Chapter 54: The Journey
The blazing sun hung high, scorching the earth like a fireball. The air was somewhat distorted, and insects hidden somewhere chirped incessantly.
Su Xiao walked across a wild grassland. The terrain was uneven, with stubborn little grass blades yellowing and withering at the tips.
In this scorching heat, walking across the grassland was far from a pleasant experience. The high temperature evaporated the moisture from the ground, turning the entire grassland into a steamer—stifling and sweltering.
Su Xiao was bare-chested. Though he wasn't a muscular brute, the muscles on his body gave off a sense of power.
Sweat dripped down his cheeks. With his stamina attribute, he could ignore the blazing sun above, but the stifling heat on the surface seemed to seep into his pores, forcing his body to rapidly expel moisture.
"Bubu, don't slack off. At least five hundred kilometers to go."
Su Xiao glanced back at Bubu Wang, who was lying on the grass not far behind, its belly heaving up and down.
Bubu Wang looked up at Su Xiao, its gaze seemingly saying, "Master, Bubu can't go on. You go ahead. Take Bubu's will with you, and don't tell anyone Bubu died of heatstroke."
No wonder Bubu Wang looked like this. The temperature on the grassland was at least 50 to 60 degrees Celsius. If an ordinary person were here, they'd get heatstroke within half an hour and be completely dehydrated in about an hour. If you touched the ground now, you'd find it scalding hot. How those wild grass survived was anyone's guess.
The grassland was already stiflingly hot, and Su Xiao was drenched in sweat. How much worse must it be for Bubu Wang, who was "wearing" a genuine fur coat?
"Stop playing dead. Move it."
Su Xiao took out a bottle of water and poured it over his head. The scorching sensation subsided slightly, and white steam rose into the air.
"What terrible weather. Even a desert can't be this hot."
Su Xiao looked up at the sky, squinting against the blinding sun.
Only heaven knew why this grassland was so hot. A few hours ago, he had been walking through a cool, sandy wind. Now, the scene had changed into a steamer.
Seeing Su Xiao continue forward, Bubu Wang sighed, reluctantly got up, and trudged along with a listless gait.
"Bubu, this weather is great for losing weight. How about you carry me for a while?"
Su Xiao's suggestion made Bubu Wang lag a few steps behind, its gaze clearly saying, "Master, I'm a proper dog. Fighting is my specialty, not being a mount."
After their clash with the beautiful cat Beini, Bubu Wang had developed a somewhat delusional confidence in its own strength.
"You can only beat that cat. Hoo~ it's so hot."
Su Xiao was irritated by the heat and could only chat idly with Bubu Wang to pass the time.
The journey was stifling and monotonous. After traveling across the grassland for a few hours, the surrounding temperature suddenly dropped.
Whoosh~
A cold wind blew. Su Xiao, bare-chested, shivered. The weather changed too quickly. Earlier, it was so hot it made you question life, and now the temperature had suddenly dropped below minus 20 degrees Celsius. Fortunately, his physical constitution was strong enough.
The closer Su Xiao got to the "Outland" ancient ruins at the world's center, the more abnormal the weather changes became. This indicated that the "Outland" ancient ruins were no ordinary location.
Come to think of it, Reincarnation Paradise had chosen that place as the battlefield, suggesting it was suitable for combat among Reincarnation Paradise contractors.
Regarding the struggle for the [World Core], if Su Xiao's analysis was correct, it was divided into two phases.
The first phase was the initial snatch, which was the reconnaissance team Bubu Wang had been part of. This phase wasn't about the final ownership of the [World Core], but about which side could seize it and deploy it in a location favorable to their own combat, such as the "Outland" ancient ruins.
The second phase should be the final ownership of the [World Core]. After delivering the [World Core] to the designated location, both sides would likely engage in large-scale combat. Otherwise, the two paradises wouldn't have teleported nearly two thousand contractors into this world.
The role of the [World Core] was crucial. This item was probably akin to a certificate of ownership for this world. Whichever side ultimately obtained the [World Core] would claim this world—the so-called world conquest battle.
Su Xiao pulled the [World Core] from his bosom. He looked at the transparent crystal, the size of a fingernail. This thing might represent this world. Of course, all of this was his personal speculation.
Putting away the [World Core], Su Xiao tightened the collar of his windbreaker and continued toward the "Outland" ancient ruins.
After the temperature dropped, Bubu Wang immediately perked up. The cold climate seemed to unlock its intelligence. It became unusually lively, running around Su Xiao, back and forth, even goofier than before.
Su Xiao now felt like a traveler. Although the climate changed drastically along the way, he also saw many strange and wonderful sights, such as emerald-green streams, a waterfall abruptly cut off mid-air, a three-headed, three-eyed venomous snake, and even a pair of "love butterflies"—two butterflies, one with only a left wing and the other with only a right wing, flying together only when clinging to each other to evade predators.
Su Xiao released the love butterflies from his hand. The two butterflies flew away, and Bubu Wang looked up, its eyes full of wonder at the pair, as if wanting to take a bite.
Su Xiao watched the two butterflies fly into the distance, a smile appearing on his face. He was smiling because he realized he was living a life full enough. If he had remained an assassin like before entering Reincarnation Paradise, he would never have seen any of this, nor would he have fought against so many powerful opponents.
The sky gradually darkened. Su Xiao wasn't in a hurry to press on. Reincarnation Paradise had given him a full four-day time limit.
Su Xiao picked up a pebble from the ground, held it in his hand, pressed his thumb firmly against it, and extended his arm straight in front of him.
Bang!
Su Xiao flicked the pebble with his thumb. The stone tore through the air, breaking several layers of airwaves.
The sound of a beast's cry came from the distance, followed by the thud of something heavy hitting the ground. Su Xiao walked into the grass and found a elk with a pierced neck lying there. The wound was as thick as a steel pipe, with blood mixed with bubbles gushing out.
"This is dinner."
Su Xiao pulled out his Slaughter short blade. He first stabbed it into the heart to end the elk's suffering, then began skinning and cutting the meat.
The raw meat felt warm in his hand. Many people disliked this feeling, but in reality, every living creature's existence was built on the death of other organisms or plants, and humans were the pinnacle of this.
Su Xiao arrived at a canyon shaped like a narrow slit of sky. He lit a fire, set up a pot, boiled water, put the cut-up elk meat into the pot, and then added spices, salt, and several vegetables in sequence.
While waiting for the stew to cook, Su Xiao took out several materials from his storage space: two pieces of fiery red meteorite fragments, three pieces of high-purity metal ore, and three sparkling, translucent small crystals. These were, respectively, Sun Remnants ×2, Fire Gold ×3, and Soul Crystal (Small) ×3.
Barring any accidents, Su Xiao could use these materials to create two Sun God Apollo bombs.
With Apollo's 1000-meter explosion radius, 6000 points of true scorching damage, and an additional 2000 points of flame burn damage, one Apollo bomb would be like carpet-bombing the area.
Su Xiao was now very curious about one thing: how large was the "Outland" ancient ruins? If it wasn't too big, then two Apollo bombs would turn whatever was there—Queen Xi, Lan Jue, or anyone else—into gas in minutes under 6000 points of true scorching damage plus 2000 points of flame damage. Of course, this required the right timing.
Apollo was, after all, the Sun God!