An invasion from the Abyss? I, a demonic cultivator, laughed.

Chapter 149 Mountain Beyond the Tower

Faced with Chu Xiu's request, Qin Xiang only thought for a moment before agreeing immediately.

"However, I have one requirement: you must undergo the Trials of the Ancients within one year."

"We have no time to waste. The sudden appearance of the Extreme Path and the extraterrestrial demons has disrupted the plans of those above. No one knows what we will encounter if we continue to venture deeper into the abyss. We must race against time!"

"No problem," Chu Xiu agreed.

He stopped haggling because he knew that the other rules were established by several major powers and were difficult to change. At least Qin Xiang certainly didn't have the authority to do so, so Chu Xiu stopped arguing.

Next, the two began to finalize the specific details.

The first matter is exchanging resources for cause-effect points.

The location and time of the meeting were designated by Chu Xiu, and only those he had confirmed were allowed to enter within a five-mile radius of the chosen location. If Chu Xiu discovered any unrelated individuals loitering nearby, the transaction would be canceled immediately.

Chu Xiu decided to sell the equipment and items of quality [Treasured] and below, as well as the [Anchor Points], first. If the cooperation goes smoothly, he will then sell the higher-level items until he can replace the two great treasures, [Upgrade Fire Seed] and [Ascension Sequence].

Although Chu Xiu felt that as a civilization envoy, the other party should not be hostile to him, and given the methods of those high-level awakened individuals, if they were determined to ambush him, his preparations would be of little use.

But it's always good to be cautious in everything you do.

Qin Xiang then presented the growth opportunities that the government had prepared for Chu Xiu.

"Based on the various data found in the city of corpses, we have roughly located a refuge point about 200 kilometers away from the city of corpses."

“That place used to be a military region. At the very first moment of the apocalypse, the determined and heavily armed soldiers took control of the situation and used it as a base to establish research institutes and shelters, taking in a large number of refugees and top scientists.”

"According to the radio recordings, this military district seems to have persisted for a long time, and it was still operating normally until the city of corpses was completely destroyed."

"We speculate that the abyssal creatures there are generally of a higher level than those in Corpse City, making it an excellent place to explore. It received the highest score in the comprehensive information rating, but we can only find out what's there once we go there."

"Three days after the cooldown period ends, our expedition team will set off. Of course, you can join or go solo."

This opportunity sounds really good.

"So what I need to do next is to fight monsters and level up in the world of Shiki, improve my strength, and at the same time keep an eye out for trustworthy teammates, so that I can form a team to clear the Old Ones within a year."

Chu Xiu roughly outlined his next goals.

If he can successfully clear the Old Days, his importance in the eyes of the big shots will increase significantly, and he will receive a huge amount of resource investment.

This is arguably an even greater opportunity than the core anchor point of the global mission! He certainly wants to seize it.

After finalizing all the details, Qin Xiang took his leave.

The investigator seemed quite overwhelmed by the matters of the Yakuza and the extraterrestrial demons, and didn't want to waste a single moment.

Chu Xiu then wandered around Yuan City again.

Now that he was here, he wanted to take the opportunity to learn more about the darker side of the world so that he could make more accurate judgments in the future.

After thoroughly exploring Yuancheng, Chu Xiu discovered that most people here communicated in the same way he and Qin Xiang did: they first added each other as friends using their personal information, and then had a detailed face-to-face meeting. Only a few organizations would build houses and establish their own bases here.

These strongholds were mostly one- or two-story bungalows, but one building stood out from the crowd, conspicuously so.

It was a luxurious Chinese-style pavilion with more than ten floors, and a sign that read "Shanwailou" hung on the door.

Is this what it means to say, "There are mountains beyond mountains, people beyond people, and heavens beyond heavens"?

This piqued Chu Xiu's curiosity.

As he was thinking about it, he went inside to take a look. The attic was very empty, with only data information on the walls and a person in charge standing in the corner.

The person in charge remained motionless, seemingly retaining only a small portion of their consciousness in the area, with most of their attention focused on their physical body.

Chu Xiu didn't pay any attention and continued strolling around by himself.

The first thing that catches the eye is a huge "Public Delegations" section, which is densely filled with numerous tasks.

These tasks appear to be available to contracted mercenaries who have joined the Mountain Outer Tower but are not core members.

Because Chu Xiu was an outsider, he could only see missions with the lowest level of secrecy, but even so, the information on them still shocked him!
[Investigate the specific talents of the eldest son of the Zhao family in Kyoto. Reward: 50000 Karma Points.]

[Disfigure a female student from Shanghai No. 1 High School, named Zhang Chuchu, student ID 207914355. Reward: a "perfect" grade general-level equipment.]

[Selling a male "embryo" with the A-grade talent "Sense Sharing," in excellent condition. Buyer must be prepared to dismantle it. DM for price.]

Of course, such "dark" missions are relatively few; most are ordinary missions such as searching for materials and eavesdropping on information about higher beings.

But this still left Chu Xiu secretly speechless.

Even more terrifying is that it seems Shanwailou has its own core members who serve certain top bigwigs. Their motto is that as long as the price is high enough, they will take on any mission! They would even be willing to assassinate a Heavenly King!

Even if the slogan is exaggerated, no one would dare to say such a thing without sufficient foundation.

What truly surprised Chu Xiu was that he had never heard of this organization, either in real life or online. He had never even heard of the name "Shanwailou" before!
This ability to block and keep secret information is truly astonishing.

Out of curiosity, he looked into it in more detail.

Becoming a contracted mercenary is very simple; just accept a mission and complete it. The more missions you complete, the higher your mercenary rank will be, which will unlock missions with higher security levels and richer rewards.

For powerful, idle Awakened Ones, this is a great way to acquire resources.

Just as Chu Xiu was hesitating about whether to try joining the Mountain Outer Tower, his eyes suddenly lit up when he saw a mission.

[Gather information related to the extraterrestrial demon Az Ilitua Mgos. Reward: 1000 or more Karma Points. The value of the information can be discussed in detail.]

"Isn't this the tormented god I encountered during my warrior-level trials?"

After thinking for a moment, Chu Xiu contacted the person in charge standing in the corner, accepted the task, and left his identity information and some basic details.

The man formally turned Chu Xiu's information into a piece of parchment, then put it into a small drawer behind him, and ignored Chu Xiu.

Chu Xiu didn't care and turned to leave Shanwailou, then left Yuancheng without stopping.

His consciousness was enveloped and rapidly traversed through the void of spatial conduits. Chu Xiu felt the surrounding space distort rapidly, and his eyes seemed to be continuously illuminated by intermittent bright light, causing waves of dizziness.

Half a minute later, as consciousness returned to reality, all the bizarre illusions before my eyes disappeared, replaced by the familiar bedroom.

The afternoon sunlight brought warmth to Chu Xiu's arms, while the bustling noise and the greasy aroma of barbecue stalls drifted in through the half-open window, giving Chu Xiu a momentary feeling of being in another world.

In the data-driven world, all his senses disappeared, and all he could perceive was the cold flow of data. In this situation, he felt that all his emotions had been stripped away, leaving only rational logical thinking. At the same time, the dark and bloody reality in Yuancheng intensified this feeling.

While in Yuancheng, he didn't feel much, but after returning to Blue Star, this stark contrast made Chu Xiu immediately feel a sense of being truly alive that he had always ignored.

For some reason, an idea suddenly popped into his mind, and his intuition told him that the idea was correct.

"After being swallowed by the abyss, the world that is completely digitized should be like Abyss City."

Chu Xiu had never understood what being swallowed by the abyss meant before, but now he finally had a real understanding of it.

In the world of data, there are no variables; all evolution can be predicted. All clashes of thoughts and emotions disappear; only data remains, and everything is data.

To be honest, Chu Xiu had always thought of himself as a rather detached person, but after becoming a pure information entity, he realized that he was ultimately no different from ordinary people, and that emotions and bonds were still part of his personality.

Chu Xiu let out a soft breath, his ears twitching slightly. His powerful senses allowed him to clearly hear the sounds his mother made while she was busy in the kitchen, even through the wooden door.

He checked the time; his father had said he was going out for a walk, and should be back soon. A smile appeared on Chu Xiu's face. He then flipped out of the window and jumped from the sixth floor.

As they approached the ground, the Misty Step lightly touched the ground, and they landed silently.

He walked out of the residential area and then west along the street, soon arriving at a bank. He went inside and came out shortly afterward with a gold card.

During this period, he sold a lot of low-quality items on auction websites and deposited all the proceeds into a bank account.

He had five million Chinese yuan in his bank card.

It's not a huge amount, but it's enough to allow my parents to live a comfortable life without having to worry about making a living.

Chu Xiu could easily afford five million now, or even five hundred million, but taking out too much money at once might cause panic among his parents and attract the attention of those with ulterior motives.

Chu Xiu thought that in a few months, he could buy a house in the city center without arousing anyone's suspicion. The security there was better, the transportation was more convenient, and his parents wouldn't have to squeeze into the old residential building with him anymore.

Thinking of his parents' happy smiles, Chu Xiu couldn't help but smile and quickly returned to his bedroom the way he came.

Just as he climbed back through the window, his mother's voice came from outside: "Dinner's ready!"

Chu Xiu responded and pushed open the door. His father was already seated at the dining table. The enticing aroma of braised pork ribs filled his nostrils. Chu Xiu sat down with a smile and was about to take out his bank card when he paused slightly as if he had suddenly noticed something. He looked at his father.

Chu's father seemed a little down today, with his head hanging low, but there was nothing unusual on his face.

However, thanks to Chu Xiu's powerful perception, he could clearly hear every heartbeat of his father, and even the sound of his blood flowing.

He could sense that his father's condition was significantly worse than before he left home that morning. Upon closer inspection, he could vaguely see some bruises at the slightly open collar.

Chu Xiu's eyes turned cold: "Dad, what happened to your injuries?"

Upon hearing this, Chu's father was clearly taken aback, as if he hadn't expected Chu Xiu to be able to see through it. He then pretended to be nonchalant and said, "What injury? There isn't one."

Chu Xiu could only point to himself helplessly: "Dad, your son is an Awakened One, how could I possibly be kept in the dark about this?"

Then Chu's father changed his tune, saying, "It's nothing serious. I just tripped and fell on the way. You know I'm a disabled person who needs a wheelchair to get around, so it's normal for me to bump into things."

Chu Xiu naturally didn't believe these claims, and under his persistent questioning, Chu's father reluctantly revealed the truth.

Chu Xiu never expected that this would be related to him.

It turned out that the day after he returned from the abyss, Chu's parents inquired about his talent and career at the school.

After learning that it was only a D-level support profession, the two elders hoped that Chu Xiu could do some handicrafts in the safe environment of Blue Star. They didn't ask for great wealth or status, just enough to support their family. It was better than going on adventures in the abyss.

In their eyes, Chu Xiu's ability to live out the rest of his life in peace is more important than anything else.

But they soon discovered that although Chu Xiu verbally agreed, he turned around and ran back into the abyss.

This made the two elders secretly blame themselves.

They felt it was all their fault for dragging Chu Xiu down, not only failing to provide him with a wealthy living environment but also forcing him to shoulder the burden of the family at a young age.

Perhaps that's why he takes so many risks, even though he has such poor talent.

Chu's father felt particularly guilty about this. As the head of the family, he had become completely useless after losing his leg, becoming a burden to Chu Xiu and his mother.

This was completely unacceptable to him, so he secretly planned to get back the compensation he was entitled to for breaking his leg.

Although a settlement agreement was signed at the time, the unscrupulous boss used dishonest methods, especially since his own son had now become an Awakened One. Chu's father felt that he could get something back.

Even if Chu Xiu is still determined to enter the Abyss, we can buy him some equipment and items.

The result was obvious. If the unscrupulous boss were willing to pay, he would have done so long ago. Why would he have delayed until now? Not only did he not pay, but he also beat up Chu's father.

This infuriated Chu Xiu, but he was also somewhat amused and exasperated. He never expected that hiding his talent would lead to his parents' misunderstanding.

"Kid, don't overestimate yourself and go looking for trouble," Chu's father said nervously. "I've already taken care of this matter; you don't need to worry about it anymore!"

"Don't worry, Dad." Chu Xiu shook his head helplessly, then slapped the bank card on the dining table and handed it over: "Dad, check how much money is in this card. The password is 040408."

Looking at the rather extravagantly decorated bank card, Mr. Chu was slightly taken aback. Although he didn't understand why, he still checked it on his phone as instructed. Soon, he was shocked and his eyes widened.

"Five, five million! Where did you get so much money, kid?!"

His voice trembled slightly, and Chu's mother opened her mouth wide in surprise.

"Dad, Mom, you underestimate your son too much," Chu Xiu chuckled. "Although my talent isn't high-grade, it's very useful. As long as I work as an assistant in a safe place, I can make a lot of money!"

"Take this five million, and don't do anything so stupid again."

"This"

Chu's parents were still in shock when Chu Xiu repeatedly assured them that he had earned the money honestly. Only then did they exchange a glance and show expressions of surprise.

"Good, good! My son has made something of himself!" Chu's father patted Chu Xiu's shoulder excitedly, his face full of pride.

But then he immediately warned, "Son, now that you can make a lot of money, you should be even less likely to cause trouble! It's okay to suffer some losses; staying safe and sound is the right thing to do."

Chu Xiu readily assured him.

With this five million, the previous gloom was swept away, and the family was happy and harmonious.

But after finishing his meal and returning to his bedroom, Chu Xiu's expression immediately turned cold.

He was so busy leveling up that he had completely forgotten about it.

Fortunately, Chu's father only suffered minor injuries and was otherwise unharmed; otherwise, he would have felt guilty to death.

Without hesitation, Chu Xiu locked the door from the inside and then climbed out of the window again.

He sent a vengeful ghost to steal his father's phone, found the contact information of the unscrupulous boss Huang Jun, and quickly located him from the chat history.

Chu Xiu put on a mask and a black robe, and fifteen minutes later, he appeared in front of a rather luxurious KTV club.

He used his concealment technique and silently slipped into the clubhouse in a flash.

He secretly destroyed all the surveillance cameras along the way, and without much effort, he arrived at the seventh floor where Huang Jun was.

This guy is in the innermost VIP box, number one.

However, just as Chu Xiu was about to take action, he suddenly let out a soft "Eh" and discovered something. His face showed a rare look of astonishment, and he then concealed himself again.

Before long, to his astonishment, a tall figure slowly walked up from downstairs.

It was Zhang Qingshan!

Upon arriving on the seventh floor, Zhang Qingshan headed straight for Huang Jun's private room, then kicked open the door and went inside.

This scene made Chu Xiu's expression turn strange.

He remembered his father saying that he had already resolved the matter.

So the solution was to call Aoyama for help?!

(End of this chapter)