Chapter 98: The Monster Freed from Its Cage (Sixth Update)
Su Xiao pointed at a nearby worker, then at a grenade in the distance that hadn’t had its pin pulled. The worker immediately caught on, shuffled over to the grenade in small steps, picked it up, and was about to toss it to Su Xiao when she noticed he had already aimed his gun at her.
After a moment of hesitation, the worker in the hazmat suit stepped forward, handed the grenade to Su Xiao, then immediately crouched down with her hands on her head, extremely cooperative.
[Tip: The Hunter has arrived at the designated location. Must remain at the designated location for 28 minutes and 43 seconds.]
Upon receiving the notification from Reincarnation Paradise, Su Xiao hung the grenade on his belt and once again assumed a stance with a gun in one hand and a short blade in the other. He had brought four of these short blades.
“Can you speak Chinese?”
Su Xiao looked at the worker closest to him.
“Yes.”
A female voice came through. It was a woman, age and appearance unknown.
“Are there any other exits here?”
“No, only that one.”
The female worker pointed toward the stairwell, where dust was still billowing out.
“Is that so.”
Su Xiao leaned against a concrete pillar. The number of guards was unknown, but conservatively estimated at over fifty. Their firearms weren’t particularly advanced—mostly AKs or common rifles. With Su Xiao’s current attributes, it wasn’t impossible for him to die at their hands. No, in fact, it was highly likely.
Tearing open his shirt, he saw two gunshot wounds—one on his shoulder and one on his lower back. The shoulder wound was severe, caused by a rifle bullet. Though it was a stray shot, its power was still considerable.
The wound on his waist was less serious, caused by a pistol round. Based on his estimation, it was a 9mm caliber bullet that had passed clean through his body. A through-and-through was manageable; what he feared was a bullet lodged inside him, like the one in his shoulder, which was stuck in the bone.
When he was first hit, he felt nothing—just like being struck by a hammer. But now, a piercing, agonizing pain radiated from his shoulder. His left arm was numb, affecting his aim.
Clang.
A “grenade” rolled into the basement. Seeing its appearance, Su Xiao quickly put on his gas mask. It was a tear gas canister.
Smoke spread at the stairwell entrance. Using the smoke as cover, guards armed with guns filed into the basement.
Seeing this, Su Xiao’s eyes lit up. Tear gas was exactly what he wanted most.
When the white smoke spread near him, he crouched and leaped out from behind the concrete pillar.
Rat-a-tat-tat…
A hail of bullets came at him. With his current attributes and reaction speed, deflecting bullets was impossible.
Pfft.
Su Xiao’s left arm was pierced, and the gun in his hand slipped away, but he had already charged into the smoke.
Using the smoke for cover, Su Xiao quickly rushed toward several nearby guards, closing the distance for close combat.
During his charge, Su Xiao had already put away the short blade and unslung the blade bag from his back. The Tang Hong within was drawn.
Clang.
The long blade left its sheath with a crisp, scraping sound. With the blade in hand, Su Xiao’s aura became sharp and fierce.
Though Tang Hong wasn’t as sharp as Dragon-Slaying Flash, it was still a keen weapon, more than enough for these enemies.
Within the smoke, blade light flashed. The sounds of flesh being cut and screams of agony merged into one.
Thirty seconds later, the several guards who had entered the basement lay on the ground. Some twitched occasionally, blood gushing from their mouths.
Su Xiao’s breathing grew rapid. He had lost too much blood, and wearing the gas mask made it hard to breathe. He searched the bodies and found four tear gas canisters.
Stepping out of the smoke, Su Xiao looked up at the ventilation ducts above. Following the wires along the ducts, he found the basement’s power source.
Stabbing Tang Hong into the ground, Su Xiao picked up a pistol and fired several shots at the power source, then a few more at the motor near the ventilation ducts.
After doing this, Su Xiao dropped the gun, pulled a tear gas canister from his belt, took a deep breath, pulled off his gas mask, bit open the pin, and tossed the four canisters into the four corners of the basement. The basement was now semi-sealed, and smoke quickly filled the space.
Putting his gas mask back on, Su Xiao pulled Tang Hong from the ground and walked toward the stairwell.
Upstairs in the factory, a slightly overweight, grim-faced middle-aged man stood before the stairwell.
“What the hell is this? Someone give me an explanation.”
The middle-aged man was Bagu, once a notorious drug lord. After being suppressed by other forces, he became a pariah, nearly losing his life. Now, he was the ruler of this small town.
“Boss, someone has infiltrated the factory. Their goal is clear—they’re after the goods. Tomorrow is the shipment date, and the warehouse on the second basement level is packed.”
A young white man lowered his head, his eyes filled with unwillingness.
Slap!
A sharp slap echoed. The young white man turned his head, a red mark appearing on his face.
“Now, go. Deal with him.”
Bagu stared at the young white man. He had risen to power thanks to this man, but now, he was no longer useful.
“Yes, boss. But no one else can enter the basement, or I might die.”
The young white man’s jaw muscles bulged. He could take out Bagu in an instant, but he didn’t dare. For a long time, he had lived under the man’s threats—threats against his family.
The young white man walked alone toward the stairwell. In his view, others would only get in the way. These short-lived fools injected with his concoctions probably didn’t know they had less than three months to live.
“Time is running out. The Paradise’s punishment is getting heavier. I have to find a way. Excessive interference in the real world—next time, it’ll be forced execution.”
The young white man muttered to himself, pulling several glass vials from his pocket, filled with chemical reagents.
Inside the basement, thick white smoke filled the air. Su Xiao’s breathing grew more labored. He had lost a lot of blood, yet he had a strange feeling—as if the sealed 75 Stamina could be restored at any moment.
Footsteps approached. Following the direction of the sound, Su Xiao rushed forward. His vision was starting to blur; he had to end this quickly.
“Pointless struggle. You’re one of ‘us,’ aren’t you? But you’re still too weak. Your marksmanship is decent, that’s all.”
A voice came from within the smoke, followed by several test tubes hitting the ground.
Boom!
An explosion rocked the basement. Su Xiao was blasted away by an irresistible shockwave.
Thud. Su Xiao slammed into the wall, feeling like every bone in his body was about to shatter.
Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. He looked down and saw a broken gun barrel embedded in his chest. What rotten luck.
“Clearing the field. Now it’s just us two. Newbie, who gave you the guts to step into my territory? Today, this is your grave.”
The voice came from within the smoke. From these words, it was clear the speaker had been under pressure for a long time and was finally finding an outlet.
Several test tubes were thrown near Su Xiao.
Boom!
Su Xiao was almost at the epicenter of the explosion.
With a buzzing in his ears, Su Xiao’s consciousness began to blur. He hesitated, wondering whether to abandon this mission.
But then, his heartbeat accelerated. It was as if he heard hallucinations, and his hazy consciousness became exceptionally clear.
Crack.
The shackle on Su Xiao’s arm shattered.
“So that’s it. I was already on the verge of breaking through my physical limits. I just lacked guidance and stimulation.”
Su Xiao sat against the wall, pulling off his gas mask. He had faced countless crises and life-and-death battles in the derivative worlds, which had brought him to the edge of “breaking through his physical limits.” The only thing he lacked was proper guidance.
The shackles that had been suppressing him were, at the same time, a guiding formation. When he engaged in intense combat, he would instinctively use his full strength. The guiding formation sealed his power, but his use of that power accelerated the guidance process. When his body suffered a fatal injury, his Stamina attribute attempted to break through the suppression, speeding up the guidance even more.
Crack, crack…
All the shackles on Su Xiao shattered. Surges of power returned to his body: Strength 76, Agility 76, Stamina 80, Intelligence 79. As for Charm… ahem, it increased by 1 point.
[Tip: The Hunter has successfully broken through their physical limits.]
[Tip: Upon returning to Reincarnation Paradise, the Hunter will receive information related to the ‘Proof of the Strong.’]
…
“Still not dead? Looks like you’re Stamina-specialized.”
The man in the smoke let out a cold laugh.
Su Xiao stood up, cracking his neck. The sound of bones snapping and resetting came as slightly misaligned joints clicked back into place. He looked at his mangled left arm and chest; the wounds were gradually healing.
Su Xiao raised his right foot and stomped down hard.
Boom!!
It was like an earthquake. The entire factory shook. The smoke in the basement was blown into the corners by the powerful pressure wave, revealing a stunned young white man standing in the middle.
“I was just joking, friend. Calm down.”
Clang!
A dense web of blade light spread out. The young white man’s vision blurred, and then he lost consciousness. A Lv.39 Blade Master versus a Lv.5 Blade Master—they weren’t even in the same league.
Five minutes later.
Su Xiao walked out of the half-collapsed factory. The wounds on his arm had stopped bleeding, and his arm was gradually regaining sensation.
“Mon… monster…”
Bagu, buried under a pile of debris, let out a long breath before falling silent.
Su Xiao tore off his tattered shirt and slowly disappeared into the darkness.
PS: (It turns out that six updates are incredibly stressful. It took nearly 12 hours to write, and today’s update was way too late. Feiwen will try to post more tomorrow as an apology.)