Chapter 56: The Dual Poison Combination
On the beach of Eternal Life Island, a wave rushed onto the sand, bringing up some foam before receding.
Just as Su Xiao was about to walk into the sea and return to the Doom Number submerged beneath the waves, a shout came from diagonally behind him.
"Hey, you over there, don't leave! Come fight!"
Hearing this shout, Su Xiao paused mid-step. He hadn't sensed anyone else nearby earlier; mid-to-long-range perception wasn't his strong suit.
Su Xiao looked toward the source of the sound. A girl with short hair, barely over 1.4 meters tall, came into view.
Her attire was quite revealing: ultra-short shorts on the bottom, and only a sleeveless top on the upper body, fully exposing both arms. She wore tea-colored gloves on her hands.
"Why aren't you poisoned yet?"
Sweet Orange walked over with a grin, puzzled why her earlier method hadn't worked. That ability wasn't very strong, but it could inflict debuffs on enemies without them noticing.
"Let's begin. You have the highest Legendary Degree, so plenty of people will come after you. If you can kill me, consider this fight a warm-up?"
Sweet Orange's smile gradually took on the style of a Reincarnation Paradise contractor. She bit the tips of two fingers and pulled off both gloves.
A faint fluorescent green appeared on Sweet Orange's fair hands. This color spread along her skin, quickly covering her hands and forearms.
The scent of a cut orange wafted through the air, faintly carrying a hint of sweetness.
Sweet Orange's current state was so good that even she couldn't believe it. She had received a total of 12 buffs: strength, speed, physical defense, and life recovery rate had all skyrocketed, plus explosive health recovery upon taking damage.
The most powerful buff was called "Spring Surge," which allowed Sweet Orange to expend bodily energy without restraint for a period of time.
Su Xiao looked at the enemy several dozen meters away, pondered for a moment, and decided not to summon the Cursed People for now. After advancing to the Eighth Rank, he had never been able to determine exactly where his strength stood.
His strength wasn't at the lower end of the Eighth Rank; it should be in the mid-to-upper tier. He couldn't be more specific. Since entering the Demon Sea World, Su Xiao had barely fought. His battle with Gluttony was based on his abilities countering the opponent.
The combat power of the Dual Poison Combination was likely between the upper tier and the top tier. Su Xiao wasn't afraid of poison abilities; his development in Alchemy had given him extensive knowledge in this area.
Zheng~
Su Xiao drew the longsword from his waist, and Cyan Steel Shadow Energy surged along the blade.
Su Xiao and Sweet Orange faced off. A wave washed over the beach, passing beneath their feet. At that moment, Sweet Orange leaned forward. The seawater and sand beneath her exploded as she launched herself like a cannonball, leaping toward Su Xiao.
Despite Sweet Orange's sweet appearance and fresh aura, once she entered combat, her fighting style was extremely fierce.
Carrying some seawater, Sweet Orange appeared in front of Su Xiao in an instant. Her right arm, now fluorescent green, bent back as she punched toward him.
Wind pressure rushed toward his face. Su Xiao didn't hesitate; he directly pierced through space.
Boom!!
A sand crater 100 meters in diameter and over 30 meters deep appeared. The inside of the crater was compacted, with large cracks spreading across it.
"Space System."
Sweet Orange stood in the crater, her mind racing. Her leaping punch seemed impressive, but it was actually quite suicidal.
If the enemy had slashed at her with a blade, she would have been at a disadvantage. No matter how strong the body, it's hard to resist a high-quality weapon's edge.
But the enemy didn't slash her with a blade; he pierced through space. Sweet Orange knew about this type of ability—it was somewhat unstoppable, but each spatial shift put a burden on the body and mind, so it had a cooldown of 2 to 5 minutes. Not too short, but not absurdly long either.
Such a decisive fighting style made Sweet Orange consider a possibility. As she charged at the enemy, he had already seen through her. His main weapon was a longsword, and his close-combat perception and instincts were absurdly sharp. His insight and combat experience were equally formidable.
"Jackpot."
Sweet Orange thought of a possibility: she had encountered one of the Three Big Daddies. Among contractor-versus-contractor battles, there were three recognized Big Daddies: Technique Type, Mage Lord, and Undead System.
Sweet Orange's judgment was made in an instant. She leaped out of the crater in a few bounds, the wind whistling past her ears. Her perception firmly locked onto the enemy not far away. Once again, she adopted her seemingly brainless fighting style, leaping high and punching downward.
Wind pressure came from diagonally above. Su Xiao's perception formed a sphere enveloping him, about a dozen meters in diameter. Though the range was short, it was sharp enough.
The enemy instantly entered his perception sphere. Su Xiao could sense everything about her: her hair being blown back, the sand grains on her skin, even her beating heart.
A small fist came crashing down from above. Don't think this was cute in any way—this fist could crush a tank, and the impact could turn steel into dust-sized powder.
Zheng!
The longsword cut a blue trail through the air, heading straight for Sweet Orange's fist. Seeing this, Sweet Orange, mid-air, curled her lips. The enemy had finally slashed at her.
With a tearing sound, the longsword cut through Sweet Orange's fist, arm, and shoulder, then entered through her cheek and exited above her other ear.
The slash rang out crisply. Amid a spray of blood, Sweet Orange was decapitated. The momentum of her dive carried her blood, most of her head, and body toward Su Xiao, the speed undiminished.
Just as the blood was about to touch Su Xiao, it turned fluorescent green. Her entire body transformed into fluorescent green liquid.
This was definitely not energy transformation. Pure bodily energy transformation couldn't evade a slash from Dragon-Slaying Flash imbued with Cyan Steel Shadow Energy.
Su Xiao raised his left hand to block. The next moment, the fluorescent green liquid enveloped him. Sweet Orange's body re-materialized behind him. Leveraging her "height advantage," she wrapped her arms around his waist and executed a back throw.
Boom!!
Sand flew everywhere. Another massive crater appeared.
Inside the crater, Sweet Orange's hands sizzled as they continuously eroded the enemy's body through the fluorescent poison.
Crack~
A crisp sound reached Sweet Orange's ears. She realized that the enemy she had thrown was actually a humanoid crystal shell, with facial features meticulously crafted.
"Not good!"
Pfft!
A longsword pierced through the crystal shell and then into Sweet Orange's neck. The spot she was stabbed turned into fluorescent green liquid, but a trace of blood still appeared.
Sweet Orange felt a buzz in her head, as if she had been hit by a straight kick. Her whole body felt light, as if floating into the clouds.
Another loud crash. Sweet Orange slammed into the side of the crater, blasting a hole through the sand.
'Blade Path: Azure Demon.'
A blue-green blade aura shot out, heading toward Sweet Orange in the sand.
Su Xiao leaped out of the crater. He had roughly gauged his strength within the Eighth Rank.
Crack, crack.
The crystal layers on Su Xiao's waist and left arm fell off. As a Technique Type, he could suppress Sweet Orange for a while at the start of the fight. If the battle continued, he had a high chance of losing. He wasn't facing just Sweet Orange alone, but the Dual Poison Combination.
Su Xiao stood on the beach, looking at the dense forest ahead. A woman in a black dress with a high slit and high heels emerged from the forest. She stopped at the edge of the sand, not advancing further. It was Guangmu.
"Teaming up with an idiot is really exhausting."
Guangmu sighed softly. As she spoke, Sweet Orange popped out of the sand like a gopher, only her head visible, with a bruise around her right eye.
"Guangmu, I tested him. He's not as strong as I thought. Let's kill him."
Sweet Orange's eyes gleamed with ruthlessness. She should remember this moment—it was the most courageous she would ever be when facing Su Xiao.
"Sweet Orange, what style of tombstone do you like? I'll set one up for you on the island."
Guangmu's image flickered like a poor signal. She wasn't there in person; she was controlling a mechanical beetle to project herself.
"What?"
Sweet Orange didn't understand at first, but she soon did. Unbeknownst to her, Cursed People had appeared all around, vaguely surrounding her.
"I see. So that's why you're at the top of the Legendary Degree rankings. Farewell."
Sweet Orange, with only her head exposed on the beach, shrank back, leaving a trail of fine sand as she disappeared. She had burrowed into the underground sand.
Inside the sand, Sweet Orange turned into fluorescent green liquid and began to tunnel through. Just as her laughter was growing unrestrained, a face appeared right in front of her. She almost crashed into it—it was the face of Mad Dog Kuike, blocking her path.
"A good dog doesn't block the way. Get lost."
Sweet Orange's liquid fist shot forward. She wasn't panicked; she had many ways to escape. Until she realized there were hundreds of Cursed People in the surrounding sand.
Half an hour later, Sweet Orange, with bruised eye sockets, was hung upside down from a coconut tree by the beach, swaying back and forth.
"Caught, but the split body escaped. Perfect."
Sweet Orange smiled sweetly. She had no idea what she was about to face in the next 40 hours.