Chapter 58: A Skillful Shearing
Su Xiao dismissed the notifications. The information contained within was substantial. Firstly, because he had severely wounded the contractors from the Holy Light Paradise and Watchful Paradise sides during his first battle, the rank of his disguised brand had been elevated by half a tier, making him a Battle Angel (Reserve).
As a result, this disguised brand now held special significance. Previously, it was a fake brand, a particularly convincing high-quality imitation. But now, because Su Xiao had elevated its rank by half a tier while disguised, it had leaped from a pirated copy to the real deal.
In the judgment of Reincarnation Paradise, Su Xiao's current disguised brand now had a different value. Once it was analyzed, it would be possible to construct a high-quality imitation that would be even harder to see through in the future.
After Reincarnation Paradise completed its analysis, this disguised brand would undergo a 'refresh,' changing from an 'illegal household' to a 'legal household registration.'
Su Xiao would be able to obtain this 'legal household registration.' However, at that point, it would no longer be a simple brand; it would be a special title.
To put it simply, after equipping that title, Su Xiao could 100% disguise himself as a contractor from the Apocalypse Paradise side. Detection equipment, abilities, and other methods would be absolutely unable to discover his true identity as a Hunter from Reincarnation Paradise.
This was very valuable. Su Xiao now frequently entered fully open Primordial Worlds, which contained contractors from Reincarnation Paradise, Apocalypse Paradise, Holy Light Paradise, and other factions.
When contractors from other factions sensed that Su Xiao had a Reincarnation Paradise brand, their first reaction was vigilance, and they would likely retreat afterward.
Within various worlds, contractors often found themselves in important positions during major events. Sometimes, being able to infiltrate these people, either to seize important items or to learn certain intelligence, could resolve originally difficult matters in a short time.
After meeting certain conditions, he could even use this brand to enter Apocalypse Paradise itself. Unless there was something absolutely necessary to do there, Su Xiao would not easily attempt this.
If he entered Apocalypse Paradise and was discovered, even Reincarnation Paradise couldn't save him; he would be executed on the spot.
Standing before the curved window, Su Xiao looked down at the battlefield below. The cleanup wasn't finished yet. The bodies of enemies and allies were being separated, to be buried in different places later.
After the Boar Warriors had embraced the sun faith, although they remained fierce, in their concept, once an enemy died, their soul would be purified by the sun. That is, grudges ended with death, and the remaining bodies should be buried in the earth.
Believing in the sun made the Boar Warriors pure, not simple, but pure. There was an essential difference between the two. From a certain perspective, the purer one was, the more terrifying.
Inside the room, amidst the busy work of several female pig-headed humanoids, the main control room was restored to its original state. The broken vessels were cleared away, and a sumptuous lunch was laid out on the coffee table.
Su Xiao sat down on the sofa. A few minutes later, Molei and Yueshitu entered the room one after another. Molei was humming a tune, and Yueshitu had a smile on her face. Both were in good moods.
It was no wonder they were happy. Earlier, Molei had formed a team, and Su Xiao and Yueshitu had joined.
As the main driver of the previous melee, Su Xiao naturally made Molei and Yueshitu participants as well. However, Yueshitu was clever; she kept her summons mining, adopting a posture of cooperation while observing. It wasn't that she didn't want to earn more battle merits, but she didn't dare to push it.
"Just got hungry."
Molei sat on the opposite sofa and immediately started eating.
"Eat less, I'm hungry too."
Yueshitu tucked in her napkin and picked up her utensils to enjoy lunch.
"You don't exercise, what are you hungry for?"
"Who says I don't exercise?"
Yueshitu's reaction was a bit intense, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
"You, exercise? If you can sit, you won't stand; if you can lie down, you won't sit. Your limbs are almost atrophied from all the lying around."
Molei's words made Yueshitu immediately throw a punch. A few seconds later, Molei sat on Yueshitu's back like a cushion.
"Calling us here to sell battle merits?"
There was a hint of anticipation in Molei's eyes. Yueshitu, sitting beneath her, also stopped struggling.
The price had been negotiated with Molei and Yueshitu earlier: 10 battle merits for one Soul Crystal (Complete). Now Su Xiao had 2910 battle merits.
"Isn't it just Soul Crystals? We'll take however many battle merits you have."
"2910 battle merits, that's 291..."
"Hold on."
Molei got off Yueshitu, covered her mouth with her hand, and whispered something to Yueshitu. Yueshitu nodded sometimes, shook her head other times. After a moment.
"Ahem. After deliberation, we've decided that such an important matter as collecting battle merits should be done step by step. Don't you agree, Bai Ye? Hahaha, Bai Ye, why have you taken out your knife? Let's be reasonable. Resorting to violence is barbaric. Wait... wait, I was wrong, I shouldn't have bragged. It's impossible for us to carry 291 Soul Crystals (Complete) on us. Do you think we're Soul Crystal chests? Who knew you could get so many battle merits..."
Molei explained for a long time. The core content was that she really couldn't produce 291 Soul Crystals (Complete) for the trade.
"Soul Crystal Cores will also do."
"That one won't do."
"..."
Su Xiao stopped talking. Amu slammed the door shut at the entrance.
After some 'negotiation,' Molei and Yueshitu reached a deal with 127 Soul Crystals (Complete), 3 Soul Crystal Cores, and 5100 Soul Coins.
One might ask, was 2910 Apocalypse Paradise battle merits only worth this much? No. If the World War ended, even as the losing side, the rewards from so many battle merits would exceed this.
The problem was that both Molei and Yueshitu suspected something was fishy. They were essentially scratching a lottery ticket now. If these battle merits counted later, they'd profit. If the battle merits were cleared, they'd cry until their noses ran from the loss.
After completing the transaction, Yueshitu and Molei hurriedly left. Without needing to investigate, Su Xiao knew these two were already prepared to flee at any moment.
It was normal for them to be ready to run. However, Su Xiao had stipulated in the contract signed with them that if, during the cooperation, due to irresistible reasons, Molei and Yueshitu needed to withdraw from this side, Yueshitu must dismiss all summons she had called to this world. Otherwise, 85% of her assets would belong to Su Xiao, and all her attributes would be reduced by 30%.
This way, even if Yueshitu ran, her summons would be zeroed out. As for re-summoning, that was up to her. The World War had already reached this stage; it was too late for Yueshitu to start over.
The current victory seemed great, but it wasn't really. It was just a temporary victory. Many events subtly revealed to Su Xiao that this World War might be different from previous ones. The World Core generating the world coordinates was only half a core, which indicated many things.
If it was as Su Xiao guessed, then the formation of the world coordinates three days later wouldn't be the end of the World War, but just the beginning.
However, this was only Su Xiao's speculation. Still, precautions were necessary to prevent things from truly becoming that dire.
Thinking this way, continuing to develop was definitely the right move. Because the war zone was sealed, the western border was impassable. Not only could he not go to Freedom City to buy Boar Warriors, but he couldn't even go to the Vassal's 'Border Gathering Place.'
The war zone encompassed a part of the border region and the Aberrant Beast territory. The entire war zone was circular, with their fortress located at the westernmost edge of the war zone.
The large plain to the east was left for the attacking side to deploy tactics. To put it bluntly, it was a place to run if they couldn't win.
There were still over 50 enemy contractors left. Su Xiao decided that after cleaning up the battlefield, he would personally hold the main base fortress and leave 10,000 Boar Warriors here.
The rest would all go to the eastern great plain, both to hunt down the enemy contractors and to hunt all the Aberrant Beasts they encountered.
This would both seek out enemies and accumulate resources. Mining should also continue. Although he couldn't buy Boar Warriors in these three days, he could stockpile Living Ore and buy a large batch of Boar Warriors later to increase his forces.
There was another matter to attend to quickly: creating a 'Sun Ring' capable of gathering the faith power of the sun.