Chapter 17: Void Tree Reputation
Through the undead girl's narration, Su Xiao learned the general content of her battle with Kara, summarized in one sentence: "The story of the undead legion giving Kara a pedicure."
The undead girl summoned hundreds of thousands of skeleton minions, preparing to execute a classic skeleton sea push strategy.
Unfortunately, when the number of enemies exceeded 50,000, Kara triggered the "External Armor Defense Rank +4" enhancement effect.
This enhancement wasn't simply about increasing defense points; it raised the defense rank, causing a multiplicative surge in defense power.
In layman's terms, once Kara triggered the "External Armor Defense Rank +4" effect, basically no Eighth Rank attacks could break through her defense. This wasn't a game where you could chip away at damage bit by bit; if you couldn't penetrate the defense, you essentially dealt no damage.
Therefore, the undead girl's skeleton army wasn't giving Kara a scraping massage—which at least would hurt—but rather giving Kara a pedicure, neatly trimming off the peeling carapace on her armored feet.
The undead girl sat to the side, one hand covering her face, with an expression that said, "Bai Ye, please don't spread this around."
"Don't worry, we definitely won't tell."
Baha spoke up. Hearing this, the undead girl's face darkened. Last time her friend said the same thing, and the next day, the incident had spread throughout the undead circle.
"Definitely won't spread it. If I do, may I die a horrible death!"
Baha raised one wing, making a vow-like gesture, which restored the undead girl's gaze to normal.
"You mentioned the undead circle earlier? Is that a channel? Or an adventure group?"
Baha's question caught the undead girl slightly off guard. She countered, "Technique types also have... oh, right, you guys don't have a communication circle, hahahaha."
The undead girl laughed, remembering something amusing. The reason was that long ago, technique types also had a communication circle where they could exchange practical combat experience and get priority purchasing for technique-type needs.
The problem was, technique types were different from other classes. For example, magic types would learn new abilities and go to the training ground, set up durability dummies, and practice spellcasting to gain experience.
Technique types were different. Things like sparring were basically useless for them. To improve, they either needed a life-or-death battle or to sit quietly in meditation.
The result was predictable. The technique type communication circle quickly turned into an "Online Duel Center," and eventually, after fighting back and forth, the circle fought itself out of existence.
Those who developed as technique types were basically never cowards; otherwise, they wouldn't choose this combat style. A bunch of people who weren't afraid of each other and were all "killing masters" getting together—the liveliness was predictable.
"What a shame about my achievement mission."
The undead girl sighed, casually grabbing the pine nuts Amu had just gathered. Amu's bull eyes widened, and he was about to pull out his Dragonheart Axe when the undead girl slapped an oversized box of lobster tail meat in front of Amu. Amu's gaze immediately became much friendlier.
"Achievement mission?"
Su Xiao keenly sensed there might be benefits to be gained.
"That's right. I'm currently in the Empire faction. When I encountered the World-Class Creature Kara, I triggered the achievement mission to kill Kara. The base reward is a World Key. The remaining rewards are hidden. The World Core fragments I sold you before were all opened from World-Class treasure chests using World Keys."
The more the undead girl talked, the more frustrated she became. From First Rank to Eighth Rank, this was truly the first time she had encountered a big boss right in front of her that she couldn't defeat. This made her wonder—was this the normal contractor's trouble?
Actually, the undead girl was mistaken. The most normal type of contractor's first reaction upon seeing a big boss was to be terrified, not to go and destroy it.
The undead girl didn't have anything particularly important to do this time. The main reason was that the base camp was safe, plus she could mooch off the internet, and there were bedrooms where she could get a good night's sleep.
Although the undead girl was strong and frequently jumped between friendly, neutral, and extremely evil factions, she didn't keep a stern face all day, maintaining so-called "expert demeanor."
However, there was one thing: the undead girl and Solomon knew each other, but for some reason, their relationship was slightly hostile. The undead girl's exact words were: "Hah, that broke bastard, he'll be poor until he dies."
If someone else said this, it might be fine, but coming from the undead girl's mouth, it felt like the pot calling the kettle black.
Before long, this top Eighth-Rank legion-flow cancer, the nightmare of many Eighth-Rank contractors, took out a needle and thread from her storage space and began mending a small hole in her big hat.
Surprisingly, the undead girl could actually repair this Immortal-rank big hat. Was she versatile? No, this skill was born from poverty.
Ignoring the undead girl who was mending her beloved soft cloth hat, Su Xiao kept thinking about the achievement mission she had mentioned. He had also encountered Kara but hadn't triggered any mission.
Preliminary analysis suggested this was related to faction affiliation. The Empire faction the undead girl belonged to was a well-established major faction, while his own faction was an emerging force.
Logically, his faction was also a force certified by the Void Tree. Why couldn't it trigger the achievement mission related to Kara?
Su Xiao had to eliminate Kara, no matter what. At this stage, there was a high possibility that traitors had appeared among the high-ranking members of the Empire and the Company. Waiting for them to deal with Kara was no different from waiting to die.
Since his side had to eliminate Kara, triggering the related achievement mission was very necessary. The base reward was a World Key—a benefit that couldn't be abandoned.
After a round of rational analysis, Su Xiao found the root of the problem. First, the prototype of his faction was a "Zerg Mother Embryo" from this world. Su Xiao used the existence of this embryo as a "fake identity" to summon Jila.
In other words, Jila was considered a "registered black household" by the Void Tree. She was allowed to develop within this world, but the faction she developed had no "faction functionality"—meaning it couldn't issue faction missions, generate faction reputation, or have a faction shop.
Not only was Jila a legal black household, but she was also Su Xiao's permanent summon. And Su Xiao's reputation with the Void Tree was already negative to the point of "???" Only Kaisa could surpass Su Xiao in this regard.
With Su Xiao's reputation this bad, Jila, as his summon, was naturally judged as a low-reputation unit by the Void Tree.
Actually, Jila herself was partly responsible. She had been freeloading on the Primordial Continent under the Void Tree for so long; it would be strange if her Void Tree reputation was high.
The combination of these factors led to the current situation. Although his side was a faction, it had none of the functions of a faction—a huge loss.
Su Xiao pondered for a moment, picked up the communicator beside him, and dialed Kaisa's number.
Half an hour later, inside the wooden building, the lights were bright. After some analysis with Kaisa, they found there really was no solution. In this wooden building, there wasn't a single person with high Void Tree reputation.
Earlier, Baha had held hope for the undead girl, but the undead girl looked at Baha as if she were caring for a simpleton. She was the top-ranked legion-flow cancer among Eighth Ranks. If she were used, and if Solomon were also in this wooden building, the top three of the Eighth-Rank legion-flow cancer rankings would all be present.
"My dear friend, it's not that there's no way, but..."
"Need to add money?"
Baha interjected.
"Ahem~, money or not, we're all friends..."
"I'll give you forty percent."
Su Xiao spoke. Hearing this, Kaisa's eyes almost emitted a creepy green light, making the undead girl almost mistakenly think Kaisa had been eroded by Nether forces.
Regarding this, Baha refuted the undead girl's claim. The Abyssal Jar hadn't done anything to Kaisa; saying Nether forces had eroded Kaisa, who held the Abyssal Jar, was truly absurd.
After Kaisa's analysis, the main problem was that his faction's Void Tree reputation was too low. They needed to find someone with high Void Tree reputation to act as the faction's "legal representative." This way, the faction's reputation would be high.
A more intuitive analogy: suppose his faction was a company. They needed to find a "legal representative" with high reputation to serve as a figurehead with no real power. Su Xiao would be the 100% shareholder, and Jila would be the chairman and secretary.
Finally, through Kaisa's operations, his faction would transform into a law-abiding good company.
The core issue now was: where to find this "legal representative"? Don't forget, if his faction did anything that violated Void Tree regulations, the Void Tree would first come after this "legal representative," not Su Xiao or Jila.
Moreover, this "legal representative" must have a very high Void Tree reputation; otherwise, they couldn't clean up Su Xiao's notoriously shady company.
After hearing all this, the undead girl, who had been sitting there reading the "Soul Spirit Codex," was full of shock. She almost blurted out: "Are you two really a Hunter and an Arbiter?"
Regarding the "legal representative," Su Xiao had a good candidate in mind. From what he knew, this person's Void Tree reputation was extremely high—so high that they had even boasted about it to him and slightly mocked his low Void Tree reputation.
Making his faction's functions complete would bring benefits beyond just triggering the Kara subjugation mission. Faction missions, faction shops, etc., were all gold mines waiting to be developed.
This matter could be postponed. It needed to be achieved before going to subjugate Kara. At this stage, the focus was on the preliminary work for the Kara subjugation.
First, Jila needed to advance to the Dominator level. Only then could his side's Mother Nest awaken Barbatos. Facing a giant monster of Kara's size with his current combat style was very difficult. If he fought to the death without retreating, he might have his body defense greatly reduced by Kara's defense-reducing missiles and eventually be bombarded to death by biological heavy cannons.
This wasn't a matter of strength or weakness; it was that Su Xiao and Kara weren't even on the same "channel." Kara was more like a group collective, while Su Xiao was an individual powerhouse—they couldn't be compared directly.
After mounting the Lord-level Demon Flame Dragon Barbatos, the dragon-riding Su Xiao would be on the same channel as Kara, and their battle would be a contest of pure strength.
The Mother Nest currently had 960,000 bio-energy points, still far from the 8,700,000 needed for Jila to advance to Dominator level.
The reason Su Xiao wasn't making a move was that he was waiting for the Crimson Empress to be either driven away or destroyed. The source mine owned by the Crimson Empress, if fully exploited by his side's worker scorpions, could produce 4.5 to 5 million bio-energy points per day. The life ore there was of extremely high purity.
Su Xiao's ideal base camp location was exactly where the Crimson Empress was. Once the base camp was settled there, when the Nether invasion came, his side could completely hold the line there.
Currently, Kara was pounding on the Crimson Empress's side. Su Xiao didn't plan to show up; he would wait and see.
He waited until 2 a.m. the next morning, and good news finally came. Kara, using a massive destruction cannon protruding from its chest and abdomen, blasted a hole through the Crimson Empress's nest. Several hundred Demon Beasts lurking nearby captured images from all directions, preserving them as visual memories, which Jila then manifested for Su Xiao to see.
The mental image froze in front of him. It showed the brutal fortress Kara in the night. Compared to it, the nest that had been blasted through, with the edges of the hole glowing red from the high temperature, appeared shorter.
In the upper corner of this image, a Leader-level Deathwing carried four figures on its back, flying into the distance. The Crimson Empress naturally had trump cards; being able to cultivate a Leader-level unit at the Mother Empress level showed how extraordinary she was.
But all of this seemed pale and powerless in the face of Kara, who had evolved into a war behemoth.
The mental image dissipated in front of him. Su Xiao's idea was that before dealing with Kara, he couldn't move his base camp to that source mine grassland. The Crimson Empress there had just been driven away. Given Kara's current mental state, if his side hurriedly moved there, Kara might mistake them for the Crimson Empress.
Su Xiao had Jila control the Mother Nest to mass-produce worker scorpions, then had the Spider Empress lead these worker scorpions to establish a sub-nest on the source mine grassland. The Spider Empress had no objections; she didn't need to show up at all. The sub-nest only had a few thousand Terror Wolf Spiders as defense forces. If Kara came back, it could be given to it to blast. Every minute they could mine there was a minute earned.
In less than an hour, his side successfully established a sub-nest on the source mine grassland, immediately doubling their life ore acquisition rate. Previously, they mined 16,000 units of life ore per hour, equivalent to 160,000 bio-energy points. Now, it directly increased to 37,000 units of life ore per hour.
If they mined until this morning, his side's bio-energy reserves could reach just over 2 million points, still far from 8.7 million.
Tomorrow was the fifth day, getting closer to the Nether invasion. Thinking of this, Su Xiao decided to complete the previous transaction with the Company, trading 150 kilograms of "C5N2 Superconductor" for 600,000 units of life ore. With those 6 million bio-energy points, Jila's advancement to Dominator level wouldn't be a problem.
Trading in the current way wouldn't work. The Company, as one of the major forces in this world, although their behavior was disgraceful, as a major force, they also needed face.
You don't hit a smiling face, especially when they're a generous benefactor. This face had to be given. Therefore, using "C5N2 Superconductor" as the core content of the transaction, without any ※, the Company had no way to save face.
What if they changed the approach? Say that the Company's mineral vein property was seriously threatened by Kara. For world peace and the justice of Pandora Star, the Company offered 600,000 units of life ore as a commission, entrusting a friendly force to eliminate the brutal fortress Kara and restore peace to Pandora Star.
This way, the Company could "conveniently" get back 150 kilograms of "C5N2 Superconductor" while participating in this matter with a glorious and righteous identity, showing off their wealthy aura. Except for losing money, they would have face and reputation.
More importantly, the Company could finally complete the order with the Empire, delivering the "C5N2 Superconductor" to them, lest the Empire beat them up. This was a win-win-win situation.
The communicator was already connected. After hearing Baha's "Hiring Allied Forces to Eliminate Kara Plan," the Company representative on the other end, Peidi, wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Mr. Peidi, to finalize this matter, your side needs to pay a deposit."
Baha spoke. Hearing this, Peidi on the other end coughed lightly and said with a friendly smile, "No problem, our side can pay a 10% deposit..."
"I want 600,000 units of life ore as the deposit."
"Are you joking?"
The Company representative Peidi's tone was no longer so friendly.
"Of course not. We trust your company's reputation. So after receiving the deposit, we will also provide collateral, such as... using 150 kilograms of 'C5N2 Superconductor' as collateral."
As soon as Baha said this, Peidi's eyes lit up on the other end of the communication. From the moment he received this communication, he felt that the people on the other end weren't a bunch of reckless desperadoes. This so-called Kara subjugation plan gave their company plenty of face. Since the transaction was inevitable, this face-saving step had to be taken.
"What a coincidence. Our company has recently needed a batch of 'C5N2 Superconductor.' I wish us a pleasant transaction."
Hearing this, Baha said "See you later" and hung up the communication.
"Boss, will this really work?"
Baha was a bit worried. According to the plan, in an hour's transaction, his side would store the "C5N2 Superconductor" in a valley, while the Company would use a transport ship to deliver 600,000 units of life ore.
Su Xiao's people wouldn't show up at all, which also meant that even if the Company took the "C5N2 Superconductor" and then carried the 600,000 units of life ore back the same way, it was possible.
Su Xiao deliberately did this. He wanted to use 600,000 units of life ore as bait to test whether the Company's internal affairs had gone wrong. If there was a problem, this transaction would definitely fail, and they would pull all sorts of shady tricks.
If the Company's internal affairs were fine, then forced by the impending disaster, plus the fact that both Kara and the Crimson Empress couldn't become a third party, the low-key Aiseya chose to pursue his own path of strength.
This way, his side becoming the third party was already stable. Under this situation, if the Company still chose to go to war with his side after being given enough face, it meant that the high-ranking members of the Company didn't want to see a three-party situation, meaning there was a traitor within the Company.
Conversely, if this transaction succeeded, the traitor who had defected to the Nether forces was likely on the Empire's side.
Time passed minute by minute. Su Xiao watched the images from the transaction location valley through his terminal. A heavy transport ship was parked there. Workers wearing exoskeleton armor were carrying metal boxes down one by one.
Judging by this momentum, the Company had accepted this matter. They were wealthy, valued their lives, and there was another layer of meaning: when the Nether forces invaded, if the Company's "Platinum Capital" fell, the Company's high-ranking members hoped to bring their families and escape to Su Xiao's side using space technology.
That's right, the Company's super-large city finally got a name. Under this situation, the Empire was no longer as domineering as before.
The Empire's "New Star City," the Company's "Platinum Capital," and his side's "Sun Holy Nest"—the three-party situation was roughly taking shape.
The reason his side was called "Sun Holy Nest" was mainly because, when recently cultivating Sun Flame Dragons, the nest filtered out faith residue from the faith power of the Sun and used it to cultivate fanatics.
These fanatics weren't as extreme as imagined. They... no, they were more like ascetic monks walking the world carrying the collective will of all beings. They didn't even preach; they just wore tattered robes, formed groups, and traveled barefoot.
They called his side's Mother Nest the "Holy Nest." Plus, his side had made a name for itself with the Sun Flame Dragon, and eventually, both the Empire and the Company called them the "Sun Holy Nest."
Su Xiao looked at the image on the terminal. After the Company people left the stacked metal boxes, they boarded the transport ship and left. Even though no one from his side came to hand over, and they only left the "C5N2 Superconductor" on site in advance, the Company didn't renege.
The Company was truly wealthy, and the high-ranking members there indeed wanted to secure a retreat route. Presumably, they had also discussed similar matters with the Empire.
If that was the case, if his side completed negotiations with the Empire and left teleportation array diagrams in each other's base camps, the three parties could achieve mutual trade.
When the sky was just getting light, the combination of Sun Flame Dragons and spore tanks transported a total of 600,000 units of life ore back. The side of the Mother Nest split open, and a large amount of life ore was dumped inside. The bio-energy stored in the Mother Nest visibly increased.
The early sun rose from the horizon. Su Xiao sat cross-legged on the roof of the wooden building for his daily meditation.
[Prompt: You have received 1,000 Soul Coins.]
It was from the reputation ranking reward, settled once every two days, and it was settled at 6 a.m. this morning.
Su Xiao was still ranked fourth. He wasn't in a hurry. Once he caught a suitable "legal representative" and made the "Sun Holy Nest" a complete faction, he could be sure that his reputation would definitely experience an explosive decrease—meaning it would become even more negative. The reason was that due to his Charm attribute, the "Sun Holy Nest" was classified as an extremely evil faction.
Until 8 a.m., after all the bio-energy stored in the sub-nests was transported back through biological tissue carriers, the bio-energy stored in the Mother Nest reached 8,705,329/8,700,000 points. Jila could advance to the Dominator level.
Su Xiao walked into the Mother Nest, followed the main passage to Jila's sleeping nest, and picked up the confused Jila who had just woken up.
"Begin."
"Huh?"
Jila, just woken up, had a look of great confusion in her eyes.
"..."
Su Xiao didn't speak. A few seconds later, Jila recovered from her post-waking daze. She yawned, then leaned back. The nest wall behind her turned into countless tentacles, gradually enveloping her.
All entrances to the Mother Nest closed, and then the whole thing contracted, shrinking from over a hundred meters high to less than ninety meters, entering maximum defense mode.
Not only that, but there were also 4,097 elite Demon Beasts and 1,300 Sun Flame Dragons nearby. The two types of insectoid buildings, "Sensing Tower" and "Lurker," were activated beyond their limits.
Inside the Mother Nest, Su Xiao sat on a crystal seat. Behind him was Jila, wrapped in the Mother Nest's tissue, undergoing transformation.
Su Xiao's perception circle enveloped Jila. With such multiple layers of protection, it wasn't impossible for someone to invade this place, but to assassinate Jila, they would first have to defeat Su Xiao in close combat. For an assassination type, this was a bit difficult.
If Jila succeeded in this advancement, she would be the only Dominator-level being in this world. Kara couldn't be counted as Dominator-level; that situation was special.
After waiting for several hours, Su Xiao took out a piece of oak wood, the [Sacred Oak]. He had just received the reputation ranking reward this morning. Calculating the time, he could now use the [Sacred Oak].
The [Sacred Oak] had a total of 10 durability points, now with 8 remaining. Su Xiao activated it.
[Sacred Oak: Sacrifice 5 points of your own body attribute to gain 1 Golden Skill Point...]
Su Xiao still sacrificed his Charm attribute to activate the [Sacred Oak] in his hand.
Thump, thump, thump~
The [Sacred Oak] in Su Xiao's hand trembled extremely reluctantly, as if he could hear a roar coming from inside.
The originally withered [Sacred Oak] began to sprout and grow, forming a massive phantom. The appearance of this phantom couldn't be seen clearly. Su Xiao estimated that this was most likely the ancient deity Sacred Oak, who used the [Sacred Oak] to fish.
This deity-level existence only allowed itself to fish. Once someone broke the game, it would act like a sore loser, ready to take everything back.
Counting this time, Su Xiao had obtained a total of 3 Golden Skill Points from the [Sacred Oak]. The ancient deity Sacred Oak finally couldn't take it anymore, or rather, was ready to completely tear off the mask.
Jila was still advancing behind him. Su Xiao exerted force and gripped the [Sacred Oak] tightly. The phantom in front of him shattered with a bang.
What Su Xiao didn't expect was that a gray-golden mark quickly formed on the [Sacred Oak]. This was the attitude of the ancient deity Sacred Oak. It seemed like... it wanted to duel Su Xiao?
Su Xiao confirmed again. Yes, that's right. This ancient deity Sacred Oak, who had lost to the point of being full of rage, was no longer willing to compete "online" but wanted to have a "offline" PK with Su Xiao—meaning a face-to-face duel.
This kind of good thing, Su Xiao really encountered for the first time. The imprint left by the other party indicated that it was ready to welcome Su Xiao at any time.
Now wasn't the time. Jila was advancing to the Dominator level. Su Xiao put away the [Sacred Oak]. He would arrange for the ancient deity Sacred Oak later. This kind of deity-level existence that actively slid up to him was rare.
It wasn't that Su Xiao thought he was invincible among Eighth Ranks, but that he was using Jila to develop a legion flow. The ancient deity Sacred Oak wanted a duel? Su Xiao had never met the other party; why should he agree to their duel?
Cultivating over a hundred thousand Demon Beasts, several thousand Sun Flame Dragons, and then "welcoming" the ancient deity Sacred Oak's grand arrival was obviously a better choice.
This guest had come from afar; they must let it experience the "warmth" of the Sun Flame, an all-around, no-dead-angle experience.
[You have gained 1 Golden Skill Point.]
Su Xiao looked at his own Charm attribute, still firmly at -12 points. He seemed to understand why the ancient deity Sacred Oak was angry.
Not only could it not cheat him out of benefits, but Su Xiao's Charm attribute also refused to drop. How could the ancient deity Sacred Oak not be angry?
Time passed minute by minute. When the setting sun appeared on the horizon, a prompt appeared.
[Prompt: Your permanent summon, Jila, has advanced to Zerg Dominator.]
[Because Jila has advanced to Zerg Mother Empress, the Mother Nest she established will undergo an evolution.]
[Combat Zerg: Elite Demon Beast (has received deep enhancement).]
[The Mother Nest has awakened a new gene fragment: Host (transport-type unit).]
[The Leader-level souls residing within the Mother Nest have been reawakened. Summary as follows:]