Chapter 42: Low Probability Event
The insectoid army surged across the grassland. Beyond this grassland, after crossing another stretch of Gobi desert, lay the territory of the Sun Tribe.
At this point, Su Xiao's faction and Mag's faction had split into two routes. Su Xiao's side would take the grassland → Gobi route, then cut horizontally into the Sun Tribe's domain.
Mag's faction would bypass the grassland, enter the mountain range on the other side, and approach from the left flank of the Sun Tribe's territory, forming a pincer attack with the other side.
The impending war, no, it should be called a campaign, was certainly worthy of being recorded in this world's history. The three major powers of this world were going to war today.
[Tip: After reading the following terms, the Hunter must maintain strict confidentiality. Any disclosure will result in forced execution.]
[The Hunter's actions will affect the world's grand pattern, historical shifts, etc.]
[Campaign naming in progress...]
[Naming complete. The Dusk Sun Campaign is about to erupt.]
[Generating temporary plot character identity...]
[Generated. The Hunter will be temporarily disguised as Azure Steel King · Kukulin.]
[Task authority being granted...]
[Grant complete. The Hunter may substitute for Reincarnation Paradise in issuing partial Dusk Sun Campaign tasks.]
...
Seeing the prompt from Reincarnation Paradise, Su Xiao was puzzled. Azure Steel King? He only knew about Azure Steel Shadow and Azure Shadow King—one was his core ability, the other was an ultimate move that had yet to awaken.
And from what Reincarnation Paradise meant, it seemed he could also issue a small portion of tasks to contractors?
Before Su Xiao could figure out what was going on, more prompts arrived.
[Spatial coordinates have been set at 80%. Spatial teleportation possible. Spatial lockdown possible. Cannot...]
[Fourth Rank contractors being selected...]
[106 individuals selected. All 106 contractors have previously obtained reward authority. Reward authority triggered. About to enter the Dusk Sun Campaign.]
[Third Rank contractors being selected...]
[139 individuals selected. All 139 contractors have previously obtained reward authority. Reward authority triggered. About to enter the Dusk Sun Campaign.]
[The Hunter has been temporarily disguised as Azure Steel King · Kukulin. Disguise will be removed upon leaving this world. The Hunter must not actively harm contractors belonging to their own faction. If a contractor provokes or attacks you, they may be executed on the spot.]
[Contractors teleporting...]
[Contractors are expected to enter this world when the campaign begins, after the Hunter captures an important Sun Tribe territory.]
[The 245 Third and Fourth Rank contractors, upon entering this world, will be unable to leave the campaign area (Sun Tribe territory).]
[Tip: The Hunter may move freely within this world, with no area restrictions.]
[Tip: After the war task ends, all of the Hunter's disguises will be removed, and the temporary task-issuing authority will be withdrawn.]
...
This time, Su Xiao understood what was happening. Previously, Reincarnation Paradise had stopped him from attacking the Sun Tribe to avoid causing drastic changes to the world's power structure.
Su Xiao had ignored the warning, thus triggering another mechanism.
Now that Su Xiao was looting benefits after the battle, Reincarnation Paradise would at most issue a warning, with no substantial punishment.
Since the campaign was inevitable, Reincarnation Paradise chose to disguise Su Xiao as Azure Steel King · Kukulin and teleport a batch of Third and Fourth Rank contractors into this world.
These contractors had all performed excellently before. As a reward, Reincarnation Paradise allowed them to come to the battlefield to snatch some benefits, not to send them to the front lines.
In layman's terms, according to Reincarnation Paradise's rules, Su Xiao wiping out the Sun Tribe was perfectly reasonable. However, this would cause resource losses, so Reincarnation Paradise teleported in some mid-to-low rank contractors to follow behind the insectoid army and reap benefits, while also experiencing a war world.
In essence, this was letting Su Xiao's insectoid army mentor the newcomers, since the World Struggle was already secured.
Su Xiao had previously wondered why Reincarnation Paradise gave a prompt like "After reading the following terms, the Hunter must maintain strict confidentiality. Any disclosure will result in forced execution."
Now it seemed this was indeed a classified + low probability event.
[Tip: The Hunter's follower, Bubuteni, has completed disguise. Identity: Quartermaster of the Azure Steel King faction.]
[Tip: Contractors participating in the Dusk Sun Campaign may earn battle merits by killing enemies. Use battle merits to exchange resources from Bubuteni. Resources provided by Reincarnation Paradise. Bubuteni may adjust exchange prices by 5% to 30% based on contractor performance.]
[Tip: This disguise will be removed upon leaving this world.]
Su Xiao's gaze shifted to Bubu Wang. Bubu Wang's expression gradually turned comical.
At that moment, a metal mask appeared on Su Xiao's face. The mask's base was pitch black, with blood-red patterns covering the lower part.
Bubu Wang's appearance also changed slightly—this was the disguise from Reincarnation Paradise.
Su Xiao felt nothing special about the contractors about to enter the battlefield. He had already seen how low the treasure chest drop rate was in this world. As for how those mid-to-low rank contractors would gain benefits, they would earn battle merits by killing enemies, then exchange them for equipment, items, etc., from Bubu Wang.
Battle merits were fundamentally different from Reincarnation Paradise merits. The former was merely a reward for this campaign, with a much lower acquisition difficulty than merits.
As for the exchange price, it depended on Bubu Wang's mood. If he was in a bad mood, he could raise the price by 30%, which would be a real killer.
As for Su Xiao, he was the ultimate big boss of his own faction. If any contractor tried to rebel, Su Xiao could kill them and gain a small amount of benefits.
In this campaign, there were actually three ultimate big bosses: Su Xiao, the Insectoid Mother Nest · Mag, and the Sun Tribe's Great Chief · Gulaba.
After reading the prompts, Su Xiao felt that this final carnival was particularly interesting.
At this moment, the Demon Beast army had entered the Gobi desert. The wind howled fiercely, and small stones and sand grains pelted against bodies with a crackling sound.
An hour later, the insectoid army drove straight into the right flank of the Sun Tribe's territory.
The environment of the Sun Tribe's territory was quite good, at least having land suitable for planting crops and multiple water sources. This area had already been designated as a war zone.
As the Demon Beast army advanced deeper into the war zone, Su Xiao saw a tribe of about 10,000 people in the distance.
Wooden tents and stone houses stood in clusters. Now, the place was completely empty. Several bonfires in front of the stone houses still emitted wisps of blue smoke, indicating that the Sun Tribe's people had just evacuated not long ago.
Multiple signs showed that the Sun Tribe had already detected the insectoid army's movements. They had gathered together, and as for their location, there was no need to guess—it had to be the Sun Tribe's main base, the Blazing Fire Highlands.
The insectoid army began advancing toward the Blazing Fire Highlands. Along the way, they passed several more medium and small-scale building complexes, all empty.
When the Demon Beast army had fully penetrated the Sun Tribe's territory, Su Xiao arrived at the edge area of the Blazing Fire Highlands.
The Blazing Fire Highlands covered a considerable area, capable of housing over 400,000 people. At the edge of the highlands stood a defensive wall made of wood and stone, over ten meters high, completely encircling the area.
"Da la, ga sa!"
A loud shout came from the stone wall. One by one, fire basins were lit, emitting thick yellow smoke.
Su Xiao issued an order to Jila, who was far away at the main base's insect nest: Attack!
Dong, dong, dong...
The biological giant cannon Titan roared repeatedly, sending blue-white fireballs flying toward the stone wall. The flaming spears thrown from the wall looked pitifully small in comparison.
The Demon Beast army charged en masse, surging toward the stone wall like a black tide.
Dong!
Another thunderous crash. This time, it wasn't Titan, but countless Demon Beasts simultaneously slamming into the stone wall. The war had begun.