Chapter 27: Public Enemy Number One
Inside the top cabin of the steel battleship, the area was about several dozen square meters, not large overall, but with simple yet refined furnishings that made the space feel open and bright.
Solid wood furniture exuded an antique charm, and the ice in the liquor cabinet was replaced every few hours by someone in the adjacent cabin, maintaining the low temperature without disturbing the rest of those in the top cabin. Even a hardened officer like Major Gewei indulged in such luxury, reflecting the overall atmosphere of the Southern Alliance.
In Major Gewei's own words, he was already being frugal; the high-ranking officials and councilors of the Alliance were the truly extravagant ones.
Counting the time, after leaving the coastal waters of the Unknown Continent, the steel battleship had followed its predetermined course for two days. During these two days, Su Xiao had been resting in the top cabin. The golden lightning had struck him severely this time, and even after drinking recovery potions, the injuries healed very slowly.
Su Xiao rose from the bed. After two days of sleep, he felt a bit groggy, but his injuries were no longer a major concern. Because he had been struck so harshly by the golden lightning, his lightning resistance had permanently increased by 11 points.
Su Xiao opened his data list and, while checking his true stamina attribute, used his authority to query his resistance to lightning.
His current lightning resistance was 92 points, the result of accumulated efforts. He estimated that if he truly wanted to harness that kind of lightning, his lightning resistance would need to reach at least 150 points.
Su Xiao had never considered absorbing the golden lightning into himself; that was simply impossible. The golden lightning was clearly one of the exclusive abilities of a legitimate World Child.
Through his battle with Kingsley, Su Xiao confirmed that Kingsley also couldn't contain that golden lightning within his body; he was borrowing it.
Achieving the level of borrowing was sufficient for Su Xiao. First, he wouldn't invest resources into golden lightning, preferring instead to develop blade techniques in this area.
To harness golden lightning to a certain degree without investing resources, he needed extremely high lightning resistance. There was a fundamental difference between mastering it oneself and borrowing it.
Mastering it oneself made it easier to use, but the downside was that the strength of the golden lightning within one's body depended entirely on the resources invested.
Borrowing was different. As long as there was a Primordial World where a World Child could appear, there would be natural golden lightning. The strength of this golden lightning depended on the world's rank, meaning it was determined by the strength of the Primordial World's supernatural traits.
For example, golden lightning in an Eighth Rank world was almost the strongest lightning of that rank.
Borrowing golden lightning from various Primordial Worlds required minimal resource investment, mainly improving one's own lightning resistance to avoid being paralyzed before even harming the enemy when channeling the golden lightning falling from the sky.
Besides personal lightning resistance, there was also the secret technique for channeling lightning. Kingsley had such a secret technique.
Su Xiao's main reason for wanting to harness golden lightning was to develop Heaven's Wrath: Thunderfall. After defeating the Nameless Captain, he had obtained a scroll for this ability.
This wasn't a skill scroll but a consumable scroll. Su Xiao had used this scroll once to execute Heaven's Wrath: Thunderfall, severely injuring the Feather God and paralyzing them for nearly 1.9 seconds.
The fact that it could paralyze a Feather God for 1.9 seconds showed the power of Heaven's Wrath: Thunderfall. This blade technique was flashy to the point of being explosive, but that wasn't the point; it was powerful. Su Xiao was an absolute pragmatist. In his view, even if something was flashy beyond the sky, if it wasn't practical in combat, it was garbage.
Water droplets condensed on the cup's wall. Su Xiao downed the ice-cold drink in one gulp, clearing away the summer heat and the grogginess in his mind. Whether he could get the secret technique for channeling lightning from Kingsley was uncertain; it all depended on effort.
Su Xiao tallied all his gains from the Unknown Continent. He had obtained a total of 5.19% World Source. This amount of World Source acquisition once again confirmed a problem: World Source in this world was very difficult to obtain.
Su Xiao's current World Source was 19.7%. Considering the time he had spent in this world, this acquisition rate couldn't compare to previous ones.
After entering this fully open Primordial World, the Void Tree had activated the World Source ranking. Those ranked 1st to 50th would receive rewards. The first-place reward was [Tree Sprout], which could open the Land of All Beings: Seventh Layer, a good item.
The second-place reward was [Dragon: Pressure], the third-place reward was 30 Soul Crystals, and ranks 4th to 50th received varying amounts of World Source.
Su Xiao glanced at his current World Source and felt that if he didn't do something soon, he had no chance of taking the top spot. People like Alec, Tyrant, Black Rose, the Three Brothers of National Football, and Guangmu were all in this world, making the competition fierce.
Su Xiao opened the World Source ranking, and a long list appeared before him.
[World Source Ranking refreshed. Current ranking as follows.]
First Place: Fairy Maiden (Holy Light Paradise), 27.5% World Source.
Second Place: White Night (Reincarnation Paradise), 19.7% World Source.
Third Place: Alec (Death Paradise), 11.32% World Source.
Fourth Place: Black Rose (Reincarnation Paradise), 8.2% World Source.
Fifth Place: Three Brothers of National Football (Reincarnation Paradise), 8.13% World Source.
Sixth Place: Guangmu (Holy Light Paradise), 6.4% World Source.
Seventh Place: Tyrant (Apocalypse Paradise), 5.2% World Source.
[Announcement (Void Tree): When a contractor in this world obtains World Source exceeding 85%, this world will enter Hunting Ground Mode.]
[Hunting Ground Mode: After killing a contractor, there will be a 100% drop rate of Scarlet Cards. These Scarlet Cards cannot be opened but can be exchanged for World Source. The exchange amount is one-fifth of the World Source the killed contractor obtained while alive.]
[Announcement (Void Tree): This type of Scarlet Card cannot be taken out of this world and can only be used within this world.]
...
Seeing these announcements, Su Xiao's expression didn't change. World Source in this world was hard to obtain, but Fairy Maiden in first place had already obtained 27% World Source. Given her acquisition speed, by the later stages of this world, Hunting Ground Mode would indeed be triggered.
Hunting Ground Mode didn't trap all contractors in this world within a single area; the overall situation wouldn't change. It just added a killing rule granted by the Void Tree.
Su Xiao had heard of the title Fairy Maiden. In the previous world progress, he had gathered various fragmented intelligence. There were Violators planning to cause trouble in the Treeborn World, led by Huishenshi, Shenfu, and Fairy Maiden.
Encountering Fairy Maiden this time was an opportunity. If he could kill her in this world, the pressure on Su Xiao in the Treeborn World would greatly decrease.
Fairy Maiden was different from Huishenshi and Shenfu. Huishenshi and Shenfu had accumulated a lot at the Seventh Rank and had now soared, with terrifying foundations. Fairy Maiden, on the other hand, had been at the Eighth Rank for a long time and was among the top-tier combatants of that rank.
With Su Xiao's current strength, in a one-on-one fight, he would lose nine times out of ten, and the chance of dying was also high.
Su Xiao's philosophy was: if he could win, he wouldn't waste time on detours; if he couldn't win, he would use a swarm tactic.
For example, when dealing with Feishi, Su Xiao definitely couldn't beat him, so he led tens of thousands of Wolf Cavalry to surround and kill Feishi.
Fairy Maiden was hard to deal with. Even though Su Xiao was now the Legion Commander of the Execution Agency, whether he could handle her was unknown. If Fairy Maiden stayed in the Eastern Alliance, Su Xiao couldn't send Execution Agency personnel to surround her, as that would cause conflict between the Eastern Alliance and the Containment Institution.
Currently, the Eastern Alliance and the Containment Institution had a close relationship. As long as he didn't send a large number of Supernaturals there, there wouldn't be a problem.
Thinking of this, Su Xiao opened the World Communication Platform and spoke.
White Night (Reincarnation Paradise): "Fairy Maiden, did Huishenshi commission you to kill me?"
Bee Girl (Apocalypse Paradise): "Looks like something's about to happen? Ready to watch the show."
National Football Big Brother (Reincarnation Paradise): "Supporting Brother White Night."
Enzuo (Death Paradise): "Watching the show +1."
Black Rose (Reincarnation Paradise): "Eating melon."
[Remaining free posts today: 1 time.]
Fairy Maiden (Holy Light Paradise): "No, Huishenshi doesn't have the authority to command me. Even if he had a commission, I wouldn't accept it."
White Night (Reincarnation Paradise): "Are you all certain I'll go to the Treeborn World?"
Fairy Maiden (Holy Light Paradise): "I'm different from those two cunning ones. Actually, there's no enmity between you and me. Anyone with a sound mind wouldn't want to make an enemy for no reason. It's just a matter of different stances. Also, you're a Hunter, and I'm a Violator."
White Night (Reincarnation Paradise): "Mm, different stances."
Fairy Maiden (Holy Light Paradise): "See you in the Treeborn World. I am indeed a bit curious to see how strong a Law Destroyer is."
White Night (Reincarnation Paradise): "When I encounter danger, I tend to take very extreme actions."
Guangmu (Holy Light Paradise): "Kukulin Bai Ye, not very brave?"
Tyrant (Apocalypse Paradise): "Fought an Ancient God 1v1, and not brave?"
National Football Big Brother (Reincarnation Paradise): "Full of question marks."
National Football Second Brother (Reincarnation Paradise): "Completely dumbfounded."
National Football Third Brother (Reincarnation Paradise): "Stunned speechless."
Black Rose (Reincarnation Paradise): "I've never seen such a shameless person!"
...
Closing the World Communication Platform, Su Xiao understood the current situation. He and Fairy Maiden were in a competitive, hostile relationship. She also wanted to obtain [Tree Sprout], and since she was cooperating with Huishenshi and Shenfu, hostility was inevitable.
Su Xiao took a communicator from his storage space and contacted someone in Youke City. Due to the long distance, the signal was very poor.
...
In the jurisdiction of the Eastern Alliance, inside a three-story mansion.
The walls were splattered with blood. Pekin Simonway, hailed as the strongest Supernatural in the Eastern Alliance, leaned against the wall. Blood dripped from his chin, his pupils were shattered, and both arms were severed.
Tap, tap, tap...
High heels clicked on the floor. A figure stopped in front of Pekin Simonway. The newcomer wore a long dress formed from white light particles, with a train trailing several meters behind. On the ground covered by the dress, semi-transparent arms emerged, holding various weapons, the worst of which were Immortal Rank with over 1200 points.
"The strongest also dies the fastest."
Fairy Maiden looked down at Pekin Simonway. He struggled to lift his head, his shattered pupils trembling.
"Spare... me. I'm willing... to follow you..."
Bang.
Pekin Simonway's head exploded. Blood splattered toward Fairy Maiden but was blocked by a layer of light particles, quickly devoured.
Fairy Maiden looked out the window, hesitating whether to go to the Southern Continent to eliminate a potential threat. She had heard about that person from Huishenshi and Shenfu.
Fairy Maiden had a concern: the Hunter named White Night. With strength just promoted to the Seventh Rank, he had eliminated Feishi. In Fairy Maiden's view, although Feishi wasn't strong, he had few rivals in the Seventh Rank. The title of the strongest Seventh Rank Violator wasn't just for show.
Just as Fairy Maiden was considering whether to go to the Southern Continent to find Su Xiao and kill him by covert means, she suddenly received a notification from the Void Tree.
[Notification (Void Tree): You have been fully wanted by the Southern Alliance. Your reputation with the Southern Alliance has changed to: Mortal Enemy.]
[You have been fully wanted by the Eastern Alliance. Your reputation with the Eastern Alliance has changed to: Mortal Enemy.]
[You have been fully wanted by the Containment Institution. Your reputation with the Containment Institution has changed to: Blood Feud!]
[Because you are a Mortal Enemy of the Southern Alliance and the Eastern Alliance, you are now in a default hostile relationship with the Eclipse Organization.]
[You are now hostile to all four major forces in this world.]
[You will be forced to equip the temporary title: Public Enemy Number One (Debuff Title. Cannot be removed until leaving this world. This title disappears after leaving this world.)]
[Public Enemy Number One Title Effect: When negotiating with intelligent beings in this world, default favorability -30 points. You cannot trade with over 98.7% of merchants. You cannot use public facilities in the Southern Alliance and Eastern Alliance for free...]
Seeing these notifications, Fairy Maiden's aura became dangerous. She opened the communication platform and spoke.
Fairy Maiden (Public Enemy Number One): "Is this the 'little gift' you sent me?"
[Notification: This unit is a Public Enemy Number One. In this world, do not attempt to form a team with them or trade with them.]