Sanctuary Paradise

Chapter 841 The Contractors (Part 2)

World Fortress, Forging Zone.

Clang, clang, clang—!!

The crisp sound of hammering echoed through the streets, and waves of heat emanated from one blacksmith shop after another. Along the bustling streets, numerous signs bearing the Tianqi Paradise logo hung on both sides, reminding passersby whose territory this was.

As one of only two amusement parks among the six major amusement park factions to completely abandon high-end combat power, Apocalypse Paradise is rarely seen on the front lines. However, once you reach logistics areas like Forging Street and Technology Street, the dazzling array of goods and the abundance of high-level employees will tell everyone in the most direct way who is the real powerhouse in logistics.

"Yo! Masamune! Masamune! Long time no see?"

"Doomsday? You were recruited too? I thought you'd be recruited by the amusement park at least in the fourth batch."

"Pah, what are you saying? We were working really hard too, you know?!"

"Pfft, you mean you were really into it when you were shopping at Pleasure Street?"

"Ahem...that's another matter. Alright, let's get down to business!" Inside the blacksmith shop, which bore the names of Sanctuary Paradise and the Church of Justice, Mo Tian, ​​caught off guard, coughed lightly, pointed to the melancholy young man beside him, and said:
"Hey, this is the guy. You guys should remember Mingyu, right? He's Mingyu's teammate this time. He wanted to find a reliable blacksmith to upgrade his equipment, and I figured this would be a good opportunity for you guys to boost your sales figures."

"Netherworld... Oh, that unlucky guy with pitifully low luck! No problem! This... uh... what should I call this person again?"

"Melancholy Demon, from Death Paradise, this is the equipment I'm upgrading. I personally hope to add resistance and health bonuses to it." The Melancholy Demon said, taking out an exceptionally thick soft armor, several coat-like pieces of armor, and a large pile of materials. "And these too. Could you please help me repair them?"

"Hmm... Let me see, equipment forged from Stone Nest Dragon? No problem, including repairs, it should be done in about half an hour!" In front of the furnace surging with heat, Masamune, wearing a sweat towel and a short vest, with abs so muscular that it was impossible to associate him with femininity, glanced at the equipment and materials on the forging table, nodded, and said to the melancholy demon man.

"Then I'll trouble you..." "Masamori-kun... Eh, is Mr. Ryuhei here too?"

The melancholy demon nodded slightly, about to express his gratitude, when a vibrant voice suddenly rang out from the blacksmith's shop entrance. A white-haired boy wearing a bright red leather scarf rushed into the shop. Just as he was about to shout something at Masamune, he noticed Liu Bing and the others nearby, quickly stopping himself and apologizing, "Ah, I'm sorry, I hope I didn't disturb you, Mr. Liu Bing?"

"No, we just finished talking. Argo, are you here to have equipment crafted too?"

“Well, I asked Miss Masamori and Mr. Masamichi to help me forge some things the day before yesterday, and they should be finished by now.” Bell said, glancing at Masamori beside him, and asked hesitantly, “Um, Miss Masamori, may I ask…”

"Here! It's all set up, just waiting for you to come and get it!" Zheng Shou said, pointing to the box in the corner, glancing at the white-haired boy, stroking his chin, and muttering, "Speaking of which, Argo, it's quite strange that you weren't chased by Star Maiden and her gang today."

If she remembered correctly, ever since the other party joined the Church of Justice, there hadn't been a single day of peace around him.

"Ahem, perhaps it's because of the expedition..." Bell coughed lightly, sounding a little unsure of himself. At the same time, he took the box that the guardian had pointed to and examined its contents with his mental power. His eyes lit up slightly, clearly very satisfied with the other party's work.

"Alright, if there's nothing else, I'll get back to work."

"Yes, Miss Masamune, take care." After saying that, the white-haired boy hurriedly rushed into the spatial portal, as if he couldn't wait to try something.

Seeing this, Mo Tian blinked and remarked, "Tsk tsk, no wonder you're Black Sword's brother, your styles of coming and going in such a hurry are exactly the same! Speaking of which, why do you seem so carefree, Liu Bing?"

"Heh, once you experience what it's like to travel between a dozen planets, you'll understand why I'm so..." Liu Bing chuckled coldly, but halfway through his sentence, a notification suddenly popped up on his and everyone else's imprint interface:

[Note: The current Supreme Commander of the Expedition Zone, Guardian Armor 3756, has been temporarily connected to the public communication channel.]

"Huh? What? Is it going to be some new announcement...?"

"Gentlemen, I apologize for disturbing you at a time that should be for relaxation and enjoyment!"

The next second, the major's light voice suddenly rang in the minds of everyone present. Not only that, all the commercial screens on the street suddenly changed to the scene in the command room, causing the contractors on the street to stop in their tracks.

In an instant, the usually bustling entertainment area, assembly area, training area, trading area, and so on, seemed to sense something amiss and fell silent, leaving only the major's voice echoing throughout the fortress via loudspeaker:

"Considering that everyone's time is extremely valuable, I will not go into further detail."

"To put it simply, I am about to tell you some extremely unfortunate bad news, and perhaps not so pleasant good news—"

"Gentlemen, there is a very high probability that our upcoming expedition will... encounter an unprecedented and unimaginable crisis!"

"I know this may seem unbelievable, but unfortunately, according to our reliable intelligence sources, this crisis is real, and there is a very high probability that there are no effective means to prevent it!"

"As for how large it actually is? Well, considering the worst-case scenario, it's probably similar to the outbreak of the Abyss Invasion, enough to wipe out everyone in this fortress, leaving no trace of their bodies."

The words, spoken with a hint of flippancy, sounded like a casual joke between friends, but the contractors within the fortress instantly erupted in chaos:

"Hey...really? This isn't funny at all!"

"Is this some new prank show...?"

"Damn it, what the hell is going on? Weren't we supposed to be in a great situation? How did this kind of news suddenly come out?"

"Haha! Interesting. I want to see what kind of thing is powerful enough to wipe us all out?!"

"Wait, wait, what about retreating? This isn't the time to be discussing retreating..."

Voices of doubt, insults, anticipation, and confusion... a cacophony of emotions erupted from all corners of the fortress as the major's words fell. The major, however, merely adjusted his round-framed glasses on the screen and said:

"Gentlemen, I understand what you are thinking right now. When you heard this news, you must be confused, bewildered, angry, or feeling nothing at all?"

"but--"

"Gentlemen, no matter what your thoughts are, one thing remains unchanged: Disaster is imminent."

"Even if you try to escape, you will be pursued by even more terrifying calamities. Only by moving forward can you see that ray of dawn. This is the result of the divination."

"Well... thinking about it carefully, it's actually quite easy to understand. After all, if there really were a major crisis that could drag the entire defense line into darkness, then even if you choose to escape here, it would only allow it to develop into a disaster that affects the entire third-tier world layer and even the second and fourth-tier world layers!"

"At that time, whether you like it or not, you will all be sent to the front lines by the Paradise behind you. Even those weak people who are not qualified to step onto the battlefield will probably be recruited as logistics personnel and exploited to the death, right? Thinking about it carefully, it is indeed an extremely bad result~?"

"Therefore, although I am very sorry, given the current situation, you only have one choice left—"

"victory."

"Only by winning this war, only by wiping out all possible potential enemies, will you have the chance to seize the ray of dawn prophesied in the divination."

"No matter what your thoughts are, no matter what your plans are, if you can't even get through the minor skirmishes before a crisis arrives, then even if there is a possibility, it is nothing more than an unrealistic fantasy."

The light, airy voice faded, echoing throughout the fortress via the broadcast, causing a brief silence within the fortress, and then…

"Are you kidding me?! You want me to risk my life for something so ridiculous?!"

"Hey! Where's that fatso now? Does he think he can keep me here to die just by talking?"

"Hey...wasn't it supposed to be that with the Legion around, there was almost no risk of disaster? Why did something like this still happen...?"

"It's all over...it's all over! Haha, to hell with it, amusement parks and all that stuff, to hell with them! I'm not living anymore!"

"Heh, a bunch of cowards, you scared this much with just a few words...!"

Despair, anger, resentment, calm, indifference... In an instant, all sorts of reactions erupted from the faces of the contractors and employees within the World Fortress.

Especially those top-tier contractors and employees who had little prior knowledge of expeditions were often caught in confusion and panic.

As for those Reincarnation and Death Paradise Contractors who were not very obedient to discipline and were used to doing things their own way, they all revealed dangerous eyes, as if they might do something that crossed the line at any time in order to survive.

A plate of loose sand.

If one word were to describe it, then without a doubt, it would be the most suitable word for the current situation of contractors and employees within the World Fortress.

Ultimately, even though they had all acted very harmoniously before, Paradise Contractors are always Paradise Contractors, especially the Reincarnation and Death families. Their cult-like cultivation method, while bringing them a large number of top-tier powerhouses, also made the trust between their contractors extremely weak.

With the Legion's absolute power providing support and suppression, these contractors from different paradises might be forced to cooperate temporarily out of necessity. However, if the situation evolves to the point where 'only a very few people' might survive, then the evil nature hidden within the contractors will be exposed uncontrollably.

They'd rather dismantle the umbrella than leave it to someone else—that's the consistent style of many lone wolf contractors.

"We're...we're doomed, guild master! We're...we're definitely going to die this time!"

"Waaah... Master, it seems we can only meet again in the next life~!"

On the food street, Quan Momo, who had collapsed to the ground due to her weak legs, spoke with a sob in her voice, her face full of despair, while the colorful-haired girl cried out to the imaginative young man in front of her.

"Hey, Old Bing, isn't this going to be bad? It feels like the people from the Reincarnation and Death factions might cause trouble."

"Ahem... Although I really want to refute this, I have to admit that our Paradise and Reincarnation do have a lot of problems in this regard."

Inside the blacksmith shop, Mo Tian, ​​who also realized the seriousness of the problem, spoke up, while the melancholy demon man beside him gently rubbed his forehead and sighed helplessly.

As one of the top tier members of Death Paradise, the Melancholy Demon Man is well aware of just how troublesome some of the guys in their paradise can be when they become unruly.

Although he himself was not afraid of those guys who couldn't even control their own emotions, as the saying goes, the stubborn are afraid of the ruthless, and the ruthless are afraid of the reckless.

If I can't survive, then nobody else can either.

Such thinking is absurd, but ironically, it is often precisely this kind of absurdity that makes it easier to rise to the top in a breeding-style cultivation process.

Of course, if you really think about it, their paradise is actually not that bad. Since that great upheaval, their training model has gradually begun to move closer to that of the Holy Domain. On the other hand, the Samsara area is the real disaster area because it has long been deeply entrenched in problems.

"I wonder what that commander is planning, releasing such information at this time. Isn't he just handing those guys a reason to cause trouble?"

The melancholy demon man rubbed his forehead and muttered a complaint. The next second, a cold and indifferent voice suddenly rang out from the side:
"It's probably because he already found someone who could handle this situation."

"Hmm? Brother Mingyu? Didn't you have something to do?"

"Do you think anything can be accomplished in this situation?" Mingyu asked as he entered from outside, casually glancing at the large screen on the street. "However, barring any unforeseen circumstances, this situation will probably end soon, after all..."

"quiet--!!"

In the next instant, a calm yet authoritative voice resounded in the minds of everyone present, while Mingyu, as if he had foreseen the future, quietly watched the black-haired youth appear on the screen, letting the latter half of his words reach the ears of Liubing and the others:

"Judging by the time, it's about time that guy stepped forward."

……

(End of this chapter)