Volume 1, Chapter 49: Operational Meeting

At dawn, rhythmic rumbling vibrations caused the city walls to tremble slightly.

Lu Yunduan stood atop the ramparts amidst the morning mist. The enemy banners loomed indistinctly, and dense rows of figures gradually became clear.

Tang Lang's only concern right now was Los's condition, while Los felt a lingering sense of bewilderment. Why should this man, whom she had never met before, treat her with such kindness?

Golden Crow possessed his own weapon, and Xiang Yufei was no less formidable. A piece of black gold covered in dragon patterns materialized in his hand—a massive seal crafted from dragon-patterned black gold.

"Put aside what you are working on for the moment and go on a business trip." Sumoned into Akiyama's office, Zhou Sen was greeted with this abrupt announcement right off the bat.

Zhou Sen's appearance completely shattered the balance in Xiao Yuehong's heart. Only then did she realize that she was nothing more than a pawn in someone else's scheme.

Qin Wu dropped Gu Qingyan off at the research institute. Just as they reached the main entrance, a slender and graceful figure lunged forward, attempting to embrace Gu Qingyan.

What kind of nonsense was this? Everyone was speaking in disjointed, incoherent sentences. Zhou Qian suddenly remembered who it was that had tied him up earlier.

Chen Qifeng, captain of the guards company, also couldn't help staring with indignation at an enemy fighter plane screaming overhead.

Zhou Weiguo, Xu Hu, Wang Changgui, and the others were currently resting with the tank battalion and cavalry company within this dense forest.

Zhu Yuanzhang muttered to himself, if everyone were terrified of losing their heads, who would ever dare to speak the truth? Yet, it seemed he had never executed anyone for speaking the truth; most of those punished had been executed for falsifying government achievements.

Tang Shengzhi's remark immediately elicited President Chang's agreement. The latter nodded deeply and said with conviction, "Mengxiao's words are very sensible. Now that the nation is facing a crisis, the morale of both the people and the army is in turmoil."

***

Diablo grinned widely as he looked at the ten soul stones before him. He then sealed five of the soul stones—which contained the vast majority of the Holy Weapon's power—into his heart. The remaining five were pressed firmly against the center of his forehead, merging with his body to form a blazing, flame-like shape.

Wang Dian's leg struck with a speed that defied sequence, landing thirty-three consecutive kicks in a fraction of a second to weave a flurry of afterimages. Before Vanessa could even react, she had been battered all over her body. She was sent hurtling backward into the ancient architecture behind her, smashing a concave indentation directly into the wall, a testament to the immense force Wang Dian had employed.

Since brute force was unviable, they had to rely on resourcefulness. The immediate problems to resolve were the ownership of the Indefinable Flying Ring and how to trick Sun Wukong into wearing it.

Zhang Kun noticed that for all that time earlier, Glenn could easily have collected all seven dragon balls, or even more. However, once the number of dragon balls reached six, it stopped increasing—likely because he had previously used seven dragon balls to summon the Six-Winged Firmament Dragon.

"If nothing unexpected happens, these two should be Indians, though they aren't among the Indian-heritage students at Hogwarts." Rolf likewise confirmed their identities.

The man appeared to be around twenty-four or twenty-five years old, wearing a tunic inlaid with sapphires and sporting several gemstone rings on his fingers.

Scarcely a few minutes after the referee announced Zhang Kun's victory, Niu Jin and Richard stepped onto the ring one after the other. The victor between them would become Zhang Kun's opponent in the next round.

Xiao Chen raised his head abruptly. Within his pitch-black eyes, electric arcs seemed to flicker, and a boundless, towering aura of murder surged straight into the heavens.

It was said that apart from losing personnel during excursions into external mystic realms, a great many had also perished right here in this trial ground; otherwise, people would not turn pale at the mere mention of it.

From the ground emerged a score of individuals clad in tight black garments and black masks, with only their red eyes exposed, bearing a striking resemblance to ninjas from the movies.

"It's you! You engineered all of this!" Upon hearing this, Wei Yan understood everything in an instant.

This was originally just a type of cathartic game. For instance, white-collar office workers who suffered scoldings from their bosses or superiors during the day would love to play such games when they returned home.

***

"Fine! An idol-tier master of acting, too." Lu Feiyang and the others were utterly helpless. They hadn't expected that fellow to be such a consummate actor. "Why?" The Dragon King suddenly froze, completely baffled as to why this was happening, yet the grave expression on that fellow's face looked dead serious.

"Why must you always make things so difficult for me to worry about!" Li Haonan endured a smile, reaching out to pinch Gu Xiaobei's cheek.

However, Wang Biao's situation this time was completely different. The heavenly tribulation in the sky bore no resemblance to a reward meant to bless him; instead, it felt as though it wanted to utterly obliterate him. At the same time, the terrifying might of the tribulation seemed capable of spilling over and affecting even the heavens themselves.

Therefore, everyone present listened in a daze, utterly speechless. Zhou Shigong and his grandson were even more tongue-tied—could this handsome youth before them possibly not be human? Could he be an immortal?

As for the Demon race, they had also suffered heavy casualties under the fierce onslaught of the Fallen Angel race. If the Fallen Angels hadn't exercised restraint and left a shred of lineage for the Demon race, the Demons would have been completely wiped out from the entire Dark God Realm.

Catching sight of Li Haonan's eyes gazing at her with a half-smile, the expression on his face seemingly darkening by a fraction, she belatedly realized that her previous reply had seemed far too eager. Her face fell, and she hurriedly picked up a piece of cod with her chopsticks and shoved it into her mouth.

He had always firmly believed that humans were given a mouth for two purposes: eating and speaking. If one didn't eat and only spoke, a part of the mouth would be wasted, and incompleteness was never a good thing.

Now, those choosing to stay were basically fellows above level five hundred. Of course, apart from the Wild King's son, who was somewhat weaker at around level four hundred, the Thunder King's child was also just under the level four hundred mark.

"Then let's get going. Venturing out this time, we can also conveniently acquire some daily necessities and food supplies from the nearby supermarket—killing two birds with one stone," Zhang Sheng said as he headed downstairs.