Chapter 2: A Special Connection
In the dimly lit alley, faint streetlight glow spilled in from the street. A young girl, around twelve or thirteen years old, raised her hands in surrender. Despite her mother always teaching her to maintain a lady's elegance at all times, with her life on the line, elegance had to be set aside for now.
"Zuiyasi's daughter?"
Su Xiao's long blade rested against the girl's neck. He wouldn't believe her identity based on a single sentence alone. Besides, the Ancient God System was notoriously sinister—one couldn't judge age by appearance.
"Yes, my name is Yelo Ilya. I'm twelve years old. My father is Zuiyasi, my mother is Aona, and my grandmother is... I can't say."
Yelo Ilya was quite sensible. Clearly, her grandmother was an absolute powerhouse whose name couldn't be spoken lightly.
Yelo Ilya slowly exhaled, gradually returning to her usual unhurried elegance. She had come this time both for training and to broaden her horizons.
Given the Zuiyasi family's educational philosophy, they clearly wouldn't allow their child to become a hothouse flower. In a previous family meeting, Zuiyasi and his wife had agreed that Ilya, now twelve, should venture to other worlds alone to gain experience.
Considering the child's safety, Yelo Ilya's grandmother hadn't sent her to a ninth-rank world to see the sights, but instead had her deliver a letter to the Gloomy Continent.
After entering this world, Ilya used a divination tool to determine Su Xiao's general location and sought him out.
Her grandmother wasn't worried about this. Delivering a letter was nothing serious. Even if the Gloomy Continent was unstable, Sanctuary City had been peaceful in recent years.
Unlike Ilya's grandmother, Zuiyasi and Aona were extremely worried. Aona feared Ilya might encounter bad people outside, while Zuiyasi worried that his daughter, upon meeting Su Xiao, would get a blade before she could even speak.
As one of Su Xiao's "good teammates," Zuiyasi knew well Su Xiao's skill at hunting Ancient Gods and his attitude toward non-ally Ancient God System members. That's why, before Ilya left, Zuiyasi repeatedly instructed her: if she suddenly sensed spatial fluctuations or saw crimson or blue arcs of electricity ahead, she should immediately shout, "Zuiyasi is my father." As it turned out, this preemptive dad-calling was indeed useful.
"The letter."
Ilya produced a black envelope sealed with red wax. At first glance, it seemed ordinary, but if one stared closely, the red wax appeared to be clusters of tiny worms. If skin touched them, these "Marrow-Burrowing Worms" would invade the body, eventually drilling into the brain and driving one mad to death.
Zuiyasi certainly wasn't trying to trap Su Xiao. The three of them had previously agreed that if they needed to communicate, they would use their respective markers to identify themselves. Su Xiao's was "Alchemy Virulent Poison," Zuiyasi and Aona's representative items were "Time Seal" and "Marrow-Burrowing Worms," and Wood's was "Evil Curse."
Ilya handed over the letter with both hands, politely lowering her head. Seeing this, Su Xiao took it and produced a piece of fresh meat. As he brought it near the red wax seal, countless fine, red, hair-like worms burrowed into the meat, and the seal gradually disappeared.
After discarding the meat and removing the letter from the envelope, Su Xiao sat on the steps beside the alley and began deciphering its contents. Zuiyasi had written in the Ancient God language.
Seeing this, Ilya quietly stood aside and waited. Her upbringing was quite good. From her facial features, she seemed to have inherited more of Aona's looks.
The letter contained quite a bit. First, it mentioned that Doom Star had also learned about the Black Maple Tree seed appearing in Dead Silence City. After several Paradise intelligence merchants had widely sold this information, numerous forces in the Void and Transcendent Primordial World had become aware of it.
From both sides, those with the means might enter the fray. Su Xiao estimated that Arcane Eternal Star would likely participate. Although they already had a Black Maple Tree, they wouldn't miss the chance to seize a seed.
Precisely because they already had a Black Maple Tree, Arcane Eternal Star was willing to invest heavily in this. Currently, there were three known Black Maple Trees: at Abyssal Dragon's Lair, the Black Abyss, and finally Arcane Eternal Star.
As for the first two, the Abyssal Dragon acted entirely on whim, so it wouldn't release large amounts of Black Maple Tree yield. The same went for Daomo. Aside from stealing, others had no way to obtain Black Maple Tree yield from there. Moreover, most of Daomo's Black Maple Tree yield was traded to a few members of the Empty Seat Banquet.
Thus, looking across the entire Void—no, across all realms—the only stable source of Black Maple Tree yield was Arcane Eternal Star.
In a way, Su Xiao should thank Arcane Eternal Star. They had cultivated it for so many years to raise the Black Maple Tree's value to this level. Of course, this was also due to the Black Maple Tree's own powerful characteristics.
Now that a Black Maple Tree seed might appear, Arcane Eternal Star's stance would certainly be: they might not plant it, even destroy the seed, but they absolutely wouldn't let anyone else grow one.
If the growing environment was suitable and enough World Core Fragments could be obtained as nutrients for the Black Maple Tree sapling, it wouldn't take thousands of years to grow.
If a second source of Black Maple Tree yield emerged, it would inevitably compete with Arcane Eternal Star. If the two sides couldn't reach an agreement, the price of Black Maple Tree yield would likely drop, undermining Arcane Eternal Star's years of investment.
Arcane Eternal Star, the Void's overlord, wouldn't sit idly by. They had even made their stance known in the Void: normally, other Void forces could do as they pleased, but this matter involved one of Arcane Eternal Star's greatest long-term interests. Their implication was that other Void forces should exercise restraint, and they would express gratitude later.
Since Arcane Eternal Star had put it so diplomatically, given their overwhelming combat power, other Void forces had to show respect. Even the Demon Race and Feather Race had tacitly agreed not to participate.
Of course, there was an exception among the many Void forces: the Devil Race. In recent years, the Devil Race had been visibly weakened by "Daddy-Rank" artifacts, but those old devils truly feared no one, not even Arcane Eternal Star. The Devil Race's stance was: "How about we send our wild daddy to stay with you for a few days?"
It was under the influence of these old devils that Wood, who hailed from the Void, didn't care about Arcane Eternal Star's hostility and often associated with Su Xiao, a Law Destroyer.
Su Xiao estimated that Arcane Eternal Star had likely sent people this time. The powerful eighth-rank Crow Woman had probably come as well, possibly leading a contingent of Spellcasters.
The reason Zuiyasi had his daughter deliver this letter was that he was certain Su Xiao had come to the Gloomy Continent. This wasn't hard to guess. Zuiyasi had seen Su Xiao use Dead Silence Annihilation before. The strong recognizability of Dead Silence Force, combined with Zuiyasi's knowledge, allowed him to guess the general situation.
More importantly, Zuiyasi had time-based abilities. This was evident from Young Zuiyasi, Old Zuiyasi, and so on. His five fingers represented five age stages, and the older his state, the stronger he was.
This ability clearly wasn't just time-based; it also involved a degree of causality. More crucially, Su Xiao had previously only vaguely felt that his connection to Dead Silence City was unusual. It was Zuiyasi who subtly hinted that Su Xiao's causal link to Dead Silence City had become particularly strong, and he should actively resolve it. If he kept putting it off, he might die because of it.
As it turned out, Zuiyasi was right. After arriving in the Gloomy Continent, Su Xiao could feel that faint, elusive call.
That's why, when the Black Maple Tree seed appeared in Dead Silence City, Zuiyasi immediately thought of Su Xiao and that Su Xiao would use this opportunity to resolve his causal ties with Dead Silence City.
More directly, Zuiyasi had hinted in the letter, asking Su Xiao if he had orchestrated this news to lure people to Dead Silence City as cannon fodder, thereby diverting attention.
Why would Zuiyasi guess this? In Treeborn World, Su Xiao, Wood, Zuiyasi, and Kaisa had done something similar. The operational process was identical to what happened in Bei City. So when Zuiyasi heard about this, he thought: "Why does this smell so familiar?"
At the end of the letter, Zuiyasi asked Su Xiao to look after his daughter for a couple of days, specifically noting that she couldn't eat spicy food.
"So you're Zuiyasi's daughter. As an old friend's daughter, of course I'll take care of you."
Su Xiao looked at Ilya with a friendly smile.
Seeing Su Xiao smile, Ilya suddenly curled up into a ball—literally, almost into a ball. This was what her mother had instructed before leaving: if that big brother named Bai Ye smiles at you, quickly curl up and beg for mercy. It's not shameful.
"I have no money, no Soul Crystals. My family is very poor."
Ilya muttered softly.
"..."
Su Xiao said nothing. After a moment, Ilya cautiously looked up and found that Su Xiao was no longer smiling at her kindly, so she quietly stood aside.
Apart from her eyes darting around, Ilya was well-behaved, completely unlike her younger brother. That super brat was so unruly that Zuiyasi almost beat him eight times a day. Though young, his cocky demeanor was a perfect copy of young Zuiyasi.
Interestingly, that brat feared no one but was especially afraid of his sister Ilya. He knew well that his parents held back when hitting him, but this sister, two years older, would genuinely beat him within an inch of his life.
Despite Ilya's current well-behaved demeanor, she never held back when disciplining her brother.
"Woof."
Bubu Wang's bark came from the alley entrance. Su Xiao hadn't returned to the treatment center to handle other matters because he was waiting for Bubu to rendezvous.
Seeing Bubu Wang running over, Ilya's eyes brightened slightly.
"Woof?"
Bubu Wang examined Ilya, sniffed her, and looked puzzled. Her scent was both familiar and unfamiliar.
"This is Zuiyasi's daughter."
"Woof."
Bubu Wang understood and sat down beside Ilya, yawning.
Soon, Amu also arrived, with Baha perched on his shoulder. Their entry points were relatively concentrated, all in the East District of Sanctuary City.
Only Beini had no news. In the team channel, Beini's avatar was gray, indicating she was out of communication range. She was clearly not in Sanctuary City, making one wonder—given her various bizarre starting locations—if she had directly ended up in Dead Silence City.
Just then, a notification appeared.
[Notification: The Hunter has successfully arrived in the Gloomy Continent and has synchronized with this world's identity: Deputy Director of the Treatment Center.]
[Due to certification issues, this faction (Healing Church) has no faction store. To purchase this world's equipment, you need to use this world's unique currency, Ancient Gold Coins, to buy this world's exclusive equipment from workshops, etc.]
[Notification: Because this world cannot certify a faction store, a balancing compensation has been made: certification of a Title Store.]
[All Contractors who join the four major factions of this world—Healing Church, Steam God Church, Wadi Family, and Sanctuary Council—will share the same Title Store until all titles are exchanged, at which point the Title Store will close (you can activate the Title Store at any time using your imprint as a medium; this is a remedial certification for partial certification deficiencies in this world).]
[To exchange titles in the Title Store, you need to consume Ancient Gold Coins.]
...
[Verification: The Hunter is about to undergo the Ninth-Rank Promotion Assessment Trial.]
[You have triggered the first ring of the promotion mission: Survival.]
[Verifying the Hunter's vital signs... You have not died from Dead Silence erosion or subsequent poisoning (due to your high abnormal attribute resistance, you have successfully resisted this potent poison).]
[Your promotion mission, first ring: Survival (Completed).]
Seeing this notification, even Su Xiao's expression darkened. This wasn't starting with severe injuries; it was starting with the risk of death if poison resistance wasn't high enough. If not dead, then half-dead. What the hell kind of promotion mission first ring was "Survival Completed"? He had never seen such a mission before.
Su Xiao suddenly understood why, when he previously chose Dead Silence City as his ninth-rank promotion trial world, Reincarnation Paradise gave a "Not Recommended" warning—a clearly directive caution. He had thought that, about to advance to ninth rank, his permissions were vastly different, granting him a degree of humanized advice.
Now it seemed that wasn't the case. Reincarnation Paradise was still the same as before. It gave that cautionary prompt because entering the Gloomy Continent while wearing the Black King Bracer meant that if one's abnormal attribute resistance wasn't high enough, they would be poisoned to death at the start. This clearly conflicted with the Paradise faction's policy of not issuing certain-death missions.
[Your promotion mission, second ring: Sudden Change (Triggered).]
[Promotion Mission: Sudden Change (Second Ring)]
Difficulty Level: Lv.79.
Mission Briefing: Wait for the sudden change on the Divine Sacrifice Day three days later, or investigate the secret behind the Divine Sacrifice Day's sudden change before then.
Mission Duration: Until the Divine Sacrifice Day ends.
Mission Reward 1 (Did not discover the secret behind the Divine Sacrifice Day's sudden change): Protection Stone ×1.
Mission Reward 2 (Discovered the secret behind the Divine Sacrifice Day's sudden change): Protection Stone ×5.
Mission Penalty: This is a bridging mission. Regardless of whether the secret behind the Divine Sacrifice Day's sudden change is discovered, the mission will trigger the third ring.
Notification: Due to this world's comprehensive danger level, subsequent rings of this mission have no penalties.
...
Su Xiao ignored the last notification. No mission penalty? That was meaningless. Given this world's perilous nature, if the mission failed, he would 99.9% die horribly anyway. Whether there was a mission penalty or not made no difference. It would be more reassuring if there was a forced execution.
The current situation was actually quite interesting. A few hours ago, the Wild Beast Invasion had nearly resulted in mutual destruction with the Treatment Center. The so-called Wild Beast Invasion was one of the dangers from outside the city.
Outside the city was a forbidden zone for the living, home to beasts and even wild beasts. Note that the "beasts" here were completely different from ordinary beasts in conventional terms.
Su Xiao had previously suspected that this Wild Beast Invasion was orchestrated by the Healing Church's high-ranking members to eliminate the Treatment Center's old members, allowing this institution to once again become the Healing Church's blade of slaughter.
In truth, even if the Healing Church's high-ranking members did this, it was understandable. The best outcome for the Treatment Center's old members was to die in battle.
But one thing: Su Xiao's identity was one of the Healing Church's two strongest combat forces. Calling him a Daddy-Rank pillar wasn't an exaggeration—otherwise, how could he have killed six consecutive directors? If those old high-ranking members had any sense, they wouldn't harm such a Daddy-Rank pillar. Otherwise, when the original owner of this identity was severely injured and unconscious, those high-ranking members wouldn't have been so anxious, almost coming to check personally despite the situation.
In the alley, the summer night breeze was gentle, pleasant to feel. Su Xiao lit a cigarette. Though he hadn't yet fully understood this world, his long experience traveling through various worlds allowed him to deduce one thing.
The Wild Beast attack a few hours ago could only have been orchestrated by a few parties, summarized as follows: