Chapter 933: The Guests

Feeling the gaze meant for dog meat soup, Bubu Wang’s fur bristled.

“Wang!”

Bubu Wang spun around, wagging its tail at the five silver-scaled creatures, the provocation unmistakable.

“Baraku!” (unknown language)

One of the silver-scaled creatures roared, its scales flaring open like razor blades—both defensive and lethal in close combat.

The five silver-scaled creatures surged forward in rapid strides, racing toward Bubu Wang—dog meat soup was right there, and in the Food-Scarce Stronghold Forest, they couldn’t afford to miss it.

Bubu Wang appeared as steady as an old dog, but inside it was panicking; its claws dug into the soft earth as it turned and bolted.

Bubu Wang’s flight without a fight sent the five silver-scaled creatures into fits of laughter; they closed in like a pack of hunters.

Yet the five silver-scaled creatures didn’t yet know death had already marked them.

The five silver-scaled creatures sprinted beneath the tree where Su Xiao waited—it was exactly what Bubu Wang had lured them to.

Su Xiao had been lying in wait on the tree for some time; silently, he dropped down, the Slaughter Shortblade already in his hand.

Su Xiao’s body plummeted swiftly; the whistling wind above made the five silver-scaled creatures halt mid-chase, their heads snapping up instinctively.

One silver-scaled creature looked up and saw a dark shadow less than two meters away.

An energy shield covered Su Xiao’s right knee; using the momentum of his fall, he drove his knee into the creature’s crown.

Crack—bone split with a sharp snap; the creature’s neck twisted unnaturally, yet its hands instinctively clawed toward Su Xiao, revealing the ferocious combat prowess of this alien species.

Su Xiao used the impact of his knee against the creature’s skull to flip his body mid-air, maintaining balance while evading the creature’s grasp.

He landed steadily, leaves swirling around him; he crouched low, flipping the Slaughter Shortblade from a forward grip to a reverse grip.

His eyes swept the surroundings—he saw the silver-scaled creature before him was dazed from the skull impact, while the other four had just turned their heads.

Su Xiao lunged forward, closing in on the dazed silver-scaled creature; he circled to its side and slipped behind it.

The Slaughter Shortblade pressed against the creature’s throat; Su Xiao slashed with full force.

Swish—blade slicing through skin, muscle, and bone; a grotesque wound opened. The Slaughter Shortblade was designed for throat-cutting: it inflicted 60% armor-ignoring bonus damage upon slashing a throat, and triggered a stamina check—if failed, it caused bleeding: 4% of the target’s max HP per second for ten seconds.

Gurgling blood spurted; without needing a prompt, Su Xiao knew the Bloodletting (passive) check had succeeded.

The silver-scaled creature before him collapsed forward; Su Xiao grabbed its nape, swung it up, and hurled it at another silver-scaled creature charging toward him.

Blood sprayed through the air; thud—the two creatures collided; one died instantly from the impact, the other splattered with blood across its face.

Ziiii~

A strand of blue metal thread wrapped around the creature—it was the Boundary Cut Line.

Su Xiao stepped forward; the Slaughter Shortblade vanished from his hand, replaced by the Dragon-Slaying Flash—this lightning-fast switch was possible due to one of the Slaughter Shortblade’s abilities.

Equipment Effect 4: Rapid Switch (active): Weapon swap speed +70%.

Precisely because of this trait, Su Xiao used the Slaughter Shortblade as his secondary weapon—though its gold-tier quality also contributed.

The Dragon-Slaying Flash appeared; if the Slaughter Shortblade felt agile and bloodthirsty, the Dragon-Slaying Flash was pure, unadulterated sharpness—just looking at it made the eyes ache.

Holding the Dragon-Slaying Flash, Su Xiao’s aura shifted—he had been an assassin, now he was a direct challenger.

Ting!

Several blade slashes shot forth, slicing toward the silver-scaled creature bound by the Boundary Cut Line; terror flooded its eyes as it struggled desperately to break free.

But the Boundary Cut Line, upgraded to dark purple and reinforced +10, was beyond its strength to snap—even some third-tier boss monsters couldn’t break it; its durability was too high: 280 points. Over 90% of gold-tier gear didn’t have this much durability.

“Aaaah!!”

The bound silver-scaled creature roared; the Boundary Cut Line carved deep crimson grooves into its body.

Puch!

Blade slashes cut through—six intersecting slashes shredded the creature into pieces.

Su Xiao tugged the Boundary Cut Line; the impossibly thin thread left a thin crimson trail in the air.

Three silver-scaled creatures remained alive; Su Xiao turned his gaze toward them—and froze.

The three silver-scaled creatures were already ten meters away; after witnessing two of their kind instantly slaughtered, the remaining three didn’t think of revenge—they instantly turned and fled.

These silver-scaled creatures weren’t game NPCs bound by aggro mechanics; they were beings from an unknown planet, and when faced with overwhelming power disparity, they fled without hesitation.

Just as the three silver-scaled creatures broke into a sprint, Bubu Wang blocked their path.

“Laka!!”

One silver-scaled creature roared; no translation needed—Su Xiao knew it meant “get out of the way.”

Bubu Wang refused to budge—it hadn’t forgotten the “dog meat soup” insult; Bubu Wang held grudges fiercely.

The brief delay caused by Bubu Wang, combined with the vast speed gap between Su Xiao and the creatures, allowed Su Xiao to catch up to the three.

A flash of blade— one silver-scaled creature, still facing forward, had its head severed; Su Xiao’s fighting style was broad and brutal: if he didn’t hit, fine; if he did, he left body parts behind.

The remaining two silver-scaled creatures halted, realizing the situation.

Crack… crack…

Cracks appeared across the surface of both creatures; seeing this, Su Xiao froze mid-step and leapt backward; Bubu Wang rolled over lazily, tumbling behind a massive tree—dirt exploded behind the tree as if digging a hole.

Boom! Boom!

Two explosions erupted; blood mist rose, and countless silver scales shot outward in all directions.

Papatapata…

The tree shielding Bubu Wang was instantly riddled with holes; Bubu Wang let out a shrill yowl.

Far more silver scales shot toward Su Xiao than toward Bubu Wang.

Su Xiao activated his Direct Perception to its maximum—but the number of scales was too great; he couldn’t dodge them all; a 200-point energy shield materialized before him.

Pala! The shield shattered; the kinetic force of the scales was halved; Su Xiao twisted sideways and slashed several times, sparks flying as the deflected scales embedded themselves in nearby trees.

The forest fell silent; Su Xiao sheathed the Dragon-Slaying Flash—unharmed. These silver-scaled creatures weren’t particularly strong.

Yet when these relatively weak silver-scaled creatures exploded, they unleashed devastating power; those silver scales could pierce a 200-point energy shield instantly, revealing their destructive potential.

These silver-scaled creatures must be the “guests” the Wolf Steward mentioned—if all guests possessed this level of lethality, the danger level of the Stronghold Forest would skyrocket.

More importantly, these “guests” could never coexist peacefully with the players; if a guest killed a player, they would regain their freedom.