Chapter 122: Return Eligibility (Tenth Update)

The four captured Contractors exchanged a glance and immediately nodded swiftly.

“Willing, willing—as long as you spare our lives.”

“Sir, look, maybe we could sign a contract or something?”

A young man with a pointed face and sunken eyes wiped his hands and forced a fawning smile.

“Contract?”

Su Xiao’s lips curled into a smile.

Seeing Su Xiao smile, the Contractor relaxed—but he didn’t know that Su Xiao’s smile meant nothing like happiness.

“I’m a fair man. She paid five thousand Paradise Coins for her life. You’ll pay the same.”

The four Contracteurs’ faces darkened; they wrestled internally—pay up immediately and buy their lives, or use the twenty thousand Paradise Coins to negotiate.

In truth, none of them had five thousand Paradise Coins. They planned to substitute with equipment.

“You’re Xi Luoluo, right?”

Su Xiao looked at Xi Luoluo; she nodded frantically.

“Cover their eyes. Bind their hands behind their backs.”

Hearing Su Xiao’s order, Xi Luoluo hesitated.

“What if they resist… Big Boss, I’m too weak.”

“Just do as I say. If they resist, I’ll handle it.”

Soon, the four Contracteurs had their eyes covered and hands bound behind them, kneeling or sitting in a row.

Su Xiao found a chair and sat behind them; the others in the room watched him, puzzled.

The Shattered Sprite appeared in Su Xiao’s hand—a large revolver whose surface glowed with a faint crimson light.

“You each have three seconds to decide.”

The four blindfolded Contracteurs were confused—what did “three seconds each” mean?

“One, two.”

“Wait! Even if you threaten us, we won’t give in—unless we sign a contract! What if you take our Paradise Coins and kill us anyway?”

The rightmost Contractor spoke rapidly.

“Three.”

Su Xiao aimed the Shattered Sprite at the back of the Contractor’s skull and pulled the trigger.

“Bang.”

A bullet formed from a Hézi shot from the barrel, flew a fraction of a second through the air, then struck the Contractor’s occiput.

Plop—the Contractor’s head exploded, splattering blood across the face of the one beside him.

“Ahh! Aah!”

The three remaining Contracteurs screamed incoherently; one with poor nerves suddenly stood and tried to flee.

“Bang.”

The fleeing Contractor collapsed face-first, a fist-sized hole punched through his lower back.

This revolver was called the Shattered Sprite because when the Hézi bullet pierced an enemy’s body, it shattered inside.

Though it sacrificed some penetration, its lethality increased dramatically.

The two remaining Contracteurs knew—their two companions were dead, and their temporary squad had been notified.

Su Xiao found their behavior baffling. Having already lost, they should accept the consequences—two choices existed.

First: fight to the death. Even if you die, die with dignity.

Second: surrender. If you surrender, accept the cost of defeat. If you whine after surrendering, you’re automatically reclassified as the first option.

“Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot! Let’s talk!”

“Yes, even if…”

Before they could finish, Su Xiao fired two more shots, dropping both men.

Now it was clear—these people had no real value. Even after handing over five thousand Paradise Coins or equivalent items, they likely couldn’t survive in the Lunhui Paradise.

After Su Xiao killed the first man, the other three were already dead—whether they paid or not, Su Xiao wouldn’t spare them.

The first shot made them enemies. Su Xiao would never do something as idiotic as let an enemy live.

Watching the entire scene, Xi Luoluo slowly retreated to the corner, her gaze at Su Xiao now like that of a demon lord.

At this moment, Xi Luoluo’s mind was shattered. She’d just entered the derivative world and witnessed Su Xiao single-handedly fight Shindai Risé and Wall Spider—result: one dead, one escaped.

After that, she’d lived in constant dread, because Su Xiao wasn’t on her side.

After enduring this torment, she finally neared the end of the derivative world—only for something even more devastating to happen: her faction’s leader had allied with the enemy Contracteurs?

Huddled in the corner, Xi Luoluo gazed upward at a 45-degree angle, as if ready to become a salted fish.

“How could this happen? I’ve never heard of anyone allying with a faction boss—that’s cheating!”

Xi Luoluo’s eyes welled with tears; her emotions were a tangled knot.

Su Xiao paid no mind to Xi Luoluo’s turmoil—his main quest (3) was complete.

【Congratulations, Hunter. You have completed Main Quest (3). You have earned the right to return. Time remaining in this world: 5 minutes.】

【Ding. Detected that Hunter has accepted ‘Hidden Quest: Origin.’ Return time delayed by five days. During this period, Hunter may return to the Lunhui Paradise at any time. If you return without completing ‘Hidden Quest: Origin,’ the quest will fail.】

Thus, Su Xiao only needed to complete the hidden quest to return.

…

Two minutes earlier, outside the CCG Branch Building in Zone 20, a furtive figure leapt out under cover of night.

The figure wore a long black robe and a hooded cowl, chewing something unknown.

“Finally finished. So many psychic bombs—enough to level this branch. Hehe, this time I’ll net at least ten thousand Paradise Coins—no, over twenty thousand.”

After distancing himself from the CCG branch, the black-robed man removed his hood, revealing a withered face. If he auditioned for a zombie film, he’d need no makeup.

“Brother, one day I’ll rise to greatness. Protect me—guard me within my body. Hehehe~.”

The zombie-face emitted a grotesque laugh; black saliva dripped from a wound on his face, where the black substance he chewed had seeped. The wound was dried, irreparable—he’d become this way after a single catastrophic transformation.

The night wind stirred the wide sleeves of his robe, revealing two Lunhui Seals on his withered forearms.

A Contractor could possess only one Seal—but this man had two, and their numbers were consecutive.

They were his brother’s Seal. They were twin brothers, sharing a bizarre identical talent: “Heart Mirror Heart.”

In the world of Fullmetal Alchemist, the zombie-face and his brother were captured by an alchemist.

The alchemist specialized in human fusion—he believed combining two people would produce a superior human.

His research was state-approved: success would create powerful warriors; if dozens were fused, ordinary people might gain the power to challenge alchemists.

So the twins were fused. The experiment failed. The zombie-face survived by chance.

Though he became neither man nor monster, he gained two Lunhui Seals. But afterward, his mind twisted—he began killing children, slaughtering families in derivative worlds, keeping the women alive for torment.

Two Lunhui Seals on one person meant he received identical quests twice. Enemy loot drop rates doubled. Chest rewards doubled—he counted as two people.

Gain something, lose something. The fusion nearly killed his body. Repairing it required a fortune. Strength, agility, stamina, charisma—all could no longer be enhanced. Only Intelligence remained improvable.

But after boosting Intelligence, the zombie-face discovered a tragedy—he had no talent for magic. He couldn’t sense magical elements, not even basic mana. So he found another path: he bought the skill to craft psychic bombs, leveraging his Intelligence.

The dual Lunhui Seals drew the Lunhui Paradise’s attention. His unchecked destruction in both reality and derivative worlds led the Lunhui Paradise to mark him for elimination—he was added to the Hunter’s List.

The zombie-face hid in a filthy corner. His poor sense of smell made the stench irrelevant—he waited for the CCG branch to fill with people before detonating the bombs.

Or rather, he also waited for Su Xiao to arrive at Zone 20. As a pivotal plot point in the original story, many Contracteurs came here to hunt quests or cling to canon characters at the Antique Coffeehouse.

At that moment, the zombie-face froze, eyes wide with disbelief at what lay ahead.

“Main quest failed? Impossible! Those useless fools are all dead? I spent hours planting bombs just to kill CCG Contracteurs! This can’t be! It can’t be!”

His emotions shattered—he flailed wildly before him.

Crack crack—cracks erupted across his hands. A cold voice echoed in his ears.

【Verification: ‘Contractor #12470 (12471)’ main quest failed. Forced execution initiated.】

【Ding. Verification: ‘Contractor #12470 (12471)’ holds dual Lunhui Seals. Forced execution speed doubled.】

Crack crack crack—the zombie-face’s entire body cracked open, revealing dried muscle tissue beneath.

“Brother, I’m coming to join you. Damn Lunhui Paradise—I always knew you hated me. Thought this derivative world was a gift? Turns out it’s a trap. Fuck.”

In his final seconds, the zombie-face calmed. He should’ve died long ago—in the hands of that alchemist with the burned face.

Plop—the zombie-face’s body shattered into dust, dissolving into the air. Flesh, soul, all erased.

In truth, completing a Hunter’s task doesn’t require fighting the target to the death. If the Lunhui Paradise has a valid reason to execute a violator, it will act immediately.

ps. (Performance is unexpectedly poor—did I eat too many coin-boosters…? Dear readers, can you give me the motivation to keep writing? I’m truly starving right now.)