Chapter 86: Conception
In the darkness, Su Xiao, Bubu Wang, and Baha watched the female thief a few meters away. Because the curtains were drawn over the window behind Su Xiao, the thief didn't notice him in the shadows.
Baha observed the female thief for a moment, then a mischievous grin spread across its face. It turned its gaze to Bubu Wang, who nodded. Using the darkness as cover, the two silently approached the thief.
The tight-clad female thief was stealing with gusto, stuffing a satellite phone, cash, a beeswax bracelet, and other items into her travel bag. Her hand groped across the coffee table, her face beaming with joy and smug satisfaction.
"Woof!"
A loud bark rang out right beside the female thief's ear, rattling her eardrums and nearly making her jump out of her skin. After a moment to recover, her scalp tingled—there was a vicious dog in this room!
"Move a single muscle, and I'll crush your head like a watermelon—split it into eight pieces."
Baha landed on the thief's shoulder, one claw gripping her head.
With a *click*, the light was turned on, illuminating the room. Only then did the female thief see that a few meters away, on the bed, sat a man. His upper body was bare, draped in a shirt. Nearby stood a giant over three meters tall, wearing an iron helmet, whose arms were several times thicker than her legs.
"Boss, how do we handle this? Want to take her to the backyard and bury her?"
"!"
The female thief's body trembled. In the past, she wouldn't have believed such a threat, but now... the atmosphere was wrong, very wrong.
"I'm... I'm just a thief. No need to be so harsh, right?"
"Who sent you?"
"I don't have any accomplices. I'm an independent operator."
"Who asked if you have accomplices? Don't you have a boss or something? What the hell is 'independent operator'?"
"No, absolutely not."
A short while later, the bound and gagged female thief was thrown into the basement. In the pitch-black underground, faint sobbing could be heard.
...
The next morning, after washing up, a refreshed Su Xiao went downstairs, rolled up the shutter door, and opened the accessory shop. So far, he had only made one sale.
With nothing pressing, Su Xiao didn't plan to go out. In mission worlds, he was constantly traveling around, already busy enough. For now, he just wanted to relax. In two days, a new world would arrive.
He took out the Deathmatch terminal and activated it. It still showed "Server Unreachable." This garbage server seemed beyond repair, as if built from potatoes.
Originally, Su Xiao thought the game company had real strength. "Deathmatch" wasn't just available in various paradises; it could also be obtained in the Void.
But now, that game company was either wiped out or had gone on the run. The money Su Xiao spent on the Deathmatch terminal was probably non-refundable.
A peaceful real-life routine began. Time flew by. As the sun set, warm yellow light streamed into the accessory shop. Su Xiao sat cross-legged on a single sofa, holding a bowl of spicy vermicelli noodles.
"Boss, did we forget something?"
Baha, perched on an accessory rack, spoke up. After a moment of thought, it suddenly remembered: two days ago, a female thief had broken in, been thrown into the basement, and was supposed to be handed over to the Scavengers. It had completely slipped its mind.
Half an hour later, a commercial van screeched to a halt outside the accessory shop. Several black-clad men with strange expressions quickly entered. They had seen it all—someone actually dared to steal here. When their team leader heard the news, his face turned pale with fear.
As the female thief was dragged into the van and the door closed, a faint wailing sound could be heard, as if someone was crying.
No sooner had the Scavengers' van driven off than Baha took off from the rooftop, silently following. After trailing them for a few kilometers, the Scavengers' van crashed into a lamppost. The area was eerily quiet, not a single pedestrian in sight.
Two figures darted over, pulled the female thief from the van, and disappeared into a nearby alley.
Baha landed on the rooftop beside the alley, listening.
"Did that person touch you directly?"
"What kind of commission is this?! Do you know what's in that person's basement? And who were those black-clad men?"
"I'm asking you: did that person have physical contact with you? In simple terms, did he... mess with you?"
"No."
"Then go again."
"Huh?"
Hearing this, Baha roughly understood the situation. The female thief was just an ordinary person, hired by someone. In the real world, using ordinary people for tasks made it harder to arouse suspicion.
"Hey there? What are you all discussing?"
Baha spoke. At the sound of its voice, the two figures in the alley froze.
A moment later, a bloodstained Baha flew out of the alley. It took a phone from the backpack in Amu's hands, glanced back at the alley—which now resembled a slaughterhouse—and dialed a number.
"Hello? Hello? Scavengers? Yeah, right. I'm Bai Ye's follower. Trace this phone's location and come collect the bodies. Also, your people are nearby, all knocked out. Yeah, that's it."
Baha hung up, crushed the phone, and tossed it into a trash can.
"Interesting. A secret meeting? Avenging a teammate?"
Baha landed on Amu's shoulder. Amu carried a heavy travel bag containing a yet-unfolded alloy axe.
A few hours later, when Baha and Amu returned to the accessory shop, both had traces of blood on them.
"Was it Gray Gentleman?"
"No, just a seventh-rank contractor. Average strength. Amu chopped him up with a few axe swings. I found this in his suitcase."
Baha handed over a wooden box. The box's surface was covered in dark red biological tissue, and it felt heavy.
[You have obtained the Writhing Box (This item originates from Reincarnation Paradise. Placing small items inside allows them to be brought to the real world).]
[Note: Using this item has many restrictions. Supernatural dangerous items, hazardous props, dangerous materials, etc., cannot be brought to the real world through this item.]
Seeing the properties of the [Writhing Box], Su Xiao felt it was useless for now. It might have some use in the future, like... bringing back non-hazardous alchemical materials? After mixing them into weak potions, he could sell them to eighth-rank contractors?
Su Xiao had noticed long ago that the higher the rank, the less likely conflicts occurred in the real world. If two eighth-rank contractors fought in the real world, the consequences would be disastrous.
Besides, what was the benefit of conflict in the real world? Not only would no Scarlet Cards drop, but it would also sour relations with the Scavengers—a net loss.
If he could bring back some low-grade alchemical materials, mix them into permanent stamina-boosting potions, and sell them to seventh- or eighth-rank contractors, then receive Soul Coins from them in Reincarnation Paradise, it would be a highly profitable venture.
Seventh- or eighth-rank contractors themselves didn't need such low-grade permanent boost potions, but some had families who did.
Becoming a contractor wasn't like cultivating immortality, where one reached a certain level and became detached from all desires. Contractors were just strong in mind and body. Even if they went crazy in mission worlds, they still had attachments in their hearts.
If an ordinary person drank a low-grade stamina potion, the increase in stamina would bring all sorts of benefits.
As long as the method was discreet and the person didn't realize they had consumed the potion, it wouldn't trigger Reincarnation Paradise's punishment mechanism. For example, mixing it into a drink or dairy product? As long as the enhancement didn't exceed a certain threshold, it would be absolutely fine.
A potion that could increase 3-4 points of ordinary stamina would do. As for the price, 400 Soul Coins per bottle—that was acceptable for seventh- or eighth-rank contractors.
Of course, all of this was just a concept for now. If it was too troublesome and required a lot of time to earn just a few hundred Soul Coins, Su Xiao wouldn't consider it.
Su Xiao needed a channel where someone regularly picked up potions at a certain location. After that, everything else would be out of his hands. Then, when he returned to Reincarnation Paradise, he would receive Soul Coins through a contractor imprint, which he could borrow from Mad Doctor, giving him a 30% cut each time.
That 30% wasn't free. Mad Doctor would be responsible for finding buyers in the real world, sending people to pick up the potions, and then receiving the Soul Coins in Reincarnation Paradise.
If Mad Doctor could handle all that, Su Xiao would only need to do three things: 1. Bring materials out of Reincarnation Paradise and mix them into potions, 2. Have Baha deliver the potions to a certain place, and 3. Wait to receive an email from Mad Doctor and extract the Soul Coins.
With this process, Su Xiao's time investment wouldn't exceed 20 minutes. As for the material cost, it wouldn't exceed 3,000 Paradise Coins.
If this process could be achieved, Su Xiao could increase Mad Doctor's cut to 40%. He would provide the potions, taking 60% of the profit, while Mad Doctor handled the channels, sales, and Soul Coin transactions.
Su Xiao could also take 80% or even 90% of the profit, but that wouldn't lead to a long-term partnership. Mad Doctor wasn't his subordinate or follower, whose intelligence would plummet after a few words. Without sufficient benefits, why would Mad Doctor go out of his way to find buyers? In the entire process, that was the most time-consuming and riskiest step.
A 60-40 split was good. A 50-50 split was also worth considering. If Mad Doctor profited, wouldn't the director of his mental hospital and Mr. J also be tempted?
If those two joined, Su Xiao's profits would multiply. Even with a 50-50 split, the combined profits from all parties would be greater than a 90-10 split with Mad Doctor alone.
When several people cooperate to "hunt," one person can't eat all the meat. Everyone gets a share, so they'll cooperate again next time, ensuring a steady supply of meat. That's eating well every meal.
Sacrificing the chance to eat well every meal for a one-time feast of meat was a sign of shortsightedness.
Besides, mixing low-grade potions wouldn't expose Su Xiao's alchemy skills. There were many alchemists in Reincarnation Paradise who could do the same. The real difficulty was bringing materials out of Reincarnation Paradise. Only those materials could create mild, side-effect-free permanent boost potions.
A concept gradually formed in Su Xiao's mind. He checked his remaining real-world stay time—only a few minutes left. He would have to wait until his next return to the real world to set this in motion.
A few minutes passed quickly, and Reincarnation Paradise's notification appeared.
[Prompt: The hunter is about to return to Reincarnation Paradise. A new world is about to open.]
[Prompt: You are being called by "Doom."]