Chapter 77: Numbing Assault
Standing amidst the remnants of the tents, Shenna's gaze swept across the surroundings.
"They've already left. It seems I've underestimated those mad dogs a bit, after all, that one is among them."
Shenna recalled the scene when she was in the Sun Kingdom. To this day, she still couldn't determine the identity of the 'nail' within the Divine Court, and having two Great Divine Envoys killed by that person in succession was nothing short of a disgrace.
"Shenna-sama, it's just a small-scale raid. The likelihood of them launching a full-scale attack on us is low. They've already fought the Apocalypse Paradise side to a stalemate. If they were to attack us in force now, not only would they fail to win, even if they somehow succeeded, the losses would be catastrophic, only benefiting the Apocalypse Paradise."
The old butler's analysis was thorough. At least from a normal person's perspective, the Reincarnation Paradise side wouldn't actively attack the Sanctuary Paradise, which had the largest numbers.
The World War had been ongoing, and it was undeniable that the Sanctuary Paradise side had the most personnel.
Reincarnation Paradise remaining: 149 people.
Apocalypse Paradise remaining: 197 people.
Sanctuary Paradise remaining: 353 people.
In terms of numbers, the Sanctuary Paradise side had the greatest advantage. So far, they hadn't engaged in large-scale conflicts with any other Paradise, preserving their combat strength amidst the chaotic situation.
"By normal reasoning, that's true. But that person never acts according to common sense, as if he expected us to judge things this way."
Shenna was deeply wary of someone from the Reincarnation Paradise. To be precise, even now, she still didn't know who that person was, and that person was Qing Yan.
"However..." Shenna changed her tone, saying, "In the short term, they indeed won't launch a large-scale attack, unless they want to lose the World War."
What followed was similar to Shenna's speculation. The Reincarnation Paradise side indeed didn't launch a large-scale assault. Instead, a few long-range contractors harassed the Sanctuary Paradise side, slowing down their construction of the defensive base.
The Apocalypse Paradise side, having obtained the World Coordinates, no longer showed themselves. If the Sanctuary Paradise side attacked them, they would likely temporarily abandon the World Coordinates.
The Reincarnation Paradise side acted unusually. Apart from a few contractors harassing the Sanctuary Paradise, the rest of the contractors had vanished without a trace.
The Hot Rainforest returned to its former calm, and time passed quickly.
Of course, not everywhere was peaceful. The Sanctuary Paradise camp was quite lively. A giant metal spider was transporting stone and timber, and the outline of a defensive base was gradually taking shape. This group of divine stick figures had turned into a construction crew.
The daily routine of the 'Sanctuary Construction Crew' was far from calm. About every 10 minutes, bullets would fly in from a distance, and venomous insects would appear in some very strange corners.
The most bizarre incident was when a 'Taliban player' from the Reincarnation Paradise side carried five polar hornet nests and charged into the construction crew.
Perhaps that 'Taliban player' with an 'immortal constitution' got too carried away. In the end, he couldn't withdraw and was surrounded and killed by the Sanctuary Paradise contractors. He was clearly not as fierce as Hei Xue under Yan Chen's command. Hei Xue's self-healing ability was so strong that in the end, the enemies didn't even want to bother with him.
The attacks every ten minutes annoyed the Sanctuary Paradise side to no end. These attacks came from one kilometer or several kilometers away. Chasing after them might lead to an ambush, but ignoring them was also not an option.
After ten hours, having been attacked dozens of times, the Sanctuary Paradise side grew furious. If not for Shenna keeping the situation under control, the Sanctuary Paradise divine stick figures might have left the camp to hunt down the Reincarnation Paradise contractors.
Of course, harassing the Sanctuary Paradise side came at a cost. They also had many long-range contractors, and both sides suffered casualties. Overall, the number of deaths was balanced.
From Shenna's perspective, this was a good thing. But from the perspective of other Sanctuary Paradise contractors, it was unbearable. It was their lives on the line, not Shenna's, who was under heavy protection.
As for how Qing Yan kept the madmen of the Reincarnation Paradise side in check, it was simple. Qing Yan was present at every attack. Whoever was unlucky died. That way, no one could complain.
The difference between Shenna and Qing Yan was the difference between 'charge for me' and 'charge with me.' The former only gave orders, while the latter charged on the front lines.
Because of this, the Reincarnation Paradise side could sustain a ten-hour harassment. The reason for doing this was entirely to pave the way, or rather, to make the Sanctuary Paradise side accustomed to attacks from the Reincarnation Paradise side.
At 11 PM that night, the rainforest was lively. The roars of various beasts were incessant, and insects also preferred to come out at night. Compared to the sweltering daytime, the animals in the rainforest preferred to forage at night.
Chirp, chirp, chirp...
A strange sound came, and it was unclear what creature made it.
"About 64 times now. Damn it, I can't hold on anymore."
Qing Yan coughed a few times in succession. He had three gunshot wounds on his body, and an arrow was stuck in his lower abdomen.
"If you don't want to die, stay away from me."
The Citrus Girl in the grass spoke. She wasn't threatening Qing Yan. The arrow stuck in his lower abdomen made her, who had a mild case of OCD, very uncomfortable. She wanted to pull it out, but doing so might cause Qing Yan to die from the arrow's stripping effect.
Either leave the arrow in and bleed for hours, or pull it out and suffer a stamina-check stripping effect.
"Bear with it. I can't die yet."
Pfft...
Qing Yan only felt a chill in his lower abdomen. The arrow in his belly was pulled out by a small hand. This hand looked weak and delicate, but in reality, it was like a pair of iron pliers.
"You fucking..."
Before Qing Yan could finish, the small hand stained with blood pressed against his back. A blood-red light flashed, and Qing Yan directly negated the stamina check.
"What?"
Gulu looked at Qing Yan with a smile.
"Nothing."
Qing Yan covered his lower abdomen and observed the Sanctuary Paradise side through a remote monitoring device.
"Brother Bai Ye, are you sure this is okay? This is a rainforest."
"What are you babbling about? I'm a woman and I'm not afraid. You're a grown man acting like a coward. Let's go!"
The Citrus Girl pushed Qing Yan aside.
"Hey, hey, hey, the plan hasn't..."
Boom!
A deafening gunshot rang out from beside Qing Yan. The sound wave spread, grass clippings flew, and Qing Yan instinctively turned his head.
Su Xiao pulled the bolt of the Duke of Annihilation, and a bullet casing the size of a small artillery shell fell to the ground.
Hiss~
The hot casing scorched the grass and plants on the ground.
An orange-yellow light streak shot into the Sanctuary Paradise camp. The bullet pierced a tent, and an auxiliary contractor inside didn't even have time to react.
With a splat, blood and flesh splattered. The earth-element projectile didn't have strong penetrating power; its strength lay in blunt force.
Thump!
Mud splattered. Several tents near the bullet's impact point were shattered, and contractors rushed out from the tent wreckage.
"Here we go again..."
"Ignore them. Someone will handle it."
"These mad dogs."
A contractor with dead fish eyes cursed under his breath. The few contractors around him were equally angry. Their position was on the edge of the tent cluster, so they were frequently attacked.
The Sanctuary Paradise side had tried to set up a perimeter, but the Reincarnation Paradise side's attack frequency was too high, and the perimeter was often destroyed.
"Earlier, did you call me a mad dog?"
A childish voice came from behind the dead fish-eyed contractor. At the same time, he felt a stabbing pain in his chest. This feeling was very vague, as if... someone had blocked his perception!
The dead fish-eyed contractor's eyes bulged, his lifeless gaze filled with disbelief.