"Huh?"
Shen Zhuo's smile suddenly froze on his face.
"W-why?" He seemed to have never considered that Chu Xiu would refuse, full of confusion. "Our team has a water source, a support profession, a perfumer to mask scents, a tailor to make clothes, and we can work together to hunt corpse demons. What's not to like?"
"There's nothing wrong with that," Chu Xiu shook his head, "it's just that I'm used to being free, and..."
He showed a faint smile on his face: "I think the weapons I make can fetch a better price."
As soon as he said this, everyone present was stunned, and Shen Zhuo's expression soured a bit.
Chu Xiu's meaning was simple: joining the team according to your mutual help and assistance philosophy means providing help for free.
However, Chu Xiu believed that the value of the weapons he made was far greater than the help he would get from other team members, and thus not worth it!
That was indeed the case, a good weapon, a strong armor, in this post-apocalyptic world, could a tailor, a perfumer compare?
Shen Zhuo's mouth twitched, forcing a smile: "Our team also has a contribution point system that reasonably evaluates each member's contributions and exchanges them for corresponding resources."
"Is it really reasonable? Who sets the price? You?" Chu Xiu retorted.
Shen Zhuo: "...we can trade freely like in a market."
Chu Xiu: "I still want to act alone."
Shen Zhuo couldn't hold back: "Then what's the difference from not joining?"
Chu Xiu smiled, "Yeah, what's the difference from not joining?"
Shen Zhuo was speechless.
He hadn't thought it through that much. In his view, it's perfectly normal for team members to act together, helping each other, why be so calculative?
Besides, he is in a support profession, without protection from a combat profession, how can he survive alone in this abyss?
People like Xu Hang and Song Zhiping, both in support professions, were eager to join the team, afraid of being abandoned!
"This Chu Xiu is really shortsighted," Shen Zhuo thought.
But since Chu Xiu wanted to be a lone wolf, he wouldn't force him.
"Suit yourself," Shen Zhuo said.
"Then, then I won't join either."
At this moment, Yun Lu suddenly spoke in a low voice.
She looked timidly at Chu Xiu: "Chu Xiu has helped me a lot, I can't abandon him."
As her words fell, everyone looked at each other in dismay, Shen Zhuo was obviously unsettled.
Chu Xiu's absence was inconsequential, his bone weapons were just icing on the cake. Without him, Shen Zhuo's team could still hunt corpse demons and upgrade, and once some equipment dropped, they wouldn't need Chu Xiu anymore.
But Yun Lu couldn't leave, her food perception ability was too crucial! In this resource-scarce world, food is the hardest currency, and must be tightly controlled in his hands!
Shen Zhuo, a bit anxious, spoke up: "Yun, think it through, with us, your safety would undoubtedly be greatly increased, even if you are grateful to Chu Xiu, you can repay him in other ways, there's no need to take risks with him!"
Shen Zhuo's words made Yun Lu hesitate a bit.
At this moment, Li Shan glanced at Shen Zhuo's expression, and suddenly tugged Yun Lu's clothes: "Yun Lu, we've all joined Brother Shen's team, if you don't come with us, it'll be your turn to be bait!"
"Ah!" Yun Lu exclaimed, turning her head towards Chu Xiu, stammering: "Is, is it true? They want me to be bait?"
Looking at the fearful Yun Lu, Chu Xiu couldn't help but laugh.
"Of course it's true," he said.
"Then, then I..." Yun Lu lowered her head, her small face full of conflict.
"Better come with us, your talent is important, and Brother Shen will put you in the safest position," Li Shan persuaded.
"Yes," Shen Zhuo nodded, "I guarantee, as long as I'm alive, I'll keep you safe through the trial."
"Then..." Yun Lu cautiously glanced at the indifferent Chu Xiu, a trace of disappointment flashing in her eyes, and said softly, "Alright then."
Hearing her agree, Shen Zhuo couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief, casting a grateful glance at Li Shan, who "hehe" giggled foolishly, as if very pleased with leaving a good impression on the new leader.
"Alright, since everyone's made their decision, it's getting late, let's go down and eat, we had good luck today, hunted several mutant rats, should be enough to eat."
Shen Zhuo's face resumed its smile, his gaze lingering on Chu Xiu for a moment, with a small victorious smile at the corner of his mouth: "Since you don't want to join, I won't force you; you can join us for this meal, but afterward, you'll need to exchange for it with your talent."
With that, he headed downstairs by himself, the others following closely.
Instantly, Chu Xiu was left all alone.
He stood silently in the center of the empty rooftop, looking particularly pitiful, like an orphan abandoned by the world.
Yun Lu looked back several times with a heavy heart, even Guan Ke wanted to say something, seemingly wanting to persuade further.
But in the end, they all went downstairs.
However, the moment everyone's figures disappeared completely, Chu Xiu's mouth couldn't help but curve into an upward smile.
"This is... wonderful!"
"Acting is quite tiring."
"But being able to perfectly get rid of those three burdens is worth it."
In fact, not joining the team, aside from gaining profits, had another crucial reason, which was to shake off others.
People instinctively huddle in dangerous environments.
But actually, for Chu Xiu, others not only couldn't provide much help, they would also become his burden.
After consecutively leveling up and obtaining the +5 Energy Absorption Bone Armor, Chu Xiu was fully capable of hunting Corpse Demons alone. Because of the significant difference in constitution between him and others, teammates would only hinder his efficiency.
They spent a whole day just to kill five Corpse Demons, which was quite telling.
Not to mention, they would also take a share of the experience.
The reason for maintaining the four-person collaboration before was entirely to keep Yun Lu to help him find food.
Now it's great, let Yun Lu get food with others, he can use ability in exchange, perfectly solving this problem, eliminating the burden, and more importantly, saving a large amount of time for leveling up!
So Chu Xiu couldn't wait for Yun Lu to leave; if she insisted on following him, that would be troublesome.
He wasn't afraid of Shen Zhuo maliciously undercutting the price; worst case, he'd snatch it by force.
Chu Xiu, by leveling up alone, was confident he could quickly surpass the others.
Stray dogs banding together could hunt better, but if tigers mixed with stray dogs, they'd only be dragged down.
Now, acting alone might increase short-term danger, but in the long run, the improvement in strength could enhance the ability to withstand future variables!
The pros and cons needed comprehensive consideration; one couldn't always pursue absolute safety, never willing to take any risks!
Of course, if things didn't go as smoothly as he expected, Chu Xiu wouldn't mind turning to join Shen Zhuo's team.
Thick-skinned is the basic quality of a Demon Cultivator.
"Then next, let's experiment to see if my idea is correct."
Chu Xiu went downstairs and glanced out the window. The sunset had already dropped halfway, about an hour and a half before it's completely dark.
Just enough time for him to practice.
He put on the Bone Armor, and as he descended the stairs, he didn't lighten his steps. The crystalline bone fragments clashed against each other with a "clang clang" sound.
However, upon reaching the fifteenth floor, a giant palm suddenly stretched out from the corner and smacked heavily on Chu Xiu's chest!
"Boom!"
With a loud noise, Chu Xiu retreated several steps from the huge impact.
But he quickly stabilized himself, a smile appeared on his face under the Horned Helmet.
Is that all?
The full-force sneak attack of the Corpse Demon landed on his armor without causing a single crack, and the trait of energy absorption directly dispelled at least 60% of the impact.
This is the power of the +5 Energy Absorption Bone Armor!
In contrast, the hand of the ambushing Corpse Demon got several small holes punctured by the spikes on the armor. It was now looking at its hand in confusion, completely bewildered.
This sensation is wrong!
Facing the approaching Corpse Demon, Chu Xiu's mind moved, and he equipped the Corpse Demon Necklace.
Immediately, his constitution attribute increased by 0.7 points again! With a kick, the power nearly doubled since his first hunt erupted, directly sending the Corpse Demon flying!
"Bang!"
The Corpse Demon's body slammed into the wall. Just as it was about to get up, Chu Xiu's Bone Spear arrived!
The Corpse Demon reached out to block it, but the doubling of Chu Xiu's power was no longer something it could stop. With a "thud," the Bone Spear pierced straight through the Corpse Demon!
"Gurgle..."
The Corpse Demon's tenacity in life made it struggle, but Chu Xiu firmly held the Bone Spear, pinning it tightly against the wall.
Under the effect of the Bleeding trait, the Corpse Demon's struggle became increasingly weak, and a minute later, it stopped moving entirely.
[Slaughtered life, Professional Experience +62]
[Current Experience: 282/400]
"Whew."
Chu Xiu let out a light breath.
As expected, simple, easy, and without any accidents.
He indeed had the ability to hunt Corpse Demons alone. With the +5 Energy Absorption Armor, the opponent was hardly a threat to him.
And without others, the experience indeed increased a lot.
"However, if attacked by multiple Corpse Demons, there would still be some danger!"
"So, for now, I still need to be cautious. Once I level up again, or the Bone Armor is enhanced to +7, I can speed up the hunting pace."
"Leveling up... is not far away!"
Chu Xiu didn't think much further and continued to search the apartment building for other Corpse Demon traces.
Twenty-five minutes later, he killed another one.
In just another fifteen minutes, another one was slain!
And at this moment, the notification sound Chu Xiu had been waiting for finally rang!
[Level Up!]
[Current Tier: Mortal Level 3]