Chapter 35: Internal Conflict
Ancient Ruins · Babakab.
This was a desolate grassland filled with jagged rocks. From the massive sculptures of extraordinary creatures, it was evident that Babakab had once flourished, but it belonged to a previous civilization, defeated by the insect race.
The structures within the ancient ruins had weathered into piles of rubble, the terrain relatively flat. The only remaining building was the massive altar at the center of the ruins.
Due to crustal shifts, this altar had sunk severely, nearly level with the ground. Its iconic structures had long since weathered away; from a distance, it looked like a vast expanse of stone slabs.
The altar was the heart of the ancient ruins. On it, nearly a hundred contractors stood or sat. Some were playing cards in small groups, others were maintaining precision equipment.
A walnut-sized World Core floated about a meter high, surrounded by numerous light patterns that slowly converged. When these patterns fully enveloped the World Core, a World Coordinate would form.
"172 hours left. That madman from Reincarnation Paradise still isn’t dead? If he were, we wouldn’t have to guard this place."
A contractor lay listlessly on a stone slab, hands behind his head, a blade of grass dangling from his mouth.
"At least you don’t have to fight. What more do you want?"
"Did you hear? People from Death Paradise got ambushed. Eight dead."
"Hope that lunatic doesn’t come here."
"The occasional insect swarms and beast tides aren’t easy either. The higher the World Coordinate formation, the more hostile the surrounding beasts and insects become."
A few contractors from Apocalypse Paradise chatted briefly before falling silent.
The sky was cloudless, the scorching sun beating down. The air above the ancient ruins seemed to distort, the ground temperature reaching around 50°C.
"Everyone, get up."
A loud shout rang out. The Apocalypse Paradise contractors sat up, looking slightly puzzled.
"The birds have stopped chirping. It’s… too quiet."
A Death Paradise contractor leaped onto a pile of rocks, scanning the distance.
"Is that…"
He squinted, his expression soon turning grim.
"The insect race is here again!"
The shout spread across the entire altar. The nearly hundred contractors from the three-Paradise alliance quickly gathered together. Over the past few days, they had encountered occasional insect attacks, but the scale had been small.
Forming a World Coordinate inevitably invited some rejection from this world, so beasts and insects from the surrounding areas frequently attacked, though fortunately, the scale was usually minor.
"Quite a few. Conservative estimate, several hundred."
"What stage are they?"
"Looks like… second stage."
"That’s manageable."
The contractors formed a defensive line centered on the World Core. Soon, hundreds of insects swarmed in from all directions, engaging in a chaotic melee with the contractors.
Five kilometers away, Su Xiao stood atop a dozen-meter-high stone sculpture, observing the ancient ruins through a telescope.
The hundreds of second-stage combat insects charging into the ruins had been driven there by him. As for why he didn’t deploy his Demon Beast army, it was to avoid alarming the enemy.
Su Xiao planned to wipe out all the contractors from the three-Paradise alliance. If he sent out the insect army now, the contractors at the Sun Tribe and Ya Wa Tribe wouldn’t dare come to the World Coordinate point.
To force all enemy contractors to converge on the coordinate point, he needed to proceed gradually. By using the Demon Beast army to drive waves of other insects or beasts, he could steadily increase the pressure on the contractors at the coordinate point.
This would compel them to call for reinforcements from the main force. The three-Paradise alliance had a major weakness: they had to advance or retreat together, or internal conflict would inevitably erupt.
If Death Paradise’s main force volunteered to reinforce the coordinate point, Holy Light Paradise and Apocalypse Paradise couldn’t just stand by. Guarding the World Coordinate was a shared mission for the three-Paradise alliance. Even if Death Paradise’s contractors were stronger, they weren’t willing to be unpaid laborers.
The skirmish at the coordinate point ended in less than half an hour. After all, only a few hundred second-stage combat insects were involved; nearly a hundred contractors could handle them easily.
However, the second wave of beast tide arrived less than ten minutes later. The fighting resumed.
When the contractors near the coordinate point finished off the second wave, their expressions were grim.
"What do Yaklo, Mu Yushi, and Afuro mean by this? Hold out for two more days? Since this morning, the nearby insects and beasts have been getting more hostile."
A contractor wiped beast blood from his face. They were stuck here guarding the World Coordinate while the other seven hundred-plus people were either reaping benefits at the Sun Tribe or learning techniques at the Ya Wa Tribe. Worse, many had gone mining.
"Contact Yaklo. Tell them to send people here now."
"Here they come again. More insect nests this time, and some third-stage combat insects."
"Damn it!"
The third wave—no, the ninth wave of the day—had arrived.
…
Snap.
Yaklo threw a dart. The feathers on its tail spun as it struck the bullseye.
"You’ve all seen the general situation in the war channel. If we don’t reinforce soon, those at the coordinate point will have serious complaints."
He narrowed his eyes. Just moments ago, someone had started "greeting" his relatives, though the sender was anonymous.
"The war mission keeps summoning. Go or not? You two decide. My opinion is to go. Without branch missions, the benefits we can grab here are limited."
Yaklo looked at Mu Yushi and Afuro. The three were representatives of the three-Paradise alliance, making key decisions through discussion.
"Go."
Mu Yushi’s reply was curt. If they didn’t go now, internal conflict was likely. The discontent at the coordinate point was already high.
"My opinion is to send half. The attack frequency at the coordinate point today is too high. Something’s off."
Afuro kept her head down, feeling an inexplicable sense of dread, though she couldn’t pinpoint why.
"Send half? Who goes? Who stays? Don’t forget, there’s a madman lurking in the shadows."
Yaklo’s expression soured. Death Paradise had suffered the heaviest losses. He didn’t care how many of his own contractors died, but he couldn’t stand being used as a pawn.
"Yaklo, have your 3,000 Blazing Sun Warriors reinforce. What do you think?"
Mu Yushi smiled as she spoke. Afuro, standing nearby, shared the same sentiment.
"That could work…"
Yaklo was about to respond when he suddenly stood up.
"Let’s move!"
"Yaklo, bring all the Blazing Sun Warriors."
"Our Holy Light Paradise people can assemble quickly. Mu Yushi, where are yours?"
"They’ll be here soon."
The three spoke as they rushed out of the large tent. Just moments ago, the ancient ruins had been hit by a fierce attack: 690 second-stage combat insects plus one giant extraordinary creature. Of the 97 contractors guarding the area, 12 had died. With such casualty rates, they couldn’t afford to stay idle.
Remember, the coordinate still needed seven full days to form. It was only a third complete and already facing this scale of assault. By the later stages, those nearly a hundred people wouldn’t hold out.
The ancient ruins weren’t sealed, which was both an advantage and a disadvantage for the three-Paradise alliance. The advantage was freedom of movement and the ability to reap benefits worldwide. The disadvantage was that as the World Coordinate formed, they would face attacks from nearby beasts, insects, and native inhabitants.
Under normal circumstances, the pressure at the ancient ruins wouldn’t be this intense. Such large-scale attacks wouldn’t come until the last three days.
All the insects, beasts, and even extraordinary creatures had been driven there by Su Xiao via his Demon Beasts. He was simply waiting for the three-Paradise alliance’s main force to arrive at the ancient ruins.