As Su Mo had been informed by Connie in advance, he did not resist being pulled into the space; his consciousness once again experienced the feeling of being torn apart, like it did within the sky defense barrier core in the ruins.
Once he allowed his consciousness to be swept inside, there was a subtle change in the surrounding space.
It was exactly like a hologram, and the moment the voice rang out again, Su Mo opened his eyes.
As expected, he was no longer sitting on the edge of the cliff of the Iron Rock Mountain, and had instead been transported into an enormous dark palace.
Within the palace, many of the details were blurry, though it did not look as elaborate as the interior space within the sky defense barrier core. However, Su Mo was slightly surprised that the foreign races were able to come up with this technology within such a short time..
He turned his head and looked around him. Clark from the Cursed Tiger clan, who previously spoke out, could be seen seated within the palace.
He was sitting on the seat of honor in the palace, which clearly indicated his authority and position, while Su Mo seemed to be seated close to the other end.
“This was the divine vision that was transmitted six days ago, a gift that our God bestowed upon us, which the leader of the Cursed Tiger clan paid a high price for.
“To receive the vision, the Five Royal Clans had to sacrifice two True God Oracles. We’ll also need to expend some pseudo divine power to view it when we’re playing it.”
The light curtain beside him flickered, as ripples were formed, Connie’s figure appeared in the palace.
In contrast with Su Mo’s surprise, Connie seemed rather used to the spectacle, and continued her explanation.
“Don’t be fooled by how magnificent this palace is. It’s all a manifestation of the divine vision. The actual location where the Cursed Tiger clan dwells…”
“Based on their characteristics and the number of members in their clan, it’s definitely not going to be luxurious!”
While Su Mo felt a sense of repulsion in his mind, he was secure and relieved in the knowledge that he could leave the space at any time, and signalled for Connie to continue.
She tapped the staff gently, and the paused recording continued to play.
In the shadows, the voice of the leader of the Cursed Tiger Clan continued to resonate from his figure on the seat of honor.
“Huh, the size of a Cursed Tiger is actually that small?”
In his imagination, the Cursed Tiger, being one of the Five Royal Clans, was supposed to have a huge body and be extraordinarily arrogant.
However when Su Mo saw that the Cursed Tiger’s size was only as large as a puppy, he could not help but gasp in surprise.
“Yes, the clan isn’t known for their physical strength. If they fought one-on-one with the lion clan, they would lose.”
“What makes them truly horrifying is… their curse power!”
“Every strike of theirs carries a curse. If they touch you, the curse will cling to you like a gangrene, feeding on your vitality.”
“In other words, if you get touched by them, your vitality will slowly be drained away until you die.
“The curse power grows stronger in tandem with the number of strikes they land, increasing the rate at which it drains one’s lifespan.”
The Lioness’s face was gloomy. She did not regard the “little thing” in front of her with contempt simply because of their diminutive size.
However, when Su Mo heard this, there was a trace of confusion on his face.
Curse power?
Draining vitality?
Required physical contact to spread?
Goodness gracious, were these not characteristics of a virus? Were they secreting a viral poison on their claws that could rapidly devour the cells of the body once infected?
However, after hearing the Lioness’ next words, his facial expression turned serious once more.
“However, these aren’t the reasons why their clan is so strong. The scariest thing about them is, if you kill them…”
“No matter where you are, or how far you are from them, you’ll be cursed; across distance and across time.”
“And that’s why, among all the clans, relying on this characteristic, they are able to do whatever they want, and rapidly grow their population.”
While listening to Clark chattering away, he was also listening to Connie’s explanation at the same time.
Su Mo slowly and gradually gained an understanding of the foreign races that he had previously been clueless about.
“No one dares to kill the Cursed Tiger clan, even if it’s an individually strong race, when facing them, they can only kneel down and ask for forgiveness.”
“Old Devil… Su Mo, even though your physique score is already 29, or even if you’re stronger than the strongest one in the Royal clans, when you’re facing the Cursed Tiger clan, you must run away as fast as you can; the faster the better.”
“Otherwise, even if you manage to kill them, you’re going to end up dying from their curse!”
Now that Connie was in the same boat as him, she would naturally tell him everything she knew.
She was afraid that he would act without thinking and fight against the Cursed Tiger clan; dying in vain.
“It can be transmitted across space, huh…”
Su Mo smiled. He did not answer her. He took the opportunity to add something quietly to the list of things to obtain while Clark and Connie were still speaking.
Full cover protective suit!
No matter how strong the virus was, it still had to adhere to the principles and laws of science.
It was impossible for the virus to be magically transmitted into the human body. That would be too overbearing, and did not make any sense whatsoever.
Moreover, Connie did not know about the Mountain and Sea Painting Scroll card. As long as he was not fatally injured, any other injuries could be healed, so it was impossible for the curse power to threaten Su Mo.
Just like the many management meetings on Earth, it was only after ten or more minutes that Clark was finally done beating around the bush, and started to talk about the marine hunting plan.
Su Mo perked up and sat upright, as he started to listen carefully.
“The ocean will emerge soon, and the God of the Ocean will soon recover. There aren’t many opportunities left for our terrestrial races!
“The ocean will cover more than 80% of the Land of Redemption. If we don’t intervene, the marine races will get to the Key of Redemption sooner than us, so we have to take action. We can’t go with the flow anymore and sit around waiting for death.”
“As such, the Five Royal Clans have suggested and agreed upon the marine hunting plan concerning all terrestrial races!”
Boom!
Clark had just finished talking when an illusory roll of honor fell from the top of the palace and hit the table, creating invisible sound waves.
Clark stood up and pointed at the honor roll.
As his body size was way too small, he appeared slightly ridiculous. Still, as the words on the honor roll appeared, Clark began to explain. Without hesitation, Su Mo diverted his attention toward the honor roll.
[Marine Hunting Plan (divided into three stages)]
[First Stage: Luring Humans]
“We’ve already developed a bunch of moles among the humans and, by relying on these moles, during the early stages before the ocean emerges, we’ll encourage the humans to move in groups during the process of migration. We’ll also dispatch a bunch of races who can swim well to escort the humans, and urge them to complete the migration process as soon as possible!”
“There are two highlights.”
“First, before the ocean emerges, there will be no restrictions set up, and the Five Royal Clans encourages all the terrestrial races to hunt for humans to increase their racial strength ratings, and get fully prepared for the marine hunting phase.”
“Secondly, after the ocean emerges, all the terrestrial races will not be allowed to intercept, kill, or harm the humans during the migration process in any form, or for any reason, that might interrupt the migration process. No terrestrial races are allowed to tip off, or impart this information to the humans, otherwise you’ll be hunted down by the Five Royal Clans and all the other races forever, and we won’t stop until your clan is extinct.”
After explaining the plan for the first stage, as the recording paused, Clark shot a glare downward, exuding the might of the king of beasts.
“Humans aren’t the focal point of the hunting plan. The next item will be their true target.”
Connie continued to raise her hand, and swung the staff to unpause the recording, and Clark began to talk about their plans for the second stage.
[Second Stage: Hunting]
“When every human has been gathered together, their presence will become a large and striking target in the ocean.”
“Of course, it’ll be harder for us to hunt them, but… are they really our target?”
Clark smiled as he stood in front of the honor roll. He raised his claws, and an illusory map appeared on the honor roll.
In the middle of the map, there was a gigantic red dot, sparkling like the sun that hung in the sky.
There were numerous small, blue-colored dots around the red dot, like stars around the sun.
As Clark moved his claws about, the map began to evolve rapidly, and the blue dots gathered together with the red dot, transforming into a huge collective.
“Everyone, do you see this? These blue dots represent the marine races, who are our biggest enemies in the future.”
“To find the Key of Redemption, we’ll have to kill them and regain control over the ocean. Otherwise, once we’ve reached the new world with the humans, we’ll completely lose all of our territory as well as the chance to complete the mission.”
“As such, humans are our greatest bargaining chip. If we’re able to use them to attract all those greedy marine races to their location, when the time comes, the Five Royal Clans will strike at the same time, and call upon the great Ancestor God to grant us His strength.”
“As long as we can stall them, we’ll have the chance to injure them seriously, or perhaps even kill them all at once. As for the remaining humans, I, Clark, the Cursed Tiger, promise that I will be fair and distribute the spoils according to the contributions of every race. The entire ocean territory will be opened to all the terrestrial races unconditionally…”
Clark smiled proudly. He seemed to be pretty satisfied with his plan.
The recording paused at that point, allowing Su Mo to think about the plan.
“Good, good. The loopholes of the plan have decreased a lot. If the plan goes as he says, it’s not impossible to accomplish.”
“I didn’t expect there to be someone that smart among the foreign races!”
After he saw that humans were not the primary target of the foreign races’ plan, Su Mo, who was sitting on the right smiled, but his expression did not give much else away.
Clark and the so-called Five Royal Clans had a good plan indeed, and they had made the correct predictions.
Like the two-stage plan mentioned, it was highly likely that the humans would move in groups as they migrated to the New World..
However what Clark did not know was that…
The source of human fear stemmed primarily from their lack of firepower!
Neither did he know that, when the number of humans in a group reached a certain point, their combined combat strength would increase by leaps and bounds.
“Don’t stare at me like that. Just go on. His plan isn’t a cause for concern. Rest assured and follow me. When the time comes I’ll show you…”
“That truth is determined by the range of one’s weapons!”
Su Mo thought of the mountain of cotton stacked in the warehouse, and the vertical launching system that was stored in the garage. He reached out and patted Connie’s shoulder boldly.
The recording continued to play as Clark kept everyone in suspense, stating that he would keep the third stage of the plan under wraps until the time came.
“The third stage, if I’m not wrong, they’re probably aiming for the God of the Ocean…”
Su Mo nodded his head when he heard Connie’s speculation.
After the first two stages were completed, the only target left would only be the God of the Ocean, other than the New World.
Most probably, having summoned the so-called “Ancestor God”, the Five Royal Clans would absolutely not be satisfied with having the God of the Ocean around.
It was no surprise that the God of Ocean would be included into their hunting plan.
“The plan isn’t complicated, but this is exactly why it will be easier to implement given how simple-minded the foreign races are…”
“Since there are moles among the humans, I guess the humans have their share of moles among the foreign races too. Everyone is just playing spy games with each other. I’m guessing that the Five Royal Clans know full well about this, but don’t care since the plan that they came up with benefits the humans as well.
“Seeing that the official shelters aren’t standing out and opposing it on the world channel indicates that they are to something as well. Are they planning to launch a counterattack when the opportunity arises?”
“Indeed, none of the races are dumb. Humanity’s leaders aren’t the self-serving, pleasure-seeking good-for-nothings described in the novels on Earth either. They won’t rely on or wait for a protagonist to save the world.”
“It won’t take long before a big show unveils itself on the wasteland!”
Regarding those moles who would encourage the humans to gather together in groups, after Su Mo rapidly made a clear judgment about the current situation, he sat in front of the table, and a sense of excitement began to rise up within him.
This time, not only was Su Mo not planning to stop them, instead, he was planning to add fuel to the fire.
It would take up to four days for the ocean to fully emerge, and for the marine foreign races to arrive.
From the time the marine foreign races arrived, up to when all the humans gathered together; the entire process would take no less than seven days. Only then could the marine hunting plan commence.
7+4…
11 days!
Within these 11 days, in the plans of the terrestrial foreign races, humans would definitely be safe, and no harm would come to them.
This was exactly what Su Mo wanted!
“Based on my traveling speed, my journey to the Tundra Shelter to pick up sis will only take between 7 to 10 days, which falls exactly within the period of safety when the foreign races would not harm the humans.
“When the time comes, there’s nothing to worry about. With the mini destroyer, I’d like to see who or what can stop me in the ocean!”
As Su Mo was thinking about Clark’s plan in his heart, he could not help but smile inwardly, and he even mentally high-fived himself.
When Connie looked at him in such an ecstatic state, it calmed her down too.
“Great Lion God, this time, the decision that I’ve made couldn’t have been any wiser!”
“As expected from the Old Devil Su whose strength rating is 29. Following him this time is definitely the right choice!”
“When the time comes, I’ll ride on the Old Devil Su’s ship, and wait until the ocean emerges. We’ll head to the New World and, no matter how intense the fight is behind us, we’ll have nothing to do with it.”
“The lion clan will flourish once again in Connie’s hands!”
In the palace, poor Clark was still chattering away.
However, further away, when the eyes of a human and a lion met each other, they could see the smile in each other’s eyes.
“Let’s stay alive!”
“Together!”
They shook hands on it. The next moment, in this empty palace, a human and a lion could no longer hold back their emotions, and finally laughed out loud!
