Chapter 47: The Umbrella-Less Brother's Shattered Worldview
Inside a pitch-black room, about a dozen square meters in size, windowless, the only light source came from the indicator lights of medical equipment.
These medical devices were haphazardly arranged in a row, and with a single bed in the center of the room, the already small space felt cramped. From the tangled mess of wires, it was clear the person using these devices didn't take good care of them.
Beep, beep, beep...
The electrocardiogram monitor showed a stable waveform, indicating that the Umbrella-Less Brother, wearing an oxygen mask, was still alive.
The Umbrella-Less Brother's eyes were tightly shut. He had undergone who knows how many surgeries, with multiple suture marks on his abdomen. If not for his strong vitality and a survival-type innate ability, he would have died long ago.
It's worth mentioning that the Umbrella-Less Brother's innate ability was quite interesting, detailed as follows.
[Survival Against All Odds]
Category: Rare Innate Ability (Unawakened)
Level: None (No level before awakening)
Ability Effect (Passive): Luck -0.5. If health is below 50%, health recovery per second +5 points. If health is below 40%, health recovery per second +10 points. If health is below 20%, health recovery per second +30 points.
Tip: This ability's effects do not conflict with any equipment or skill bonuses.
Tip: When the recovery effect is triggered, it will continue until health rises above 80%.
...
If Su Xiao saw the Umbrella-Less Brother's innate ability, he would definitely laugh out loud. An ability that actually reduces luck? Although the reduction was small, such abilities were extremely rare.
From this ability, one could guess the Umbrella-Less Brother's experiences. His luck wasn't great, and he often faced dangerous situations. In those desperate moments, he relied on his cockroach-like vitality to survive.
If the Umbrella-Less Brother's health dropped below 20%, his health recovery per second would be downright insane, especially since he also had equipment that increased health recovery speed.
When an enemy thought the next blow would finish him off, the Umbrella-Less Brother would have already recovered a significant amount of health.
Moreover, his innate ability hadn't awakened yet. Once it did, it would surely have a powerful effect.
Beep~
All the medical equipment in the room went dark. Without the oxygen from the medical oxygen concentrator, the Umbrella-Less Brother's tightly shut eyelids twitched.
"Huh?"
The Umbrella-Less Brother slowly woke up. Everything before him was pitch black. After the initial confusion, he sat up with a start.
"Am... I blind?"
Everything was dark. Although he had escaped death, he was still inside a derivative world. If he lost his sight, it basically meant he couldn't leave this derivative world alive.
"Is this fate? Sigh~"
The Umbrella-Less Brother leaned back on the bed. Feeling the restraint on his face, he took off the oxygen mask.
Creak. The door was pushed open, and a beam of light shone in. Seeing this light, he sat up again.
"I'm not blind!"
The Umbrella-Less Brother was overjoyed.
"Blind from what? The power went out."
Su Xiao walked into the room holding a flashlight and came to the Umbrella-Less Brother's bedside.
"Thank you."
The Umbrella-Less Brother let out a long sigh. Although Su Xiao had stabbed him earlier, the fact that he was still alive said it all.
Beep, beep, beep...
The medical equipment in the room lit up again. The power outage had only lasted a short time. Su Xiao turned on the room's light, and it became bright. The Umbrella-Less Brother instinctively squinted, shielding his eyes with his hand.
After adjusting to the bright light, the Umbrella-Less Brother held out a purple-quality ring. For him, this was a huge sum.
"This is my thanks."
The Umbrella-Less Brother was a grateful person. Including this time, Su Xiao had saved him twice.
Su Xiao leaned against the doorframe and lit a cigarette.
"The information you provided on the derivative world contact platform earlier was very important. As for saving you this time, let's call it even."
The Umbrella-Less Brother opened and closed his mouth, then finally nodded.
"Truly terrifying. I'd only heard of high-rank contractors entering low-rank worlds to kill before, never thought I'd experience it firsthand."
The Umbrella-Less Brother sighed, then checked his own condition. The memory of the previous surgery was still vivid, and he was clearly apprehensive about Su Xiao's surgical skills.
Seeing the several suture marks on his abdomen, the Umbrella-Less Brother's mouth twitched.
"Did you 'dismember me into eight pieces' and then reassemble me?"
"No, that was the work of a doctor."
The one who operated on the Umbrella-Less Brother wasn't Su Xiao, but a middle-aged doctor he had kidnapped. That doctor received a huge hush-money payment and left satisfied, even leaving Su Xiao his phone number, repeatedly emphasizing to contact him if needed.
"Is that so? Then what about the Hashirama cells inside me..."
The Umbrella-Less Brother didn't want to turn into a tree. He had already experienced a preliminary woodification, and that feeling was worse than death.
"No danger for three days. As for after three days... it depends on your luck."
"Heh~ In three days, I'll definitely become a 'vegetable'."
The Umbrella-Less Brother gave a bitter smile. He was very confident about that.
"Oh? Why are you so sure?"
"This is my summary after going through many derivative worlds. Sigh, a tough life."
Just as the Umbrella-Less Brother was feeling melancholy, a small head poked through the door crack.
"Time to eat."
Sakura Matou timidly called out before pulling her head back and running toward the dining room. Because she was wearing a pair of oversized slippers, her steps were clumsy.
"Me... is this okay?"
The Umbrella-Less Brother made a move to get up.
"It's fine."
A few minutes later, Su Xiao, the Umbrella-Less Brother, Bubu Wang, and Sakura Matou sat around the dining table. As for Kariya Matou, he was sitting in the "special seat," tied to a pillar in the living room with chains.
No one spoke, just silently chewing their food.
"Not bad. Is this takeout?"
The Umbrella-Less Brother mumbled indistinctly. In his view, Su Xiao definitely couldn't cook, and Sakura Matou was too young. As for Bubu Wang, he couldn't imagine a "husky" cooking.
Sakura Matou, holding half a large grilled shrimp in her small hand, secretly pointed at Su Xiao.
"Eh~"
The Umbrella-Less Brother stopped chewing and stiffly turned his head to look at Su Xiao.
"You made this?!"
"What, is there a problem with the taste?"
"No, nothing."
The Umbrella-Less Brother looked as if he'd seen a ghost. He never expected that Su Xiao could cook, and the food tasted quite good.
Bubu Wang and Sakura Matou were eating with their heads down. Sakura, being young and just recovering mentally, didn't care about etiquette. She used chopsticks for nearby food and her hands for food farther away, eating with unusual joy. This wasn't rudeness; after experiencing such a terrifying ordeal, this behavior showed the little girl's mental resilience.
After the meal, Su Xiao took out a tablet and started playing a puzzle game. Bubu Wang pulled out his phone and began playing a mobile game, though he was terrible at it.
Sakura Matou, clearly having eaten too much, sat motionless in her chair.
The Umbrella-Less Brother watched Su Xiao, who was completely absorbed in his game. His worldview was shattered. In his imagination, with Su Xiao's ferocious aura, he should be sitting in a dark corner, pondering his next move, or taking out his blade to polish it repeatedly. Playing games? What the hell was that?
That wasn't the case. Su Xiao was only ferocious in battle. He didn't display that ferocity in daily life. If he acted that way all the time, it wouldn't be imposing or cool—it would be mentally unstable.