Chapter 1: The Soft and Cute Apocalypse Girl
[Teleportation complete, the Hunter has been teleported to the exclusive room.]
Upon returning to his exclusive room, Su Xiao first went to check on the growth of the Black Maple Tree.
After a few days of absence, the Black Maple Tree had grown to about 11 centimeters. During the acclimation period, its growth wasn't fast. Once it fully adapted to the environment and survived, the Black Maple Tree would then grow rapidly.
The soil was very moist, and there were still 12 Soul Crystals left inserted in the flowerpot. There was no need to tend to this little sapling for now.
The branch area of the Black Maple Tree had turned dark brown, with a thin layer of bark forming. A tender leaf had sprouted at the top. What was troubling was that Amu often looked at the leaf and swallowed saliva; who knew if it would suddenly take a bite out of it.
After confirming the Black Maple Tree was fine, Su Xiao checked the dozens of notifications given by Reincarnation Paradise.
In general, the World Domination War was about to begin. The various paradises were competing for the ownership rights of the "War World." Whichever side's contractors won, that side's paradise would gain control of the War World.
The War World was different from Derived Worlds, Primordial Worlds, and the Void. That place wasn't the Void either.
Su Xiao couldn't yet distinguish the differences between Derived Worlds, Primordial Worlds, the Void, and War Worlds, but he knew one thing: the teleportation sensation when entering these places was different.
The Void was the farthest, and the "hammering" feeling at the back of his head was the most intense. Primordial Worlds were slightly closer, but they still gave a considerable jolt. Derived Worlds were a bit better, perhaps because Su Xiao was already used to it. The teleportation sensation in the Real World was relatively gentle. As for War Worlds, there was basically no "hammering" feeling when being teleported.
Based on Su Xiao's speculation, War Worlds should be a very precious resource for the paradises. After gaining ownership of a War World, it would become a trial world, used for rank promotion assessments of contractors, among other functions.
What Su Xiao was about to do was help Reincarnation Paradise seize the War World. During the World Domination War, there was no need to worry about backstabbing from one's own side. With Reincarnation Paradise's style, anyone who dared to backstab would be forcibly executed.
Su Xiao had previously come into contact with contractors from the opposing side, Apocalypse Paradise. Over there, forced execution as a punishment was very rare. Unless a main mission failed five times in a row and one was sent to a Punishment World, there was only a certain chance of triggering this "cruel" punishment.
However, on the Reincarnation Paradise side, forced execution was just a daily occurrence. Over 90% of the penalties for failing main missions were forced execution. Over time, the contractors in Reincarnation Paradise didn't care too much, or rather, they had gotten used to it.
If each paradise had its own atmosphere, then Reincarnation Paradise was a breeding ground for madmen, psychopaths, and villains.
Out of ten contractors, at least six had some personality issues. Of the remaining four, one was a complete lunatic, one was neurotic, and the remaining two might be normal. Note, it was only "might be." These so-called normal people had a high chance of being some relatively refined madmen in disguise.
Apocalypse Paradise was different. Its punishment mechanism was relatively mild, which meant over 80% of the contractors there were normal people. Missions were more like high-risk jobs to them, not life-or-death gambles.
One could imagine what it was like when Reincarnation Paradise and Apocalypse Paradise went to war. Su Xiao had also participated in the last World Domination War. The contractors from Apocalypse Paradise were beaten so badly they doubted life itself. In the later stages of the war, those "little flowers" actually ran away.
It was worth mentioning that most of the girls in Apocalypse Paradise were very cute, and softly cute at that. Unlike Reincarnation Paradise, where out of ten beautiful women, six were goddesses (female psychos).
Because of this, Apocalypse Paradise had the situation of "1 god carrying 999 noobs." How powerful was the former Queen Xi? Su Xiao still remembered it clearly. She was the only contractor he had ever encountered who could withstand two Apollo bombs head-on, and in an enclosed terrain at that. The ten-life Xi was just too hard to kill.
However, having ten lives was useless. Not to mention Xi having ten lives, even if she had twenty lives in that situation, she would still die in the Twilight Sanctuary.
If Apollo couldn't blow her up, there were still the Taliban player Black Blood, the sis-con Yan Chen, the fake Jester, and other crazy guys waiting for her. Queen Xi was destined to lose.
The emergence of a powerhouse like Queen Xi in Apocalypse Paradise was no accident. Although most contractors there were somewhat weak, their numbers were massive.
The mild punishment mechanism ensured the number of contractors and allowed potentially talented ones to grow.
On the Reincarnation Paradise side, as long as a contractor grew up, no matter how brutal the battlefield they were thrown into, these people could adapt in a short time and thrive. In a 1v1 duel, a contractor from Reincarnation Paradise could crush 99% of the contractors from Apocalypse Paradise.
Compared to the old rival Apocalypse Paradise, Su Xiao was more curious about what Sanctuary Paradise was like. Just hearing the name of this paradise gave Su Xiao an ominous feeling.
[Long-distance space teleportation preparing, estimated teleportation in 17 minutes and 23 seconds.]
Receiving the notification from Reincarnation Paradise, Su Xiao stood up and walked out of the room. He had been thinking about one thing: since three parties were participating in this World Domination War, would it be a three-way free-for-all, or a two-against-one?
The contractors participating in the fourth-rank World Domination War were naturally all fourth-rank; there would be no third-rank or fifth-rank interlopers.
Su Xiao didn't know how Apocalypse Paradise calculated contractor ranks, but he knew one thing: any contractor who reached fourth-rank must have participated in a World Domination War.
Inferring from this, after the last World Domination War, the contractors of Apocalypse Paradise had clearly learned how terrifying the madmen of Reincarnation Paradise were. Therefore, they had a high chance of allying with Sanctuary Paradise.
If that were the case, it would be one against two. Or perhaps one side would just coast in the initial stage, waiting for the other two tough nuts to finish fighting, then jump in to pick up the scraps. The contractors of Reincarnation Paradise were basically never the ones coasting. No, it should be said that they were always the ones fighting the hardest.
After leaving his exclusive room, Su Xiao headed straight for the Trade Market. There were many contractors here, almost to the point of being packed.
A large number of equipment pieces were displayed on stalls, their prices at least 30% lower. This was the sacrifice made by workers and merchants. If the World Domination War was lost, even if they didn't have to fight, they wouldn't get any good results.
Although equipment prices had dropped, the prices of recovery items had at least tripled. This was already the result of merchants trying hard to keep prices down; otherwise, the prices would have increased at least fivefold.
Even so, recovery items were still unavailable in the Trade Market. Even if a recovery-type food or potion was occasionally put up, it would be bought by members of some medium or large adventure groups in a short time.
Most contractors looked worried, a small portion didn't care at all, and some even found a place to sleep soundly, waiting for the World Domination War to begin.
[Announcement: Long-distance space teleportation preparation complete. All contractors of all ranks, please prepare.]
[Announcement: The opponents for this World Domination War are 'Apocalypse Paradise' and 'Sanctuary Paradise'.]
[Announcement: Void Tree notarizing...]
[Announcement: Notarization complete. During the World Domination War, Reincarnation Paradise, Apocalypse Paradise, and Sanctuary Paradise are not allowed to provide any form of support to their respective travelers.]
[Announcement: According to Initial Law Article 1548762, the Void Tree is an absolutely neutral party.]
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