Chapter 45: Sub-Beastman
Sunlight Missionary Field, 3:00 PM.
This was already the fourth day since the war mission began. For the first two days, Su Xiao traveled, and after arriving at the Sunlight Missionary Field, he started creating alchemical creatures.
The light on the formation diagram faded, merging into a piece of parchment. Large blue patterns spread across the parchment, and the ground beneath softened, rippling like water.
This was caused by the alchemical creature. Since this thing couldn't distinguish friend from foe, Su Xiao sealed it in an alternate space, summoning it only during battle.
Su Xiao spent seven hours creating this alchemical creature, but sealing it consumed nearly thirty hours. The thing was very disobedient, repeatedly trying to break free from Su Xiao's restraints to go on a killing spree.
Holding the floating parchment, Su Xiao let out a long breath. The alchemical creature wasn't inside this parchment; it was more like a key, a key to open an alternate space.
"Are you ready to go kill the Alien King? Every generation of Alien Kings is terrifyingly powerful. No one has ever killed them except for time's passage causing them to die of old age."
A voice came from the dark doorway diagonally opposite. It was Beast King Telde. Among the six people at the Sunlight Missionary Field, three were willing to assist Su Xiao. Telde was one of them, and the other two were Dorothy and Wu Zhong.
Dorothy's stance was clear: as long as it was against the aliens, she was willing to help.
Wu Zhong was a pure warrior. Other information was unknown. One day, he came to the Sunlight Missionary Field and had been living there ever since.
"No one has ever succeeded. The old king dies of old age, the new king ascends. Not a single generation of Alien Kings has died at the hands of an enemy. Never."
Wu Zhong sat in the darkness. He had a naturally large frame, and even though he was now skin and bones, he still looked very imposing.
"Even you can't break through that layer."
Beast King Telde sighed deeply, and his aura seemed to weaken a bit. He was also a ruthless person who had assassinated an Alien King. Unlike the Rotten Man, Beast King Telde had broken through layer after layer of defenses, only to be stopped when he was about to face the Alien King directly.
"Stay here. Join me in gathering strength, and then welcome victory, or die together."
Beast King Telde and Wu Zhong were both looking at Su Xiao. At that moment, Su Xiao felt as if he was being stared at by the same person's gaze.
"Telde, you've been beaten into fear, only daring to hide here. Even if you are..."
The Tri-Combined's words were cut off mid-sentence. Judging by aura, she was indeed the strongest among the six at the Sunlight Missionary Field. But if she angered Beast King and Wu Zhong, that would be a different matter.
Su Xiao remained an observer the whole time, not speaking. The situation inside the Sunlight Missionary Field was more complicated than it seemed.
At first glance, Dorothy seemed to represent the majority's will, but in reality, she was just a filler. Apart from the little girl listening to her, no one else paid attention to her decisions.
The Tri-Combined was the most irritable. She had been modified. Originally human, alien organs were implanted into her body. To ensure she didn't die, the modifiers replaced her original blood with beastman blood.
A human body, alien organs, and beastman blood—this was the Tri-Combined Shadow. She could merge into shadows or kill enemies through their shadows.
The Tri-Combined Shadow couldn't control her enemies' shadows. Her ability was called "Shadow Death Capture." By entering an enemy's shadow, she caused the shadow to mutate. As the enemy's shadow mutated, their body also mutated, achieving the killing effect.
If you didn't understand this ability, you'd fall victim in an instant. Where there's light, there's shadow. Without light, Shadow's combat power increased by at least 70%. With her modified strong body, she was enough to kill enemies.
Shadow was a very strong assassin, but she was quite "fair." She hated both aliens and humans.
Compared to Shadow, Beast King Telde and Wu Zhong were big shots. From start to finish, Su Xiao didn't think they were two people.
Beast King Telde was a beastman, Wu Zhong was human. Beast King Telde only had a soul, no need to eat. Wu Zhong only had a body, lifeless and dull.
Alien + Human = Dorothy = Maid + Accessory.
So what was Beastman + Human? The answer was Sub-Beastman. The Sub-Beastmen weren't completely extinct yet. The last Sub-Beastman was right here in the Sunlight Missionary Field. His soul and body were separated to hide. His original name was unknown, now renamed Wu Zhong Telde.
Beast King was the name for the soul, Wu Zhong was the name for the body. When the two were recombined, it became the Sub-Beastman Wu Zhong Telde.
Wu Zhong Telde had been waiting. The Tri-Combined Shadow was brought in by him, but she had no intention of helping him fight the aliens. She just wanted to see how this former human leader would die.
Shadow came from a very extreme organization. That organization's goal was to destroy the magnetic field of the Ten Thousand Beasts Continent, causing the atmosphere to peel away, killing all oxygen-based life.
The organization's belief was: since we can't beat the aliens, let no one have a good time. After the atmosphere peeled off, all oxygen-based life would die, just a matter of time.
With such an organization nurturing her, it was easy to imagine how extreme Shadow was.
As for the Rotten Man, he was once Telde's subordinate. After Telde failed, the Rotten Man ignored Telde's orders and went to assassinate the Alien King, only to return in a crushing defeat. He had been sitting in the passage at the entrance waiting to die. One reason was that he couldn't face Telde, but more importantly, he was guarding someone.
Su Xiao obtained this information while creating the alchemical creature. Wu Zhong Telde was the true leader of the Sunlight Missionary Field. Dorothy was only responsible for finding new members.
"Wu Zhong Telde."
Su Xiao put away the parchment in his hand and walked out of his doorway. He only had one chance to kill the Alien King. He didn't have much time to earn Telde's trust. So, he would talk directly. If Telde was willing to help, that was best. If not, Su Xiao wouldn't waste any more time.
"You noticed."
Telde wasn't too surprised. He had hidden himself only to avoid being discovered by the Alien King.
"The aliens are leaving the Ten Thousand Beasts Continent. If things go smoothly, they can complete their migration plan within a month."
"How is that possible? The number of aliens is over a million."
Shadow clearly didn't believe it. Telde didn't speak. He believed what Su Xiao said. The Ground-Walking Species had terrifying appetites. If this continued, they would eventually eat all living things, and the alien population would drop rapidly.
"It's best if they leave the Ten Thousand Beasts Continent."
Telde's soul and body simultaneously walked out of adjacent doorways. As they moved forward, they overlapped. The legendary dead Sub-Beastman appeared.
Telde wore a black bearskin cloak studded with many armor plates. The bearskin, neglected for too long, was moth-eaten and full of holes. At nearly two and a half meters tall, Telde looked imposing, but beneath his burly frame was a skeletal, emaciated body.
"How did you find out?"
Telde flexed his fingers, producing a harsh grinding sound of bones. In truth, his body was already dead. Due to some artifact, his soul and body were forcibly fused together.
"Just a guess."
"Pfft~"
Shadow couldn't help but laugh. She was also puzzled. Su Xiao had only been here for two days and had barely interacted with them. Yet, he had uncovered Telde's secret.
Telde showed obvious surprise, then gave a stiff smile.
"Shadow won't help anyone. As for me, I originally thought about going with you to deal with the Alien King. But you just said the aliens will migrate out of this world within a month. I believe that."
Telde's implication was clear. He was already half-dead. Since the aliens were willing to leave, he could just wait.
"The aliens' migration plan has already been ruined by me."
Su Xiao's words shattered the illusions of Dorothy and Telde. Sometimes, surprises came just like that.