Chapter 39: Mortal Enemy (Sixth Update)
The tree hollow was quite spacious, at least ten square meters or so, and Su Xiao was currently lying on a blanket, resting.
If not for the threat of Alice’s clone, lying low as a contractor would have been the safest method. Unfortunately, with Alice’s clone watching, Su Xiao couldn’t act rashly.
While Su Xiao couldn’t make a move, Alice’s clone also didn’t come to actively provoke him. The reason was simple: the forest was different from a sealed room. In a sealed room, even Su Xiao’s sword swings were limited, and Alice’s clone could suppress him with ranged + melee + summoning abilities. But in the forest, who would win or lose was uncertain.
After resting for a few hours, Su Xiao got up and patted Bubu Wang, signaling it to go rest.
Sitting at the entrance of the tree hollow, Su Xiao began his daily meditation. During meditation, his perception of the surrounding environment was very strong, so he wasn’t worried about being ambushed.
As he had guessed long ago, meditating in a natural environment yielded better results. This was still an artificial natural environment; if it were purely natural, the effect would only be better.
Time slowly passed. While other game participants struggled to find food, Su Xiao had already obtained an endless supply. As for fresh water, after harassing the Star-Clinging Crabs into moving away, he had an inexhaustible source.
The blazing sun hung high; the Forest of the Strong only had this one type of weather. Su Xiao sat inside the tree hollow, holding a tablet, playing a puzzle game.
Just then, a notification from Reincarnation Paradise appeared.
[Notification: The Hunter has successfully survived for five days in the Forest of the Strong. Proceed to the starting point as soon as possible to tally game points.]
Receiving the notification from Reincarnation Paradise, Su Xiao was somewhat surprised. Time had passed faster than he had imagined.
“Is the fourth game this simple?”
Su Xiao picked up a bucket of fresh water to wash up. Among the game participants, only he dared to use fresh water so freely in the Forest of the Strong.
One man and one dog walked out of the Forest of the Strong. Soon, Su Xiao arrived near the small wooden hut. Someone had already arrived early—it was… Pi Pang?
Pi Pang looked completely different now. Before, he was a mass of surging fat; now, he was only slightly chubby. Based on past experience, it wouldn’t take long for him to restore his fat reserves.
“Looks like you had a good five days.”
Pi Pang chewed on some dried meat, his expression slightly tired.
“Not bad. At least I got enough sleep.”
The two chatted for a while. The Three Brothers of National Football walked out of the forest. Seeing these three brothers, Pi Pang’s lips curled up.
“Ha… hello.”
The eldest of the Three Brothers gave an awkward greeting. For some reason, all three brothers had bruised and swollen faces.
In fact, the three brothers had clashed with Pi Pang and gotten a lesson. Among the seven, Pi Pang’s combat strength was second only to Su Xiao.
Judging by the third brother’s gaunt appearance, their food had probably been snatched by Pi Pang.
“Looks like it’s time to tally points.”
The Gold-Rimmed Glasses Man and the Detective Little Girl walked out of the forest. One of the Gold-Rimmed Glasses Man’s arms was missing, while the Detective Little Girl’s steps were unsteady, as if she might collapse at any moment.
All seven were gathered, which meant it was time to tally game points. The Wolf Butler in front of the wooden hut had been waiting for a long time.
“Seven of you, congratulations on all surviving in the Forest of the Strong. This is a rare occurrence in previous sessions. Next, I will announce the game points each of you has earned.”
The Wolf Butler pulled a parchment scroll from his chest, unrolled it, and squinted his eyes.
“First, the participant with the fewest points is…”
The Wolf Butler looked around at everyone, pausing at the critical moment to build suspense.
“The one with the fewest points is game participant Cocoa Bean.”
Cocoa Bean was the Detective Little Girl’s code name, which everyone had learned during the third game.
Hearing this result, the Detective Little Girl’s mouth opened and closed. The one-armed Gold-Rimmed Glasses Man laughed.
“Sorry, but when it comes to survival, everyone is selfish. Goodbye, no, farewell forever, little sister Cocoa Bean.”
The Gold-Rimmed Glasses Man laughed heartily. During the five days of survival, he had mostly been on the run, fleeing from the “guests” who were hunting him.
Those “guests” were somewhat cowardly. They didn’t dare to hunt Su Xiao, who was covered in bloodlust. Pi Pang also faced fewer killing attempts. The Three Brothers of National Football weren’t afraid of being hunted—their big-and-small hammer tactics were very strong. So, that left only the Detective Little Girl and the Gold-Rimmed Glasses Man.
The two had been cooperating because they both knew that the ones with the fewest points would likely be them. They weren’t teammates at all; they were competitors, enemies vying for the right to survive.
To understand your enemy, get close to them. That was what both of them thought, so they teamed up.
“Cocoa Bean is eliminated.”
As soon as the Wolf Butler finished speaking, the Detective Little Girl raised her hand: “Wait.”
“Don’t make futile struggles. It’s too ugly. We’ve cooperated for a long time. Show some dignity.”
The smile on the Gold-Rimmed Glasses Man’s face disappeared.
“I offer this treasure to Alice.”
The Detective Little Girl pulled out a fiery red crystal. Seeing this ore, the Wolf Butler’s eyes lit up.
“This is a fragment of the artificial sun. Where did you get this?”
The Wolf Butler quickly stepped forward.
“From the stomach of a beast. If I’m not mistaken, this artificial sun in the sky once fell. If you look closely, you’ll notice it’s missing a piece, and there’s no weather change. Through observation, judgment, and reasoning, I concluded that the Wolf Butler might need this.”
The Detective Little Girl’s breathing was rapid. She was gambling that this item was important—it was her only chance.
“When did you get this?”
The Gold-Rimmed Glasses Man’s expression began to darken.
“While you were busy finishing off those incapacitated guests.”
“…”
The Gold-Rimmed Glasses Man fell silent.
“This is indeed part of the artificial sun. Because it’s missing, the artificial sun in the Forest of the Strong can’t be turned off, which is why the forest only has noon as its weather.”
The Wolf Butler took the artificial sun fragment from the Detective Little Girl’s hand and began contacting someone. After a long while, the Wolf Butler spoke.
“You have two choices: gain 10,000 game points, or avoid elimination while receiving a reward from Queen Alice.”
These two choices were actually a no-brainer. But before the Detective Little Girl could choose, the Gold-Rimmed Glasses Man spoke.
“Cocoa Bean, congratulations on receiving Queen Alice’s reward. It should be very generous.”
The Gold-Rimmed Glasses Man’s teeth ground together with a cracking sound.
“Brother Wo Shi, we’ve already become mortal enemies. From the moment we learned there were only six slots to pass and chose to team up, we were mortal enemies. Compared to having a mortal enemy in the future, I’m not interested in that kind of reward. Wolf Butler, I choose to gain 10,000 game points.”
“You…”
The Gold-Rimmed Glasses Man stepped forward, grabbing the Detective Little Girl by the neck with one hand and lifting her.
The Detective Little Girl’s feet left the ground, her dust-covered face expressionless.
“Brother Wo Shi, goodbye, no, farewell forever. Too pathetic, Brother Wo Shi.”
The Detective Little Girl’s voice was still sweet as she called him “Brother Wo Shi.”
“The game points have changed. The eliminated participant is now Wo Shi.”
The Wolf Butler’s face was expressionless, even though he had a decent personal relationship with the Gold-Rimmed Glasses Man.
The Gold-Rimmed Glasses Man threw the Detective Little Girl aside. He realized that game participants couldn’t harm each other at this point. He rushed to the Wolf Butler, grabbing his collar.
“Wolf Butler, our previous deal…”
Before the Gold-Rimmed Glasses Man could finish, several iron chains descended from the sky, binding him.
“There was no deal between us.”
The Wolf Butler waved his hand to slap away the Gold-Rimmed Glasses Man’s grip, straightened his collar, and the iron chains tightened, dragging the Gold-Rimmed Glasses Man away.
“No!!”
With a crackling sound, the Gold-Rimmed Glasses Man was crushed into a mist of blood by the iron chains. A pair of bloodstained glasses fell to the ground.
Had the Gold-Rimmed Glasses Man really had no deal with the Wolf Butler? Of course not—they had a deal. But the Detective Little Girl had higher personal favorability with the Wolf Butler!
“Next, I will announce the participant with the highest points.”
Hearing the Wolf Butler’s words, the Detective Little Girl’s breathing quickened. She had over 10,000 game points. The one with the highest points could choose any item from Alice’s treasure vault.