Chapter 31: Impossible, That's My Best Friend!
Su Xiao gave a light cough and, without changing his expression, tucked the Drifting Bait into his bosom. Beside him, Caesar's heart was itching with curiosity.
"My dear friend, that is..."
Before Caesar could finish, Su Xiao had already taken out a piece of parchment and handed it to him.
After Caesar opened the parchment, he received a prompt informing him that this was a formula for an ancient secret medicine, an exceptionally old and orthodox alchemical recipe. This formula was far superior to any he had encountered before.
Caesar also gave a light cough, maintaining a composed expression as he tucked the alchemical formula into his bosom. At the same time, he shook the filthy, foot-cloth-like item in his hand, hoping that Little Angel Molei would produce something else.
Little Angel Molei's options were now limited. After hesitating repeatedly, she erupted with aura and lunged at Su Xiao. One could say she forcefully charged at him.
A few minutes later.
*Thud!*
Su Xiao's fist, wrapped in a crystal layer, slammed into Molei's abdomen. Her back immediately crashed into the ground beneath her, creating a massive, cracked crater. Drops of blood splattered from Molei's mouth as dust and smoke surged around them.
At this moment, Molei was beaten until her health dropped below 30%. She struggled to climb out of the crater, but in the next second, the sole of a combat boot loomed large before her eyes.
*Bang!*
Molei's vision went dark. She had a feeling that if her opponent hadn't been trying to spare her life to extort Soul Coins from her, that kick would have sent her little head exploding like a watermelon.
In a daze, Molei felt herself being lifted off the ground and slung over a shoulder. Through her narrow line of sight, she vaguely saw that the person carrying her had a longsword hanging at their waist, along with a thumb-sized lock lantern and a moon-white beast fang—likely a wolf fang.
Confirming this situation, Molei fell into a deep unconsciousness. Before losing awareness, her only sensation was the pain in her face.
Molei's choice demonstrated her survival instincts to the fullest. First and foremost, she did not choose to report Su Xiao. If she reported him, whether it would successfully drive him out of this world was uncertain. At that point, it would become a contest of rules between Reincarnation Paradise and Apocalypse Paradise.
This would take some time to resolve. During that time, Molei believed that the person she reported would use every means to take her life. If she were in that position, she would do the same—once reported, of course she'd go all out; not killing them wouldn't ease the hatred in her heart.
Moreover, Molei felt that her "Apocalypse Daddy" might not necessarily be able to overpower Reincarnation Paradise. She had long had a feeling that Reincarnation Paradise was awesome!
If Molei were asked to become a contractor or hunter of Reincarnation Paradise, she would absolutely refuse. That place was too brutal.
By not choosing to report and instead lunging at Su Xiao to "fight to the death," she highlighted her survival skills.
Molei had already confirmed that Su Xiao was an invader. In this situation, surrendering would risk being judged as desertion if Apocalypse Paradise conducted a statistical reckoning afterward.
So Molei chose to fight. Since she couldn't win anyway, after being beaten half to death, she believed that in Apocalypse Paradise's judgment, her actions would shift from surrender to valiant resistance. Only after failing to resist would she choose to endure—yes, exactly, endure.
After an unknown amount of time, when Molei slowly regained consciousness, she found herself lying on a sofa, covered with a blanket. A female pig-headed person stood nearby, looking at her with concern.
Molei first checked her clothes. Finding nothing amiss, she breathed a sigh of relief. Then she looked around and saw that aside from the female pig-headed person, there were no guards in the small room.
Molei raised her index finger to her lips, making a silencing gesture to the apron-wearing female pig-headed person. She slowly pulled off the blanket and crept toward the door. Through the door, she faintly heard noise outside.
There were quite a few people outside, which puzzled Molei. She couldn't figure out where Su Xiao had brought her, but that didn't stop her from escaping. Easily opening the locked door, she took out a flashbang, pulled the pin with her thumb, and tossed it through the door crack.
*Bang!*
Shockwaves and blinding light spread simultaneously. Screams and the clatter of metal came from outside. Molei rushed out of the small room, greeted by the aroma of food mixed with the scent of meat buns, making her feel a bit hungry.
Ignoring this, Molei pressed forward and found herself in a large kitchen, big enough for hundreds of people. Two-meter-tall steamers billowed steam, and over a dozen racks of meat buns did the same. Nearby, large pots two meters in diameter simmered meat with glossy broth. For this kitchen, this was just the tip of the iceberg.
Over a dozen female pig-headed people in chef hats covered their eyes, some with blurred vision and tears streaming uncontrollably.
The burly head chef looked utterly bewildered, not expecting a little pink-haired girl to pop out of the kitchen.
"Step aside!"
At the head chef's shout, the female pig-headed people made way. This puzzled Molei as she charged forward. She chose to flee because she sensed that Su Xiao wasn't nearby—his blood aura was too easy to detect.
Moreover, Molei wanted to know what the metal collar around her neck was. It seemed to be equipment, and of no low quality.
Molei charged irresistibly out of the kitchen, kicking open the nearly 10-centimeter-thick metal door from the inside, breaking through the encirclement.
But in the next second, Molei's advance came to an abrupt halt. After bursting out of the kitchen, she entered a mountain-excavated space. It was vast, capable of holding thousands of people, larger than a standard football field plus its surrounding stands.
In the center, on green-painted flooring, white lines marked a field like a football pitch. On the other side hung several rows of oversized sandbags.
These weren't the main point. The main point was that on the field, in the sandbag area, and elsewhere, there were at least 1,500 wild boar people. Most were bare-chested, bearing claw scars or missing chunks of flesh that had healed through self-regeneration.
The vast space fell silent as a pin drop due to Molei's dramatic door kick. The wild boar people all stared at her. Some tossed a ball idly, while others steadied swaying sandbags.
Molei gulped. She could sense that these 1,500-plus wild boar people were no pushovers. She seemed to understand why there were no guards earlier.
Moreover, the collar around her neck would activate passively. If she tried to activate her imprint to retrieve items from its storage space, the collar would trigger. She didn't want to know which torture master had crafted this metal accessory; she just wanted it off.
The atmosphere grew tense. The wild boar people, after their initial confusion, spontaneously formed a semicircular encirclement. At this critical moment, Molei shouted:
"Time to eat!"
Hearing this shout, the wild boar people were momentarily stunned, instinctively thinking Molei might be a new hire for the kitchen?
"As expected of you, running off right after waking up."
Baha's voice came. Hearing this, Molei knew she couldn't escape.
"Wait for me."
Molei tapped the collar on her neck, signaling she couldn't escape, then turned back into the kitchen. When she came out, she was holding over a dozen fragrant meat buns.
"Not bad grub."
Molei ate the buns as she followed Baha, one cheek bulging.
"Why are they all beef? Pork buns are way better, you know..."
As soon as she said this, Molei stopped chewing. She noticed the wild boar people around her glaring at her.
Baha looked at Molei and said, "You're a real genius."
A moment later, Baha led Molei to the top floor of the fortress and pushed open the door to the command center.
Before entering, Molei glanced at Hausman and Steel Fang standing guard on either side of the door, then stepped inside. She first saw Su Xiao. Not finding Caesar, she breathed a long sigh of relief.
"Sit."
Su Xiao pointed to the seat opposite him. As soon as Molei sat down, she noticed the table was laden with various delicacies. Closest to her was a bear paw the size of a washbasin. She really wanted to try it.
The meat buns in Molei's hand suddenly lost their appeal. Worse, she had eaten over a dozen buns on the way here and was already full. Due to her frequent battles, she never worried about gaining weight, but her stomach wasn't large, preventing her from enjoying the feast before her.
"Not to your taste? Amu, it's yours."
"Moo."
"It's not that it's not to my taste... Anyway, forget it."
Molei watched Amu devour the food. As she watched, she got a bit hungry again. She used a fork to spear a cold-sea lobster but stopped when she noticed Amu's unfriendly gaze.
"Time's up."
As soon as Su Xiao spoke, he activated the Endless Darkness collar around Molei's neck, plunging her consciousness into darkness for one hour.
*Click.* The Endless Darkness opened. Molei's consciousness was locked in a dark room for an hour, though less than a second passed in the outside world. The dark room made time feel prolonged to her consciousness.
Despite being a silly girl, Molei's willpower wasn't weak. She only faltered for a moment, but even so, she realized how terrifying the Endless Darkness collar was.
The Endless Darkness fell onto the table. Molei found that her imprint could be freely activated again. The earlier loss of consciousness had disrupted her connection to the imprint, allowing the collar to intervene.
To completely isolate or cut off Molei's connection to her Apocalypse imprint, Su Xiao knew he couldn't do it. But he could tamper with her body. For instance, if she tried to communicate with her imprint, it would first trigger the Endless Darkness collar, trapping her consciousness in a dark room to prevent normal activation.
Su Xiao picked up the Endless Darkness collar and glanced at it. The indicator light blinked a few times, seemingly entering a cooldown phase, unable to prevent Molei from activating her storage space and using items to escape.
In reality, the Endless Darkness collar hadn't entered cooldown. Using it as an consciousness interceptor consumed durability too quickly. Moreover, for the upcoming plan, Molei needed the opportunity to use her imprint.
Baha landed on Molei's shoulder, ready to prevent her from using items to escape.
"We've already found Yueshitu's location. As her friend, it's more appropriate for you to pick her up. It'll avoid casualties among her summons, which are very useful."
Su Xiao lit a cigarette, picked up a cold-sea lobster with tongs, and placed it on the plate before Molei.
"Don't bother lying to me. You couldn't have found Yueshitu that quickly. And I won't betray her. She's my best friend, even if she sucks at games."
Molei's expression remained calm, showing no concern.
"I might not be able to, but you can."
Su Xiao activated the power of the contract. Molei immediately felt a warmth in her lower abdomen. She reached into her clothes and pulled out a contract stuck to her skin.
"You, you, you bastard!"
Molei realized that Su Xiao must have used this contract to locate Yueshitu through her. This made her frantic. How could she, Molei, betray a teammate?! She would rather die than betray a friend.
Despite being a bit silly, Molei had such integrity. She would rather die than betray her friends.
Molei glanced at the Endless Darkness collar on the table. Its six indicator lights had lit up five, meaning it was almost usable. Time was running out. She quietly activated her imprint and, without moving a muscle, sent an email to Yueshitu with only two words: 'Run now.'
The moment Molei successfully sent the email to Yueshitu, the contract parchment in her hand shattered on its own. As a notarized contract, using Molei's email as a medium, it fulfilled the newly added Clause 015: Contact Tracking.
The shattered parchment became ethereal, twisting into a semi-transparent arrow pointing in a certain direction—the direction where Yueshitu was.
"Thank you for your help."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, Molei froze like a statue on the chair, feeling as if she had shattered.
Yueshitu, in danger!