Chapter 39: Familiar
Hearing Su Xiao's question, Umbrella Brother sat upright on the hospital bed with a serious expression.
"Have you heard of the Blood Gate Adventurers?"
Umbrella Brother's first words let Su Xiao know what was going on. The revenge from Blood Gate Adventurers' leader Stan had arrived.
"Some past grudges."
"Some... past grudges? So they're here to take revenge on you?!"
Umbrella Brother's expression turned grim. He was caught in the crossfire. Seeing Su Xiao's relaxed demeanor, Umbrella Brother felt a surge of frustration. The one who should have been hunted was safe and sound, while he, the innocent bystander, had been chased nearly to death.
"What's the grudge between you?"
Umbrella Brother sighed. Complaining was useless now. Besides, Su Xiao had just saved his life.
"As for the grudge..."
Su Xiao briefly explained his conflict with the Blood Gate. After hearing it, Umbrella Brother was dumbfounded.
"That's it? Stan sent Huang Fen to hunt you down for that? Is he out of his mind?"
"That's what I'm wondering too."
Su Xiao didn't mention one thing to Umbrella Brother: his number couldn't be tracked, making the tracking cost much higher.
"So, we're allies now?"
Umbrella Brother unwrapped the bandages on his body. His vitality was abnormally strong, which was the only reason he had survived Huang Fen's two assassination attempts.
"Yeah, otherwise why would I save you? By the way, do those three have tracking methods?"
"They do. One of them, a woman named Die, has a familiar..."
Umbrella Brother stopped mid-sentence.
"What are the specific features of the familiar?"
"..."
Su Xiao noticed Umbrella Brother wasn't responding and looked up at him.
"It's a familiar like this, damn it!"
Umbrella Brother pointed at the window. On the glass outside was a colorful butterfly.
"They've caught up. How do we get rid of this thing? It's too obstructive in a fight."
Umbrella Brother pointed at the tube on his abdomen, which was connected to an iron box. Su Xiao walked over and, despite Umbrella Brother's startled cry, yanked the tube out.
"Is this really okay? I feel a bit dizzy."
"It's fine. It's just the residual Hashirama Cells in your body rebelling against you."
Su Xiao contacted Bubu Wang, telling him to take Matou Sakura and hide.
The palm-sized colorful butterfly fluttered outside the window. Dragon-Slaying Flash appeared in Su Xiao's hand, and the Apostle's Eye floated in midair, constantly on guard.
"Hashirama Cells... rebelling?! What are the risks?"
"You'll turn into a tree."
Su Xiao's expression was calm, but Umbrella Brother's hair stood on end.
"What!"
Umbrella Brother was horrified. He immediately recalled a scene from the Naruto World: Shimura Danzo turning into a tree as he lay dying.
"Like Danzo?"
"No."
Su Xiao's answer made Umbrella Brother breathe a sigh of relief, but his next words turned Umbrella Brother's face ashen.
"Orochimaru transplanted Danzo with cells from a dead Hashirama. What you have inside you are cells from a living Hashirama. Their activity levels are different. If..."
"Wait, in simple terms?"
Umbrella Brother swallowed hard, his gaze seeming to say: 'Bro, I have a cute daughter waiting for me. I need to live.'
"In simple terms, Danzo's Hashirama Cells gave him a chance to fight back when they erupted. As for yours, a few seconds after eruption, you'll turn into a tree—a very tall one."
Su Xiao walked to the window, blade in hand. It was noon, and the villa's courtyard was empty.
"So I could die at any moment?"
Umbrella Brother's mouth twitched as he looked down at his lower abdomen.
"You could say that. The tube I implanted earlier was to suppress the Hashirama Cells. Since you asked to have it removed..."
Su Xiao's words left Umbrella Brother stunned.
"Uh, could you maybe reimplant it? I regret it. Carrying that iron box wasn't so bad. It could even protect my vitals in a pinch."
"Alright."
Seeing no enemies near the villa for now, Su Xiao picked up the iron box with the tube and walked toward Umbrella Brother, stabbing the tube with its barbed tip into his abdomen.
"Hey, isn't this too reckless? Just stabbing it in raw?!
Pfft.
Umbrella Brother winced in pain, baring his teeth.
"Hold this."
Su Xiao handed him the iron box. Umbrella Brother now looked utterly resigned to his fate. He could only strap the box to his abdomen, as if this little box was his destiny.
Although Umbrella Brother was a wild main tank, he didn't use shields. Instead, he wore a pair of heavy metal gauntlets that extended to his forearms, each as thick as a torso.
Umbrella Brother didn't need a shield at all. Blocking with both gauntlets in front of him was like having a shield, and the gauntlets were more flexible, usable for attacking or restraining enemies.
Steam rose from the gauntlets as Umbrella Brother rolled his shoulders.
"Have you decided on an escape route?"
Umbrella Brother leaned toward the window, looking at the empty courtyard.
"Why escape?"
Su Xiao seemed puzzled.
"Shouldn't we? They're third-rank contractors, a whole rank above me!"
"So what?"
Su Xiao didn't care what rank the enemy was. Without fighting them head-on, he would never retreat before the battle even began. Besides, retreating now was pointless.
"Bro, I'll call you bro, okay? It's not escaping—it's a strategic withdrawal."
Su Xiao remained unmoved. He urgently wanted to know if he could fight those three high-rank contractors head-on. Running forever was unwise; they'd be caught eventually. Umbrella Brother's previous plight was proof enough.
"If there are three of them, you can hold off one, right?"
"N-no problem."
Seeing that Su Xiao was determined not to flee, Umbrella Brother sighed. Running alone would also lead to death, so he might as well stay and fight. Besides, he had been running for so long that a stifling anger had built up in his chest.
"Roar!"
A roar came from the villa's courtyard. Su Xiao looked closely and saw it was 'Berserker' Matou Kariya.
"Why hasn't this guy withdrawn?"
Normally, Matou Kariya should have been hiding in the shadows with Matou Sakura.
"Roar!"
Matou Kariya roared again, his gaze fixed on Su Xiao on the second floor. The black smoke billowing from him was abnormal, and a pink glow emanated from his eyes.
"Is that a Servant?"
Umbrella Brother had never seen the modified Matou Kariya.
"This is Matou Kariya. You can think of him as a Master version of a Berserker."
"How strong is he?"
"Not very, but he can take a beating."
"That's good."
Umbrella Brother breathed a sigh of relief.
"He's an enemy now. He's been controlled by that woman named Die—the charm-specialist contractor I mentioned earlier. Though she's a charm specialist, her close combat ability is extremely strong."
Su Xiao nodded. Without Matou Sakura, having Matou Kariya controlled would be a troublesome situation.
Matou Kariya, shrouded in black smoke, stood in the courtyard. Strangely, the three high-rank contractors hadn't appeared.
The sound of dense footsteps came. One by one, blank-faced civilians emerged from all directions, about a few dozen of them. Their eyes glowed pink, and importantly, their bodies were covered in bombs.
These civilians surrounded the villa. Matou Kariya in front let out another roar, and all the civilians simultaneously looked up at the villa.
"Such underhanded tactics... Huang Fen isn't here?"
Umbrella Brother seemed to realize something, a smile spreading across his face.
"Bai Ye, I have a theory. If it's true, today might be our chance to turn things around."
"What theory?"
After Umbrella Brother muttered a few words, Su Xiao's eyes lit up with curiosity.
"Are you sure?"
"Not entirely, but I'm more than sixty percent certain. I know Huang Fen a bit. He wouldn't pull something like this. If he were here, this villa would have been burned to ashes by now."