Chapter 99: The Reason
On the east side of the small town, inside the courtyard of a luxurious mansion.
The courtyard was shaded by green trees, with a fountain pool at its center.
Several pit bulls were barking wildly, chained by thick iron links. Though not as imposing as larger breeds, they were exceptionally ferocious, and the scent of blood in the courtyard only spurred them on.
Su Xiao stood before the fountain pool, washing the blood off himself. He was at Bagu's residence, and his visit here had nothing to do with his mission—he had already succeeded in breaking through his physical limits.
His main purpose in coming here was to find out why those guards possessed such extraordinary physical capabilities, surpassing the limits of ordinary humans.
After cleaning the blood from his body, Su Xiao found the incessant barking of the pit bulls irritating.
"Shut up."
Su Xiao turned his head to look at the pit bulls. However, pit bulls are a selectively bred dog breed with severe genetic defects. The massive secretion of adrenaline allows them to temporarily ignore pain and overcome their fear of other creatures.
"Woof woof woof..."
Su Xiao shook his head. Why bother with a few genetically defective dogs? He turned and walked toward the villa at the back of the courtyard.
*Crack.*
The leather strap around one pit bull's neck snapped. Without hesitation, the dog charged at Su Xiao.
Five meters, three meters, two meters.
Suddenly, the ferocious pit bull stopped, tucked its tail between its legs, and turned to flee. A faint reddish aura enveloped it—this was something that couldn't be overcome by simply conquering fear.
[Warning: Hunters are prohibited from using visible passive abilities in the real world. First warning issued.]
Receiving the warning from Reincarnation Paradise, Su Xiao was somewhat surprised. He had just used the passive effect of 'Aura Release,' which induces a state of panic in enemies.
When he used Blade Aura earlier, Reincarnation Paradise hadn't issued any prompts. But this time, using Aura Release triggered a warning. Perhaps it was because Aura Release was a hybrid active/passive skill?
Though puzzled, Su Xiao didn't dwell on it. He had already roughly figured out which abilities he could use in the real world.
Moreover, in the real world, where equipment and active skills were unusable, Su Xiao—who had developed all four attributes simultaneously—was incredibly strong, stronger than he himself realized.
Su Xiao's accumulated attributes were very different from those of other contractors. Most contractors accumulated attributes through attribute points plus equipment, with attribute points making up a larger proportion and equipment a smaller one. For example, with 50 points of an attribute, roughly 35 to 40 points came from permanent attribute point increases, while the rest were temporary boosts from equipment—temporary attributes were ineffective in the real world!
Su Xiao was different. His attributes were almost entirely permanent increases from attribute points, with very little contribution from equipment. When choosing equipment, he mostly favored items with passive functional abilities.
The reason for this was that Su Xiao was strenuously avoiding one thing: making equipment his primary combat method rather than his own abilities.
Although equipment was an important part of the power system, it came with risks—damage, suppression, interference from enemy abilities, and other unstable factors.
Just as Su Xiao was pondering attributes and equipment, he pushed open the main door of the villa, only to find a gun aimed at him.
"Don't move."
*Zzzz~*
A faint glint flashed, and a sharp, thin steel wire was stained red with blood. Drops of blood scattered in the air.
"Ah!"
A butler in a suit screamed, clutching his severed arm as he leaned against the wall, staining the white wall red with blood. From the intense pain and rapid blood loss, the butler's face and lips quickly turned deathly pale.
"Where's the study?"
Su Xiao stood in front of the butler, a short blade spinning in his hand.
"Upstairs, third floor, turn left."
The butler surrendered with surprising ease, showing no hesitation in betraying his boss, Bagu.
"Take me there. Who else is in the villa?"
A syringe slid out from Su Xiao's sleeve. In the butler's terrified gaze, he plunged the needle into the man's neck.
After the painkiller injection, the butler's mind cleared a bit. He quickly took off his suit jacket and wrapped it around the wound on his severed arm.
"There are a few guards and Bagu's mistress in the villa. Is Bagu dead?"
"Dead."
"Great!"
The butler's face lit up with wild joy. Su Xiao was taken aback, then seemed to understand something.
"Take me to Bagu's study. Now."
The butler lowered his head and quickly walked upstairs. In his eyes, something called ambition had appeared.
As he climbed the stairs, the butler spoke, "Sir, I can transfer all of Bagu's assets to you. Spare my life, and I'll work for you."
"Alright."
Su Xiao showed a smile. Seeing this, the butler breathed a sigh of relief. But he didn't know that when Su Xiao smiled, it usually meant trouble.
Under the butler's guidance, Su Xiao soon arrived at the door of Bagu's study.
"This is Bagu's study. As for his assets, I'll transfer his liquid funds right now..."
Before the butler could finish, Su Xiao slit his throat with a single slash.
*Pfft.*
Blood sprayed. The butler clutched his throat with his remaining arm, blood seeping through his fingers.
"Why..."
With a thud, the butler collapsed.
"Why? Stupid question."
With that, Su Xiao pushed open the study door. Initially, he hadn't planned to kill the man—after all, he was just a butler. But the butler's ecstatic expression upon learning of Bagu's death made Su Xiao wary.
The butler's reaction had two implications: first, it showed Su Xiao that he wasn't loyal to Bagu; second, it suggested the butler might have the means to take over Bagu's organization.
As for getting Bagu's assets—don't be ridiculous. Bagu was a drug lord, and countless people had their eyes on his wealth. Su Xiao's identity in the country was legitimate, and he didn't want to jeopardize it over money.
If the butler might have survived before, after all his actions, he had to die.
Su Xiao had already cut off one of his arms. If the butler became the next Bagu, it would mean endless trouble. A severed-arm grudge wasn't something most people would easily forget. Rather than gamble on the butler's magnanimity, Su Xiao chose a more direct approach.
This was the danger of the small town—one wrong decision could lead to a cascade of problems.
Entering Bagu's study, Su Xiao began ransacking the place. Soon, he found several documents.
Sitting in the leather chair, Su Xiao flipped through the documents.
"I see."
Su Xiao put the documents away. He now understood how those guards had surpassed ordinary human limits.
The contractor Su Xiao had encountered in the basement earlier was originally a chemistry prodigy before entering Reincarnation Paradise.
However, upon suddenly gaining supernatural power, the prodigy became arrogant. Arrogance wasn't necessarily a problem, but running into a down-and-out drug lord while being arrogant was very unlucky. That drug lord was Bagu.
After discovering the prodigy's secret, Bagu immediately gathered his few remaining men to try and control him. After all, who doesn't crave supernatural power?