Chapter 16: Analyzing the Enemy
The contractors quickly took their positions. With only one direction needing defense this time, several Regiment Leaders visibly relaxed.
Adam, Divine Emperor, and the others surveyed the cave's terrain before gathering for an operations meeting.
"I've sent people to scout the vicinity. No signs of Parasitic Beasts nearby."
Divine Emperor's golden armor was covered in cracks, indicating that the contractors had paid a considerable price to deal with the War Beast.
"How exactly were these World Coordinates established, and where is the specific location?"
Flash Silver didn't seem concerned about a potential Parasitic Beast attack; instead, he searched within the cave.
The World Coordinates had been embedded over ten meters deep into the ground, making it impossible for the contractors to discover them. If they dared to dig them up recklessly, Su Xiao would not stand idly by.
The several Regiment Leaders discussed their subsequent strategy, primarily speculating on the situation at the third World Coordinate location.
The position of the second World Coordinate was simply too good. As long as they defended the cave entrance, the Kalarians would never break in. The difficulty of defending four directions versus one was incomparable.
Su Xiao observed the contractors' movements through the screen, waiting for the Parasitic Beasts to attack.
Once the Parasitic Beasts struck, his work at the second coordinate would be essentially complete. By then, the contractors would have no chance of deserting before battle.
Moreover, with the war having progressed to this point, the weaker contractors had already been eliminated. Those remaining were all shrewd individuals.
[Coordinate Placement Time Remaining: 11 hours 40 minutes. Contractor Casualties: 231/289.]
One-fifth of the contractors were already dead or injured. Among the survivors, some were severely wounded. The worst-off contractor had only his upper body left, the wound jagged and limp—likely a result of being crushed by the War Beast.
Su Xiao waited on the mountain peak for about half an hour before roars sounded in the distance. Focusing his gaze, he saw Parasitic Beasts charging in.
This wave of Parasitic Beasts was different from before. Their bodies were pitch black, their skin rough, and they no longer retained any human form.
Checking the attributes of these Parasitic Beasts, Su Xiao learned they were Parasitic Beast Type-3, overall stronger than Type-2.
Just as Su Xiao was about to leave, he suddenly noticed something wrong. Among the charging Parasitic Beasts, he vaguely spotted figures of Mutant Beasts.
Looking closer, there were quite a few Mutant Beasts, all hidden among the Parasitic Beasts.
The Kalarians had realized that Parasitic Beasts alone couldn't defeat the contractors. Moreover, since the Human Alliance had remained silent for so long, they had grown bolder.
"A combination of Parasitic Beasts and Mutant Beasts, huh. Good luck to them."
Su Xiao was only responsible for setting up the coordinates; he couldn't interfere with the defense.
Given the cave terrain, the contractors wouldn't flee from battle. He decided to head directly to the third World Coordinate placement site to check the situation.
Signaling Bubuteni to bypass the cave's direction, Su Xiao advanced toward the edge of the Asian continent.
According to the former layout of the Asian continent, the lower region was China, surrounded by some small countries that had ceased to exist in the early stages of the war.
The upper part of the Asian continent was Russia. Su Xiao's current location was the border between Russia and China.
His destination was a coastal corner within Russian territory.
By now, nations no longer existed. Only the Human Alliance remained. But even with the alliance formed, the two largest original countries in Asia had become the dominant forces within the Human Alliance.
...
Bubuteni sprinted across the scorched earth. This fool had impressive endurance, having traveled continuously for two hours without even panting.
As they gradually moved deeper into the upper part of the Asian continent, the temperature dropped. At some point, snowflakes began to fall from the sky.
Su Xiao wore only a single layer of clothing but felt no cold at all. The benefits of his increased Stamina were evident—his cold resistance had significantly improved.
Exhaling a puff of white mist, Su Xiao checked the map's coordinates. There were still two hours of travel ahead.
The first two coordinates were close to each other, but the third was extremely far away.
"Couldn't they just generate all at once? Why split it into three times?"
Tightening his single layer of clothing, Su Xiao confirmed the direction and signaled Bubuteni to continue.
Heavy snowflakes drifted down from the sky. A cold wind blew, and the ground was covered in thick snow, crunching with every step.
The sun seemed dim. The surroundings had turned into a frozen world—a vast, blinding white snowfield.
"Bubu, stop."
Su Xiao checked the map. After confirming the location, disbelief flickered in his eyes.
"The ocean? The third coordinate needs to be placed on the ocean? And... we're already within the ocean's range..."
Su Xiao looked down at the frozen ground beneath his feet. This was originally a coastal area of Russia.
It had been snowing continuously for who knows how many years, causing even the ocean to freeze.
Or rather, saying the ocean froze wasn't entirely accurate. The formation of ice layers on the ocean involves complex conditions. Seawater contains inorganic salts, which lower its freezing point below 0°C. When the surface water cools, its increased density causes it to sink, while the warmer water below rises, preventing the ocean from freezing easily.
Of course, that doesn't mean the ocean can't freeze. The North and South Poles are the best examples, requiring specific climates.
The sea surface beneath Su Xiao's feet was similar to the conditions at the poles. The temperature at the original Russian site had dropped far too low. If ordinary people lived here, they would freeze to death regardless of numbers.
Bubuteni sprinted across the ice for over an hour. Su Xiao had already left the coastal area. He suspected this ice sheet extended all the way to North America.
Earth's environment had become abnormal. The arrival of the Kalarians had left the planet scarred and ravaged.
The Kalarians were nothing but parasites on the planet. Once they created an atmosphere and air suitable for their survival, Earth's existence began its countdown.
For the Kalarians, a planet wasn't a home—it was a consumable. The destruction of their original planet, Kalar, was the best example.
Kalar was destroyed, but the Kalarians weren't extinct. That was the clearest explanation.
This Void race treated planets as consumables. When one planet was ruined, they drifted through space, searching for the next inhabited planet to invade. After success, they would rename the new planet Kalar and use it as a consumable again, repeating the cycle.
Such a race might thrive for a time, but they would inevitably face destruction.
The reason was simple: uneven development speed. After conquering a planet, they could develop rapidly. But after the planet's destruction, the Kalarians drifting in space would see their development slow down. Hence, they chose this particular path.
Su Xiao stopped pondering the Kalarians' behavior. He only wanted to know how far they had developed by now.
It was foreseeable that the Kalarians were not a firepower-tech civilization, so weapons like planet-destroying cannons wouldn't exist.
Based on Su Xiao's speculation, the Kalarians' tech tree was focused on biological technology, somewhat similar to the Insect Race.
From creatures like the Parasitic Beasts and War Beasts, one could see the Kalarians' development direction.
The Kalarians' spaceships probably weren't steel behemoths. They were more likely some kind of massive organism, with a combination of steel and biology being the most probable.