Chapter 80: The Situation Is Set
Thinking about this issue, Su Xiao scratched his head. When he detonated the second Apollo, he hadn't considered this problem at all. He was only thinking about how to kill Xi. This woman was simply too strong. If it were a one-on-one fight, Su Xiao might not be her match. After all, she could resurrect. As for resurrection ability, let alone seeing it, he had never even heard of it before.
"Yan Chen, are you dead or not?"
Su Xiao shouted loudly. The dozens of contractors behind him perked up their ears.
"Barely. Did you eat Red Dog's Devil Fruit or something? Where did you get so much magma!"
A roar came from the third floor. At this moment, Yan Chen was in a sorry state. He had stabbed his magic spear diagonally into the ceiling, clinging to the shaft like a monkey, while his sister held onto his belt. Fortunately, the energy in the third-floor ceiling had been mostly dispersed by Apollo's explosion, otherwise it was uncertain whether Yan Chen's spear could have pierced through.
"Qianqian, grab my top. My pants are falling off."
As Yan Chen spoke, his pants slid down with a whoosh. Luckily, Yan Chen reacted quickly, hooking his belt with his toes.
Qianqian looked at the magma beneath her feet and actually started laughing.
"La la la~"
Qianqian sang, swinging back and forth like a swing while holding Yan Chen's belt.
Witnessing this scene, Yan Chen, wearing only boxers and hugging his magic spear, gritted his teeth in fury.
"Bai Ye, damn you!"
While Yan Chen waited for the magma to recede, Su Xiao's shout came from above.
"It was an accident."
Hearing Su Xiao's shout, Yan Chen rolled his eyes in anger.
Not far behind Yan Chen, the OL beauty was being held by the shoulders by two pink little fairies. The two pink fairies fluttered their wings, keeping the OL beauty suspended in midair.
The OL beauty looked at the scene before her, the corners of her mouth twitching violently. Her boss was hugging a spear shaft like a monkey, wearing boxers, with a belt hanging from one foot, and his sister swinging beneath it.
The OL beauty kept reminding herself: don't laugh. This was her boss. Her boss was mentally unstable. Definitely don't laugh. But... she was reaching her limit of endurance.
Perhaps due to the intense fighting earlier, there was a hole in the back of Yan Chen's boxers. The OL beauty couldn't bear to look directly, and couldn't help but marvel, "Boss's butt is so pale."
"Brother, someone's peeping at you."
Qianqian said with a smile, looking at the OL beauty.
"Huh?"
Yan Chen turned his head to look at the OL beauty, who was startled.
"Boss, I really wasn't peeping at you. I was just looking at the magma. This magma is so white—ah, no! The magma is so red. Ugh... Boss, I was wrong."
Seeing the OL beauty's reaction, Yan Chen just smiled and pulled up his boxers.
"There's a hole. I know. I was wondering why it felt so drafty."
Yan Chen didn't bother with such trivial matters. What he cared about was when the magma on the ground would cool down.
The third floor was lively, but the second floor was even more so. The walls, ceiling, and floor of the fourth floor had been melted too much by the high temperature. The magma had not only spread to the third floor but also affected the second floor.
At this moment, the Apocalypse Paradise side had just over three hundred survivors left. These people were fleeing toward the outside of the Twilight Palace. To them, this place was no longer the Twilight Palace—it was the Doomsday Palace.
A massive torrent of magma was pouring down. These people couldn't withstand the magma, so they could only flee to the lower floors.
If it were just the threat of magma, it might be manageable. But the dozens of Reincarnation Paradise contractors who had been with Yan Chen earlier were now chasing them.
"Hey, grandson, don't run! Hahaha!"
A Reincarnation Paradise contractor didn't even look back at the magma, punching the back of an Apocalypse Paradise contractor's head several times.
Dozens of contractors chasing hundreds of contractors—this scene was truly rare. In the past, Apocalypse Paradise contractors wouldn't be so embarrassed and in a mess. But just now, their leader Xi had died.
For the Apocalypse Paradise contractors, this was like a thunderbolt from a clear sky. Some of them had been working under Xi since the first rank. In their eyes, Xi was an invincible myth.
Now that the invincible myth was dead, the Apocalypse Paradise side had lost all morale. Coupled with the pursuit of dozens of madmen and deadly magma, they had no other thoughts besides fleeing.
When the three hundred plus contractors reached the first floor, the scene before them stunned them.
The first floor was filled with a strong smell of flames and blood. Broken corpses were everywhere. Judging by the number of corpses, at least several dozen people had died here.
Among the large pile of broken corpses, a black-haired, red-eyed youth was sleeping soundly. As for the suicide squad, they had been knocked into the circular pit below by the Apocalypse Paradise contractors, with little chance of survival.
The black-haired, red-eyed youth was awakened by the noise. He opened his eyes drowsily.
"Another batch? Sigh, what a hard life. I guess I have to keep going."
Black Blood stood up, blocking one of the exits of the Twilight Palace.
Seeing Black Blood, many Apocalypse Paradise contractors recognized him as that Taliban player. These contractors couldn't help but groan.
"Run!"
Defeat was like a landslide. Everything they had experienced in the Twilight Palace today would be unforgettable for the rest of their lives.
Although Black Blood blocked one exit, there were three exits in total. A large group of contractors fled outside the Twilight Palace.
"Ah, hey hey. What's this? Not going to fight?"
Black Blood raised his hand, puzzled by the contractors' fleeing behavior. If it were him, he would never run.
The dozens of Reincarnation Paradise contractors didn't continue the pursuit. Though they were crazy, they weren't stupid. They absolutely couldn't leave the Twilight Palace now. Without the threat of magma, the enemy might surround and kill them. After all, the numerical gap was there. Their own ruthless fighters were trapped on the fifth floor (Su Xiao) or hanging from the southeast branch on the third floor (Yan Chen).
Don't think Yan Chen's choice was stupid. He was being cautious. Even if the magma spread down, he hadn't left the area near the stairs between the third and fourth floors. This was to prevent Xi from escaping. It was better to be safe than sorry. If Xi had a chance to escape and regroup, the final outcome between the two sides was still uncertain.
The magma spread to the first floor and then stopped. It took several hours for the magma to cool down.
Yan Chen shook his spear shaft. His sister Qianqian landed first. The first thing Yan Chen did when he landed was pull up his pants, then give Qianqian a "love tap" on the head. The twin-tailed Qianqian crouched on the ground, holding her head.
Yan Chen turned his head to look at the OL beauty, a smile on his face. "What happened today must be spread far and wide."
"Huh? What? I went blind just now. Really. I usually have poor eyesight. You know that, boss."
The OL beauty was very perceptive. Seeing this, Yan Chen, who was grinding his teeth in anger, walked toward the fourth floor. As soon as he entered the fourth floor, a wave of heat mixed with a burnt smell hit him.
"So hot."
Yan Chen stepped back in surprise. The fourth floor was still too hot to enter deeply.
"At least a few more hours before the temperature here drops to an acceptable level."
Su Xiao sat on the stairs deep in the fourth floor, shirtless.
Seeing Su Xiao, Yan Chen's mouth opened and closed silently, offering Su Xiao a "warm" greeting.
"Is Xi dead?"
Yan Chen's expression was normal.
"Dead. But... were you cursing me just now?"
"Impossible."
Yan Chen flatly denied.
"Speaking of which, those remnants are unlikely to attack the Twilight Palace again. That means we've won."
Yan Chen let out a long sigh. Xi was really hard to deal with. Leading a group of cowardly teammates, she had repelled the Reincarnation Paradise side several times. He felt a bit sorry for Xi. If Xi were in Reincarnation Paradise, she would definitely become a formidable figure in the future.
"Pretty much. With Xi dead, those people are leaderless and won't amount to much. Barring any surprises, we've won."
Su Xiao tossed a crystal in his hand. It was the only crystal Xi had created that hadn't melted from the high temperature.
With a crack, Su Xiao crushed the crystal.
"A bunch of useless teammates. It's truly amazing that someone like Xi could be dragged down by them."
Crystal fragments slipped through Su Xiao's fingers. He had previously activated the mechanisms inside the Twilight Palace, turning it into an "iron bucket." Looking back, that choice had been very wise.
The scales of war had tipped to the extreme in favor of the Reincarnation Paradise side. Having fought to this extent, the possibility of the Apocalypse Paradise side breaking into the Twilight Palace was very, very small. Not to mention the hundred-plus mentally unstable contractors on the Reincarnation Paradise side, no one on the Apocalypse Paradise side could stop Su Xiao and Yan Chen now. That was a fatal point.
At this point in the World War, the situation was essentially set.