Chapter 70: Fishing
After finalizing the details with Kaisa, Su Xiao hung up the communication. That contractor who was grinding faction reputation was the key to this plan.
The first choice for this person was a contractor from the Apocalypse Paradise side. This wasn't for any particularly special reason; previously, the contractors from the Holy Light Paradise and Watchful Paradise sides had been beaten to the point of being unable to function. Now, the total number of contractors from those two sides in this world didn't exceed 40.
On the other hand, over on the Apocalypse Paradise side, there were at least 600 contractors within this world.
Why were the contractors from the Apocalypse Paradise side different from those of the Reincarnation Paradise side? Just the difference in the penalties for mainline missions determined that the two sides' contractors had different styles of conduct.
In Reincarnation Paradise, when facing the forced execution penalty for a mainline mission at the First Rank, it was utterly despairing. Failure meant death; the cost was too painful. At that time, some of our contractors would start to become mentally unstable, exhibiting heightened aggression and vigilance.
By the Second Rank, our contractors still found the forced execution of mainline missions hard to accept, but they were no longer as despairing. They had begun to adapt. During this period, their mentality was, "Who the hell dares to mess with me? I'll wipe them out immediately."
At the Third Rank, our contractors were already used to the forced execution of mainline missions. However, some people's mental states had become strange.
At the Fourth Rank, our contractors had fully adapted to the forced execution of mainline missions. Their mental states improved. Some liked to smile; some became "sunshine warm guys."
At the Fifth Rank, upon seeing a mission penalty/forced execution, our contractors would smile, thinking: "Damn, so much mission description, and I thought it was going to be a hard mission."
At the Sixth Rank, when our contractors saw a mission penalty of -10 to all attributes, they would panic, desperately hoping the penalty was forced execution. Because in some cases, the heavier the penalty, the lower the risk of the mission.
At the Seventh Rank, when our contractors saw a mission with no penalty, their thought would definitely be: "Holy crap! I haven't done anything violating the rules lately, so why did I get a mission with no penalty? Is this trying to get me killed?"
By the Eighth Rank, when our contractors saw the mission penalty was forced execution, they would smile knowingly and think to themselves: "It's in the bag."
Of course, this was only under certain circumstances. In war missions, no matter how difficult, the penalty was always forced execution.
According to Su Xiao's extensive experience, the specific difficulty of a war mission could be judged by the length of the mission description. If the mission description was exceptionally long, very detailed, and even pointed out exactly what you should do next, then you should start considering your funeral arrangements. Don't be too hard on yourself lately; eat whatever you want.
On the other hand, contractors from the Apocalypse Paradise side rarely received forced execution penalties. Once they did, they would be completely alert and in a constant state of combat readiness.
The false Apocalypse Paradise contractor: King of the Mines, Little Prince of Team Battles, Mutual Help and Encouragement.
The real Apocalypse Paradise contractor: Afraid of forced execution, very afraid of forced execution, especially afraid of forced execution!
Different environments give rise to different powerhouses. At higher ranks, the Apocalypse Paradise definitely had the highest number of contractors.
Grabbing just any contractor from the Apocalypse Paradise side wouldn't do. What Kaisa was going to do was to frantically test the limits between being stripped of his Arbiter status.
Kaisa had emphasized more than once that he absolutely needed to capture a contractor with high brand reputation. From his tone, it was clear that he was taking a considerable risk this time, which was why he stressed this point repeatedly.
That bastard Kaisa was willing to take risks. What did this reflect? Of course, it meant that the military depot of the Vassal Alliance was rich. Otherwise, that bastard would have taken his cut and run long ago.
Capturing a contractor from the Apocalypse Paradise side wasn't easy. Capturing one with high brand reputation was even harder.
Relying on luck to catch one wouldn't work. They needed precise targeting, and *then* capture. To achieve this, one condition had to be met first: activate the [Apocalypse] title, use it to disguise oneself as a contractor from the Apocalypse Paradise side, thereby activating the Apocalypse Paradise world contact platform for this world, and then use posts to achieve precise targeting.
To activate the [Apocalypse] title, an enemy contractor had to be found. There were no specific requirements for this; once found, they just needed to be dragged into the [Sealed Realm].
Su Xiao had to do this himself; no one else could replace him. If he was ambushed or killed by the Vassal Alliance while on guard and still surrounded by their army, then he didn't deserve to be roaming around in mission worlds; he would have died long ago in some previous world.
He left Amu and Beini in the fortress. The former was the strongest one-on-one combatant in Su Xiao's team besides Su Xiao himself. The latter was the strategist. Beini often activated "Orphan Mode," so there was no need to worry about strategy.
Below them were Warrior Leader Hausmann, High Priestess Octavia, and Head Chef Lady Moti.
Even if Su Xiao left for a while, there wouldn't be any problems.
The pig-headed people purchased from the Human Race were being delivered in batches. The subsequent process was: a nice bath, a hearty meal, entering the Evolution Nest. The result was roughly an 80% chance of becoming a Wild Boar Warrior, a 10% chance of becoming a Dwarf Pigman, and a 10% chance of dying inside the Evolution Nest and being absorbed by it.
This wasn't an absolutely accurate probability, but it wasn't far off. The Sun Fortress's forces were growing stronger this way. With enough pig-headed people, they could increase their forces by approximately 96,000 Wild Boar Warriors and 12,000 Dwarf Pigmen daily.
While they were developing, the enemy was also gathering. After this period of peace, a continuous fierce battle was likely to follow.
Having made up his mind, Su Xiao was about to stand up from the sofa and set off for Kevab Ring City when a fluctuation mixed with heat and blood appeared. He pulled a finger-thick glass vial from his chest. Inside, the fragment of the Devourer: Boiling Red was covered in tiny red tendrils.
Seeing this, Su Xiao knew that his long-term research had finally yielded a certain degree of return.
The various attributes of the Devourer: Boiling Red were far inferior to the first-generation Black A. Even though her growth rate was faster, it couldn't hide her weakness of a low upper limit.
Boiling Red had actually sacrificed a lot. Her strength didn't lie within herself. Su Xiao hadn't just created a Devourer that only grew stronger as its host did. Boiling Red and Black A were fundamentally different. Black A was strong on its own; Boiling Red fought by relying on her "daddies."
Boiling Red had two "daddies." The first was the [Dark Demon Blood Shadow], and the second was the [Spirit Shadow Puppet].
Having two big daddies was Boiling Red's greatest strength. Host Dorothy lost, so the second daddy, [Dark Demon Blood Shadow], stepped in. If the second daddy also lost, then the big daddy, [Spirit Shadow Puppet], would come online.
Su Xiao looked at Boiling Red inside the small cylindrical vial. This reaction from Boiling Red meant that her main body inside Dorothy had sensed danger.
He opened the glass vial. The fragment of Boiling Red shot out and attached itself to the back of Su Xiao's hand. He had originally planned to leave immediately, but due to this interruption, he would have to wait a while before departing.
Su Xiao raised his left hand. Seeing this, Baha's talons grabbed the Black King Bracer and removed the opened bracer.
Su Xiao brought his hands together. The Boiling Red fragment attached to the back of his right hand transferred to his palm and began to spread towards his fingertips.
He pulled his hands apart, and strands of blood-red threads stretched between his fingers. These were Boiling Red stretched to the fineness of hair.
After doing this, Su Xiao closed his eyes. An image from somewhere unknown gradually became clear before him. It wasn't a first-person perspective, but a third-person perspective of Dorothy. He could see her back and her braided hair. Her braid almost reached her calves, and the tip was tied with small metal rings.
The black soft fabric gloves on Dorothy's hands were also one of her characteristics. Her current situation was very bad.
This place was located between Kevab Ring City and Loyash, a large post-disaster ancient ruin. Back then, when the black rain fell and order collapsed, various cults ran rampant. This ancient ruin was left behind from that time, over 300 years ago.
The construction quality of this ruin was so top-notch that it naturally caught the eye of a hunter organization. This organization was called the [Capture Group]. They engaged in hunting work, hunting aberrant beasts in the West Forest Zone.
Why didn't they go to the Borderlands in the east? It was easy to understand. The West Forest Zone was a large forest. Although there were aberrant beasts there, they didn't form a large scale. The Borderlands in the east was a place to risk one's life, bordering the aberrant beast territories.
This group called the [Capture Group] didn't dare to go to the Borderlands. Also, on their way to the West Forest Zone, they could reach the border of Human Race territory. Besides hunting aberrant beasts, they also captured human children from Human Race territory or captured children of the Vassal Alliance along the way. This was also a major part of their business.
It was worth mentioning that the slave trader Azba considered himself a scumbag, but this dwarf old man particularly looked down on this [Capture Group]. Azba's reasoning was that trafficking children was trashy behavior; he only sold adults.
Although Baha wanted to explain to Azba that both were illegal, just one was a scumbag and the other was trash, Azba firmly believed that he was a cut above the [Capture Group].
At this moment, deep inside the ruins, in a large hall with a strong theological style, many blood-stained iron cages were piled up. These cages were all empty; a shipment had just been made. Not only that, but the cages were all melted and soft like candles, piled on the floor. The nearby walls were covered in cracks and bloodstains.
"Haah... Haah..."
Dorothy's left arm hung limply. Blood dripped down her chin. She was panting heavily, her body hunched low as if she might collapse at any moment.
A few meters around her, over a dozen men and women holding various weapons had her half-surrounded. These were all hunters. The large hall door behind them was tightly shut. This metal door was a modern creation, bearing the factory mark of some steel mill, followed by a row of serial numbers.
Further behind these hunters of various expressions was a row of low tables. A man with naturally curly green hair, a goatee braided into a thin braid, was gnawing on a large meaty bone. Sometimes, when he bit down on the bone itself, he would crunch off a large chunk.
This man was of a lean build and was the leader of this hunter group. His name was Kanwu. He wasn't from the Vassal Alliance but an alien race from the surrounding islands.
Kanwu threw down the large bone in his hand. The bone was so clean that even a dog would want to curse him. He casually wiped his mouth and looked at Dorothy, who was at her limit from the fight. He said:
"Little girl, where the hell did you come from? Did we kidnap one of your relatives?"
Kanwu's voice was dry and hoarse. His pupils were white, making people feel uneasy just looking at him.
"No."
Dorothy spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva.
"Then is there something wrong with your head? You dare to come and kill my people."
Kanwu pointed at his own temple, implying that Dorothy was mentally ill.
"You're the lackeys of the Xin Clan, and the things you've done... you all deserve to die."
"Lackeys of the Xin Clan?"
Kanwu looked at his subordinates on his left and right, momentarily speechless.
"When did I become a lackey of the Xin Clan? We just sell them the supernatural resources produced by aberrant beasts. Do you have a grudge against the Xin Clan?"
"Yes."
"Then go to the Xin Clan. Why did you come to kill my people..."
Kanwu was even more speechless. Hearing this, Dorothy looked a bit flustered. She felt that, at this point, the other party had no reason to lie to her. She was definitely going to die here.
"I'm very sorry, I misunderstood you."
Dorothy apologized first, then continued: "Sorry aside, you guys still deserve to die. Weak scum who bully the weak. Let's keep fighting."
Steam emitted from Dorothy's left palm. Unfortunately, compared to when the fight started, the amount of steam she released was significantly reduced. She couldn't dissolve the enemy in a short time.
Bang!
With a dull thud, Dorothy was sent flying. It was Kanwu who had struck.
Kanwu looked lazy, watching Dorothy half-embedded in the wall. He never understood one thing: this little girl clearly didn't know how to use a sword, yet she kept holding the longsword dropped by his dead subordinate.
In fact, Dorothy, half-embedded in the wall, didn't know why she was holding a longsword in her right hand either. She had wanted to throw away this cumbersome thing for a long time, but Boiling Red inside her body refused, forcing her right hand to keep holding the sword. Her left arm was already broken, and her right hand was still holding the sword. It was no wonder she was getting hit.
Dorothy used her last bit of strength to pull herself out of the wall. She fell to her knees with a thud. Struggling to stand, her whole body felt like it was about to fall apart.
"Why isn't she dead yet? Strange."
A female hunter spoke, pulling a dagger from her calf, ready to throw it and pierce Dorothy's head.
Just then, a sudden change occurred. A layer of blood-red grid appeared around Dorothy. With a clang, it deflected the thrown dagger.
Under the astonished gaze of Kanwu and the others, Dorothy's head drooped as she lost consciousness. An arm suddenly protruded from the side of her neck, causing Dorothy's head to tilt passively. Looking closely, one could see that this arm wasn't solid but was composed of blood energy.
An arm, a shoulder, and most of a body emerged from the side of Dorothy's neck. A hand wreathed in blood smoke grabbed the hilt of the sword in Dorothy's hand, taking it from her.
A figure of blood energy appeared. It was two heads taller than Dorothy. Its image was bare-chested, with tattered cloth strips like a skirt below. Its face was blurry, and its long hair was disheveled.
Clang!
A slash of light passed by. The blood energy figure had disappeared, now standing behind the female hunter who had just thrown the dagger. The female hunter's headless corpse spurted blood and fell. Her head tumbled through the air a few times before hitting the ground with a thud.
Kanwu's eyes were filled with fear. The remaining dozen or so hunters didn't dare to move. That slash was just too fast.
"This friend..."
Clang!
Kanwu's ears buzzed. His vision spun. The last thing he saw was the blood energy figure standing not far away, the reckless young girl who had attacked them floating behind it. Besides this, Kanwu also saw his dozen or so subordinates, all with their heads severed. Over a dozen heads were flying into the air. The enemy was simply too fast.
Before dying, Kanwu's last thought was: 'Young miss, if you had this kind of skill, why didn't you say so earlier? If you had, we would have run away long ago.'
After a few moments, all the hunters in this ancient ruin were killed, all by a single decapitating slash.
The blood energy figure gradually dispersed, reverting to blood energy and sinking into Dorothy's body. A few seconds later, the floating Dorothy fell to the ground with a thud.
Meanwhile, in the main control room of the base camp fortress, the Boiling Red between Su Xiao's hands had reverted to a semi-fluid state. Boiling Red's "second daddy," the [Dark Demon Blood Shadow], had already finished the fight without needing the "big daddy," the [Spirit Shadow Puppet], to make an appearance.
Where did the [Dark Demon Blood Shadow] come from? This goes back to the previous world, the desert in the World of Paintings. That time, they encountered a six-in-one blood energy monster. Su Xiao had kept a portion of its source blood sample and added it to Boiling Red.
The [Dark Demon Blood Shadow] was automatic, requiring no control. It would use Dorothy's instincts to kill all nearby gods.
The [Dark Demon Blood Shadow] wasn't invincible. What happened when it was dispersed? No problem, there was still the stronger [Spirit Shadow Puppet].
The principle of the [Spirit Shadow Puppet] was that after the [Dark Demon Blood Shadow] was dispersed, it wouldn't disappear. Instead, it could merge into Dorothy's body.
At that point, Su Xiao would be controlling from an extreme distance, like manipulating a marionette, using Dorothy, who was empowered by the [Dark Demon Blood Shadow]'s energy, to fight. It switched from automatic mode to manual mode.
Black A was about growth potential, Boiling Red was about controllability, and Dark Sun was about energy compatibility. Each type of Devourer had different characteristics.
Su Xiao sealed a small portion of Boiling Red and put it away. He brought Bubu Wang and Baha down to the underground mine, following a passage. When he returned to the surface, he was near the aberrant beast territory on the other side of the fortress.
Following the cliffs of the Borderlands, Su Xiao traveled at full speed. He took a long detour before finally taking a cave route from the south side. After a circuitous journey, he finally reached the border of the Vassal Alliance's territory two hours later.
By now, Su Xiao had changed his clothes. He not only wore a hood but also a mask. Bubu Wang and Baha didn't need to disguise themselves. One blended into the environment, and the other followed Su Xiao from within an alternate space.
Su Xiao first arrived at Free City. Through a member of the Steel Brothers, an organization planted there by the Human Race faction, he borrowed a teleportation array that went directly to Kevab Ring City, at the cost of 30 kilograms of Living Ore.
The soft spatial fluctuation made Su Xiao, Bubu Wang, and Baha all feel uncomfortable. It was far less powerful and had less of a push-back feeling than the Demon Race's teleportation array.
Arriving at Kevab Ring City, there was no time to admire the scenery. Su Xiao first went to a small hotel tucked away in an alley that offered special services. Under the pillow in room 207, he retrieved an entry-exit permit.
Kevab Ring City was divided into an Outer City and an Inner City. The outermost ring was a hundred-meter-high circular wall. Entering it was the Outer City. Then there was another ring of walls, and entering that was the Inner City.
Wherever there were intelligent beings, there were class divisions. This place was no different. As a ring city with law and order, Kevab Ring City was a rare paradise on this continent. Many high-ranking members of the Vassal Alliance lived here.
Su Xiao was currently in the Outer City. He was here not only because Kaisa was also in the Outer City but also because there were many Apocalypse Paradise contractors here.
He came to this small hotel to pick up the approval document Kaisa had left here for entering and leaving the city gates. Without this, leaving the city would be very troublesome.
Two hours later, 3 kilometers east of Kevab Ring City, inside a cave.
A man holding a high-tech energy blaster and wearing powered armor slowly walked deeper into the cave. In front of him was a terrified old man, skinny as a rail, with blood soaking most of his clothes.
"Are you sure this is the place?"
"Yes, yes, yes, this is it. After this is done, you must let my granddaughter go."
"Stop talking and keep leading the way."
The contractor in powered armor was getting impatient. He followed the old man forward until they reached a cavern. The area was about a few dozen square meters.
"I've lured the person here. I'll collect the subsequent payment from Mr. Kaisa."
The skinny old man no longer looked coerced. He was like an old, cunning jackal.
The old man looked at the man in powered armor and smiled meaningfully. Greed clouds the mind.
"Your granddaughter is still with my friend..."
The man in powered armor sensed something was wrong, but it was too late. This was a trap set by Kaisa, specifically to lure greedy contractors.
"Young man, my granddaughter... is a monster that even I fear. Pray that your friend is okay."
After saying this, the old man pressed himself against the cave wall behind him. On the other side, Su Xiao, who had been sitting on a stone platform, stood up. The next instant, he appeared in front of the enemy.
"Wait..."
The Apocalypse Paradise contractor, lured here by greed, had only uttered half a word before his figure suddenly vanished, dragged into the [Sealed Realm].
A few minutes later, Su Xiao appeared out of thin air. With Kaisa's assistance, things went very smoothly. The [Apocalypse] title was successfully activated.
[Prompt: The Apocalypse title has been activated.]
[Apocalypse]
Origin: Reincarnation Paradise / Apocalypse Paradise.
Category: Title
Title Effect: Apocalypse Brand (Active). Upon activating this ability, you will temporarily activate the Apocalypse Paradise Contractor Brand within this title and can use this brand.
Selling Price: Unsellable, can be temporarily transferred.
...
Su Xiao equipped the [Apocalypse] title. After activating the Apocalypse brand within it, he tried to open the world contact platform.
[World Contact Platform has been activated.]
It didn't ask Su Xiao to rename himself. Noticing this, Su Xiao knew the subsequent matters would be easier. The contractor he and Kaisa had chosen had tried to scam Kaisa the day before. The result was predictable. However, as a quartermaster, Kaisa naturally chose to forgive this contractor.
The next day, when Su Xiao approached Kaisa and asked him to find an enemy contractor, Kaisa immediately thought of this person. For this, Kaisa even charged Su Xiao an extra 1000 Soul Coins.
Looking back, those 1000 Soul Coins were well spent. When Su Xiao used this Apocalypse Paradise brand to activate the world contact platform, it didn't ask him to rename himself. This meant he was posting under the name this contractor had previously used.
This was very good. Why was Kaisa so unforgiving? Had his heart suddenly become magnanimous? No. The person Kaisa had targeted wasn't just a contractor but also a miner.
For Su Xiao, this was excellent. Posting as a miner would inevitably make the enemy let their guard down.
Su Xiao could completely use the method of hiring at an ultra-high price to attract tools to help grind reputation and exchange items with Kaisa.
Having determined the strategy, Su Xiao began to edit his post. The content was: "Due to an accident, the mine I was working in has been occupied by an Eighth Rank Supernatural Beast. I urgently need a powerful contractor to help clear out this Eighth Rank Supernatural Beast. If you are currently located in Kevab Ring City, the round trip shouldn't take more than 2 hours, excluding combat time. Interested parties, please contact me. Reward: 8500 Soul Coins upon completion."
After editing this information, Su Xiao chose to post it on the world contact platform. Within a few minutes of posting, he received emails sent to the coordinates of his post. Opening the first one, he found it was from Molei. The content was:
'I am a Battle Angel, very strong...'
Seeing the content, Su Xiao immediately closed it.
Several more emails appeared. After glancing through them, Su Xiao found an email from an acquaintance. The sender was named Tyrant.
This tank-type named Tyrant was still alive. Su Xiao was slightly surprised. This guy was a tough nut and wasn't suitable as a tool.
Reading the next email, Su Xiao's eyes lit up. It was from Hao Mei. Because this woman was very active on the world contact platform, Su Xiao had previously asked Molei and Yueshitu about her. The information he got was that this woman was very rich, and the adventure group behind her was not to be trifled with.
When Molei said the adventure group was not to be trifled with, she smiled particularly happily. "Not to be trifled with" was within the Apocalypse Paradise. As for hunting down a Hunter from the Reincarnation Paradise, generally, no Apocalypse Paradise adventure group that hadn't lost its mind would do such a thing.
Su Xiao's impression of Hao Mei was mainly that she was very rich. This made him think, she was practically a combination of an ATM and a reputation tool.
After reading the content of the email, Su Xiao immediately replied to Hao Mei. The content was: "Thank you for your trouble. See you at the predetermined location in one hour."
PS: (Two chapters, ten thousand words.)