Chapter 59: As Expected of Apocalypse
Minai looked up at Su Xiao, who was currently stepping on the Realm Severing Thread suspended in midair. The long blade in his hand, having slain too many enemies, was inevitably stained with blood. His bare upper body was also smeared with blood, the upper part of his long leather coat hanging in tatters. And that pale blue crystal arm was clearly dangerous—something that could explode at any moment, delivering a fatal blow to an enemy.
Minai met Su Xiao's gaze. After confirming their eyes met, she felt that in a one-on-one fight, she would be hung up and beaten.
Having fought until now, Minai was somewhat resigned. She wasn't afraid of death, but this kind of battle where she was being pressed down and pummeled made her start to doubt life. If it were a one-on-one fight, it would be fine, but now, over four hundred against one—no, only a little over two hundred remained.
The green light of the Realm Severing Thread flickered. Just as Su Xiao was about to leap down from it, he sensed something was wrong.
"Ahahaha!"
A nearly manic laugh rang out. A man whose skull had been partially sliced off turned and rushed toward the exit of the greenhouse.
This man's action triggered a chain reaction. Everyone from the Apocalypse Paradise side charged out of the greenhouse.
"Oh?"
Su Xiao was momentarily stunned. He leaped down from the Realm Severing Thread, and as soon as he landed, he vanished from his spot.
'Blade Path Sword: Time.'
The shockwave spread. The Battle Angel in the leather coat, who had been charging outward, suddenly slowed down. Then came the soul impact, but he was only dazed for an instant before regaining consciousness. That instant, however, cost him his life.
Pfft!
The blade severed flesh and bone. The already severely wounded leather-coat man crashed face-first to the ground, his lower half left behind.
In the brief time it took Su Xiao to kill the leather-coat man, the contractors from the Apocalypse Paradise side in the greenhouse had all fled.
"Woof?"
Bubu Wang, who had been watching the whole time, was dumbfounded. These people had fled way too fast.
This situation occurred because the contractors on the Apocalypse Paradise side had suffered over fifty percent casualties, triggering a certain clause. After casualties exceeded half, the forced execution penalty was lifted and replaced with a -20% penalty to all attributes.
Between 'All attributes -20%' and 'fighting Su Xiao,' all the Apocalypse Paradise side chose the former. This was very Apocalypse. Even though the forced execution made them dare to fight, once they had a chance, they would still flee.
Interestingly, the tasks of the Apocalypse Paradise contractors hadn't directly failed—provided they still dared to come and fight Su Xiao again.
Even more interestingly, Su Xiao's current task had no penalty, but he was long accustomed to situations where task failure meant death, so he never even considered giving up.
Su Xiao slowly exhaled. If the battle continued, he couldn't guarantee victory. Issues like stamina consumption and equipment wear were all problems.
Checking the battlefield, Su Xiao found 10 Scarlet Cards. After all, this was still an Apocalypse Paradise world, so the drop rate for Scarlet Cards from killing Apocalypse contractors wouldn't be too high.
Even so, Su Xiao had made a fortune in this world.
...
On the other side of the passage connecting to the greenhouse, a large group of contractors rushed out of the passage and entered the large stone room. Most of them collapsed to the ground, followed by a dead silence.
"We survived."
The angel girl was even more withdrawn now. In the near future, if she encountered a contractor who used a blade, she might feel weak before the fight even started.
"..."
Minai, another survivor, had a thoughtful look in her eyes. She suddenly became very interested in Reincarnation Paradise. If a violator named Di Ya were still alive, she would definitely tell Minai: don't court death. Apocalypse is heaven, Reincarnation is hell—it's a paradise for madmen.
"The task... hasn't failed yet."
A contractor spoke in a low voice. Hearing this, a dozen gazes turned toward him.
"Do you think you can defeat that guy?"
"Probably... absolutely impossible."
"Then give up. The task has already failed. If we had the Overlord template, the result would definitely be different."
Clearly, this contractor had the mindset of "I could do it too." In reality, the Overlord template only ensured Su Xiao's survivability, preventing contractors from easily focusing fire and killing him instantly.
A man nearly two and a half meters tall, with a back as broad as a bear's, stood up. A short black rod appeared in his hand.
"What are you..."
Minai looked at the standing burly man with surprise. She felt that she could beat this guy until he cried for his mom and dad. If he returned to the greenhouse, it would be a free kill.
The burly man flicked the short rod in his hand. With a click, the front end of the rod unfolded, revealing a weapon resembling a scythe.
"Going mining to make up for the losses!"
The burly man shouldered his mining tool and walked away without looking back, completely ignoring the task penalty.
Minai, sitting on the ground, pressed a hand to her forehead. She suddenly felt a desire to transfer to Reincarnation Paradise or Death Paradise. If she had a monster like that as a teammate during a 'World War,' what a wonderful experience that would be.
In reality, Reincarnation Paradise wasn't without its flaws. If contractors there took a dislike to each other, things would get lively.
The burly man's action triggered a chain reaction. Coupled with the fact that this place wasn't safe, most of the Apocalypse Paradise contractors decided to leave Origin Island.
Within five minutes, no contractors could be seen in the large stone room. Defeat wasn't scary; being repeatedly beaten until you lost your will to fight was the real defeat.
Bubu Wang peeked around the entrance of the large stone room for a while before running back into the greenhouse.
At this moment, Su Xiao was sitting on a cluster of vines. The ground nearby was littered with corpses, some even piled on top of each other.
In a corner about a dozen meters away from Su Xiao, a healer covered in blood lay in a pool of blood. Not far from her was a man who looked remarkably like a gorilla. The gorilla-like man was probably affected by his class ability, his entire body covered in black fur. Anyone with poor eyesight would think he was an actual gorilla at first glance.
The gorilla-like man and the healer weren't actually dead. They were teammates. When the battle was at its most intense, the two chose to play dead. The gorilla-like man had an ability called 'Body Stagnation,' which allowed him and one ally to maintain consciousness in a state of fake death.
The gorilla-like man and the healer exchanged glances. Both were now in utter despair. When the contractors retreated, the two were too close to Su Xiao. If they dared to jump up, they would die under Su Xiao's blade the next moment.
"Woof."
Bubu Wang returned to the greenhouse and barked at Su Xiao.
"All of them have withdrawn?"
Su Xiao held a large Soul Crystal in his hand and bit off a large chunk, as if eating an apple.
The gorilla-like man and the healer not far away both saw this. They felt like crying. Their thoughts were: What kind of person is this? Eating Soul Crystals like apples.
"That's a good thing. After handling the aftermath, I should be leaving this world."
Su Xiao tossed the remaining small piece of Soul Crystal into his mouth and walked over to the stone door inside the greenhouse. The super plant, Dibam, and the World Core were both inside.
Following the instructions from Reincarnation Paradise, Su Xiao easily opened the stone door.
Rumble...
The stone door slowly opened. Su Xiao frowned and turned his head. Just now, he had vaguely sensed something.
Su Xiao scanned the corpses in the greenhouse but found nothing unusual.
Su Xiao walked into the stone door, followed by Bubu Wang. Seeing this, the gorilla-like man and the healer got up and ran silently, getting closer and closer to the greenhouse exit.
Just as the gorilla-like man and the healer reached the greenhouse exit, a tall Minotaur walked in from the opposite direction. It was Amu, with Baha perched on its shoulder.
The gorilla-like man and the healer froze in place. The scene was extremely awkward.