came from contractors who knew each other.
The scene fell into an awkward silence. In recent days, the contractors on their side had all scattered, hunting down lone contractors from other paradises. They weren’t familiar with each other, so naturally, few voted for others.
Ascension Bro stared blankly at the projection on the stage, looking as if he had been traumatized.
“Why do I have three votes? Who voted for me? Do I have a grudge with you?!”
Ascension Bro’s voice cracked as he pointed at the semi-transparent screen floating above the stage. This was a projection device provided free of charge by a contractor on their side.
As soon as Ascension Bro’s shout died down, he noticed pairs of eyes glowing red looking at him from all directions. This made his body tremble.
“E-everyone, let me explain. Someone must be setting me up.”
Ascension Bro looked around. He wouldn’t have been surprised if these allies tore him apart.
“Leader～, give us your orders. What should we do next?”
A little boy crouched on the back of the seat in front of Ascension Bro. His small face, studded with metal piercings, was grinning. He stuck out his tongue, which was also pierced with metal studs, and licked his lips.
“I’m innocent, dammit!”
Ascension Bro’s mental state collapsed. His shout echoed through the theater. Hearing this shout, the Witch in the corner chuckled softly.
...
Zeyu Wetlands, inside a cave.
A petite figure was crouched on the ground, using a tool in her hand to draw an array on the floor, muttering to herself.
“You lunatics from Reincarnation Paradise, just you wait. Don’t blame me for being ruthless. This is a World War, and some bastard from your Reincarnation Paradise...”
At this point, the petite figure’s nose tingled. She touched her right ear, where her most beloved piece of equipment used to hang.
“Revenge!”
The petite figure shouted once, then let out a long sigh. Shouting was one thing, but actually seeking revenge was another matter. Whether she could win was a big question, and tracking tools were just too expensive.
...
Eastern Continent, Nangu City, inside the Destiny Church.
An old man dressed as a priest knelt before a statue of a goddess. His hands were clasped in prayer. He had been in this position for days.
“Soul, Styx, Throne of Ten Thousand Gods, the Supreme among deities, hear my voice.”
Pain appeared on the priest’s face. The left side of his cheek cracked like porcelain, and a black tentacle as thick as a pinky finger emerged, writhing.
After borrowing the power, the priest immediately severed his connection with a certain Ancient God. Borrowing the power of an Ancient God was enough. If he actually summoned the Ancient God into this world, things would go completely out of control.
...
Click, click～
The second hand of the pocket watch ticked. Su Xiao snapped the watch shut. The small restaurant was a bit noisy. It was noon, and quite a few refugees had come to eat.
There were still 2 minutes until the first node triggered the spatial resonance reaction. Through the process of elimination, Su Xiao had basically identified the remaining four enemies.
These four enemies were divided into two teams: the Apocalypse Team and the Divine Stick Team. The Apocalypse Team should be a man and a woman, a combination of a strong man and a timid girl. As for the Divine Stick Team, they were two divine sticks who worshipped the same deity.
From the current situation, as long as he didn’t actively provoke them, he wouldn’t have to fight the Magic Association or the Steam Alliance in Smoke City for now. The Healing Church was a different matter.
Su Xiao counted down in his mind. When the countdown reached zero, he fully activated his perception.
Dong～
A wave swept through. Su Xiao looked to the east. The first node was in District 4, District 5, or District 6. He couldn’t pinpoint the exact location. All three districts were under the Magic Association’s control.
Su Xiao looked at Hoshilo sitting across from him. The other’s expression was normal. He was looking in a mirror, picking at his shark-like sharp teeth. He couldn’t sense the spatial resonance reaction. This was good news. It meant the natives of this world had no reaction to the wave just now.
“Let’s go.”
Su Xiao stood up and walked out of the restaurant. He was determined to seize control of the first node. Even if the four opponents he encountered this time were very strong, he had a way to take control of the first node. Bubu Wang was best at this kind of thing.