Chapter 40: Windfall
Descending to the second level, Su Xiao observed the evolution nest for a while before heading to the residential area behind the fortress, which was inside the hollowed-out mountain. He first checked the hygiene conditions in the communal dormitories and other places, then took a stroll through the kitchen.
With a larger population, all kinds of oddballs could appear. Su Xiao wouldn't just sit in the command center; he occasionally came to the residential area to inspect.
Taking an elevator down the mine shaft, Su Xiao passed through a tunnel that slanted downward for a hundred meters before arriving at an underground space of over a thousand square meters.
All kinds of facilities were available here, even a kitchen. The surrounding furnishings made one forget they were underground, with no sense of oppression, but rather a feeling of safety.
Molei had returned to her lazy state, sitting cross-legged on the sofa, holding a controller and playing games. Her mission this time was to protect Yueshitu, who was contemplating life.
Su Xiao returned to the first level of the fortress, bringing Bubu Wang, Baha, and Dorothy with him as they headed straight for Warehouse No. 2, a few hundred meters away. Using the large teleportation array in Warehouse No. 2, he arrived at Warehouse No. 1 in Freedom City.
At 8 PM that evening, Freedom City, District 2.
There were quite a few pedestrians on the streets, but no vehicles. District 2 was the wealthy area of Freedom City. After 7 PM, these few blocks were off-limits to vehicles, though for a small group of people, this ban was as good as nonexistent.
Su Xiao walked among the crowd, using house numbers to find the address. He pushed open the door and entered a mechanical prosthetic shop.
The mechanical prosthetic shop felt a bit cramped, with a glass display case on one side and the other wall covered with various cheap models of mechanical prosthetics and gunpowder-powered firearms.
The shop owner was a burly middle-aged man. His left arm was a mechanical prosthetic, and between the fingers of his right hand, he held a cigar. He was only wearing shorts, and his exposed skin, except for his face, was covered in tattoos. He sat with his legs crossed, reading a newspaper.
This was Kaiser's business partner, a member of the Steel Brotherhood in the city, the former vice-leader, Old Mo.
If you looked at Kaiser's business partners in Freedom City, none of them were good people. The slave trader Azba and Old Mo went without saying—one was a human trafficker, the other an informant sent by the human faction.
Old Mo's gaze remained fixed on the newspaper, as if he hadn't seen Su Xiao and the others arrive. He stubbed his cigar into the center of the ashtray, triggering some mechanism, and a device hidden beneath Su Xiao's feet activated, causing spatial fluctuations.
When the spatial fluctuations stabilized, Su Xiao arrived in a completely sealed room of about 20 square meters. In the center was a square table with a chair on each side.
Su Xiao sat down in one of the chairs. Across the table was a human clad in a black robe, his entire body wrapped in black cloth strips. He raised his hand to press a metal plate on the side of his neck and spoke in a particularly hoarse voice:
"Meeting this way is unavoidable. After all, this is the territory of the Vassal Alliance."
The black-robed man's throat and vocal cords were injured, forcing him to speak by pressing the metal plate embedded in the side of his neck. He had to swallow frequently while talking.
These characteristics didn't fit the identity of a diplomat. Clearly, this was a high-ranking figure from the human faction.
Why was Su Xiao meeting with a high-ranking human in Freedom City, the territory of the Vassal Alliance? The answer was that he wanted to get rich quickly, and the best way to do that was to sell 100% pure [Transformation Solution] to the humans.
Su Xiao had partnered with Kaiser on this. Last time, they obtained two copies of the [Transformation Solution] formula, with Kaiser funding one of them.
After concocting the 100% pure [Transformation Solution], Su Xiao gave Kaiser a bottle. Kaiser didn't sell it but instead secretly gifted it to a high-ranking human official.
Initially, that human official didn't take it seriously—there was no such thing as a free lunch. But a T5 mobile fortress wasn't a precious thing to someone like him, so he used one for an experiment.
The result was predictable. The humans discovered that after injecting the [Transformation Solution], the T5 fortress's path to upgrading became smooth. Now, that fortress had been upgraded to T1, and there was no doubt about the solution's effectiveness.
It was no exaggeration to say that 100% pure [Transformation Solution] could change the current landscape.
Su Xiao's goal this time was to sell the freshly concocted [Transformation Solution].
The black-robed man across from him wasn't talkative. From his aura, he was a strong individual who had climbed to a high position through his own strength.
The fact that the human faction sent this representative already said a lot. They were clearly testing Su Xiao's strength. If he was strong enough, they would continue trading.
If not, they would investigate, then try to steal the [Transformation Solution] formula and silence him.
Danger was everywhere; only one's own strength was the most reliable guarantee.
The black-robed man said, "Let's negotiate the price. What resources do you want?"
"Living Ore."
"Regarding Living Ore, our stock isn't very large. But your generosity last time made me feel ashamed. We'll continue cooperating in the future. 10,000 units of Living Ore—that's the highest price I can offer."
The black-robed man's offer made one's heart race. One unit of Living Ore equaled 100 kilograms. 10,000 units meant 1 million kilograms of Living Ore.
For purchasing [Transformation Solution], this price wasn't high, but for the humans, who had just suffered a defeat, it was already considerable. They had been driven out of the richest Living Ore vein regions.
"Deal."
"I have a feeling we'll cooperate again. See you."
The black-robed man stood up, hunched over, and walked into the darkness behind him. The spatial device in the room activated.
A blur of colors flashed before Su Xiao's eyes, and when his vision cleared, he was back in the prosthetic shop. Old Mo behind the glass display case was still reading the newspaper, but the iron gate outside the shop had been lowered.
Su Xiao exited through the back door of the prosthetic shop. Kaiser, who had been waiting in the back alley, quickly approached.
"My dear friend, how did it go? What was their offer?"
"10,000..."
"What! Those misers."
Kaiser gritted his teeth and glared. 10,000 kilograms of Living Ore seemed ridiculously low to him.
"...units of Living Ore."
"I knew I wasn't wrong about them. Such generous people."
Kaiser grinned slyly, his face blooming like a chrysanthemum.
"Are you handling the payment?"
As he spoke, Su Xiao took the [Transformation Solution] out of his storage space.
"No problem."
Hearing this, Su Xiao tossed the [Transformation Solution] to Kaiser and walked out of the back alley.
If Kaiser couldn't handle the subsequent transaction, it meant the humans weren't serious about trading. At worst, Su Xiao would lose the material cost. For them to forcefully take the [Transformation Solution] was absolutely impossible.
Su Xiao didn't plan to stay in Freedom City long. On the quiet back street, he stopped, and Dorothy, who was following diagonally behind him, also stopped.
"Use this for now."
Su Xiao took out the [Talisman Gloves], a bone-material glove, and tossed it to Dorothy. He had obtained this weapon, developed by the Kodo School, in the Dark Star World.
Besides the [Talisman Gloves], Su Xiao also took out many talismans, such as [Power Talisman], [Defense Talisman], [Howl Talisman], [Pride Talisman], [Blade Maiden Talisman], [Silver Heart Talisman], etc., totaling 10 talismans that could be freely combined through the [Silver Heart Talisman].
"[Silver Heart Talisman]: After activating this talisman's effect, all four other talismans loaded on the Talisman Gloves will be activated. Depending on their characteristics, different abilities will be combined (e.g., Metal + Blade Maiden + Power + Pride = Slaughter Angel. This talisman can only be used once per day, and the duration of the ability will depend on the characteristics of the four resonating talismans)."
Su Xiao had kept the [Talisman Gloves] originally to deal with any annoying minions blocking his way.
Later, he found that he never encountered those mindless minions who would provoke him. Even if they weren't strong, those small fry weren't stupid. They had their own ways of survival. When they saw Su Xiao, they would dodge if possible, and if they couldn't, they would smile and nod before hurrying away.
"This is my..."
Su Xiao was about to say it was his reserved "toy," but then he thought better of it. He changed his words:
"This is a family heirloom weapon. I'm entrusting it to you from now on."
"I... can I?"
Dorothy held the [Talisman Gloves] with both hands, feeling a bit touched.
"Of course you can. I believe in you. Even if your opponent is the Xin Clan, you'll be the one to win in the end."
With that, Su Xiao patted Dorothy on the shoulder to encourage her.
"Lord Bai Ye, I didn't expect you to care about me this much. How about you come with me to find the Xin Clan? We'll destroy them together, and then I'll be your loyal little follower. That would be more efficient."
Dorothy looked both moved and hopeful. Seeing this, Baha almost burst out laughing. Dorothy might be a glutton, but she was sharp. She had lost her mother at a young age, refused to be raised by her father, clung to an old woman's leg in Freedom City, and made a living by scamming with other accomplices. With that kind of childhood, Dorothy couldn't be anything but sharp.
"Get out of my sight within 10 seconds."
Su Xiao pulled out his pocket watch and started timing. Seeing this, Dorothy quickly ran off.
After Dorothy left, Su Xiao sat on the steps by the back street. A dozen minutes later, footsteps emerged from the alley across the way. It was pitch black inside, and a figure could faintly be seen.
"So you're the one who hired me to kill my own son."
An old voice came from the darkness of the alley. The visitor was the patriarch of the Xin Clan. He stood in the darkness, making it impossible to see his face.
"..."
Su Xiao lit a cigarette. The reason the Xin Clan patriarch was here was that Su Xiao had contacted the Xin Clan through the slave trader Azba, commissioning them to kill someone—Xin·Yugo.
According to intelligence, Xin·Yugo was the youngest son of the Xin Clan patriarch. Even so, Xin·Yugo was over 40 years old.
When the Xin Clan learned that someone had hired them to assassinate one of their own, they immediately came looking. Su Xiao had felt like he was being watched shortly after arriving in Freedom City.
Now, the Xin Clan patriarch had personally appeared. It was likely that the person who had been tailing Su Xiao earlier felt unable to confront him and had contacted the clan's strongest.
The Xin Clan patriarch was named Xin·Dizong, formerly known as Xin the Ghost. It was said that in his youth, when he entered a combat state, he was like a ravenous demon. After marrying and having children, he calmed down a bit.
Don't be fooled by him. This old man was still a hot-tempered old geezer; he just didn't show it usually. The implication was probably: "I haven't killed anyone in three days. Why are you forcing me?"
"Xin·Yugo, as my son, is a satisfactory heir. If you want to hire me to assassinate him, the fee will be increased by 70%."
Dizong's words were shocking. Yes, this was the Xin Clan. As long as the employer paid, they would even assassinate their own offspring. But whether they succeeded was uncertain. On the surface, they accepted such commissions, but in the end, the employer usually died first, invalidating the commission.
"Xin·Yugo has accepted my creation, Dark Sun."
Su Xiao spoke. He could sense that Dizong, standing in the darkness across from him, was very strong. That old man felt like he was usually inside a shell, hiding his "Xin the Ghost" self within.
"I've seen that thing. It was Yugo's own choice. I won't comment."
Dizong's voice was calm, with no intention of attacking.
"Dark Sun is the third-generation Devourer I developed. The second-generation before it was called Boiling Red. You'll be very interested in Boiling Red's host."
"The old man will be interested? Go on, who is it?"
"Li·Xiniwei's daughter, Dorothy."
As soon as Su Xiao finished speaking, cracking sounds came from the narrow alley across the way. An old man walked out of it. He held a cane nearly 90 centimeters long in one hand, wore loose robes, had graying hair, and his face was covered in cracks like porcelain. These cracks were rapidly becoming denser. The true form of the Xin Clan patriarch, Dizong, was about to emerge.
Dizong had a characteristic: the tips of all ten of his fingers were black.
"Not good! The old man is angry. Retreat."
Several figures darted out from a dozen meters away, leaping between buildings to quickly widen the distance.
Su Xiao looked at these Xin Clan members. With his eyesight, he immediately noticed that the tips of their fingers were all black, like obsidian.
This was a characteristic of the Xin Clan. It wasn't intentionally dyed nails but the result of some power inherited through their bloodline.
Su Xiao was 90% sure he wasn't mistaken. Dyed black nails wouldn't look so natural.
Before contacting the Xin Clan, Su Xiao had learned from the slave trader Azba that the Xin Clan had this black nail characteristic.
"Grandpa, please calm down. This is Freedom City, not our territory."
A black-haired girl spoke. Though she said this, her eyes were full of anticipation. She really wanted to see what her grandfather looked like when he was angry.
Su Xiao stood up from the steps, stepped forward, and drew the longsword at his waist.
Clang~
The blade hummed. The next second, two auras—pitch black and blood red—collided with a thunderous roar.
The two auras clashed, and the entire street surface of the back alley cracked and rose. Cracks quickly appeared on the buildings in the area. The black-haired girl, caught within the two auras, pressed against the wall behind her, her face gradually flushing, her smile becoming more and more delighted.
"A losing deal."
Dizong's cane pressed against the ground, and his aura gradually dissipated. Su Xiao also stopped releasing his blood aura.
"You've schemed against me, kid. I'll stay out of this. Come to the Xin Clan's territory for tea sometime."
The cracks on Dizong's face gradually healed, returning to his previous appearance. He turned and walked into the dark alley.
Seeing this, Su Xiao walked toward the end of the back street. In fact, he had deliberately sent the third-generation Devourer to the Xin Clan.
Why did he do this? It was interesting. From the moment Su Xiao met Dorothy, she had been wearing black soft fabric gloves.
When implanting the Devourer·Boiling Red, Dorothy was naked in the bathtub. Facing Su Xiao, she looked both unnatural and embarrassed, with a stiff expression. But she refused to take off the black gloves. This behavior was beyond strange.
After the fortress reached the border region, Su Xiao discovered why Dorothy wouldn't take off her black gloves: her nails were black, like obsidian.
This was very interesting and convoluted. After learning that the Xin Clan's characteristic was black nails, Su Xiao immediately sent the Devourer to them through the slave trader Azba.
What surprised Su Xiao even more was that as soon as the Devourer·Dark Sun was sent over, it was accepted by a man named Xin·Yugo.
Xin·Yugo became the host of the third-generation Devourer, while Dorothy was the host of the second-generation.
When he heard that Dorothy was the host of the second-generation Devourer, the Xin Clan patriarch Dizong's reaction was intriguing.
The most puzzling thing was that the Xin Clan was the one who killed Dorothy's mother. Yet from the current situation, Dorothy seemed very much like a member of the Xin Clan.
The matter was a bit messy, and Su Xiao couldn't sort out the clues yet. But that didn't matter. He had already sent Dorothy out to follow her heart and seek revenge against the Xin Clan.
Let the Xin Clan members, the patriarch Dizong, the third-generation Devourer host Xin·Yugo, and Dorothy sort it out themselves.
Su Xiao guessed that among these people, there didn't seem to be any outsiders. They were all of the same bloodline. A family, ethical, combat, and suspense drama was about to unfold. Bubu had already set up a miniature listening device on Dorothy. When Su Xiao had free time later, he could grab some popcorn and watch the show.
What Su Xiao wanted most was the data on the second-generation and third-generation Devourers' growth and combat, to learn from their experiences and cultivate the perfect Devourer.
Not only was Su Xiao going to watch the show, but Dizong, that old man, was also ready to watch. The attitude he had shown earlier seemed more for the sake of the younger generation, to avoid losing face.
After handling everything, Su Xiao arrived at Warehouse No. 1 on the outskirts of Freedom City, used the teleportation array inside to return to Warehouse No. 2 in the border region, and then went back to the Doom Fortress.
In the main control room at the top of the fortress, Su Xiao leaned back on the sofa. Now, he just had to wait for news from Kaiser.
The 10,000 units of Living Ore weren't all Su Xiao's. Kaiser had made an initial investment. The first bottle of [Transformation Solution] obtained by the humans was given for free by Kaiser. That opening had facilitated this deal.
The profits from this transaction were split 60-40. Although Su Xiao hadn't contacted the buyer, managed the channels, or run around, he had concocted the [Transformation Solution].
Su Xiao didn't have to wait long. At 1 AM, Kaiser strutted into the fortress with his hands behind his back, bringing 6,000 units of Living Ore.
Su Xiao hadn't expected this windfall to be so fat. It was enough to push his fortress from T3 directly to T0, the top-tier fortress, with plenty left over to mass-produce troops.
PS: (Two chapters today, 8000 words. My neck is a bit uncomfortable. I'll try harder tomorrow.)