Chapter 93: Compensation?
[The individual battle has ended.]
[Result: Victory.]
[Twelve consecutive victories!]
[Hunter ranking improved, from 2255th to 2110th.]
Su Xiao sat cross-legged in the rest pod, pulling out a timer that showed 71 hours and 52 minutes. There were only 8 minutes left before returning to the real world, and starting another match was clearly not enough time.
He began waiting for the return to the real world. The 8 minutes passed in an instant.
[Hunter's stay time in Reincarnation Paradise has reached its limit.]
[Verified that the Hunter has successfully passed their first derivative world after advancing to the Second Rank. Time conversion function has been activated.]
[Note: The Hunter can convert real world stay time into Reincarnation Paradise stay time, with a maximum conversion ratio of 1/2.]
Seeing this notification, a look of delight appeared on Su Xiao's face. After passing his first derivative world as a Second Rank, he could actually convert his real world stay time into Reincarnation Paradise stay time.
Stay time in Reincarnation Paradise was precious—the more, the better. Here, he could fight in the arena or sell alchemy bombs, among other things.
Not only that, but during his free time, he could browse the trade market to see if there were any good finds.
In the real world, he mostly just watched anime or wandered around, whereas in Reincarnation Paradise, he could gradually grow stronger.
Without hesitation, he made the conversion. His stay time in Reincarnation Paradise increased from 0 seconds to 84 hours, allowing him to continue staying in the paradise.
Having his stay time more than double made Su Xiao ponder.
The higher one's rank, the longer they should be able to stay in Reincarnation Paradise. For someone like him, who had few attachments in the real world, choosing to stay in the paradise was the obvious choice.
This meant that fewer and fewer contractors would remain in the real world. Combined with various regulations, the interference of contractors in the real world wouldn't be as significant as one might imagine.
The real world was different from derivative worlds. It held a special significance for Reincarnation Paradise. If something went wrong in the real world, it would affect the paradise's ability to select new contractors, creating a vicious cycle.
Lighting a cigarette, Su Xiao stopped thinking about these issues. Although his stay time had increased, he still needed to cherish this precious time.
Dragging his tired body out of the arena, he noticed that while many contractors had returned to the real world, the paradise was still lively. There were plenty of workers and contractors above the First Rank here.
Su Xiao's life in Reincarnation Paradise was very routine. Aside from rest time, he spent most of his time in the trade market, the trial grounds, and the arena, with the arena taking up the majority.
When his mana was fully restored, Su Xiao would craft intermediate alchemy bombs to sell in the trade market—a considerable source of income.
The happiest one about being able to stay longer in Reincarnation Paradise was Bubu Wang.
That glutton lived a comfortable life. Based on Su Xiao's observations, Bubu Wang's rest schedule matched his own. The first thing he did upon waking was eat a big meal, then visit a cold drink shop. Sometimes, he would go to the Equipment Enhancement Hall to observe the expressions of contractors, which was one of Bubu's twisted pleasures.
Most of Bubu Wang's time was spent eating and sleeping. Lately, that fool's fur had become glossier, and his physique had miraculously grown a bit larger.
Inside the exclusive room, Su Xiao stared at Bubu Wang. Bubu Wang sighed dejectedly, occasionally glancing at the treadmill nearby.
"You've gained 20 pounds recently. Time to lose some weight."
"Oww~"
Bubu Wang let out a long howl, his gaze seeming to say, "Master, I am a lone wolf from the north. Gaining fat is to withstand the harsh cold. Please, let me explain."
"Are you running or not?"
Su Xiao pulled out a specially made size 64 slipper. Bubu Wang's dog body instinctively lowered, and although he was scared to death, he still tried to act nonchalant.
After hesitating for a moment, Bubu Wang stepped onto the large treadmill and began running half-heartedly.
Su Xiao nodded, instructing Bubu Wang not to slack off before leaving the exclusive room.
Bubu Wang sighed. Although he was lazy, he never slacked off on anything Su Xiao asked him to do. So, gritting his teeth, he started running with effort.
...
In the trade market, Su Xiao sat behind a stall, on which many intermediate alchemy bombs were displayed.
After turning down a contractor's haggling, he picked up a tablet and started playing a puzzle game.
Half an hour later, he vaguely sensed someone standing in front of the stall. He didn't look up—people standing in front of stalls was normal.
"Bai Ye, you're really hard to find."
Su Xiao, who was playing the puzzle game, paused. The character in the game died.
Looking up, a man in a gray suit was standing in front of the stall. The man's powerful muscles strained the suit tight, and a scar ran from his cheek down to his neck, like an ugly centipede crawling on his face.
"You are?"
Su Xiao didn't recognize the other party. He had never seen this person before.
"Hello, I'm Stan."
"Stan?"
Su Xiao racked his brain to recall the name. Suddenly, he thought of someone—Blood Gate Adventurers' Captain, Stan.
"Sounds familiar... You're the Captain of Blood Gate Adventurers? Is there something you need?"
Su Xiao's expression remained calm, showing no signs of weakness. He had killed members of Blood Gate Adventurers before, during his first battle with Jiraiya.
"Of course there's something. Take a look at this."
Stan handed over a projection device showing a first-person perspective battle recording. The footage was very shaky.
The recording was filled with roaring sounds. Didara was flying at high speed on a clay bird, while in the distance, high in the sky, a man was aiming a sniper rifle—it was Su Xiao.
After a few shots, the recording's angle leveled with the ground, and the shaking stopped.
"This is why I'm looking for you. The person you killed is named Zimo, a seed member of my Blood Gate. I know your missions conflicted, but that's not important."
As he spoke, Stan took out a pack of cigarettes, pulled out two, and offered one to Su Xiao.
Su Xiao smiled but didn't take the cigarette. It was best to avoid touching things from enemies, especially in Reincarnation Paradise.
Stan chuckled, threw the cigarette on the ground, and lit the one in his mouth.
"Friend, your sniping skills are impressive."
Stan looked Su Xiao up and down.
"Here to get revenge?"
"Of course not. If I were here for revenge, I wouldn't have shown myself at all."
"Then what?"
Su Xiao found this situation very interesting. Unlike what he'd seen in movies and shows, this "avenger" was very polite.
"I'm here to demand compensation. You see, cultivating a seed member consumes a lot of resources. Dead people have no value. Dying just means Zimo wasn't good enough."
Saying this, Stan touched the scar on his face.
"I considered revenge before, but given your strength, sending ordinary subordinates wouldn't kill you, and it would incur various expenses. So, asking you to compensate for the losses Zimo's death caused my group is the wisest choice."
Hearing Stan's words, Su Xiao's smile grew even brighter.
Stan was not to be underestimated. Not only was he physically powerful, ruthless, and merciless, but his intelligence was also considerable.
"By the way, we have some history. Do you remember an armored vehicle from the trial world? After Iron Master died, my subordinates investigated, and I heard your name back then. But that matter had nothing to do with you, so I didn't come looking. Now it seems we might be fated to clash."
Both men were smiling, but hidden beneath was murderous intent. Stan hadn't said a single harsh word. Useless threats, in Stan's view, were mindless.
"Back to the point. I spent about 500,000 Paradise coins cultivating Zimo. Considering the price difference and your ability to pay, you need to compensate me 100,000 Paradise coins. After that, Blood Gate won't come after you. If you want to join, you're welcome."
Dead people had no value. Stan had only invested in Zimo because of his talent—it was business, unrelated to personal feelings.