“Leader, is it okay not to go and help them?” Xia Ya asked calmly as she watched the war raging thousands of feet below them.
The Sky Destroyer had stopped right in the middle of a large black cloud where the lightning was fierce and a single strike was more than enough to turn a commercial or military aircraft into burning debris. However, when the bright lightning approached the giant battleship, a faint barrier of golden light in the shape of a sphere covered the vicinity to prevent it from taking damage; in fact, the barrier only appeared when the lightning was especially strong or otherwise the body of the battleship was more than enough to take the attack without taking any damage.
Thanks to the eagle-eye function of the Sky Destroyer, everyone inside the command room could see what was happening below them very clearly. From the mutant beasts running rampant or fighting each other to the vicious war that was unfolding between humans and beasts.
“Son, I think it would be good if we could help those people…” Ye Linger was a soft-hearted woman. Although she had seen many cruel things since the apocalypse broke out she had been under the protection of several people, therefore, it was hard for her to understand how this new world worked and it was even harder for her to see other people dying.
“No, not yet.”
Bai Zemin immediately declined. He clarified, “They can still do more than this. Until they are on the verge of despair we definitely won’t show ourselves.”
“But…” Ye Linger hesitated. She glanced at the holographic screen just in time to see a soldier manage to shoot a mutant beast to death at the cost of a leg. Ye Linger’s heart softened as she said quietly, “Aren’t they your subordinates? I don’t think it’s a good idea to let them die…”
If it was someone else who was trying to teach him how to do certain things after all the things he had experienced and the countless hardships he had gone through, Bai Zemin would have ignored the person or spat in their face before pointing his finger at them and cursing them. However, since that person was his mother, such thoughts naturally never crossed his mind.
But just as Bai Zemin was thinking about how to explain his intention to his mother, Shen Mei relieved him of the task.
“Lady Ye, I’m afraid that’s not how things work now.”
“What do you mean?” Ye Linger looked at her in confusion. To her, a life was more important than anything… and in fact, she wasn’t wrong. It was just that her approach was wrong due to her lack of experience.
“How to explain it… Right, let’s put it this way. Lady Ye, imagine that your son did not manage to obtain this warship and he had to run from the base to this place. How long do you think it would take him to get here?” Shen Mei asked after she came up with an idea.
Ye Linger was tongue-tied and at a loss for words. How long would it take for his son to get from the south to this faraway place? Ye Linger did not know how fast Bai Zemin could really be, but she believed at least two or maybe three days.
When Shen Mei heard Ye Linger’s answer, she couldn’t help but let out a chuckle, and even Xia Ya smiled before she shook her head without saying anything.
No one corrected Ye Linger’s thoughts nor did they tell her that she underestimated her cub too much, instead, Shen Mei nodded and continued, “Then, let’s suppose that your son could reach this place in half a day’s time instead of two days; this half a day’s time includes the time that Bai Zemin would have to stop to face the different adversities he would meet along the way.”
Ye Linger nodded silently.
“During those 12 hours, this place could be taken to the ground…. It’s only been a little over 70 minutes since this whole mess started.” Shen Mei explained.
Bai Zemin’s mother frowned and said quietly, “But, Miss Shen, since we are here and my son did get this warship, then why not help?”
Just because of “what if” assumptions they were going to let people die? Ye Linger could not accept it.
“Lady Ye, what she wants to point out is the fact that the Leader won’t always be there for us nor for them.” Xia Ya could no longer watch so she decided to explain it in the simplest and clearest way possible. She looked Ye Linger in the eyes and said in a clear voice: “Today, your son is here and can help us to get out of trouble, but what will happen tomorrow? Will he be next to each of his subordinates? That’s impossible, isn’t it?”
Ye Linger did not say anything. She was not stupid and in her heart, she understood how this worked, it was just that understanding and accepting were two different things.
“Mother, in this world where modern weaponry became of no use and humanity became probably the weakest race of all due to our weak physical bodies and the partial loss of everything we had built using our intelligence, the only way we can become stronger is by absorbing Soul Power.” Bai Zemin reminded, his eyes still fixed on the screen before him.
He continued, “If we don’t absorb Soul Power now, which is technically just the beginning of everything, we humans will be left behind and in the future, we will be food for mutant beasts, zombies, goblins, sea creatures, and probably other races. As the weakest, we have to push ourselves and risk more than the rest to become stronger quickly and close that gap as fast as possible to escape from annihilation.”
The history books were written in blood and the ground they walked on had probably been paved by at least one corpse for every step they took. As the weakest, humans were destined to suffer in this new era; what Bai Zemin wanted was for his people to become as strong as possible at the cost of the least amount of sacrifices, but for them to be strong, sacrifices were inevitable.
“All we can do is to fight against annihilation since fighting against death is pointless…. Because to fight against annihilation, we need strength…and to get that strength, we have no choice but to play the game of death.”
Bai Zemin’s words made Ye Linger think. She watched the screen and saw how the war between humans and beasts was getting more and more fierce, her heart clenched every time a soul evolver was injured or lost their life but ironically she was glad when one of them killed a mutant beast and became stronger.
* * *
Back on the ground, the war was getting more and more bloody.
A First Order level 50 and borderline Second Order mutant rhino charged forward. Its 20 foot tall body was covered in deep brown armor and its eyes were blood-red like the color of the glowing ivories that glittered menacingly under the glare of the lightning.
The bone arrows hit its body but did not even make a dent in the body of the beast. Most terrifying of all was that even when over two hundred soul evolvers activated all sorts of elemental skills to stop the charge of the beast, the creature’s horn glowed and released bloody blades that cut through several of the magic spells, and the few that hit its body barely caused any damage.
Roar!
In fact, the beast only became more enraged. The level 50 rhino adjusted its stance and its running speed increased exponentially as it stepped onto the dirt road near the base.
Behind the rhino-like beast, over 5000 mutant beasts followed it with bloodshot eyes. Some beasts were so frightened and anxious that they even began to kill each other along the race and by the time they were near the walls of the human base 1/5th of the total had been killed.
At the wall, Nangong Yi watched as the mutant rhino crushed every impediment and couldn’t help but say out loud, “Hey, Xuefeng. How about you go and fight that rhino over there? If you can kill it I’ll give you my pay for this month!”
Fu Xuefeng rolled his eyes and ignored Nangong Yi. He was an assassin and his attacks were focused on quickly finishing off enemies before retreating but there was no way he could kill that rhino easily by any means.
“Fire!”
At Lu Yan’s bellow, the three war tanks that had been brought to the wall to act as defensive cannons immediately responded, and the military men inside released the ammunition that had been prepared beforehand.
However, the unthinkable happened.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The three 125 mm shells hit the body of the giant rhino, however, those shells that could kill almost any Second Order existence up to level 70 were unable to kill the level 50 beast.
The mutant rhino was forced to stop its charge and took several steps back after being hit by the attacks of the three war tanks. The beast roared in pain and the anger in its gaze increased as it felt its skin split and blood ran down its body.
“Ah!” Luo Ning cried out in astonishment and fright.
But she wasn’t the only one! Everyone was in shock as they watched on as after stopping for a brief moment, the rhino recovered again and continued to charge forward at full speed!
“Fuck off! Even tanks can’t kill that thing?!” Nangong Yi cried out with his eyes wide open as he looked at the ferocious rhinoceros.
This was the first time an enemy had managed to survive and even continue fighting after being hit not once but three times by the war tanks!
“Nangong Yi, you stop it.”
“What?!”
Nangong Yi turned to look at Kang Lan with his eyes wide open, they looked like they were going to pop out of the sockets with how big they were.
“You want me to go stop that thing? At least shoot it a couple more times with the tanks for god’s sake!” Nangong Yi almost burst into tears on the scene as he said those words.
Subconsciously, Nangong Yi looked over his shoulder and casually his eyes met the red eyes of the beast, scaring him for a moment.
That rhino had withstood three 125mm shells!
The body of Nangong Yi would be sent to oblivion if that thing hit him and his internal organs would turn into tomato pulp even if his exterior “survived” thanks to his defensive skills.
Kang Lan frowned when she saw Nangong Yi acting like this and subconsciously raised her voice:
“Nangong Yi, you dare to disobey me? Don’t you already know the penalty for disobeying your superior’s orders on the battlefield? Or maybe you think I am not capable of carrying out the punishment?”
Fu Xuefeng and the others were shocked when they heard Kang Lan’s usually calm tone of voice rising. Moreover, the look in her eyes was not at all relaxed and analytical as it usually was but rather she looked a bit like Bai Zemin at this moment.
Even Nangong Yi froze as he did not expect this kind of outcome.
Seeing Nangong Yi freeze as the enemy closed the distance, the expression of Kang Lan finally changed and her dark eyes began to be filled with murderous intent.
The number of 125mm shells they had was currently just over 300 rounds; 300 rounds might sound like a lot but it was very little considering this was all just getting started. Kang Lan could not afford to waste ammunition capable of taking out Second Order enemies targeting a First Order mutant beast with frighteningly high defensive capabilities.
The current problem was that if the ferocious rhinoceros managed to get close to the walls and had any active long-range destructive skill…. Kang Lan could not afford the luxury of doubt and therefore sent Nangong Yi as he was the only person present who could stop the charge of the rhino.
Just as the murderous intent of Kang Lan increased, Nangong Yi finally came out of his state of shock. His expression turned serious and with his Dragon Transformation Second Order skill still active, he jumped off the wall with a mighty roar.
Bang!
Nangong Yi’s feet had barely touched the ground when he launched himself forward with a fierce glint in his eyes as he glared at the mutant rhino with resolution.
“Hmph!” Kang Lan coldly snorted before looking at Fu Xuefeng and saying in an authoritative voice, “You get ready too, you will join Nangong Yi soon.”
Fu Xuefeng jumped up and looked at Kang Lan a little warily. She looked very different from the Kang Lan he had known so far even though she was clearly the same person.
