Chapter 656: Nilapan

As the girl opened the scroll, a transparent barrier expanded, enveloping the entire auction house.

The unknown creatures were blocked outside the barrier, attacking it desperately; the sound was incessant, like a thousand people hammering a sheet of glass simultaneously. Fortunately, this barrier was extremely sturdy—it was, after all, a purple-quality consumable.

The contractors stopped in their tracks. Although the barrier blocked the unknown creatures, the contractors were also unable to attack the creatures outside.

"This thing won't last long, will it?"

"Will the V5 organization and the Hunter Association come to support us?"

"It's highly unlikely they'll care. These unknown creatures are only attacking the auction house. This is the territory of the mafia; as long as there is no mass slaughter of civilians, this is just a battle between factions. Those large organizations won't intervene. Besides, for some unknown reason, the area nearby is sparsely populated."

The contractors gathered in the lobby on the first floor. Everyone knew that they were only safe for a short while; the barrier outside wouldn't last long.

"Damn it, I shouldn't have come to the auction house."

"What's the use of being a Monday-morning quarterback? We were already surrounded before; we would have died if we hadn't rushed in. Where did these things come from? Spatial teleportation?"

Some impatient ones paced the lobby. Su Xiao looked toward the main entrance.

If they couldn't defend the auction house, he was prepared to fight his way out. These unknown creatures couldn't stop him from breaking through, but the -3 to all attributes was very annoying, especially the Luck attribute.

"Is there anyone with a high-dosage recovery item? Little Ke is a barrier master."

A loud shout drew the attention of the contractors present. Everyone's eyes turned toward a couple.

The man in the couple was covered in blood, while the woman was unconscious. The man was holding her.

"Injuries are too severe; potions below blue quality might be ineffective."

"What kind of potion? Second brother, third brother, get to work."

The eldest of the National Football brothers stepped forward quickly, with the second and third brothers following closely behind. If the three of them used their healing skills simultaneously, they could outclass most healers.

Holy light bloomed from the three brothers. Under their treatment, the female contractor slowly regained consciousness.

"Ah!"

The female contractor shrieked as soon as she woke up. After discovering her lover was safe, she began to check if she was missing any limbs.

"Little Ke, it's okay."

"I had such severe injuries... how did I recover?"

"Ahem~"

The eldest of the National Football brothers cleared his throat.

"Little sister, don't thank me, call me Lei Feng. But your boyfriend is a real man; after you passed out, he dragged you out of the monster swarm by himself."

The barrier master girl looked at her boyfriend, tears welling up in her eyes. True feelings are only seen in the face of life and death.

The man smiled shyly and scratched his head.

"My dear..."

The barrier master girl's voice was a bit choked.

"It's okay. If you weren't here, there would be no point in me living."

"I..."

The couple didn't notice dozens of pairs of eyes staring at them.

"You two, although it's inappropriate to interrupt your display of affection, the barrier I set up has limited strength. It can hold for ten minutes at most. I am not a barrier master; if the barrier cannot be recharged, no matter how high its strength is, it's useless."

Mimi's expression was unnatural. She, who didn't believe in love, had been force-fed a huge mouthful of dog food.

"As for the barrier, I can set it up at any time, as long as I have enough mana, the barrier won't disappear."

"A continuous-type barrier master? A rare profession."

Having a barrier master present was undoubtedly good news. Su Xiao's arrangement on the contact platform hadn't been in vain.

"If we want to set up the barrier, it's best to leave one or two gaps. This way, we can form an offensive and defensive line instead of just cowering inside the barrier. Moreover, after leaving gaps for attacks, those monsters will try to find ways to rush in, so they won't keep attacking the barrier, and the barrier's duration can be significantly extended."

The eldest of the National Football brothers spoke. He seemed to have experience with this kind of situation; he must have been in a large adventure group before.

Su Xiao hadn't spoken, because he was considering something.

This situation today wasn't an accident or a coincidence, but rather he had been schemed against by the Clown. In terms of wits, the Clown was stronger; admitting this wasn't shameful. Blind confidence, or even arrogance, was foolish.

After the Clown lost his battle against Su Xiao, he had been planning this operation. Whether Su Xiao joined the Phantom Troupe faction or the Ten Dons faction, the Clown's goal was to sabotage the main quest to weaken his strength, and he wouldn't hesitate to kill him directly if he could.

The Clown, who had been hiding for days, bared his fangs today. It had to be admitted that the Clown had indeed put Su Xiao in check. Su Xiao was good at assassination and fighting strong enemies head-on, but he wasn't good at defending a specific location. Precisely because of this, the Clown acted in this manner.

"Clown."

Su Xiao laughed. It had been a long time since he encountered such an enemy. Whether it was the revolver man or the crazy healer he had encountered before, none of them could compare to the Clown.

In terms of comprehensive ability, the Clown was the strongest enemy of the same tier Su Xiao had ever encountered.

Just as Su Xiao was thinking, a crisp cracking sound came. Large cracks appeared on the barrier outside the auction house. The attacks from the unknown creatures had never stopped. The barrier set up by Mimi hadn't lasted ten minutes.

"Void Source: Four-King Barrier."

The barrier master girl pressed her palms together, and a brand-new, large barrier appeared. This barrier left two square gaps at the positions of the front and back doors of the auction house.

"If we can't defend it, I can seal one of the gaps at any time. I can maintain a barrier of this strength for 2 hours. If there are mana recovery potions, I can hold out longer."

The barrier master girl looked around at everyone. The meaning was clear: who had mana recovery potions to give her?

The rarity of mana recovery potions was obvious to all, but the eldest of the National Football brothers tossed out a crystal bottle.

"Very expensive, use it sparingly."

"En, in that case, the barrier can hold for more than 3 hours."

"Clown, don't let me run into you."

Mimi gritted her teeth and also took out a mana recovery potion.

"The barrier duration is increased to 5 hours."

No one spoke again. The third of the National Football brothers looked at Su Xiao.

"Ruthless brother, don't you have anything to show? As the strongest person present, you can't possibly have no mana recovery potions."

The third of the National Football brothers smiled honestly. The eldest and second brothers were so scared they were covered in cold sweat. The eldest of the National Football brothers gave the third brother a big slap on the back of the head with a crisp sound.

"My third brother is joking, don't mind him."

The eldest of the National Football brothers clearly understood Su Xiao's personality.

"No potions, but I have an aura. I'll take responsibility for the front door gap; you guys defend the back door."

Su Xiao signaled Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang to grant permission for the Ice Goddess Aura. All the contractors were very satisfied with this extremely practical aura of Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang's.

"Barrier master, open a hole for me on the roof."

Vinnie, who had come down from the roof, greeted them and turned to leave. She didn't want to have her identity recognized by the contractors present, but she glanced at the National Football brothers as she left.

"This is..."

The National Football brothers shivered simultaneously, their bodies clearly stiffening.

"Ruthless brother, you shouldn't allow infighting, right? That woman might really kill us."

"Right, right, that woman is..."

The third of the National Football brothers was about to reveal Vinnie's identity when the eldest brother gave him another loving slap on the back of the head, making the third brother see stars.

Su Xiao ignored the three living treasures of the National Football brothers. The outermost barrier was about to shatter.

Walking alone to the gap at the main entrance of the barrier, Su Xiao used the 【Apostle's Eye】 to investigate the data of those unknown creatures.

【Comparing Intelligence attributes... Comparison complete. My Intelligence is 1.964 times that of the enemy. Obtaining 100% of the enemy's data.】

Data is as follows:

Name: Nilapan

Category: Humanoid creature

Origin: Dark Continent

HP: 100%

Mana: 280/280

Strength: 35

Agility: 36

Stamina: 32

Intelligence: 28

Charisma: 1

Skill 1: Gregarious (Passive Lv. 5): Nilapan are gregarious creatures. When the number exceeds 10, Strength, Agility, and Stamina +1. When the number exceeds 100, Strength, Agility, and Stamina +2. When the number exceeds 1000, Strength, Agility, and Stamina +5 (Maximum bonus is Strength, Agility, and Stamina +5).

Skill 2: Open Field of View (Passive Lv. 6): Nilapan have four eyes, with a field of view of 230° (Human field of view is 120°).

Skill 3: Claw Blade (Passive Lv. 10): The claws are extremely tough and sharp.

Skill 4: Fission Reproduction (Passive Lv. 20): Nilapan reproduce by fission. Within five minutes of an individual's death, it can undergo one fission reproduction.