Chapter 71 – Gathering

Volume 3: Rising Winds and Clouds

Below, One-Eye tore through the enemy at breakneck speed. It wasn't long before all of the several thousand attackers, each a Demonic Creature, had been slaughtered.

Wen Yu frowned as he surveyed the Magic Crystal, Demon Blood, and severed limbs littering the ground, then glanced up at the Ancient Demon on the city wall. After a moment's thought, he decisively ordered One-Eye and Xing forward to collect the spoils.

"Maybe the Demon City is packed too full…"

That was only Wen Yu's guess, and he had no way of knowing whether it was true. Even if there was some kind of scheme at work, he couldn't see through it. All he could do was deal with whatever came his way.

The Ancient Demon atop the wall gave Wen Yu a vicious grin, then turned and descended from the ramparts.

…

Inside the Demon City, the three Demon Realm Gate structures suddenly began pouring out Demon Qi at a much faster rate!

Wen Yu failed to notice that not a single new Demonic Creature had emerged from any of the three Demon Realm Gate structures for a very, very long time.

At the same time, between the three Demon Realm Gate structures, a small, blood-red Demon Realm Gate three meters tall was slowly taking shape…

…

Several more hours passed in the blink of an eye.

Wen Yu remained seated in front of the Demon City, idly turning Throb and Wild Song over in his hands.

One-Eye and Xing lay sprawled on the ground, bored out of their minds, either dozing or scratching at the sand.

The Demon City remained completely silent. Even the three figures on the wall, each a Level 4 Demonic Creature, had disappeared.

Just as Wen Yu took out more food and prepared to eat, the mechanical rumble of engines sounded in the distance, growing steadily louder.

He turned and saw several Military vehicles speeding toward him.

…

Kuangliu was the first to step out. He greeted Wen Yu, then walked straight over.

From the vehicles behind him, the Military's ten Super Soldier personnel disembarked one after another and formed a tight protective ring around several frail-looking civilians in the center.

Kuangliu reached Wen Yu, casually helped himself to an Energy Bar lying on the ground, and spoke as he ate.

"The people behind me are my subordinates. They're every Super Soldier the Military has. I brought them out to broaden their horizons and gain a few levels while they're at it."

"The others are from the Research Institute. They're here to study the energy shield surrounding the Demon City."

After hearing Kuangliu's explanation, Wen Yu nodded and said bluntly,

"It's going to be extremely dangerous for them here."

Wen Yu didn't know what abilities the Military's Super Soldier personnel possessed, but even by the most optimistic estimate, defeating one average Level 4 Demonic Creature in a one-on-one fight would be the absolute limit of their capabilities.

And if a battle broke out between Wen Yu and the Demon Race inside the Demon City, ordinary Level 4 beings would inevitably become Cannon Fodder!

Kuangliu nodded in understanding and continued,

"According to the Military's calculations, you probably won't be able to hold out when the Demon City launches its next attack. Even with me added to the mix, we'd only barely manage. With them here, we can at least hold off a few more enemies classified as Level 4 Demonic Creature. They won't be completely useless…"

"Besides…"

At this point, Kuangliu glanced at the Super Soldier personnel escorting the researchers toward the Demon City.

"They'll never grow if they've never seen blood or experienced a brutal battle! What the Military needs is a force of Super Soldier personnel, not cheerleaders who hide beneath my wings and do nothing but wave flags and shout encouragement."

Wen Yu shrugged and spoke again.

"I'm not cut out to be a babysitter."

"That's why I'm here!"

Seeing Kuangliu's helpless expression, Wen Yu smiled and turned his attention back to the Demon City.

…

After learning that the Human Race had sent more people to the Demon City, the familiar Ancient Demon appeared atop the wall once again.

It first looked at the researchers several dozen meters away, who had already taken out their instruments and begun studying the defensive barrier. Then it looked at Wen Yu in the distance and Kuangliu, who remained near the researchers. Fury erupted in the Ancient Demon's eyes.

"These bastards… They really think we're pushovers!"

The intricate Demon Realm Language spilled from the Ancient Demon's mouth.

The Level 4 Black-skinned Demonic Creature behind it gave a vicious grin before slowly saying,

"Perfect. Send out some Cannon Fodder to harass them. That will also provide a few more sacrifices for my ability."

The Ancient Demon gave a slight nod. At the same time, a complex, concealed psychic signal radiated from its mind.

Inside the Demon City, an early-stage Level 3 Demonic Creature led nearly three thousand low-level monsters, all classified as Demonic Creatures, out through the city gate. They charged toward Kuangliu and the others, claws bared and fangs snapping.

…

The enemy forces, all classified as Demonic Creatures, were numerous, and converting their numbers into Points would yield a considerable haul.

But Wen Yu remained seated without moving an inch.

He wanted to see how strong Kuangliu and the Military's Super Soldier personnel truly were!

The drones circling ceaselessly overhead told Wen Yu that the Military had already gained a general understanding of how he, One-Eye, and Xing fought. In other words, most of Wen Yu's strength had already been exposed to the Military's scrutiny.

Wen Yu, however, knew nothing about the Military's top combatants.

Although Wen Yu bore no resentment over his lack of information, it still left him somewhat uncomfortable.

This small group of Demonic Creatures presented the perfect opportunity to observe Kuangliu and the Super Soldiers in action.

…

The battle began almost immediately. As large numbers of Demonic Creatures surged out from behind the city walls, Kuangliu calmly pulled the researchers back two steps, then took a defensive item from his Spatial Ring.

Bright Light Shield (A-Rank Item): Upon activation, deploys a protective barrier around the user. The barrier nullifies all damage below Level 5 and lasts for ten minutes. Those inside the Bright Light Shield cannot launch attacks against targets outside while it remains active!

Back in the Shimmer Blue Star Treasure Land, Jiang Wentao and the others had used one of these when facing One-Eye's attacks.

From Wen Yu's current perspective, breaking through the Bright Light Shield would be effortless. However, the Demon Race Cannon Fodder before them, the strongest of which were only in the early stages of Level 3, had absolutely no chance of breaching it.

Once the researchers were safely protected by the Bright Light Shield, Kuangliu made no further move. He simply stood there, quietly observing his subordinates: the ten Military Super Soldiers battling up ahead.

As the top-ranked member of the group, Xiao Xue was the first to attack!

Two purple sigils appeared in midair. A moment later, Xiao Xue's Soul Pets, Qiqi and a plump white pig standing five meters tall, emerged from them.

Qiqi let out two thunderous roars and lunged at the leading Level 3 Demonic Creature, crushing its skull between her jaws in the blink of an eye.

The big fat pig's method of attack was even more interesting.

It snorted twice as blue energy rapidly gathered around its snout. Then, like a Gatling gun, it unleashed a relentless stream of blue ice arrows from its nostrils.

They were incredibly fast and packed considerable destructive power!

In the blink of an eye, every low-level Demonic Creature within a hundred meters in front of the big fat pig had been riddled with holes.

Ice Arrow (Rank C, Active Skill): Condenses the power of ice and fires it in the shape of an arrow. Striking an enemy inflicts physical damage and a minor freezing effect.

That ability alone was nothing particularly impressive, but the big fat pig possessed a very interesting set of abilities.

Super Efficiency (A-Rank, Passive Ability): Reduces the energy cost of using Skills by half!

Ingrained Laziness (A-Rank, Passive Ability): Everyday life consists of eating until full, sleeping until rested, then eating again. After gaining this ability, the Host automatically acquires the lazy Attribute and loses all interest in activities other than eating and sleeping. Once battle begins, however, all the energy accumulated through eating and sleeping is released at once! Stamina will recover extremely rapidly during combat, with the amount restored determined by how much time was previously spent eating and sleeping!

Eat, sleep, repeat. Guaranteed weight gain, with an adorably cuddly appearance to boot…

Judging by the big fat pig's plump, snowy-white body, it clearly ate well, drank well, and slept even better.

Now that it had unleashed its full power, the big fat pig was nothing less than a mobile gun turret! Its ice arrows blanketed the entire battlefield!

The explosive performance of Xiao Xue's two Soul Pets caught Wen Yu somewhat off guard.

It seemed that after she failed to obtain Simba, the Military had found Xiao Xue another Soul Pet in remarkably little time. From the looks of things, it was quite powerful…

Though the sight of a woman leading around a fat pig was admittedly rather strange…

Leaving Xiao Xue to continue her rampage, Wen Yu turned his attention to the other Super Soldiers.

Several of them performed competently enough. Their Skills were not particularly complex, but when used in combination, they packed considerable killing power!

They employed the same formation as Jiang Wentao's three-man squad: a Warrior, a gunner, and a sniper.

A few others specialized in individual combat. They were certainly capable fighters, but none of them displayed anything worthy of Wen Yu's particular attention.

The two who surprised him most were a different story.

According to Kuangliu, one of them was No. 8. His figure flickered across the battlefield so quickly that, to Wen Yu, he seemed like nothing more than a living shadow. The military dagger in his hand claimed the lives of Demonic Creatures one after another!

Although his attacks could only target one enemy at a time, his extraordinary speed allowed him to slaughter them with impressive efficiency.

The other person, and the one who surprised Wen Yu most of all, was a casually dressed young man standing at the very rear.

He looked not even twenty and still had a somewhat childish air about him. When they first met, the Kid had even deliberately glared at Wen Yu a couple of times, leaving Wen Yu thoroughly confused.

From the moment the battle began, the Kid had remained in the rear, muttering mysteriously to himself as he fiddled with something no one could make out.

Less than a minute later, the Kid suddenly shouted an extraordinarily theatrical line.

"Come forth… Divine Dragon…"

Then, as Wen Yu and Kuangliu looked on in speechless exasperation, an enormous wheel nearly three meters tall appeared before the casually dressed young man.

It resembled a giant roulette wheel divided into nine sections: black, white, red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple.

The young man, Military Super Soldier No. 2, had taken the late Jiang Wentao's place. He rubbed his hands together incessantly as he stared at the giant wheel, muttering under his breath, "RNGesus above, grant me strength…"

No. 2 lightly brushed a hand across the wheel, and it immediately began spinning at high speed.

After a long moment, the wheel's Pointer stopped in the purple section.

At the sight of this, No. 2 burst into laughter.

"RNGesus above! All you Demon Spawn can go straight to hell!"

The wheel vanished, and a futuristic-looking Gun appeared in No. 2's hands.

"Boom… Boom… Boom…"

No. 2 pointed the Gun's muzzle into the sky and fired three consecutive shots. The Gun then slowly faded away…

Under Wen Yu's stunned gaze, the three enormous, artillery-shell-like bullets split repeatedly in midair. A torrential rain of bullets came pouring down!

As if each one had eyes, every bullet struck a Demonic Creature directly in the head with unerring precision.

The bullets might have been small, but their destructive power was terrifying. Not a single Demonic Creature on the entire battlefield could withstand even one shot!

In an instant, the countless bullets wiped out every Demonic Creature across the battlefield…

Thanks to No. 2's terrifying burst of power and the blessing of RNGesus, the battle was over…

…

"Well? What do you think?"

No. 2 smugly bobbed his head as he addressed his exasperated comrades.

Xiao Xue grumbled indignantly, "Hao Yun, you really do have ridiculous luck!"

"Damn right I do!"

Hao Yun raised his head at a forty-five-degree angle and gazed up at the sky. Pressing his palms together, he muttered, "Believe in RNGesus and gain eternal life… May RNGesus bless me with god-tier pulls every day. Let me draw white, anything but black…"

"That's enough. Leave a few people behind to clear the battlefield. No. 1, No. 2, No. 5, and No. 8, the four of you will continue protecting the Academy of Sciences researchers. Have them determine the principles behind this Protective Shield and its maximum defensive capacity as soon as possible."

Kuangliu swept his gaze over the mangled battlefield, then looked toward the Ancient Demon on the city wall, whose eyes gleamed coldly. His brow furrowed slightly.

Even Kuangliu couldn't understand why the Demon Race inside the Demon City kept sending out troops just to hand them free points.

…

The Ancient Demon watched the "slaughter" below without expression or the slightest emotional reaction.

After a long moment, the Ancient Demon shook its head and asked quietly, "Has word been sent back to the Demon Realm?"

The Level 4 Black-skinned Demonic Creature beside it merely nodded.

Judging by this interaction, the Level 4 Black-skinned Demonic Creature's status did not seem any lower than the Ancient Demon's.

"What did the Main Realm say?"

The Black-skinned Demonic Creature shook its head.

"Nothing much. They only sent more Level 4 members of our race, along with three lords who will be arriving soon!"

The Ancient Demon nodded in satisfaction upon hearing the news.

"Three will be enough. As long as they can keep that Divine Beast Species occupied, our forces will be more than sufficient to exterminate every member of the Human Race below!"

"Don't underestimate them. I can sense that one has considerable power within his body as well!"

The Black-skinned Demonic Creature pointed at Kuangliu, who stood a short distance away below.

The Ancient Demon completely disregarded the warning. "I'll deal with him!" it declared, then waved a hand, turned around, and descended from the city wall.

The Black-skinned Demonic Creature exchanged a glance with Kuangliu, an inscrutable smile appearing on its hideous face.

"If you can kill him… I'll take your damn surname…"

The mocking mutter escaped the Black-skinned Demonic Creature's mouth, but no living creature heard it.

It turned to look at the Demon Realm Gate below, which was spewing Demon Qi, and then at the blood-red Demon Realm Gate growing clearer by the moment. In a low voice, it murmured to itself, "Once we conquer this place, I should finally be qualified to become a Demon Temple Guard…"

The Black-skinned Demonic Creature looked at Kuangliu and the others below, then at the three Level 4 Demonic Creatures squeezing their way through the Demon Realm Gate. It gave a slight wave of its hand.

As if they had received some kind of signal, the three Level 4 Demonic Creatures immediately entered nearby buildings or concealed themselves in the alleyways.

Beyond the Human Race's sight, more and more Level 4 Demonic Creatures were gathering inside the small Demon City!