nycdaug Chapter 1167 - 52: Bu Bu Wang’s Hobby
Chapter 1167 - 52: Bu Bu Wang’s Hobby
Country of East Guotuo, 10 kilometers east of Sali Town, at an abandoned mine.
Bang, bang, bang...
The sound of striking came from within a mine tunnel as Su Xiao stood at the entrance of a semi-collapsed tunnel, with Bubu Wang and A Mu inside.
Just as Su Xiao was about to enter the tunnel, the striking stopped and footsteps were heard.
Moments later, Bubu Wang and A Mu emerged from the tunnel, their current appearance quite iconic.
A Mu carried a mining shovel on his shoulder, with a large metal box strapped to his back, while Bubu Wang wore a miner’s hat, with two cracks on the glass shield of the headlamp.
"Is the follow-up task just about having you mine?"
"Woof."
Bubu Wang barked, implying the situation was ’complicated.’ It began explaining everything using body language + expressions + sounds.
"Oh? Your personal hobby?"
Su Xiao understood Bubu Wang’s meaning — the task was completed, and the reason for mining was purely Bubu Wang’s personal hobby. This creature had once mined with the Bana Dwarf Tribe in the Void and unexpectedly became addicted to it.
There’s a reason for this; Bubu Wang doesn’t mine for treasure but simply enjoys digging holes and crawling into them.
Unfortunately, Bubu Wang’s digging skills are terrible. Often, just as it crawls into a hole it dug, the earth collapses, burying it alive — it’s not digging holes anymore, but digging its own grave.
Since mining with the Bana Dwarf Tribe, Bubu Wang feels like a whole new world has been opened. Digging holes is already fun for Bubu; digging while finding treasures is simply the greatest thing ever!
Su Xiao previously wondered why Bubu Wang proactively asked about the progress of the Ant King’s heart battle. It turns out it was inquiring whether Su Xiao needed support.
Clearly, the heart battle has ended, so Bubu Wang rushed to the abandoned mine to start mining, but it hadn’t been mining for long before Su Xiao arrived.
Bubu Wang took the task’s reward from its small storage space, the [Hidden Treasure Box], and with a clatter, a metal box fell to the ground.
Su Xiao attempted to touch the Hidden Treasure Box, and a prompt appeared.
[Choose whether to open the Hidden Treasure Box. If you open this box, the Hunter must select the opening mode.]
This prompt surprised Su Xiao; he couldn’t fully understand what ’opening mode’ meant. After hesitating for a moment, he decided not to rush opening this special treasure box.
The urgent task now is to sell the Ant King’s heart. If it’s not sold before the main task ends, its value is limited to only being a very high-strength heart.
The Derived World Contact Platform can serve as a temporary auction platform; Su Xiao has 10 speech opportunities remaining, which is sufficient.
The advantage of auctioning on the contact platform is that, due to the speech limitations, contractors who haven’t obtained the Ant King’s heart won’t offer random bids. They will strive to immediately present satisfactory prices to Su Xiao. Once speech opportunities are exhausted without providing a satisfactory price, it could lead to serious trouble.
grams of the heart can be traded with 18 contractors. Regardless of circumstances, Su Xiao must display great credibility in this matter. Once the price is fixed with a contractor, it must not be casually altered; otherwise, the transaction will become chaotic, leading to a frustrating situation.
It’s crucial to know those contractors who haven’t obtained the heart are in a near-crazed mental state. If they fail to get the heart, they will die.
But before that, Su Xiao needs to confirm whether the Starfire Adventure Team has already dissolved, as it concerns the stability of the transaction.
Even though the Starfire Adventure Team is nearly defunct, if the mechanism of the team still exists, they only need to get 30 grams of the heart to keep over twenty people alive.
The bald leader tried to snatch the heart not just for the task but to exploit those lone contractors. Rational as the bald leader was, he was killed by greed, a common occurrence, as in Reincarnation Paradise, one cannot afford to stay stagnant — otherwise, they edge closer to death.
Su Xiao began planning the auction process. After several minutes, he posted the first message on the contact platform.
Bai Ye (Loner): Selling 30 grams of Ant King Heart. Time undecided, location undecided, price undecided.
...
Su Xiao decided to sell 30 grams in the first round to test whether the Starfire Adventure Team’s mechanism is still functioning. If it is, the first transaction would be the largest.
Due to their number advantage, the adventure group’s assets are substantial — equipment, restorative items, rare resources — they have everything.
No one responded on the contact platform, as the speech chance had become particularly precious due to the main task.
If Starfire’s team mechanism persists, they aren’t cornered yet, as they could still obtain the Ant King’s heart from other sources, like Old Smoke and Chen, who each possess enough of it to complete the task.
[Prompt: Hunter received a temporary email, which can be blocked.]
Su Xiao opened the email.
’Sandstorm: Arrange a meeting place.’
After hesitating momentarily, Su Xiao replied with three words ’Sali Town.’
...
An hour later, more than twenty contractors arrived near Sali Town, led by Sandstorm, dressed in a burgundy robe with a hood, wearing a high-tech mask that rendered his voice electronic.
"Been waiting for you a long time."
Sitting atop the lofty portal at the entrance of Sali Town street, Su Xiao held a pruned tree branch skewered with large chunks of grilled meat — rabbit meat.
This is East Guotuo’s unique large wild rabbit, the size of a wild dog. After skewering the rabbit meat with a branch of glogloba, which grows in shaded areas, simple cooking transforms it into a rare delicacy.
"On our way here, we encountered two other sellers. They too could provide 30 grams of heart, but unfortunately, their prices pushed us onto an abyss, where recovery is impossible."
Sandstorm spoke; the voice revealed no gender. His style was typically masculine, yet his physique appeared somewhat slender.
"Let’s find a quiet place to start negotiating."
Sandstorm clearly understood his position, now resembling a lamb waiting for slaughter.
"Here is good enough; ever since the Mosaic ant incident, Sali Town’s residents rarely leave, making this the quietest place around."
Su Xiao chewed the crispy on the outside, tender inside grilled meat.
"You wouldn’t... suddenly kill us, would you?"
Sandstorm directly posed his most concerning question. Su Xiao could indeed wipe out twenty or so contractors; previously Sandstorm doubted this, but now he is convinced.
"How could I? Most times I only kill adversaries, why? Do you intend to forcibly take the Ant King’s heart?"
"Don’t joke — we tried before. It’s said there are no perpetual enemies, only perpetual interests."
"Makes some sense. So... what will you offer for your lives?"
Sitting on the portal 10 meters high, Su Xiao tossed away the wooden skewer, casually lighting a cigarette.