Chapter 448: Chapter 20: Out of the Blue
Thud!
The ground shook as the rumbling sensation hit, stone fragments fell from the cave ceiling, and Su Xiao, who had been asleep, suddenly opened his eyes.
He sat up swiftly, shaking off weakness and fatigue completely.
Glancing around, the cave was dimly lit, the entrance was blocked, and there was nothing unusual.
Boom, boom!
The loud noises came from afar, conservatively estimated at half a kilometer away, causing Su Xiao to breathe a sigh of relief.
He took out his waterproof pocket watch to check the time; it was already 11 a.m.
Today was the second day of the survival trial. Although the first day was a bit messy, Su Xiao had endured the toughest day.
Upon arriving at Devouring Island, everything was unfamiliar to him, just like it was for the other Contractors.
[215 hours remaining, 456 Contractors surviving.]
Contractors who survived the first day had gained some understanding of Devouring Island. The main cause of the high casualties on the first day was parachuting.
Some Contractors landed right among the island’s creatures, leading to an inevitably high rate of injuries and deaths.
The number of deaths would be high on the first day, but would drop dramatically by the second day.
Starting from the third day, the death toll among Contractors would rise again, with the last two to three days being the most brutal.
To find food and fresh water, one had to explore Devouring Island, which inevitably meant encountering indigenous creatures or running into other Contractors.
In the cave, Su Xiao stretched, his bones cracking. The indigenous people he fought yesterday were quite strong, but that was partly due to his poor condition.
Crossing the entire grassland took a lot of stamina, and he didn’t have a drop of water for ten hours afterward. Having any combat strength at that time was decent enough.
He had to leave the Red Soil Area as soon as possible; there was too little food here. With sufficient stamina, dealing with those indigenous creatures would be hard, but not as tragic as yesterday. The experience of being so hungry that he had no strength was terrible.
There was still a constant roaring outside the cave. Su Xiao moved the rocks away from the entrance, letting in the light, which caused his pupils to shrink slightly, adapting to the sudden brightness.
Walking slowly out of the cave, the roaring sounds grew clearer, coming from a plain to the right.
Su Xiao climbed a slope and looked down at the plain from where the sound emanated.
Upon seeing what was happening in the distance, Su Xiao instinctively crouched on the slope.
On the distant plain, a dense crowd of red-skinned natives charged forward, shouting. A conservative estimate put their numbers at over ten thousand.
Half-asleep Bubu Wang followed behind Su Xiao. Bubu Wang had a habit of howling once it got up.
Looking like a Snow Wolf, Bubu Wang stood on the slope, the gentle breeze rustling its smooth fur, its head raised.
Upon unintentionally seeing the scene below, Bubu Wang suppressed a prepared ’Awooo~’ when it saw the massive crowd of natives.
Bubu Wang was so frightened it nearly peed itself, quickly retreating behind the slope with a "scared to death" look on its face.
The sounds of battle cried from afar; the enemy of the red-skinned natives was not human, but a type of creature Su Xiao had never seen before.
The creature resembled a giant scorpion, about three meters in length, its entire body covered in a black exoskeleton. Its stout claws pierced the ground, and both its curved tail and mouth had a large pincer.
Seeing this creature, Su Xiao immediately thought of the Insect Tribe.
No wonder Su Xiao thought this; this giant scorpion-like creature was born for combat, with two hearts but lacking vital brain vulnerabilities.
He took out the "Eye of Havana." Given the distance, Su Xiao was uncertain whether he could successfully probe.
[Probing...]
[Due to the long distance, only 87% data obtained.]
The information was as follows:
Name: Scorpion
Life Value: 100%
Mana Value: 50
Power: 16
Agility: 14
Stamina: 8
Intelligence: 5
Charm: -1
Skill 1: Exoskeleton Lv.1 (Passive), defensive power +2
Skill 2: Acidic Blood Lv.1 (Passive), blood corrosive.
Skill 3: Void Insect Clan (Passive), can survive in extremely harsh environments, can digest more than 80% of organic substances.
Skill 4: Collective Combat (Passive), when the number of scorpions exceeds 300, power +2, agility +2; when the number exceeds 1000, power +3, agility +3; when the number exceeds 10000, power +5, agility +5.
...
[Hint: The Hunter has encountered two major forces in the Red Soil Area, and the Red Soil Area’s intelligence is open by 20%.]
[The Red Soil Area is naturally formed, with scarce food and freshwater,]
[70% of the Red Soil Area is occupied by two species: the ’Yasenman Tribe (red-skinned natives)’ and the ’Void Insect Clan.’]
[The two species have been at war in the Red Soil Area for over three hundred years.]
[The Yasenman Tribe occupies 31% of the area, while the Void Insect Clan occupies 39%.]
...
Seeing this information, Su Xiao gained some understanding of the Red Soil Area. The two species that were difficult to handle here were the Yasenman Tribe and the Void Insect Clan.
The Void Insect Clan boasted tremendous numbers, with more than a hundred thousand scorpions on the plains alone, forming a sea of insects.
Although he now understood the power distribution in the Red Soil Area, it offered little help for survival, instead presenting a rather bleak future.
Su Xiao was eager to leave this hellhole. Simply put: ’This damned place is too poor, there’s not even food.’
Leaving the Red Soil Area wasn’t easy. Besides the two forces within the area, the harsh environment alone was deadly enough.
After observing for a while on the slope, Su Xiao planned to bypass the battlefield on the plain.
Yet at that moment, rumbling sounds gradually approached from both sides, causing Su Xiao’s face to change dramatically.
"Could it be..."
Standing up to look far away, he saw red-skinned natives and scorpions swarming towards him from all directions.
He wasn’t on the battlefield’s edge but right in the center. The battlefield was so vast that he hadn’t noticed it earlier.
All around were enemies, with red-skinned natives and scorpions rushing in like tidal waves from both sides.
"Bubu, hide well."
Su Xiao undid his collar button. Even though he didn’t want to be drawn into this war, it was unavoidable now.
Since it was unavoidable, he decided to fight his way out. His current condition was very good.
Clang!
The Dragon Slash was unsheathed, and Su Xiao didn’t maximize the Blue Steel Shadow, anticipating that this war wouldn’t end anytime soon.
A scorpion exuding an acrid acidic smell charged forward. It lacked intelligence and only followed the Queen’s orders to kill all bipeds.
The scorpion charged beside Su Xiao, and as the long knife sliced through, its advancing path skewed, slamming into a rock. A green streak appeared on its carapace, cutting it in two, the incision smooth.
Whoosh~.
A wooden spear was thrown from afar. This type of wooden spear was very familiar to Su Xiao—it was from the red-skinned natives.
Su Xiao sidestepped the spear, pulling out a Black Gun from his thigh with one hand, firing several shots.
Unexpectedly, the red-skinned native was directly shot dead, surprising Su Xiao.
He considered the possibility that the ones he faced yesterday might be the red-skinned native elites, whose body strength was astoundingly abnormal, like something forged from iron.
These red-skinned natives on the battlefield were much weaker; Su Xiao could handle dozens, even hundreds, with ease.
The red-skinned natives clashed with the scorpions, similar to waves crashing into each other.
Flesh splattered, limbs flew, and the hatred between the red-skinned natives and the Void Insect Tribe had lasted for hundreds of years—encounters always resulted in life-or-death struggles.
At the battlefield’s center, a storm of blade aura bloomed. Every enemy daring to approach Su Xiao was slashed to pieces, be it red-skinned native or scorpion.