Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
A mist of mystery veiled the entire Safety Sector No. 17. Only a few people knew what would happen next.
The majority of the people were lost and helpless as they waited for the result and sailed with the wind.
However, what if the situation deviated from the expected outcome?
Then, it would be the minority’s turn to feel helpless and uneasy.
Before this, Andrew was the minority. He calculated everything. Things within and out of his reach were all taken into consideration, but his young age limited him, so he was unable to calculate the unexpected.
The meteors that appeared in the night sky were unexpected.
Andrew was totally fine with unexpected events caused by pure coincidence. After all, life itself was related to all kinds of coincidence and unexpected events as well. Moreover, this unexpected appearance of the meteors put him at ease.
The first meteor landed beside the Zombie King. Under the bright searchlights around the garage, a tall figure in black robes came into sight.
Even though the figure was a kilometer away, everyone else had no problem getting a clear look. Surprise, disbelief, excitement, hope, and all kinds of emotions gushed out from the people’s hearts. Almost everyone experienced the exact sequence of emotions in a short period.
The man was no stranger to them. While he was not exactly huge in size, he was not a handsome man.
Who exactly was he? He would be the one and only highest authority of Safety Sector No. 17. His will triumphed over everything and was more powerful than the entire Parliament. It was difficult to imagine how powerful he was. The last time he made an appearance on the battlefield was almost a decade ago.
Still, no one would ever forget that the man killed a highly gifted Level 3 vicious beast with a single strike of his lance in his first battle.
He was the castellan of Safety Sector No. 17, Worf Andol. He was here! He came and appeared like a hero on the ruins!
He had disappeared for ten years. His whereabouts were a mystery and no one knew how much more powerful he had gotten. How powerful had he grown compared to ten years ago?
Shuaa! He drew his trademark lance from his back and pointed it at the Level 6 Zombie King in a slight slant. His signature move was welcomed by cheers that were as powerful as earthquakes or tsunamis from everyone in the Hope Barrier that saw him.
Their lord castellan, their hero, their peace of mind…The scene was very familiar to them. It was like back when he faced the sea of monsters in front of the sector walls. He wielded his lance and pointed it in a slightly slanted manner at that Level 3 vicious beast, a white-headed thundering eagle.
At the same time, the other 20 meteors that followed Worf landed around the Universal Source Rock.
This would be an actual battle to wipe out the monsters! The lord castellan was leading his elite Purple Moon Warriors to the battlefield, so the Universal Source Rock and the Hope Barrier would be safe! Humans no longer needed to surrender to the monsters and give up their share of the rock!
Their protection of the rock all these years would not go to waste!!
“It has ended. This is really unexpected,” said Andrew to Hank as he squinted his eyes as deafening cheers blasted his ears. His eyes glowed with admiration at Worf’s glorious figure. He was not disappointed or depressed because of the unexpected turnaround of that night’s plan even though it led to failure.
Planning as things moved on was also considered a type of enjoyment. At least, not just one or two heroes could save the situation and change things that were rotten from the core.
“Hmm. No one would expect that the lord castellan would…” Hank was confused about why the castellan would appear. There were many rumors claiming that he was not within the sector but was on an adventure beyond the walls with 20 of his most trusted men.
“He wasn’t in the sector, but he made it back.” Andrew obviously knew better, so he was not surprised at all. Being as powerful as Worf, one’s sixth sense must be absurdly powerful too, so it was not much of a surprise for the castellan to make it back to the battlefield.
It seemed like Andrew’s calculation was still flawed.
The moment his words subsided, Worf thrust his lance towards the Zombie King. It was a simple thrust. Neither was there an indomitable force or heaven-shaking aura that a thrusting lance should have nor did it have the speed that the old saying described as ‘blistering’ or ‘as fast as lightning’.
It looked a lot simpler and weaker compared to Worf’s previous stance and thrust, but no one would doubt the power of the thrust, especially when the Zombie King wailed in fear, which was something it had not done since the start of the battle. Something as powerful as the Zombie King was more perceptive than others, so it had the ability to sense danger.
The simple thrust of his lance moved forward about a meter, and without a sign, countless black dots appeared around the tip of the lance which was in an ethereal state.
Many gasped at the scene, unable to describe the feeling of watching it because the tip of the lance looked surreal but felt real. Saying that it was unreal was not correct either because they clearly saw the shape of the lance.
The feeling was strikingly similar to a dream, one with utmost clarity. It was as if you knew that it was a dream but you could not wake yourself up.
The tip of the lance was something from a dream.
The cheers suddenly paused as if someone told them to shut up. Everyone was immersed in the surreal state of the lance.
How would the Zombie King react to such a scene? Would it display its strongest ability? Would a great battle unfold next?
While everyone was wondering what would happen, Hank muttered softly, “Space ability! It really… can…”
Before he even finished, he and everyone else was shocked when the Zombie King ran! It did not even want to face the lance directly and chose to escape.
How could that even happen? Some found the scene odd while some frowned.
What was the meaning of this reaction?
The Zombie King possessed high level intellect! It was no longer an instinctive thought but intellect with self-consciousness! The emotion of fear, the analysis of the situation and the decision it made were all signs of high level intellect.
It seemed like high level zombies did possess a high level of intellect which was not good news.
Regardless of what the people felt, funny or troubled, they felt pity as well. Given the Zombie King’s power, if it wanted to escape, who could have stopped it? Not even the castellan…
As expected, Worf did not do anything when the Zombie King started to run. He did not even plan to give chase. Instead, he stood on his flying device that was similar to a shuttle and remained still, but he did not retract his lance. He continued thrusting his lance forward.
An even more astonishing scene happened!
The black dots that appeared around the tip of the lance suddenly appeared around the giant head of the Zombie King that was running as fast as it could, but it displayed sadness and fear as it covered its head with both its huge hands.
It was useless though. As the black dots appeared around the Zombie King’s head, the lance in Worf’s hand seemed to disappear. The black dots shone and the lance moved like a bolt of lightning, perforating the Zombie King’s head in a flash.
A small hole appeared in between the Zombie King’s brows, followed by black blood spraying out endlessly. The giant Zombie King then fell to the ground with a loud thud.
When everyone finally came back to their senses, they saw that the lance was still in Worf’s hand.
Powerful! The castellan’s power was indescribable by words!
However, before the people could cheer, the Zombie King’s head exploded and something that looked like a flower or a mushroom floated out from its brain.
What was that?
******
What is that? Tang Ling stared at the strange thing that floated in the air. It was very thin and had a stem like a mushroom.
On top of the stem was not a cap but three flower petals in the shape of a half-moon that spread outwards. It was grayish white in color like the eyes of the zombies, but its stem had purple lines all over, similar to the patterns in the crystal.
What is this? A flower? A mushroom? Tang Ling managed to come up with an answer, but it was an unbelievable answer that somehow frightened him.
The mushroom-like flower might be the Devil Fungus! It was huge! When the thought arose in him, the strange thing started to disintegrate and slowly fade away.
At the very same moment, Worf made a move.
He casually snapped his fingers like how he simply thrust his lance earlier. Then, countless black dots appeared around the disintegrating, fading mushroom-like thing. The black dots devoured it instantly, leaving nothing behind.
It’s being devoured? Tang Ling was immersed in his shock. He had no idea what the black dots were, but he knew the black-robed person that killed the Zombie King—the castellan of Safety Sector No. 17, Worf Andol.
He could not have imagined that the castellan of Safety Sector No. 17 was this powerful. No, he could not have imagined that a human being could be this powerful.
What kind of power was that? Even 20 over Purple Moon Warriors coupled with the cannons of the old civilization could not take down the Zombie King, yet the castellan was able to do it in a single thrust of his lance!
Tang Ling realized that he knew too little about this world. He could not forget the astonishment he felt following the single lance strike. It was as if he found a whole new world.
Of course, Tang Ling’s heart was a little heavy because after that night, he could never truly be part of Safety Sector No. 17 since it was difficult for him to remove the hostility towards the sector.
Would it mean that he had to face the castellan one day in the future? Tang Ling did not want to think about that because his head was killing him. If the castellan did not appear and stun everyone with that single lance strike, which managed to interrupt Tang Ling’s thoughts, he might be still searching for the answer in a dead end.
The answer? He failed to come up with one.
Tang Ling stood up and looked at the blazing garage No. 19. The garage was half collapsed as the craters caused by the bombardments were scattered all over the place.
Were the craters caused by the bombardments after he got to safety or…did someone in the area help him erase the evidence that might lead to suspicion of his powers?
Nonetheless, Tang Ling could not think about it at the moment. As a matter of fact, when he woke up, he found himself on the safety slope. That was already the biggest mystery to him, followed by immense anxiety.
Had someone approached him while he was defenseless?
However the facts proved that someone approached him with goodwill and not malicious intent because Tang Ling found an empty vial of bacteria control potion on the floor which had been injected into his body. The vial of bacteria control potion had a higher purity than the ones he used on himself.
After a closer look, Tang Ling found small puncture holes on his arm that perfectly explained the broken memories he had when he passed out and why it felt utterly clear.
When he was unconscious, the person that brought him to safety had cured him of the infectious Devil Fungus.
Other than that, Tang Ling noticed that bloodletting had been performed on him. As a result, his wrist was still a little painful. When he inspected his wrist, he also noticed that the injuries had been carefully taken care of.
The cut that he inflicted on himself to lure the zombies earlier was also bandaged carefully.
The first reaction Tang Ling had was to tear off the bandages because he was afraid that someone had secretly done something to his body.
He discovered something new under the bandages. There was a strange smell from the cut on his wrist that smelled a little fishy and sweet at the same time.
Tang Ling was no stranger to the smell. He once saw and smelled it during Yang Kong’s lecture about the basics. Yang Kong had explained the item to the Fierce Dragon Squad in detail during the lecture and displayed a sample in front of everyone, so it was natural for him to find the smell familiar.
It was the smell of a cell regeneration drug which was a very special drug. Yang Kong did mention that the smell was something very difficult to fake because it was a combination of several ingredients.
His discovery did not stop there. Tang Ling realized that his battle uniform had been changed, and the torn uniform was gone.
The person who had saved him was kind and meticulous enough. With black blood stains and cuts on his ‘new’ uniform which matched the attacks from the zombies, it would make him look like he had fought the zombies.
Meanwhile, the crystals that he collected were carefully kept in the little pouch at his waist.
Everything was perfect.
Therefore, Tang Ling had reasons to believe that what happened to garage No. 19 was also a perfect cover of his secret, but…was it reasonable?
It was not! Tang Ling expanded his curled fist and found a paper in his hand. There was a sentence on it: ‘Don’t simply swallow crystals. There won’t be any cell regeneration drug to save you the next time.’
The sentence, rather than written, was actually carved in a strange way, and there was no similar handwriting that he could refer to.
Adding up all the signs and details, he must have been saved by someone.
The person who saved him performed everything meticulously, but the bombardments from the cannons could not be controlled easily. The firing sequence and target were controlled by the Hope Barrier, and the odds of them landing directly on garage No. 19 was self-explanatory.
So, was it reasonable?
Could it be Uncle Su Yao? Tang Ling did think of the possibility, but there was no reason for Su Yao to be this sneaky and intentionally stay away from him.
Who could it be? Why would the person save him?
The two questions troubled Tang Ling’s mind, causing him a headache and even distracting him from escaping.
If not for the castellan’s astonishing lance strike which diverted Tang Ling’s attention, he might have fallen into an endless vortex of questions.
Whatever it was, it was better not to think about questions that had no answers. Since Su Yao always stammered in front of him and acted all mysterious, Tang Ling had gotten used to living in the veil of mystery. He observed his surroundings for a while and decided to head back to the Hope Barrier.
As for the excuse of him surviving the zombie onslaught, he already had the perfect answer. Since the person who saved him prepared an excuse for him, it would be stupid of him not to use it!
With that thought in mind, Tang Ling quickly ran towards the end of the slope. He decided to return to the Hope Barrier via the path beside the crevice since it would seem more reasonable this way.
However, after two steps forward, Tang Ling was shocked once more.
At the same time, a majestic voice echoed from the garage, “Stop all this at once. If anyone of you tries to disrupt the balance, I’ll counter with everything I have.”
