Chapter 4: The ‘Artificial’ World Child
Regarding the information on Hazard S-002, there has been a complete blank recently. This hazard hasn’t appeared for some time, making it quite difficult to locate.
The good news is that Su Xiao’s initial status is very high, which has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that he can mobilize many Transcendents and intelligence channels; the disadvantage is that those hostile to him are all troublesome opponents.
Su Xiao held a document in his hand, which recorded information on Hazard S-001. This was both a dangerous and special hazard. The predecessor of the Containment Institution was established precisely because of this hazard. The current Hazard S-001 was no longer the original one, as this involved Hazard S-005. Due to her existence, S-001 had undergone changes.
This issue was too complex. Su Xiao was not prepared to get involved in these matters at this stage. The priority now was to leave this underground detention facility.
The Alliance World was an eighth-rank, high-difficulty world. More importantly, it was a fully open Primordial World.
Contractors from other factions would also appear in this world. Of course, this was also the world where Violators were most frequently encountered. The presence of other Violators made Su Xiao’s hunting mission even more difficult.
After waiting for about half an hour, Su Xiao’s trusted aide, Xili, whom he had picked up for free, returned. He had gone to see Dean Victor and Lady Xiu Lin, and the response was the same: they did not recommend Su Xiao leave the detention facility now.
“Xili, how have I treated you usually?”
Su Xiao spoke with his eyes lowered. Upon hearing this, Xili, who had been standing with a slouching posture, immediately straightened his back.
“Sir, you’ve treated me well, no doubt about it.”
“Is that so? Xili, I have high hopes for you.”
“Uh~”
A look of confusion appeared on Xili’s scarred face. Although his superior was praising him, a very ominous feeling arose in his heart.
“I’ve had my eye on you for a long time. You have the potential to become great.”
“Huh?”
Xili was even more bewildered. He recalled that half a month ago, because of a stupid mistake he made, his superior had slapped him so hard he flew into the wall, and his colleagues had to pry him out.
“From now on, you are the Vice Legion Commander of the ‘Agency.’ I have high hopes for you.”
“Sir…”
Xili’s eyes grew warm. He thought that his superior, unable to escape, was entrusting his most trusted person as the temporary Vice Legion Commander.
“Sir, rest assured. Even if I have to risk my life, I will handle the affairs of the ‘Agency.’ You can count on me.”
Xili’s emotions were hard to calm. Just then, a lady in a red dress walked over gracefully, holding a folded black coat with several gold buttons and a unique badge of the ‘Agency’ pinned to the collar.
The lady in red draped the Legion Commander’s coat over Xili’s back. Xili took a deep breath and said firmly, “Sir, rest assured, you will always be my Legion Commander.”
“You’ve worked hard, Xili.”
“No hardship at all. It’s all my duty, hahaha.”
Xili couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
“No, you really will have to work hard.”
Su Xiao patted Xili’s shoulder and gestured to the lady in red. She immediately stepped forward respectfully. After hearing Su Xiao’s low whisper, she nodded repeatedly.
“Sir, rest assured, everything has been arranged.”
The lady in red made a gesture toward the corner. A few seconds later, the armor holding Bubu Wang changed. The pure water inside was drained, and Bubu Wang was released.
Half an hour later, Xili, with a look of confusion mixed with bewilderment, was inside the armor, wearing an oxygen mask.
“Sir, you can’t do this to me! I already paid for that…”
Xili’s voice was interrupted by choking sounds. Inside the armor, he couldn’t shout loudly, or the reverse valve of the oxygen mask would open slightly, causing water to seep in. Compared to being trapped here, Xili was actually more concerned about another matter: before coming, he had booked a special service and even paid a deposit. It could only be said that Xili was a man of principle—he paid a deposit even for that.
Xili had some complaints in his heart, but they quickly dissipated. As long as he completed this task, he would get six to eight months of paid leave. For Xili, who hadn’t taken a vacation in nearly three years, this was an irresistible temptation. The good fortune came too suddenly.
Su Xiao led Bubu Wang through the narrow corridor. Appointing Xili as the temporary Vice Legion Commander and leaving him here was a compromise plan. At this stage, Su Xiao didn’t particularly need all the authority of the Vice Legion Commander. He first needed to understand this world.
As for the Alliance Council, they mainly wanted an attitude. As long as the Vice Legion Commander was in a state of imprisonment, the eleven councilors didn’t care who was actually imprisoned. As long as these power holders were given enough benefits and a way to save face, no one would make a fuss—that would only bring trouble.
Exiting the underground detention facility led to a narrow alley. Stepping out of the alley, a bustling street unfolded before Su Xiao. Most pedestrians were dressed decently. Cars drove past on the street, traffic lights were set up at the intersection, and the chimneys of distant factories continuously emitted thick, yellow-brown smoke.
Jiaman City was one of the three most prosperous cities on the continent. Correspondingly, the perennial smog in the sky had led to the rise of environmental protection organizations. Chemical plants and steel mills were the primary targets, often blockaded by environmental activists.
Su Xiao pulled out a few small bills from his pocket. This currency was called the Tapound, often referred to as the Alliance Dollar. Estimating its purchasing power, one Tapound was roughly equivalent to 2.3 RMB.
Below the Tapound was the Sudo, with denominations of 1 jiao, 2 jiao, and 5 jiao, used for daily transactions.
While waiting for the ‘Agency’ car to pick him up, Su Xiao spent 5 Sudo to buy a newspaper. He sat on a bench by the street to read it. The headline read: “Alliance Announces Cessation of Fisheries and Maritime Shipping from Today.”
The headline content took up a lot of space, with 99% of it being various analyses by the newspaper. The official announcement was only one sentence: cessation of fisheries and maritime shipping.
Something was happening on the Alliance side. Su Xiao was surprised earlier that Dean Victor, who always advocated for stability, hadn’t outright opposed his plan this time and even seemed to subtly support it.
Su Xiao felt that the cessation of maritime trade was a huge pitfall. For the Alliance to be forced to stop maritime shipping, something must have appeared at sea, most likely a hazard. Currently, the Alliance was keeping it tightly under wraps, probably because they coveted some characteristic of the hazard and wanted to bypass the Containment Institution to intercept it.
Continuing to flip through the newspaper, Su Xiao saw in the bottom gossip section that on the 5th of last month, a fisherman heard a woman crying underwater while fishing at sea.
He checked the newspaper that published this news—it was the Jihua Daily. That made sense. The Jihua Daily was the fearless one among many newspapers; there was nothing they dared not report. Once, they even ran a headline about a certain councilor’s extramarital affair. Note, that was a councilor in power. The Jihua Daily was audacious to the point of being jaw-dropping.
Obviously, the Jihua Daily sold better than the Alliance Daily.
Su Xiao folded the newspaper and tossed it into the trash can beside the bench. Jiaman City was prosperous, but its heavy pollution severely degraded air quality. Breathing felt somewhat suffocating, as if inhaling car exhaust mixed with a bitter almond flavor.
Su Xiao took out a glass cylinder nearly half a meter long. After opening the sealing ring at the top, the black semi-fluid inside surged out and splattered to the ground with a plop—it was the Devourer.
Most of the Devourer’s body began to dissolve, eventually leaving only a fist-sized mass. This substance turned into thread-like strands crawling along the street, eventually using its body’s tension to spring onto a car door and disappear at the end of the street.
Devourer, release successful. Beginning artificial World Child (pseudo).
Interestingly, because Su Xiao entered this world wearing the title ‘Sky-Sweeping Storm,’ the World Child of this world would be hostile to him. But what if the artificial World Child (pseudo) created through the Devourer confronted this world’s World Child? Which would be stronger?