Chapter 17: Hunting Game
Smoke Capital, District 10. On a remote street, a spatial vortex appeared, and Su Xiao stepped out, carrying Baha by the head.
"Boss, I can't go on. Before I kick the bucket, I have one wish—can you not carry me by the head? It makes me look totally undignified."
"..."
Su Xiao didn't reply. He took out a bottle of [Vitality Concentrate] and poured it down Baha's throat. Baha's injuries healed at a visible rate.
"I'm revived."
Baha flapped his wings and landed on Su Xiao's shoulder.
Su Xiao took out [Blazing Sun's Wrath · Apollo] from his storage space and halted its activation through mental energy. An [Blazing Sun's Wrath · Apollo] that had been interrupted mid-activation would become unstable. If it wasn't used within this world, it would have to be scrapped.
He had indeed activated [Blazing Sun's Wrath · Apollo] earlier, but what he had instantly detonated was actually a regular Apollo.
He had two choices at that time. If the enemy hadn't fled, he would have truly detonated the [Blazing Sun's Wrath · Apollo] in his hand, trading injury for injury. Then, based on the enemy's damage level, he would decide his next move.
If the enemy chickened out and used a trump card to escape, Su Xiao would put away the activated [Blazing Sun's Wrath · Apollo] (which hadn't been infused with mental energy for instant detonation) and instead detonate a regular Apollo, causing a two-kilometer radius explosion to mislead the enemy.
With Su Xiao's current vitality, physical defense, and the strength of his crystal layer, tanking a regular Apollo was no problem. Back then, Tiger Wasp Lord · Tamisha had managed that, let alone Su Xiao now.
Rumble~
A muffled thunderclap sounded from the sky. The moon was full, so this clearly wasn't caused by a thunderstorm.
This was likely the aftereffect of [Thunder Guide]. Su Xiao estimated that the lightning that had just fallen wasn't strong, but it was good news—once the enemy was struck by lightning, their position would be immediately exposed.
Su Xiao sat on an abandoned carriage by the street, took out a bottle of [Vitality Concentrate], and drank it. His left arm tensed, and dark purple-black blood oozed from a wound on his arm.
When he had charged at Eunice earlier, one of her spider leg blades had grazed his left arm, leaving a bloody scratch. The injury wasn't serious, but the spider leg blade was coated in poison—a potent venom. If Su Xiao hadn't suppressed it with Cyan Steel Shadow energy, the venom would have already spread throughout his body.
[Prompt: You are affected by an unknown potent venom. You will take 59 points of venom damage per second. Effect lasts 12 hours.]
[Prompt: If this venom spreads, the venom damage you take per second will increase, and the duration will be greatly extended.]
Seeing this prompt, Su Xiao wasn't surprised. This was likely one of the enemy's core abilities. That Apocalypse contractor was like a mother spider—patient and cautious. Once she wounded her prey, she would hide in the shadows and wait.
Facing this kind of potent venom, Su Xiao wasn't afraid. The Cyan Steel Shadow energy in his body was best at devouring energy-based attacks. Devouring venom was in the second or third tier—after all, Cyan Steel Shadow energy wasn't omnipotent. It could handle most poison-type attacks, but against this potent venom, it could only suppress it.
"Nice material."
Su Xiao pulled down the clothing on his shoulder, exposing his entire left arm. He took out several ring clamps and fastened them onto his arm. The ring clamps were fully mechanical and immediately clung to his skin once fastened.
After fastening a total of 22 ring clamps on his left arm, Su Xiao put his clothes back on. These ring clamps were alchemical products. They didn't restrict the venom but could block sensory perception. The side effect was that they limited nerve transmission speed.
Su Xiao didn't know the exact properties of this potent venom, but he had to guard against one possibility: the enemy might be able to sense his location from a distance through the venom inside him.
After waiting about half an hour, a tubular object suddenly appeared in the darkness in the distance and drifted over.
"What demonic fiend is this?!"
Baha was startled but quickly relaxed.
"Woof."
A muffled bark with a bit of an echo came from the darkness. Bubu Wang ran out, a two-meter-long metal tube stuck on his head. He looked like a cannon.
This was clearly because, after Su Xiao had thrown him, Bubu Wang hadn't chosen a good landing spot and had rammed his head straight into this metal tube. He was in a hurry to rejoin Su Xiao, and since he was stuck tight, he had to make do for now.
"Woof awoo woof."
Bubu Wang ran up to Su Xiao. A blade flash passed, and a section of the metal tube was cut off. Su Xiao grabbed both ends of the metal tube, tore it open with a creak, and tossed it onto the carriage beside him.
District 5 was off-limits for now. Hushiro's whereabouts were unknown. Considering that guy had lived in Smoke Capital for over a decade, he might be able to track them down soon.
Su Xiao checked the time. It was 6:30 in the morning. District 10 was beginning to lighten up, while District 5 was still dark, as if shrouded in shadow.
He found a hotel, pushed open the door, and walked into a somewhat worn-out guest room. The accommodation fee was several times higher than usual. This was because the Healing Church was evacuating civilians from District 5. Around noon today, the Pillar Collapse Tide would erupt there.
Lighting the gas lamp in the room, Su Xiao took off his upper clothing and began treating the potent venom in his left arm. He first took out an injection gun and injected a dose of adaptive antidote into his arm. Then, he took out a piece of amber-like [Natural Propolis], a specialty of the Primordial Continent that was very effective against potent venom.
He pressed the [Natural Propolis] onto the purplish wound on his left arm. A few seconds later, the [Natural Propolis] turned dark purple. Seeing this, Su Xiao removed the hardened [Natural Propolis] and pressed a new piece onto the wound.
This process was repeated dozens of times. When only three pieces of [Natural Propolis] remained, the residual potent venom in Su Xiao's left arm was completely devoured by the Cyan Steel Shadow energy. [Natural Propolis] was a good thing, but unfortunately, it was exclusive to the Primordial Continent.
Su Xiao felt a slight weakness in his body. If he were fighting the enemy head-on, taking this kind of potent venom was unavoidable. The spider leg blade that had suddenly appeared was extremely fast and had strong penetration.
If this potent venom was stackable—meaning each hit from the spider leg blade deepened the poisoning—it would be very troublesome.
Su Xiao suspected that if it weren't for the Cyan Steel Shadow energy in his body suppressing the venom and preventing it from worsening, he would have been done for today.
The good news was that the enemy wasn't the type to charge in head-on. If she were, he would have had to fight it out just now.
As Su Xiao was thinking, Baha appeared in the room.
"Boss, that guy got struck by lightning again. Judging by the location, she's in District 7."
"District 7."
Su Xiao took out a map of Smoke Capital and drew a line between District 5 and District 10. District 7 was right between them.
"Retreat."
Su Xiao took Baha and left. Over twenty minutes later, he arrived at District 3 and found an uninhabited two-story house.
Meanwhile, in District 10, Eunice was slowly walking down the street. In front of her was a giant crab spider with a massive abdomen, its entire body covered in carapace.
"The venom sense is too heavily blocked. The Reincarnation Paradise hunter... really cautious. But that's normal. The violators over there are the hardest to deal with. Catching this hunter will be tough."
Eunice looked at the giant crab spider. It occasionally seemed confused, making tracking very inefficient.
Eunice stopped near a hotel. A jumping spider landed on her shoulder.
"No bloodstains along the way? Tch~"
Eunice walked into the hotel. Soon, she entered the room Su Xiao had just been in and released a swarm of small spiders to search every inch of the room.
"Nothing left behind."
Eunice sat on the bed somewhat helplessly and began planning her next move.
Outside the door opposite Eunice's room, Bubu Wang, blended into the environment, took out a camera and silently snapped a photo.
"Three nodes left. I wonder if it's because the Black Tide is about to appear, but the nodes have been in District 5. If that bastard takes one more node, he wins. Given how cautious he is, he definitely won't show up again. He'll absolutely try to deal with me from the shadows. A Reincarnation Paradise old yinbi."
Eunice let out a dissatisfied snort. Her gaze inadvertently swept across the wall beside the door and immediately locked on.
"This is!"
Eunice suddenly appeared in front of the door. Just as she was about to grab the photo on the wall, her hand stopped mid-air. She was skilled with poison, so she naturally had to be cautious.
The photo stuck to the wall was of Eunice sitting on the bed, deep in thought.
Seeing this photo, Eunice knew the enemy was watching her. She immediately took out a gem and crushed it. About two seconds later, spatial fluctuations appeared around her. Before using the item for spatial movement, Eunice remained alert to her surroundings.
High above the hotel, Baha was silently gliding through the dim sky before dawn. Suddenly, he opened his eyes and locked onto a location in District 10. There was a faint spatial fluctuation there. With his Void Bloodline, he had caught it.
District 10, a factory. All the machinery had stopped, and hot steam slowly hissed out, ready for restart.
Eunice suddenly appeared inside the factory. She looked around, and her expression turned grim. If she had been the hunting spider just now, she was no longer sure who was hunting whom.
"I don't believe you can still follow me."
Eunice walked out of the factory. As soon as she opened the door, a refugee happened to be walking toward her. Seeing Eunice, he was about to shout, but a spider crawled into his mouth. Then came agonized whimpers.
Eunice exited through the back door of the steam factory and immediately stopped in her tracks. She stared at the glass window across the narrow street. On it was a photo of her just walking out of the factory.
Purple veins bulged on Eunice's neck and her still somewhat innocent-looking face, making her look ferocious.
Seeing this, Bubu Wang, blended into the environment, yawned. He had more important things to do and couldn't keep following the enemy. His master had only instructed him to do this much—to keep the enemy paranoid. That was enough.
The hunt... had begun.