Chapter 7: Their Respective Chess Pieces
The stars filled the sky, and the night wilderness was far from quiet. Mountains stretched on, wild beasts roamed, and insects chirped incessantly.
Rumble～
The gravel on the ground vibrated as a train sped along the tracks. Thick smoke billowed from the engine, mixed with sparks from burning coal.
Inside the first-class carriage of the second section, Su Xiao was flipping through the documents in his hands. Originally, he was supposed to deal with a dangerous object called the "Ash Box." But before he even reached the location, the local "Agency" branch had already handled it, classifying it as a B-rank dangerous object.
The report noted that while the object was eerie, its threat to civilians wasn't as severe as imagined. It looked terrifying, but with sufficient experience in handling dangerous objects, five to six "Agency" members could resolve it properly.
Although this wasn't good news for Su Xiao, it saved him time. His main quest required him to contain or eliminate A-rank or S-rank dangerous objects. Even if eliminating a B-rank object could improve quest completion, the time cost wasn't worth the reward.
The reason Su Xiao was on this long-distance train was to head to a small town on the border of the Southern Alliance, a place called Winter Spring Town.
Four years ago, a dangerous object appeared in Winter Spring Town. Logically, the Containment Institution should have dealt with it long ago. But this object was special—extremely hard to find, and once alerted, it would vanish immediately, only to reappear in the town after a while.
After sending several waves of personnel without success, they simply left it alone.
Manpower was too scarce. Unless absolutely necessary, leaving one or two field agents stationed there year-round was the best option for dealing with such objects.
Su Xiao planned to deal with this dangerous object because its rank was quite high. The former Deputy Legion Commander, Wideman, had gone to Winter Spring Town with his hound unit, only to return in defeat. His most capable subordinate died there.
Faced with this situation, a normal ruler wouldn't tolerate it and would seek to completely eradicate the object. But after weighing the pros and cons, the former Deputy Legion Commander decided that losing more subordinates was a greater loss than losing face. His abilities simply couldn't handle the dangerous object in Winter Spring Town.
If it could make the former Deputy Legion Commander retreat in defeat, the dangerous object in Winter Spring Town was at least S-rank. Su Xiao decided to check it out. Even if he couldn't solve it, it was better than waiting around in Youke City.
The heater in the carriage emitted warmth, and the rhythmic sound of the train made one drowsy. Su Xiao didn't rest. He didn't even play puzzle games. Instead, he sat cross-legged on the bed, with Dragon-Slaying Flash lying flat on his legs, ready to draw his blade and fight at any moment.
It wasn't that Su Xiao was overly cautious. In the task world, whenever he used transportation, the probability of being attacked was over seventy percent.
That was also why he hadn't bought a vehicle that could be stored in his inventory. Not only were vehicles that could be brought into eighth-rank worlds extremely expensive, but it would also be heartbreaking if they got damaged.
Su Xiao wasn't the only one on alert. Baha was also vigilant. Tianba beauty, Tide Hunter, sat by the window, admiring the night scenery. Although she wasn't helping Su Xiao willingly, she couldn't do anything about the summoning contract.
It was true that Su Xiao had killed all the Tianba warriors in the Heavenly Palace. However, he hadn't gone on a killing spree among the Tianba civilians in the Divine Kingdom. That would have been a waste of time.
Tide Hunter was skeptical about this, but it didn't matter whether she believed it or not. Su Xiao summoned her for two reasons: her strength and her agility. When initially encountering dangerous objects, being fast enough to run was clearly better than being tough enough to take a hit.
Compared to Su Xiao and Baha, who had their senses fully extended, Bubu Wang was much more relaxed. He was lying on the small bed across from them, snoring loudly. Earlier, when he heard they were going to deal with the "Ash Box," he looked calm as an old dog, but in reality, he was so scared he almost peed himself.
Now that he heard the "Ash Box" had been contained, Bubu Wang felt that dog life was full of hope again. With his mood improved, he naturally started snoring.
While extending his perception, Su Xiao also engaged in his daily meditation. After finishing, he opened his eyes. Maybe he was overthinking it. It had been nearly three hours since they left Youke City, and still no enemy had attacked.
Just as Su Xiao relaxed a little, something suddenly fell within his perception range, crashing heavily onto the roof of the carriage.
Su Xiao looked up and saw a dent in the carriage ceiling. Just as he was about to draw his blade, a pained groan came from above.
"I'm going to die from that fall! I told you not to fly upside down. Is your intelligence only good for eating dirt?"
A slightly immature male voice came from above, still in the middle of a voice change.
Dong, dong, dong～
A white-haired youth hung upside down, tapping on the window with his finger.
"Sir, sorry to bother you. Do you know where Sunset Canyon is? I can pay in Tower Pounds."
The white-haired youth smiled infectiously. Clearly, he wasn't an attacker.
At that moment, the youth was a bit puzzled. For some reason, when he looked at the man inside the carriage, he felt a tightness in his chest. He had never met this person before, yet he felt... annoyed?
The white-haired youth pushed the thought aside. He had never met this person, so why would he feel annoyed for no reason? It must be his own problem, nothing to do with the other person.
"Sunset Canyon is over there..."
Baha raised his wing, about to point the way, when the white-haired youth disappeared with a "whoosh." Yes, just a "whoosh."
The train entered a tunnel, while the white-haired youth sat at the tunnel entrance, a bump slowly swelling on his head. A mechanical bird landed beside him.
"You're so stupid, hehehehe."
The mechanical bird let out a laugh that sounded like grinding gears. If any member of the Containment Institution saw it, they would immediately recognize it as a dangerous object.
...
"Who was that guy? Doesn't look too smart."
Baha poured himself a cup of hot tea and drank it slowly, drawing sidelong glances from Tide Hunter.
"That's a World Child."
Su Xiao had sensed it earlier. That aura fluctuation could be that of a World Child, but probably not a genuine one. The feeling of fate being bestowed upon him wasn't very strong.
"Kill him?"
Baha's aura began to turn dangerous.
"Not for now."
Su Xiao didn't let Baha act. He was curious about what that was. If the white-haired youth was a genuine World Child, he would have already made a move.
It felt like... a World Child born from some coincidence? Or perhaps someone had infused fate power into him.
This wasn't impossible. Two items in Su Xiao's storage space could achieve this. Judging by the situation, it seemed someone had used some method to cultivate a World Child (Fake).
Don't think this is too unbelievable. In the Wizard World, although Su Xiao hadn't seen such people himself, the three—Dawn, Laurent, and Gus—had cultivated Nia, who was a similar existence.
If Su Xiao's guess was correct, then the situation was very interesting. After he released the Devourer, it formed a symbiosis with a young man named Aiki.
Meanwhile, someone else had cultivated the white-haired youth through special methods.
If Su Xiao and that person were to clash, they probably wouldn't fight directly at the beginning. Instead, it would develop into a game of chess, where Aiki and the white-haired youth would be their pieces, engaging in the first round of probing and testing.
...
Garman City, a bustling metropolis.
The midnight streets were empty. A bloodied figure sprinted down the street, with angry shouts coming from behind.
A few seconds later, a dozen burly men stopped on the street, their eyes like hungry wolves scanning the surroundings.
"Where did that kid go? He punched me, purolo (purolo: a curse word in this world, similar to TMD)."
"We have to find him. That black thing that came out of his hand bit off half of Afu's head. Afu is dead."
The dozen men were all cursing. In a nearby alley, Aiki hid in the darkness. Earlier that day, he had protected someone he wanted to protect—the owner of "Soya Grand Hotel," Ms. Siya Soya.
Those rude, sweaty men, fueled by alcohol, had been disrespectful to Ms. Soya. It looked like they were taking advantage of the lack of customers to push her into the storage room.
Aiki could guess what those thugs intended to do. He was an 18-year-old adult male.
Aiki stepped forward. He had planned to shout for help before being beaten to death. But before he knew it, he was holding half an arm in his hand, covered in bite marks, as if it had been bitten off by a giant beast.
Aiki was terrified. He turned and ran, leading to the current situation.
"He got away. How do we explain this to the higher-ups? Are you all brain-dead? No matter what, we have to silence him tonight. If the higher-ups find out, we'll all disappear before 6 AM."
"No way. We joined the 'Ring' half a month ago. The 'Ring' is an outer organization of the Containment Institution. The Containment Institution is a member of the Alliance, an official organization. It's unlikely..."
"Bullshit!"
A loud shout silenced the other men. The leader glared with bull-like eyes, his scarred face twitching. He roared:
"Do you really know the Containment Institution? Do you think it's a charity? If the 'Agency' finds out about today, it'll be worse than death. We joined the 'Ring' to escape the Blood Hand Gang's pursuit. Have you ever thought about why the Blood Hand Gang, which controls most of Garman City's underground business, doesn't dare to chase us anymore? They're afraid of the Containment Institution, and even more afraid of the 'Agency.' The 'Agency' is full of crazy superhumans. Killing us means nothing to them. Do you remember how many ants you've stepped on?"
The leader's tirade made the others feel cold, realizing the severity of the situation. Joining the 'Ring' had made them a bit arrogant, and with alcohol in their systems, tonight's incident happened.
"As for tonight's matter..."
"Silence them all, not a single one left. Dirty deeds are more hated than murder. You guys go back to the hotel and clean up the scene. Make it look like a dangerous object appeared. As for that kid, I remember him. Last time I went to Soya Hotel, I saw him being close to a woman. She's an apprentice at the tailor shop on Rong Street. We'll handle it from here. If we kill them all, a few of us might survive. Otherwise, we'll all die. Understand?"
"Yes, yes, yes."
"We'll go back to the hotel."
Just as the dozen men were about to split up, Aiki stood up from the darkness of the alley.
'Aiki.'
The Devourer's voice appeared in Aiki's mind.
"Devourer."
'Kill them all. You can do it.'
"I'm scared."
Aiki spoke as he walked forward. He was scared now, but being scared wasn't shameful. He had stepped out of the darkness. He stood up.
"You... deserve to die."
Aiki clenched his fists. The Devourer burst out from within him, surging like dense black tentacles, eventually wrapping around his entire body.
'Aiki, you're no longer a coward.'
Bang!
A large claw swept through, sending blood and shattered skull fragments flying. Aiki stood on a streetlamp, holding half a head in his hand. He grinned, revealing a mouth full of sharp teeth.
"You really... deserve to die."
Aiki suddenly appeared in front of the thug leader. His bloody mouth opened wide and bit down on the enemy's shoulder and part of his torso.
Screams and cries of agony pierced the night sky. Blood and flesh splattered, staining a large area of the street. A rib bone thudded into the wall of a nearby shop.
A gentle night breeze blew. A hundred meters away, on top of a building, two men and a woman stood. Among them, a girl in a black dress sat on the edge of the roof, swinging her legs as she watched the scene a hundred meters away.
These three were superhumans from the 'Agency.' While carrying out their orders, they had come to clean up the 'trash.'
"Is this a dangerous object?"
The black-dressed girl tilted her head, watching Aiki in the midst of his killing spree.
"No, but it still needs to be dealt with."
"Then let's do it. We came to clean up the rot, but this is an unexpected gain."
The black-dressed girl extended both hands, about to leap off the roof, when a gloved hand pressed down on her shoulder.
"His name is Aiki. The 'Ears' provided intelligence on him. Ignore him."
"What? We're already here."
The black-dressed girl was a bit annoyed.
"Then go ahead and kill him. Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you. The order from the 'Ears' came from the Legion Commander himself."
The smiling man crossed his arms. The 'Ears' he mentioned was the intelligence department of the Agency.
"So what?"
The black-dressed girl spoke with indifference.
"I said the Deputy Legion Commander, not that puppet old man."
"The stars are really bright tonight. Let's go, continue carrying out the orders."
The black-dressed girl stood up and turned to leave. But she immediately thought of something and specifically told her two teammates to keep what was just said a secret. She didn't want to say goodbye to this beautiful world. If she offended the Deputy Legion Commander, she felt she wouldn't be far from death.
...
The train sped on. Su Xiao placed the glass bottle on the table. The Devourer fragments inside were writhing, their volume having increased. This meant that side was already growing.
"Boss, good progress. It's already growing in such a short time."
Baha watched in amazement but quickly understood. Garman City was the territory of the Containment Institution. As long as the Devourer's host didn't court death by provoking Director Victor of the Containment Institute or offending Finance Chief Ms. Xiulin, he wouldn't encounter an unbeatable enemy there.
Su Xiao put away the glass bottle containing the Devourer fragments. He would continue to let it grow. Compared to that, he was more concerned about how many contractors had entered this fully open Primordial World.
Opening the World Contact Platform, since the number of eighth-rank contractors wasn't too large, the chance of meeting acquaintances was higher. The platform was unusually lively. Contractors from various paradises could speak there. The content was as follows:
National Football Team Third Brother (Reincarnation Paradise): "Count off!"
National Football Team Big Brother (Reincarnation Paradise): "1."
National Football Team Second Brother (Reincarnation Paradise): "2."
National Football Team Third Brother (Reincarnation Paradise): "3, count off complete!"
Black Rose (Reincarnation Paradise): "You three ** above, you ***????, ????????."
[This contractor has been restricted from speaking. Remaining free speech attempts for today: 2.]
National Football Team Second Brother (Reincarnation Paradise): "Hahaha, the lady with the fragrant mouth is speaking Elvish again. Black Rose, remember us three brothers?"
Black Rose (Reincarnation Paradise): "Say one more word, and I'll kill you three muscle-bound idiots."
Guang Mu (Holy Light Paradise): "So lively."
Yalike (Death Paradise): "Meaningless argument."
Guang Mu (Holy Light Paradise): "Hello, Second Brother."
Black Rose (Reincarnation Paradise): "Eternal second... ah, no, hello, Second Brother."
[This contractor's free speech attempts for today have been exhausted.]
Yalike (Death Paradise): "I only ranked second in my last clash with Bai Ye. In the previous world progress, I was first in battlefield kill reputation. If I clash with Bai Ye again, I won't lose. Besides, Bai Ye is probably not in this world. Bai Ye, are you here?"
Bai Ye (Reincarnation Paradise): "Oh."
Yalike (Death Paradise): "..."
Black Rose (Reincarnation Paradise): "Hahahahaha..."
[This contractor paid 3 Soul Coins for this speech.]
National Football Team Big Brother (Reincarnation Paradise): "Bai Ye, look here."
National Football Team Second Brother (Reincarnation Paradise): "Long time no see, miss you."
National Football Team Third Brother (Reincarnation Paradise): "Ura!"
Tyrant (Apocalypse Paradise): "Bai Ye? Is this a famous powerhouse in the eighth rank? Never heard of him. If I get the chance, I'll fight him. I'm Tyrant, the Undying Tyrant."
Tyrant (Apocalypse Paradise): "Your codename is... Kukulin Bai Ye? It must be, no mistake. You're the bastard who led a bunch of bosses to surround us!"
Guang Mu (Holy Light Paradise): "Bai Ye-style legion flow victim +1."
[Announcement (Void Tree): Due to the particularity of this world, the current ranking mechanism cannot be triggered.]
[Stabilizing...]
[The ranking mechanism is a special reward mechanism unique to fully open Primordial Worlds. Since it cannot be activated normally in this world, a temporary authority replacement has been activated.]
[World Source Ranking has been activated. Based on the final World Source obtained by all contractors in this world, the following rewards will be given to ranks 1 to 50.]
[First Place Reward: Tree Bud. After obtaining this item, a specific authority upgrade can be performed, such as opening the Land of All Beings, Seventh Layer (Reincarnation Paradise exclusive facility), or opening the Endless Tower (Death Paradise exclusive facility)...]
[Second Place Reward: Dragon's Pressure (Ultimate Skill Scroll).]
[Third Place Reward: Magnificent Soul Box (Opens to obtain 30 Soul Crystals, Complete).]
[Fourth Place Reward: World Force Condensate, Small Piece (Using it grants 12% World Source, usable only in this world).]
[Fifth Place Reward: World Force Condensate, Fragment (Using it grants 10% World Source, usable only in this world).]
[Sixth to Fiftieth Place Reward: 8% to 1.5% World Source (These are items that can be converted into World Source upon use. Due to notarization in this world, World Source cannot be directly rewarded).]
...
Garman City, a hotel room. The window was open, and the cool night breeze rustled the curtains.
Linlong Yalike sat by the window. Seeing the second-place reward, his dark golden eyes narrowed. The second-place reward was the "Dragon's Pressure" skill scroll, something he had been searching for a long time. This time, he was determined to be second place!
PS: (Updated late, a 5000-word chapter presented.)