EBE Ch. 170 - Old Xie, I Admit It — You're Braver Than Me
Ch. 170 - Old Xie, I Admit It — You're Braver Than Me
First thing the next morning.Chen Shu was deep in dreamland when his phone rang.
"Old Xie? What are you doing calling at the crack of dawn? You might not need sleep, but I do."
"It's fucking ten AM! 'Crack of dawn' my ass!"
"In my schedule, ten AM IS the crack of dawn."
Chen Shu continued, "Alright, spit it out. What do you need me for?"
"I'm planning to take on a mission during the three-day break. Interested?"
"What kind of mission? My appearance fees aren't cheap these days — don't bother me with small stuff."
The Slime was a heavyweight contender now, after all.
Calculating the appearance fee at a thousand yuan per jin of bodyweight — that was perfectly reasonable, right?
"Hunting a Level 9 Fierce Beast swarm. One million in pay. You in?"
"A beast swarm? Bullshit — this is a city!"
Chen Shu raised an eyebrow, not believing it for a second.
"It's real. The mission just appeared on the Beast Tamer Association board — an emergency posting from the city's Spirit Suppression Bureau."
Since today was New Year's Day, the province's Dragon Guards had all gone to Nancang City for a meeting, leaving no personnel available.
A set of options materialized before Chen Shu's eyes.
Ding!
[Option 1: Accept the mission and complete it.]Completion reward: Large amount of Beast Taming Power
[Option 2: Say "Next time for sure!"]Completion reward: One Black Iron-grade Defense Potion
"Hang on, I'll be right there."
Chen Shu's eyes spun once and he agreed. He had nothing better to do anyway — why not earn some extra cash?
The main draw was the System reward. Beast Taming Power was critically important to him.
Plus, the Slime had just broken through to Level 9 and hadn't found a sparring partner yet.
Half an hour later, Chen Shu arrived at Xiafei Road.
Xie Sunan and Xu Xingxing were already squatting by the curb, sipping soybean milk and munching youtiao while chatting about something.
"Xiao Xing, you're a rich second-generation kid — could you at least have a shred of class?"
Chen Shu's mouth twitched as he walked over and squatted down beside them...
"Old Xie, let me see the mission."
Xie Sunan handed him a document.
[Mission Name]: Hunt and Eliminate Level 9 Fire Snake Swarm
[Difficulty]: Danger!
[Details]: A swarm of Level 9 Fire Snakes appeared on Taiping Mountain in Nanjiang City yesterday. To prevent danger to public safety, this emergency mission has been issued! Requesting capable Beast Taming teams!
[Reward]: 1,000,000 Huaxia Currency!
[Challenges]: 1) Fire Snakes range from Level 8 to Level 9, approximately 20 individuals; 2) If Fire Snakes ignite the mountain forest, Beast Tamers face serious danger — teams with aerial capability strongly preferred.
[Tip]: Fire Snakes have low ice resistance.
Chen Shu skimmed through the mission intel, but a slight frown crept onto his face.
"Chen Pi, something wrong?"
"Yeah — big problem!"
Both of them looked over, eager to hear his assessment.
"A million divided by three doesn't come out even!"
"..."
Their mouths twitched in unison. So the FIRST thing you noticed was the pay, huh.
"How about this," Chen Shu continued. "I take 990,000, you two get 5,000 each. Fair, right?"
"???"
They stared at him in perfect sync, eyes radiating a single, unified message: Are you an idiot?
Xie Sunan's right hand reached into his pants — and pulled out a butcher's cleaver.
"Eat steel!"
Chen Shu's face contorted in shock, eyes blowing wide. He dodged the strike on pure instinct and scrambled backward.
"You keep the fucking knife in your CROTCH?!"
Xie Sunan stood there clutching the cleaver, utterly calm. "Problem?"
"Old Xie, I admit it — you're braver than me!"
In the end, moved by Xie Sunan's extraordinary valor, Chen Shu revised the split.
Two hundred thousand each for the other two, with Chen Shu taking five hundred thousand.
Neither of them objected. Chen Shu was the main combat force — taking a larger share was only fair.
The trio hailed a cab to Taiping Mountain, but the area was so remote that no vehicle could take them all the way.
They made it to the nearest township, then switched to the Mutant Thunderbird for the rest of the trip.
With a mission in hand, they were authorized to summon contract spirits for combat as long as they didn't disrupt the city.
"Xiao Xing, your bird's gotten even faster!"
Chen Shu patted the Mutant Thunderbird's head.
"Of course — when I hit Level 8 Beast Tamer, I managed to upgrade one of its skills."
The Mutant Thunderbird rocketed through the air at breakneck speed, its rear end wiggling back and forth as if that somehow helped it go faster...
Half an hour later, the trio arrived at the desolate Taiping Mountain.
"Chen Pi, what's the plan?"
Both of them looked to Chen Shu.
He might be wildly unreliable, but the two of them had unconsciously fallen into the habit of following his lead.
"Hit 'em head on!"
Chen Shu continued, "Old Xie, can you locate the Fire Snake swarm?"
"Not from this distance. Xiao Xing, have the Mutant Thunderbird circle the area."
The Thunderbird took off with all three on its back, orbiting Taiping Mountain in wide loops.
Their roles were well-defined — honed into smooth coordination since the Frost Canyon expedition.
The Winged Caterpillar continuously pulsed its detection skill.
Before long, Xie Sunan's gaze sharpened, and he pointed in a direction.
"Over there!"
The Mutant Thunderbird banked its wings and glided over silently.
Chen Shu narrowed his eyes and spotted the Fire Snake swarm below.
Thick-bodied red serpents coiled everywhere, the surrounding trees and grass scorched black.
"Keep it down!"
The Thunderbird pulled back, careful not to alert the swarm.
The trio's favorite activity in the whole wide world was, of course... the sneak attack.
One Fire Snake had coiled its body into a spiral, its head resting on its own back, eyes closed in slumber.
Just then—
A shadow fell over it.
Huh? the Fire Snake wondered. Did night come already?
So it's true what they say — time really does fly when you're sleeping...
It felt supremely lazy, completely oblivious to the looming danger.
Zzzzz... Zzzzz...
Thunderous snoring echoed through the air. The Fire Snake was puzzled — nobody in the colony snored this loud, did they?
It cracked open one lazy eye and instantly went rigid.
What is that thing? Big... and yellow?
With its limited intelligence, it naturally couldn't process what it was looking at.
The next second, it lost consciousness.
BOOM!
The twenty-meter Slime slammed down, and it felt like the entire mountain shuddered.
The damage from Violent Sitting Kill was no joke — it instantly obliterated the defensively weak Level 9 Fire Snake, flattening its body like a sheet of paper.
The rest of the swarm jolted awake, staring at the massive yellow sphere before them with glazed, vacant eyes.
They'd seen big things before. But never anything THIS big.
"Charge!"
The Slime had been snoring away, but its expression suddenly hardened with resolve, its body quaking.
BOOM!
Charge activated in an instant. The Golden Slime's speed exploded.
One Fire Snake after another shrieked in agony as their "delicate" bodies were sent flying on impact.