Bounty Order and Death Note

Bai Cangshu’s injuries were not serious. Using the Wind Demon’s traits, he had mostly avoided the most devastating phase of that terrifying magic, suffering only from its shockwave.

Li Qingzi, however, had nowhere to evade. After delivering that slash, she had used super speed to run nearly a thousand meters, only to be struck while her entire body was hardened with Armament Haki.

Though she survived, over 70% of her body had been carbonized. In the real world, such injuries would have been beyond saving.

But in the Space, injuries of that degree could be fully healed for less than three thousand Dimensional Points.

Her robe had also been completely burned away by the intense heat. Now that she had been restored, her naked body was fully exposed. Li Qingzi instinctively covered her private parts, only for Bai Cangshu to roughly pull her hands away the next moment.

Li Qingzi was considered tall among ordinary people, yet Bai Cangshu still grabbed her and hauled her over like a rag doll.

"You finally look a little like a Reincarnator now, woman."

Bai Cangshu’s hand wandered across her neck. Li Qingzi trembled all over, but amid her humiliation, an inexplicable trace of delight had mixed in.

She immediately cut off that thought and endured the burning pain in her nerves as she cursed Bai Cangshu in her heart, finally making that strange emotion vanish without a trace.

Li Qingzi knew very well that this was probably a Stockholm syndrome-like response brought about by the high-pressure environment and the series of torments. The recovery of her strength, along with Bai Cangshu’s recognition of her because of it, had lifted her emotions from their prolonged low point.

This was a very dangerous sign.

Bai Cangshu took in the woman’s expression, a smile curling at the corner of his lips. He did not continue interfering. Unripe fruit always had to gradually mature through the tempering of wind, rain, and sunlight.

Bai Cangshu’s fingers slid across the woman’s delicate skin. Only after the synchronization rate of Sin of Lust rose by another two points did he turn the handle of the Private Space door, preparing to leave.

"You performed well this time. Consider that Scarlet Drop Card your reward. Go trade it for a sword hard enough not to break."

Li Qingzi had just taken out a set of personal clothes from her Backpack and put them on when she saw a Scarlet Drop Card appear before her.

She could not help but resent it. As a slave, she did not even have the right to claim spoils. When the two acted together, she had killed two people, yet the right to distribute the Scarlet Drop Cards still belonged to Bai Cangshu.

Seeing him leave the space, Li Qingzi’s nerves relaxed slightly. She immediately crushed the Scarlet Drop Card in her hand. If she had guessed correctly, it should have belonged to the weakest black-clad Reincarnator. That person’s ability was likely something called a Martial Soul, originating from some East Xia webnovel.

But regardless, since he had promised to treat this Drop Card as her reward, it meant she could freely use these resources!

Li Qingzi had opened plenty of Scarlet Drop Cards before and possessed abundant resources in the past, but this particular Scarlet Drop Card delighted her greatly. Ever since becoming a slave, this was one of the rare times she had once again possessed resources she could allocate herself.

She had had enough of having her blade snapped by brute force. Even if she could not obtain Silver Plot Equipment like Black Blade: Yoru again, she had to get a weapon sturdy enough.

Bai Cangshu opened the door, but instead of entering the public space, a flash of light carried him to a medieval-style town. This was the gathering space of Crimson Lotus, the gathering he currently belonged to.

The gathering had quite a few team facilities. It was actually a very suitable place for Reincarnators to train and rest.

However, compared to the lively scene from the last time he had come here, the town now seemed somewhat empty.

A woman in a red dress leaned against the stone monument at the center of the earthen-yellow plaza, flames flickering along the hem of her skirt.

"Miss Luoxi, did you urgently contact me because there is news about the other manuals of the Three Parts Divine Finger?"

Bai Cangshu smiled as though he could not see her awkward circumstances.

When he had traded with Mad-level Potter before, the Black Beast Reincarnator had hinted to both Mad-level Potter and Bai Cangshu that Crimson Lotus Mage · Luo Xi was not doing well. Looking at her now, things were far worse than merely not going well—she practically looked like she was at the end of the road.

Luoxi turned around and saw Mercenary Tao, wearing an ugly Avatar, appear as promised. She secretly breathed a slight sigh of relief.

A gathering was actually a rather loose alliance. When Rose Tiger had invited Mercenary Tao to join this gathering, Mercenary Tao had merely been a somewhat famous vicious figure. At the time, Luoxi had sensed that the faction under Life of Silence held the advantage, so she had not imposed any harsh contracts on Mercenary Tao.

But the situation among Reincarnators changed constantly. Great Sun of Finality, forced out of the struggle for resources in Native Worlds, had established the Finality Empire in the real world.

That move created an extremely frightening momentum. A large number of Reincarnators accepted Great Sun of Finality’s ideals and took his side.

As a result, the faction under Life of Silence, which had originally held every advantage, was instead suppressed.

Many groups, including Crimson Lotus, had come under attack.

During her last mission world, her team had suffered a joint assault from more than three Title-level Reincarnator teams, suffering devastating losses. She herself had nearly died in that mission world.

When she returned to the gathering, news of Crimson Lotus Mage’s defeat had already spread. The Reincarnators who had joined this gathering because they followed her either fled or scattered, leaving her with a profound sense of disillusionment.

"Heh, Mercenary Tao, you really don’t know how to read the room, do you?"

There was little of a Title-level Reincarnator’s aura in the woman’s voice, nor did her gaze possess Hongye’s uninhibited boldness.

Bai Cangshu merely smiled. Although this woman codenamed Luoxi was a Title-level Reincarnator, she had a remarkably non-aggressive personality.

Perhaps that was why she was so popular among low- and mid-tier Reincarnators, and why so many people wished to follow her?

But at the same time, such a "weak" personality could never control too great a force. The miserable state of this gathering was proof enough.

Unaware that the man before her was criticizing her inwardly, Luoxi’s hand flashed with light, and another scroll appeared.

Bai Cangshu guessed that Luoxi—or Crimson Lotus—probably possessed the ability to reliably anchor the Wind and Cloud World or similar Derivative Worlds.

"I’m sorry, Mercenary Tao. That Cloud Dispelling Palm scroll was snatched away by someone else, and I may not have much chance to help you retrieve it afterward."

There was more to Luoxi’s words, but Bai Cangshu did not take the bait. He did not mind helping others rob and kill, but only if he could profit from the deal.

Although he had now gained synchronization rate in Sin of Lust as well, he was definitely not the sort to grovel just because Luoxi had a good figure and face.

At the end of the day, he was selfish. He always considered matters from his own perspective.

Seeing that Mercenary Tao did not respond, Luoxi sighed. She knew this guy was indeed completely different from idiots like Rose Tiger.

Though she had suffered enormous losses this time, her connections remained.

With a thought from her, a beam of light immediately lit up above the stone monument behind her and projected into the air.

It was a massive bounty order, printed with a picture of Mercenary Tao’s Avatar. Even the cruel smile at the corner of his mouth had been captured with uncanny accuracy.

This did not look like a photo secretly taken within the Space, but rather the effect of some ability recreating it. Bai Cangshu did not believe anyone could have taken such a close-up photograph in front of him without him noticing. Even someone with stealth abilities like the Heart Demon would only hide behind him to erase their traces.

Finality Bounty Order · Mercenary Tao (Three Stars) — Dead or alive; Bounty: 1 A-rank Anomaly Point or an item of equivalent value

"Quite a few Reincarnators acted against the Finality Empire this time, but not many were remembered by Great Sun of Finality and put on a bounty order. What did you do?"

Luoxi took out a cigarette. She did not continue talking about her losses or the Cloud Dispelling Palm manual. She did not even directly hand the Sky Frost Fist in her possession to Bai Cangshu.

Instead, she turned to speak about matters outside the Space.

Bai Cangshu shook his head and smiled indifferently.

"Tch, His Excellency the Supreme Expert is rather petty. I merely killed a few of his useless subordinates, yet he put me on something like this. That’s really not very sporting."

Red Lotus Flame ignited on Luoxi’s fingertip, lighting her cigarette. After taking a puff, she knew that if only ordinary Reincarnators had been killed, Great Sun of Finality would not have cared.

For Mercenary Tao to be placed on a bounty order and have it spread throughout the various gatherings in the Space, he must have killed Reincarnators under Great Sun of Finality with a certain degree of importance.

Luoxi realized that compared to Rose Tiger—no, compared to herself—this Mercenary Tao was probably more valuable. His manner was exactly like those truly powerful people she remembered.

"Mercenary Tao, would you like to make a deal with me?"

Bai Cangshu nodded, though what he said was a wholly insincere excuse.

"Heh, Miss Luoxi is the leader of our gathering. If you have any orders, feel free to say them."

Luoxi understood Mercenary Tao’s personality more and more clearly. She knew that if she truly asked him to do dangerous work without offering payment, he would probably resent her the moment he turned away. It was even possible that he would secretly try to get rid of her.

Luoxi was not afraid of the current Mercenary Tao, but she respected the Mercenary Tao of the future.

"I hope that in the next mission world, you will kill someone for me—or rather, a team."

"I will give you all their information, and I will ensure that they track you into the mission world. Anything you obtain from killing them will naturally all belong to you."

"Beyond that, I will seek protection for you from His Excellency Life of Silence, so that you will not be hunted by numerous teams because of this bounty order. What do you say?"

Bai Cangshu shook his head. Although being allowed to hunt others sounded like a good condition, Luoxi had said she could make them track him into the mission world, rather than letting him track them into it.

That meant the team might already have some connection to him. There was a possibility that he could hunt that team without relying on her information.

"I don’t care about being hunted. Give me something more tangible, Miss Luoxi."

Luoxi irritably tossed out the secret manual in her hand. This had actually been the trade condition she had prepared from the start, but as a negotiating tactic, she had first offered a price Mercenary Tao could not possibly accept before throwing out the normal offer.

You have obtained the item, Secret Manual · Sky Frost Fist (Rare)

"This secret manual will serve as the deposit. After you kill them, I will find a way to give you the Cloud Dispelling Palm and the Three Parts Divine Finger formed by combining the three ultimate arts."

Only after Bai Cangshu accepted the secret manual did he ask, "Could you tell me who they are? For them to make Miss Luoxi this angry."

The woman lowered her eyes, and flames blazed fiercely along the hem of her dress.

"You’ve met her before. A woman—Flower Immortal."

Bai Cangshu nodded. That woman had driven up the price against Rose Tiger, her own captain, in order to obtain a large quantity of Compound V, ultimately allowing him to acquire Shun Goku Satsu and Satsui no Hado.

"She killed Rose Tiger and joined Chaos, a team under Great Sun of Finality. I want you to kill her, and reduce that team’s numbers as much as possible."

"For every veteran member you kill, I will give you one additional B-rank Anomaly Point. If you can make their leader die in that world, I will request a special item from His Excellency Life of Silence for you—a Death Note Fragment!"