Chapter 19: The Ugly Envy
Su Xiao and Envy fought in a chaotic mess, or more accurately, it was a one-sided slaughter.
Envy had no particularly outstanding abilities; aside from its massive size, it possessed no special skills.
Now, its large size had become a weakness, allowing Su Xiao to simply slash away freely.
Five minutes later, the ground was littered with large pieces of severed limbs, which gradually turned to ash. All these limbs came from a single monster.
"Impossible, how could an alchemist have such powerful swordsmanship?"
Envy, now only a massive head remaining, was barely clinging to life.
"Unexpectedly, you're more tenacious than Greed. You've died 25 times already."
Su Xiao stood before Envy's head, waiting for it to regenerate again.
"Let's make a deal."
Envy knew that if this continued, it would die.
What greeted Envy was not negotiation, but a gleaming long blade. Su Xiao didn't want to waste time with a homunculus.
Although following the original plot would be more stable, it was too time-consuming. Su Xiao would use his own methods.
One ally had already been secured, and he planned to recruit a second soon.
"I, Envy, actually lost to a human. What a disgrace."
Envy reverted to its human form; the Philosopher's Stone within it could no longer sustain its massive size.
Dragon-Slaying Flash pierced Envy's neck, and its body convulsed before turning entirely to ash.
No kill notification appeared, but Envy's physical form had been destroyed.
A small green creature crawled out from Envy's remains, about the length of a palm, with dark green skin, eight legs, and large eyes. It resembled Envy's true form, but was very tiny.
This was Envy's real appearance—envy was truly such an ugly thing.
"Hello, Envy."
Su Xiao crouched down, looking at Envy crawling on the ground.
"You... what are you going to do?"
Su Xiao grabbed Envy with one hand. Now, Envy posed no threat.
"Let me go, you bastard!"
"Oh?"
Su Xiao's hand tightened, his left hand wrapped in a metal gauntlet clenching.
"Ah! Let go, my guts are coming out! Spare me, I don't want to die, I don't want to die!"
The previously arrogant Envy was now begging for mercy, tears welling in its eyes.
"Don't look at me, you damned human! I, Envy, I am Envy, the embodiment of jealousy!"
Su Xiao ignored Envy and instead took out a glass bottle.
"Hey, what are you doing? You're not going to..."
Envy guessed correctly. Su Xiao stuffed Envy into the glass bottle and even shook it a bit.
"I won't let you off, just you wait..."
Envy stopped mid-sentence, noticing Su Xiao staring coldly at it.
"Let me ask you something. Where is the Philosopher's Stone stored?"
"Hmph, you greedy human, don't even think about it. I won't betray..."
Envy's body suddenly began to tremble.
"Wait, what is that transparent liquid you're holding? Don't... no, don't do this. Calm down! Ah!!"
Envy let out a heart-wrenching scream as Su Xiao poured some sulfuric acid into the bottle.
After pouring out the now-dark red sulfuric acid, Su Xiao tapped the glass bottle.
"Changed your mind?"
"Changed... changed my mind."
Envy trembled all over, its flesh corroded and blurred by the acid, though its injuries slowly began to heal.
"Good. By the way, every time you lie, I'll treat you to some more acid."
Envy raised its head shakily inside the bottle. It now finally understood that the most terrifying thing wasn't homunculi, but humans.
"There's a building underground the Presidential Mansion, with a large amount of Philosopher's Stones there."
As soon as Envy finished speaking, it saw Su Xiao pouring acid into the bottle.
"I didn't lie! What are you doing, you bastard! Ah!!"
The acid submerged Envy's body. After a few seconds, Su Xiao poured it out again.
The area beneath the Presidential Mansion was fraught with danger; the Bottle Imp was there, the homunculus headquarters. Envy had ill intentions.
"Even now, you still want to regain your freedom, Envy?"
Su Xiao took out an alchemy bomb. The bomb began to deform, eventually forming a spiderweb-like pattern clinging to the surface of the glass bottle.
Envy's heart sank completely.
"I can tell you where the Philosopher's Stones are, but after you get them, you have to let me go."
"Let you go? Do you believe I would?"
Envy lowered its head.
"No."
"Then stop struggling pointlessly. Tell me where the Philosopher's Stones are, and I'll give you a quick death."
"The... the Third Research Institute."
Envy revealed the Third Research Institute's layout and the storage location of the Philosopher's Stones. Now, only the Third Research Institute was producing them.
"Then, farewell, Envy of Jealousy."
Su Xiao poured Envy out of the glass bottle and stabbed it through with one strike.
The blade precisely pierced the Philosopher's Stone inside Envy, shattering the nearly depleted stone.
[You have killed Envy of Jealousy]
[Envy is a key plot character. Obtained 5.4% World Source. Total World Source now: 22.6%.]
[Your talent 'Soul Devourer' has activated. Permanently increased Mana by 15 points. Current Mana: 959 points.]
[You have obtained a Treasure Chest (Purple).]
[The achievement mission 'Execution of Sin' has been completed (4/7).]
...
Killing Envy yielded significant gains: World Source, Soul Devourer activation, and a treasure chest—all present. This was related to Su Xiao defeating Envy independently.
Envy died in Central City. This news wouldn't stay hidden for long, so Su Xiao had to act quickly.
In a hotel half a kilometer away, several contractors sat around a dining table.
"Peach, how's the perception?"
A burly, broad-shouldered man wiped his mouth.
"Envy is dead. That contractor won easily."
"What?"
"Impossible!"
The contractors in the room were shocked.
"If the info you checked is correct, he's only a first-rank contractor, right? How could he be that strong?"
"Yeah, did he find Envy's weakness?"
The contractors were incredulous.
"Not sure. Huh~."
The female contractor named Peach shuddered.
"He found me?"
"Huh?"
The contractors were even more disbelieving.
"With equipment bonuses, your Intelligence attribute is over 35 points. How could he find you? A second-rank should crush a first-rank."
"Not sure, but he did find me. Now..."
Peach continued sensing Su Xiao's position.
"He's approaching. Fast! Very close."
Whoosh! The contractors stood up, chairs clattering to the floor.
"Prepare for battle. His intentions are unknown."
"Don't worry. If I'm not mistaken, he's doing his promotion mission. Remember the difficulty of this derivative world."
"What do we do? Take him out or..."
Knock, knock, knock. A knock came at the door.
"He's here, right outside."
Peach retreated behind the group. This was just a temporary team, completely unreliable.
Crack. The door was forced open, and Su Xiao stepped into the room.
"A first-rank rookie, what's your purpose?"
The burly man sat upright in front of the others, trying to put on airs, but upon meeting Su Xiao's gaze, he immediately stood up.
"How many people did this guy kill to have that kind of look? Is he a monster from the Traveling Group?"
"Oh? You know about the Traveling Group too. It seems rank promotion isn't what I imagined—there's no layer jump."
Su Xiao had previously thought that promoting to second rank would result in a layer shift, but now it seemed otherwise. The Reincarnation Paradise's Trade Market and other facilities were public spaces, where most contractors gathered. However, some new facilities should unlock, and the derivative worlds he would experience differed from the first rank.
"Everyone, how about a deal? 3,000 Paradise Coins, and you tell me what your main missions are."
Since they had already identified him as a first-rank contractor, it meant they likely knew he was on a promotion mission. It was better to be straightforward.
Hearing Su Xiao's words, all the contractors' eyes lit up. This was practically free money.
But they didn't know that if their missions didn't conflict, they would become fat sheep. Su Xiao currently had many bottles of [Low-Grade Alchemy Elixir].
If these [Low-Grade Alchemy Elixirs] weren't sold, they would be worthless in Su Xiao's hands by the end of the derivative world, yielding no profit.