Chapter 69: Reasonable Utilization of Resources
The snake tide surged toward Alec and the others as if to devour everything. It could be said that the ancient war beast summoned this time was not overwhelmingly powerful within the eighth rank, but even so, Alec's face turned pale.
Before fleeing, the Nether Wolf stared at Su Xiao for a moment, silently deciding that he would never cooperate with these people again in his lifetime.
The ancient war beast was the ultimate ability of the War Lord title, and the summoned ancient war beast would change according to the world it was in, commonly known as adapting to local conditions.
The more soldier-type units Su Xiao had, the stronger the summoned ancient war beast would be. With 400,000 soldier-type units, the ancient war beast's strength and stamina could reach the world's limit.
Currently, there were about 310,000 Black Curse Crows. Although they were judged as soldier-type units, the boundary was somewhat blurred. If he were commanding 400,000 Royal Navy soldiers and used the ancient war beast ability, it would summon the strongest giant creature of this world. What exactly that would be was unknown.
The World-Devouring Serpent·Riba was not the strongest giant creature in this world's history, but do not forget that 'Ancient War Beast' was a war-type ability. In its judgment, the World-Devouring Serpent·Riba was a giant creature that could influence the war situation.
Under Su Xiao's command, the World-Devouring Serpent·Riba transformed into countless black snakes that surged toward the contractors.
Guang Mu looked at the sea of snakes rolling in layers ahead, and she subconsciously shuddered, her blood nearly freezing. In her view, the current situation was more terrifying than death itself. Once engulfed by the snake sea, these small black snakes with full mouths of sharp teeth would not only bite her but might also...
Thinking of this, Guang Mu crushed the space scroll in her hand. This was her ultimate life-saving measure, and even she didn't know how high its rank was.
The distorted space swallowed Guang Mu. Sweet Orange, who was running nearby, was not so lucky. Several black snakes shot like arrows, biting into her back and legs, slowing her down for a moment.
Sweet Orange was engulfed by the snake sea. Her body turned into fluorescent green liquid, trying to escape this way.
"You have to... die too!"
The fluorescent green liquid that Sweet Orange transformed into seeped through the gaps between the black snakes, heading straight for Su Xiao. Unfortunately, when she was still over ten meters away from him, tens of thousands of small black snakes converged to form a large serpent, swallowing the cellularized Sweet Orange in one gulp.
Sweet Orange frantically split apart, her phantom visible within the fluorescent green liquid, and a trace of fear seemed to appear in her eyes.
The large serpent's mouth closed. The fluorescent green liquid inside it corroded it so severely that its body writhed continuously, eventually exploding with a bang.
The splattering fluorescent green liquid was gradually tainted by the black water. Sensing death approaching, Sweet Orange immediately tried to reconstruct her body. If she didn't revert to solid form and use potions, she would die within seconds. There were too many black snakes, and cellular splitting was useless now, only hastening her death.
Pfft.
A blur pierced through Sweet Orange's head—it was Banishment. Sweet Orange, only half of her upper body manifested, tilted her head back slightly. She raised her arm as blood splattered from the hole in her forehead.
"I lost."
The light in Sweet Orange's eyes completely faded, and she was instantly submerged by the surrounding black snakes.
Dozens of contractors scattered in all directions. As for looting treasure chests, they no longer considered that. Escaping was already a blessing.
Under the pursuit of the snake tide, a man with a cold aura leaped up. He raised his hand a hundred meters from Su Xiao, his palm facing Su Xiao's direction.
'Life Hunt.'
The gloomy man turned into a red flash, charging straight at Su Xiao, intending to die together with him.
A pitch-black serpent mouth appeared in front of Su Xiao, swallowing the incoming red flash. The next moment, thousands of black snakes around Su Xiao were corroded into blood water, emitting a pungent acidic and fishy smell.
Su Xiao stood still. The World-Devouring Serpent·Riba could only exist for 30 seconds, so he needed to repel the enemy quickly.
A sense of crisis emerged not far away. Su Xiao turned his head and covered his right ear with one hand.
Boom!!
A massive explosion occurred. White-hot flames spread a hundred meters away, rapidly approaching Su Xiao. The black snakes coiled together, trying to envelop these white-hot flames, but the temperature was too high. In an instant, tens of thousands of black snakes were burned into gas.
The white-hot flames spread to within a dozen meters of Su Xiao, gradually weakening. Eventually, they were suppressed by the mass of black snakes, forming a huge snake ball with a hissing sound inside.
In no time, the area around Su Xiao was empty. Some contractors had escaped, while others were overwhelmed by the snake tide.
Bubu Wang began searching for scarlet cards, eventually finding three. It was unclear how many contractors had died.
[Announcement (Void Tree): The 'Malice Aggregate' of this world has been eliminated. All participating contractors will receive the following rewards.]
[Reward 1: Soul Crystal (Complete) × 5.]
[Reward 2: Golden Skill Point × 1.]
[Reward 3: World Source 5%.]
...
Seeing this notification, Su Xiao knew his earlier speculation was correct. He hadn't killed the Fallen Deity. To be precise, he had slain the consciousness formed by its malice but not the vessel. This vessel wasn't even considered a living thing, so it couldn't be said to have been killed.
The vessel of the Fallen Deity had transcended the category of living beings. It was a 'receiver' of malice, and the vessel itself was non-aggressive, provided it hadn't accumulated too much malice.
The Demon Sea World needed something like this. There were too many pirates here. Compared to letting malice turn into vengeful spirits or similar entities, gathering it together for a single elimination was more stable.
This made Su Xiao think that after the Fallen Deity's final battle with the third captain, the newly born World Children of the Demon Sea World might have only one responsibility: when the Fallen Deity's vessel had gathered a certain amount of malice, to defeat it once to maintain balance.
In Su Xiao's view, this was entirely like harvesting leeks. First, let the malice accumulate, set up around the Fallen Deity's vessel, and when the malice reached a certain level, eliminate the consciousness formed by the malice.
This idea was feasible, but the time cycle was too long. Who knew how long it would take for the malice to accumulate before the sin flame ignited within the Fallen Deity's vessel? The leeks grew too slowly to harvest.
As Su Xiao pondered, a crisp sound reached his ears. He looked at the Fallen Deity's vessel, where large cracks had appeared on its back.
With a crackling sound, an arm emerged from the vessel's back. Under Su Xiao's gaze, a withered corpse crawled out. This withered corpse was identical to the one by the pool earlier, holding an old pocket watch.
The withered corpse hunched over, milky white liquid seeping from the back of its neck. The next instant, this liquid splattered outward like scattered flowers.
Baha flew over, carrying a glass column nearly a meter thick, and covered the splattering liquid. This was the Primordial Water.
After Baha collected about 50 liters of Primordial Water, the withered corpse's neck stopped emitting it. It staggered to the pool and leaned back against it. The vessel was no longer dangerous now; it wouldn't try to attack anyone or show hostility. It was merely a container.
The pool originally held over 200 liters of Primordial Water, but now only about 50 liters remained. This was likely due to the sin flame inside the Fallen Deity's vessel evaporating it during the battle.
Black mist spread, and a wooden wheelchair creaked.
"Oh? The captain of the Doom Number? Why are you here? Oh~, so you defeated the Fallen Deity this time. How did you... do it? The vessel had already ignited the sin flame. I thought nothing could defeat it anymore."
The old hag of Extinguished Light Island appeared in the black mist. Her appearance explained everything. She had persisted and remained sane because she was fulfilling her duty. She was a crow, a crow guarding the corpse.
The third captain had defeated the Fallen Deity, and his partner, the crow, had been guarding his achievements and honor ever since. Sometimes, living half-dead was far more painful and burdensome than dying.
"Can you leave Extinguished Light Island now?"
Su Xiao sealed the Primordial Water. He had something to confirm.
"No, I can't step out of the black mist."
"Good."
"Hehehehehe... Are you... really ready?"
The old hag laughed hoarsely. As she spoke, she 'embedded' a gem in the air, and the surrounding rocks began to roll back, gradually forming the collapsed cave.
A few minutes later, the cave was mostly restored but riddled with holes. The black mist slowly receded, and the wooden wheelchair beneath the old hag retreated.
"Are you... really ready?"
The old hag repeated her earlier words with a smile. Her eyes were now pitch black, and the malice in her aura was undisguised.
"Of course."
Su Xiao took out the Sea King's Horn. Seeing the horn in his hand, the smile on the old hag's face gradually faded.
The black mist dissipated, and the old hag vanished, dragged back to Extinguished Light Island.
Su Xiao tapped the glass column containing the Primordial Water. He needed at most 1,500 milliliters of this, but he now had over 50 liters, or more than 50,000 milliliters.
Primordial Water was the source energy of the Demon Sea. Using it or drinking it in this world was fine. However, taking it out of this world—taking a certain amount was acceptable, but taking over 50 liters? Not to mention it being a fancy way to court death, before leaving this world, he would surely suffer the backlash of the Demon Sea.
The safe amount was about 10 to 12 liters. Taking more would incur backlash proportional to the excess, a backlash more severe than the Demon Sea Curse.
Su Xiao decided to take 12 liters of Primordial Water. This was a good item that might be useful for preparing functional potions in the future. As for the rest...
After a moment of thought, Su Xiao decided to utilize the resources reasonably. He opened the World Contact Platform and began posting a message.
Bai Ye (Reincarnation Paradise): "Selling Primordial Water, 1,000 Soul Coins per liter."
Guang Mu (Holy Light Paradise): "This... is this something a person does?"
Alec (Death Paradise): "I'm interested in buying, but during the transaction, you won't ambush me with your people, will you?"
Bai Ye (Reincarnation Paradise): "No."
Alec (Death Paradise): "How can I be sure?"
Bai Ye (Reincarnation Paradise): "Sign a contract."
Alec (Death Paradise): "You really know how to joke."
Black Rose (Reincarnation Paradise): "Give me back the Soul Coins I paid for the Eternal Life Island coordinates!"