# Chapter 33: Mistakes and Strategy Change
The cooperation was successfully negotiated, and Molei's expression was noticeably more relaxed. To be safe, signing a contract would be more reliable.
When it came to signing the contract, Molei's just-stabilized mentality started to crack a little.
"Do we really have to sign? A verbal agreement isn't bad either. Don't worry, I won't run away."
Molei's tone was sincere, and there was no doubt about it—she had developed contract phobia. She probably never dreamed that the contracts she had signed from First Rank to Seventh Rank, once they fell into the hands of the Hunters/Violators from Reincarnation Paradise, would be twisted into so many variations. They had been played to the point of breaking.
"What are you nervous about? We're signing your contract."
Baha spoke up. Hearing this, Molei felt quite surprised. After a moment of thought, she drafted a contract certified by Apocalypse Paradise.
Having someone else sign a contract she had drafted herself, Molei was naturally a hundred percent reassured. Unfortunately, today, Su Xiao would teach Molei a lesson.
The Contract Parchment floated in front of Su Xiao. He raised his hand and pressed it down. As his handprint appeared, faint traces of blood energy drifted in the air.
As Su Xiao signed this contract, another blood-patterned parchment inside his sleeve rolled up, wrapping around his forearm, pressed tightly against his skin.
On this Contract Parchment inside his sleeve, a contract had already been drafted. This contract was certified by Reincarnation Paradise. This contract was a contract that interfered with Su Xiao's signing of other contracts.
This might sound confusing at first, but the principle was: Su Xiao first signed this Blood Contract, which was 100% certified by Reincarnation Paradise. Using the power of the contract to "stipulate" one clause—within the next few minutes, any contract he signed would be invalid.
Relying on individual strength to resist the power of a contract was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot. As the saying goes, you have to use magic to defeat magic. Similarly, you have to use the power of a contract to resist the power of a contract.
This trick wasn't omnipotent. It was ineffective against contracts certified by Reincarnation Paradise or the Void Tree. The former was of the same origin, so this method couldn't be used; the latter was the certifying authority, and its contract power was too strong.
Besides this, the Blood Contract had many drawbacks. For example, after activation, if no other contract was signed within five minutes, this expensive Blood Contract would become invalid.
Constructing a Blood Contract required consuming authority level. Su Xiao's current brand level was Lv.76, and his base authority level was also Lv.76. However, because his comprehensive evaluations were often very high, he had gained many additional authority levels. These accumulated additional authority levels totaled 26 levels.
Base authority level Lv.76, plus additional authority level Lv.4, Su Xiao's authority level had reached the Eighth Rank cap of Lv.80. To increase it further, he would need to advance to Ninth Rank.
The remaining 22 levels of additional authority were usually useless, but sometimes they were extremely useful. For example, consuming Lv.1 to construct a Blood Contract.
This Blood Contract was Su Xiao's own idea, inspired by the saying "use magic to defeat magic." He was using a contract to avoid signing contracts that would be disadvantageous to him.
This time was an experiment to see if the Blood Contract he had constructed by consuming authority level would take effect. It would make the other party believe he had signed the contract, while using the Blood Contract to isolate the contract drafted by the other party. Even if he breached the contract, the other party's contract wouldn't take effect.
To use a common analogy: the penalty for breaching a contract was like a fighter jet locked onto by a missile. No matter how evasively it maneuvered, it would eventually be blown into scrap metal. The Blood Contract was like equipping that fighter jet with infrared countermeasures. When the missile came, a large number of infrared countermeasures would be released. Although it wasn't certain to achieve 100% interception, it could at least buy some time.
The parchment floated back in front of Molei. She checked Su Xiao's handprint on it, confirmed there was no problem, and then contentedly put the contract away.
This contract bound three parties. The main content was: during the cooperation period, if Molei and Yueshitu didn't do anything brain-dead, Su Xiao couldn't kill them. Before the cooperation was completed, Molei and Yueshitu couldn't run away. Otherwise, 80% of their assets would belong to Su Xiao.
This contract was now two-thirds complete. It would only be considered complete when Yueshitu also signed it.
"What should I do?"
Molei wasn't going to continue pretending to be a salted fish. Since they were cooperating, she had to do something, even though lying down and winning was quite comfortable.
"Mining."
Hearing Su Xiao say this, Molei reacted as if she had been stepped on her tail. She stood up excitedly and said, "Are you kidding me? I'm a Battle Angel! You want me to go mining?"
Pat, pat, pat~
Sparse applause came from Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha. Without any words, the mockery made Molei's face flush red.
Molei said loudly, "I, Molei, Battle Angel, do not mine."
Pat, pat, pat...
The applause suddenly became enthusiastic.
"Good!"
Baha even shouted "good," which nearly caused Molei to suffer social death.
"Not mining? Are you sure?"
"Very sure."
"Alright then. Take Hausmann, Gangya, and 300 Wild Boar Men. Form a raiding party and loot the Vassal fortress 40 kilometers away."
Su Xiao had had this idea for a while but hadn't found the right person. Previously, he had planned to have Liechao do it, but who would have thought that Liechao would be ambushed at "Luoyashi" and barely escape back to the base camp with near-fatal injuries.
Although Amu and Baha could also serve as leaders, they were Su Xiao's followers. If they were exposed, the risk was too high.
Su Xiao had never underestimated the intelligence capabilities of the three major Vassal factions. For now, he wanted to develop quietly. Before the number of Wild Boar Men reached a certain scale, it wasn't advisable to have a direct conflict with the Vassals.
Currently, Su Xiao had 3,655 Wild Boar Men warriors under his command. This number might seem small, but it was enough to establish a foothold. Today, they went hunting in the Aberrant Beast territory. Additionally, 2,638 Pig Head Men laborers were mining. On the second day of Su Xiao's arrival in the Borderlands, the day's income was 73 units of Living Ore.
Letting Molei lead a team to loot the Vassal fortress—even if the matter reached the Vassal Alliance, they wouldn't be able to trace any connection between Molei and Su Xiao. The Wild Boar Men accompanying her would all be disguised as Scavengers.
The Living Ore obtained from the looting, as well as the captured Pig Head Men, would be sent back to the base camp. All other gains would belong to Molei.
"It's a deal."
Molei immediately agreed. In the past two days, she had been holed up in Yueshitu's hiding place, feeling uncomfortable all over. Every day, she just played games and lay around. She felt she was becoming a bit of a homebody, gradually turning into Yueshitu.
Molei took Hausmann and Gangya, who were waiting outside, and left. The remaining 300 Wild Boar Men warriors, she would personally select to form an elite raiding squad.
When Molei left the command center, Baha asked in a low voice, "Boss, why didn't we loot a few T3 or higher fortresses before? That would be much faster than mining. Leave no survivors, kill the main bodies, burn everything down, and the chances of the Vassals tracing it back to us would be slim."
"..."
Su Xiao didn't answer. Why hadn't he looted T3 fortresses? Actually, the reason was simple. T3 or higher fortresses had a decent probability of being equipped with heavy cannon-level weapons. If he was hit in a vital spot by one of those things, or if he was in the center of the attack zone, even Su Xiao would have a high chance of dying. Heavy cannon-level weapons were Eighth Rank war weapons.
When individual power faced war weapons, if the individual wasn't at the Supreme Peak, it was best to be careful. Those things were created for the purpose of killing all living things. Most of them had weaknesses like immobility or slow attack frequency, with everything focused on power.
Su Xiao stood in front of the curved window, watching the raiding party set off with high morale below. Not all T3 fortresses were equipped with heavy cannon-level weapons. Moreover, in the future, when they had a direct conflict with the Vassals, facing heavy cannon-level weapons would be a common occurrence. Letting Hausmann and Gangya get used to it first would prevent them from falling short later.
Besides this, Su Xiao had made progress regarding the [Cataclysmic Solution].
Not only that, but Su Xiao also had a very bold plan. Initially, he had estimated that the Pig Head Men should have some exploitable talents. Later, he discovered that they didn't. The bloodline potential of the Pig Head Men had been pushed to the extreme by the Vassals in the "Life Factory."
The Pig Head Men had paid the price of overdrafting their bloodline potential to gain strong tolerance and adaptability. This was why, in some fortresses, the Pig Head Men were made to mine for 22 hours and sleep for only a little over an hour, yet they could still persist for several years. This was the result of overdrafting bloodline potential in exchange for tolerance and adaptability.
Except for Hausmann, Gangya, and the Fireball Squad, none of the tens of thousands of Pig Head Men had shown any outstanding talent. Apart from being tough and having high health, they had no strengths in combat, learning, or anything else.
No, these Pig Head Men were especially good at eating. The food merchant had already come to regard Kaisa as a super VIP customer.
Su Xiao's current method of accumulating combat power was: buy Pig Head Men, then distinguish whether they had the potential to become warriors.
The process of selecting reserve warriors would eliminate 20% of the Pig Head Men. Then, they would be sent to the Aberrant Beast territory. Among three Pig Head Men, if one could transform into a Wild Boar Man and return, that was already a very good situation.
Assuming he bought 100 Pig Head Men, only about 23 to 25 could become Wild Boar Men.
Did he think this was already good? Not at all. These Wild Boar Men had only transformed due to the great fear of life and death. They still had a long way to go before they could fight.
In other words, buying 100 Pig Head Men, in the short term, he could only pick out 1 to 3 warriors at most. The rest were only brave enough to charge and were tougher than before.
During war, if the casualties on their side exceeded 30%, the Wild Boar Men would inevitably feel fear. If casualties exceeded 50%, desertions would begin to occur. If they exceeded 60%, it would be a full-scale rout.
Su Xiao understood a truth: 99% of people fear death. When facing a desperate situation, those who don't flee are brave, and those who do flee can only be said to cherish their own lives, which is understandable.
Su Xiao didn't think he was infallible. After developing in the "Borderlands" for two days, he had realized that this situation had to change. Otherwise, there was a high probability of a disastrous defeat this time, leading to a fate of being surrounded and killed by a human wave tactic.
If that happened, it would be karma. Feishi, Tanshi, and other strong individuals who had been surrounded and killed by Su Xiao's human wave tactics would surely rest easy in their graves.
Making mistakes wasn't terrible; what was terrible was not correcting them after knowing they were wrong, and not even knowing that one had made a mistake. Su Xiao was certain that his current development method was wrong. It was too slow and unstable.
Su Xiao hesitated about whether to try summoning the Insect Race. Thinking about his identity as an invader, and that this was a World War certified by the Void Tree, if the Void Tree detected that he, as an invader, had summoned the Insect Race, it would be a double execution by the Void Tree and Apocalypse Paradise. No suspense, he would die on the spot.
Assuming his identity as an invader was exposed, Su Xiao estimated that as long as he didn't do anything that challenged the bottom line of the Void Tree's rules, Reincarnation Paradise would provide him with shelter. Otherwise, the World Invasion would be too much of a trap.
Su Xiao's idea of summoning the Insect Race was only partially dismissed. He couldn't summon the Insect Race, but that didn't mean he couldn't use the power of the Insect Race. Ask, what was the strength of the Insect Race?
Quantity? Individual combat power? Neither. It was the Insect Race's evolutionary nature and war nature. The Insect Race was created for war, plundering resources, development, and ultimately maintaining species continuation.
Su Xiao's train of thought was: the T4 fortress he currently had, the Doom Fortress, was itself a living thing. When he first saw it, he felt that it was somewhat similar to an Insect Nest, just with different specific functions.
Assuming he upgraded the Doom Fortress to a certain extent, making its life force strong enough, then he could inject the gene of the "Evolution Chamber," one of the organs of the Demon Insect Nest, into the fortress core. Then, through alchemical harmonization, could the Doom Fortress develop an organ similar to the "Evolution Chamber"?
Su Xiao didn't need this "Evolution Chamber" to evolve the Pig Head Men into very strong beings. He wanted this organ to be large enough for many Pig Head Men to enter it simultaneously.
Logically speaking, with the overbearing nature of Insect Race genes, other creatures would die upon contact. But the Pig Head Men were different. They had been bred too harshly by the Vassals over generations, causing their bloodline potential to be almost completely overdrafted, in exchange for tolerance and adaptability, making them better laborers.
So-called bloodline potential wasn't about shortening lifespan; it was even more ruthless. After the Pig Head Men's bloodline potential was overdrafted, they could never become top-tier Eighth Rank strong individuals. Reaching Hausmann's level was already very rare, and that was with the bonus of the War Lord.
No wonder the Vassals never worried about the Pig Head Men rebelling and didn't restrict their numbers. In hundreds of years, only one legendary warrior, Oinke, had emerged among the Pig Head Men.
Moreover, the Primordial Life Force within Oinke wasn't his own. It was his mentor who had injected most of his own Primordial Life Force into Oinke's spinal cord in an extremely dangerous way.
Otherwise, relying solely on the Pig Head Men's bloodline, the legendary warrior Oinke would never have been able to reach that level. He had strong spirit and will, but at the moment of his birth, he was already trapped in the bloodline cage of the Vassals.
It was precisely because the Pig Head Men had completely overdrafted their bloodline potential, gaining strong tolerance and adaptability, that Su Xiao had this plan.
He wanted to use the Doom Fortress + Alchemy + the gene of the Insect Race Mother Nest's Evolution Chamber to create a massive "Evolution Chamber." Through this, the Pig Head Men could quickly become warriors ready for battle.
If everything went smoothly, Su Xiao speculated that he might be able to inject different genes into the "Evolution Chamber" to create warriors with different tendencies, such as heavy armor warriors, assault warriors, and so on.
If he achieved this, then he could truly develop.
Sitting in front of the experimental table, Su Xiao felt that this plan was worth trying. However, he first needed to produce 100% pure [Cataclysmic Solution]. Only by completely removing the "shackles" of the Doom Fortress could all of this be possible.