Chapter 5: The Fleeing Contractors
The Divine Emperor Adventure Group was positioned at the front of the spaceship as the main force. The war had officially begun, with 11 hours and 52 minutes remaining until the world coordinates were set up.
Boom, boom...
The ground began to tremble as dense masses of dark figures charged from the distance.
"They're here!"
Divine Emperor shouted loudly. As far as the eye could see, there was a sea of humanoid figures pressing forward.
"Humans? Our opponents this time are humans?"
The main tank of the Divine Emperor Adventure Group spoke up. He was a paladin.
"No, these are all parasitic beasts—combat-type parasites cultivated by the Karra Star people. Check the data."
Divine Emperor released the parasitic beast's information into the adventure group channel. The members of the Divine Emperor Adventure Group drew in sharp breaths.
[Parasitic Beast Type II]
Health: 100%
Mana: 30
Strength: 15
Agility: 15
Stamina: 12
Intelligence: 3
Charm: 2
Skill 1: War Machine (Passive): No pain sensation, Health +50.
...
Hundreds of parasitic beasts surged forward. These were artificially cultivated humans, later parasitized by special parasites—cannon fodder for the Karra Star people.
Although the parasitic beasts weren't strong individually, their numbers were overwhelming. They attacked from all sides, their target aimed directly at the spaceship.
The heads of the parasitic beasts could change shape; that was their true body and weapon. They could generate various forms of weapons and use their muscles to swing them in combat.
"Front line, hold steady! Deploy A Formation!"
The Divine Emperor Adventure Group had solid discipline, their formation orderly and precise.
"Roar!!"
The parasitic beasts howled as they charged forward.
Rat-a-tat-tat...
The ranged members of the Divine Emperor Adventure Group opened fire first. Bullets, spells, and arrows flew out simultaneously, mowing down the front ranks of parasitic beasts.
Divine Emperor himself didn't act, merely standing at the center of the formation directing the battle.
"Prepare... Fire!"
Divine Emperor raised his hand.
Boom!
A cloud of dust erupted from the ground behind the formation as a cannon fired. It was a magic cannon, manned by five mages.
Mana energy surged, and dozens of parasitic beasts were blown to pieces. Blood splattered across the scorched earth.
Su Xiao watched this scene through the screen with some surprise. The development direction of adventure groups was indeed different from his own. These guys excelled in group combat but were pathetically weak in one-on-one fights.
The Brotherhood and the Flash Gold Adventure Group were in similar situations. This was only the first wave of attacks. If they couldn't even defend against this, there was no point in fighting the war.
What was troublesome were the independent contractors. Several dozen of them weren't weak, but without a commander, no one was willing to submit to anyone else. They could barely hold the line for now, but their formation was chaotic.
[War channel preparation complete. Generating...]
[War channel opened.]
A list popped up in front of Su Xiao. It was a communication platform allowing free speech, with four members total. He was at the top.
Arbiter (Black text)
Divine Emperor (White text)
Adam (White text)
Flash Silver (White text)
Except for Su Xiao, everyone else's name had a kill count after it—the number of parasitic beasts their adventure groups had slain.
The war channel contained Su Xiao and the three adventure group leaders.
"Divine Emperor, how's it going over there?" It was Adam's voice.
"Not bad. No problems in the short term, but holding out for twelve hours won't be easy."
Divine Emperor chuckled lightly. The Divine Emperor Adventure Group had the highest kill count, far ahead of the others.
"Sister Silver, what about you?"
Adam sighed. His adventure group couldn't compare to Divine Emperor's. The biggest beneficiary of this war would likely be Divine Emperor.
"Me? I'm doing alright, I guess."
A light, playful voice came through. Just from hearing it, one could tell this was a woman with considerable charm.
"What's an Arbiter?"
Adam looked curiously at the top of the list, at the Arbiter. The avatar was a black-and-white mask, and that image gave Adam an inexplicable chill.
"Adam, Flash Silver, whatever you do, absolutely do not provoke the Arbiter on the battlefield. My boss specifically warned me about this before coming."
Divine Emperor's voice was grave. Adam and Flash Silver's hearts tightened.
"Hold the line, and you live. Break the defense, and you die."
Su Xiao spoke, but what transmitted to the war channel wasn't sound—it was a line of pitch-black text appearing in the channel.
"Oh? This Arbiter is pretty tough. Can't we just run if we lose?"
Flash Silver chuckled lightly, her tone seemingly probing something.
"Sister Silver, don't court death. Arbiter sir, my apologies. Flash Silver doesn't understand the rules of the battlefield."
Divine Emperor broke out in a cold sweat, but thinking of Flash Silver's usual personality, he felt helpless.
Flash Silver, as the leader of an adventure group, was astonishingly scatterbrained and utterly lacking in principles.
"Arbiter, arbitrate... It's not going to arbitrate us, is it?"
Adam's guess was correct. The Arbiter's role was precisely to prevent them from fleeing.
Su Xiao rode Bubuteni along the edge of the battlefield. Contractors wouldn't attack him, but parasitic beasts were uncertain. A few had passed nearby earlier, hesitated for a long time, and then ran off.
Su Xiao stared intently at the floating screen in front of him, resting his hand on the hilt of Dragon-Slaying Flash at his waist.
"Those legs sure can run. Bubu, chase them down."
Three red dots appeared on the screen. These dots had escaped the battle zone before the parasitic beasts could encircle them, moving toward the battlefield's edge. Some contractors were fleeing.
Bubuteni sprinted across the scorched earth. After activating its speed-boosting skill, Bubu ran so fast it was practically flying.
Two minutes later, Su Xiao's vision caught three contractors desperately fleeing for their lives.
Bubuteni took an arcing path to intercept them. Su Xiao rode Bubuteni, blocking the three men's path.
At this moment, in the contractors' eyes, Su Xiao wore a black trench coat and a black-and-white mask on his face. The scythe and scales on the mask were particularly striking.
"Combatants, fall back."
Su Xiao's voice was disguised to be cold and piercing. This was a protective measure—he would still need to adventure normally in derivative worlds in the future, and this would prevent other contractors from recognizing him.
"Who... who are you?"
One contractor stood trembling in place, while another immediately raised his sniper rifle, aiming at Su Xiao.
The moment the gun barrel pointed at Su Xiao, the contractor's face changed drastically. He quickly lowered his weapon and whispered something to his companion.
"An Arbiter? What's that?"
Su Xiao rode Bubuteni closer to the three contractors. They immediately retreated, simultaneously receiving numerous warnings.
"Wait, we'll go back right now!"
It seemed the three contractors had already received the prompt from Reincarnation Paradise, informing them of what an Arbiter was.
"Arbiter sir, it looks like we can't go back."
One contractor looked at the battlefield, now completely surrounded by parasitic beasts, and swallowed hard.
"That direction."
Su Xiao pointed toward the Divine Emperor Adventure Group's position. The parasitic beasts there had mostly been cleared, and the three contractors could easily return to the battle.
"Yes, yes. We're leaving now."
Two contractors slowly backed away, but their eyes darted around, searching for an escape route.
Su Xiao knew this wouldn't work. Even with Reincarnation Paradise's warnings, these contractors would still try to flee.
He dismounted from Bubuteni and quickly charged toward the one contractor who hadn't retreated—the same one who had aimed his gun at him earlier.
The Arbiter ability activated. A barrier appeared, and the other two contractors were blasted far away, tumbling several times across the scorched earth.
Seeing Su Xiao charging toward him, the judged contractor's expression turned fierce. He raised his sniper rifle and aimed at Su Xiao again.
Bang.
The gunshot rang out. At the same moment, a flash of blade light passed. Su Xiao and the contractor brushed past each other.
Su Xiao twirled his blade in a flourish before slowly sheathing Dragon-Slaying Flash.
Clink.
The guard struck the scabbard with a crisp sound. Behind Su Xiao, the contractor's head hit the ground.
One slash, instant kill. The cutting power of a purple-tier weapon combined with Blade Mastery Lv.14 was terrifying.
Kill a man, establish authority, secure survival.
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