Chapter 48: Bubu Wang VS Kaiser
Black Earth Fortress, 4th Floor, Quartermaster's Dormitory.
"Is this really okay?"
Nicholas Kaiser's unique voice came through, his tone sleazy yet revealing a hint of cunning.
"Shut up."
Su Xiao sat in front of the test bench, dozens of test tubes and various experimental vessels laid out before him.
"Woof."
Bubu Wang crouched beside Su Xiao and barked at Nicholas Kaiser.
This time, Su Xiao had sought out Kaiser on his own initiative. Under normal circumstances, Su Xiao wouldn't have such frequent contact with Kaiser, because Kaiser behaved too abnormally, and his fluctuating favorability was unpredictable.
However, with Bubu Wang holding the fort, Su Xiao had a way to deal with Kaiser. Bubu Wang would 'assist' Su Xiao in negotiating with Kaiser.
When Kaiser first learned of this situation, he was speechless. But after some interaction, he unexpectedly found this dog quite 'interesting.'
This was Bubu Wang's effort to drag Kaiser's 'IQ' down to its own level. The fact that Su Xiao could sit at the test bench spoke volumes.
After a 'fair' showdown, Kaiser and Bubu Wang gradually became 'acquainted.' Coupled with Su Xiao's smooth talk, Kaiser was clearly bewildered by this pair of a man and a dog. He still didn't know Su Xiao's ultimate goal.
"Are you sure you didn't sense it wrong? The thing in Carlos's blood is a type of energy? I feel it's more like a living creature."
Although Kaiser let Su Xiao touch his beloved test bench, he had already stowed away all the important materials on it.
"Not entirely sure, but given your alchemy level, you won't touch this field for another ten or twenty years. Bring me Carlos's blood."
That's right, Su Xiao had his sights set on Carlos's blood.
Through negotiations 'interfered' with by Bubu Wang, Su Xiao roughly understood Carlos's situation. Of course, part of it was also due to the pressure the Dark Elf Princess had put on Kaiser, having given him an ultimatum.
Left with no choice, Kaiser could only take a gamble and tell Su Xiao about Carlos's condition.
If it were anyone else, Kaiser naturally wouldn't reveal this matter. Disclosing Carlos's physical condition was a matter of life and death. However, Su Xiao's alchemy skills surpassed Kaiser's, which gave Kaiser a glimmer of hope. After all, with Kaiser's current alchemy level, treating Carlos was simply impossible.
Kaiser had been toughing it out. The reason he took such a risk was that helping Carlos extend his life would allow Kaiser to obtain the resources needed for his alchemy research.
Now that Carlos's time was nearly up, Kaiser had originally planned to cut and run. Who would have thought war would break out, leaving him no chance to escape. This morning, the Dark Elf Princess had even placed a tracking mark on him, making it impossible to flee.
Just then, Su Xiao came to Kaiser with Bubu Wang. After some probing, coupled with Bubu Wang's occasional 'interference' with Kaiser, the two sides ultimately 'happily' cooperated.
According to Kaiser, Legion Commander Carlos was on his last legs, with at most three months to live, or even less.
An unidentified energy was eroding Carlos's body. This energy had been inside him since childhood. As Carlos aged, this unknown energy grew stronger.
Initially, this unknown energy gave Carlos physical abilities far beyond his peers, even granting him heightened perception. This led the young Carlos to mistakenly believe it was his greatest asset.
But the good times didn't last. As Carlos's strength increased, the unknown energy within him grew more powerful, eventually exceeding his control.
Upon discovering this, Carlos immediately sought answers from mysterious organizations like the Alchemy Guild. The result was that the nature of the energy within Carlos was unknown, and it was constantly absorbing his life force to grow. Moreover, whenever Carlos killed someone, the energy's growth rate accelerated.
Afterward, Carlos silenced the alchemist who had learned of this, as that alchemist coveted the energy within him.
From then on, Carlos kept his mouth shut about the unknown energy, until he accidentally met Nicholas Kaiser. By then, Carlos was 35 years old.
In the following years, Carlos provided Kaiser with resources, and Kaiser was responsible for studying the energy within Carlos and finding a way to eliminate it.
However, Kaiser's abilities were limited. At best, he could help Carlos suppress it to a small degree.
Carlos knew nothing about alchemy, so Kaiser exaggerated his own role, boasting that without him, Carlos would have already dropped dead.
Carlos wasn't stupid. He knew Kaiser's true worth. Relying on Kaiser was a last resort. Powerful alchemists or mages were too dangerous. The lesson from his youth was still fresh in his mind. Carlos would never forget how crazy that person became upon seeing that energy.
If the younger Carlos had tried to control the unknown energy within him and convert it into his own power, the current Carlos was doing everything possible to eliminate it, because this unknown energy would take his life.
Carlos's condition was deteriorating. The unknown energy was distributed throughout his blood and muscles, making eradication extremely difficult.
Inside Kaiser's room.
Su Xiao looked at Kaiser. To figure out what that unknown energy was, he first needed Carlos's blood.
"This... how about you hypothesize first? Use your brain to simulate the experimental process?"
Kaiser clearly didn't want to hand over Carlos's blood. The blood Carlos had left with him wasn't much, and he dared not squander it. If Carlos found out Kaiser was using it carelessly, Kaiser's life would be forfeit.
It wasn't that Carlos was stingy with his own blood, but that his blood was now filled with that unknown energy. In fact, the blood within his body had already lost its properties as blood. The blood left with Kaiser had a lower concentration of the unknown energy, which could still be considered Carlos's blood, making it highly significant.
"Stop wasting time. Bubu, bite him."
Bubu Wang inherited Su Xiao's reckless style and bit Kaiser's calf.
"Ow~"
Kaiser let out a miserable scream and quickly stepped back.
"Sky-Rending Hound Bubuteni, we're friends, and you bite me? You, you, you..."
Several teeth marks appeared on Kaiser's pale green leg. He was so angry his fingers trembled. This was Bubu Wang's method of lowering Kaiser's IQ: bite wherever looked tasty to provoke Kaiser.
Bubu Wang didn't care about Kaiser's favorability, nor did it need to exchange items at the War Merit Shop. If Kaiser dared to oppose it, it would just bite him.
Faced with Bubu Wang's reckless attitude, Kaiser was helpless. In terms of combat power, he couldn't beat Bubu Wang. As for falling out, that wasn't an option either, as he still wanted to learn alchemy from Su Xiao.
In this awkward situation, Bubu Wang was practically Kaiser's natural predator.
"Are you sure you have a solution? If you can really solve this, I don't mind taking out some good stuff from the supplies. But only if you can fix Carlos's problem. Also, it has to be in my name—say that the method to treat Carlos was obtained through me."
Kaiser was Kaiser. Even in such a critical moment, he didn't forget his own interests. He was desperate for profit.
"Good stuff? Let me see."
As soon as Su Xiao finished speaking, a prompt from Reincarnation Paradise appeared. In the next few seconds, he saw the most troublesome mission in history.
[Prompt: The Hunter has triggered a special mission through the special plot character Nicholas Kaiser.]