Chapter 2: While Wielding This Weapon, Lose 5% of Max Health Per Second, and Must Be Equipped for at Least 30 Seconds Before It Can Be Unequipped. During This Time, Health Cannot Be Restored by Any Other Means.
The company's three ace employees were not easy to deal with, and they had to be killed in a short time. In other words, these three ace employees were the three strongest individuals in the company.
The moment Su Xiao removed the Primordial Mask, the Dark Blade had already appeared in his hand. The next instant, this weapon, which emitted black smoke, pierced into the ear of one of the company's ace employees and emerged from above the temple on the opposite side.
This ace employee, named Jerij, had a look of immense terror flash across his face in an instant, his eyes turning pitch black.
The short knife stabbed and then withdrew, dragging a trail of blood beads into the air.
'Blade Path Sword: Time!'
Thump~
A shockwave spread out. Su Xiao lunged forward, ducking to avoid a sideways punch from the ace employee in front of him, and thrust the Dark Blade upward.
Pfft~
The tip of the blade emerged from the top of the ace employee's skull for a moment. His face showed nothing but disbelief, as if he had never imagined he would die so simply and suddenly.
As the second ace employee fell, Su Xiao had already arrived in front of the third, an ace employee named Kro. At this moment, Kro was utterly terrified.
He certainly knew the strength of his two colleagues. If the company's benefits weren't so generous, the three of them wouldn't have even looked at the company.
But now, with his two colleagues dying so suddenly, Kro suddenly recalled the fear he had felt when he was weak. He shouted quickly, "I'm not the company's—"
Kro was truly afraid. The dignity of a strong man had long been thrown into the gutter. It was no wonder he acted this way; even Rhine God, the Imperial Hand, had a slight change in expression.
Within the domain of Time, Ace Employee Kro's speed was greatly reduced. Su Xiao delivered a powerful straight kick, not seeking destruction, but speed and penetrating force.
Bang!
Ace Employee Kro was kicked off balance. Just as he was about to fall to one knee, weak all over, Su Xiao's Dark Blade stabbed in from the side of his jaw.
Ace Employee Kro even felt the cold blade pierce his tongue, straight into his brain. Then, his vision went black, and he knew nothing more.
Su Xiao withdrew the Dark Blade from the enemy's head. With three thuds, the three ace employees fell to the ground one after another.
[You have killed Ace Employee Jerij.]
[You have killed Ace Employee Mo Fahu.]
[You have killed Ace Employee Kro.]
[You have killed the company's three ace employees in a row. You have obtained 18.7% World Source.]
[You have obtained 2829 Soul Coins.]
[You have obtained Immortal Chest: Greed's Thought.]
...
From the kill rewards, it was clear that the three ace employees were not weak. Their strength was likely on par with the Four-Life Evil Ghosts. Yet, in an instant, they were all killed by Su Xiao. This was the power of Abyss-attribute equipment.
"Kain, you go to the cargo hold. Leave this to me."
Su Xiao spoke in a deep voice. Kain, who had been stunned by the triple kill, heard this and his cheek twitched violently.
The Charm-type black silk mature lady beside Kain was even more terrified. She had a god of death in front of her and the Imperial Hand, Rhine God, behind her. This positioning was a death sentence.
"You're full of shit! God, let's join forces and take him down!"
Kain's vice-captain, Aaron, shouted, trying his best to deflect the blame being thrown his way.
A spatial fluctuation suddenly appeared beside Aaron. He stomped the ground, causing the entire spaceship to tremble. Su Xiao, who had attacked with Dragon Shadow Flash, was knocked back by the shockwave.
"Pfft! I'm a tank! And you guys are the idiots!"
Aaron grinned as he said this, but suddenly, his vision blurred, his body felt weak, and a slightly stinging numbness came from his neck. He reached up and touched the hilt of a short knife embedded in his neck.
For an Eighth Rank main tank, being stabbed through the neck was at most a serious injury. But a chill rose in Aaron's heart. This strike had not only dealt True Damage but also high Soul Damage. Stabbing into such a vital area as the neck had dropped his health by a significant chunk.
"Just a flesh wound..."
Thud.
Aaron collapsed to the ground, his eyes turning pitch black as he died. Kain, who was surrounded by surging demonic energy, was stunned for a moment. He lightly kicked Aaron and said, "Aaron, stop playing around. Get up!"
After two light kicks, Kain realized something was wrong. He had actually sensed it, but he just couldn't believe it. An Eighth Rank top-tier tank, killed in one hit? Even a joke wouldn't be this ridiculous.
"Kain, are you going to betray me?"
Su Xiao raised his hand. The short knife stuck in Aaron's neck withdrew on its own and flew back into his hand.
Kain shielded the black silk mature lady beside him with one hand. There were often rumors in the group that the two of them were having an affair, but that wasn't the case. Kain took care of every member of his group. This was the responsibility that came with enjoying the rights of a Tuanzhang (Regiment Leader).
Kain quickly assessed the situation. The Imperial Hand, Rhine God, behind him was indeed strong. However, because this transport involved the marriage of two families and more political stances, Rhine God's future father-in-law and future wife were both part of this transport team.
Kain was certain that Rhine God's primary concern was not to join him in fighting the enemy, but to protect his future father-in-law and his beloved wife.
On the other side, Su Xiao, holding the Dark Blade, was like a reaper of death, so overwhelmingly strong that it defied logic. He even made Kain question his own existence. He had heard that the Zhan Shou (Beheader) was strong at night, but that was at most Super Eighth Rank. Now, this guy was killing an Eighth Rank top-tier tank like it was nothing. How was this Super Eighth Rank?
In reality, Kain was mistaken. Su Xiao's unreasonable attack power was mainly due to the Dark Blade in his hand. This assassination weapon, forged from the Abyss Six-Piece Set, had formidable offensive capabilities. In a frontal battle, this weapon was inferior to Dragon-Slaying Flash. The sheer consumption of health alone made it unsuitable as a primary weapon.
Kain also realized another point. With such an incident occurring, someone would have to take the blame. Could the Imperial Hand take the blame? That was simply unimaginable.
So, in Kain's view, this situation was unavoidable. He realized that he hadn't been set up to take the blame; he had unknowingly become part of the setup.
"Damn it!"
After displaying his elegant and refined nature, Kain grabbed his subordinate and crashed through the spaceship's hull, retreating.
Only four people remained in the front cabin. Su Xiao put away the Dark Blade and drew the Dragon-Slashing Flash from his waist.
It had to be said, this world, which could be super-doubled three times and then hit with a royal flush by Kaisa, had a rank ceiling that was definitely not just Eighth Rank. For example, the Imperial Hand, Rhine God, across from him, gave Su Xiao a sense of threat.
Su Xiao and Rhine God disappeared from their spots simultaneously. When they reappeared, they were less than two meters apart.
Clang!
The long blade clashed with the iron fist, sparks flying. A shockwave spread, causing sparks to fly from the surrounding cabin walls. All the lights in the cabin exploded, the glass in the portholes shattered, and a strong wind blew in.
Su Xiao didn't think he had reached the pinnacle of Eighth Rank. The gap between Eighth Rank and Ninth Rank was larger than expected. The physical missionary, Anderson, whom he had encountered in the Treeborn World, was at a similar level to Su Xiao's current strength.
Now, Su Xiao had encountered another similar individual, named Rhine God.
With a bang, the airwave expanded. Su Xiao pushed the blade forward, forcing Rhine God back. This guy across from him was a strength and speed type with ridiculously strong combat experience. His pair of black alloy arms could even hold their own against Dragon-Slashing Flash. It seemed the Empire had invested heavily to forge them for Rhine God.
Rip~
The already tattered leather gloves on Rhine God's hands shattered. He unbuttoned the top two buttons of his military uniform, and the look in his eyes changed. It had been a long, long time since he had met an opponent. The strong enemy he had encountered now required him to stake his life to fight. This feeling of his blood beginning to boil was something he had long missed.
"God."
A weak voice came from behind Rhine God. Hearing this, Rhine God stomped the ground. The cabin area where his fiancée and future father-in-law were located broke away and fell, accompanied by his future father-in-law's exclamation.
"See you later."
Rhine God turned and leaped off the spaceship. With two sonic booms, he was already holding his beloved wife in one arm, while his future father-in-law was dangling from his other hand.
Baha flew out of the cargo hold. As soon as the door opened, the smell of blood wafted out. On the open ground near the front of the cargo hold lay the bodies of Imperial soldiers.
Whether it was Bubu, Baha, Amu, or Beini, their combat power or their respective areas of expertise were gradually growing. This was due to the potential activation authority Su Xiao had obtained a long time ago. Simply put, the higher Su Xiao's comprehensive evaluation at the end of each world, the stronger the potential activation Bubu, Amu, Baha, and Beini received in the Attribute Enhancement Hall.
"Boss, according to the cargo list provided by Kaisa, there are 150 kilograms of C5N2 superconductors and 27,000 kilograms of Living Ore."
If Living Ore was calculated by the kilogram, then 1 kilogram = 10 units = 100 points of Bio Energy. Converting 27,000 kilograms of Living Ore resulted in 2.7 million points of Bio Energy.
As expected of the company. A single shipment of Living Ore was this massive. This quantity of Living Ore confirmed one thing for Su Xiao: the mining capacity of the Insect Race faction was completely incomparable to the company's.
The transport spaceship was on full autopilot, meaning Bubu Wang was controlling it. Su Xiao was about to contact Bubu Wang when he felt something lightly bump his leg. Then, Bubu Wang appeared in his line of sight.
"Go to the predetermined location and drop it."
"Woof."
Bubu Wang barked and began to quickly bite down. Please don't laugh. It wasn't biting air. This was a special input device made for Bubu by the Bana Dwarf Clan. Dog paws were inconvenient for operating keyboards or control panels. Considering Bubu Wang's top-tier home-wrecking abilities, his Bana Dwarf friends had made him this set of equipment that looked like a mouthguard but was actually an input device.
Su Xiao activated his Law Destruction talent, Shadow Hunt. The next moment, the nearby Primordial Energy, which was about to dissipate, surged toward him and was absorbed by his Devouring Core.
A list of skills appeared in Su Xiao's vision. His Shadow Hunt ability was simple and brutal: after killing an enemy, he could seize their ability, then use the Devouring Core to devour that ability, converting it into Soul Energy, which was stored for upgrading Azure Steel Shadow and Azure Shadow King.
Su Xiao chose the ability [Physique Enhancement Lv.70] from one of the ace employees and devoured it with the Devouring Core. He had discovered that devouring abilities that enhanced the physique yielded more Soul Energy. He had made the wrong choice after killing Huishenshi before.
Soon, the Primordial Energy absorbed by the Devouring Core was converted into Soul Energy and stored. The Soul Energy reserve reached 337%, enough to upgrade Azure Steel Shadow by 3 levels or Azure Shadow King by 1 level.
After the transport spaceship flew overloaded for ten minutes, Su Xiao had Bubu Wang unload the cargo. They opened the cargo hold at high altitude and dropped the supplies below.
Watching the metal cargo containers being dropped, which soon opened parachutes of various sizes, Su Xiao took a bundle of bombs handed to him by Baha, pulled the pin, and threw it into the rear of the spaceship. Then, he leaped out from the front opening.
Boom!
The explosion came from behind. Su Xiao hadn't fallen far before a Demon Flame Dragon flew over and carried him on its back.
In the dense forest below, the alloy cargo containers had just landed when they were swallowed by Spore Tanks. By the time the transport spaceship crashed to the ground with a deafening explosion, the Spore Tanks and Demon Beasts had already withdrawn.
...
Three hours later, at the control center responsible for interfacing with this "M7 Heavy Transport Spaceship" in New Star City, the workers wearing headphones were silent. On the screen in front of them was a series of dog heads with various expressions, but no one dared to laugh.
General Sanderson, who had arrived after receiving the news, looked calmly at the big screen, completely ignoring the sweating company personnel beside him. He said, "So this is the company's security measure? Good. Very good."
Leaving these words, General Sanderson took his secretary and left the control center. Returning to the office cabin of the main ship, he entered to find Rhine God, who still smelled of gunpowder, standing up.
"Sit."
General Sanderson, with his short, grizzled hair, raised his hand. Rhine God was someone he had trained personally. From their shared surname and similar names, it was clear the two were related.
"Tell me, why did you fail this time? Because of your precious fiancée?"
"Hmm."
Rhine God nodded directly in acknowledgment. Failure was failure. No matter what excuse was used to explain it, it was still failure.
"Who was our opponent this time?"
General Sanderson lit a cigarette and then tossed the cigarette pack and lighter to his nephew across from him.
Rhine God picked up the metal lighter, flicked it on with a click, and said with burning eyes, "This time, our opponent is the Empire's third-class heavy criminal, Kukulin Bai Ye."
...
At 6 PM that evening, in front of the Base Camp Mother Nest.
Su Xiao watched as the last alloy container of Living Ore was poured into the fissure of the Mother Nest, then converted into Bio Energy. This brought the Bio Energy reserve in their Mother Nest to 2.74 million points.
In addition to this large amount of Bio Energy, the high-interest loan promised by the Spider Empress was also on its way. Calculating the time, it would definitely arrive before 7 PM tonight.
With that, the Bio Energy reserve in the Mother Nest would reach 4.24 million points. If used to cultivate elite Demon Beasts, it could cultivate 84,800 of them. If used to cultivate Demon Flame Dragons, it could cultivate 1,060 of them.
Considering that the goal this time was to attack the main peace faction, Gai, and seize resources... ahem, no, it was to avenge the Spider Empress.
Gai's nest was an Eighth Rank nest, surrounded by various types of Insect Race defense towers or other defensive structures. In that case, cultivating a large number of Demon Beasts for the attack seemed like a better choice. Demon Flame Dragons were too large a target.
However, when it came to breaking through defenses, 84,800 melee-only Demon Beasts were inferior to flying units like Demon Flame Dragons, which could spew Dragonflame.
An idea formed in Su Xiao's mind: could he upgrade the Demon Flame Dragons to elite units?
Don't forget, Su Xiao's war titles were not limited to [War Lord]. He also had [Sun Lord], which affected elite units. This title had been embedded in the Sun Ring, absorbing faith power. All this time, the faith power of the Sun continuously output from Serl World and Treeborn World had been absorbed by this title.
It was impossible to upgrade this title to eight stars, but Su Xiao estimated that the title had likely been upgraded to seven stars.
Su Xiao's idea was: could he use [Sun Lord] to enhance the Demon Flame Dragons, turning them into Sun Flame Dragons? If he had 1,060 Sun Flame Dragons, crushing Gai's nest would be a piece of cake. Just imagine Sun Dragonflame.
Although this idea was a bit devilish, it lingered in Su Xiao's mind. He walked into the nest, took out the Sun Ring and the [Sun Lord] title, along with the recently acquired Overlord-level equipment [Collector], and began testing whether the concept could be realized.
Just then, Baha flew into the nest and said, "Boss, the Spider Empress has arrived with her Insect Race subordinates."
"Mm, go invite her in."
"Got it."
Baha adjusted his mood, found the feeling of welcoming a creditor, and flew out.
A short while later, in the nest chamber redesigned and constructed by Jila, the bioluminescent lights illuminated the place brightly. The Spider Empress took a sip of black tea, a beverage she greatly enjoyed.
"Lord Bai Ye, don't forget the repayment in one week. You should know that after receiving, you must also give."
The Spider Empress put away the debt contract. This IOU, bound by contract power, was the reason for her confidence.
The Spider Empress gradually showed her fangs. This was also why she was willing to lend out 150,000 units of Living Ore. She wanted to keep collecting interest from Su Xiao until she had drained this large mine of his.
"No problem."
Su Xiao answered very simply. He had no intention of repaying, so of course, he was straightforward.
"I heard your previous plan to infiltrate the Empire didn't go smoothly?"
Hearing this, the Spider Empress across from him stiffened. Bringing this up was like rubbing salt in her wounds.
"I've received some secret intelligence about who betrayed you."
"Who."
The Spider Empress's eyes were full of killing intent. In reality, she didn't take Su Xiao's words too seriously.
"It's Gai of the main peace faction."
"Her? Hahaha, Lord Bai Ye, it's not that I look down on Gai, but she doesn't have the guts."
The Spider Empress chuckled lightly, as if she had heard something absurd.
"My intelligence is quite accurate. Don't worry, I'll handle it appropriately. You lending me this money is a great favor. I will repay it."
Su Xiao would, of course, repay this 'favor.' At the latest, by tomorrow morning, he would set out to attack Gai of the main peace faction, under the pretext of avenging the Spider Empress.
The Spider Empress was stunned. She couldn't quite figure it out. Had this guy still not realized that she had lent him a high-interest loan?
"Alright, I'll wait for you to repay this favor."
The Spider Empress smiled meaningfully. If there were a chance to redo things in this world, the Spider Empress would soon take back these words.
"It's a deal."
Su Xiao showed a smile, a kind smile. Somehow, the Spider Empress across from him suddenly felt a chill in her heart.