Chapter 272

A companion was cut down in a single slash; the two Contracted Ones far away nearly wet themselves—this Arbiter wasn't just terrifying to look at, he was genuinely terrifying.

"Fall back, or this is your fate."

These Contracted Ones won't fight unless they see blood; they haven't fully grasped the situation—they're all grasshoppers tied to the same rope.

If the 'World Coordinates' are destroyed, everyone will be trapped in the 'Parasite' derivative world.

That's no good—without the Paradise of Reincarnation's protection, the 'Parasite' derivative world will turn against them, and then it'll be a real-life version of 'The Reaper Is Coming'—no one survives, not even Su Xiao; a nuclear bomb landing on his head is entirely possible.

But some Contracted Ones don't understand—they cling to the mindset of 'let the other guy die, not me'; Su Xiao must crush this mindset.

Under an overturned nest, how can any egg remain intact?

The two Contracted Ones retreated to the Godking Adventurer Group's formation, then quickly returned to the freelance side.

Watching the undisciplined freelancers on the screen, Su Xiao felt a headache coming—these people were a significant force, and he couldn't just let them fend for themselves; that would be a waste.

In past derivative worlds, Su Xiao wouldn't have cared about these people, but now he couldn't directly join the battle—the war still depended on these Contracted Ones.

Su Xiao fell silent for a moment, then decided to issue an order over the war channel.

"Godking, Brotherhood, Flashgold—each send your deputy leader to command the Fourth War Zone."

Black text appeared before the eyes of the three—Godking, Adam, and Flashgold. After hesitation, they all agreed to send their deputies; it was, in fact, what they'd already intended.

Godking sent a female Contracted One; Adam sent Lie; Flashgold went to the Fourth War Zone himself—this surprised Su Xiao.

"Arbiter Lord, I can command the Fourth War Zone—if you grant me deputy-leader access to the war channel."

Su Xiao hesitated, then nodded.

"Granted."

He added a Contracted One named Jin Gui to the war channel—the main tank who ate iron bars.

"Hahahaha, I'm a leader now! Flash, go ahead and leave in peace."

"Idiot."

Flashgold covered her face as she walked toward the Fourth War Zone—even her shattered sense of dignity still made her feel embarrassed.

Flashgold arrived in the Fourth Zone and persuaded the Contracted Ones in mere minutes—it was a matter of life and death, so temporary command didn't matter, and Flashgold was genuinely powerful, with some reputation in the Paradise of Reincarnation.

The front stabilized significantly; at least defensive formations were now established along all four sides of the ship, the first wave of Parasites was repelled, leaving the ground littered with corpses, and the Contracted Ones gained a brief respite.

Flames burned over the corpses; the battlefield reeked of charred flesh, vast stretches of scorched earth stained black-red with blood.

Seeing the current formation, Su Xiao exhaled in relief—he'd taken considerable risk by speaking up.

【Arbiter is forbidden from interfering in battle. Warning One. If warnings reach five without compliance, Arbiter status will be revoked and punishment applied. (This is Article 1578 of the Original Regulations.)】

A smile appeared on Su Xiao's face—five warnings total; after the fifth, he'd lose his Arbiter status, meaning he still had three chances to interfere in battle, as long as he didn't directly join.

Though he couldn't fight directly, he could exploit loopholes to provide critical intelligence.

【First wave defense successful. Due to Arbiter's exceptional performance, reward: 2 Small Soul Crystals.】

Su Xiao's eyes lit up—the attacks wouldn't stop at one wave, but this reward was too generous.

He suspected a possibility: the Paradise of Reincarnation was subtly encouraging this behavior.

Remember, the Paradise of Reincarnation wanted to seize the derivative world—success would bring many benefits.

"Things are getting more interesting."

Su Xiao checked the time remaining to secure the first World Coordinate: 10 hours and 53 minutes.

Su Xiao planned to leave one hour before successfully setting the first 'World Coordinate' to deploy the second one elsewhere—deploying coordinates was dangerous; the danger he faced was dozens of times greater than that of the Contracted Ones.

Looking at the resting Contracted Ones, Su Xiao sighed—these bastards still wanted to flee; they had no idea how lucky they were.

After roughly ten minutes of rest, the ground trembled again.

"Are you kidding me!"

Even Godking lost his composure—countless Parasites were sprinting toward the ship from just one kilometer away.

The previous assault was merely a probe; this was the main event.

"Brothers, hold firm! Victory here means fortune for us all!"

Godking roared, drew his knightly sword, and took his place at the front of the line, leading by example.

Similar scenes unfolded across other adventurer groups; though the freelancers in the Fourth War Zone barely cooperated, they still held their line—they dared not retreat, for there was no retreat left.

Swarms of Parasites howled as they charged the Contracted Ones, fearless of death; the Contracted Ones fought fiercely, holding the line, cutting Parasites into shards or blasting them into ash.

Iron burned, blood seared, the war continued—this place had become a meat grinder, crushing all who fought here.

In the Godking Adventurer Group, a main tank wielding a heavy shield stood like a boulder in a raging current, unmoving.

This main tank was Joke, Russian, from a frigid land, current main tank of the Godking Adventurer Group.

Joke stood firm; no matter how the Parasites attacked his shield, he refused to budge.

Healing lights flickered over Joke's body; he took a deep breath, roared—and a shockwave spread outward, causing nearby Parasites to go berserk, ignoring all other Contracted Ones, and surging en masse toward Joke.

For a main tank, holding a boss was basic skill; holding a horde of monsters was true competence.

Joke's action drastically reduced the pressure on the melee fighters beside him—this was where the main tank's true value showed.

Similar scenes occurred in the other two war zones—except for one: the Fourth War Zone.

Freelancers never developed into tanks; a Ganga situation arose—the Fourth War Zone had only melee fighters, no main tank, yet the line still held, thanks to Flashgold, the scatterbrained girl standing at the front.

Flashgold controlled a mass of mercury-like substance, sometimes forming a heavy shield, sometimes a long blade, excelling in both offense and defense, driving back the nearby Parasites.

Su Xiao, watching from the battlefield's edge, relaxed—he was confident they could hold for several more hours; as long as no surprises arose, defending the ship was entirely feasible.

But would things really go this smoothly? This was a spatial battlefield.

Su Xiao constantly monitored the battlefield, feeling helpless—if he could fight directly, these Parasites would be trash; a few hundred could be slaughtered in half an hour, even a thousand wouldn't matter—he was no longer the same as before; his blade technique had strengthened, propelling his power toward the mysterious side.

"Looks like I need to do something."

Su Xiao vaguely suspected he'd been assigned as Arbiter because he'd failed to complete the hunting mission in the previous derivative world.

The violator in the previous world was too good at hiding—even the Revolutionary Army's headquarters couldn't find him; underground? No. Above ground? No. Was he in the sky?

Shaking his head, Su Xiao stopped thinking about it—right now, he needed to find a way to win the war.

As he observed the battlefield, he sensed a lifeform approaching.

【Alert: Enemy Arbiter is approaching.】

Su Xiao's lips curled into a smile—he couldn't directly join the battle, but what if he killed the enemy Arbiter?

Perhaps the enemy was here to kill him too—the battlefield's rules, set by the Paradise of Reincarnation, allowed Arbiters to be neutral, yet permitted them to aid their side within the rules.