REINCARNATION PARADISE

After resting on the road for a few minutes, Su Xiao struggled to stand up. His health was now at about 16%, and he was extremely fatigued. Although the [XT-12 Life Vitality Potion] had healed most of his serious injuries, it couldn't replenish his lost blood or restore his completely exhausted stamina.

Above the Queen's corpse floated a blood-red card. In the night, it shone with a crimson light, making it exceptionally eye-catching. Even from a distance, Su Xiao could feel a faint scent of blood emanating from the glow.

He picked up the blood-red card, and a prompt from Reincarnation Paradise appeared:

[You have obtained a 'Crimson Card.' Do you want to use it?]

[Hint: The 'Crimson Card' is obtained after killing a contractor. When used, it will randomly draw items from the deceased's storage space or equipped gear.]

[Hint: You can draw up to three times from each 'Crimson Card.']

[Hint: In semi-peaceful worlds like the Ghoul World, there is a 50% chance of a 'Crimson Card' dropping upon a contractor's death.]

Su Xiao didn't use the 'Crimson Card' immediately but stored it away for now. It wasn't safe yet, and he couldn't be sure if any other contractors were nearby.

Su Xiao walked over to one of the unconscious CCG members, leaving a trail of blood behind him. He found a phone on the man and dialed a number after recalling it for a few seconds.

"Mr. Shinohara, my squad was ambushed. I need support."

Shinohara Yukinori, busy with important paperwork in his office, shot up to his feet.

"Were there any casualties? Where are you? I'll head over right away," Shinohara urgently asked.

As a dependable superior, Shinohara immediately rushed out of his office, beginning to organize reinforcements.

"I don't know the exact location. Just trace this phone's signal. As for casualties… Juuzou may have been killed, but I didn't see his body."

Upon hearing that Juuzou might have been killed, Shinohara felt a tightness in his chest. But this was the fate of ghoul investigators, and Shinohara didn't press the matter.

"White Night, are you okay? You sound badly hurt."

"I'll live for a few more hours. I'll try to find Juuzou," Su Xiao replied.

Juuzou Suzuya had been assigned to Su Xiao by Shinohara, and he had been a significant help during the battle. After hanging up the phone, Su Xiao began searching for Juuzou in the surrounding area.

It didn't take long before Su Xiao found Juuzou in a nearby shop, the trail of blood giving away his position. Juuzou was lying face down in a clothing store, with a large pool of blood beneath him.

Su Xiao flipped him over to check his vital signs. Surprisingly, Juuzou was lucky. Though he had several gunshot wounds, none of them were in critical spots.

"Cough… cough…" Juuzou coughed up a bit of blood, his eyes barely opening.

After a moment of thought, Su Xiao took out a [Salt Rice Ball] and stuffed it into Juuzou's mouth. Since Juuzou was barely conscious, he couldn't chew on his own.

But Su Xiao wasn't deterred. He pressed his index and middle fingers together and forcefully pushed the food down Juuzou's throat.

"Ugh…" Juuzou groaned in pain as the rice ball lodged in his throat, causing his body to twitch. His eyes widened with a dying expression as he stared at Su Xiao.

"Gulp."

Juuzou swallowed the rice ball, and then passed out again, though he might not have even regained full consciousness in the first place.

Su Xiao wasn't entirely sure if recovery foods worked on storyline characters, but Juuzou had helped him earlier, so Su Xiao made the effort to try saving him. After all, without Juuzou's assistance, Su Xiao might not have survived the ambush by the Queen, Black and White, and Yoko trio.

Juuzou had been crucial at the start, especially in disrupting Black and White's focus.

After being force-fed the rice ball, Juuzou woke up five minutes later, proving that recovery items did indeed work.

"Mr. White Night, am I dead?" Juuzou asked groggily.

"No, you're still alive."

Su Xiao sat against the wall, lighting a cigarette, and tried to avoid moving much. He had many wounds, and his blood loss hadn't stopped completely.

"That woman was really strong. She almost blew my head off. How exciting!" Juuzou said, showing no signs of relief from having narrowly escaped death. He was as casual as always.

"But Mr. White Night, my throat hurts. My mouth feels weird, too."

Su Xiao's face twitched slightly as he kept his eyes closed.

"That's just your imagination."

"Is it? But I can taste something… It's like someone stuffed something into my mouth earlier."

"Imagination," Su Xiao repeated, looking serene.

"Really? Strange."

Juuzou scratched his head, seeming to ignore his injuries, which was likely due to his passive ability (Masochist), which transformed pain into excitement.

Soon after, the noise of people approaching became louder—it was Shinohara Yukinori, leading a team to their location.

"White Night! White Night!" Shinohara's voice echoed through the store.

Before Su Xiao could respond, Juuzou had already yelled back.

"Mr. Shinohara! We're over here!"

Shinohara quickly entered with his team. Upon seeing Juuzou alive, he smiled in relief.

"Juuzou, you're safe."

After that, Shinohara hurried over to check on Su Xiao.

"White Night, how are you doing?"

But once Shinohara saw the extent of Su Xiao's injuries, he was shocked.

"Quick, get the medics over here!"

Shinohara's order was quickly followed, and a team of medics arrived to assess Su Xiao. By now, he was feeling lightheaded from blood loss. The [XT-12 Life Vitality Potion] had healed his abdominal wound, but the potion's effects were greatly diminished afterward, leaving his other injuries mostly untreated.

"Hang in there, White Night," Shinohara said with concern.

After arriving at the scene, Shinohara had a rough idea of what had happened. Su Xiao had completed the sweep of the auction house, evidenced by the body bags scattered across the street. From the damage at the scene, including explosions and bullet holes, it seemed his squad had been ambushed.

Incidents like this weren't uncommon in the CCG. While they drove ghouls away, they also had to be vigilant for ghoul retaliations.

Su Xiao was placed on a stretcher and rushed to a CCG hospital. Juuzou was also placed in the same ambulance.

As he was being transported, Su Xiao relaxed slightly. The blood loss was making him drowsy, but he fought to stay awake. He didn't fully trust the CCG. If the higher-ups suddenly decided to transplant a kakuhou into him, it would be a disaster.

Although it sounded far-fetched, it wasn't impossible—there had been precedents, even if they weren't public knowledge.

Therefore, Su Xiao remained conscious throughout the entire medical process, refusing a blood transfusion or anesthetics.

After emergency treatment, his bleeding was stopped, and his condition stabilized.

Lying on a warm, dry hospital bed, Su Xiao finally allowed himself to drift off to sleep. At least in the CCG hospital, he didn't have to worry about threats from the ghoul side.

Because of the massive blood loss, Su Xiao slept for over ten hours. When he woke up, his health had recovered to 65%. Although his wounds still ached, he was ready to fight again if necessary.

He sat up and leaned against the bed, feeling refreshed after his long sleep.

The room was pitch-black, signaling it was still nighttime.

With the danger finally behind him, Su Xiao let out a small, bitter laugh. Even in a Level 3 derivative world, danger lurked everywhere.

With nothing else to do, he pulled out the [Green Treasure Chest] and the [Crimson Card] he had acquired earlier.

After some hesitation, Su Xiao decided to open the [Green Treasure Chest] first.

[Do you want to open the Green Treasure Chest? Yes/No]

He selected "Yes."

This time, opening the chest felt different from before. As the chest slowly opened, a blinding green light radiated from inside, illuminating the entire hospital room…

(End of Chapter)

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Translator's Note :- I am Not that familiar with a lot of the fictional worlds mentioned in the story. So if I make a mistake naming something please correct me by writing a paragraph comment on the mistake. Thank you.