Chapter 23: Ultimate Technique!
Amidst the rapid footsteps, Su Xiao heard the rumbling sounds behind him. Without turning his head, he knew what was happening—that monster was chasing him.
"Bro, take care."
The cross-dressing big shot beside him chuckled softly, looking quite cute. Indeed, being this cute meant he was definitely a boy.
The cross-dressing big shot ran off into the distance without looking back, the temporary alliance they'd agreed on already forgotten.
Boom, boom...
The ground trembled slightly as the massive creature gave chase.
"Roar!"
An enraged roar came from behind, followed by a sharp whistling sound.
Su Xiao lunged forward. Whoosh—a few gravel stones flew past above him, like bullets from a shotgun, burying deep into the ground.
Su Xiao's body remained in a forward dive, about to hit the ground, with that monster on his tail. Falling would be disastrous.
Bracing one hand on the ground, Su Xiao executed a somersault, landing steadily on both feet before continuing to run.
The black gorilla chimera behind him was furious. It had a reason for hunting Su Xiao.
Originally, there were two black gorilla chimeras, a pair of brothers.
Following the principle of "I think my brother's ugly, and he thinks I'm ugly," the two gorilla brothers had fought fiercely from the moment they were born. Only one survived, devouring the other to become stronger and harder to control.
The black gorilla chimera actually had intelligence. It had its own pride, refused to obey human commands, and its long imprisonment made it despise humans.
Su Xiao didn't care about the black gorilla chimera's life story. He just wanted to know why this thing was chasing him. Was it because of his low charm? Unlikely. Bad luck? Also unlikely.
Actually, it was precisely those two reasons that made the gorilla chase him relentlessly~.
The cross-dressing big shot was running farther away, and Su Xiao noticed something: the cross-dressing big shot wasn't as fast as him.
Realizing this, Su Xiao hatched a plan. He didn't need to outrun the gorilla; he just needed to outrun this "cute girl."
With that in mind, Su Xiao immediately changed direction, sprinting toward the cross-dressing big shot.
The rumbling behind him grew closer. Su Xiao's agility was 37 points, the black gorilla chimera's was 34, and the cross-dressing big shot's was 29.
Comparing the three, the black gorilla chimera was the fastest, due to its size. One of its strides equaled over a dozen of Su Xiao's. The only reason Su Xiao hadn't been caught yet was that his agility was 3 points higher, but being overtaken was only a matter of time.
The gap between the cross-dressing big shot and Su Xiao was more significant—a full 8 points.
The cross-dressing big shot was running happily ahead when suddenly the rumbling sounded behind him.
Turning to look, he almost burst into tears.
"Hey, you're going the wrong way! Don't... don't come closer, I'm begging you."
Su Xiao sprinted on, completely ignoring the cross-dressing big shot's words.
"I..."
The cross-dressing big shot was in despair. He'd mocked Su Xiao earlier, never expecting retribution to come so fast.
Just as Su Xiao was about to overtake the cross-dressing big shot, a sharp whistling came from behind.
Turning his head, he saw an arm like an iron pillar swinging down, aimed straight at his head.
In full sprint, Su Xiao immediately sidestepped.
Boom!
It was like a meteorite crashing down beside him. The gorilla's arm slammed into the ground, detonating the earth like a buried bomb. A massive crater, two meters deep and five meters wide, appeared.
Gravel scraped past Su Xiao's cheek, leaving a burning sensation and a bloody gash.
He absolutely couldn't take a direct hit from this gorilla, or he'd be dead.
"Stay back! If you come any closer, I won't hold back!"
The cross-dressing big shot tried to threaten, but his voice trembled. He was panicking.
Actually, he was overthinking things. Even if Su Xiao wanted to get closer now, he couldn't. His forward momentum had been broken, and he couldn't shake the gorilla chimera's pursuit.
Hesitating for less than 0.1 seconds, Su Xiao dropped to the ground with a thud, suppressing his aura to the extreme. He stopped breathing and slowed his heartbeat to a crawl.
Since he couldn't face the enemy head-on, he'd gamble on luck.
Su Xiao wasn't lying down to die. He gripped the Dragon-Slaying Flash tightly in one hand, held two high-grade alchemy bombs in the other, and had the Realm Severing Thread ready to deploy at any moment.
Seeing Su Xiao fall, the gorilla stopped and looked down at him.
The gorilla poked Su Xiao with its thick fingers, finding the human on the ground had no signs of life. It seemed the punch had shaken him to death.
"Hmph, hmph..."
The gorilla bared its teeth, almost as if laughing, but it was a terrifying sight.
With the annoying human "eliminated," it could now chase the one it found pleasing.
The gorilla chimera turned its gaze to the cross-dressing big shot, its powerful hind legs pushing off the ground as it leaped into the air toward him.
Thud.
The gorilla landed, right in front of the cross-dressing big shot.
"You bastard! Even if you die, don't drag me down with you!"
The gorilla was right there. Though the cross-dressing big shot wanted to play dead too, he didn't have Su Xiao's ability to suppress his aura so effectively.
Something unexpected happened. The gorilla didn't attack the cross-dressing big shot directly. Instead, it stared curiously at the small creature before it.
The cross-dressing big shot wore a pair of silver earrings. At that moment, they emitted a milky white glow—a dark purple piece of equipment.
"Did the charm work?"
The cross-dressing big shot was ecstatic. He'd bought these earrings long ago, and they'd never activated until today.
"Stand up straight."
The cross-dressing big shot tried to command the gorilla, but it tilted its head, looking at him in confusion.
A few seconds later, the gorilla pinched the cross-dressing big shot's head between two hairy fingers. The big shot felt torn, hesitating over whether to resist.
If he resisted, the earring's effect would wear off immediately. But if he didn't, what if the gorilla crushed him?
While the cross-dressing big shot hesitated, the gorilla had already grabbed him in its hand. It didn't seem intent on killing him, but it wasn't letting him go either.
Leaving that aside, Su Xiao's situation was equally "lively."
Two seconds into playing dead, Su Xiao noticed something unusual nearby. Another contractor was also playing dead not far from him.
Recognizing the face, Su Xiao was startled. He actually knew this person.
The guy had a sleazy look rivaling that of Kizaru—young but with a face full of wrinkles. It was none other than Brother Five Fireballs.
Su Xiao had first met Brother Five Fireballs in the arena, and the second time was on the spaceship in the war world. He had no idea how the guy survived that war world; the rogue contractors should have been wiped out.
"Bro, don't make a sound. Let's play dead together."
Brother Five Fireballs spoke, not recognizing Su Xiao. After the war world ended, Reincarnation Paradise had altered memories related to Su Xiao.
Brother Five Fireballs was about three meters away from Su Xiao, both of them lying in the rubble.
Ssss...
A crawling sound came from close to the ground. It was Bubu Wang, sneaking up to Su Xiao's side.
Bubu Wang looked ridiculous, wrapped in a tattered cloth. If you didn't look closely, you'd think it was a furry rock.