Chapter 57: Five More
Relying on the gap in strength, Black Bee captured six contractors from the Reincarnation Paradise side alive. The first six died without revealing what the mission penalty was, proving to be very tough nuts. One of them even infuriated Black Bee to the point of near death; after having his limbs severed, he was still laughing, and before dying, he said this: "Call me daddy, call me daddy and I'll tell you."
Black Bee was furious and directly had his swarm devour that Reincarnation Paradise contractor.
When he caught the seventh person, Black Bee had learned his lesson. He didn't torture the other party and frankly told him: "You're going to die anyway. Instead of being tortured, let's make it simple. You tell me the mission penalty, and I'll give you a quick death."
What Black Bee didn't expect happened. That Reincarnation Paradise contractor nodded and told him four words: Forced Execution.
This made Black Bee understand why his opponents were so insane. If it were him, he would do the same thing. Mission failure meant death, so why run?
Black Bee realized that deducting attributes and forced execution were completely different levels of punishment. They had a way out, but the madmen from Reincarnation Paradise had no retreat—either win or die.
Because of this, Black Bee had deceived all the contractors from the Apocalypse Paradise side. The reason he stayed in Lubei City was never to use his early accumulated advantages to fight a decisive battle with Reincarnation Paradise here. As for allying with the Sanctuary Paradise side, that was unreliable too. Those from Sanctuary Paradise weren't good people either; those zealots were second only to the madmen from Reincarnation Paradise in danger level.
Moreover, Black Bee had obtained a very important piece of information: by the middle of the war world, the penalty for the Sanctuary Paradise side had also changed to forced execution.
After learning this, Black Bee's head started buzzing. He seemed to foresee the madmen from Reincarnation Paradise and the zealots from Sanctuary Paradise slaughtering each other in the rainforest, while the people from his Apocalypse Paradise side were either moving bricks and mining or playing support on the battlefield.
Because of this, Black Bee planned to carry hundreds of burdens alone. His plan was simple and crude: lure both Reincarnation Paradise and Sanctuary Paradise to Lubei City. He didn't believe these two sides could coexist peacefully within the city.
As for his own people, Black Bee also tricked them into Lubei City, claiming they needed to hold back Reincarnation Paradise, and then use the local forces to besiege them.
Many contractors from Apocalypse Paradise were deceived into coming. They also hoped to win the war and were willing to risk their lives—they were contractors after all. But the prerequisite was not having to fight to the death with contractors from other paradises; that was the most desperate situation.
Black Bee did this to trap all three sides in Lubei City. Then he would take the World Core and rush to the "Polar Region: Hot Rainforest Forest" at maximum speed. If he succeeded, things would turn around. Others might not be able to do it, but Black Bee, with his spatial abilities, could. Once he succeeded, his feat of carrying hundreds of burdens would earn him almost absurd rewards.
If the plan truly succeeded, Black Bee would use the gains from one world to become the strongest fourth-rank contractor in Apocalypse Paradise's history. That was worth risking his life for.
It must be said that Black Bee was a contractor with courage, strength, and no lack of intelligence. What he lacked were teammates willing to fight to the death. However, the Apocalypse Paradise side had a numerical advantage, not a quality advantage.
Currently, within the war world, there were over a thousand contractors.
Reincarnation Paradise side: 277 people (currently alive).
Sanctuary Paradise side: 371 people (currently alive).
Apocalypse Paradise side: 867 people (currently alive).
...
With a threefold numerical difference, the battle in Lubei City had just begun when the contractors from Apocalypse Paradise were somewhat stunned. The reason was that the situation was different from what they had imagined. The 200-plus people from Reincarnation Paradise fought with the momentum of over 20,000, searching the entire city for Apocalypse Paradise personnel.
However, Apocalypse Paradise was not completely weak. Reincarnation Paradise also suffered casualties frequently.
Explosions and the glow of various abilities bloomed within the city. Countless contractors were locked in combat all over the city.
"The timing is about right. Success or failure hinges on this move."
Hundreds of elemental bees flew out from Black Bee's sleeve, forming an array diagram—a spatial array.
"From your expression, it seems you're already confident of victory."
A voice devoid of any emotional fluctuation came. Hearing this voice, Black Bee's heart tightened.
"You found me after all. With my abilities, I still can't completely shield the aura of the World Core."
Black Bee's expression wasn't good. To perform an ultra-long-distance spatial movement, he needed time to prepare.
The newcomer was the People's Teacher. He looked at the head on the ground. The deceased was a member of the Arakawa Adventure Group, a young man who often followed behind him.
"What, was that your friend?"
Black Bee's gaze swept around, looking for a chance to retreat.
"The word 'friend' is not something I can understand."
The People's Teacher unbuttoned his coat and threw it aside, revealing a white shirt with a tie.
The People's Teacher clenched his fists.
Crack, crack...
The air in his palms exploded. Such monstrous strength was unmatched even by Lumberjack Buck, but the People's Teacher only had this monstrous power in his fists; other parts of his body didn't possess it.
Black Bee lowered his body. He was certain that if he took one punch, even if he wasn't instantly killed, he would be crippled.
Boom!
The People's Teacher punched the ground. The earth surged like seawater, shattering and splashing in all directions.
Boom!
The air exploded. The People's Teacher appeared behind Black Bee, his right arm bent, and he punched toward the back of Black Bee's head. If the People's Teacher shaved his head bald, it would look completely natural.
The fist broke through the air, carrying a terrifying wind pressure toward Black Bee's head. At that moment, a numbing sensation surged at the back of Black Bee's head. Even before being hit, he felt a dull pain there.
Black Bee vanished into thin air. The People's Teacher's punch missed, and an air cannon formed by the fist force shot forward. With a loud crash, the residential building opposite was blasted through, creating a hole over ten meters in diameter.
Among the Arakawa Adventure Group, the leader Qing Yan was not the strongest; the strongest was the People's Teacher.
Black Bee, who reappeared not far away, had a twitching mouth. His opponent was too strong, strong like a monster. What he didn't know was that there were five more such monsters on the Reincarnation Paradise side.
Dust filled the air. The People's Teacher, wearing a white shirt, walked out from the dust. He rolled up his sleeves. The punch just now was only a test; he hadn't used his full strength.
Elemental bees danced around Black Bee as he charged straight at the People's Teacher. Fleeing endlessly would only lead to death; finding an opportunity to escape during the fight was the better strategy.
Ten minutes later, the People's Teacher stood in the ruins, holding a broken metal arm. His upper body clothing was torn in many places, and the metal arm in his hand was left behind by Black Bee.
"He escaped again."
The People's Teacher looked at the metal arm in his hand. With a crack, the arm, forged from rare metals, was crushed.
A kilometer away, with a thud, a figure covered in blood collapsed onto the beach. Struggling to stand, he let out a bitter laugh after seeing the scene before him.
A massive wave dozens of meters high rolled toward him. A tsunami was coming.