Chapter 8: Negotiation
Su Xiao observed the battlefield situation through the screen. The contractors were still fighting fiercely. He glanced at the upper corner of the screen, where a set of numbers read 285/289.
289 represented the total number of contractors, while 285 indicated the number currently alive. In less than two hours, four contractors had already fallen.
This was not good news. Two more defensive battles remained. If more than fifty were lost here, the subsequent war would become extremely difficult.
The overall strength of the contractors would decrease as their numbers dwindled. Once below 100, forming a battle line would become impossible unless defending only a single direction.
Su Xiao was also worried about one thing: the Kala Star people had yet to show themselves. As a race that had nearly driven humanity to extinction, the Kala Star people must possess highly advanced technology. If they simply flew their European continent-sized spaceship over, then...
Fortunately, this possibility was unlikely. The human alliance within the derivative world was not to be underestimated.
Su Xiao asked Reincarnation Paradise whether the human alliance in the derivative world was friend or foe.
The answer he received was: "The human alliance is unaware of Reincarnation Paradise's existence." Only the Kala Star people knew that Reincarnation Paradise was their enemy.
Su Xiao began organizing his thoughts. The current situation was somewhat chaotic.
First, the contractors' enemy was the Kala Star people. This was certain.
The Kala Star people were a Void race, meaning the hostile faction. They had already detected Reincarnation Paradise's presence and were resisting its attempt to seize the "Parasite" derivative world.
If Reincarnation Paradise succeeded in claiming the "Parasite" derivative world, the Kala Star people would be left drifting through space indefinitely.
Reincarnation Paradise would not allow the derivative world's timeline to develop to the point where the Kala Star people appeared. It would keep resetting the timeline, leaving the Kala Star people at its mercy.
Currently, Reincarnation Paradise could not reset this derivative world's timeline. The world was in the seizure phase.
The ultimate goal of the war was to seize the world and reset its timeline, allowing other contractors to enter the "Parasite" world for adventures.
Perhaps all other derivative worlds were seized by Reincarnation Paradise in this manner. Contractors grew stronger within these worlds, and after becoming stronger, they helped Reincarnation Paradise seize more derivative worlds.
As for why Reincarnation Paradise wanted to seize more derivative worlds, Su Xiao had no idea.
With this, the logic became much clearer. The Kala Star people were irreconcilable enemies of the contractors, the main opponents in this war.
The human alliance, however, was different. If handled properly, it might be possible to rally allied forces, since the contractors were also human, belonging to the same race.
There were three major factions in this world: first, the contractors representing Reincarnation Paradise; second, the Kala Star people; and third, the human alliance.
After sorting out his thoughts, Su Xiao began planning his next steps.
First, he needed to hold the initial world coordinate. Second, he had to find a way to contact the human alliance. The contractors' current location was on the Asian continent, which belonged to the human alliance's territory.
However, this was a radiation zone, a buffer area of the battlefield. That was why the human alliance had not yet mobilized.
But how could he contact the human alliance? Su Xiao hesitated about whether to go alone. At present, the contractors showed no signs of fleeing—they couldn't escape even if they wanted to, surrounded as they were by parasites.
Su Xiao glanced at his personal information's 5 points of Charm Attribute and raised an eyebrow. With this level of charm, even meeting high-ranking members of the human alliance would be difficult. It would be better to let Bubuteni go and act cute.
Su Xiao's Charm Attribute was very low, but among the contractors in battle, there were bound to be those specialized in charm.
Contractors attempting to flee would not be forcibly executed; instead, Su Xiao or the enemy Arbiters would handle them.
He looked at the nearby corpse, a smile appearing on his face. There were no more enemy Arbiters now. He was the only one left around the battlefield.
"Then... I'll use one more opportunity."
Su Xiao still had three chances to indirectly interfere with the battlefield. He began editing a message in the battlefield channel, this time choosing to express it in text.
The content was as follows:
"Battlefield Recruitment Order: Recruiting contractors with 20 or more points of Charm Attribute. Three slots available. Must be members of an adventure group. Each adventure group may send combat personnel for protection. Three slots total.
Maximum participants: 6 people.
Time limit: 2 natural days.
Objective: Contact high-ranking members of the human alliance and secure their support.
Note: This notice is issued by the 'Arbiter Alliance' and has been notarized by Reincarnation Paradise.
Issuer: Arbiter!"
...
Su Xiao examined the edited information and nodded in satisfaction. Restricting recruitment to adventure group members was to prevent contractors from using this as an excuse to escape. As long as the three group leaders weren't foolish, they wouldn't send subordinates likely to run. Securing the human alliance's help would be a tremendous boon for the contractors.
The three charm-specialized contractors would handle communication with the human alliance, while three combat-type contractors would ensure safety along the way.
Su Xiao hadn't randomly set the maximum participant number. He would allow exactly that many to leave—no more, no less. Anyone exceeding six would be killed without mercy.
Setting the time limit to two days was appropriate, accounting for the long journey and the time needed for negotiations.
As for the "Arbiter Alliance" at the end, Su Xiao wasn't making it up. He had founded this organization ten seconds ago, with only himself as a member—no, wait, there was also a canine member. It would be disbanded when the war ended.
No one had ever stipulated that a single person couldn't form an organization. An organization founded by an Arbiter could naturally be called the Arbiter Alliance.
With that, Su Xiao posted this counterfeit mission to the war channel.
For now, the three group leaders couldn't send anyone to carry out this "mission." They didn't even have time to check the war channel, as the overwhelming tide of parasites left them no breathing room.
With the battle situation stabilizing, Su Xiao took out his lighter.
He pulled out the lighter and checked the stored luck value. It was at 60%.
60% luck value could still be used, with the same effect as 100%, only with a shorter duration. 100% luck value lasted 2 minutes, while 60% lasted 1 minute and 12 seconds.
The cooldown was five days, which matched the war's duration. Using it now was the most appropriate timing.
He lit a cigarette with the lighter, took a deep drag, and exhaled pale golden smoke. A certain something called luck now clung to him.
He chose to activate it. The silver crystal shattered with a crack, scattering into countless fragments. Several items appeared in Su Xiao's hands.
...
[Item Name: Soul Crystal (Complete)]
Quality: None
Type: Soul Concentrated Essence.
Rating: None
Introduction: Soul Crystals are rare items, usable for enhancing abilities, trading with plot characters, etc. They are a universal currency among any race. With this pure soul, you have everything.
...
[Item Name: Mental Impact]
Quality: Purple
Type: Skill Scroll.
Learning Condition: 30 Intelligence, 10 Stamina (Due to Absolute Magic Null Constitution, this skill cannot be learned by the Hunter).
Effect: After three seconds of mental concentration, release a powerful mental shock, causing a stunning effect on enemies within 10 meters and dealing Intelligence x 5 damage.
Note: This skill has a cooldown of one hour.
Note: Each use of Mental Impact consumes 200 Mana Points.
Rating: 120 (Note: Purple items have a rating range of 71 to 150.)
Introduction: This is a secret technique of the Kala Star people. Extreme caution is required when using Mental Impact; improper use may cause severe brain damage.
...
Su Xiao looked at the last item in his hand. After seeing its attributes, he was stunned.