Chapter 4: The Day Before the Divine Festival Begins, the Wadi Family released the death warriors they had secretly cultivated for many years, planning to use these death warriors to drag Su Xiao down with them, then shift the blame to the Steam God Cult. In terms of explosives, the Steam God Cult was the strongest, so at that time, other forces would undoubtedly first suspect the Steam God Cult of assassinating Su Xiao.
This plan had not yet begun when it was detected by the Archbishop of the Healing Church, the faction Su Xiao belonged to. That was why the Archbishop had summoned Su Xiao to see him yesterday.
After the Wadi Family realized the Archbishop had intervened in this matter, they backed down, immediately ordering the death warriors to retreat, while also secretly indicating to the Archbishop that everyone here was no saint, and this matter would be dropped.
Today, however, the Wadi Family fully bared their fangs. But their target seemed to have no direct connection to Dead Silence City. Instead, they had brought in many extraterrestrial creatures, causing the entire Wadi Manor to mutate into its current state.
To find out why the Wadi Family did this, delving deep into Wadi Manor was the only way. As Su Xiao pondered this, a prompt appeared.
[Promotion Quest: Second Ring · Sudden Change (Completed).]
[You have obtained Protection Stone ×1.]
[Promotion Quest: Third Ring · Sanctuary Key (Triggered).]
...
[Main Quest: First Ring · Steady Progress (Completed).]
[You have obtained 2 True Skill Points.]
[Main Quest: Second Ring · Beyond the High Wall (Completed).]
...
Su Xiao first checked the content of the main quest.
[Main Quest: Beyond the High Wall (Second Ring).]
Difficulty Level: lv.76.
Quest Briefing: Deliver the heirloom to the Beast Leader.
Time Limit: 3 natural days.
Quest Reward: Massive increase in Beast Leader's favorability.
Quest Penalty: Forced execution.
...
Su Xiao recalled his temporary memories and learned what the heirloom was. It was a rare item seized by the Healing Institute last month, very important to the beasts on the Wasteland.
Su Xiao planned to go back later and smash that heirloom. As the saying goes, opportunity knocks but once. It was rare to have a chance to fail a main quest, especially with a forced execution penalty. Such a golden opportunity to trigger the effect of the Eight-Star Title · Doom Monarch was not to be missed.
He then checked the content of the promotion quest. This was the real challenge.
[Promotion Quest: Sanctuary Key (Third Ring).]
Difficulty Level: lv.80.
Quest Briefing: Delve deep into Wadi Manor and find the Sanctuary Key.
Time Limit: 5 natural days.
Quest Reward: Protection Stone ×7.
Quest Penalty: None.
...
Seeing this quest, Su Xiao understood why the promotion quest was related to the Wadi Family. The key point was the Sanctuary Key, not whatever the Wadi Family was plotting.
As for why the search for the Sanctuary Key was only starting now, rather than being the goal from the beginning, Su Xiao speculated that before the Wadi Family's plan was implemented, the Sanctuary Key was likely not within High Wall City. After the plan began, the Sanctuary Key was needed, so the Wadi Family retrieved it.
Su Xiao leaped down from the high ground. Entering Wadi Manor immediately was definitely not a good strategy. Letting the various factions within High Wall City clear the path first was the best choice.
"Duke, isn't your Rage Hammer organization established precisely to handle situations like this?"
Hearing Su Xiao's words, the Duke gave a forced smile. At that moment, the sound of orderly running and clashing armor came.
A battalion of over 200 people, each clad in silver full-body armor, marched in. At the lead was a woman wearing a black dress like smoke and a silver metal mask.
Seeing this Silver Armor Battalion, the Duke was momentarily stunned. It was common to see superhumans using cold weapons within the High Wall, but full silver armor like this was rare. Such things were usually only seen in museums.
The woman in the smoke-like black dress and silver metal mask glanced at the Duke. Her gaze, like looking at a defeated dog, was something anyone could feel.
"Duke, I heard your Rage Hammer is stationed in the central square? Hard work for you. Leave this to us."
With that, the Smoke Dress Woman led the Silver Armor Battalion towards Wadi Manor. It was obvious that this Silver Armor Battalion was secretly formed by the High Wall Council. They had long coveted the authority over supernatural incidents, and now they suddenly brought out their secretly trained Silver Armor Battalion to compete with the Rage Hammer organization.
It seemed the High Wall Council was no longer adhering to the rules as before.
The Duke's fists clenched until they cracked, as if he was furious. But after the Silver Armor Battalion fully entered the manor's main gate, the Duke's anger dissipated, and he even felt a bit amused inside.
"Bai Ye, what do you plan to do next?"
The Duke was in a good mood. The drastic change in the Wadi Family gave him more of a chilling feeling. If he could avoid being the first wave into this eerie manor, he certainly wouldn't let the Rage Hammer be the first. Now that someone was willing to rush in, he was happy to watch the show first.
Su Xiao took out his watch and checked the time. It was almost noon. He would go back for lunch first and treat Housi's injuries.
Su Xiao's plan was to observe for a few hours. Even if the Silver Armor Battalion of the High Wall Guild found the Sanctuary Key inside the manor, it didn't matter. As long as a faction within the High Wall obtained it, he could find a way to get it later.
If that really didn't work, he would delve into Wadi Manor to explore. The various extraterrestrial creatures summoned by the Wadi Family this time were bound to be stranger than the last.
Even if he had to risk entering the manor, he would wait until after completing another task.
Housi, in poor mental state, opened a spatial ghost gate. The group walked through it. When they emerged from the ghost gate on the other side, they were already in the main courtyard of the Healing Institute headquarters.
With a thud, Housi collapsed. Seeing this, Silver Wolf Woman · Marina easily hoisted Housi onto her shoulder and walked towards a nearby dormitory building.
"I'll first..."
Before the Duke could finish his sentence, he noticed the surrounding Healing Institute members gradually closing in. It seemed that with just one command from Su Xiao, they would swarm him.
"Cough~"
The Duke coughed dryly. A flash of light appeared on his mechanical left hand, and a large bag of ancient gold coins materialized, exactly 400 coins. This was to repay the debt.
Ding~
Su Xiao flicked an existing ancient gold coin into the air. As the coin fell, a foot stepped on it as soon as it hit the ground.
"My dear friend, are you looking for me?"
The owner of this foot was, of course, Kaisa.
Seeing Kaisa arrive, Su Xiao said in a calm tone, "This Duke gentleman owed me 400 ancient gold coins a few days ago and intends to repay them today."
"Oh?! Is that so?"
Kaisa fixed his gaze on the Duke, then revealed that seven-tenths treacherous, three-tenths lecherous smile. At that moment, cold sweat broke out on the Duke's temples.
After some negotiation, due to the Duke's multiple attempts to default on the debt, including the principal, he paid a total of 612 ancient gold coins. There was no interest, but rather compensation for mental distress and handling fees.
Initially, the Duke planned to crush Kaisa with one hand. But after Kaisa merged with his jar, the Duke calmed down and finally completed the negotiation with Kaisa.
Su Xiao tossed Kaisa a sealed vial. It was very small, containing 3 ounces of space-time power, as payment for Kaisa's trouble.
With the space-time power in hand, plus having eaten lunch in the cafeteria until it reached his neck, and having pilfered half a bag of onions from the back kitchen, Kaisa left satisfied.
Inside the Vice Dean's office, Su Xiao leaned back in a leather chair, listening to Lis, who was dressed as a secretary and holding documents to report, sitting across the desk. Clearly, Lis was very smart and hadn't let becoming the new Dean go to her head.
"Mm, I understand. Continue with your work."
"Yes."
Just as Lis was about to turn and leave, Su Xiao suddenly spoke, "Go to the vault and retrieve the Beast Clan heirloom seized last month."
Su Xiao took an approval document from the drawer, signed and stamped it, then had Lis take it to the basement level two to find the warehouse manager to pick up the item.
Half an hour later, in the office, a fist-sized crystal was placed on the desk in front of Su Xiao.
"Sir, this is the Beast Clan heirloom you requested. I've read its information. It's said that this secret treasure has been passed down by the Beast Clan for several hundred years. If we return it to the Beast Leader, we might be able to establish initial trust with the Beast Clan. This way, we could expand trade outside the High Wall. The resources outside the High Wall are scarce, but some of them..."
Crack~
Su Xiao crushed the crystal in his hand with his bare hand. Across from him, Lis's mouth twitched.
"Anything else?"
Su Xiao dumped the fragments into the ashtray.
"Nothing, sir. I'll continue my work."
Lis returned to her desk in the corner and resumed reviewing documents.
[Warning: You have destroyed the heirloom!]
[Warning: Your main quest is about to fail!]
[Adjudicating...]
[Doom Monarch Title has been triggered. This title is now damaged.]
[Successfully exempted from main quest failure penalty.]
[You have obtained Seven-Star Title (No Attribute) ×5.]
...
Su Xiao now had 662 ancient gold coins. In the Title Shop, a Six-Star Title cost around 100 ancient gold coins. With five attribute-less Seven-Star Titles in hand, it was time to forge a combat-type Eight-Star Title.
Su Xiao took the [Deep Blue Shadow] title from his title list. When he first obtained this title, he felt that its compatibility with him was exceptionally high. That was why he had kept it until now. At this moment, he was very curious about what an eight-star [Deep Blue Shadow] would look like.