"As you wish." Su Qi responded bluntly.
Su Can also nodded slightly in agreent.
"Huh?" Su Lin was stunned instead.
The elders agreed so readily, it caught him off guard.
Su Qi glanced at him, a bit knowingly: "Huh, what? Did you actually think we’d oppose and you’d have to persuade us stubbornly?"
"This..." Su Lin instinctively scratched his head, wondering, normally, shouldn’t it be like this?
Su Qi raised a hand, pointing at the two heavy hand crossbows on the table:
"This morning, I tested the crossbow you brought, it’s powerful enough to kill the mutant beast leader appearing in the final wave of the Level 3 beast tide. Since you’ve crossed this most crucial step, upgrading to a Level 3 safe house truly has no obstacles for you."
Oh, so it is. Su Lin suddenly understood.
The elder gravely advised:
"You’ve changed a lot recently, and the situation in the village and our Su Family has also put a lot of pressure on you. It’s understandable that you want to improve your strength urgently. But rember safety first! In major matters, consult more with or your second uncle, and never act recklessly like you did when you wiped out the Chang Family! Running outside during a beast tide, you truly are daring!"
The elder’s tone carried a hint of fearful rebuke as he spoke.
"Oh?"
Su Lin’s eyes shifted and he asked tentatively: "Then, about Zhong Wubin, should I just..."
Before he finished speaking, "Smack!" The elder’s large fan-like hand was already slapping the back of his head.
"You little rascal!"
Su Can was amused and annoyed: "Do you really want my old man to deal with the Lord all alone?"
He then put away his smile, shaking his head solemnly: "Moreover, you don’t understand how terrifying it is for a Genetic Martial Artist to have one foot in the threshold of the First Transformation. You managed to kill Chang Sanheng, but facing him, you have no chance."
Su Lin’s heart tightened, his expression beca serious, and he silently picked up the glass on the table, taking a sip.
ntioning Zhong Wubin, Su Qi’s face darkened as well: "Is Zhong Wubin truly set on cooperating with Black Scale Village?"
Su Lin put down the glass, brow furrowed, asking the question that had long troubled him: "Second Uncle, Grandpa, what exactly did Black Scale Village do to make you all, and so many villagers, despise it so much? Especially Hou Yong’s reaction..."
He thought about Hou Yong’s bloodshot eyes, realizing things were far more serious than he had imagined.
Su Can and Su Qi exchanged a glance, their faces showing deep disgust, as if even ntioning the na was repulsive.
For a mont, the hall fell into a brief silence.
Finally, Su Qi sighed heavily, starting to explain:
"You should know, for villages like ours, restricted by rules, unless we upgrade to a Level 4 safe house and unlock a vegetable garden, we don’t even have a stable food source.
"Until later, when the wanderers ford caravans, we could buy so coarse grains from townships to get by..."
Su Lin keenly caught the key point: "Then, what about before the caravans appeared?"
"Either we get lucky, like today, hunting beast at; or we barely hold out relying on food reserves from before the apocalypse; or..."
Su Qi’s voice suddenly grew icy cold, enunciating each word clearly: "Cannibalism."
The elder Su Can continued, his tone cold as frost: "Even now, with coarse grains, they barely fill the stomach, and can’t sustain the Qi and Blood needed for martial arts practice. So, there’s a group of beasts who specifically attack other villages, treating humans... as their ’food.’ Black Scale Village is one of these demons’ dens!"
Su Lin felt a chill shoot up from his spine to the top of his head, his throat tightening.
"And Hou Yong..."
"He watched his father and wife with his own eyes..."
Su Qi didn’t continue, he just slowly closed his eyes, saying everything without words.
Su Lin gasped sharply.
He imdiately understood the nearly insane hatred Hou Yong held.
Su Can spoke coldly: "Moreover, in this apocalypse, eating people too much, whether appearance or mind, becos abnormal. The more they eat, the more like madn they beco. Collaborating with this group of lunatics is completely ’playing with fire’!"
Prion disease? Su Lin speculated.
The village wants to cooperate with a bunch of cannibal madn?
Just thinking about it sends chills down one’s spine!
Su Qi cald down, analyzing: "Zhong Wubin’s original plan was to pin the ’black pot’ of the Chang Family massacre on us, then coerce us into agreeing to an alliance."
He turned to Su Lin, eyes showing admiration: "Unexpectedly, you had a flash of insight, using the sa ’greater sche’ as a ploy to turn the situation around, forcing him into humiliation to reveal his true colors."
"Though it didn’t completely change his mind, at least it relieved the imdiate crisis for the Su Family. With your grandfather as the stabilizing force, we can always find ways to maneuver through the following matters."
The elder Su Can was furrowing his brow, worry etched on his face: "I hope so."
Even he felt the difficulty of the current situation.
After all, when it cos to one’s interests and life-or-death survival, who can truly be selfless?
The Su Family is no exception.
Moreover, the news of the Tier One chanism Blueprint dropping like a boulder into still water is bound to cause a major upheaval among the wilderness forces.
Comparatively, the threat from Black Scale Village has beco a secondary concern.
...
After having lunch at the Su Family’s Old Mansion, Su Lin left one of the rare Hand Crossbows for his second uncle and took his leave.
Upgrading a Level 3 Safe House requires roughly 40 Silver Coins in material costs.
In addition, before the beast tide arrives, it’s best to prepare the newly added chanism slots from the upgrade, which is another considerable expense.
Su Lin knows well that with his current strength, the chanism devices fortified from the Trash Can King are his greatest reliance.
However, the money looted from the Chang Family is only enough for half the costs, and he needs to earn the rest himself.
"Grandfather and Uncle have helped greatly before, so I should give them so of the first beast at I’ve hunted. The remaining bit of at I have won’t sell for twenty or thirty Silver Coins..." Su Lin calculated, "Then I’ll wait until tomorrow morning to hunt more at and gather enough money to upgrade."
After all, this is just upgrading to Level 3, not the critical Level 4 threshold; a day sooner or later doesn’t matter much.
The next morning, Su Lin and Su Tongxi returned to the Su Family’s Old Mansion.
Zhao Yaxin was already dressed and ready.
Without exchanging pleasantries, Su Lin and Zhao Yaxin ventured into the treacherous wilderness together once more.
Before leaving the village, they unexpectedly encountered mbers of a hunting team.
After Chang Sanheng’s death, the team was expected to stay hidden.
However, the news of the confrontation between Zhong Wubin and the Su Family yesterday was like an alarm bell ringing in the village, silently breeding an extre sense of urgency.
Even the leaderless team took the risk of leaving the village to earn money for the village.
Though Black Scale Village is detestable, the ownership of the Tier One chanism Blueprint is the true sword hanging over everyone’s head, determining their fate.
If the village is a step slower in acquiring a Level 5 Safe House, the consequences could be a forced rger, leaving them in a life-and-death situation.
The apocalypse has co, order has collapsed, and humanity has been lost.
Yet, under the influence of rules, there is a sense of collective spirit and unity never seen before.
...
The wilderness.
It remains a desolate place of sweeping yellow sands, where crumbling ruins stand like the bones of giant beasts.
The series of upheavals since the beginning of the month has greatly reduced the efficiency of wilderness clearing, leading to a large number of Mutant Beasts.
The uncle and niece traversed the labyrinth-like ruins created by the collapsed buildings.
Not long after they entered, almost effortlessly, they found a solitary prey in the shadow of a massive dune.
Over a hundred ters away.
Su Lin’s eyes sharpened, and he raised his hand crossbow.
Without even needing to aim and charge, he slightly squinted one eye, made a slight adjustnt with his breath, and decisively pulled the trigger!
"Bang!"
The twang of the bowstring was particularly jarring in the empty ruins.
The crossbow arrow shot through the air, striking accurately!
The giant-antlered Mutant Beast fell to the ground with a thud, not even having ti to let out a wail.
The first ti is raw, the second ti is familiar.
This was already Su Lin’s third "card drawing" ceremony.
He skillfully took out the Slaughter Saber and solemnly began his own mysterious prayer, muttering incantations as he exaggerated his actions.
Watching from the side, Zhao Yaxin’s eyes twitched, suppressing the urge to slap him, her cold face filled with the word "childish."
The ceremony concluded.
Su Lin raised his saber and swiftly slashed it.
The blade emitted a soft white light that instantly enveloped the giant-antlered deer’s corpse.
As the light flowed, the giant animal’s body seed to be compressed by an invisible hand, rapidly shrinking and finally disappearing completely!
Left on the ground was only a massive piece of at weighing eighty to ninety pounds, glistening enticingly with oil!
Zhao Yaxin: "..."
"Hmm??!!"
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