Paying Off Debt

Yosef weaved through the forest, his scalp bearing numerous corrosive marks, revealing half of his mechanically modified face, resembling a metallic skull.

One eye flickered with a red glow.

"Animals..."

Yosef's half-skull mechanical face contorted into a grim expression.

Who would have thought such a massive mess would arise from a mere Awakening Day!

Inner City disciples falling on Awakening Day – how long ago was that news?

What a disgrace!

But thinking of how troublesome those Wish Power Creatures were, and the Giant Python-like monster he'd glimpsed when he turned back earlier, Yosef felt a heavy weight in his heart.

It was fortunate he was half-mechanically augmented, and that some of the devices on his body provided excellent scent concealment. Otherwise, he might have already been caught by those things.

Even now, through the early warning devices he'd set up along the way, he could sense them closing in.

Though their numbers seemed small and he could handle them, Yosef had no intention of counter-attacking!

These were very intelligent and cunning Wish Power Creatures. They would deliberately expose weaknesses to lure prey into a trap, giving them the illusion of being able to win.

That was the reason the two of them had lasted so long before. Now that he'd finally escaped, he couldn't risk trying!

"Once I get back successfully, I'll bring people to raze your nest! Damn it, the losses are too great!"

Even with Yosef's wealth, the thought of his losses along the way made him ache.

Whether it was the booby traps or the repairs for the corroded areas on his body, the costs were not cheap.

To gain nothing and suffer so many losses was truly embarrassing.

"I hope that B-rank kid can survive. Otherwise, there'll be absolutely no gains."

Yosef thought again of the three thousand units of Wish Power he'd lent out and the Outer City country bumpkin with B-rank Talent.

If that country bumpkin survived, it would at least make up for some of the losses.

With such heavy losses, he absolutely had to find a place to recoup them.

Just using the loan relationship to make him a follower felt like a loss. He had to find a way to turn him into personal cannon fodder and slaves!

This pioneering environment was even more dangerous than he'd imagined!

"I'll find his home, borrow more money, and then send him some 'happiness.' That should be enough to arrange things. I'll ponder it carefully later..."

Yosef mused inwardly. Wouldn't an Outer City country bumpkin be overwhelmed with gratitude for the favor of an Inner City disciple like himself?

"Hm?"

Just then, Yosef paused slightly, stopping his advance with a heightened sense of alertness. The nearest early warning device he'd just set up had been triggered, but it failed to transmit any effective images!

Something was coming!

Standing still, he suppressed the noise from his own movement and amplified his auditory perception.

But the only sounds around were the wind rustling through branches; he couldn't detect any other noises.

Yosef raised his shoulder cannon, his mechanical arm switching back to Gatling mode. With his other hand, he drew another high-energy incendiary bomb. A grim expression appeared on his skull-like, half-mechanical face as he scanned his surroundings with his mechanical eye.

However, the next moment, a bullet struck his forehead at a tricky angle!

The intense impact seemed to embed the bullet directly into the metal skull.

Before Yosef could recover from the massive shock, a soul-tearing sensation suddenly appeared!

He had experienced this kind of attack before!

It was an attack his father had made him practice in advance to help him adapt, to warn him about special attack methods!

An attack originating from the mental side!

Mental Power attached to a bullet?

What the hell?!

But his thoughts were immediately shattered by a second bullet, then a third! A fourth!

The continuous tearing sensations interrupted all his thoughts, all his musings!

Da da da~

A rapid series of shots came from the treetops in the distance.

The intense pain caused Yosef to writhe and twist, trying to dodge, but it was useless. The bullets seemed to have eyes, firmly locking onto his head!

His alloy exoskeleton, with its specially thickened defenses around vital areas – defenses that even aliens hadn't penetrated – now repeatedly erupted in sparks from the impact of the bullets.

The continuous mental shocks in his brain prevented Yosef from mounting any effective counter-attack. He could only wildly activate his shoulder cannon, firing aimlessly.

He kept breaking branches, leaving terrifying gouges on the giant trees, even felling two of them!

The Gatling gun in his hand, which had transformed, swept around like a whip, kicking up debris everywhere.

The high-energy incendiary bomb, which he hadn't activated, was helplessly dropped to the ground.

In the next moment, he even suddenly opened his mouth, revealing a dark gun barrel from within, and began to spray bullets.

He looked like he'd gone mad!

Waves of amplified electronic sound surged from the 'speaker' on his chest.

"Come out! Beast! Beast!"

"Who is it! Who is it!"

But clearly, no one could answer his question, leaving Yosef to struggle in a final, impotent rage, his mind throbbing with pain.

Finally, a bullet pierced his last layer of protection, tearing through the armor covering his eye sockets and drilling ruthlessly inside.

Rat-tat-tat~

After firing a few more shots into the air, Yosef collapsed straight onto the ground.

Even though he was down, the shooting didn't stop. Tao Yu only began reloading his empty magazines after emptying two full ones, while simultaneously loading bullets into them.

"No wonder mechanical and heteromorphic modifications are so popular. They have an unparalleled advantage in defense."

Tao Yu looked at Yosef, whose head was already a mess, and couldn't help but feel a pang of emotion.

Among the many world fragments in the Abyss, winning against stronger opponents and first encounter kills are quite common occurrences.

It wasn't strange for top experts to be shot in the head and die regretting it.

Many stories he'd heard, and rumors passed down from his parents, contained such accounts.

Clearly, Yosef's head modifications were likely designed to defend against sneak attacks with firearms, with added armor that allowed him to withstand over a dozen bullets before losing the ability to resist.

The follow-up kill shot was for Tao Yu's own peace of mind.

As for Winuo before, besides the heteromorphic modification granting him a more powerful physique, he also had full body armor. They were likely both armed this way for fault tolerance.

To prevent a comeback.

"This dead guy was a real schemer, he even had a gun in his mouth. If it hadn't been a sneak attack, even after knocking him down, he could have turned the tables if given a chance." Tao Yu mused with a sigh, thinking about the random gunfire from the man's mouth at the end.

This was something that hadn't been revealed even during the alien attack.

He had actually considered crippling the opponent before and forcing him to convert Wish Power. Now, he was glad he hadn't gone through with it.

Right, he wasn't an idiot. If he had converted it for him, it would have been truly worthless.

Looking at Yosef's corpse, Tao Yu fell silent for a moment, ultimately deciding not to loot him.

After being pressured by the alien siege, this guy had likely revealed all his trump cards.

After all, he was mechanically modified. What if he had installed something for mutual destruction...

Boom~

A violent explosion erupted into the sky. Even from a distance, Tao Yu could feel the powerful gust of wind and heatwave blowing towards him!

Looking at the fireball, which was larger than Winuo's high-explosive grenade, Tao Yu couldn't help but curse inwardly.

You actually had one!?

Glancing back at the deep rainforest, Tao Yu no longer hesitated. He stuffed a few more plump, pale, tender grubs into his mouth, then leaped from the treetop. He quickly moved in the eastern direction.

The hidden danger was resolved, and the gains were already good. Now, it was all about successfully surviving and returning!

His current survival capabilities were almost sufficient. The remaining Wish Power could be used to extend its usage cycle based on the remaining time, increasing its cost-effectiveness.

He would use up the Wish Power before returning, taking advantage of the abundant meat in the rainforest...

"...Ssszzt~, that Wish Power Creature seems to have a parasitic ability. Its juvenile form is very weak and responsible for parasitizing hosts. Depending on the host, it has different abilities. We discovered the radio station we received was from a crashed spaceship, but most of the useful things were destroyed, which is a shame.

"There was a homunculus who kept trying to trick us into feeding it that Wish Power Creature, so we killed it. But there's a poison nearby called Black Water, and if you're not careful, it could be dangerous for you. It's not suitable as a location for a new settlement..."

On the treetop, Tao Yu held up his antique receiver again, receiving the day's intelligence.

He found out that the siblings from Floating City had already cleared out the adjacent grassland area.

Yosef and Winuo, these disciples from the Inner City, had revealed various powerful trump cards in the face of death, making Tao Yu's heart clench even now.

If he hadn't integrated mental attacks when he ambushed Yosef earlier, he might have been precisely locked onto from a distance and counter-attacked with long-range precision.

Winuo's berserk state was also quite explosive.

It wasn't strange that these siblings from Floating City had bulldozed through the adjacent fragments.

"...The mission objective has now been updated. Centered around the Inner City disciples, everyone will begin to disperse and explore, select locations for settlements, and search for new world fragments. There are three days left until the first batch of Pioneers return. The main mission for all Pioneers in these few days is to stick together and survive.

"After returning to Starfall City, arrangements will be made based on individual circumstances. As long as you return alive, you will have completed the mission. For any Combat Talent or Support Talent we approve, the fallback reward is one thousand units of Wish Power..."

Clearly, due to the existence of the Black Water poison that could spawn aliens, the grassland area was indeed unsuitable for a settlement.

If the forest area was developed with more effort and time, it had potential, but obviously, those siblings wanted to find a better area.

A temporary settlement was fine, but establishing a new long-term settlement would involve many considerations.

Living environment, survival resources, the general situation of nearby world fragments, safety, and danger levels, etc.

Although the guy from Floating City sometimes spoke too bluntly, Tao Yu had to admit that for the ordinary people entering this time, they were fortunate to have the support of two powerful figures from Floating City.

Only they have the ability to mobilize enough resources to create a relatively stable area.

Just returning with a reward of at least a thousand units of Wish Power for his combat talent and recognized support talent was already quite generous.

This was probably a perk only available when dealing with spatial anomalies during this kind of pioneering, enough for ordinary families in the Outer City to celebrate.

The sibling pair from the Floating City and the two Pioneers from the Inner City had vastly different styles.

Or rather, for people from the Floating City, the meager gains from the Outer City bumpkins were not worth their notice...

Tao Yu had traveled alone through the Rainforest for days and could feel the fatigue of being alone.

In terms of strength, he could defeat both the Alien and the Giant Python. Even if he encountered the Giant Python Alien, he could probably put up a fight if he overexerted himself.

His sneak attack ability could create all sorts of possibilities.

But...

The oppressive feeling, the need to keep one eye open even while resting, kept Tao Yu on edge.

He was afraid that the moment he opened his eyes, he would see the cherry-like mouth of an Alien.

Most of the time, his vigilance and defenses were useless, a waste of effort, but he had to remain constantly alert.

Tao Yu had developed different versions of [Stealth] on both the Giant Python and the Alien.

This indicated that they were also extremely adept at sneak attacks.

With Tao Yu's current strength, even a reverse sneak attack would be fatal.

It was only thanks to the power of [Bullet Time] that he could detect them in advance while remaining vigilant.

And now, with [Stealth - Modified], he could detect danger in advance, making his survival ability quite strong, but the prerequisite was sufficient vigilance!

"My stamina and defense are still insufficient. If I could maintain Shadow Meld the entire time, or if my defense was strong enough to survive one sneak attack without dying, I wouldn't be so tense..."

Tao Yu mused, thinking of Yosef's head that had taken over a dozen shots, and then of Winuo's full-body armor.

After listening to the broadcast, Tao Yu climbed down from the tree and used a small knife to cut a piece of meat from the roasted wild boar over the campfire.

Although he still had some salt on him, without anything to mask the gamey taste, the meat was truly unappetizing