Chapter 69 – But I Know Too Much!

Volume 3: Rising Winds and Clouds

"We're the same kind! We're both Demon Seeds…"

"Demon Seed… What's that?"

A strangely human look of confusion appeared on the Giant Eagle's face.

"How about I explain all of that once we get home?"

"Home?"

"The place where we live! It'll be much more comfortable than this, of course!"

The moment the Giant Eagle sensed Peng Jun's mental fluctuations, it calmed down considerably. At the same time, as their mental connection deepened, it began to feel an inexplicable sense of kinship toward the human before it.

Faced with Peng Jun's invitation, the Giant Eagle hesitated for only a moment before nodding. Its body rapidly shrank, transforming into a miniature Eagle less than half a meter long, and it landed directly on Peng Jun's shoulder.

Peng Jun gently stroked the Giant Eagle's tiny head, unable to hide the smile tugging at his lips.

The Black-Robed Man had already caught up from behind. When he saw the Giant Eagle perched on Peng Jun's shoulder, busily preening its feathers, he spoke in a deferential tone.

"Congratulations, Cult Leader. You have found a new Sacred Beast."

Peng Jun nodded and looked up at the murky gray sky.

Perhaps he had no other outlet for the joy in his heart, or perhaps the secret he carried was simply too great and he wanted to share it with one of his trusted subordinates. Peng Jun slowly began to speak.

"Do you know what it is?"

…

"It's a Demon Seed. You must have heard the term before. It isn't much of a secret within our Demon Worship Cult."

"Earth has the Divine Beast Species. Do you know how the Divine Beast Species comes into being?"

When the Black-Robed Man shook his head, Peng Jun continued without waiting for an answer.

"The so-called Divine Beast Species is created when the Will of Earth infuses its source power into Earth Creatures, causing a Mutant Beast to undergo an unimaginably terrifying transformation!"

"Without exaggeration, the combat strength of the Divine Beast Species represents the absolute pinnacle of power in this world. No matter how many extraordinary opportunities humans encounter, they would still find it nearly impossible to defeat one!"

"They are the favored children of the world!"

"But if Earth has the Divine Beast Species, then why wouldn't the Demon Realm, which is also a world, have creatures empowered by the source of the Demon Realm?"

Peng Jun paused briefly, pointed to the Mysterious Crystal on his chest, and continued.

"From what I've observed, this thing appears to be something akin to a manifestation of the collective Will of the Demon Realm. I don't quite understand why it took the form of a crystal, but that doesn't prevent me from wielding its power!"

"When I absorbed this crystal into my body, its power fundamentally altered the very nature of my life!"

"A being empowered by the source power of the Demon Realm. That is what a Demon Seed is!"

"So, strictly speaking, I'm no longer human. It and I are the ones who belong to the same kind!"

After hearing Peng Jun's explanation, the Black-Robed Man grew even more deferential and declared respectfully,

"Under your leadership, Cult Leader, we will surely defeat those Class Holders and become members of the great Demon Race!"

Peng Jun studied the Black-Robed Man for a moment, then sighed softly and shook his head.

"Do you know why I founded the Demon Worship Cult in the first place?"

The Black-Robed Man shook his head, looking completely bewildered.

"My original intention was never to submit to the Demon Race or destroy humanity! I did it to find even the faintest hope of survival for us humans!"

Peng Jun gazed up at the sky and murmured,

"This crystal granted me power, but it also brought me a great deal of information!"

"Information that could also be called intelligence…"

"Having intelligence on the enemy should be a good thing. But when it comes to what I know about the Demon Race, I wish I'd never learned any of it!"

Peng Jun fell silent for a long moment before continuing.

"Do you know how powerful a Demon Seed is in battle?"

Hearing Peng Jun's question, the Black-Robed Man shook his head.

"The Demon Seed class isn't particularly strong in combat. Of course, that's only in comparison with the Divine Beast Species. At the same level of Physical Attribute, it takes two Demon Seed individuals to even challenge a single member of the Divine Beast Species! Three can fight one to a standstill, five can defeat one, and ten or more are needed to guarantee a kill."

"In other words, the Divine Beast Species still represents the pinnacle of combat power on this planet!"

"But the problem is numbers. Do you know how vast the Demon Race's army is? Do you know how many Demon Seed individuals the Demon Race has?"

Seeing Peng Jun's bitter smile, the Black-Robed Man fell silent for a long moment before shaking his head again.

"In terms of low-end Cannon Fodder, the Demon Race outnumbers Earth Creatures several hundred to one! Its mid-tier forces outnumber Earth's by several hundred to one, and the same goes for its high-end forces!"

"The Demon Realm has tens of thousands of Demon Seed individuals alone!"

"They overwhelm us in every conceivable way!"

"Once the Demon Realm Gate opens, the war will take a drastic turn for the worse! Faced with such a vast disparity in strength, I can't see any hope of defeating the Demon Race. No! I can't even see any hope of saving Earth from destruction!"

Peng Jun's face was filled with terror, as though he could already see the future: Earth overrun by the Demon Race, with countless Demon Seed individuals soaring through the skies.

"And so, I came up with a plan. I would join the Demon Race and become a Demon Seed myself. Then I would pray that the Demon Race might preserve a tiny spark of humanity for us… Even if only a few humans survived, that would be enough…"

Peng Jun's deep voice carried through the air. The Black-Robed Man could even sense the once proud and domineering old man's straight back beginning to stoop.

Peng Jun shook his head and turned to leave, muttering under his breath as he walked.

"I never wanted to become a traitor to humanity. I wanted to be a great Hero too! I wanted to be like Lin Haifeng, to gather all our strength and pit it against the Demon Race, against these invaders! But I know too much…"

"So much that I've lost the courage to resist…"

…

When Wen Yu awoke, the first thing he saw was the Ancient Demon standing atop the city wall.

Beside the Ancient Demon stood a newly arrived Demonic Creature.

It was a Black-skinned Demonic Creature.

Although the Black-skinned Demonic Creature belonged to a race that served merely as Cannon Fodder in the Demon Realm, that race's population was simply enormous! No matter how pitifully weak its individual members were, with numbers like those, a few exceptionally powerful and fortunate specimens were bound to emerge!

The fact that this one could stand beside the Ancient Demon was proof enough.

In the span of just five hours, the Demon Race had received another Level 4 Demonic Creature as reinforcement.

Unfortunately, that meant nothing against Wen Yu!

Wen Yu understood that, and so did the Ancient Demon. The three Level 4 Demonic Creature combatants stood atop the wall without making a move, silently observing Wen Yu's side.

One-Eye was still sprawled on the ground, snoring away. Xing, on the other hand, was remarkably diligent. He had been roaring at the Demon City since early morning, occasionally spitting out a couple of blasts of Dragon Flame. Each blast struck the Demon City's Protective Shield, then slowly faded away.

Judging by Xing's furious expression, the little guy clearly still held a serious grudge over yesterday's crash!

The moment he saw that Wen Yu was awake, Xing scampered eagerly over to him.

His enormous body blotted out the sky, leaving Wen Yu unable to see anything else.

"Shrink."

At Wen Yu's quiet command, Xing's body rapidly shrank. Wen Yu took food and a supply of Magic Crystal from his Spatial Ring, then sat down to breakfast with Xing.

Just then, bursts of static came from the communicator lying nearby.

A familiar voice followed.

"Wen Yu, do you need backup?"