Chapter 25: Chapter Twenty-Five: Specializing in Taking Down Artillery

The little girl ran up to Su Xiao in a few steps, smiling at him.

“It’s me~ I’m Connor, how cute, right?”

The little girl’s personality was extremely lively, and she spun around in front of Su Xiao.

Su Xiao carefully examined her and realized the little girl before him was not that insatiable Connor.

“You’re not Connor.”

“Caught me, huh? I should’ve paid more attention to my tone.” The little girl stopped acting cute.

“How about a deal? I’ll help you understand the Cycle Paradise, and you pay me 50 Paradise Coins.”

Su Xiao desperately needed to understand the Cycle Paradise, and the fake Connor was clearly the best choice.

“Fine. How do I pay you the Paradise Coins?”

Su Xiao’s straightforwardness surprised the little girl.

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll cheat you? There are plenty of con artists in the Cycle Paradise.”

[Dragon Slash] appeared in Su Xiao’s hand; he glared at the little girl with icy eyes.

“If you cheat me, I’ll kill you.”

The little girl let out a light laugh.

"Definitely a newbie. Outside the Arena, Contractees can't attack each other anywhere in Cycle Paradise—this is a safe zone."

“Is that so? Then it should be possible in the derivative worlds.”

Su Xiao’s chilling gaze made the little girl step back several paces.

“Hey, hey, we’re not enemies. I won’t cheat you.”

Su Xiao’s icy stare made her heart pound—this guy was dangerous, the kind who killed without blinking.

Her mind raced; she decided to back off and not do business with Su Xiao.

[Ding, you’ve received 50 Paradise Coins from Contracted One 13013.]

The little girl’s face immediately fell, gazing at Su Xiao with a plaintive look.

“It’s too crowded here. Let’s go to a cold drink shop to talk.”

The little girl sighed helplessly and walked ahead; Su Xiao followed behind.

“Sigh~ I didn’t want to do business with you, but since you’ve already paid, I’ll introduce myself—I’m Xi Luoluo, an employee of the Cycle Paradise.”

Employee? Su Xiao was puzzled but said nothing.

Soon, Xi Luoluo brought Su Xiao to a cold drink shop whose name was bizarre: [Cat and Dog].

“Welcome to… oh, it’s little Xi? You’ve brought in a new client?”

A sensual, mature woman stepped forward—her chest was full, her legs long, she wore black stockings and high heels, making her height nearly match Su Xiao’s.

“Boss, I’ll have watermelon juice. What about you, sir?”

“Plain water.”

Su Xiao answered casually—he wouldn’t drink anything offered by a stranger.

“Don’t worry—we’re employees, unlike you Contracted Ones. We don’t have that many ulterior motives.”

Su Xiao tapped the table lightly with his index finger. “What’s an employee?”

Xi Luoluo cleared her throat and began explaining; soon, Su Xiao understood what an employee was.

In the Cycle Paradise, there were two most numerous types of people: the first were Contracted Ones, the second were employees like Xi Luoluo.

Contracted Ones had to frequently undertake dangerous missions, but employees were different—they were service staff within the Cycle Paradise, selling goods or working in food and beverage services.

Employees were former Contracted Ones who failed their first world mission and were disqualified; without them, Contracted Ones couldn’t even eat.

Remember, the Cycle Paradise doesn’t offer exchange services—daily necessities all rely on these employees.

One advantage of becoming an employee is that you only need to enter a derivative world once every two months.

Xi Luoluo feared Su Xiao because she too had to enter derivative worlds; if she unluckyly encountered him, with her “heartwarming” combat power, she had zero chance of survival.

Xi Luoluo pulled out a transparent tablet and handed it to Su Xiao.

“All the specific information about the Cycle Paradise is here. Take a look—it’s certified by the Cycle Paradise, no fraud guaranteed.”

Su Xiao took the tablet; it radiated advanced tech, capable of projecting 3D holographic images.

He gradually learned the general situation of the Cycle Paradise.

The Cycle Paradise was vast; no one had ever counted its population, but it was certainly over 100,000.

No one counted because the death rate among Contracted Ones was extremely high.

According to Xi Luoluo’s data, the death rate in the first world was 80%, the second world 60%, the third world 50%, and the numbers kept dropping—Su Xiao didn’t bother reading further.

From this terrifying death rate, one could see how hard it was for Contracted Ones to survive in the Cycle Paradise.

Most shops in the Cycle Paradise were run by employees, maintaining the daily needs of Contracted Ones.

In the central area of the Cycle Paradise, there were over a dozen buildings operated by the Cycle Paradise itself, including the Attribute Enhancement Hall mentioned earlier.

These dozen buildings were vital to Contracted Ones—any improvement in strength was tied directly to them.

After reading the last entry on the tablet, Su Xiao set it down.

“It says here that Contracted Ones can stay in the Cycle Paradise for three days before being sent back to the real world to wait for the next mission—does that mean I can return to the real world?”

Xi Luoluo bit her straw and tucked the tablet away.

“Yes. After completing one derivative world, each Contracted One can stay in the Cycle Paradise for three days, then the Cycle Paradise teleports them back to the real world.”

Usually, after returning to the real world, they’d stay about a week before receiving another summons from the Cycle Paradise to return and begin the next derivative world.”

At this, Xi Luoluo’s face darkened, gazing at Su Xiao with envy.

Employees differed from Contracted Ones—they could return to the real world only three days per month.

“I really miss my family.”

Xi Luoluo propped her chin on both hands, pouting.

“By the way, one more thing: you can use the Cycle Paradise to conceal your appearance, to avoid retaliation or assassination by other Contracted Ones in the real world—and to prevent endangering your family. It’s a bloody lesson.”

“This face of mine? I modified it through the Cycle Paradise—it cost me 500 Paradise Coins.”

Su Xiao merely grunted, not caring.

“Aren’t you hiding your appearance? You can do it now.” Xi Luoluo looked at Su Xiao in surprise.

"No need. I have no one to drag into this."

Su Xiao’s reply silenced Xi Luoluo—this sharp-witted little girl dared not rub salt into his wounds.

“You’ve seen the data, so the deal’s done. Let me give you a friendly warning: in derivative worlds, don’t provoke the Mage Lords—they’re monsters, walking artillery.”

Xi Luoluo shrank her neck, her expression wary.

“Mage Lords? Are mages that strong in the Cycle Paradise?”

The faint, almost imperceptible smile on Su Xiao’s lips made Xi Luoluo shake her head.

“Not just strong—they’re super strong. Every expedition team recruits Mage Lords without limit. You know, I’ve been through two derivative worlds, and both times I paid to hire Mage Lords for protection.”

Su Xiao nodded, his mind unsettled—he was now the Death of Magic Shadow, the natural enemy of mages.

He suddenly felt a strange anticipation—would those Mage Lords still seem so powerful before him?

Su Xiao had just received the inheritance of the Death of Magic Shadow and didn’t yet understand the full power of this profession.

Now, the question wasn’t whether Mage Lords were stronger than him—it was whether they could survive meeting him.