Obtaining the Progenitor's Blood

Seeing that both of them had calmed down, Hannibal changed the subject. "Xiahou! Are you really out of that stinky dried tofu you had last time? I've never been able to forget the taste since I tried it!"

"I got that from a lottery draw last time, so I'm not sure! But wait, let me check." As Xiahou spoke, he remembered that the shop sold food and figured it might have some.

He opened the shop and searched for latiao. Looking at the thousands of pictures that appeared before him, Xiahou silently swallowed. Of all those varieties of latiao, he had only tried a few.

The prices ranged from low to high. The cheapest cost two energy points a pack, and the pickled-chili stinky dried tofu he had drawn last time was among them. The most expensive cost three hundred thousand energy points a pack-enough to buy a nanosuit or another piece of powerful equipment.

He was about to complain, but then he read the description. It was made from various grains and spiritual herbs rich in spiritual energy, and eating it could increase cultivation or game levels. His desire to complain vanished instantly.

He checked his balance, then bought four packs costing two energy points each. He handed one to each of them and said, "They really do have it, but it costs energy to buy. One pack each, and that's all you're getting!"

The three accepted their packs and each thanked him. Hannibal, however, stuffed his straight into his pocket and said to Xiahou, "Share some of yours with me! It's not convenient while I'm driving! (●'◡'●)"

One look at his cheeky expression, and Xiahou knew exactly what he was thinking. "Don't even think about it! I'm not feeding a man! That's disgusting!"

"You can have mine. I don't like eating this kind of thing!" Blade said, handing his pack to Hannibal.

Hannibal was delighted. He took it with one hand and thanked Blade, not forgetting to give Xiahou a smug look.

But he didn't go too far. After opening the pack and taking two pieces, he handed it back to Blade, reminding him, "You should try some too. It's delicious!"

Blade didn't object. After taking it back, he tried a piece, then looked at Hannibal. "I regret giving it to you just now. This really is delicious."

The mood in the car improved, and amid a noisy round of chatter, they arrived outside a building.

Everyone composed themselves again and headed inside, with Blade leading the way.

"Hey! You can't go in!"

They had just passed through security when a guard came over to stop them.

Hannibal immediately unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks, knocking the guard down.

Xiahou watched with interest from the side and couldn't resist a comment. "Couldn't you just knock him out?"

"Don't you think this looks cool?" Hannibal said, striking a pose.

Up ahead, Abigail called out, "You two, stop fooling around and hurry up!" As she spoke, she and Blade had already knocked out several other guards and were heading for the stairs.

Xiahou and Hannibal could only hurry after them. Xiahou couldn't resist rubbing it in. "Look at them. While you were posing, they took down four or five."

"Then why didn't you do anything?" Hannibal shot back, unwilling to be outdone.

"They didn't even have health bars showing! What was I supposed to attack them for?" Xiahou maintained that it wasn't his fault.

Hannibal: ...

The group fought their way straight to the door of Vance's office, where Blade kicked it open.

A middle-aged white man with brown hair stood inside. Around his neck were several necklaces as thick as fingers, made from the bones of some unknown animal.

When he saw the four enter, he smiled and said, "Hello! Is there anything I can help you with?"

Xiahou looked at the conspicuous health bar above his head and the foot sticking out from behind the desk. Details from his memories resurfaced.

He grabbed Hannibal, who was about to step forward, and said, "He's not Vance. He's Drake!"

At the same time, he pulled out his revolver and fired six shots in quick succession. Drake dodged every one with a few quick movements, not forgetting to kick the desk at the four of them.

They hurriedly scattered to avoid it, but Drake seized the chance to rush forward and grab Xiahou by the neck. After knocking the revolver out of his hand, he dragged him to the window and hid behind him.

Drake asked Xiahou, "How did you recognize me?"

Despite being held, Xiahou didn't panic in the slightest. He joked, "Your health bar was showing, and that guy on the floor gave you away! Do you think we're blind?"

Drake thought, What's a health bar? In the end, he could only assume that Vance, lying on the floor, had exposed him. He paid Xiahou no more attention.

Still gripping Xiahou's neck and hiding behind him, he said to Blade, "You're the hunter they're all terrified of, aren't you? I'm quite interested in you."

Of the four who heard him, everyone except Blade himself reacted.

The other three all stared at Blade, and Xiahou immediately said, "See? I told you he was interested in you."

All four, Drake included, fell silent. Abigail and Hannibal looked back and forth between the two.

Drake thought, Is that what I meant?

Blade, meanwhile, wondered whether he should kill both of them to prove his innocence.

None of them noticed that Xiahou's revolver had vanished from the floor.

Xiahou pointed one hand toward Drake's waist.

At the same time, he signaled to the three across from him with his eyes. A gunshot rang out with a bang.

Blue Rose reappeared in Xiahou's hand, and Drake was sent smashing through the window and flying outside.

Seeing Drake blasted out, Blade didn't hesitate and jumped after him.

Xiahou stood there rubbing his neck, not forgetting to say, "Automatic retrieval! Didn't see that coming, did you?"

Abigail and Hannibal both gave him a thumbs-up.

Xiahou then walked over to Vance, who was lying on the floor. He nudged him with his foot, and Vance's finger moved. Xiahou said to the other two, "He's still breathing, but I think he's about to die."

The two hurried over and looked down at Vance. Hannibal lifted his head, patted his face, and asked, "Where's their headquarters? Tell us, and we'll avenge you!"

Hearing him, the dying Vance pulled Hannibal close and whispered an address in his ear. Then he died.

Xiahou also received a notification that the mission was complete. Looking at the completed mission, he couldn't help thinking, That counts as completing it? I thought it was a failure.

After seeing that Vance was dead, Abigail went to the floor beside the window, took out a container, and began collecting the blood on the floor.

Only after collecting all the blood in the area did she say to the other two, "The mission is complete. Let's head back first. Blade will come back on his own."

Xiahou and Hannibal didn't hesitate for long and returned to the Nightcrawler Squad's base with Abigail.

Looking at the three hundred energy points and one random lottery draw he had just obtained, Xiahou decided to take a good bath before drawing once he got back. It definitely wasn't because of superstition; he just thought he was too dirty.