Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Through Sheila’s description, Zhang Lisheng gradually learned about the difficult situation of the Earth at this time. Even though there were only four foreign world civilizations that had invaded the Earth, and that most of them were old enemies that had been fought before, the situation had deteriorated radically compared to before…
Whether it was the steam civilization of the Karlado people or the mythical civilization of the Shrimp World No. 1, there were only a few countries that fought against them before this. However, the conflict at this moment had already escalated into a ‘world’-level all-out war.
Since the development of the war, Texas, Pennsylvania, Montana, and another two states more, that made up the five major animal husbandry and food production states in the United States of America, the country with the strongest military power on the planet and was known as the leader of the Western Free World, had suffered a devastating blow to the agriculture and animal husbandry. Adding on to the sharp rise in transportation costs during the war, half of the cities in the country experienced a food crisis.
In the east, the most ancient and mysterious revival country, China, had razed hundreds of cities along the coast to the grounds, in order to resist the attack of the cruel Equila people who began to covet their eyes to the mainland after reducing Japan into deserted ruins. In the other regions, even though the countries in the European Union had not been directly attacked by civilizations from foreign worlds due to their geographical location, more than one-tenth of the area had been transformed into ruins by the attack of the Karlado people’s steam missiles, causing the entire Union on the verge of economic collapse because of the chain reaction of war.
The situation of the powerful nations was already so difficult, so the weak nations were facing an even more severe life-death situation. Under such a situation, the Atlanteans seemed to have become the only savior, causing the entire Africa, half of the countries in Southern America and Asia to have been semi-publicly controlled by the alien civilization.
It was already late at night when he finally learned about the entire situation from the girl.
Zhang Lisheng pondered for a moment with a frown on what he should do in the future before asking, “Sheila, can you send me to the Noah World?”
“More than 90% of the federal civil air transport has been terminated and the plane tickets to New Mexico is hot selling now but I can still send one or two people there. When do you plan to go?” Sheila said with a confident smile. It was apparent that he did not abandon her status as the heir to an old wealthy and influential family in New York because of her progressive thinking.
At this critical moment, the underlying difference between an old family and the nouveau riche became obvious.
“Of course the faster the…” The young man wanted to say ‘the faster the better’ but there was an inexplicable sudden throbbing in his heart, causing him to stand up from the sofa unwittingly.
“What’s wrong, Lisheng?” The girl froze and asked in panic. She knew the strength and calmness of the dark-haired man in front of her very well so things must be wrong if it could make him lost his cool like that.
“It’s nothing, Sheila.” Zhang Lisheng fell into a moment of silence before asking out of the blue with a strange expression on his face, “I heard from the several black people who gave me a hike just now that there are many cults in Queens now?”
“Well, the nation already has thousands of strange cults because of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.” Sheila was astonished for a while before nodding in a wry smile. With a glazed over gaze, she answered, “Everyone is in panic because of the chaotic war now as the strange things that should have only taken place in legends and myths are continuing to take place in the real world one by one. Indeed, many people have lost their faith. ”
“This is really the best and worst time…” The young man murmured with his eyes lit up. Looking at the girl, he raised his voice and said, “Alright, let’s talk about the plane ticket when I come back. It’s very late now. Go take a rest and have a sweet dream, Sheila.”
“It’s so late already, where are you going, Lisheng? Don’t tell me that you want to pick up troubles with those cults?” When Sheila saw Zhang Lisheng standing up and walking towards the door, she was slightly taken aback and hurriedly said, “In addition to the invasion of the foreign worlds in the past year, the most widely spread news is the ‘recovery of the gods’. It is said that there are horrible existences existing behind many cults … ”
“Sheila.” Zhang Lisheng flashed a ferocious smile at the girl and interjected her with a rhetorical question, “Have you seen an existence that is more horrifying than me before?”
Pushing the door open, he immediately disappeared without a trace.
Without using his divine power and merely relying on his god’s physique unimaginable to ordinary people and the athletic skills of a Chinese boxing master, the young man gently leaped down from the second floor. After sweeping a glance at the thugs who were sleeping all over the places, he took one leap and reached in front the heavy iron door wrapped in leather, before opening the lock to leave the bar.
In the cold night filled with cold whistling wind, heavy raindrops were falling noisily on the ground from the sky. When he passed through the alleys, the shadow illuminated by the dim street lights showed a constantly changing illusion that looked like a monster devouring its food.
Flashing police car lights sped past the distant avenues as Zhang Lisheng closed his eyes in the heavy rain to sense it. He crouched on the muddy ground and grabbed a handful of mud to wipe on his face before quickly walking out of the dark alley.
In the bitingly cold wind and rain, the iron barrels originally burning with fire on both sides of the streets had been extinguished. Only a few barrels that were still full of oil or were placed under the shelter were still emitting warm light and heat, attracting a large number of refugees to crowd over them.
“Hey, young man, come and warm yourself here. It’s no joke getting sick under the rain at this time.” When the young man walked across the street speedily, a hoarse voice resonated from beside the iron barrel, showing off the beautiful trace of humanity that was still intact in a hopeless situation.
Unfortunately, Zhang Lisheng who had other important issues merely turned a deaf ear to this kindness. He bowed his head and crossed the road. He would cast away the rain and sped in a subsonic speed spookily when he was in a dark alley and would jog when he was on the big streets, with a map seemingly etched in his brain. After half an hour time of no stopping at all, he finally reached a dirty block soaked in the pouring rain.
There was no street lamp on the roads that had four lanes. Only about more than ten windows on the two sides of the old apartment building were flickering with lights, partially illuminating some weird graffitis.
“It should be around here…” Finally coming to a halt in the heavy rain, Zhang Lisheng looked around for a few moments before slowly closing his eyes, allowing himself to be guided by the feelings deep in his heart to walk forward obliquely into an old five-story apartment.
He walked up the cramped, dark stairwell continuously all the way to an iron door on the top floor. When he opened his eyes, he smiled joyfully and rang the bell.
A series of sweet-sounding ‘ding dong…’ sound resonated discordantly in the building, but nobody came to the door. It was only until two to three minutes later when the young man pressed the doorbell for the third time that someone finally asked in a rough voice, “Who’s there?”
“Sir, I’m the messenger sent by the god you believe in, please open the door.” Zhang Lisheng did not hesitate to answer with an extremely sincere voice and attitude, as he gave a very strange answer.
“What? What did you say? Who are you?”
“I’m the God’s messenger and I’m here to see the pious lamb. Can you open the door?” The young man said again in clear articulation. More than ten seconds later, a sudden ‘click’ sound of a gun trigger being pulled resounded from behind him, which was followed by the voice of a man, “Assh*le, whoever you are, it’s not a good idea to joke about our faith. Now raise your hand!”
Just at this moment, a lightning flashed across the sky. In the thunder and lightning, Zhang Lisheng turned around and looked behind him. From the faint light leaking from the door, he saw a tall strong man with a face covered with beard wearing a denim cowboy shirt and proceeded to mutter, “My perception has actually been misled. interesting…”
Then, he flashed a kind smile. “Don’t be nervous, believer. today is a good day for you to receive divine grace. Your religious worship has paid off, you should be grate…”
“Shut up!” the tall man snapped sharply at Zhang Lisheng and interrupted him. “I’ve said just now. It’s not a good idea to joke about other people’s beliefs. I’ll give you two choices, either you get the hell away from our door now, or I’ll blast your brain open with a single shot.”
“Believer, talking in such a rude language is not the right way to treat the god’s messenger.” The young man realized that he could not communicate with the strong man in a kind manner so he stopped talking nonsense and moved forward as fast as a lightning, both of his hands snatched away the long rifle instantly as he gently rammed the man into the room.
Most of the American-styled old apartments were relatively spacious, especially so for two apartments that had been merged together by having all walls in between smashed away except for the bathroom.
The unexpectedly huge space made the few raggedly dressed men and women who were watching the scene from behind the strong man, who was sent flying by the young man, to slammed into each other. It was fortunate that they did not hit the wall and fell down to their death.
However, even so, under such a great impact, the tall strong man still had to lie on the ground for a while, unable to return to his senses from his dizziness. Be that as it might, the alertness cultivated in the cruel environment still made him shout loudly immediately, “Shoot him! Now! Shoot him! f*ck! Somebody broke in! Hurry, shoot!”
Unfortunately, the instant his cries of alarm left his mouth and before he could even wake up his dumbfounded housemates, Zhang Lisheng had already spookily disarmed other gunmen as quickly as possible.
After strolling around the room that had a length and width of more than ten meters long, the young man saw that there were no other furnishings in the apartment except for the scared faces and sleeping bags on the floor. In the end, he focused his attention on the portraits resembling the Chinese door-gods dressed in armors and at once, a relieved smile appeared on his face, as he asked, “Who’s the leader here?”
Upon hearing this question, everybody in the house who was intimidated and baffled by Zhang Lisheng’s apparently supernatural agile attack turned their attention to a tall, beautiful young girl in the front row.
Zhang Lisheng smiled and followed the crowds’ gaze to look into the eyes of the tall girl, “Believer, are you the shepherd of Wizard Li in the mortal world?”
“A-Are you really the God’s messenger?” Looking back into the young man’s eyes that were so deep that stars seemed to be flickering in them, the girl who originally had a slightly stubborn and panic look seemed to have felt some kind of psychological response. With a voice that stood out among the rest, she asked back tremblingly.
“Of course…” Zhang Lisheng nodded and when he was about to randomly excite the masses, he suddenly heard a series of roaring of battle cry in the rapid sound of the rain outside the window.
