Chapter 403: Chapter 19: Ugly Jealousy
Su Xiao and Enwei clashed fiercely. To be exact, it was a one-sided crushing.
Enwei didn’t have any particularly outstanding abilities. Apart from his enormous size, there was nothing special about him.
Now, his large size became a weakness, and Su Xiao could freely cleave at him.
Five minutes later, a large mass of scattered limbs lay on the ground, gradually turning to ash. These limbs all came from one monster.
"Impossible, how can an Alchemist have such strong swordsmanship?"
Enwei was now left with just one massive head, barely holding on.
"I didn’t expect you to be more tenacious than Greed. You’ve already died 25 times."
Su Xiao stood in front of Enwei’s head, waiting for Enwei to regenerate.
"Let’s make a deal."
Enwei knew he would die if this continued.
What greeted Enwei wasn’t negotiation but a gleaming long knife. Su Xiao didn’t want to waste time with a homunculus.
Although following the original plot’s progression was more stable, it wasted too much time. Su Xiao wanted to proceed his way.
He had already allied with one partner and was preparing to ally with a second soon.
"I, Enwei, actually lost to a human, what a disgrace."
Enwei reverted to human form; the Philosopher’s Stone inside him was no longer sufficient to support his massive size.
The Dragon Slaying Thrust pierced Enwei’s neck, and his body convulsed, turning entirely to ash.
No kill notification appeared, but Enwei’s body had been destroyed.
A green creature crawled out from Enwei’s remains, about the length of a palm, with dark green skin, eight legs, large eyes, resembling Enwei’s true form, only much smaller.
This was Enwei’s true form; Envy is such an ugly thing.
"Hello, Enwei."
Su Xiao squatted down, watching Enwei crawling on the ground.
"You, what are you going to do?"
Su Xiao grabbed Enwei with one hand; the current Enwei posed no threat.
"Let me go, you bastard."
"Oh?"
Su Xiao applied force, his left hand wrapped in a metal armguard tightened.
"Ah! Let go; my intestines will come out. Spare me, I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die!"
Previously arrogant, Enwei was now begging for mercy, tears welling up in his eyes.
"Don’t look at me, you damned human. I am Enwei; I am Envy!"
Su Xiao ignored Enwei and took out a glass bottle.
"Hey, what are you doing; you can’t be..."
Enwei guessed correctly; Su Xiao put him into the glass bottle and shook it a bit.
"I won’t let you go, wait for me..."
Enwei stopped mid-sentence as he saw Su Xiao looking at him coldly.
"Let me ask you a question, where is the Philosopher’s Stone stored?"
"Tch, you greedy human, don’t think I’ll betray..."
Enwei’s body suddenly started trembling.
"Wait, what’s that transparent liquid you’re taking out; it can’t be... no, don’t, don’t do this. Calm down, ah!!"
Enwei let out an agonizing scream because Su Xiao poured some sulfuric acid into the bottle.
As the dark red sulfuric acid was poured out, Su Xiao tapped on the glass bottle.
"Have you figured it out?"
"I... I’ve figured it out."
Enwei trembled entirely, his flesh blurred by the corrosive sulfuric acid, though his injuries were slowly recovering.
"It’s good you’ve figured it out. I’ll remind you; every time you lie, I’ll reward you with more sulfuric acid."
The Enwei inside the glass bottle raised his head tremblingly, finally realizing that the scariest thing wasn’t a homunculus but humans.
"There’s a building underground at the Presidential Palace with a large amount of Philosopher’s Stone."
Enwei had just finished speaking when he realized Su Xiao was pouring sulfuric acid into the bottle again.
"I’m not lying, what are you doing, bastard, ah!!"
The sulfuric acid submerged Enwei’s body; a few seconds later, Su Xiao poured it out.
Underneath the Presidential Palace was fraught with danger, with the Little Man in the Bottle located there, the headquarters for homunculi. Enwei had ill intentions.
"Even now, do you still want to regain freedom, Enwei?"
Su Xiao took out an Alchemy Bomb, which began to transform, eventually forming a web-like structure that crawled over the glass bottle’s surface.
Enwei’s heart sank completely.
"I can tell you where the Philosopher’s Stone is, but after getting it, you have to release me."
"Release you? Do you think I’ll let you go?"
Enwei lowered his head.
"I don’t believe you."
"Then don’t make meaningless resistance. Tell me where the Philosopher’s Stone is, and I’ll give you a quick death."
"The Third Research Institute."
Enwei told Su Xiao the route to the Third Research Institute and the location of the Philosopher’s Stone storage. Now, only the Third Research Institute continued producing Philosopher’s Stones.
"Well then, farewell, Envy·Enwei."
Su Xiao poured Enwei out from the glass bottle and pierced him with a stab.
The stab pierced exactly where the Philosopher’s Stone was in Enwei’s body. The nearly depleted Philosopher’s Stone shattered.
[You have killed Envy·Enwei]
[Enwei was a key plot character; you’ve gained 5.4% of the World Source, a total of 22.6% World Source so far.]
[Your talent ’Soul Devourer’ activates, permanently increasing your Mana Value by 15, now at 959 points.]
[You have obtained a Treasure Chest (Purple).]
[Achievement task Conviction is completed (4/7).]
...
Killing Enwei yielded significant gains: the World Source, Soul Devourer, and a chest were all obtained. This was due to Su Xiao independently slaying Enwei.
Enwei died in Central City; this news couldn’t be concealed for long. Su Xiao had to act quickly.
Within a motel half a kilometer away, several Contractors sat around a dining table.
"Peach, how did your perception go?"
A burly man wiped his mouth.
"Enwei is dead; that Contractor won easily."
"What?"
"Impossible!"
The Contractors in the room were shocked.
"If your data is correct, that guy is just a First Tier Contractor, right? How can he be so strong?"
"Yeah, did he find Enwei’s weakness?"
The Contractors were incredulous.
"Not quite sure, but he definitely noticed me, ah～."
The female Contractor named Peach shuddered.
"Did he notice me?"
"Huh?"
The other Contractors were even more disbelieving.
"Counting equipment bonuses, your Intelligence Attribute is above 35 points. How could he notice you? Second Tier should easily overpower First Tier."
"Not sure, but he did spot me just now..."
Peach continued to perceive Su Xiao’s location.
"He’s approaching. Very fast! Very close."
With a whoosh, the Contractors stood up, and chairs toppled over with clattering sounds.
"Prepare to fight; his intentions are unclear."
"Don’t worry. If I’m not mistaken, he’s on a promotion mission. Don’t forget the difficulty of this Derivative World."
"What should we do, take him down or...?"
Thud, thud, thud, a knocking came at the door.
"He’s here, right outside the door."
Peach retreated into the crowd; this was just a temporary small group, completely untrustworthy.
Click, the door was pushed open hard, and Su Xiao walked into the room.
"First Tier newcomer, what’s your intention?"
The burly man sat in front of the group, seemingly trying to put on airs, but immediately stood up after seeing Su Xiao’s gaze.
"This guy has the look of someone who’s killed many, is he a monster from the Travel Group?"
"Oh? You all know about the Travel Group? It seems that promotion and advancement aren’t what I imagined; you won’t necessarily elevate to a new layer."
Su Xiao previously thought he’d ascend a layer after promoting to Second Tier. Now it seemed that might not be the case, since facilities like the Reincarnation Paradise trading market were public spaces most Contractors would stay at, though some new facilities might open with time in the Derivative World differing from First Tier.
"Everyone, how about we make a deal? 3000 Paradise coins for telling me your main storyline task."
The other party already said they were a First Tier Contractor, suggesting these people might know he was on a promotion mission, so it was better to be direct.
Hearing Su Xiao’s words, the eyes of all the Contractors in the room lit up, as if they had just picked up money.
But they didn’t know that once the tasks didn’t conflict, they’d become fat sheep, as Su Xiao now had many bottles of [Low-Level Alchemy Secret Medicine].
If these [Low-Level Alchemy Secret Medicine] weren’t sold, they’d only be a burden with no gain when the Derivative World ended.