Chapter 49: Kidnapping Yi Niao

In the afternoon, Su Xiao woke from a deep sleep.

The ample rest left him feeling energized; he sat up on the living room sofa, and the aroma of food reached him.

On the coffee table beside him lay several delicate dishes.

A bowl of rice, a grilled fish, and a bowl of soup with an intoxicating scent.

Beside these dishes rested a note.

‘White Night Second Class, I’ve gone to the branch to handle the aftermath of the expulsion of ghouls—Shinohara Akira.’

Su Xiao stretched, thinking Shinohara Akira might be weak, but was a decent assistant.

After finishing the food before him, Su Xiao took out the five white treasure chests and opened them one by one.

These five white treasure chests all dropped from common ghouls; Su Xiao had low expectations, and received the following items.

【Obtained 1,100 Paradise Coins】 (Total Paradise Coins from all five chests)

【Obtained Kakuja (A-rank)】 ×2

【Obtained Kakuja (B-rank)】 ×1

……

Of the five chests, two contained only Paradise Coins; the remaining three yielded Kakuja.

These Kakuja had no immediate use; Su Xiao still needed contribution points to advance his rank before he could craft Quinque.

Fortunately, rank advancement only required reaching a certain contribution threshold—it didn’t consume contribution points.

Once promoted to First-Class Investigator, he could fully use his accumulated contribution points to craft Quinque.

Even if he didn’t craft Quinque, he could sell these Kakuja in the Lunhuileyuan for a substantial income.

Earning 1,100 Paradise Coins was, overall, quite satisfactory.

Su Xiao leaned back on the sofa and began planning his future course of action.

First, he must complete Main Quest (2); its penalty was severe—a deduction of three points from all attributes.

Strength, Agility, and Intelligence were manageable; even losing three points would hurt, but wasn’t unbearable.

But if Stamina dropped by three points—from his current six to three—the consequences were obvious.

Charm and Luck were even more alarming: Charm would plummet to zero.

Regarding Charm, Su Xiao had a theory: it didn’t reflect physical beauty, but rather personal aura.

For instance, some people naturally exude warmth and charisma—their Charm stat would be inherently high, like celebrities in the real world, whose Charm likely wasn’t low.

But Su Xiao’s murderous demeanor? High Charm would be absurd.

Still, this aura had its advantages—if he joined a villainous faction, he’d be highly favored.

If Luck dropped by three points, it would turn negative.

At that point, his situation would mirror “Final Destination”—constant, imminent danger of death.

So Main Quest (2) must be completed; besides, completing it granted one attribute point and 1,500 Paradise Coins—a significant reward.

Next, he must complete the Hunting Quest.

The Lunhuileyuan didn’t list rewards for the Hunting Quest, but Su Xiao felt the payoff must be substantial—he was helping the Lunhuileyuan eliminate threats.

“Then, continue searching for ghoul gathering spots.”

The benefits of last night’s large-scale ghoul hunt had shown him the value—he wouldn’t waste time hunting ghouls one by one; the returns were too meager.

It was far more efficient to find large ghoul gathering spots.

Finding such spots wasn’t easy; the obvious ones were too terrifying—like the ghoul hubs in Districts One through Four, each housing hundreds or even thousands of ghouls.

Even Su Xiao dared not approach such mega-gatherings; if a thousand ghouls charged him at once—even if all were B-rank—they could wear him down and kill him.

Ghoul gathering numbers should ideally stay under one hundred; beyond that, Su Xiao couldn’t handle it.

Last night’s bloodless slaughter of dozens of ghouls succeeded only because they didn’t swarm him all at once.

Fighting one opponent is entirely different from fighting a hundred; as the saying goes, two fists can’t fend off four hands—Su Xiao was still flesh and blood, he could be wounded, and wounded, he could die.

Thus, he needed to return to the ‘Helterskelter’ bar—Yi Niao likely had this intelligence.

And this time, he wouldn’t demand information through threats—that wasn’t sustainable.

Even rabbits bite when cornered, let alone Yi Niao, an SS-rank ghoul.

He picked up the phone from the coffee table and dialed Shinohara Akira’s number.

‘White Night Second Class, you’re awake.’

Shinohara Akira’s voice was crisp and cheerful.

‘How did the matter go?’

‘Handled. The headquarters took possession of the ghoul corpses; if nothing goes wrong, I’ll receive a new Quinque.’

Shinohara Akira’s bell-like laughter echoed through the phone.

‘White Night Second Class, what will you do with the Kakuja from those ghouls? You eliminated them—you have the right to claim them.’

Su Xiao paused. His current contribution points were: 【Second-Class Investigator, Contribution: 390/400.】 He needed just ten more points to advance to First-Class Investigator.

‘Submit two-thirds to headquarters; use the remaining third to acquire something for me there.’

Su Xiao exchanged two-thirds of the Kakuja for contribution points.

Upon hearing what Su Xiao wanted, Shinohara Akira froze.

‘That item? Alright~ I’ll report it to the higher-ups—but headquarters has very little stock; it’s only used when crafting Quinque.’

Shinohara Akira was now eager to assist Su Xiao; partnering with him boosted both his achievements and combat skills rapidly.

The call ended. An hour later, Shinohara Akira returned home.

‘Got it. The branch still had one left—but White Night Second Class, I’m curious: what are you planning to do with this? For humans, it’s extremely dangerous—it’s a deadly poison.’

Shinohara Akira held a small metal case, handling it with extreme care, as if it contained something fragile.

‘Some things are better left unknown.’

Su Xiao took the metal case and opened it.

‘Careful~.’

As the case opened, Shinohara Akira instinctively stepped back two paces.

After confirming the contents were safe, Su Xiao closed the case and stored it in his inventory space.

He made no effort to hide it from Shinohara Akira, who showed no surprise at its sudden disappearance—as if it were perfectly natural.

This was the Lunhuileyuan ’s camouflage mechanism, integrating abilities seamlessly into the ghoul world.

‘Let’s go back to that bar.’

Shinohara Akira had many questions but said nothing.

As Su Xiao said: some things were better left unknown.

Su Xiao could trade with ghouls; Shinohara Akira never could—it was a matter of principle.

Twenty minutes later, the two arrived at the ‘Helterskelter’ bar.

As before, Su Xiao left Shinohara Akira in the car and entered the bar alone.

‘Welcome to—’

Yi Niao began automatically, then fell silent upon seeing Su Xiao.

In Yi Niao’s eyes, Su Xiao was a plague-bringer; last night’s purge of countless ghouls in the West District had deepened his fear.

‘Don’t be nervous. I’m here only to make a deal.’

He pulled out the metal case and withdrew a test tube.

The test tube was elegant—ten centimeters long, thumb-thick, filled with a pale red translucent liquid, bubbles churning within.

At the sight of the test tube, Yi Niao swallowed hard, his gaze locked and unmovable.

Ghouls rarely obtained such items—but nearly all ghouls craved them.

PS: (New week—please vote for recommendations~.)