# Chapter 4: The Prisoner
The ten-meter giant fell, and the other three giants were also held back. The situation was looking good.
Under the combined firepower of ranged and melee attacks, two of the giants were quickly dealt with, leaving only the twelve-meter giant.
The melee contractors gathered in a cluster. The twelve-meter giant stupidly shuffled left and right, but wherever it turned, the contractors on that side would retreat.
After Chen made his move, these melee contractors no longer engaged the giant up close. Instead, they drew its attention, leaving the task of killing it to Chen.
Blood Rose did nothing to stop this scene. She was even among the crowd, her spear dancing brilliantly, yet she barely attacked at all.
Chen unleashed three skills in succession without any change in expression. Elemental energy surged as he prepared to cast a fourth.
Su Xiao raised his hand and fired two shots. The firepower from the ranged contractors near him was much stronger. Most of the shooters were using semi-automatic rifles to spray bullets, riddling the giant's head with holes.
"Wind Cyclone."
Chen waved his staff, and a tornado howled toward the twelve-meter giant.
The violent wind raged, sweeping up nearby gravel and withered grass, turning the originally transparent tornado into a gray-black color.
The rapidly advancing tornado startled the melee contractors, who quickly sidestepped and jumped away.
The tornado enveloped the twelve-meter giant. Within seconds, it turned blood-red. The strong winds subsided, and the already battered giant collapsed.
Although giants had muscles, blood, and internal organs in their body structure, they left no corpse after death. Within minutes, they would vaporize and disappear without a trace.
The four giants were cleared. For now, no giants entered through the hole in the wall. The crisis was temporarily resolved.
Su Xiao was somewhat puzzled. This was too easy.
The sudden announcement made the hearts of the three districts tighten. These four giants were just meant to familiarize them with the derivative world. They weren't the real enemies. This was just an appetizer.
...
...
Su Xiao raised an eyebrow. So killing giants could earn attack-defense contribution points, and the first-place reward was extremely tempting.
But the first bird gets shot. Now wasn't the time to earn contribution points. The current leaders on the leaderboard were two adventure group leaders and the mage Chen from his district.
The attack-defense battle was on a five-minute break. The melee contractors walked over from a distance, most of them targeting Chen.
"Chen, hello. I'm Wild Bull. I can cover you while you cast spells."
The only wild tank in the third district, Wild Bull, didn't seem stupid. He had been flirting with Blood Rose earlier, but now he immediately pledged himself to Chen.
"Lord Chen, your staff must be a green-quality item, right? Its power is incredible."
Amid the flattery from the contractors, Chen stood up and brushed the non-existent dust off his robe.
"Everyone, I'm a new member of the Brotherhood. Our boss sent me to help everyone. I prefer to let my actions speak."
With a few simple words, more than thirty contractors gathered around Chen. The remaining few hesitated, torn between siding with Chen or Blood Rose.
They had to choose between Red Spider Lily and the Brotherhood, or they would be isolated.
Blood Rose had organized them earlier, but she performed poorly in the previous battle. She only took down a five-meter giant, which was eventually killed by Chen.
Within two minutes, Blood Rose became isolated and helpless, and Chen rose to become the leader of the third district. The shift in power was so fast it was staggering.
"Brother Bai Ye, aren't you going to pledge your loyalty? I'm kind of tempted. A powerful mage is really reliable."
En Tu fiddled with his shotgun, looking like he wanted to go over and pledge loyalty.
"No interest."
Su Xiao exhaled a puff of smoke, pondering how much longer these contractors could hold out.
"Oh dear, abandoned. How about we three 'lonely souls' form an alliance?"
Blood Rose swayed her hips as she walked over and sat on a piece of rubble near Su Xiao.
"Can you really see anything in me, a gunner?"
Su Xiao raised his revolver. Blood Rose studied him for a moment before shaking her head.
"What about you, big guy? It'd be great if we two formed an alliance."
En Tu's eye twitched as he gave Blood Rose a wry smile.
"That's great. Let's form an alliance."
Just as the two were discussing how to ally, Su Xiao heard the sound of air jets in the distance.
Three figures were running at high speed on the rooftops a few hundred meters away. They wore the distinctive military uniform of the giant world: a white undershirt, a dark yellow top that only reached the chest, white pants, and dark yellow boots that reached the knees.
The most notable feature of these three was the three-dimensional maneuver gear on either side of their waists. These were two metal boxes about a meter long and over ten centimeters wide. At the bottom of each box was a canister of highly compressed gas, which could accelerate movement and allow for longer, faster gliding through the air.
Attached to the three-dimensional maneuver gear were two hilts. The hilts held blades over a meter long that could be replaced at any time. The hilts could also control the gas ejection.
This unique weapon was the main tool the natives used to fight giants. The meter-long blades were similar to utility knives, just scaled up many times. They were extremely sharp but prone to wear.
For this reason, the three-dimensional maneuver gear carried six blades for replacement.
The three-dimensional maneuver gear could be considered a black technology of the giant world. First, the attached hooks would be fired into buildings. Then, the cables would retract, pulling the body forward, followed by controlled gas ejection.
With skilled manipulation of the three-dimensional maneuver gear, one could achieve something akin to flight in a town with tall buildings, allowing them to fight giants.
Of course, even without tall buildings, the hooks could be fired into the giants themselves. However, this was riskier and often fatal for beginners.
Watching the three rapidly approaching figures, Su Xiao's eyes widened slightly. He recognized them.
The protagonist Allen Yeager, the wildly popular female character Mikasa Ackerman, and the still-immature strategist Armin.
As the three important original characters appeared, some contractors looked at them with curious eyes.
"There's a breach here too? Damn it."
Allen charged toward the hole as soon as he landed, looking frantic. Though passionate, he was too impulsive.
"Allen, calm down. We don't know if there are giants yet. Don't get too close."
Mikasa grabbed Allen. He still seemed reluctant, wanting to check the hole.
"Mikasa is right. Let's first figure out the situation. Besides, there are prisoners here. We don't know what they might do."
Armin looked warily at Su Xiao and the others.
"Hmph. If they cause trouble, throw them back in jail. Being a member of the Survey Corps and ending up in prison really brings shame to the Survey Corps."
Hearing Allen's words, Su Xiao guessed the identity the Reincarnation Paradise had assigned to the contractors.
Former Survey Corps members imprisoned for crimes, now redeeming themselves through merit.
This identity was flimsy, but under the Reincarnation Paradise's balancing mechanism, even if Su Xiao and the others pulled out rocket launchers to blast giants, the natives wouldn't suspect a thing.