Chapter 18: Deeper
The initial faction favorability was very low, not even enough to unlock faction reputation, but that didn't matter. Su Xiao's purpose this time was to kill the Wolf Spider Queen.
Su Xiao decided to split into two teams. One team would search for and kill the Wolf Spider Queen, while the other would contact the insect merchants, using the Crystal Resin accessories to strike a deal with them, thereby obtaining Immortal-rank gems or other benefits.
Dim light shone down from above the street. Many insects disliked bright light, making "Anlu" a place that was both dim and peaceful.
Don't think it was safe here. The main tunnel was indeed safe, but if one ventured into the outskirts of "Anlu," the darkness held many dangers.
When facing corruption, insects had much weaker resistance than humans. The reason the Insect Kingdom could maintain its current order was that corrupted insects hated light. Even a faint glimmer would make them retreat.
Dim light was the most effective. If bright light were used, the corrupted insects hiding in the darkness would become completely enraged, charging into the brightly lit area to wreak havoc.
Su Xiao walked along the street. This was essentially an underground tunnel nearly a hundred meters wide and several dozen meters high. "Anlu" had 47 such tunnels, all interconnected.
The small shops along the street were bustling, and the aroma of food wafted over. The smell was a bit strange, clearly not the result of cooking normal ingredients.
It might seem that the Insect Kingdom's technology was more advanced than humanity's, but that wasn't the case. Two hundred years ago, humanity had already reached the technological stage the insects were at now. Afterward, they suffered a double blow from corruption and civil war, causing technological progress to stall or even regress.
Before they had gone far, a single-carriage train approached from ahead. Beini was crouched on the train's roof, having skipped the fare.
"Meow."
Baha leaped down, its four paws spread wide in midair, and finally landed steadily on Amu's face.
Beini's first stop for treasure hunting was the Underground Kingdom. Or rather, in this world, its treasure-hunting business had to be put on hold for a while, and it would switch to making money instead.
Beini had arrived at the Underground Kingdom yesterday via the Insect Tower. Its first stop wasn't "Anlu" but the deeper "Crystal Nest," where it would contact the insect merchants.
"Beini, did you find out everything?"
"Meow."
"Good."
Su Xiao took seven Crystal Resin accessories from his storage space. They were all adjustable ring ornaments. He had already used his Alchemy to improve these seven [Crystal Resin Rings].
He had to admit, the craftsmanship of these [Crystal Resin Rings] was superb. Their stability was excellent, but they lacked external enhancements. In this world, the external empowerment of Crystal Resin accessories was completely blank—no Alchemy, Rune Inscription, or anything like that.
After Su Xiao's improvements, the attributes of these seven [Crystal Resin Rings] had become:
[Crystal Resin Ring · Sanctuary]
Origin: Dark Star World · Gem Street
Quality: Epic Rank ~ Holy Spirit Rank
Effect: Specific Ancient God Energy Resistance +4 points (increased by 2 points).
It might seem like a small increase, but it was actually a doubling of the effect. Comparison created contrast, making it easier to sell at a high price.
Not only the seven [Crystal Resin Rings], but Su Xiao also gave Beini 5,000 Lang of Crystal Resin. He had Beini take these and travel between the "Underground Kingdom" and the "Gem Street" in "Danke City" to open up channels and establish trade.
That's right, Beini's goal this time was to earn Crystal Resin. Once the channel was opened, it could buy Immortal-rank gems at extremely high prices. In such a large Underground Kingdom, Su Xiao didn't believe there weren't one or two Immortal-rank gems suitable for Dragon-Slaying Flash.
This was different from treasure hunting. Beini would often have to interact with insects or craftsmen on Gem Street. If it earned too much Crystal Resin, it would inevitably attract covetous eyes.
Therefore, Su Xiao decided to have Amu and Beini form one team. Beini would handle business and buy Immortal-rank gems, while Amu would provide armed protection.
Su Xiao himself would take Bubu Wang, Baha, and Moon Spirit deep into the Underground Kingdom, passing through the underground city below to reach the Black Nest, where they would find and kill the Wolf Spider Queen.
Before long, Amu and Beini disappeared at the end of the street. Su Xiao waited on the street. After more than forty minutes...
Rumble, rumble...
A single-carriage train approached. Bubu Wang raised its paw, and the Golden Armor Beetle driver controlling the train stopped it. After all, with six legs, the train was driven very steadily.
Puff~
Steam sprayed out, and the iron-black door opened. After boarding, Su Xiao threw a few rice-sized pieces of Crystal Resin into an iron box. The butterfly "sister" guarding the box was already asleep.
Most of the passengers were Ant Tribe members. They were the most numerous race among the insects, followed by the Moth Tribe, Mantis Tribe, and Wolf Spider Tribe. As for the rest, Su Xiao couldn't tell them apart.
The insect society's system was too complex. For example, it prohibited intelligent species from preying on each other, there were conflicts between multi-legged and legless species, and the hostility between natural enemy species.
These things had nothing to do with Su Xiao. He was about to venture into the most dangerous area of the Underground Kingdom.
The scenery outside the window flew by. Every time the train stopped, many insects got off. The terminal station of this single-carriage train was at the very edge of "Anlu," the area where the light reached its limit.
After stopping and starting more than a dozen times, the train stopped again. As soon as Su Xiao got off, the train hurriedly departed without even closing the door. The surroundings fell silent.
This was the end of the tunnel street. The light stopped here. In the darkness ahead, a large area of collapse was faintly visible. Many signs were stuck in the dirt, bearing words like: No Entry, Danger, No-Light Zone, etc.
Su Xiao stepped forward. As soon as he walked out of the light's range, a chill appeared around him. The dampness and earthy smell of the underground drifted into his nostrils, and he could faintly hear something burrowing in the dirt ahead.
Whether it was an illusion or not, Su Xiao felt someone was watching him. The feeling was faint, sometimes appearing every few hours, sometimes every few seconds—completely random.
It felt like someone was watching him from very far away. It had been appearing intermittently ever since he arrived at "Danke City."
At first, it wasn't obvious. Su Xiao had assumed it was the Kodo School's spies. After he arrived at the White Town, that intermittent feeling of being watched disappeared. But now, it had returned.
Strangely, this feeling of being watched wasn't dangerous. It was like someone had glanced at him from afar, without any hostility.
Dark blue smoke enveloped Su Xiao as he entered the full-power state of the Devouring Core. He scanned his surroundings. A few strands of golden energy as thin as hair appeared in the spatial gaps a hundred meters away, slowly dissipating. That was divine energy, representing luck and fortune—traces left by the Goddess of Fortune.
Once or twice might be a coincidence, but too many times meant purposeful investigation. Just now, the Goddess of Fortune's divine energy avatar had appeared in the spatial gaps, secretly peeping.
Su Xiao speculated that this was most likely because of [Fate Dominator]. At this point, Fate Dominator was vastly different from before. Not only had it been promoted to Holy Spirit rank, but it was also engraved with many characters, each representing a powerful being who had fought Su Xiao. This gave Fate Dominator an extraordinary significance.
The third ability of Fate Dominator required the Goddess of Fortune's divine blood to activate. Plus, this was a luck-type piece of equipment. It wasn't surprising that the Goddess of Fortune had sensed the extraordinariness of Fate Dominator.
The dark blue smoke on Su Xiao's body dissipated. He took Fate Dominator out of his storage space. Immediately, that feeling of being watched returned, and this time it was especially strong.
At this moment, in a spatial gap several hundred meters away, the Goddess of Fortune's divine energy avatar was floating in midair. She had learned her lesson and knew not to come in person.
The Goddess of Fortune was reclining in midair, floating lazily. She was the type who would sit if she could, and lie down if she could. She was one of the three laziest goddesses in the Void, and that reputation was well-earned.
The Goddess of Fortune's purpose here was simple: she coveted Fate Dominator. At this moment, her eyes held a hint of disbelief. She couldn't understand how an artifact like Fate Dominator could exist.
If it were just about boosting luck, she wouldn't care. But on Fate Dominator, she sensed the luck of many powerful beings. When added together, it was "heavy" beyond imagination. Yet Fate Dominator had borne it all and could still hold more.
"How... was this done?"
The Goddess of Fortune muttered to herself. She admitted she was envious. As for taking it? Was she crazy? Steal something from a Law Destroyer? But she clearly felt that if she obtained that artifact and absorbed it, her divine source would undergo unimaginable changes.
The Goddess of Fortune coveted [Fate Dominator] but didn't dare to seize it.
Su Xiao, on the other hand, needed the Goddess of Fortune's divine blood to upgrade Fate Dominator. The problem now was that the Goddess of Fortune was becoming more and more cautious.
The Goddess of Fortune coming to him was something Su Xiao hadn't anticipated. He looked at the collapsed dirt pile ahead and the several pitch-black tunnels. The Goddess of Fortune could be ignored for now. He would settle accounts with her when the opportunity arose.
As things stood, since he was already mildly hostile with the Underground Kingdom, fighting his way through was the better choice. It was also fast enough. Beini's side was sufficient for the trade with the Underground Kingdom.
Zheng~
Su Xiao drew the long blade from his waist and strode toward the tunnel ahead. Low faction favorability? No problem. He would just kill his way to the Wolf Spider Queen's location.
"Aren't we here to visit the Wolf Spider Queen?"
Moon Spirit unstrapped the blade-spear from her back and followed behind Su Xiao. Bubu Wang blended into the environment. Its task was to scout the terrain ahead and locate the Wolf Spider Queen. Baha went along as well. They would rendezvous at the Black Nest later, which was very dangerous.
The four-meter-wide tunnel was pitch black, with only the sound of Su Xiao's footsteps and his eyes, which faintly glowed red.
"Hiss!"
A centipede over five meters long, black with a hint of red, shot out from the darkness above. Its pair of mandibles spread open like large pincers, snapping toward Su Xiao.
With a whoosh, a slash of blade light passed through. Su Xiao, holding his long blade, continued forward. The bisected centipede fell behind him, black insect blood splattering everywhere. This color indicated that the centipede had been completely corrupted.
After advancing a dozen meters, pairs of brownish-yellow eyes appeared in the darkness ahead. Almost simultaneously, countless fingernail-sized beetles burrowed out of the earthen walls around them.
There were at least tens of thousands of these beetles. Each had fine barbs on its carapace and a pointed head. Once it burrowed into flesh, it was hard to pull out, heading straight for the heart and brain.
The dense sound of carapaces clattering closed in around Su Xiao. Some beetles even spread their wings and flew toward him, clearly intending to drive their heads deep into his flesh.
In an instant, Su Xiao was engulfed by the spiked beetles. With a bang, blood energy exploded outward, shattering all the beetles that had charged at him into fragments.