Translator: AnubisTL
"Brother Jiang, want to test out the new skills?" Scar Dog asked, his voice eager. "I remember that human guardian saying Wang Defa discovered a new mechanical race city, right?"
"Why don't we have him lead the way and try them out?"
"After all, Brother Jiang, aren't you itching to use these new skills?"
"Plus, slaughtering another city's worth of people would trigger the first stage of the 'Alien Nightmare' achievement!"
"Brother Jiang, aren't you tempted?"
"Naturally, we should test them out," Chen Jiang chuckled, glancing at Wang Defa, who had already fallen into a deep sleep nearby. "But let him rest first. We'll rest too, then set out."
"The global event, 'Beast Tide Assault,' is starting soon anyway."
"Let's get some sleep first."
"Alright."
Soon, eight hours had passed.
A voice echoed in the ears of all race players:
[Global Announcement!]
[The global event 'Beast Tide Assault' is about to begin!]
[Players can earn mutation points by killing mutated beasts. These points can be used in the mutation shop to purchase rare items.]
[Event start countdown:]
[00:59:59]
The global event 'Beast Tide Assault' had begun. Less than an hour remained until the event officially started.
Chen Jiang had already given up on competing for the top ranking in the global event.
The reason was simple: although his mutated beast fabricator in the white space had produced nearly half a million mutated beasts—more than enough to secure the top spot—killing them himself would be a colossal waste.
These weren't just hundreds of thousands of mutated beasts; if Wang Defa could kill them all, they would essentially be hundreds of thousands of one-star items!
And hundreds of thousands of one-star items would be far more valuable to Chen Jiang than the top ranking or anything in the mutation shop.
Even a child could see which choice made more sense.
Meanwhile, Wang Defa had been awakened by Chen Jiang and the others.
"Ready to start again?"
Wang Defa, still groggy from sleep, rubbed his eyes casually before leaping to his feet with renewed vigor. Clutching his walkie-talkie, he glanced at Chen Jiang and the group standing nearby.
"Let's go! I'm fully recharged!"
He felt fantastic!
He could sense he was significantly stronger today than yesterday. If he punched the ground now, he was certain he could create a small crater!
Moreover, he had slept remarkably well the previous night—the first time he had fallen into a deep sleep since venturing into the wilderness.
Wandering the wilderness alone, who would dare fall into a deep sleep? To do so would almost certainly mean never opening your eyes again.
Yet last night, he had slept soundly, without a care in the world.
The reason was simple: Chen Jiang, the strongest human, was by his side. What could he possibly worry about?
Anything Chen Jiang could handle was no concern of his.
Anything Chen Jiang couldn't handle was beyond his control anyway.
And if Chen Jiang decided to eliminate him, well, there was nothing to worry about except waiting for death.
After all, while his physical abilities were decent, facing a cannon barrel with a three-meter caliber was a hopeless prospect.
Still, he wasn't particularly worried about Chen Jiang turning on him. Even a blind man could see that Chen Jiang desperately needed one-star items—or rather, a massive quantity of them!
For Chen Jiang, his innate ability was like a rare steed meeting its discerning master.
"No hunting mutated beasts today," Scar Dog said, his expression strange as he watched Wang Defa, who had been exhausted yesterday but was now bursting with energy. "Human constitutions are truly incomparable."
He now believed someone could indeed kill a bull with a single punch in a fit of rage.
"Didn't you tell the human guardian you found a mechanical city in the wilderness?"
"Lead the way. We're going to raid that city today."
"Huh?"
Wang Defa paused, licking his lips with a hint of regret. "Oh, well, alright then."
Roughly forty minutes later, Chen Jiang and his group arrived at the edge of a jungle.
To be honest, the journey hadn't been easy.
They needed Wang Defa to guide them, Li Hao to manifest the map, Scar Dog to power the energy drive, and Wang Defa had to stay at least a hundred meters away from them at all times.
The whole process was incredibly cumbersome.
But thankfully, they had finally arrived.
The group lay prone in the jungle, peering at a city built on the plains in the distance.
"I stumbled upon this place by accident last time," Wang Defa whispered into the communicator, his voice low as he glanced sideways at Chen Jiang and the others. "I found a mutated beast spawn point, but before I could study it properly, mechanical race players suddenly charged in to hunt me down."
"So I just kept running and running until I survived."
"..."
Scar Dog remained expressionless for a moment before replying, "I'm not sure how to respond to that. Have you lost your basic communication skills from not interacting with humans for so long?"
Just then—
Li Hao suddenly frowned and spoke, "Brother Jiang, a massive concentration of mutated beasts—around fifty to sixty thousand—has suddenly appeared at the edge of the map."
"They look... like they're being held captive."
"Hmm?"
Chen Jiang raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised. "Fifty to sixty thousand mutated beasts?"
"Yes, possibly more."
In a secluded mountain valley, Yan Pomen stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his face alight with anticipation as he gazed at the struggling mutated beasts below. "The beast tide assault event will begin in less than twenty minutes."
Unable to contain his excitement, he turned to the mechanical race city behind him. "Has the surrounding area been cleared?"
"Completely cleared," a subordinate replied solemnly. "All alien race players in the vicinity have been slaughtered. There's virtually no chance of this information leaking out."
"Except... yesterday, a human player spotted City No. 89."
"That human player had too many items on him. We couldn't catch up and lost him."
"Still, it's just one human player. Shouldn't be a problem."
"Hmm."
Yan Pomen nodded dismissively, unconcerned. "It's fine. The main thing is to prevent our information about the mutated beasts from leaking out. Once this global event ends, it won't matter if the city's existence is revealed."
"Understood."
In truth, Mechanical Race City No. 89, though built on a plain, was still well-hidden, surrounded by mountains on all sides.
It should have been virtually impossible to discover.
But recently, the human race had suddenly established Kindling City, and a light gate had appeared less than five kilometers from their City No. 89.
After the light gate materialized, Yan Pomen had led a squad of soldiers to investigate, hoping to seize any opportunities.
In the end, they found none.
Human Player Chen Jiang proved to be quite formidable, bombarding the light gate's exit for a full 24 hours. During the assault, stray shots fired from the gate caused significant casualties among the players outside.
In this situation, Feng Jiutian's defeat at the hands of Chen Jiang was hardly unjust.
After surviving the siege of Kindling City, human players began forming squads to explore the surrounding areas through the light gates.
Many of these human players teleported from City No. 89 to begin their explorations nearby.
Several times, they managed to approach the city's vicinity, but they were quickly dealt with.
Only yesterday's human player had proven too slippery, managing to escape.
Yan Pomen glanced again at the countdown timer for the global event's activation. After a moment's thought, he pulled a global speaker from his pocket.
[Global Speaker!]
[Mechanical Race Player Yan Pomen: "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Yan Pomen, and soon you will remember this name forever."]
["And to Human Player Chen Jiang, I believe you will remember this name as well."]
As the speaker's voice echoed in their ears, Chen Jiang and his group lay prone in the jungle, exchanging odd glances at the man standing on the edge of the mountain valley nearby.
They had just seen him pull out the speaker.
Then the global speaker blared in their ears.
"Um..." Scar Dog hesitated, glancing down with a strange expression. "So, the man standing by the valley is Yan Pomen? Was he just provoking us?"
"Probably. Didn't you see him pull out a speaker right before the voice boomed in our ears?" Li Hao said grimly. "There are seven valleys in this area, each packed with mutated beasts."
"My map manifestation only covers this region, so I can only see these seven valleys. There might be more elsewhere, but I can't be sure."
"I understand," Zhao Ritian nodded. "Yan Pomen must have known about the global event, 'Beast Tide Assault,' all along. He's been stockpiling mutated beasts to seize the top ranking in one fell swoop. That's got to be it."
"Exactly. And, unfortunately for him, we stumbled upon his scheme just before the event started."
"What do you say, Brother Jiang?"
"What else is there to say?"
Chen Jiang glanced at the activity countdown: "00:01:27," indicating one minute until the event began.
"Get him!"
"Right away."
Yan Pomen, his face alight with anticipation, leaned against the railing at the edge of the valley, gazing into the distance. His lips curled into an uncontrollable smile.
Just then, a communication panel slowly materialized before him.
"Oh?"
Yan Pomen looked at Feng Jiutian on the screen, his smile widening slightly in surprise. "Why contact me at this critical moment?"
"Did you just send a global speaker message?"
"What, didn't you hear it?"
"I heard it," Feng Jiutian replied, his voice tinged with urgency. "You can't use the global speaker. I've finally figured out why I kept losing to Chen Jiang in our previous encounters—it's because I used the global speaker."
"Every time you use the global speaker, it signals that this global event is about to go wrong again."
"You should wait until the event ends..."
"Stop with the 'you, you, you,'" Yan Pomen said, his expression darkening slightly as he enunciated each word. "Address me as Lord Yan Pomen."
Feng Jiutian paused, frowning. "What do you mean by that?"
"Exactly what I said."
Yan Pomen tightened his tie, a faint smile playing on his lips. He spoke with relaxed nonchalance, "You know, the fate holders have always been leaderless. The choice has been between you and me."
"Your grandfather's influence made you the frontrunner, but you've failed too many times."
"The elder council has unanimously decided that if I secure the top ranking in this global event, I'll be immediately appointed captain of the fate holder squad."
"Calling me 'Lord' wouldn't be too much to ask, would it?"
"..."
Feng Jiutian stared expressionlessly past Yan Pomen, saying nothing.
"I know you might be surprised," Yan Pomen continued, his voice growing slightly agitated, as if years of suppressed resentment were finally erupting. "Why I'm suddenly showing my true colors!"
"Let me tell you, I've been faking it all along!"
His eyes reddened as he lowered his voice to a growl, venting his pent-up anger. "Yes, you have a privileged background, a perfect upbringing. Since childhood..."
"Wait a minute," Feng Jiutian said, his expression complex as he turned to Yan Pomen. "Brother, don't get too emotional just yet. I have some bad news: I might be the top contender again."
"What do you mean?" Yan Pomen asked, momentarily stunned. He had been on the verge of unleashing his pent-up emotions, meticulously timing his outburst to coincide with the final countdown of the event.
His plan was to detonate all the explosives hidden throughout the valley at the precise moment the countdown ended, instantly catapulting himself to the top ranking.
The image of that moment played out in his mind, radiating pure coolness.
Then Yan Pomen noticed Feng Jiutian staring intently behind him. Frowning in confusion, he turned to look behind himself.
"Huh?"
"Where did this massive hole come from?"
As Yan Pomen turned, he immediately saw a colossal black void looming before him. Before he could identify it, a bright light began to coalesce within the darkness.
He remembered what it was: Chen Jiang's turret.
Through some means, he had glimpsed Chen Jiang's weapon during the "Guardian of Kindling City" event—that absurdly large-caliber turret.
When he saw the light beginning to coalesce within the barrel, he knew his end had come. His face twisted into a grimace as he frantically pulled a button from his pocket, ready to press it.
He was doomed, but he refused to let Chen Jiang claim the mutated beasts the mechanical race had painstakingly collected for so long.
Over my dead body!
He would take these creatures with him to the grave.
But it was too late.
The moment Yan Pomen produced the remote control—
BOOM!!!
A blinding flash erupted before his eyes.
When the light faded, Yan Pomen had vanished completely, leaving no trace behind.
"So..."
Chen Jiang stepped slowly through the phantom gate, his gaze sweeping over the massive crater and the mutated beasts gathered in the nearby valley. He shook his head slightly, a hint of melancholy in his expression.
"So, what were you trying to prove? If you hadn't used the global speaker, you might have lived a little longer."
(End of the Chapter)
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