Chapter 46: Such a Heartbreaking Hint
The Sun Fortress had taken shape. With 70,657 Wild Boar Warriors, they formed the absolute core strength. As for heavy tanks, the training cost was too high, so that would have to be postponed.
For now, the busiest were the Dwarf Boar People. With the sudden population explosion, some of them had been pulled away to continue hollowing out the mountain interior, creating living spaces.
Small huts and dormitories couldn't be arranged for the time being. The population had grown too severely. Given the Wild Boar Warriors' physiques, sleeping inside the mountain caverns was no issue.
Su Xiao closed the fortress data. After the fortress was upgraded to T0 rank, the output of Living Ore had increased to 1,000 units per day. That seemed like a lot, but in reality, it wasn't enough.
The channel Kaisa had for selling Aberrant Beast pelts and other goods couldn't be cut off; that was also a major source of income.
After evaluating for a moment, Su Xiao called for Hausmann.
"Hausmann, you and Tufu each lead ten teams and go hunt in the Aberrant Beast territory."
The Tufu Su Xiao mentioned, he had met once before. The first Pig Head Man he ever saw was Tufu. Back then, the guy was pushing a food cart, responsible for delivering meals to prisoners.
The name Tufu, when Su Xiao first heard it, he thought it was "Butcher." But given Tufu's style of conduct, calling him a butcher was fitting.
Tufu was very silent. When he was a laborer, his tongue had been cut off by the overseer. After transforming into a Wild Boar Warrior, it was almost like he had been "reborn." His tongue naturally grew back, yet he remained silent.
Although Tufu was silent, he was very steady. In contrast, Steel Fang and Gluttony were a ruthless, reckless kid and someone whose brain capacity might be the size of a walnut. Gluttony ate everything; before, while sleeping, it had gnawed away most of the hut it lived in.
Su Xiao looked towards the door. Gluttony's big head was peeking in from outside, a silly grin on its face. With its massive, fat body, it couldn't get in unless it broke the doorframe.
Su Xiao had Hausmann and Tufu take 60,000 Wild Boar Warriors, divided into 20 squads of 3,000 each, to hunt in the Aberrant Beast territory.
The 20 hunting squads wouldn't be too far apart. If an emergency occurred, they could support each other.
Aside from obtaining spoils, sending the Wild Boar Warriors out to hunt would allow them to train their [Combat Instinct] ability. After getting suitable cold weapons, the combat effectiveness of the Wild Boar Warriors had all significantly improved.
With such a large-scale hunt, not counting casualties, the gains weren't much worse than mining. With good luck, the spoils from a day and night could be traded for 900 units of Living Ore. With average luck, around 700 units.
At the current rate of progress, in at most five more days, Su Xiao would have the capital to start a preliminary scuffle with the Vassal Alliance.
It was true that the three major forces of the Vassal Alliance each had a million soldiers. But they wouldn't amass several hundred thousand soldiers in a single go. Basically, no one would command hundreds of thousands of soldiers to charge into enemy territory at the very start of a war. Except for Su Xiao.
With no urgent matters to attend to, Su Xiao felt time pass quickly. Before he knew it, a day had gone by.
Every day of development made his side stronger. Over at the Hammer Force, Brigadier General Leizi, after activating his "Hun," had somehow gotten another batch of standard cold weapons, about 40,000 pieces. Su Xiao didn't stand on ceremony and took them all.
The other side seemed to have sensed something and didn't contact him again. Su Xiao didn't care much about that. Getting 100,000 standard cold weapons before was already unexpected. Getting another 40,000 this time was more than satisfying.
When Su Xiao woke from his sleep, the morning sun shone in through the window. After one night's sleep, the number of Wild Boar Warriors had broken through the 100,000 mark, reaching 101,457. This was the fruit of the initial investment.
The aroma of food wafted over. Su Xiao stubbed out the cigarette between his fingers. A female Pig Head Man entered the room carrying a tray.
Just as Su Xiao started his breakfast, the communicator on the table vibrated slightly. It was Kaisa.
"What's up?"
Su Xiao peeled an egg. Just as he brought it to his mouth, he found Bubu Wang staring straight at him. If you gave Bubu breakfast, he wouldn't eat it. But if someone else ate, he got greedy.
The egg in Su Xiao's hand went into Bubu Wang's mouth. Kaisa's voice came from the communicator: "Azba wants to meet you."
"Meet me?"
Su Xiao's hand paused. As he wondered why that slave trader wanted to see him, the second egg he peeled was snatched and eaten by Bubu Wang, who had poked his head over.
"Azba invites you to the arena in 'Kravob Ring City.' This is already his third invitation. If you refuse again, it might be dangerous."
Kaisa meant that Azba's side was starting to probe.
"No need to bother. If I go there, it'll actually ruin things. There are a lot of Apocalypse Paradise contractors in Kravob Ring City."
"Then I'll refuse again. My dear friend, when are you planning to start the war with the Vassal Alliance? As the reserve quartermaster, I'm very eager to officially take office."
"Wait a bit longer. The cards in my hand aren't big enough yet. How's the channel with the Human Race side going?"
"Not bad. The prices over there are higher than the Vassal Alliance's."
"Mm, got it."
Su Xiao ended the call. Before he could continue his breakfast, a buzzing sound reached his ears.
He listened quietly for a moment. The sound came from a drawer under the bookshelf. Pulling it open, a long-distance Den Den Mushi came into view. It was something left by Li Xiniwei.
The phone didn't show who was calling. Su Xiao picked it up. He estimated there was a fifty percent chance it was Li Xiniwei calling.
"Li Xiniwei! Where the hell did you take my fortress?! 2 days! At most 2 days! If I don't see the Doom Fortress in 2 days, I'll skin you alive..."
A roar came from the phone. Su Xiao suddenly remembered that the Doom Fortress was something Li Xiniwei had rented from a big company in Freedom City.
The old Doom Fortress was T5 rank. Now, renamed the Sun Fortress, it had been upgraded to T0 rank.
Su Xiao hung up the phone. He really hadn't expected someone to come collecting rent. If they were very eager to get that rent, that was fine too. Come to the Borderlands and try to take it.
Through the micro-monitoring equipment Bubu Wang had placed on Dorothy, Su Xiao projected the image onto the wall. He found Dorothy with a group of Hunters.
In the image, Dorothy was laughing and chatting with a few Hunters inside a caravan. But the next moment, her expression suddenly changed. She stabbed a dagger through one Hunter's head. Steam spread through the carriage, followed by the miserable screams and pleas for mercy from the remaining Hunters.
After watching for a while, Su Xiao understood the plot. This gluttonous girl, Dorothy, had gone to take revenge on the Xin Clan, but had gotten lost.
"Damn it, lost? I should have given her a navigation system."
"Woof."
"Ugh... this..."
Baha was speechless. Dorothy had gotten lost *because* she was following navigation. She was using an AI, but she had bought an artificial idiot. The terminal she was wearing now seemed to have eaten too many fake batteries. The smart butler inside had no advantages other than being talkative.
Su Xiao closed the projection. He was hesitating whether to take a stroll through the Aberrant Beast territory. Just then, an email popped up. It was from Beini.
The email was sent 21 hours ago but had only arrived now. This meant Beini was very far away when she sent it. He opened the email. The content was:
'Half a World Core acquired. Have the dumb dog come to pick me up. Coordinates: S169166.57.672.79.'
"Woof!"
Bubu Wang tilted his head, meaning he wasn't going. He clearly disagreed with being called a dumb dog.
"You have to think of it this way. If you don't go, when Beini comes back, she'll definitely scratch you."
"Woof~"
"Not only will she scratch you, she sometimes handles the money. Your allowance..."
"Woof!"
Bubu Wang ran out of the room. Beini asking Bubu to come pick her up meant the situation was a bit troublesome, and solving the trouble through combat would bring even more trouble.
Time passed as they waited. From morning until midnight, Bubu Wang and Beini still hadn't returned. The next day, they still hadn't come back.
It wasn't until noon the day after that Bubu Wang ran into the main control room and sat down on the carpet. Beini was perched on top of Bubu Wang's head.
"Meow."
Beini extended her paw forward. A crystal core the size of half an egg appeared. Transparent threads were wrapped around it. Beini didn't directly touch this half of the World Core.
Beini had found the World Core. Originally, she wanted to stall for a few more days. But unfortunately, she had met her match this time. She could only bring the World Core back as fast as possible, or else she would face a large group of Holy Light Paradise contractors in pursuit.
Su Xiao checked the fortress data to see the current military strength. The number of Wild Boar Warriors had grown to 183,500.
180,000 Wild Boar Warriors weren't enough to deal with the Vassal Alliance. But they were more than enough to deal with the contractors from Holy Light Paradise and Watchful Paradise.
As an Eighth Rank World War, at most, the two sides combined had 1,000 Eighth Rank contractors. That was already a lot of people.
Calculated this way, it would be 183 Wild Boar Warriors surrounding one enemy contractor. Under normal circumstances, a contractor's combat power could handle 183 Wild Boar Warriors. But after the Wild Boar Warriors received the five buffs—Morale +70 points, All True Attributes +20 points, Max Health +45%, Physical Defense +30 points, All Ability Levels +Lv.10—the contractors couldn't hold out.
When the fighting actually started, it wouldn't be 183 Wild Boar Warriors surrounding one enemy contractor. It would be the massive army of Wild Boar Warriors desperately chasing the contractors, while the contractors fled for their lives.
Why would this happen? If those contractors were surrounded, except for those with life-saving items, not a single one would survive the human wave tactics.
Kill all the Wild Boar Warriors? Too naive. Kill one, and three would take its place. Kill three, and a crowd would swarm in.
Things had reached this point. There was no more time to delay and develop. According to what Beini knew, a contractor from Holy Light Paradise had already locked onto the location of this half of the World Core.
Being able to develop the fortress to this extent before the war started was already more than satisfying for Su Xiao. He reached out and grabbed the World Core floating in mid-air.
[Announcement (Void Tree): The Apocalypse Paradise contractor has obtained the World Core.]
[Announcement: In this world, 67 World Progresses ago, a World War was once held.]
[Announcement: Because the current World Core is incomplete, and this world is hosting a World War for the second time, a complete coordinate sequence has been established within this world. The World Core's defense location will be determined based on its current position.]
[Announcement: The World Core's location is the Borderlands.]
[The defending side for this battle is: Apocalypse Paradise.]
[The attacking side for this battle is: Holy Light Paradise, Watchful Paradise.]
[After the World Coordinates begin construction, they must be held for at least 3 natural days for the coordinates to be established. During this period, if the defense fails and the World Core is taken by Holy Light Paradise or Watchful Paradise, the establishment of this World Coordinate will fail.]
[All participants must arrive at the war zone within 27 hours (due to the large number of participants this time, the war zone has been expanded to: Borderlands → Freedom City, and the surrounding areas).]
...
This wasn't Su Xiao's first time participating in a World War. He was already experienced in this regard. As soon as the Void Tree's announcement stopped, he started receiving prompts from Apocalypse Paradise.
[Prompt (Apocalypse Paradise): You are now in possession of this world's World Core!]
[It has been verified that you and your summons, without any assistance from your own search team, successfully found the World Core. You receive the following rewards.]
[You receive Soul Crystal (Complete) × 85.]
[You receive Immortal Rank Accessory Chest × 1 (Can be opened to obtain a random Immortal Rank accessory).]
[You receive Starfall Furnace (Immortal Rank).]
...
[Prompt (Apocalypse Paradise): It has been verified that you, Contractor, have taken control of a large amount of this world's military power. This action will significantly increase your side's probability of victory! You must cherish this opportunity and maximize the potential of the large number of soldier-type units you have acquired.]
[Prompt (Apocalypse Paradise): If the Contractor successfully defends the World Core for 3 natural days, your Imprint Rank will be elevated. You will be promoted from Contractor to Battle Angel.]
[Prompt (Apocalypse Paradise): Due to various reasons, your side has not won an Eighth Rank World War for a long time, often losing to the Reincarnation Paradise and Death Paradise sides. Contractor, you must give your all this time! Win the victory in this World War!]