Chapter 3: Friend of the Xin Clan (Four-Star Title)
Price: 328 Soul Coins
Stock: 1.
...
A long row of titles appeared before Su Xiao. Seeing the price of the four-star titles, he knew that his previous purchase of 226 one-star titles had been a loss, but he accepted the loss of these Soul Coins.
Su Xiao didn't know how many titles would be in the title shop, or if buying them all would be enough to smelt [War Lord]. This related to whether he could seize victory in this World War.
If he tried to save a few Soul Coins and gamble on luck, only to end up one four-star title short of upgrading War Lord, unable to obtain it, and ultimately suffer a crushing defeat, that would be like throwing away a watermelon to pick up a sesame seed.
Su Xiao calculated. Since he still had plenty of Soul Coins, he purchased all the two-star to four-star titles in the title shop. Then he opened the title smelting disc and embedded the titles one by one to smelt them.
Around noon, he closed the title smelting disc. The pile of messy low-star titles had been smelted into 5 four-star titles. Adding the 12 four-star titles directly bought from the title shop, and including the previous purchase of one-star titles, the total cost was 8,685 Soul Coins.
Selling low-star titles to synthesize higher ones resulted in the biggest loss at one-star. The higher the star rating, the smaller the loss. This was because the total number of titles decreased, naturally reducing the consumption from synthesis.
Just as he closed the title smelting authority, Su Xiao received a notification from the Void Tree.
[Announcement (Void Tree): It is about to reach 12:00 PM. At this time, the title shop will be opened for all participants in this world.]
Su Xiao dismissed the notification. He had already completed his stockpiling early in the morning and had no interest in the now-empty title shop.
...
The "Border Settlement" in the Vassal Border Region.
After their crushing defeat, the Hammer Force had withdrawn to this location. They were not only stabilizing morale in this small town but also waiting for subsequent reinforcements to arrive.
The town's perimeter was heavily sealed off by Vassal soldiers. In a hotel on the east side of town, the only decent establishment in the area, it had been temporarily requisitioned.
The T3-level fortress in the town center had been vacated for Brigadier General Rez. The local administrator, Captain Jeffrey, was an admirer of Brigadier General Rez, but Rez himself had refused. A defeated general had no face to accept such treatment.
Inside a guest room of the small hotel, Brigadier General Rez frowned deeply, staring blankly at the wall ahead. His secretary, who was also his daughter, stood worriedly by the washbasin, unsure what to say. His adjutant didn't even dare to breathe loudly.
"To be defeated by such a nonsensical, swarming tactic..."
Brigadier General Rez unscrewed his flat metal flask, took a sip, and the white hair at his temples seemed to have increased.
"Father, accidents happen in everything."
"It's no accident. There must be a secret we don't know. Those wild boar warriors were strange... as if they were willing to fight to the death."
"Father, our soldiers also..."
"It's not the same. That kind of... spirit? Let's call it spirit for now. It's more straightforward and direct. It's not something that can be trained. It's more like... faith?"
As Brigadier General Rez said this, he suddenly remembered that through the real-time projection earlier, he had seen many wild boar warriors bearing circular marks. These marks weren't identical but were mostly similar, and many looked like they represented the sun.
Brigadier General Rez suppressed the suffocating feeling in his chest and began to analyze the gains and losses of this battle. How had he been defeated, and why?
Although he had won countless battles in his life, in his view, every campaign was a new beginning. A loser's explanations were meaningless nonsense to listeners, merely ugly excuses. Defeat was defeat. Any explanation was pale and powerless. Only winning back was the most powerful rebuttal.
"Where are the follow-up troops? They must reach the border by this afternoon at the latest. Before 6 PM, we must engage the Sun Fortress again. We cannot give Kukulin Bai Ye even a moment to catch his breath. We can endure months or even years of war, but he definitely can't."
As he finished speaking, Brigadier General Rez slammed his fist onto the wooden table beside him. His gaze was so sharp that even his adjutant dared not meet his eyes.
"Sir, the higher-ups mean to first cease fire..."
"Nonsense! If we don't extinguish this border sun now, once Kukulin Bai Ye finds an opportunity, we'll be the ones roasted to death! Are those parasites filled with nothing but manure in their heads?!"
Brigadier General Rez was so angry that his facial muscles trembled. In truth, the old general was right. If the battle resumed tonight, and the Vassal side's follow-up troops continued to arrive, Su Xiao's side would definitely not hold out.
"Sir, there's one more thing. Because of our defeat this time, the higher-ups mean... mean for us to report to the Tribunal first."
"?"
Brigadier General Rez looked at his adjutant in confusion, then laughed. Those Vassal bureaucrats were seizing this opportunity to make things difficult for him. They had no idea what had actually happened in the border region. This was retaliation.
During the war between the Vassals and the Human Race, Vassal officers had held great power. But after peace, these powers were taken away by the bureaucratic faction, under the beautiful pretext of not letting the hunting dog bite its own chain.
There was no helping it. The Vassal soldiers had no productive capacity, and the finances were controlled by the other side. Unless these Vassal generals banded together, broke the existing power system, and established a new regime, today's scene was inevitable sooner or later.
Brigadier General Rez let out a long sigh, stood up, and walked toward the door. His back carried a hint of desolation. After a few steps, he stopped, turned sideways to look out the window. That direction was where the Sun Fortress lay. He wanted to clash with that opponent once more, but unfortunately, he had no chance for now.
"In the end... I'm just old."
Brigadier General Rez's back seemed to age a few more years as he left this somewhat worn-out room.
Inside the room, Bubu Wang yawned, followed Brigadier General Rez out, and simultaneously contacted Su Xiao.
At the top floor of the friendly base camp fortress, inside the main control room.
Su Xiao closed the team communication, letting out a long sigh of relief. That troublesome opponent had actually been transferred away. After clashing with Brigadier General Rez once before, Su Xiao had always worried that he might fall to this old general. Now it seemed he had been overthinking.
"How peculiar."
Su Xiao muttered to himself. Others felt the same peculiarity.
Border Town, inside an abandoned warehouse.
The warehouse contained some wooden crates, with dozens of men and women either standing or sitting on them. Molei and Yueshitu sat on the same crate. Although many suspected Molei was a spy, reporting her had revealed no violations. Plus, she was a Battle Angel. Repeated reports would result in warnings.
"How many times do I have to tell you? We were kidnapped. And no, Reincarnation Paradise's Bai Ye is not my dad. Got it? The ages don't even match."
Molei spoke. Beside her, Hao Mei, holding a wine bottle with light white wavy hair, snorted, ignoring Molei's gaze as she drank.
Gold Count, Sacred Hymn, Orlando, and others were also in this abandoned warehouse. Orlando said:
"The Void Tree just announced that the title shop is opening. I've encountered this situation before. There aren't many titles inside, so it's a rush to buy, but the prices are cheap. It's one of the benefits of triggering a historical-level event."
"One of the benefits? There are others?"
"After winning."
Orlando's lips curled up. He couldn't determine who would win or lose at this point.
"What's your exchange level?"
"Mine is Level 2."
"Level 1."
"Level 3."
The contractors spoke one after another. Obviously, the number required for personally killing enemies versus having subordinate soldier-type units kill them was vastly different.
But strangely, even though these contractors had raised their exchange levels, they didn't know the situation inside the title shop.
This was only natural. The Void Tree had a balancing mechanism. Currently, Su Xiao from the Reincarnation Paradise side was a single faction, while the several hundred contractors from the Apocalypse Paradise, Holy Light Paradise, and Watchful Paradise formed the other side.
In the Void Tree's judgment, even if Su Xiao had millions of soldier-type units, they were achieved through his own means after entering this world. In the judgment, these soldier-type units wouldn't be counted. Instead, it was judged as Su Xiao alone facing several hundred contractors.
If soldier-type units were counted, it would actually benefit Su Xiao, because the group of contractors had even more soldier-type units. They had all joined the Vassal faction. How many soldiers did the Vassals have?
One versus several hundred. There were no other advantages. The balancing mechanism couldn't tilt that far. The only compensation for the numerical disparity that the Void Tree provided was that when Su Xiao's exchange level in the title shop increased, the title shop would open for him personally for 5 minutes. This was his only fairness advantage in a one-versus-several-hundred situation.
"Here it comes. First come, first served. My brain speed isn't something you can match."
Among the Heavenly Ghost Brothers, the younger brother Ghost Eye spoke. Molei and Yueshitu ignored him, silently counting down in their minds.
[Announcement (Void Tree): The title shop has opened. This opening will last for 10 minutes.]
"They're all mine! Ee-yah?"
Ghost Eye's face bloomed with a smile. As the title shop opened, the smile froze. Although there were dozens of contractors in the abandoned warehouse, it became deathly silent.
"Do you guys see any titles?"
"No. Could it be that it's the first day opening and they haven't stocked yet?"
Deer Brother spoke with a confused look. He was utterly bewildered. At that moment, Molei suddenly said:
"Damn! You're ruthless. Not a single one left. Are you eating all these titles?!"
Molei threw the paper milk carton in her hand to the ground. With her rich experience as a victim, she immediately realized that Su Xiao had emptied the title shop.
PS: (Two chapters today, 11,000 words. Not splitting into three chapters. Two chapters have a more compact reading experience.)