Chapter 60: Assembly
The lion pack retreated, and Su Xiao’s aura returned to normal.
“Conqueror’s… Conqueror’s Haki?”
The little healer’s mouth hung slightly open, staring at the scene before her in disbelief.
“I’d rather this was Conqueror’s Haki.”
The male contractor wiped the blood from his chin, then raised his hand only to find it trembling.
“This guy has no idea how many people he’s killed. Definitely not easy to get along with. If he has some kind of special fetish, pray for yourselves.”
The male contractor patted the little healer on the shoulder. Her cheek twitched—not from fear, but because he was using her clothes to wipe his blood.
“You two.”
Su Xiao turned his head to look at the two contractors.
“Here.”
Under Su Xiao’s gaze, the little healer shrank her neck.
“Hand it over.”
Su Xiao stared at the two contractors.
“What?”
The little healer looked at Su Xiao in confusion, while the male contractor took a few steps back.
“…”
Su Xiao stared at them in silence. The little healer was bewildered. After hesitating for a moment, the male contractor pulled out a Primordial Seed.
All four of them carried Primordial Seeds, but the one the male contractor took out was a Primordial Seed that hadn’t been processed by the Sun Maiden. This type of seed, if not stored in a sealed container, would attract a large number of wild beasts.
The male contractor had somehow gotten his hands on an unprocessed Primordial Seed. This thing was troublesome.
“I have to carry it.”
The male contractor spoke, his expression resolute.
“Reason.”
A boulder fell from the sky, crashing down beside Su Xiao with a thunderous roar.
“Karbat Monsaju (unknown language).”
A roar came from afar. A tall humanoid creature walked over from the distance; it was the one who had thrown the large rock.
“Finally here.”
The male contractor let out a long sigh of relief.
Su Xiao looked at the humanoid creature. It was about four to five meters tall, roughly human in appearance, but with a large nose, a bald head, and a long black beard.
“Is this… a giant?”
Su Xiao could only think of this possibility, and this giant seemed hostile.
Su Xiao drew his blade and stepped forward. If it dared to come closer, even if it was a giant, he would cut it down.
“Roar!”
The giant let out a wild howl. It wore clothes stitched from various animal hides, its brownish-yellow eyes fixed on Su Xiao.
“Wait.”
The male contractor quickly ran forward. “I’ll negotiate with him. This is why I brought the ordinary Primordial Seed.”
The blood-faced male contractor stepped forward. The giant didn’t attack directly; the boulder it had thrown earlier was just its way of greeting.
The male contractor studied the giant. He wasn’t sure if the giant could understand his language; he was just following the Sun Maiden’s instructions.
“What the hell are you staring at?”
The giant glared at the male contractor, its voice deep and rumbling.
The male contractor was stunned.
“Hand it over.”
The giant was very domineering, extending a large hand in front of the male contractor. After a moment’s hesitation, the male contractor handed over the Primordial Seed.
The giant carefully pinched the seed between two fingers. To him, this seed was too small. His next move surprised everyone—he tossed the Primordial Seed into his mouth.
Boom, boom…
A rumbling sound came from the giant’s stomach. After a few seconds, it stopped, and the giant let out a satisfied burp.
The giant closed its eyes, savoring the moment for a while, then pulled an animal hide from its chest.
“Map.”
Throwing the hide on the ground, the giant turned and left. Each step caused a slight tremor in the ground, but the giant kept its head tilted, as if on guard against something.
Su Xiao sheathed the Dragon-Slaying Flash. The giant stopped looking at them and began to stride forward.
The male contractor picked up the map from the ground. After confirming it was correct, a smile appeared on his face.
“This is a map of the Black Forest.”
Hearing the male contractor’s words, Su Xiao quickly stepped forward and took the map.
On the map, the Black Forest was shaped like a ring, surrounding the ordinary area. The other side of the forest was the island’s edge. To leave the island, unless one had flight abilities, they would have to cross the Black Forest—and it had to be a straight crossing.
Although the Black Forest was ring-shaped, its entrance and exit were at specific locations. You couldn’t just enter from anywhere; this was no ordinary forest.
According to the map’s markings, there was only one entrance from the ordinary area into the Black Forest. Entering from any other direction was suicide.
While Su Xiao was studying the map, Old Bal and the others gathered around.
“Is this map accurate? Giants have good reputations, but this is a matter of life and death. I only have a general understanding of the Black Forest; I still need a map for specific coordinates.”
Old Bal pinched his chin. The male contractor and the little healer looked at him in surprise.
“Is this an Asaman?”
The little healer stared at Old Bal’s red skin, clicking her tongue in wonder.
“That’s right. How should I address you two? Let’s introduce ourselves, since we’ll be going deep into ‘hell’ together.”
Old Bal pointed at Su Xiao.
“His name is Bai Ye, I’m Bal, and this is…”
Old Bal looked at Bubu Wang.
“Bubu.”
Su Xiao spoke.
“Yeah, right, Bubu.”
Bubu Wang raised his dog paw and gave a little wave to the two.
“So cute.”
The little healer leaned in, seemingly wanting to pet Bubu Wang’s head. The previously gentle Bubu Wang bared his teeth, and she quickly pulled her hand back.
“My name is Little Muddle, a support healer. Specialty is running fast.”
The little healer spoke, revealing a row of neat, white teeth.
The male contractor beside her took out a bottle of water to wash the blood off his face.
Once his face was clear, Su Xiao was a bit surprised. Wasn’t this No-Umbrella Bro? This guy was still alive?!
“I’m Christmas, main tank. We’ve met before.”
No-Umbrella Bro being a main tank wasn’t surprising. If he weren’t a main tank, he would have died long ago.
“Mm, hello, No-Umbrella Bro.”
Su Xiao and Bubu Wang’s combination was quite noticeable. It wasn’t strange that No-Umbrella Bro had remembered them from earlier in the air.
“No-Umbrella Bro?”
Little Muddle looked at No-Umbrella Bro in confusion.
“The past is unbearable to recall. Christmas is just a code name. Just call me No-Umbrella Bro.”
The four had gathered. Whether by fate or coincidence, their combination was fairly decent.
Su Xiao: Top-tier charge, assassination, powerful melee combat, also a sniper.
Little Muddle: Healer, buffs stronger than healing output.
No-Umbrella Bro: Main tank, doesn’t use a shield, extremely high survivability, key point—very resistant to falls, air drops, cliff jumps, hasn’t died yet, but has bad luck.
Old Bal: Has control-type abilities, balanced in various skills, knowledgeable about the Black Forest.
Bubu Wang: Stealth, reconnaissance, group aura, can infiltrate enemy lines at any time.
…
Everyone was assembled. The next step was to enter the Black Forest. It was now the seventh day of the survival trial.
Su Xiao entered the Black Forest voluntarily. Little Muddle and No-Umbrella Bro were different; a very thin vine clung to their necks. This was the Sun Maiden’s method of controlling them, forcing them deep into the Black Forest.
After initial contact, Su Xiao found that Little Muddle was the easiest to handle, or perhaps the hardest. This girl had no real urgency; she was just trying to find a way to break free from the Sun Maiden’s restraint and then escape as far as possible.
No-Umbrella Bro was a bit strange, seemingly already resigned to his fate.
Old Bal was still a sly old fox, but his body was filled with alchemical bombs.