Chapter 3: The Wrath of the Great Emperor (Mission Content: Kill the Nether Great Emperor and close the Abyss passage at the bottom of the Nether).
……
This main mission was actually optional, which shows that Reincarnation Paradise never issues main missions with the intention of screwing over contractors, hunters, or workers.
The three missions ranged from easy to difficult. Although Xiao Fuliya was one of the King's Three Knights, she had no soldiers with her. It seemed she had come to this world alone and was doing something on her own.
The second choice gradually became a nightmare difficulty. One could imagine the current situation in Platinum Capital, and killing Nether Commander Wuying Solaro would be fraught with difficulties.
The final third difficulty was quite hellish. Not only would one have to kill the Nether Great Emperor, but also delve deep into the Nether's bottom to close the passage connected to the Abyss there.
Su Xiao had a thought: if Jila could advance from Dominator level to Empress level, could he take all three optional missions? No matter how he looked at it, these three choices didn't conflict with each other and could be carried out simultaneously.
It wasn't that Su Xiao was greedy, but Dead Silence City put too much pressure on him. The Nether forces were certainly powerful, but when invaded by them, the native forces could at least put up a fight. Whether they won or not, at least they resisted.
As for Dead Silence City, there was no chance to resist. If a king like the Black King didn't emerge in that world, they could only slowly wait to be eroded by the Dead Silence. Even if a king like the Black King did appear, it was just suppression. Calling it drinking poison to quench thirst wasn't wrong. The Black King exhausted everything to delay the full arrival of the Dead Silence, but that day would always come.
As for the subsequent Day King and Night King, the Day King was fine, but by the third generation Night King, things were getting worse. This wasn't due to a lack of effort from later generations, but because the royal family's suppression of the Dead Silence generation after generation caused the inherited bloodline to become increasingly impure and weak. Perhaps after another two generations, the royal family of that world would inevitably produce congenital disabilities and such.
Su Xiao glanced at the optional mission's time limit, which was three days. He wasn't in a hurry to make a decision.
With nothing to do, Su Xiao took out Banishment from his storage space. At this point, Banishment had completely lost the fluctuation of the Necronomicon, which had previously enhanced it with some secret treasure.
Through research and practice, Su Xiao had figured out Banishment's current characteristics. Its independent penetration and attack power had greatly decreased, but it had become a buff-type artifact.
In layman's terms, if Su Xiao wanted to use a Blood Spear to kill an enemy at long range, he could mix Banishment into the Blood Spear's composition, thereby greatly enhancing all aspects of the Blood Spear.
Because Banishment had a certain degree of activity, now integrating it into his crystal arm and using it to form the nervous system, Su Xiao's crystal arm not only had more strength and flexibility but also gained a certain degree of tactile sensation. This was particularly powerful.
The more Su Xiao studied Banishment, the more satisfied he became. However, regarding Banishment's ability to enhance the crystal arm, he hoped he wouldn't need to use it in the future. No one wanted their arm to be severed.
The night passed quickly. Su Xiao slept lightly. As soon as six in the morning arrived, he opened his eyes.
Pushing open the window, all he could see were Demon Beasts lying prostrate on the fungal carpet. The Demon Beasts' mass production had ended, with all 280,000 Demon Beasts on standby.
"Bubu, Baha."
"Woof."
"Here."
"Amu, you stay and guard. If anyone approaches the Mother Nest, immediately order the turrets to kill them."
"Moo."
Amu picked up the Dragonheart Axe and went downstairs to patrol near the Mother Nest.
Bringing Bubu Wang and Baha, Su Xiao stepped onto Barbatos's dragon back. With his mental command, Barbatos let out a dragon roar and took off. The 280,000 Demon Beasts below all moved out, climbing the dozens-of-meters-high city wall as if it were flat ground.
Su Xiao ordered Barbatos to go full speed. Standing on the dragon's back, he looked down. As far as the eye could see, it was a dark mass of running Demon Beasts.
Speed was paramount in war. After an all-out, no-expense-spared sprint of 2 hours and 17 minutes, Su Xiao on the dragon's back saw Platinum Capital in the distance.
Around Platinum Capital were a large number of Corrupted Ones. The alloy city walls, covered in blackened bloodstains, were also almost full of Corrupted Ones. With Su Xiao's command, his Demon Beast army charged forward fiercely.
"Roar!"
A Demon Beast ran on all fours, sending mud and grass clippings flying. It charged headlong into a group of over a dozen Corrupted Ones ahead. Its tail blade swept, and half of a Corrupted One's head flew off.
The tail blade's afterimages flashed continuously, and this Corrupted One was chopped into over a dozen pieces scattered on the ground. Even after suffering high true damage, its severed limbs still trembled, ready to show its more ferocious side.
At that moment, an Elite Worker Scorpion, which had been clinging to the Demon Beast's back the whole time, leaped down. It let out a hiss, then burst with a pop, quickly transforming into a giant cocoon about 2 meters tall, with a dark green biological texture.
A fungal carpet spread from the bottom of the giant cocoon. This cocoon was called an "Energy Conversion Sporangium," which could spread a fungal carpet 1.2 kilometers in radius. After the fungal carpet absorbed bio-energy on the battlefield, the bio-energy would be transmitted to the "Energy Conversion Sporangium" at the center of the fungal carpet.
This method had been possessed by his insect race back in the Primordial Continent. Now it was an improved version by the insect race scientist, Pross.
The fungal carpet spread quickly. Those Corrupted Ones that could have gotten up and fought again, because they were severely injured and lacked enough life force, could only be absorbed by the fungal carpet.
This was the characteristic of the fungal carpet. Against undamaged units, it was useless. But against enemies whose health had dropped below 30% and had been chopped into over a dozen pieces, the fungal carpet's lethality was stronger than that of Demon Beasts and Sun Flame Dragons.
The reason his side had been able to hold off the Nether forces' attack yesterday was that those shattered Corrupted Ones, once they landed on the fungal carpet, couldn't undergo subsequent undead reconstitution. The reason Platinum Capital had fallen so quickly back then was that they hadn't been able to deal with the shattered Corrupted Ones.
Like two tides colliding, the battle between the Demon Beasts and the Corrupted Ones erupted instantly.
Wuying Solaro inside Platinum Capital reacted quickly. As soon as the fighting started outside the city, he brought his trusted subordinates to the city wall and released the Nether Whale Swarm, taking advantage of his side's lack of aerial power.
However, as soon as Wuying Solaro reached the city wall, he found that the Demon Beast Legion from the Sun Nest was retreating on all fronts.
At first, Wuying Solaro found it somewhat unbelievable. Having campaigned for so many years, he rarely saw anyone make such a low-level mistake. In a melee between two armies, whichever side retreats first becomes a beaten dog chased by the other.
But the reality was that although the Demon Beasts couldn't fly and didn't have good anti-air measures, they were really fast at running.
And so, the Demon Beast Legion came in full force, fought for a while, then retreated en masse with great fanfare.
Generally, such a retreat was very dangerous, but his Demon Beasts' actions only required a single mental command from Jila to be synchronized and precise to a terrifying degree.
At 9 AM, his Demon Beast army launched its first assault. Due to too many enemies, after half an hour of fierce fighting, they had no choice but to retreat. Fortunately, the fungal carpet absorbed a lot of bio-energy, which was then stored in the "Energy Conversion Sporangia."
At 10 AM, Su Xiao gave the order again, still the same strategy: surprise attack, spread fungal carpet. But because they couldn't withstand the dark green fireballs from the "Soul Twisters," they relied on their speed advantage and made a strategic retreat.
At 11 AM, Su Xiao once again gathered the Demon Beast Legion and launched a fierce attack on Platinum Capital.
At 12 PM, due to the enemy's tight defenses, the surprise attack plan was abandoned.
At 1 PM, it was the same recipe, the same familiar taste. After 40 minutes of fighting, his Demon Beast Legion fled, leaving behind the Corrupted One army that chased desperately, and Wuying Solaro on the city wall, silent.
At 2 PM, Su Xiao ordered a fifth assault. After half an hour of fighting, his side couldn't hold on anymore. There were too many enemies, so they indeed retreated.
The afternoon sun became a bit milder. Su Xiao checked the Mother Nest data and saw that only 225,329 Demon Beasts remained. In return, a total of 62 "Energy Conversion Sporangia" were harvested today, each storing 1 million bio-energy points, totaling 61.88 million bio-energy points.
If used to cultivate Demon Beasts, he could cultivate 137,511 more, bringing his Demon Beast count to 360,000, increasing with each battle.
Doing this not only increased the number of Demon Beasts but also greatly enhanced the probability of Super Elite individuals appearing among them. Super Elite individuals had powerful abilities, which would be a collective upgrade for the Demon Beasts.
Su Xiao sat cross-legged on the dragon's back. He knew the principle of quitting while ahead. He would fight again tomorrow.
After a day of clashing with Wuying Solaro, besides the bio-energy gains, there was also a small, unexpected surprise.
When a Demon Beast killed a Corrupted One, it actually dropped a treasure chest. This chest was very special, called [Fate's Hatred].
After consulting, Su Xiao learned that the producer of this chest was a predecessor of the World Child, Lekeli.
Back when Platinum Capital was attacked by the Nether forces, the first one chosen by the world wasn't Lekeli, but a tragic brother.
Even with the blessing of fate power, this tragic brother couldn't survive and became one of the many Corrupted Ones.
During his side's assault this time, a Demon Beast happened to kill the Corrupted One that this tragic brother had transformed into, and due to a low-probability event, this chest dropped.
Su Xiao planned to open this chest to see if it could produce items closely related to this world, which might also affect the subsequent battle situation.
Just as he was about to open the chest, he received a situation report from Bubu Wang. Bubu Wang had been scouting near Platinum Capital and witnessed a major event: the Empire's forces had attacked Platinum Capital.
Logically, New Star City wouldn't be so impulsive, but today's situation was too bizarre. Su Xiao's five consecutive attacks on New Star City had stunned General Foga of the Empire's Fifth Fleet.
This general was responsible for guarding the area between Platinum Capital and New Star City. Monarch Ording had given him enough command authority to act as he saw fit.
It wasn't that Monarch Ording wanted to delegate power. These fleet generals originally stationed on colonial planets were somewhat like feudal lords. A general in the field could refuse the monarch's orders, let alone a general on another planet.
This afternoon, General Foga, accustomed to making arbitrary decisions, saw a fleeting opportunity.
After their discussion, rather than letting the soldiers become increasingly passive and fearful, they might as well take the chance to attack a round. After all, the hatred of Platinum Capital was now firmly held by the Sun Nest.
In layman's terms, it was like a melee high-agility warrior chopping a big boss five times, and a ranged gunner behind him decided to fire a few shots to show off.
The problem was that Wuying Solaro was already frustrated by Su Xiao's hit-and-run tactics. When General Foga of the Empire attacked, it infuriated Wuying Solaro. The Demon Beast Legion from the Sun Nest had ridiculously high mobility, and he couldn't do anything about them. But you, an Empire general, how dare you attack my Platinum Capital?
The subsequent situation was predictable. General Foga's fleet was beaten black and blue, and he repeatedly asked Su Xiao for help.
Su Xiao couldn't help. Every time he attacked Platinum Capital, he had to retreat hastily before the Corrupted Ones could form an encirclement. But General Foga was stubborn, fighting head-on. As Baha put it, "Has this old brother always been this brave?"
The distant cannon fire continued unabated. A burning spaceship fell, causing an earth-shattering explosion upon landing.
Retreating along the original route, when the evening sun hung on the horizon, Su Xiao returned to the base camp. After dinner, he sat cross-legged on the floor mat and took out the [Fate's Hatred] he had obtained today.
Using "Fate Dominator" to light a cigarette, with the strong luck state active, Su Xiao checked the situation in his storage space. The Saint Serpent had finished digesting the bad luck it had swallowed. He took it out and opened [Fate's Hatred].
[You have opened the special treasure chest: Fate's Hatred.]
[You have obtained Gluttonous Fish.]
[Gluttonous Fish]
Origin: Produced with a certain probability after the death of a World Child in any world.
Quality: Special Equipment
Carry Effect: Absorbs a large amount of the carrier's bad luck, reversing the carrier's fortune.
Tip: After unsealing its seal, wearing it on the person will take effect.
Introduction: Born from calamity, feeding on bad luck. This fish has an astonishing appetite. After devouring all bad luck, it will devour its master.
Sale Price: Selling to Reincarnation Paradise can increase Luck Attribute by 2 points.
……
Seeing the information on [Gluttonous Fish], Su Xiao was quite surprised. It seemed his luck had turned.
The Saint Serpent swimming inside the hollow gem sensed that [Gluttonous Fish] was a kindred existence. Its eyes suddenly lit up. From now on, it wouldn't be the only one suffering. It was so happy.
Su Xiao looked at the light golden amber in his hand, which contained a big-headed fish. He tried to unseal it.
The amber evaporated in Su Xiao's hand. The Gluttonous Fish inside moved, then detached from Su Xiao's palm. This thumb-long, big-headed fish swam through the air.
After swimming a few circles, the Gluttonous Fish, like a shark smelling blood, looked at Su Xiao with a gaze completely different from the Saint Serpent's—greedy and malicious. Then, it opened its mouth full of sharp teeth and began to devour Su Xiao's bad luck.
The next second.
Boom!!
Like a tough balloon exploding, the Gluttonous Fish, with its astonishing appetite, was burst apart, leaving only a fingernail-sized fish head on the ground. What was reassuring was that this thing could still be sold to Reincarnation Paradise, and selling it could increase Luck Attribute by 3 points.
Everything happened too suddenly. Inside the hollow gem in Su Xiao's hand, the Saint Serpent witnessed the entire scene. Its round eyes widened, looking utterly dumbfounded. It had been terrified at that moment.