Chapter 16: One Man Guards the Pass
Inside the captain's cabin, Su Xiao's long blade slashed through the air. The blade aura struck the biological sensor device on the slanted wall corner, sparks flew, and black smoke billowed from the device.
Su Xiao acted so decisively because the captain's cabin and the C-shaped metal corridor outside were perfectly suited for defense.
As long as he held the C-shaped corridor, the enemy contractors' chances of entering the captain's cabin were minimal. When a temporary spatial coordinate was activated, it interfered with spatial teleportation in the surrounding area.
In other words, Apocalypse Paradise likely couldn't teleport contractors directly into the captain's cabin. If the temporary spatial coordinate couldn't even achieve that, then looting resources would be far too difficult. Conversely, if it couldn't do this, Reincarnation Paradise probably wouldn't have sent Su Xiao alone to seize resources.
Since enemy contractors couldn't teleport directly into the captain's cabin, they had only two ways to enter: first, destroy the front of the spaceship, forcing a hole open to reach the cabin.
Su Xiao wouldn't allow that to happen. Even if the Apocalypse Paradise contractors tried, it would take time—the spaceship was extremely sturdy, and its value was certainly not low.
The second method was to charge through the C-shaped metal corridor, provided they could break through Su Xiao's defense line.
Su Xiao had checked earlier: the C-shaped metal corridor was quite solid. Even with his full-strength slashes, he could at most leave a few cut marks.
Moreover, this C-shaped metal corridor had a curved turn in the middle, preventing ranged contractors from directly attacking Su Xiao unless they ventured deep into the corridor.
In short, as long as Su Xiao stood guard in the C-shaped corridor, he could achieve the effect of "one man guards the pass." That was why he acted so decisively.
Even if someone threw explosives into the C-shaped corridor, Su Xiao could simply retreat into the captain's cabin, close the door, and return after the explosion ended.
The five-meter-wide metal corridor was wide enough for Su Xiao to swing his blade freely, while enemy contractors could at most charge in three to four abreast. Any more would be cramped—before they could even fight, their weapons would clash.
With three to four per row, even if the rear contractors jumped to attack, the number of simultaneous threats to Su Xiao was limited. Plus, the image of enemy contractors jumping to attack was comically absurd.
Even if Su Xiao was pushed back, Amu and Baha could take over while Su Xiao recovered. With his physical condition, he could definitely rejoin the fight.
If defense became utterly impossible, Su Xiao still had three trump cards: Blood Beast, Dead Silence Descent, and Apollo.
In such a narrow terrain, Blood Beast could sweep through a crowd in one pounce. Dead Silence Descent needed no introduction—it could turn the tide at a critical moment.
Apollo was also not to be underestimated. Thanks to the terrain advantage, Su Xiao could hide in the captain's cabin, but the Apocalypse Paradise contractors had nowhere to go. They were the attackers, needing to charge into the metal corridor.
When defense was truly untenable, Bubu Wang would activate an Apollo in the captain's cabin, toss it out, Su Xiao would rush in, close the door, and with a boom outside, everything would be gone.
Su Xiao stepped on the metal tube, confirmed the temporary spatial coordinate was fixed, and walked toward the captain's cabin door.
[Tip: Hunter has activated temporary spatial coordinate.]
[Generating...]
[Estimated time: 1 hour 6 minutes. Remaining generation time: 1 hour 6 minutes.]
[Multi-layer spatial lockdown in progress...]
[Lockdown interrupted. Interference from Apocalypse Paradise detected.]
[Interference blocked. Regional lockdown successful.]
[Within 1 hour 6 minutes, this area is space-locked, dark logistics-locked, and spacetime-locked.]
[Second interference from Apocalypse Paradise detected. Anomalous fluctuations. Hunter is about to be exposed.]
[Forced interruption mechanism activated.]
[Forced interruption complete. No risk of exposure for hunter.]
[Hunter's aura restriction temporarily lifted.]
...
Clearly, Apocalypse Paradise couldn't overpower Reincarnation Paradise; otherwise, Reincarnation Paradise wouldn't have sent Su Xiao to this world.
Su Xiao pulled open the captain's cabin door. Amu, Baha, and Bubu Wang stayed inside. Just then, a message from Beini came through the adventure group channel.
Beini: "Can you see me? Meow meow meow~ Signal is so bad."
Bubu Wang: "Can't see."
Beini: "Since you can't see, I'll send a message later."
Bubu Wang: "I was wrong."
Baha: "What's the situation outside, Miss Beini?"
Beini: "Spatial fluctuations at the tail of the spaceship. At least a hundred contractors have been forcibly recalled to the contractor camp. More should follow. Those miners watching the show are so weak."
Bubu Wang: "I can take on ten miners."
Beini: "I can take on twenty!"
Bubu Wang: "Master, let me guard the C-shaped corridor! Bubuteni requests to fight!"
Beini: "Tut tut tut (attached: terrified photo of Bubu Wang)."
Su Xiao: "Beini, keep observing."
Beini: "Mm, leave it to me."
...
It could be said that before every major battle, the Dawn Adventure Group's team channel was always lively, thanks to Bubu Wang and Beini. This was even with Baha not saying much.
Su Xiao closed the captain's cabin door and stood inside the C-shaped metal corridor. He couldn't see the other end of the corridor, and likewise, the enemy's ranged firepower couldn't threaten him.
At the tail of the spaceship, inside the outer cabin.
Spatial fluctuations continued to spread, recalling contractors from this world one by one.
Contractors in various outfits sat or stood in the outer cabin. Some wore armor, others high-tech gear. The bartender had already hidden somewhere, and the chef girl from the upscale restaurant was clasping her hands, praying.
"Friend, maybe we should retreat first. We're good at mining, but combat... heh."
"Good idea, but... wouldn't it be embarrassing to flee now? This is our Apocalypse Paradise territory after all."
"You haven't seen how terrifying Reincarnation Paradise is. Our leader says those guys are all lunatics. If they fail a side mission, they get executed on the spot. They gamble with their lives."
A dozen miners sat on a bench, whispering. They naturally didn't need to participate in today's emergency event—they were full-time miners, similar to Reincarnation Paradise's workers, not requiring much combat.
"Brothers, you've all seen the summoning mission. There's only one enemy. Take him out, and even if we do nothing else in this world, we'll rake in a fortune."
A burly man over two meters tall, holding a tower shield, spoke. His name was Kulong, quite famous in the fifth rank.
"Excluding the miners, we have over 150 people. Many more can arrive later—no less than 300. Maybe we should wait?"
"No waiting. The summoning mission has a one-hour time limit. I'll lead the charge straight into the captain's cabin. I don't believe one person can stop over a hundred of us, even if he's from Reincarnation Paradise."
Kulong's words rallied everyone. This was the strength of Apocalypse Paradise contractors—they could form teams quickly, especially now with unified missions and no conflicting interests.
Kulong was experienced in battle. He first sketched a map of the C-shaped corridor, then organized ten tanks into three rows of three to four each. Behind them were a group of healers and support types, buffing the tanks with enhancements.
Moreover, Kulong selected one representative each from the melee, support, ranged, and healing categories to facilitate command.
Initially, some were reluctant, but after Kulong's series of arrangements, they accepted him as the temporary leader.
"Within 10 minutes, break into the captain's cabin and destroy the enemy's spatial coordinate!"
Kulong shouted, and over a hundred contractors responded in unison. The penalty for failure was harsh: all attributes except luck reduced by 40%.
In a corner, Monica hugged her knees. She watched the main force head toward the inner spaceship but didn't follow. She would rather endure the penalty than face that enemy with the long blade again. That would mean death, certain death.