Chapter 1: The Truth Behind the Truth
Ignoring Maustan's roar, Su Xiao knew that in his current state, he was no match for the five Pillars.
He was somewhat unlucky; encountering the Führer just as he entered the lower levels of the Presidential Palace had disrupted his plans. This was what they meant by "man proposes, heaven disposes."
Though his luck wasn't great, he had still achieved his goal.
He removed a tracker from Riza Hawkeye. This item wasn't cheap and could be reused.
[Divine Power (Fake) has been fully collected.]
[Promotion Quest: Steal Divine Power (Completed)]
Difficulty Level: Lv.14
Quest Briefing: Use the Magic Crystal Bottle to seize the Divine Power.
Quest Information: Divine Power (Fake) is attached within the body of the "Homunculus in the Flask."
Quest Time Limit: One month
Quest Reward: Promotion Qualification.
Quest Penalty: All Attributes -10.
...
[Promotion Quest Completed. The Hunter will return to Reincarnation Paradise in three seconds.]
Seeing this prompt, Su Xiao was stunned. The return time was far too short.
A familiar heavy impact struck the back of his head, and at the same time, he felt a sharp pain on the back of his hand.
When he regained consciousness, he was already in his Exclusive Room. The moment the Promotion Quest was completed, Reincarnation Paradise had teleported him back.
Su Xiao looked down at his hand. There was a row of teeth marks on the back of it. He didn't need to guess; it must have been that female sniper, Hawkeye, who bit him.
[Teleportation Complete. Hunter has returned to Exclusive Room.]
[Exclusive Room is an absolute safe point. No one may enter without the Hunter's permission.]
[Hunter has returned to Reincarnation Paradise. Beginning settlement of Derived World rewards.]
Derived World: Fullmetal Alchemist
Difficulty: Lv.10 (Hard)
World Source Obtained: 38.5%
Number of Tasks Completed: 1. (Achievement Task ×1, Promotion Task not counted in evaluation.)
Comprehensive Evaluation: B. (Note: Evaluation ranges from E- to S+. Comprehensive evaluation is calculated based on total World Source obtained and number of tasks completed. No Main Quest for Promotion Task, lower evaluation is normal.)
Beginning collection of World Source...
World Source collection complete. Beginning reward tally.
Rewards Obtained: 16 Attribute Points (including those obtained in the Derived World), 19250 Paradise Coins.
(Tip: Hunter has not passed the First Rank assessment. Current maximum achievable level is Lv.10.)
Settlement complete. Rewards have been automatically deposited into the Hunter's Mark.
...
[Tip: Hunter has completed the Promotion Quest and obtained Promotion Qualification.]
[Assigning Trial Area for Hunter. Assignment complete. A total of 500 Contractors are participating in this promotion batch.]
Seeing the prompt from Reincarnation Paradise, Su Xiao frowned. He had thought that completing the Promotion Quest would directly promote him to a Second Rank Contractor, but it seemed that wasn't the case. He still had to undergo a trial.
[The Trial will take place in three natural days. The content is Survival. This Trial is an independent scenario, not any Derived World. Please prepare in advance, Hunter.]
'Content is Survival.' Seeing this, Su Xiao's heart tightened. If all tasks were listed, survival-type tasks were always the hardest.
Based on fragmented clues, he deduced he would undergo a very short trial. There were two clues: a special world without a plot, at least not a Derived World, and a total of 500 Contractors who had also completed the Promotion Quest participating.
It was easy to imagine that if the venue wasn't large, a chaotic free-for-all among Contractors might occur.
Su Xiao now had three days. During these three days, he needed to convert the gains from the Fullmetal Alchemist world into strength and relax his mind to welcome the trial.
Just as Su Xiao was about to tally his gains, another prompt from Reincarnation Paradise appeared.
[Tip: Detected that Hunter has completed the Promotion Quest. Reincarnation Paradise rewards the Hunter with one consultation opportunity. Authority Level: Lv.50.]
Su Xiao was initially puzzled, then suddenly understood. This was likely a privilege of being a Hunter. He could ask Reincarnation Paradise a high-authority question.
What to ask? Su Xiao couldn't think of anything immediately.
A flash of inspiration struck him. He knew what to ask.
"What are the numbers of those who killed my parents, and what level Contractors were they?"
After Su Xiao asked this question, Reincarnation Paradise gave a special reply.
[This question cannot be answered.]
Su Xiao frowned deeply. Was it due to insufficient authority?
"Why can't it be answered?"
[Hunter's parents died voluntarily in an accidental incident. No suspicion of murder by others.]
"What!"
Su Xiao shot up from his seat, his eyes wide open.
"Accidental death? Are you kidding me? Dying from a stab wound is an accidental voluntary death?"
[Reincarnation Paradise can restore the Hunter's past. Do you wish to use the consultation opportunity?]
Su Xiao hesitated. He was now confused about the situation.
"Use it."
Su Xiao's tone became resolute. Things didn't seem to be as he had imagined.
[Verifying. Verified 'Enemies' in Hunter's thoughts.]
[Contractor 10034 (Deceased)]
[Contractor 10187 (Deceased)]
[Contractor 11316 (Deceased)]
[Contractor 12479 (Deceased)]
...
Seeing the long list of names before him, Su Xiao grew even more puzzled. Were these the enemies who killed his parents? But every single one of them had died within Reincarnation Paradise.
His enemies were already dead? Su Xiao lit a cigarette with trembling hands. Although he hadn't killed them himself, the fact that revenge was achieved filled him with joy.
Some said revenge led to emptiness, but Su Xiao didn't feel that way. He felt incredibly relieved now.
[Comparing DNA data. Test results are as follows.]
[Hunter has no blood relation to Contractor 12156 (Codename: Blood Eagle) and Contractor 12157 (Codename: Poison Orchid).]
Seeing this prompt, Su Xiao's first reaction was disbelief. The parents who raised him from childhood had no blood relation to him?
Could Reincarnation Paradise be wrong? Was that possible? Of course not. Reincarnation Paradise's capabilities were evident; it was an extremely mysterious entity.
[Projecting footage. This is footage from the Hunter's childhood.]
A screen resembling a surveillance monitor appeared before Su Xiao.
The screen showed a pitch-black sealed space, likely formed by a cave-in. Inside were a young man, a young woman, and a swaddled infant. Upon closer inspection, Su Xiao bore a slight resemblance to the dust-covered man.
The woman in the frame held the swaddled baby, tears streaming down her face.
"Honey, can we get out? The phone has no signal, and it's getting stuffier in here. It's probably not ventilated. The oxygen will run out soon."
The woman pressed her cheek against the baby's face.
The man leaned silently in a corner. Even in such a dire situation, he remained calm.
"Oxygen is indeed limited. If all three of us breathe, we'll last at most two hours."
The man looked up, glanced at his wife nearby, and gave her a rare smile.
"Find a way to survive with our son."
As he spoke, the man pulled out a folding knife. The blade snapped out, and without hesitation, he slit his own throat. He was a ruthless man with incredible decisiveness.
If the oxygen was only enough for two adults and one infant to breathe for two hours, how long could one adult and one infant last? At least three to four hours!
This man was ruthless enough. To give his wife and child a better chance to live, he chose to end his own life. He knew clearly what being buried underground after an earthquake meant—rescue wouldn't come quickly. Rather than barely surviving, it was better to leave more survival time for his wife and child.
The gushing blood terrified the wife. She screamed and lunged toward the man.
"Live. Take our son out of here."
The man left these words and died.
The wife wept and screamed, but nothing could bring him back.
A few minutes later, the wife wiped the tears from her face. She was heartbroken, but she looked at the swaddled infant and a gentle smile appeared on her face.
The woman picked up the baby, whose face was stained with a few drops of blood, and began to nurse him.
After the baby was full, the woman placed him on the ground and covered him with debris to protect him from falling rubble during a potential rescue, though the chance of rescue was slim.
The woman looked at her husband. She resolutely picked up the blood-stained folding knife.
She didn't know when rescue would come, but she knew a few hours wouldn't be enough. All she could do was try to let her child live longer, giving him a chance.
The most precious things are often the most ordinary, like air.
...
Su Xiao watched the scene intently. In the end, the baby was miraculously rescued. However, due to the chaos caused by the massive earthquake, the baby's identity couldn't be verified, and he was eventually sent to an orphanage.
Six months later, a couple came to the orphanage to adopt a child. When Su Xiao saw the familiar faces of the couple, he froze. They were his 'parents.'
No, they were his adoptive parents.
The footage continued. Su Xiao grew up, and his 'parents' never told him about the adoption.
To be precise, they had adopted him under false identities to blend in more easily among ordinary people. They seemed to be hiding from someone.
His 'father' was always kind to him, and his 'mother' was always gentle.
In Su Xiao's memory, his 'parents' had never scolded him, not once, let alone hit him. Was that normal? He hadn't noticed it before, but now it seemed far from normal.
The footage continued. Su Xiao was in elementary school, and his 'parents' were chatting at home.
"It's been many years since the adoption. That kid won't discover our identities, will he?"
"Lan, don't overthink it. The kid is still very young, and we act very much like parents."
"But he'll grow up eventually. If he finds out our identities then..."
"Then we'll deal with it. You and I can't have children. Adopting that kid was just to hide among ordinary people. Those people from the Lingtian Adventure Group are really like dogs, chasing us relentlessly."
"Deal with it... Although it's a bit hard to let go, there's no other way when the time comes. But this kid has a ruthless streak in his bones from a young age. If he becomes a Contractor, he might be quite something."
"Who knows? Maybe his biological parents were ruthless people. But they were just ordinary people. This kid's physique shows no signs of semi-datafication."
Blood Eagle sighed, seemingly worried about something, but when mentioning Su Xiao, there wasn't much emotion in his eyes.
...
The truth was always so unexpected. There was no imagined powerful enemy, no cliché story of growing stronger and successfully taking revenge.
A young couple on vacation encountered an earthquake and were buried in an underground cave that was once a tourist attraction.
Although both were ordinary people, they possessed an extraordinary ruthlessness and decisiveness in their bones. It was this decisiveness that allowed their child to survive.
The couple's death bought more time. The child was rescued, sent to an orphanage, and adopted by a pair of Contractors to conceal their identities and escape pursuit.
...
Su Xiao pressed his hand to his forehead, a cigarette dangling from his lips as thin smoke rose.
There was no right or wrong in this matter. Although his 'parents' adopted him to hide their identities, they had still raised him.
The Contractor team that killed his 'parents' was already dead. So there was no so-called powerful enemy. The fact that no Contractors appeared when he killed that black warlord earlier had already proven this.
Su Xiao had always wondered. Reincarnation Paradise had provided information that talent abilities were not hereditary, and when both parents had talent abilities, the chance of their child acquiring one was even smaller.
He now understood everything about the revenge issue. The burden that had weighed on his shoulders for years gradually dissipated. He had never felt so light.
"Bubu, let's go have a big meal."
Su Xiao wasn't dejected by the truth. Instead, he felt reborn.
From now on, he was alone, living only for himself.
Or rather, his journey in Reincarnation Paradise was just beginning. From now on, he would only do what he wanted, no longer controlled by revenge.