Chapter 33: Sudden Shift in Tone?
Seven men and women stood near Su Xiao, vaguely forming a semi-encirclement. They were all superpowered individuals, the weakest being Lv.3, with the rest at Lv.4.
Not only that, but as the seven approached, the symbols on their foreheads representing emotions began to flicker.
In Su Xiao's perception, these seven were like marionettes, with threads of various colors connecting to different parts of their bodies. There were seven colors in total, and above the seven, the head of a large-headed infant appeared. This infant had seven eyes, each half-open.
Seeing this, the faint red aura around Su Xiao surged, and a ferocious beast's head materialized above him. The beast's eyes were blood-red, its mouth full of sharp fangs. The beast grinned, and blood-red mist drifted from its mouth.
"This isn't good. It seems we've angered the Hunter."
No sooner had Zui Qiyu spoken than Su Xiao received a notification from Reincarnation Paradise.
[Warning: An anomalous violator has entered within one kilometer of the Hunter. Tracking function activated.]
Upon receiving this notification, Su Xiao frowned. Zui Qiyu's main body had arrived nearby. For most contractors, one kilometer wasn't far, let alone for a violator.
Zui Qiyu's earlier words might have been a delaying tactic, waiting for his main body to arrive nearby and join the seven superpowered individuals he controlled in besieging Su Xiao.
A crow circled above the research institute. On the crow's eye was an alchemical array diagram. Through this diagram, Su Xiao could share the alchemical crow's vision.
Through the shared vision, looking down from a high altitude, Su Xiao saw a figure in a black hood leaping between buildings.
The figure suddenly stopped, looked up at the crow in the sky, revealing a somewhat handsome face, but it was covered in cracks, like broken ceramic.
The figure stopped about five hundred meters from the research institute, standing on top of a tall building, not advancing.
Seeing this, Su Xiao was puzzled. He had just fought Accelerator to a standstill, sustaining considerable injuries. His right arm, which held the blade, was numb, and his left arm was also injured by Accelerator's reflection ability. If it were him, he would definitely strike now.
However, Zui Qiyu didn't do that. Instead, he kept a safe distance from Su Xiao.
Inside the research institute, Su Xiao's gaze swept over the seven superpowered individuals. He was stalling for time, and he had to hold off Zui Qiyu now.
Clamorous footsteps came from the corridor behind. A man and a dog rushed out of the corridor. It was the sniper Yegor and Bubu Wang.
Bubu Wang held an ancient magic book in its mouth. The cover was made from the skin of some animal. The entire magic book wasn't thick, about the thickness of a finger. Yes, this was the Final Spirit Codex.
Su Xiao held off Zui Qiyu from the front, while Bubu Wang and Yegor seized the opportunity to snatch the Final Spirit Codex. They had clearly succeeded, but Yegor was hit by several bullets. This burly man, two meters tall, staggered in his steps.
Bubu Wang handed the Final Spirit Codex to Su Xiao. A notification appeared, but before Su Xiao could check it, Yegor, who was standing behind him, fell to the ground with a thud.
Blood spread across the alloy floor. This man, as strong as a brown bear, collapsed. His heart had been pierced by a bullet. He had held on until now purely through sheer willpower.
"Your daughter has been settled. By my calculations, she was sent out of Academy City quite some time ago. She might have already been picked up by Tina Gregory."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, Yegor's pupils began to dilate. With a pierced heart, massive blood loss, multiple internal organ damage, lung shock, and severe brain hypoxia, even if a third-rank healer were present, they couldn't save Yegor's life. He should have fallen long ago; he had been waiting for Su Xiao to say this.
"Mission... complete..."
Yegor lost his vital signs, forever lying in this cold research institute. At the same time, at an airport in a small European country, a female soldier was holding a six or seven-year-old little girl. The girl's face was fair, like a porcelain doll.
This was Yegor's daughter. The reason he joined the Hound Unit was that his daughter suffered from a rare disease. Her bones were as fragile as porcelain, and fractures were a common occurrence.
Faced with this disease that "modern science" couldn't cure, Yegor thought of Academy City. As it turned out, Academy City, with its scientific level decades ahead of the outside world, could indeed treat this disease.
However, entering Academy City was easy, but leaving was difficult. Both father and daughter were "trapped" in Academy City. Without permission, they would have to stay there for life. Yegor's job was to kill people. As for his daughter, when she reached a certain age, she would have her superpowers developed and become a "laboratory animal."
Yegor traded his own life for his daughter's freedom. He had killed old people, children, and women on the battlefield. Today, he died in battle.
Yegor had known from the beginning that invading this research institute with Su Xiao would likely lead to his death. Even if he didn't die, he couldn't leave. But this was exactly what he wanted. As long as his daughter left safely, it was fine. In return, Su Xiao, before completely falling out with Aleister, used his authority as the Dark Division Captain to send Yegor's daughter out of Academy City.
Su Xiao always kept his word and followed through with his actions when it came to collaborators. Yegor's daughter was quickly sent to a peaceful small country in Europe.
Bubu Wang looked down at Yegor's corpse, a hint of sadness in its eyes, but it knew a new powerful enemy had arrived.
Yegor's body lay face down. Although his death wasn't pretty, he was smiling. On his back was a black backpack, a meter long and half a meter thick. No one knew what was inside. This was Su Xiao's "insurance." Yegor had always carried it, ensuring the barrel-shaped backpack remained intact even after being shot.
Su Xiao glanced at the notification from Reincarnation Paradise and breathed a sigh of relief.
[Hunter has obtained the Final Spirit Codex. Final Spirit Codex has been recovered.]
[Trial Mission: Final Spirit Codex (Completed). Yes/No to complete this mission. Upon completing this mission, the Hunter will return to Reincarnation Paradise.]
[Tip: Must disengage from combat state when returning to Reincarnation Paradise.]
...
Su Xiao had no main quest this time when entering the Magic Index World. Therefore, after completing his promotion mission, he could return to Reincarnation Paradise.
However, the hunting mission was not yet complete. If he left like this, the consequences would be severe. Although there would be no punishment now, the result of the last incomplete hunting mission was still fresh in his mind. He would be forcibly thrown into a War World to act as an Arbiter. The identity of an Arbiter was too damn troublesome. He couldn't directly interfere in the war, and if the contractors on his side weren't capable, he could easily be wrongfully killed.
"Mr. Hunter, are you preparing to leave?"
The Pride controlled by Zui Qiyu spoke. It seemed Zui Qiyu's intelligence was also limited, and he was unaware of the consequences of Su Xiao not completing the hunting mission.
"If you make a deal with me, you will never regret it. I won't talk about combat ability, but I am confident in my intelligence gathering capabilities."
Zui Qiyu wasn't boasting. Judging from the intelligence gathering ability he had displayed earlier, over 95% of intelligence merchants at the same rank didn't know as much as he did. This was likely due to his special ability.
"Let me first talk about my own situation. I am different from other violators. I was forced to violate the rules. To be precise, it wasn't me who violated the rules of Reincarnation Paradise, but some idiot who acted arbitrarily, controlling my consciousness and body, completely disregarding the Paradise. It's simply... idiotic!"
The Pride controlled by Zui Qiyu gritted its teeth.