Chapter 29: Hold It In, Don't Let the Tears Fall
At 11 AM that day, less than a kilometer south of their own base camp, inside a space excavated within a mountain, this place had been designated as Warehouse No. 2. The large teleportation array inside could transport the Pig-Headed Men from Warehouse No. 1 in Freedom City to this location.
At that moment, inside Warehouse No. 1, the light of the teleportation array flickered on, and Tide Hunter collapsed to the ground, her abdomen wrapped in layers of bandages.
The 135 Wild Boar Warriors guarding the area all became alert. Dorothy quickly stepped forward, supporting Tide Hunter as they walked toward their own base camp.
Tide Hunter had chosen her escape route well. She hadn't rushed straight for the base camp fortress. After escaping the dangerous situation, she treated her wounds and sped at full speed toward Freedom City. There, she found Kaiser, meaning to have him find a doctor there because she couldn't hold on much longer.
Kaiser told Tide Hunter that there was a teleportation array and instructed her to return to Doom Fortress as quickly as possible, as there was a better 'doctor' there.
Now, in the main command room on the top floor of Doom Fortress, Tide Hunter leaned back on the sofa, her breathing weak, her face completely drained of color. The bandages around her abdomen slowly seeped with bloodstains.
"The doctor Kaiser mentioned... is you?"
Although Tide Hunter had received treatment from Su Xiao back in the Alliance Star world, that time had only involved injecting medicine and suturing wounds.
In Tide Hunter's perception, no matter how she looked at it, Su Xiao didn't fit the temperament of a doctor. Her current injuries were extremely severe; she could die from them at any moment, held together only by the Source Power within her.
Su Xiao sat on the sofa opposite Tide Hunter, assessing her injuries.
"I'm hurt badly right now. Don't kill me. I don't want to die at your hands a second time."
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak, but a general treatment plan had formed in his mind.
"So, how is it? Is there... still hope for me?"
Tide Hunter let out a long breath. Her vision was starting to blur.
"There's hope, but it requires surgery."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha all shuddered.
"Then do the surgery quickly. I won't last much longer."
"Is that your own request?"
"Yeah, right. Hurry up with the surgery."
"As you wish."
Su Xiao stood up and pushed open the hidden door to the Alchemy Laboratory. Tide Hunter, barely able to walk, entered the Alchemy Laboratory and lay down on the operating table herself.
After moving the instruments nearby, Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha all slipped away.
Su Xiao put on a mask with a dozen finger-thick tubes and medical rubber gloves. Considering the amount of bleeding, he also put on a plastic outer garment.
The surgery went smoothly. Stabilized by alchemical potions, Tide Hunter's vital signs gradually became stable. Aside from potential psychological trauma, everything else was fine.
The semicircular gap on Tide Hunter's abdomen was too severe. Organs, bones, nerves, flesh, and skin all needed to recover. After stabilizing Tide Hunter's condition, Su Xiao took out the [Source] Stone.
On the operating table, Tide Hunter's body gradually transformed into azure-blue liquid, sinking into the [Source] Stone. Inside the [Source], her body could gradually recover. According to the agreement, once her injuries healed, she would be released to continue fulfilling the current contract.
Just as Tide Hunter entered the [Source], Su Xiao decisively sealed the [Source]'s connection to the outside world and tossed it into his storage space. Vaguely, he heard a sound from inside—a sound of both unwillingness and shock.
Su Xiao had no intention of summoning Tide Hunter in this world. Judging by her injuries, it would take at least 10 to 15 days for her to fully recover her combat strength inside the [Source]. By then, either they would have already lost, or the situation would have developed enough that chaotic battles with the enemy had already begun.
Summoning Tide Hunter at that point wouldn't be very useful. In Su Xiao's view, her appearance wasn't the most important factor; what mattered was how effective she was.
Tide Hunter was exceptionally effective. Her Drowning Ability was practically a Boss killer; even the Insect Emperor had been beaten by the Drowning Ability.
Now, with the [Source] sealed, the contract's judgment would determine that Tide Hunter was too severely injured to continue fulfilling the contract. In other words, the contract would reset. Tide Hunter would need to help Su Xiao serve as a high-level cannon fodder one more time before she could regain her freedom.
In the past few days, Su Xiao had ordered Tide Hunter to do various tasks. To put it plainly, this was freeloading, and the experience was excellent.
There was one thing Su Xiao couldn't figure out: why Tide Hunter had been attacked. According to Tide Hunter, among the attackers, there was a girl with metal patterns on her face who looked very much like a Vassal.
After hearing Tide Hunter's description, Su Xiao realized that the girl with metal patterns on her face was only similar to a Vassal.
Vassals had parts of their bodies made of metal—living metal, to be precise. Simply put, it was a type of metallic cell, not metal in the true sense, replacing flesh, bones, nerves, etc., with normal blood flowing through it.
Su Xiao first ruled out the Tribunal as the attacker. Li Xiniwei was already a mid-level member of the Tribunal. Currently, his side and the old vampire of the Tribunal were in a period of mutual goodwill. If someone moved against that old vampire, Su Xiao would assist immediately.
Conversely, if someone moved against Li Xiniwei, that old vampire would also help out immediately. This was a mutual benefit that led to shared advance and retreat.
If it were the old vampire's enemies, wouldn't it be better to target Li Xiniwei? Attacking Tide Hunter? Without 30 years of cerebral thrombosis, no one would come up with such a brain-dead move.
With the Tribunal's suspicion ruled out, it was very confusing. Tide Hunter's strength in the Eighth Rank was not to be underestimated. Ambushing her carried considerable risk. At least within the Eighth Rank, the maximum percentage health damage per arrow from the Drowning Ability was essentially equal for all beings.
Who had nothing better to do than provoke Tide Hunter? It was too confusing. For a moment, Su Xiao felt like he had fallen into a thinking trap.
"Boss, could it be Contractors?"
"Contractors? Tide Hunter has Summoned Creature traits; she won't drop a Treasure Chest..."
Su Xiao stopped mid-sentence, suddenly thinking of a particularly ridiculous possibility. First, assume that the 'Tribunal' located in 'Luoyashi' had become the territory of Holy Light Paradise or Watchful Paradise.
At this moment, his own Mark was disguised as an Apocalypse Paradise Mark, and his aura was the same. This meant that Tide Hunter, as a Summoned Creature of an Apocalypse Paradise Contractor, had that unique aura fluctuation. It was like sensing other Paradise Contractors.
For example, sensing an Apocalypse Paradise Contractor would reveal a faint sky-blue Mark. Reincarnation Paradise would show blood-red. Holy Light Paradise would show a gentle pale gold. Sanctuary Paradise would show a deep dark gold.
The aura of a Mark, except in extremely special circumstances, would not change.
Su Xiao estimated that there was an 80% or higher probability that Tide Hunter had been attacked by Contractors from Holy Light Paradise or Watchful Paradise.
He set this matter aside for now. Continuing to develop their own base camp was the priority. Regarding the analysis of the [Cataclysmic Solution] used to upgrade the Fortress's rank, Su Xiao had made some progress.
According to his analysis, the [Cataclysmic Solution·Type V] was divided into two parts: one part was used to promote the Fortress's transformation, and the other part was used to suppress the Fortress's upgrade amplitude. The ratio was about 1 to 9.
Among the components of the [Cataclysmic Solution·Type V], only 10% helped the Fortress advance. The remaining 90% suppressed the Fortress's transformation, ensuring it could only transform to T4 level, preventing the rare event of jumping from T5 to T3.
Anyone with half a brain would know that this was the Vassal rulers' method of increasing the value of the [Cataclysmic Solution] and reducing its effectiveness.
According to Su Xiao's analysis, the [Cataclysmic Solution] originally had only one model, without the messy classifications of Type V, Type IV, Type III, etc.
In fact, a Fortress only needed one injection of [Cataclysmic Solution] to unlock its growth potential. After that, as long as there were enough Living Ores, it could be upgraded to higher ranks. Even upgrading to T0 level, the Immovable Fortress level, was possible.
After analyzing all this, Su Xiao understood the Vassals' intentions. They were worried that if the real [Cataclysmic Solution] spread, a fourth T0-level Fortress would appear.
The three T0-level Fortresses were the foundation of the three major Vassal factions and their ultimate trump card.
The problem was that Fortress upgrades were necessary, accompanied by enormous benefits. It seemed that some genius among the Vassals had invented the 'Suppressant.' By controlling the amount of Suppressant, the [Cataclysmic Solution] was graded.
The more 'Suppressant' it contained, the lower the grade of the [Cataclysmic Solution].
The Vassals would not provide 100% pure [Cataclysmic Solution]. The reason was that once such a [Cataclysmic Solution] was injected into the Fortress Core, the Fortress would gain the qualification to advance to T0 level. For the current rulers, this was absolutely intolerable. How could they allow others to sleep soundly beside their bed?
What Su Xiao needed to do now was to restore the 100% pure [Cataclysmic Solution]. Once it was injected into the core of Doom Fortress, as long as there were Living Ores in the future, the Fortress's rank could be continuously upgraded.
Apart from the benefits to himself, although this item couldn't be sold, it could be used to unite allies.
The current terrain was as follows: the position Su Xiao occupied was at the easternmost edge of Vassal territory, arranged as:
Aberrant Beast Territory → Border Zone (Su Xiao's location) → Vassal Territory → Human Territory.
Aberrant Beast Territory and Vassal Territory sandwiched Su Xiao in the middle, while Su Xiao's territory and Human Territory sandwiched Vassal Territory in the middle.
On the two sides of all these forces, namely the north and south directions, were the 'Southern Cold Sea' and the 'Northern Sea.' This continent was elongated in shape, not round.
As long as he could concoct 100% pure [Cataclysmic Solution], Su Xiao could use it to form an alliance with the Human side. The first bottle would be a gift, the second bottle would be sold at a high price to recover the loss from the first bottle and make a substantial profit. The trading partner needed to taste the sweetness first before they would pay a heavy price.
On the Human side, even if it were two bottles of 100% pure [Cataclysmic Solution], or even ten bottles, they would take them all without hesitation. They were desperate for a T0-level Fortress.
In recent years, the Vassals had been oppressing the Humans more and more harshly. As soon as the Vassals showed any sign of weakness after starting a war with Su Xiao, the Human side would immediately strike, sandwiching the Vassals from east and west with Su Xiao.
From this perspective, the 100% pure [Cataclysmic Solution] was crucial. Su Xiao sat in front of the experimental table, deep in thought. There was a material ratio that he still couldn't figure out the characteristics of.
Just then, the parchment on the table floated up on its own. The crooked red line on it represented Molei, who had crossed thousands of mountains and rivers to deliver herself to him. What a good person.
Su Xiao brought the Wild Boar Five Brothers, also known as the Fireball Squad, and left the base camp fortress.
...
Border Zone, Northern Gobi Desert.
The wind howled furiously, sand and gravel flying everywhere, crackling against the ear shells.
A figure in sportswear, wearing a hood, was running across the Gobi Desert. She had earphones in her ears, listening to music while traveling. This was common; attacks were detected by perception, not hearing. By the time you heard the sound, the attack would have already landed.
Molei's pace gradually slowed down. She was hungry. She took out a compressed biscuit and took a fierce bite, as if biting into the guy named 'Molei's Old Father' on the communication platform. It was especially satisfying.
Molei's heart was bitter. She had been hiding underground with Yueshitu, playing PS6, when disaster struck from the sky. For no reason, she had signed a contract by speaking.
Molei immediately did two things: 1. Disband her team with Yueshitu. 2. Immediately leave their hiding place. She, Molei, never dragged her friends into trouble.
Originally, Yueshitu wanted to forcibly stop her, but forgot the gap between them in hand-to-hand combat. She was instantly pinned down and turned into a whimpering mess. Her Summoned Creatures could only watch helplessly from the side.
"That guy... don't let me catch you."
In the howling wind, Molei spoke bitterly. She was different now. In the last world, she and Yueshitu had found the Beast Heart, a scarce resource urgently needed by Apocalypse Paradise.
Given Apocalypse Paradise's wealth, one could imagine how many benefits Molei and Yueshitu had gained. Moreover, these resources were scarce materials, permissions, etc., all used to enhance strength.
Perhaps in Apocalypse Paradise's judgment, Molei and Yueshitu's overall performance in the World of Paintings was indeed good, but their combat performance was not worth mentioning. Therefore, they were rewarded with many resources that directly enhanced their strength.
Now, Molei's strength was on a completely different level from before. If she hadn't been arranged by Su Xiao and Kaiser in the last world to the point of almost going into seclusion, she would definitely be taking the initiative to attack now.
The wind blew, turning the sky a hazy yellow. Molei's footsteps stopped. Five figures of varying heights appeared ahead. After staring, she realized they seemed to be Pig-Headed Men? Or rather, Wild Boar Men?
"Huh? Are there wild Pig-Headed Men too?"
Molei looked like she had gained some knowledge. She was about to greet them when she noticed that among the five Wild Boar Men, one raised a 'wooden stick' in his hand. With a roar, a fireball about a meter in diameter flew toward her, incredibly fast, trailing a fiery tail.
Molei didn't dodge. She swung her fist sideways, shattering the incoming fireball. Although it was hot, the feeling of showing off was pretty good.
"So it's a wild monster. Using Fireball Technique is too insulting..."
Before Molei could finish her sentence, she found at least twenty more fireballs flying toward her. Those five Wild Boar Men, as if blessed with a Berserk spell, pointed their staffs and fired five fireballs each, one after another.
Boom! Boom! Boom!...
In the dust stirred up by the wind, the ground shook. Molei never imagined that having too many fireballs could be so troublesome.
More than ten minutes later, Molei stood with her arms crossed in front of the fallen Wild Boar Five Brothers. She hadn't killed them because these five were quite talented. She wanted to try and see if she could trick them into becoming temporary Summoned Creatures to deal with 'her Old Father' together. Thinking of this, Molei felt a surge of frustration. That name was taking advantage of her.
"Who! Come out."
Molei sensed someone in the wind and sand ahead, but immediately, she also felt the power of a contract. The person ahead was the one who had signed the contract with her.
Molei silently praised the timing. She stomped the ground beneath her feet and lunged forward, full of momentum.
The further she went, the thinner the dust became. First, she sensed blood energy, which made her heart tighten. Bad memories surged up. Then she saw the figure holding a long blade and a pair of eyes glowing with blue light.
Recognizing these traits, Molei's heart rate suddenly increased. She immediately changed her posture, shifting from a forward lunge to leaning back and using her feet as brakes. But she braked too hard and fell on her butt.
"So... so, Old Father... is you."
Molei's eyes were filled with despair and helplessness. She could only tilt her head back slightly to keep the tears from falling.
Molei didn't know yet that even more despair was still to come. A figure walked out of the wind and sand behind Su Xiao and said to him:
"My dear friend, Kaiser is only 5 minutes late. I hope I didn't keep the client waiting too long."
Kaiser stood beside Su Xiao, grinning slyly. The combination of Su Xiao + Kaiser had appeared again. Seeing this, Molei's tears burst forth instantly.
PS: (Two chapters today, almost reaching 9000 words, so I won't split it into three chapters.)