Chapter 271: Chapter Five: The Fleeing Contracted One

The front of the ship is the Godking Adventurer Group, their main force—the war has officially begun, with 11 hours and 52 minutes remaining until the world coordinate array is complete.

Boom… boom…

The ground began to tremble as countless dark shadows surged from afar.

"Here they come!"

Godking let out a loud cry—before his eyes stretched a sea of black figures.

"Humans? Are our opponents humans this time?"

The main tank of the Godking Adventurer Group spoke—he was a Holy Knight.

"No, these are all parasitic beasts, combat-type parasites bred by the Kala aliens. Check the data."

Godking posted the parasitic beast data to the adventurer group channel; the members of Godking Adventurer Group drew sharp breaths.

【Parasitic Beast Type II】

HP: 100%.

MP: 30

Strength: 15

Agility: 15

Stamina: 12

Intelligence: 3

Charm: 2

Skill 1: Combat Machine (Passive): Insensitive to pain, HP +50.

…

Hundreds of parasitic beasts charged toward them—these were genetically engineered humans, later parasitized by special creatures, serving as Kala aliens' cannon fodder.

Though weak individually, parasitic beasts were numerous, attacking from all sides with one goal: the ship.

Their heads could reshape themselves—their true bodies and weapons—generating various weapon forms and wielding them with muscular motion.

"Frontline, hold firm! Form Formation A!"

The Godking Adventurer Group's discipline was excellent—their formation orderly and precise.

"Roar!!"

The parasitic beasts howled as they charged.

Tap-tap-tap…

Godking's ranged units opened fire—bullets, spells, and arrows rained down; the front-line parasitic beasts were thrown into chaos.

Godking himself did not fight—only stood at the center of the formation, directing the battle.

"Ready… fire!"

Godking waved his hand.

Boom!

Dust erupted from behind the formation—a massive arcane cannon fired, operated by five mages.

Arcane energy surged; dozens of parasitic beasts exploded into fragments, blood splattering the charred earth.

Su Xiao watched this scene through his screen, surprised—the adventurer group's development path clearly differed from his; these guys excelled in group combat but were pitiful in one-on-one fights.

The Brotherhood and Flashgold Adventurer Group faced similar conditions—this was only the first wave. If they couldn't even hold this, the war was already lost.

The real headache was the freelancers—dozens of them were strong, but no one commanded them, no one obeyed anyone else; they could barely hold now, and their formation was a mess.

【War Channel preparing… complete.】

【War Channel activated.】

A list popped up before Su Xiao—a free-speaking communication platform with four members; he was at the top.

Arbiter (black text)

Godking (white text)

Adam (white text)

Flashsilver (white text)

Except Su Xiao, everyone else's name had a kill count beside it—the number of parasitic beasts their adventurer group had slain.

The war channel contained Su Xiao and the leaders of three adventurer groups.

"Godking, how's your front?" It was Adam's voice.

"Fine for now, no immediate threat—but holding for twelve hours will be tough."

Godking chuckled lightly; his group had the highest kill count, far ahead.

"Flashsilver, how about you?"

Adam sighed—his group couldn't compare to Godking's; Godking was clearly the biggest beneficiary of this war.

"Me? Pretty good."

A light, playful voice came through—just hearing it, one could guess it belonged to a woman with charm.

"What's an Arbiter?"

Adam stared at the top of the list—the Arbiter's avatar was a black-and-white mask, giving him an icy chill.

"Adam, Flashsilver—whatever you do, don't provoke the Arbiter on the battlefield. That's what my boss told me before he arrived."

Godking's voice turned grave; Adam and Flashsilver tensed.

"Hold your line, and you live. Break it, and you die."

Su Xiao spoke—but what echoed in the war channel wasn't sound; it was a line of pitch-black text appearing on the battlefield channel.

"Huh? This Arbiter's brutal. Can't we just run if we lose?"

Flashsilver laughed lightly, her tone testing something.

"Flashsilver, don't be suicidal. Arbiter, my apologies—Flashsilver doesn't understand battlefield rules."

Godking broke into cold sweat, but remembering Flashsilver's usual nature, he felt helpless.

As leader of her adventurer group, Flashsilver's unpredictability was staggering—and utterly without morals.

"Arbiter… Arbiter… you don't mean it's judging us, do you?"

Adam guessed right—the Arbiter was there to prevent escape.

Su Xiao rode Bubutni along the edge of the battlefield; the Contracted Ones wouldn't attack him, but the parasitic beasts were unpredictable—several had passed nearby, hesitated for a long time, then fled.

Su Xiao stared at the floating screen, hand resting on the hilt of Checking Zhan Long Shan.

"Those little legs run fast, Xiang Bubu—chase them."

Three red dots appeared on the screen—they had escaped the battle circle before the parasitic beasts surrounded it and were now heading toward the battlefield's edge. One Contracted One was fleeing.

Bubutni sprinted across the charred earth, its acceleration skill making it fly.

Two minutes later, Su Xiao faintly spotted three Contracted Ones sprinting desperately.

Bubutni circled around, and Su Xiao rode to block their path.

At this moment, to the Contracted Ones, Su Xiao wore a black trench coat and a black-and-white mask, the scythe and scales on it glaringly prominent.

"Combatant, return to your position."

Su Xiao's voice was artificially icy—a protective measure; he still needed to adventure normally in derivative worlds, and this prevented recognition by other Contracted Ones.

"Y-you… who are you?"

One Contracted One stood trembling in place; another immediately raised his sniper rifle and aimed it at Su Xiao.

The rifle pointed at Su Xiao—the shooter's face paled; he quickly lowered the barrel and whispered something to his companion.

"Arbiter? What's that?"

Su Xiao rode Bubutni closer to the three Contracted Ones; they immediately retreated, receiving numerous warnings.

"Wait—we're going back right away."

The three Contracted Ones had clearly received the Circles Park's alert—they now knew what an Arbiter was.

"Arbiter, we… we can't get back."

One Contracted One stared at the battlefield, now fully surrounded by parasitic beasts, and swallowed hard.

"That direction."

Su Xiao pointed toward Godking Adventurer Group's position—most parasitic beasts there had been cleared; the three could easily retreat into the formation.

"Yes, yes—we're leaving now."

Two Contracted Ones stepped back slowly, eyes darting around—searching for escape routes.

Su Xiao knew this wouldn't work—even with Circles Park's warnings, these Contracted Ones would still flee.

He leapt from Bubutni's back and sprinted toward the one who hadn't retreated—the same one who had aimed his rifle at him.

Arbiter ability activated—a barrier appeared; the other two Contracted Ones were flung far away, rolling across the charred earth.

Seeing Su Xiao charging at him, the targeted Contracted One's expression turned vicious—he raised his sniper rifle again and aimed at Su Xiao.

Bang.

The gunshot rang out—simultaneously, a flash of blade light passed; Su Xiao and the Contracted One brushed past each other.

Su Xiao spun a blade flourish; Checking Zhan Long Shan slowly returned to its sheath.

Ding.

The guard struck the sheath with a crisp sound—behind Su Xiao, the Contracted One's head hit the ground.

One strike, one kill—the slash power of a purple weapon plus Zhanjia Skill Lv. 14 was terrifying.

Kill to instill fear. Kill to establish authority. Kill to secure survival.