Chapter 109: Please Stop Showing Off
At 5 a.m., the sunstone above No. 6 Sanctuary City was gradually activated. Though one couldn't see a sunrise, it gave the impression of early dawn, awakening this slumbering underwater city.
The oxygen produced by algae in the morning made the air in Sanctuary City exceptionally fresh.
Sunlight filtered through the curtains into the bedroom. Su Xiao sat up on the ship's bed, his gaze vacant. This state persisted until he finished washing up and sat at the dining table. Before he could enjoy the breakfast prepared by the servants, he received a notification.
[Notification: Some of your actions yesterday have been detected by the Sun Church.]
[Your faction reputation with the Sun Church has reached: -300,000/-300,000 (Blood Feud).]
Seeing this notification, Su Xiao felt a slight confusion. How did the Sun Church know about the situation in the underwater world? Did they have a presence here as well?
After a moment of thought, Su Xiao concluded the issue wasn't about that but rather the Sunbird. As a divine creature of the Sun Church, the Sunbird naturally had some connection to them, allowing cross-distance perception or detection. This was normal.
The distance between the different painting worlds, or rather the layers between them, seemed smaller than expected. The old knight he had met earlier could enter different painting worlds.
As for why he had reached a blood feud with the Sun Church, Su Xiao had already guessed. Looting their treasury had made them gnash their teeth in hatred, but after a while, they would let it go.
Regardless, Su Xiao had treated many Sun Church believers' injuries. Statistically, about 70% of Sun Church followers had received free treatment from him.
This kindness left those believers conflicted. Without Su Xiao's treatment, they would either be crippled for life or constantly tormented by pain, with some even wishing for death.
More importantly, because Su Xiao prioritized treatment efficiency, his methods were beyond brutal. These treated believers felt an inexplicable resistance to seeking revenge on him.
The Sun Church's original stance was to let it go and never mention it. But the Sunbird was stubborn and persistent, chasing Su Xiao into the underwater world to kill him.
The result was that Su Xiao killed the Sunbird and stewed it. This scene was remotely detected by the Sun Church, leading to the current situation.
Su Xiao wasn't particularly concerned about this. After all, this was the underwater world. Even the Sunbird died here. If Sun Church followers came, they wouldn't pose much of a threat—just delivering their heads.
As Su Xiao pondered these issues, an announcement appeared. The recently entered medium-sized void race, the Spirit Hunters, had been sent off by Water Brother.
Scrolling through the records, the participants from the Omo Clan, Stone Lu Clan, and Reverse Tooth Clan—three medium-sized void races—had all been taken out by Water Brother last night. Including the Spirit Hunters just now, Water Brother had achieved seven kills.
No matter how he looked at it, this was abnormal. How did Water Brother determine the initial teleportation points of these new entrants? It felt like Water Brother knew their locations and was hunting them down one by one.
If the waiting participants at the space transfer station could also see the elimination announcements, they would surely panic. From their perspective, they had no idea what was happening inside the painting world, but everyone who entered died.
"Bai Ye, we can start."
Wood, sitting across the dining table, spoke up, with Zuiyasi beside him.
"Didn't the Void Tree give you notifications? You're hostile to the Sun Church now?"
Su Xiao spoke calmly, but inwardly he was somewhat expectant. Having more people become mortal enemies with the Sun Church was beneficial to him in every way.
"Yes, we're hostile. But this -300,000 blood feud—by your Paradise's standards, what level of hatred is that?"
Zuiyasi asked in a deep voice. Hearing this, Baha replied:
"Ahem, let me clarify, this is just a metaphor. This -300,000 reputation is like someone kidnapping your wife..."
"I'll fucking kill him."
"Not only kidnapping your wife, but also having a 'nephew' with her for you."
"?"
Zuiyasi glared at Baha, who waved his claw with a smile. After a moment, Zuiyasi looked away. Baha's metaphor, though harsh, made Zuiyasi deeply understand how much the Sun Church hated him.
"We stewed the Sunbird, and the Sun Church has this much hatred?"
Wood, who had been pounding the Blazing Sun Monarch in the sand world, had limited knowledge of the Sun Church and naturally couldn't understand the Sunbird's origins.
"That was a divine creature nurtured by the Sun Church's thousand years of faith energy."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, Wood and Zuiyasi fell silent. Yesterday's Sunbird mushroom stew was indeed delicious and incredibly nourishing, but the consequences were severe.
At this moment, Wood suddenly asked, "Is there any leftover Sunbird stew from yesterday?"
"Six boxes stored."
"Give me one. Bolosi worked hard yesterday; I'll let him try it."
Wood wanted to drag another person down. The more targets, the safer.
"..."
Su Xiao took out a lunch box. Wood took it and left, signaling that the plan was about to begin.
"Bubu."
Su Xiao called Bubu Wang over. He spent 2,888 Soul Coins to recharge the Sea God Statues worn by Bubu Wang and Baha with 24 hours of underwater protection each. Then he took out a map.
"This is No. 6 Sanctuary City, this is No. 2 Sanctuary City, and this position is Divine Grace City, the main city. You two start from the south gate of No. 6 Sanctuary City, pass through the Ruins Zone, enter the Lightless Land, then use No. 2 Sanctuary City as a coordinate, bypass it from the right, go through the Whirlpool Zone, and you'll reach Divine Grace City."
Su Xiao drew a line on the map. Both Bubu Wang and Baha were skilled in reconnaissance and had strong survivability. That's why Su Xiao chose to bring them into the sand world and the underwater world. Beini was better at finding long-lost or ancient items, while Amu excelled in tough battles.
Bubu Wang and Baha's mission was to head to the main city first, with Bubu Wang monitoring the Sea God 24/7.
Bubu Wang and Baha left, and Zuiyasi also went out to Wood's place. In the coming period, Bolosi the Divine Envoy would be crucial. Zuiyasi planned to gradually alter Bolosi's cognition by controlling the parasitic worms.
Yesterday's Sunbird attack was both a danger and an opportunity. No. 6 Sanctuary City suffered heavy casualties. Such a major event had to be reported to the Sea God, as he ruled the eight underwater cities.
The reason Bolosi delayed reporting to the Sea God until this morning was to give himself time to handle the aftermath, forge evidence, and shift blame.
If Bolosi directly admitted that the Sunbird was attracted by him, the Sea God would immediately suspect him. Having been Bolosi's superior for years, the Sea God knew his style too well.
But if Bolosi fabricated evidence and shifted blame, the Sea God might guess the Sunbird's arrival was due to Bolosi but wouldn't investigate deeply. He didn't care how many died in No. 6 Sanctuary City, only whether Bolosi deceived him.
The Sunbird attack was an opportunity because No. 6 Sanctuary City's combat personnel were severely depleted, with only 293 nobles left alive. More importantly, these were Bolosi's loyal followers, whose secrets and lives were in his hands.
Now, Bolosi had to submit a detailed personnel list for the Sea God's review. The Sea God would use this chance to send combat forces from the main city to stabilize the situation.
Although Bolosi had made No. 6 Sanctuary City independent, he was still the Sea King's lackey. Compared to the other seven divine envoys, Bolosi was the least ambitious.
In the list Bolosi submitted to the Sea God, there would be three names with very brief introductions:
Kukulin Bai Ye: Doctor, has some research on beast transformation.
Zuiyasi: Archaeologist, dabbles in rituals.
Wood: Foreign alien, has unique insights into mysticism.
The information about Su Xiao and his two companions was heavily redacted. This was to make Bolosi appear reluctant to let the Sea God notice them.
Everyone has selfish motives. Given the abilities Su Xiao and his companions had displayed, if Bolosi hadn't been influenced by the parasitic worms, he would want to keep them in No. 6 Sanctuary City rather than let the Sea God discover their talents and take them away.
As the saying goes, gold always shines. This time, No. 6 Sanctuary City had lost too many combatants. Once the casualty numbers were reported, the Sea God would surely send subordinates to stabilize the situation.
When the Sea God's trusted subordinates discovered Su Xiao and his companions' abilities, they would report to the Sea God. In this world plagued by beast disasters, a doctor who could suppress beast transformation was an irresistible attraction to any faction.
The Sea God's authority in this world was deeply rooted. Dealing with him was no simple task, let alone plundering his treasury clean.
Joining the Sea God's ranks and then causing trouble covertly? If the main city encountered problems, Su Xiao and his companions, as newcomers, would be the first to be singled out. The truly safe approach was to make the Sea God actively recruit them.
Not only recruit them, but according to Su Xiao, Wood, and Zuiyasi's plan, the Sea God would have to offer enough benefits before they would go to the main city to join his ranks.
No one would suspect that the capable individuals they had spent a fortune to persuade and invite were actually plants.