# Chapter 9: Fleeing Under Cover of Night
Nothing is more terrifying than the sudden silence in the air, and the current situation was exactly that. Caesar pulling out the Abyssal Jar wasn't the main issue; the main problem was the Abyssal Jar's ominous phenomenon.
Wispy, dark green smoke drifted out from the jar's opening. This dark green smoke had a hint of the Abyss about it, but more than that, it carried a sense of dark cold and foreboding, as if even the slightest touch would lead to erosion and assimilation.
Inside the nest chamber, the atmosphere was quiet for a moment before being broken by the Undead Girl.
"This is?"
The Undead Girl had never seen the Abyssal Jar, but she could vaguely sense the danger of this object. That depth and heaviness, along with the overwhelming Abyssal sensation coming straight at her, made anyone who saw it change color in fear.
The Undead Girl had stayed at the Eighth Rank for a long time, deliberately accumulating resources. She had been to all kinds of dangerous worlds, and the one that left the deepest impression on her was undoubtedly the "Abyss." She even had a feeling that even at the peak of the Eighth Rank, she only had the qualification to touch the Abyss. Trying to contend with it head-on would be like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.
Compared to the Undead Girl, Su Xiao had long known the terror of Abyssal Force. What about the Silver Moon Wolf back then? In the end, it too was eroded by the Abyss, wielding a sword that went against its original will with its broken body.
After seeing the Abyssal Jar, Su Xiao's first thought was: could the impending disaster be a direct invasion of Abyssal Energy?
If that were the case, then they were doomed. Once Abyssal Energy directly flooded in, given the lifeform intensity of an Eighth Rank world, the initial stage of the Abyss invasion would definitely be an extinction-level racial annihilation, after which the world would completely turn into darkness.
Thousands, even tens of thousands of years later, when the Abyssal Energy within the world gradually thinned out or took on different characteristics based on various enhancement items, life would only then begin to revive. That would be countless years later.
Su Xiao observed the Abyssal Jar for a moment and came to a conclusion: there was a 90% or higher probability that this world would not suffer a direct invasion of Abyssal Force. The reason was that the dark green smoke floating out of the Abyssal Jar clearly already had characteristics—this was an extreme power amplified by Abyssal Energy.
If this inference was correct, then this power, closer to the Nether and the dead, would invade this world.
Although this was not good news, at least it wasn't a hopeless situation. If the descent of Abyssal Force was unsolvable from the initial stage, what was even more unsolvable was that this initial stage would last for at least several thousand years. For the entire process of the Abyss's invasion, several thousand years was indeed just the initial stage.
Having a general understanding of the source of danger, Su Xiao felt the pressure on his shoulders suddenly decrease. He was never afraid of a powerful enemy, but he was very wary of unknown dangers.
"Let's call this power Nether for now. What does it represent? A faction?"
The Undead Girl looked at the dark green smoke drifting from the Abyssal Jar, a thoughtful expression in her eyes.
"Perhaps it's not just a single faction. The Empire has implemented colonial policies for many years, oppressing over a dozen biological stars. Among them, there are inevitably factions of the mystical system. Perhaps these mystical system factions left behind hidden dangers before being destroyed. When people are in extreme despair, they will seek help from evil gods, ancient gods, or alien existences, as long as they can provide assistance."
The Priest's words made sense. The Empire had dominated for many years, and under its bloody colonial policies, the accumulated hatred was unimaginable.
It could be confirmed that this existence or faction temporarily named "Nether" was not part of this world's system; it seemed more like it was about to invade.
If there was an invasion, there would definitely be initial signs. But looking at the Empire's current behavior, there was clearly no vigilance at all. The Third Fleet was still leisurely dealing with the insect race on Pandora Star.
The Empire was a technological faction. Over the years, they had used spaceships, mechs, and orbital cannons to defeat countless mystical factions. Now, facing the initial invasion of the "Nether" faction, the Empire's attitude would maintain its long-standing contempt for the mystical side.
Actually, this was normal. In the Empire's perception, those mystical power systems were all garbage—just blast them to ashes with ship cannons and be done with it.
The Empire was clearly a frog at the bottom of a well. They should go to the World of Paintings, the Treeborn World, or the Black King World to see how terrifying a dark-aligned mystical invasion could be. It was a disaster where you couldn't even roar in anger, only accept it numbly. For that level of disaster, dying in the initial stage of its arrival was actually a form of luck.
This also meant that the survivors would use the most plain tone to tell a chilling yet magnificent history of disaster.
There were plenty of bad news, but there was also good news. After Caesar threw out his nuclear option, he directly blew the Old Yinbi Priest into the Good Teammate Priest.
Su Xiao, the Priest, and the Undead Girl were not afraid of death, but that didn't mean they wanted to die. On the contrary, they cherished their lives, but when necessary, they would bet them without hesitation.
The Priest, now transformed into a good teammate, was extremely supportive. This old fellow was preparing to take an orbital train to the Empire's home planet, Oka Star.
The so-called orbital train was a type of jumping space technology. As long as stable cable stations were established between two locations, high-speed interplanetary travel could be achieved.
The Priest's trip to Oka Star was a huge sacrifice. The world's World Force was undoubtedly concentrated on Pandora Star. If the Priest went to Oka Star, his gains would be greatly reduced.
The Empire had been rampant for so many years, and Oka Star would likely become the starting point of the "Nether" invasion. The danger of going there under these circumstances was easy to imagine.
Since the Priest had temporarily transformed into a good teammate and taken such a big risk, Su Xiao, the Undead Girl, and Caesar should naturally show some appreciation. At the very least, they should provide some sponsorship.
Around the round table, everyone was silent. The Undead Girl took out a miniature skull and placed it on the table in front of the Priest. "If you encounter an unexpected situation, throw this out. It can summon a small number of skeleton knights."
"A small number?"
The Priest was slightly hesitant about this "small number."
"Mm, about eight or nine thousand."
"Pfft, cough cough~"
Bubu Wang's juice shot out of his nostrils as he coughed uncontrollably. This "small number" was indeed "too small." The following "about eight or nine thousand" sounded wrong.
If a normal summoner heard this, they would definitely shed tears of envy.
Just as the Priest put away the miniature skull, Caesar took out a crumpled invoice. After the Priest received it, his expression showed a moment of surprise before he solemnly put the crumpled invoice away.
Su Xiao took out four glass pillars, each 20 centimeters thick and half a meter tall. Inside were semi-transparent solutions, and within the solutions were soaked Devourers. The four types of Devourers were arranged side by side.
First Generation Devourer: Black A. Advantage: all-round warrior. Disadvantage: bloodthirsty and tyrannical, difficult to control.
Second Generation Devourer: Boiling Red. Female exclusive, control type. Strongest ability: "Dark Demon Blood Shadow."
Third Generation Devourer: Dark Sun. Solar flame type, pure fire type, extreme and powerful.
Fourth Generation Devourer: Sun Envoy. Divine stick model, average combat power, especially good at fooling people.
"Choose one from four."
Su Xiao lit a cigarette and exhaled smoke.
"Can't choose all?"
The Priest looked at the four types of Devourers, quite interested in all of them.
It was no wonder the Priest was like this. On his trip to Oka Star, finding a local to cooperate with or use was the best choice. The problem was that having strength meant having background, which brought all kinds of trouble.
The Priest didn't need someone to scheme with him; he needed a hot-headed fool to constantly step on mines ahead of him.
Cultivating such a hot-headed fool was too difficult. Forcing it would come with various side effects, and the person involved would inevitably feel despair, turning into a death warrior, which would greatly reduce their efficiency in stepping on mines.
Back on Alliance Star, Su Xiao had already felt how useful the Devourers were. That was when the Devourers were still the first-generation model, Black A.
The combination of Black A and Aichi was simply wonderful—a hot-headed fool frantically stepping on mines ahead.
Now, after sensing the characteristics of the four types of Devourers, the Priest immediately realized their enormous value. This was the best choice for cultivating a mine-stepping hot-headed fool.
After being symbiotically bonded with a Devourer, the hot-headed fool would mistakenly believe they were the chosen one, the protagonist, or the harem manga hero. Within just a few days, their strength would be resonated up by the Devourer.
With such a hot-headed fool scouting ahead, the risk of the Priest's trip to Oka Star would be reduced by at least 40%. The characteristics of the Devourers were too fitting for the Priest's old yinbi methods.
If needed, the Priest could pretend to be a kind clergy member or a "guiding NPC." After all, who would suspect a kind "guiding NPC"? Who would speculate that the village chief in the newbie village was a bad person?
Among the four types of Devourers, the Priest first eliminated the "Fourth Generation Devourer: Sun Envoy." He himself was a divine stick; he didn't need to cultivate a big fool.
The First Generation Devourer was too reckless, the Second Generation had delicate thoughts. As for the Third Generation Devourer, regardless of the host's personality, it was just a flame idiot—the iron-headed baby among the Devourers. To use Black A's words, it was a stupid idiot.
The Priest pointed to the Third Generation Devourer: Dark Sun, clearly preparing to quickly cultivate a flame idiot to help him step on mines ahead.
"Are there any taboo matters with this thing?"
The Priest examined the Dark Sun inside the glass pillar, quite satisfied.
Hearing this, Su Xiao said, "Dark Sun's consciousness isn't very smart. Find it a host with a slightly better brain."
"Understood."
The Priest picked up the glass pillar and got up to leave.
Seeing this, the Undead Girl furrowed her delicate brows. She lightly kicked Su Xiao's leg under the table, leaned in, and whispered, "Bai Ye, this old fellow won't take the money and run, will he?"
"What do you mean?"
"The day before yesterday, he almost took my deposit and ran. I'm telling you, this old fellow can do that. The old thing is very bad."
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak. Based on his understanding of the Priest, the other party could indeed do such a thing.
"I'm leaving. You work hard on your development here. I've made some progress in contacting the Empire."
Leaving these words, the Undead Girl put on her large hat and left. Regarding this, Baha had specifically asked why the Undead Girl wore such a big hat. Her answer was a bit funny: this type of oversized witch hat, she had been wearing since the First Rank, to prevent being headshot by snipers.
Please don't laugh. A First Rank gunner facing someone wearing such a big hat would indeed have difficulty locking on.
After reaching higher ranks, the Undead Girl had gotten used to wearing it. Not wearing this kind of hat always felt like something was missing. In her own words, it was like going out without wearing underwear—not reassuring.
After seeing that the outsiders had left, Caesar's treacherous smile faded a bit, and he said with rare seriousness:
"My dear friend, this situation is more dangerous than we imagined. The previous few times, we only came into contact with Abyssal remnants. This time, we're too close to Abyssal Force. This is not something an Eighth Rank should encounter."
"Abyssal remnants?"
Baha asked what the others also wanted to know.
"Yes, remnants. For example, the dangerous objects on Alliance Star, the Abyssal Eldest Daughter of the Treeborn World, the Elf race mutation—these are all remnants..."
Caesar's explanation was that contact with the Abyss was divided into three levels, from strong to weak: Direct Encounter, Invasion, Remnant.
The Remnant level referred to a world that had been invaded by Abyssal Force, after which the Abyssal Energy fused with the world, resulting in mutated Abyssal Force, or second-generation Abyssal Force.
Second-generation Abyssal Force then affected the lifeforms or existences within the world. This was called Abyssal Remnant.
Things like the dangerous object S-001 on Alliance Star, the Death Grail, the Abyssal Eldest Daughter of the Treeborn World, the Four-Life Evil Ghost, the Sludge People—these were all "Abyssal Remnants."
Above the "Remnant level" was the "Invasion level," which referred to a species directly invaded by Abyssal Force, undergoing mutation or transformation.
As for the most dangerous "Direct Encounter level," that was directly confronting the Abyss.
Within the Eighth Rank, no matter who, once they encountered a "Direct Encounter level" Abyssal event, they would die for sure. Even just being affected would be a certain death situation.
As for encountering the second-tier "Invasion level," Caesar analyzed that what they were about to experience should be it. The Nether faction was a terrifying faction that had experienced the initial state of Abyssal Force erosion and survived.
The third-tier "Remnant level" was already life-threatening. Now, the higher-level "Invasion level" was clearly not something an Eighth Rank should encounter. This was forcibly stacked up.
"How much preparation time do we have?"
Su Xiao frowned as he spoke. This was his most concerned issue.
Caesar examined the Abyssal Jar for a moment, thought about it, and said, "There should be about 10 days left. Although the Nether is powerful, it will take some time to invade from an external world."
"10 days."
Su Xiao muttered softly, his elbows resting on the table, fingers interlaced, his mind pondering subsequent countermeasures.
Simply mining was absolutely not feasible. Borrowing a high-interest loan from the Spider Queen, getting 100,000 to 150,000 units of Life Ore, would at most quench their thirst. After the Mother Nest advanced to the Eighth Rank, the resources needed were staggering.
Even without development, just the bio-energy needed for Jila to advance from Mother Queen level to Dominator level reached a terrifying 8.7 million points, which was 850,000 units of Life Ore.
Don't think this was a lot. If Su Xiao hadn't let Jila swallow the Abyssal Stone and absorb a large amount of Primordial Demon Energy, Jila wanting to advance to Dominator level wouldn't be possible just by having bio-energy.
Look at the Crimson Queen. She had been stuck at Mother Queen level for many years, and even today, she hadn't been able to advance to Dominator level. As for the level above Dominator, that was a theoretical level. This world had never seen an insect race mother body at that level.
Su Xiao didn't need Jila to advance to the peak of this world's insect race. He needed her to advance to Dominator level within ten days. Only then would it be possible to withstand the first wave of the "Nether faction's" attack.
There was a problem: if they only accumulated bio-energy for Jila's rank advancement, the combat insect race wouldn't develop. The defense of their Mother Nest, as well as the deterrence and attack against external forces, would all be without guarantee.
Therefore, in addition to the 870,000 units of Life Ore needed for advancement, they also needed to obtain the bio-energy required to develop Elite Demon Beasts and Demon Flame Dragons.
Relying only on mining, with a daily output of 18,000 units of Life Ore, was already the limit. Su Xiao looked at Caesar across from him. This guy often entered worlds with the initial identity of a quartermaster. Was it the same this time?
"Caesar, what's your initial identity this time?"
Hearing Su Xiao's words, Caesar across from him smiled and rubbed his hands.
Seeing this, Baha tentatively asked, "Are you the Empire's quartermaster now?"
Caesar extended his index finger and shook it left and right. "I work at the company, currently serving as the logistics department manager. I was just promoted yesterday."
As he spoke, Caesar's smile revealed a hint of sleaziness. It could only be said that the company faction must have lost its mind to promote Caesar to logistics department manager.
"But my dear friend, the method we used before doesn't seem to work this time. The internal situation of the company faction is extremely chaotic, everyone biting each other. If I loosen my grip a bit, a group of people will immediately bite me. It's hard for me too."
Caesar had a look of regret, as if he were truly at his wit's end. His eyes shifty, he swept around a few times before he suddenly said:
"However, recently the company has several batches of special-grade metals and Life Ore to transport. I happen to know the route. Pandora Star is a very dangerous place. If they get robbed on the way, tsk tsk~"
Caesar had a look of pity, clicking his tongue and slowly shaking his head.
From Caesar's introduction, Su Xiao learned that the company's special-grade metal technology was something the Empire had coveted for a long time. It was also because of this technology that the company had been able to develop under the Empire's suppression.
It was said that part of the special-grade metal to be transported this time was superconductor. This thing was produced from the companion product of Life Ore. Now, only Pandora Star produced it, and the Empire urgently needed this superconductor.
Caesar's implication was already very clear. As the company's logistics department manager, he could steal the company's next transport route.
Then Su Xiao's side would make a move and intercept this batch of supplies. With the route map and precise time intelligence, the success rate was extremely high.
Note, the shady operation came next. After Su Xiao's side succeeded, Caesar would act as a mysterious person, separately contacting the Empire faction, the company faction, and the Crimson Queen.
At that time, Caesar would sell this batch of goods to the Empire, the company, and the Crimson Queen simultaneously.
These three parties: the Empire needed these supplies, the company was the victim, and the Crimson Queen didn't want the Empire to get these supplies. Therefore, all three would buy.
After this, the even more shady operation came. Caesar would set up an online platform, inviting the Empire, the company, and the Crimson Queen to conduct an online auction of these supplies.
Such behavior would definitely make the Empire and the company's anger rise sharply. This was exactly what Caesar wanted to see. At that point, he would shift the blame to Cain's Spirit Hall, making this large adventure group take the fall.
As for why he chose Cain, in Caesar's words, "His name is so similar to mine. People might think we're relatives. Since we're relatives, we should share the hardships."
If Cain knew about this, he would definitely say politely and casually, "I TM thank you."
After shifting the blame to Cain, the real operation would begin. When the company turned its attention to this matter, Su Xiao and Caesar would repeat the trick, go to the company to "restock," and then flee under cover of night.
By the time the company faction reacted, Su Xiao's side would have already developed. If they weren't satisfied, they could come and fight. Then the company faction could only gnash their teeth in hatred and accept it.
Su Xiao had no objection to this plan. As for the profit split, it would be temporarily invested in the Mother Nest's development. They would discuss the profit split after surviving this time. If they died from the "Nether faction's" invasion, getting more profit would be meaningless. Only when they were qualified to withstand the "Nether faction's" invasion would be the time to rake in gold.
"It's a deal."
Caesar got up and left, going back to the company to plan this matter. It could only be said that this time, heaven truly had no way to block them. If it weren't for the company's current goods transport, things would really be hard to handle.
As for how to intercept this batch of goods, going in recklessly wouldn't work. It wasn't a question of whether they could kill the transport team. This escort involved Empire soldiers. The Empire's style was extreme. Every time they transported important supplies, they would plant explosives inside the goods. Once the important supplies were about to be intercepted, even if they had to blow them up, they wouldn't let the enemy have them.
Therefore, for this goods interception operation, Su Xiao planned to use the [Primordial Mask]'s disguise to complete a quick target elimination, to prevent the goods from being blown up.
Su Xiao checked the Mother Nest's data. 340,000 worker scorpions had been mining all morning, only allowing the Mother Nest to obtain 28,334 points of bio-energy, far from the 8.7 million needed.
He checked the time. The visitor from the Spider Queen should be arriving soon. This visitor's visit was the key to whether they could borrow a high-interest loan from the Spider Queen.
Su Xiao had Jila reduce the number of worker scorpions. One by one, the worker scorpions went to the fungal carpet and were decomposed by it.
A total of 300,000 worker scorpions and over 10,000 ordinary Demon Beasts were all converted into bio-energy. The Mother Nest's reserve bio-energy became 256,986 points.
Su Xiao used the existing bio-energy to cultivate Elite Demon Beasts and Demon Flame Dragons. It was already time. For Jila to advance to Mother Queen level, they had to externally display their combat power. Demon Flame Dragons were the best way.
With the command to cultivate Demon Flame Dragons issued, an egg nearly two meters in diameter detached from the hatching tissue and was transported to the cultivation sac.
After a moment, a crack appeared on the Mother Nest. A scaleless, rough-skinned dragon wing poked out, followed by a massive black shadow flying up with wind pressure.
The Demon Flame Dragon flying in the sky was entirely black, with irregular granular protrusions on its dragon skin. Beneath the rough dragon skin were magma-like veins like blood vessels. The area below its neck was entirely magma-colored.
When the Demon Flame Dragon spread its wings, the wingspan reached about 40 meters. In its vertical pupils, it was as if infernal fire was burning.
Burning, thick smoke, tough skin, a body hard to injure—these were the first impressions the Demon Flame Dragon gave.
"Roar!"
The Demon Flame Dragon roared in the sky, followed by two more Demon Flame Dragons flying up. These big guys, costing 4,000 bio-energy to cultivate each, had quite the presence.
When the bio-energy was only 136 points left, there were a total of 4,097 Elite Demon Beasts and 10 Demon Flame Dragons on the fungal carpet in front of the Mother Nest.
Compared to ordinary Demon Beasts, the Elite Demon Beasts had increased in size, and their comprehensive combat power had soared by a notch, directly rising from a top-tier Seventh Rank combat unit to an upper-middle Eighth Rank unit. If Jila could advance to Dominator level, the Demon Beasts would transform with the insect nest, definitely rising to top-tier Eighth Rank combat units.
Now, although the number of combat insect race seemed to have decreased by more than half, the overall combat power had not decreased but increased. It must be noted that this was still without the War Lord being fully triggered.
The Spider Queen was about to send an envoy. If the envoy felt their side was too strong, the Spider Queen would definitely be unwilling to lend a high-interest loan anymore. She would also worry about not being able to recover the loan.
Conversely, if the other party felt the Jila group was too weak, they would directly turn hostile.
The scale was important. Su Xiao felt that the current scale was just right. He had all the mantis armor start building large "underground nests" for the Demon Flame Dragons to inhabit. The best scenario would be for the Demon Flame Dragons not to be directly revealed, only letting the visitor perceive them, thus becoming cautious.
Su Xiao didn't have to wait long. The visitor arrived. Su Xiao put away the Greed Chapter. Recently, dealing with the Dark Crow had been quite addictive. The Dark Crow's split blood-sucking style was indeed hard to deal with.
Contrary to Su Xiao's guess, the Spider Queen didn't send an envoy but came in person. To be precise, the Spider Queen had used a spiritual avatar to cultivate a second body. What came now was this body close to a real avatar.
"Don't you welcome me?"
The Spider Queen spoke. Her overall image was not a human body with a spider abdomen but a completely human appearance. The reason was that the Spider Queen's original intention in cultivating this body was to use it to infiltrate the Empire's camp. However, she had suffered a backstab.
Seeing the Spider Queen arrive, Baha put on a warm attitude and said, "Of course we welcome you. Queen, this way please."
"Queen? I don't like that title."
The Spider Queen, combining characteristics of charm and femme fatale, spoke. Just hearing her voice was irresistible. This was clearly the Spider Queen's charm-type ability.
"Yes, yes. Then we won't call you Queen. From now on, we'll just call you Queen?"
"You..."
The Spider Queen felt something was wrong but couldn't figure it out at the moment.
The prospective creditor came to inspect, and Baha greeted the other party right from the start. With its eloquence, it would be a miracle if they could borrow a high-interest loan.
"Please come in."
Su Xiao made a "please" gesture and then walked toward the Mother Nest with Bubu Wang, Baha, and Amu. This made the Spider Queen pause. Logically, she was the guest; shouldn't she go first?
Clearly, Su Xiao did this intentionally. It was time to show their acting skills.
After taking a few steps, Amu stopped, turned to look at the Spider Queen, as if asking, "Why aren't you coming in? What are you looking at?"
"?"
Faced with Su Xiao's team's enthusiasm, the Spider Queen's expression froze. But she calmed herself down internally. She was here to lend a high-interest loan. She needed to stay steady and not scare these people.
In a strange atmosphere, the group arrived at the previous nest chamber and sat down. The Spider Queen looked around, skeptical of Jila's aesthetic judgment. This place didn't have the beauty of an insect race.
Actually, this was because the Spider Queen had never been to Jila's bedroom. Everything there had insect race beauty bursting.
"Regarding your troubles, I've seen them. Indeed, your side has advanced to Mother Queen level and needs a large amount of resources to get through the initial stage. But the risk of lending 100,000 Life Ore..."
"Madam, it's 150,000."
Baha smiled and reminded, his attitude very humble. It could only be said that the acting was quite good.
In fact, both sides were acting. The Spider Queen was afraid that Su Xiao's side would be scared by her reputation and dare not borrow the high-interest loan at the last moment.
Su Xiao's side was worried that the Spider Queen would discover their troop production ability and dare not lend the high-interest loan.
This created a situation where both were acting. One wanted to lend, the other wanted to borrow, but neither could say it directly.
"Impossible. Do you know how much 150,000 units of Life Ore is?"
The Spider Queen's attitude was firm.
"Since that's the case, our negotiations can only end here."
Su Xiao changed his previous attitude, becoming forceful.
"Oh?"
The Spider Queen smiled charmingly, not caring about Su Xiao's sudden forcefulness. In her view, she was going to harvest this leek, and no one could stop her.
"When we contacted your side, we also contacted the company. The results were quite good."
Baha also changed his attitude, as if further negotiation with the Spider Queen was unnecessary.
Hearing this, the Spider Queen frowned. Her impression of the company was extremely bad. She had clearly had her business snatched before. Lending high-interest loans was too fitting for the company's temperament.
Seeing the negotiation gradually going off track, the Spider Queen asked, "You trust the company? You trust those company dogs who are willing to submit to the invaders?"
"Woof!"
Bubu Wang barked, his eyes clearly saying, "Who are you calling? Say that again!"
"Compared to you, Madam, the company seems to have more sincerity."
Baha took out a document, which was the company's contract. Seeing this, the Spider Queen instinctively thought it was forged. But after taking it and examining it, she found it was real. There was even contract force on it.
More importantly, the company had indicated in the contract that they were willing to lend 200,000 units of Life Ore to Su Xiao, with interest only half of the Spider Queen's.
Seeing this contract, the Spider Queen was furious inside. Since the Empire and the company came to this planet, the world had declined. Even lending high-interest loans had competition.
Seeing the Spider Queen's expression, Baha almost laughed out loud. What the hell, one high-interest lender accusing another of not following industry rules.
"Since the company has given such generous conditions, what's the point of this meeting? Can I take it that you're playing me?"
The Spider Queen narrowed her eyes, her aura becoming dangerous, like a venomous spider about to pounce on its prey.
The Spider Queen was about to go directly tough. In her view, this large mineral vein was already her private property and she wouldn't let the company have it.
"Madam, don't misunderstand. We invited you here because we actually want to cooperate with you more. How bad the company's reputation is, everyone here knows. On the other hand, Madam, your reputation is still trustworthy."
Baha gave a string of flattery, instantly easing the atmosphere.
"Not bad."
The Spider Queen's expression was normal, but inside, she felt a rare pang of shame. These people seemed quite nice. Deceiving them made her conscience, for the first time in a long time, ache a little.
"Alright, 150,000 Life Ore, delivered tonight."
As she spoke, the Spider Queen extended her fair, slender hand to Su Xiao and said, "This is your human race's etiquette."
Seeing this, Su Xiao hesitated for a moment but ultimately chose to shake hands with the Spider Queen. During the physical contact, it was harder to restrain his aura.
"Hmm?"
The Spider Queen looked around, a puzzled expression on her face. She suddenly felt a chill coming, but it was fleeting.
"Wishing our cooperation smooth."
Baha spoke. Hearing this, the Spider Queen smiled and nodded.
"The situation has been chaotic recently. A divine existence has descended in the nearby ancient ruins."
The Spider Queen spoke casually.
"A divine system existence? What god? A neutral god or a friendly god?"
Baha's tone rose slightly. At this critical juncture, they couldn't have any more external forces causing trouble.
"It seems... an evil god? Mm, yes, an evil god."
The Spider Queen took a sip of black tea, clearly having no intuitive concept of what an evil god was. Since she had never left this world, her knowledge in this area was limited, which was understandable.
After chatting for a while longer, the Spider Queen, escorted by a team of elite combat insect race, left their territory.
After the Spider Queen left, Su Xiao, Baha, and Amu no longer restrained their auras. With their auras alone, if the Spider Queen had come, she would have immediately felt that this wasn't a group of good people. To be safe, she would have chosen not to do business.
Just as Su Xiao's side relaxed, Jila in the adjacent nest chamber was already pale, almost fainting directly. Just now, Su Xiao, Amu, and Baha had been able to completely restrain their auras without being detected by the Spider Queen precisely because of Jila's mental shielding.
"Let's go."
After confirming that Jila was fine, Su Xiao took Bubu Wang, Baha, and Amu, and jumped onto the back of a Demon Flame Dragon.
He needed to immediately go to the ruins where the evil god had descended and kill that evil god. It was no longer a question of whether there was enmity. Once this evil god started causing trouble, subsequent development would become extremely difficult. They had to hunt this evil god before it started causing trouble.
To hunt a god, they definitely had to bring Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha. When it came to hunting gods, the three of them, along with Su Xiao, were professionals.
"Roar!"
The Demon Flame Dragon roared, flying high in the sky. Su Xiao stood on the dragon's back, the wind whistling past his ears, the scenery below in full view.
After the Demon Flame Dragon flew at full speed for over half an hour, a large area of ruins appeared below. Su Xiao controlled the Demon Flame Dragon to dive down, landing in front of an ancient hall in the ruins. The dragon claws smashed stones, sending fragments flying.
Just as they arrived, Su Xiao frowned deeply. He did indeed perceive the evil god's aura, but it was too faint.
Zheng~
The long blade was drawn. Su Xiao jumped down from the dragon's back and walked openly through the main entrance of the ancient hall. As soon as he entered the ancient hall, he saw the corpses of supernatural animals on the ground. These few supernatural animals were at least Lord level in strength, and one gorilla was even an Eighth Rank Overlord-level creature.
These supernatural animals had all died miserably, their blood and life force drained. Su Xiao continued walking forward. On the ground further inside the ancient hall, he saw a formation diagram nearly 20 meters in diameter.
This formation diagram was outlined with blood. In addition, there were many empty Soul Stone shells embedded in the ground.
After observing for a moment, Su Xiao determined the purpose of this formation diagram. It was a technique from ritual studies, used for cross-world teleportation, with a considerable cost.
All of this represented one thing: the Eighth Rank evil god had descended a few days ago, and then last night, it had set up this formation diagram and left this world to go harm other worlds.
Could this mean that this world had become so dangerous that even an Eighth Rank evil god was unwilling to stay here for long and had fled under cover of night?