Chapter 37: Meeting an Enemy (Fourth Update)
Inside the Forest of the Strong, beside a campfire, the little detective girl and the gold-rimmed glasses man sat around the flames.
“We’re running low on food.”
The little detective girl sighed. Her originally fair face was now covered in dust. Just ten minutes ago, they had encountered a few ‘guests.’ The food those guests carried caught their attention, so they made a move against them.
The result wasn’t good. Not only did they fail to steal the food, but the glasses man nearly lost his life. Those ‘guests’ could burrow into the ground, and once they entered the soil, their aura completely vanished. The two of them managed to escape purely by luck.
“Next time, we need to be more careful when choosing targets. We…”
The gold-rimmed glasses man turned his head to look into the distance, as if he heard something.
“Something’s not right.”
The moment he finished speaking, two figures rushed toward them. Seeing one of them, the little detective girl’s body tensed up.
“Is he trying to reduce the number of players?”
The little detective girl stood up as she spotted Su Xiao charging toward them at high speed.
“That doesn’t seem right. He looks like he’s… fleeing?”
The gold-rimmed glasses man was puzzled.
“Brother Bai Ye…”
Whoosh~
Su Xiao rushed past, with Bubu Wang following closely behind, completely ignoring the gold-rimmed glasses man.
The campfire was scattered by the gust of wind. The gold-rimmed glasses man’s hand froze mid-air, awkward.
Rumble, rumble…
The ground began to tremble. The little detective girl and the gold-rimmed glasses man turned toward the source of the sound, their faces turning pale.
“Oh my god~”
The little detective girl’s voice carried a sob.
“Run separately!”
The gold-rimmed glasses man shouted, and the two of them fled in opposite directions.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.
The Star-Borne Crab army swept past. They didn’t chase the little detective girl or the gold-rimmed glasses man but locked onto Su Xiao. It seemed that his act of drawing water from their territory had made this a fight to the death.
Leaving aside the little detective girl and the gold-rimmed glasses man, who were nearly scared to death, Su Xiao had been pondering one thing during his escape: why were these Star-Borne Crabs so persistent? From the looks of it, it was as if Su Xiao had once burned down their home.
Su Xiao hadn’t done that, but a Law-Destroying Shadow named Kahn Seles had. To the Law-Destroying Shadows, Star-Borne Crabs were creatures that had to be eradicated.
The number of planets destroyed by Star-Borne Crabs far exceeded those lost to war. Each planet’s destruction represented a large-scale collapse of elemental balance in the void. Therefore, whenever Law-Destroying Shadows encountered Star-Borne Crabs, they would eliminate these pests. They were the void’s termites.
Over time, the Star-Borne Crabs developed a deep hatred for the Law-Destroying Shadows. Unfortunately, a fully grown Law-Destroying Shadow could easily crush the entire Star-Borne Crab race with one hand, leaving them trembling in fear.
Now, it was clearly a case of enemies meeting face-to-face. Drawing water from their territory was a minor issue. The key factor that enraged the Star-Borne Crabs was the pure Azure Steel Shadow energy within Su Xiao’s body.
Su Xiao was caught in the crossfire this time. He had inherited the Law-Destroying Shadow lineage, but not through the orthodox method. The Law-Destroying Shadows had vanished from the void, so he had no idea who their enemies were.
The appearance of the Star-Borne Crabs on the fourth floor of the castle might not be a coincidence. Alice wouldn’t have brought such a dangerous race into the castle without reason.
The chase continued. Su Xiao and Bubu Wang weaved through the forest. Both were fast, and even though the Star-Borne Crabs moved like a surging tide, the pair gradually widened the gap.
Seeming to notice this, the Star-Borne Crabs increased their speed. As they accelerated, they left behind a trail of shattered carapaces.
The Star-Borne Crabs’ speed suddenly spiked, and within moments, they entered Su Xiao’s instinct range—seven meters.
Su Xiao was getting annoyed by the chase. He suddenly stopped in his tracks, nearly scaring Bubu Wang to death. The dog barked twice, as if to say, “Master, stay calm!”
Su Xiao was very calm. Running like this forever would drain too much stamina. He needed to make the Star-Borne Crabs pause for a moment, or inflict heavy damage on them.
He hadn’t planned to do this initially, as it risked being surrounded by the crabs. But these Star-Borne Crabs were pushing him too far.
The moment Su Xiao stopped, a massive wave of Star-Borne Crabs surged forward.
He activated his Counter Shield. One by one, the shield fragments formed a circle, enclosing Su Xiao.
Crackle, crackle. Countless Star-Borne Crabs slammed into the Counter Shield. Su Xiao immediately crouched low, maintaining his center of gravity.
Crack, crack, crack…
A terrifying gnawing sound came from around the Counter Shield. Thousands upon thousands of crabs bit into it, and the shield, like shattered glass, instantly became covered in cracks.
“Not enough. I need them to be denser.”
Completely surrounded by Star-Borne Crabs, Su Xiao was engulfed in darkness. If the Counter Shield broke, he would be reduced to bones.
Not far away, Bubu Wang saw Su Xiao completely enveloped by the crabs. Tears welled up in his big, watery eyes. He immediately turned around and charged toward the Star-Borne Crab army, as if to say, “This dog is going to fight you all!”
Whoosh!
A faint red wave burst outward from within the crab swarm. Any Star-Borne Crab touched by the red wave instantly shattered into fragments of carapace.
Swoosh~
Countless Star-Borne Crabs were destroyed, and Su Xiao’s figure reappeared. The Counter Shield around him was riddled with holes.
This was the active effect of Aura Release. It could project one’s aura outward at super-high speed, dealing 100 points + (Willpower × 5) damage to all enemies within 30 meters. This damage ignored armor, magic resistance, shields, and equipment defenses.
The Star-Borne Crabs had low stamina attributes, relying entirely on their white carapaces for defense. Su Xiao had judged that the active effect of Aura Release could instantly kill these crabs.
He didn’t know how many Star-Borne Crabs he had killed. Taking advantage of the gap where all crabs within 30 meters were wiped out, he broke free from the swarm and continued fleeing.
Seeing this, Bubu Wang, who had been ready to fight to the death, made a sharp turn and ran off, as if to say, “Living is nice. Fighting to the death is too violent.”
The pair once again fled for their lives. The Star-Borne Crab army stopped surging forward, as if somewhat intimidated by Su Xiao. Or rather, they recalled the fear of the Law-Destroying Shadows in their bloodline. A tiger was still a tiger, no matter what kind, and it was not something a grasshopper could provoke.
Before long, Su Xiao and Bubu Wang reached the depths of the Forest of the Strong.
Su Xiao noticed that the Star-Borne Crabs weren’t chasing them anymore. He let out a long sigh of relief, and the pair leaned against a tree to rest.
Bubu Wang stuck out his tongue, panting to cool down. Strangely, the deeper they went into the Forest of the Strong, the hotter it became.
Su Xiao was shirtless, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. Seeing Su Xiao shirtless, Bubu Wang looked down at his own fur coat. Though he was very hot, that fur coat couldn’t be taken off.
“What, want to shave?”
Su Xiao exhaled a puff of smoke. He was already designing a look for Bubu Wang in his mind: shave off all the fur except for a patch on his back and the top of his head.
Su Xiao couldn’t help but imagine it—that Bubu Wang would look a lot like a donkey…
Bubu Wang raised his head, as if to say, “This dog is not shaving!”
The pair had been chased rather miserably, but it wasn’t without gains.
Su Xiao took a bucket of fresh water from his storage space, along with two cups. He tossed one to Bubu Wang, and they began drinking cup after cup.
Burp~
Bubu Wang let out a satisfied burp. Though they had been chased badly, at least they had secured a supply of fresh water.