Su Xiao walked out of the auction house. It was daytime, and ghouls usually came out at night.
“Hello, Mr. Bai Ye~.” A lazy voice called out from nearby. Su Xiao turned to see it was the little white-haired creature from Suzuya Jizo.
“Here’s the identification.”
Suzuya handed Su Xiao the document, grinning at him.
As soon as Su Xiao received the document, a notification popped up from the Reincarnation Paradise.
[You have been promoted to First-Class Investigator, Contribution: 525/2000.]
Seeing the contribution points needed for 'First-Class Investigator,' Su Xiao frowned. The contribution points required to move from 'Third-Class Investigator' to 'First-Class Investigator' didn’t follow a specific pattern; sometimes it increased nearly tenfold, sometimes fivefold. However, to reach 2000 points, he might need to hunt down hundreds or even thousands of ghouls.
“Mr. Bai Ye~ what are you thinking about?” Suzuya asked curiously.
“Nothing…” Su Xiao was about to reply when suddenly he felt a sharp sensation, as if someone was watching him. It reminded him of the time he was bitten by that little hamster in the restroom.
His eyes sharpened as he discreetly scanned the surroundings.
“Crack, crack, crack~.”
He heard faint gnawing sounds mixed with car horns and pedestrians chatting. Su Xiao's gaze locked onto a piece of trash.
On the trash can lid stood a little hamster, nibbling on something.
This familiar scene made Su Xiao’s pupils constrict.
Something was off about this hamster.
As Su Xiao focused on the little creature, it immediately stopped eating and held out a small piece of apple towards him.
Su Xiao instinctively wanted to look away but suddenly felt something was wrong.
After the hamster made that gesture, he had left the restroom without questioning it further. Why was that?
Su Xiao's gaze returned to the hamster, which abruptly dropped the piece of apple and ran away.
This little thing was spying on him.
Su Xiao dashed across the street, not caring about the passing cars.
The hamster ran quickly toward a nearby alley, but Su Xiao was faster, closing in on it.
In a house 500 meters away, a green-haired girl lying on the bed suddenly opened her eyes.
“What a joke, how can the Level 3 deception not work?”
The lazy expression on the girl’s face vanished, replaced by panic. The little hamster was her symbiotic partner, possessing three passive abilities, making it very valuable.
“Ye Zi, what’s wrong?”
The armored knight queen looked at the green-haired girl, who was Ye Zi, in confusion.
“Ka Ka was discovered by that man and is running for its life! Queen, hurry and save Ka Ka!”
“Impossible.”
The queen looked doubtful; the little hamster was their most important source of information.
“I’m going now…”
The queen hurried outside, the sound of her armor clanking loudly.
Su Xiao quickly chased after the hamster. In another 200 meters, there was a sewer. If the hamster got in there, his chances of catching it would be slim.
The Dragon Slayer appeared in his hand. Su Xiao spun it around twice to get a feel for it before throwing it with force.
“Ding.”
The Dragon Slayer pierced the little hamster’s body perfectly, embedding deep into the ground while the hilt remained still, showing just how sharp the blade was.
Su Xiao rushed forward to pull out the Dragon Slayer. He stepped on the little hamster, turning it into mush, and the feeling of being watched disappeared.
He was able to sense he was being watched because his intelligence was at 12 points, which affected his perception. Additionally, it was due to his training in swordsmanship.
This little hamster wasn’t easy to spot; Level 3 deception was enough to fool someone’s vision, or else the green-haired girl wouldn’t have let the hamster appear so openly.
Back in the house 500 meters away, the queen hadn’t even stepped outside when she heard a piercing scream from behind her.
“Ka Ka~.”
Ye Zi was devastated, tears streaming down her face.
“Drip, drip~.”
Blood dripped from her nose as she seemed to collapse onto the ground.
“Ye Zi, what’s wrong?”
The queen helped Ye Zi up, looking worried. It was clear they had a close relationship.
“Ka Ka is dead! It was stepped on by someone! I saw it through shared vision, woo~.”
Ye Zi began to cry uncontrollably.
The queen’s expression darkened. The death of the little hamster Ka Ka was a significant loss for their trio.
“Ka Ka had Level 3 deception; how could it be discovered? Even I sometimes unconsciously overlook that little thing.”
It seemed the queen was also puzzled about how Ka Ka was spotted by Su Xiao, something none of them had anticipated.
Ye Zi’s voice trembled as she spoke.
“An increase in intelligence also raises perception. That bastard may have 12 points in intelligence, but his perception shouldn’t be that sharp.”
Under normal circumstances, 12 points in intelligence wouldn’t lead to such keen perception, but Su Xiao’s training in swordsmanship had sharpened his senses.
The meditation method given to Su Xiao by Geng Silang also helped improve perception, and meditation had become a habit for him.
“We can’t let this go. I want to kill that bastard, now!”
Ye Zi stood up, filled with rage, and walked outside.
“If you’re looking to get yourself killed, don’t drag me and Hei Bai into it.”
A cold voice came from behind, making Ye Zi shudder.
Although the queen was usually easy to get along with, Ye Zi couldn’t help but feel a bit scared when the queen was serious. After all, she was her captain.
In their adventure group, defying the captain without reason had serious consequences.
“Calm down. We’ll act tonight. Hei Bai is already looking for a high ground. Make sure she stays cautious; if Ka Ka could be discovered, Hei Bai won’t escape that man’s perception either.”
The queen took out a headset and pressed it gently to contact Hei Bai.
In the alley, Su Xiao stood silently, holding the Dragon Slayer.
He had almost overlooked the enemy’s surveillance, but fortunately, he noticed in time.
This was a lesson; in the world of ghouls, he had been sailing smoothly, which made him a bit careless.
Now, Su Xiao was alert. In this derived world, he couldn’t let his guard down, not even for a moment.
The little hamster that had become mush was definitely not an ordinary animal. Every time that little hamster showed friendliness by offering him food, his hostility would suddenly fade, and he would unconsciously overlook it.
This reminded him of a skill from the Reincarnation Paradise.
He had encountered something similar in the real world once, and in the end, he had escaped thanks to his sharp perception.
After pondering for a moment, Su Xiao decided to ask the Reincarnation Paradise.
“Paradise, is there a way to investigate enemy information?”
A prompt from the Reincarnation Paradise appeared.
[1. Detection equipment. 2. Apostle-type summons. 3. Reconnaissance skills… Insufficient permissions to view the following content.]
The answer from the Reincarnation Paradise pleased Su Xiao. He secretly decided that once this derived world ended, he would find a way to obtain one of those three.
Knowing oneself and knowing the enemy leads to victory in every battle; this saying holds true.
At the very least, he needed to understand the enemy’s attributes, and from their levels, he could roughly gauge their strength.
Just as Su Xiao was about to leave the alley, a prompt suddenly popped up from the Reincarnation Paradise.
[Detected that the hunter's level is Lv.2, lower than the level of the current derived world, temporary skill activated.]
[Temporary Skill: Basic Detection, Cost: 800 Paradise Coins, Yes/No to activate.]
[Note: The temporary skill will disappear after leaving this world.]
Seeing the [Basic Detection] function made Su Xiao overjoyed, but upon seeing the cost, he cursed silently, thinking it was too expensive.
Although the Reincarnation Paradise seemed to be taking advantage of the situation, he really needed this ability right now.
Su Xiao clearly understood that the little hamster he had stepped on was definitely related to the enemy contractor.
The dangers in the derived world didn’t just come from various tasks or plot characters; other contractors could not be ignored either.
“Heh~, the little mouse is dead, and the mouse's master can’t be far behind.”
Su Xiao couldn’t help but feel a bit excited; he hadn’t fought with other contractors yet.
(End of Chapter)