Chapter 269: Chapter Three: World Coordinates

The cabin was spacious, given that the entire ship was hundreds of meters long; two long rows of seats lined the edges, and Su Xiao casually found one and sat down.

The seats were made of black metal and had multiple functions, such as emergency oxygen supply.

There were enough seats for all the contractors; Su Xiao scanned the room and roughly assessed the several factions present in this space battlefield.

The first faction was the God King Adventurers, the strongest group; their composition was strange—a team of seventy or eighty people, at least twenty of whom were healers, male or female, with frontline roles filled by Holy Knights or similar classes, likely granting them extraordinary healing capacity.

The second faction was the Brotherhood; their strength was middling, their leader Adam was a mage who wielded Wood Release, and another mage named Chen was no weakling—Su Xiao had once cooperated with them.

The third faction's name was unknown; their leader was a woman wearing a black hood with golden patterns, revealing only her pale chin and lips curled in a faint smile.

This faction numbered about sixty people, with a balanced composition; the most striking member was a giant over two meters tall, beside whom lay a shield the size of a door panel—why he didn't store it in his storage space was unclear, and he was currently crunching a metal rod like a biscuit, eating it with evident relish.

The fourth faction consisted of lone contractors, a motley assortment.

【Cabin door sealed. All contractors must fasten seatbelts. The ship will depart in three minutes.】

With a thunderous boom, the cabin door sealed, tightening every contractor's heart.

Four green military seatbelts snapped out from behind the seats, clearly designed to bind the body tightly; after Su Xiao fastened his, he was firmly secured.

"This damn ship."

A low curse came from beside him; Su Xiao turned his head and froze.

"Five Fireballs?"

A mage in deep yellow robes turned to him; Su Xiao recognized his staff.

"You're—?"

"We met in the arena a few derivative worlds ago."

Su Xiao had actually encountered him just a few days ago.

"Oh, I wondered how you knew my Eden alias."

Su Xiao fell silent; the man really was called Five Fireballs.

Five Fireballs was no weakling, but his appearance was a disgrace to the audience—a wrinkled old face, looking at least sixty, though a closer look revealed he was barely thirty, clearly prematurely aged.

The more Su Xiao stared, the more familiar Five Fireballs seemed; that aged, lewd face, covered in wrinkles, looked exactly like Kizaru from the Pirate World.

"Friend, you're a lone contractor too?"

Five Fireballs grinned, grotesquely lewd; Su Xiao felt he looked even more like Kizaru.

"Yeah."

After chatting briefly with Five Fireballs, Su Xiao learned he was also attending a space war for the first time.

The ship beneath them vibrated slightly; Su Xiao faintly felt weightlessness—it had lifted off.

【Ship accelerating. Current speed: 673 Mach. Preparing for space transit… Wormhole forming…】

【Space transit beginning. Contractors must remain seated.】

Su Xiao no longer cared about the Paradise's announcements; the seat beneath him shook violently, and surrounding contractors screamed and shouted.

This lasted about half an hour; the ship's shaking lessened, then stabilized completely.

【Announcement: Space transit complete. Estimated arrival in 8 hours and 35 minutes.】

【This space battlefield is Class D. Maximum stay: 8 days.】

【Contractors may move freely within the cabin. Entering the cockpit is prohibited.】

Su Xiao unfastened his seatbelt; an eight-hour journey was long. Contractors from the same team had clustered together—upon closer look, they were playing Landlord or Texas Hold'em, betting Paradise Coins; their psychological resilience was impressive.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Shining Gold Adventurers are hosting a gambling table. Welcome to join."

The speaker was the giant who ate iron; now Su Xiao knew the third team was called Shining Gold Adventurers. Some contractors gathered around.

God King, Brotherhood, Shining Gold—three adventuring teams aboard the ship.

Contractors qualified for space battles were generally strong and possessed excellent mental fortitude; most were not particularly nervous.

Of course, exceptions existed—some contractors sat slumped, faces pale and grim.

Su Xiao sat cross-legged on his seat, head lowered playing on a tablet; he felt no tension whatsoever. Nervousness served no purpose—what must come would come. Without a heart of steel, even surviving the Paradise would drive one mad.

Between life and death lies great terror—not everyone is suited to be a contractor.

Hours later, smoke filled the cabin, mingled with alcohol and food odors; laughter and curses echoed constantly, occasionally interrupted by snores.

THUNDER— the ship jolted; all contractors looked up.

【Transiting through space barrier into derivative world…】

The familiar teleportation sensation returned; this time, no blow to the back of the head, and Su Xiao remained fully conscious—it was the entire ship performing a short-range teleport.

The ship jolted again; they had landed.

【Entered derivative world: Parasite】

Timeline: 30 years after the original plot. (This derivative world has no world coordinate; timeline reset is impossible.)

World difficulty: Lv. 10. (Extreme)

World source: 0% (World source will be awarded collectively upon victory in the space war.)

World overview: One night in 2013, a meteor streaked across Earth's sky. Inside it were countless small organisms that, upon contact with oxygen, escaped the meteor and drifted onto the ocean surface.

These organisms were thumb-sized, shaped like translucent little snakes, with exceptional survival ability in seawater. Some lucky ones drifted onto land.

Upon reaching land, they revealed their terrifying nature: using their small size to seek out intelligent life for parasitism.

Humans were their preferred target. They burrowed into the body, surged toward the brain, devoured the entire head, grew using the consumed nutrients, and then disguised themselves as a human skull, attaching to the headless body, gaining full cognitive ability, blending seamlessly with ordinary humans. They were called Parasites.

Parasites could not survive independently; they required nutrient intake through the host's bloodstream. Normal food could sustain them, yet for unknown reasons, they chose to consume humans.

Bustling cities became their hunting grounds; hiding among ordinary people made them nearly undetectable.

A string of brutal murders and body-eating incidents alerted governments worldwide. A month later, the entire planet knew of the creature called "Parasite."

Parasites had weak combat power; a few soldiers with rifles could handle them. They were hunted en masse.

Three years after their appearance, 90% of Earth's Parasites were eradicated.

Five years later, Parasites neared extinction, becoming rare creatures. All nations issued bounties, as a biologist discovered they were a miraculous species with immense research value—decoding their genes could extend human lifespan to 200–350 years.

Seven years later, Parasites had become the world's most precious species, each worth over fifty million U. S. dollars.

Ten years later, disaster struck: a massive skyship arrived over Earth, landing on the European continent. Millions of aliens descended.

These aliens were grotesque, bipedal, covered in black scales, with lizard-like heads. They drifted through space, homeless—their original planet, Kala, had collapsed. Their spaceship was now their home; upon arrival, they appeared as refugees.

The original meteor containing the Parasites had been launched by them—tens of millions of them—intended to locate oxygen-rich planets.

The origin of the Parasites was revealed: they were biological signal transmitters. Upon reaching a habitable planet, they instinctively killed its native life and continuously emitted a specific wavelength to guide the Kala people to their location.

The Kala people possessed advanced technology. Though only a few million strong, they swiftly defeated most Earth nations.

The Kala people intended to exterminate all humans. Within three years, 60% of Earth's population died. Europe was occupied by the Kala people; most humans migrated to Asia. Within seven years, humanity was predicted to vanish, and the Kala people would fully conquer Earth.

At this moment of survival or extinction, humanity erupted in fury—they were Earth's masters, not these Kala people.

Facing annihilation, humanity united, abandoning racial conflicts. After the alien invasion, all internal disputes became trivial.

The Human Alliance formed. All humans concentrated on the Asian continent, as the Kala people altered the atmosphere, rapidly changing Earth's environment—surrounding islands were swallowed by rising seas.

A prolonged war began, but humanity helplessly realized that even united, they could not match the Kala people. At this critical juncture, the Human Alliance made a desperate decision: use nuclear weapons!

Large-scale nuclear use meant destroying Earth. After deliberation, the Alliance decided: even if they destroyed Earth, they would never let it fall into the hands of these Kala bastards. This was humanity's cradle of life—non-human vermin would not be allowed to dwell here!

Nuclear war began. Nuclear weapons became standard armaments—the only effective means against the Kala people.

Nuclear weapons terrified the Kala people, halting their advance. Vast regions became irradiated wastelands.

Humanity used looted war materials to advance technology. Seventeen years later, they began to rival the Kala people.

Europe was the Kala people's domain, perilous and treacherous. Asia was humanity's domain—its cities towered high, its outer perimeter shielded by a filtration net that purified air and blocked all Kala intruders.

The war continued. Humanity rose through relentless perseverance, vast population, and rapid learning.

After three years of combat, the Kala people sought surrender, proposing territorial division. The Human Alliance refused. Within ten years, the Kala people would be purged from Earth—or exterminated to the last individual, wiped from existence.

【Warning: Space war is about to begin.】

【Current location: Radiation zone on the Asian continental plate. Kala forces are approaching. Contractors must prepare immediately. Ensure the safety of this ship.】

【World coordinate generation in progress. Estimated time: 12 hours. Three coordinates must be generated. After all three are established, Paradise will reset the 'Parasite' world to restore its original timeline.】

After this cascade of alerts, Su Xiao froze—not because of the bizarre derivative world, but because two metal tubes, each as long as an arm, had appeared in his storage space. Their data read: 【World Coordinate Generator】.

Paradise's intent was clear: once all three coordinates were established, the 'Parasite' derivative world would belong to Paradise. One coordinate was already being set up on the ship, requiring 12 hours. The other two were his responsibility. Contractors were to protect the locations where coordinates were being established, guarding each for 12 hours.

Paradise had already transmitted the locations for the three coordinates. Once all three were established, the 'Parasite' world would reset, allowing Paradise to directly teleport other contractors into it—no longer requiring a ship.

A faint smile touched Su Xiao's lips. Though the mission was dangerous, the reward would be immense. He had a feeling this derivative world belonged to the category of prolonged, extremely perilous, yet extraordinarily rewarding worlds.

Neutral-class roles? Nonsense. After he established the coordinates, his main duty was to prevent contractors from deserting or enemies using underhanded tactics. He simply couldn't directly join the war to kill enemies—he could still establish the coordinates without issue.

Other contractors hurried out of the ship, apparently receiving a task, moving swiftly. One minute later, Su Xiao was the only one left aboard. His clothing began to change.