Chapter 21: Devouring Growth
Su Xiao killed the withered monster for a simple reason: if a truce could be reached so easily, the mission difficulty wouldn't be as high as Lv.63.
Gelu was using an open scheme. On the surface, he demanded the Council hand over the secret technique master who hadn't yet lost his secret patterns, but in reality, he was driving a wedge between Su Xiao and the Council.
Some things, Su Xiao understood, and Gelu knew as well—the existence of Doom Town must never be revealed to outsiders.
Rose Councilor, Frost Snake Councilor, and King Lehman all knew nothing about Doom Town. The intelligence they possessed was limited, left behind by Emperor Okaz.
What Emperor Okaz did in Doom Town was disgraceful, evident from the penitents kneeling outside Doom Town.
Gelu still needed a few more secret patterns. He hadn't gathered them all yet. When he claimed he only needed one more, there was no reason to believe him.
Once Gelu collected all these secret patterns, the day of Ange City's destruction would arrive. Gelu had been disheartened by the rulers, so he allied with the Hyena Tribe.
On the surface, the Hyena Tribe had also suffered heavy losses, nearly to the point of extinction. But in reality, that wasn't the case. The major families of the Hyena Tribe had likely withdrawn long ago.
Gelu received resources and powerful combat support from the Hyena Tribe, enabling him to execute his empire-destruction plan. In return, when Ange City was completely destroyed, this continent would belong to the Hyena Tribe. A new civilization would be established—a civilization of the Hyena Tribe, one that would never touch the secret patterns or seek out Doom Town.
Su Xiao wasn't sure if his speculation was accurate, but one thing he was certain of: Gelu would definitely bring the withered monsters to attack. This was unavoidable.
The moment the withered monster controlled by Gelu died, King Lehman strode toward Su Xiao. Quick-tempered and iron-willed—that was King Lehman.
"If you don't want to be used by Elviss Gelu, don't have conflicts with Bai Ye."
Rose Councilor's tone was calm. Hearing her words, King Lehman snorted coldly and walked out of the underground chamber.
Behind King Lehman, the girl with a blue-violet ponytail winked at Su Xiao and shrugged her shoulder. This was Nancy Elna, signaling that she was now an officer—kicked into the position, impressive, right?
Leaving the underground chamber, Su Xiao checked his mission list. The time limit was still 9 days and 7 hours. That meant he had to ensure Ange City wasn't completely destroyed before the deadline. Being breached was fine, but it couldn't be over 80% destroyed, or the mission would fail.
Returning to the two-story building, Su Xiao found a room and collapsed into sleep. In the days ahead, he didn't know how much rest he'd get.
Right now, the busiest place in Ange City was the Kidorman Company. Steam technology was no longer important. Their task now was to find craftsmen and mass-produce cold weapons.
Based on the number of steam cores, a few hours after full-scale war began, the steam cores would be exhausted. Steam weapons would become fire pokers. Plus, with 900,000 soldiers in Ange City, steam weapons were far from enough.
At this point, a decision had to be made: use the steam cores to drive steam weapons, exhausting them within hours of battle, or use the steam cores to power large machinery, smelt high-strength metal, and forge cold weapons and armor.
The principle of a full meal versus steady meals was understood by Frost Snake Councilor, Rose Councilor, and King Lehman. They had already decided to seal all steam weapons in the underground city, use steam cores to drive large machinery, and forge cold weapons. When the steam cores ran out, Kidorman Company's large machinery would also become scrap metal, forcibly exiting the stage of history.
This world was just about to enter the steam age when Gelu knocked it back to the cold weapon age. How ironic. Gelu's goal was the secret patterns, but the first thing to exit the historical stage was actually the supernatural steam technology. Fate is unpredictable.
Amid the roar of distant large machinery, Su Xiao fell asleep. He didn't know how long he slept before being awakened by knocking.
"Kukulin, come downstairs for breakfast."
Puli's voice came from outside the door. Su Xiao sat up in bed, a bit dazed. After washing up, he went downstairs.
Sitting at the dining table, Su Xiao noticed the streets were much quieter. All civilians must have been sent to the underground city to settle there.
The constant roar of large machinery had also stopped. The first few batches of cold weapons should have been forged, ready to deal with the monsters that might attack at any moment.
A grim atmosphere filled Ange City. The soldiers had been beaten too badly last time, abandoning their homes to flee to Ange City. This time, they could finally face those monsters head-on.
Boom!
A loud crash came from not far away, just a few hundred meters from the two-story building.
Rushing out of the building, Su Xiao saw a giant in the distance. It was at least 12 meters tall, its body covered in withered bark. Its head wore a rusted metal hood, blocking its vision.
Behind the tree giant was a very short dwarf monster, tied to the tree giant's nape. It controlled the tree giant through several tubes connected to its body.
"Roar!"
The tree giant bellowed, its eyes covered. It could only flail its arms wildly, destroying nearby buildings.
"Lord Gelu commands! You lowly creatures, go to the east of the city and take your brats and women away, or they'll be food! Hehehehehe!"
The dwarf monster laughed maniacally. This meant one thing: not all these withered monsters were mindless. That was bad news.
"Lord Gelu is supreme!"
Bang! The tree giant and the dwarf monster shattered into a shower of wood chips.
Su Xiao watched the falling wood chips. Gelu's move had fully revealed his cunning nature.
When Gelu attacked the four kingdoms, he didn't wipe them out completely. Instead, he captured a large number of women, children, and the elderly.
Now, Ange City had a population of 1.17 million, with over 900,000 soldiers and about 270,000 civilians. The number of soldiers was three times that of civilians.
More importantly, these soldiers were fearless, believing they had lost their families. But now, Gelu had sent a large group of women, children, and the elderly. When he attacked the four kingdoms, he didn't kill everyone; the withered monsters captured many.
Sending these people to Ange City created problems: daily food and fresh water, as well as shelter.
Would Rose Councilor and Frost Snake Councilor refuse to take them in? Don't be ridiculous. Among these women and children might be the soldiers' own families. Refusing to accept them would immediately trigger a mutiny. There was no other outcome.
"You win this round."
A smile appeared on Su Xiao's face. Earlier in Ange City, he had won against Gelu once. In the second round, Gelu had a small victory.
Su Xiao headed toward the east of the city, with Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha following closely.
Arriving at the east side, Su Xiao stood on a three-story building at the city's edge. In the distance, a black tide surged forward—all withered monsters.
"Damn, there are a lot of enemies, boss."
Baha swooped down from above and landed on Su Xiao's shoulder. Seeing this, Bubu Wang seemed to want to jump onto Su Xiao's other shoulder for symmetry. But Bubu Wang forgot one important thing: long ago, Su Xiao often rode him to escape. He sometimes forgot his own size, always thinking he was small.
Su Xiao took out the Apostle's Eye and began scanning.
[Comparing intelligence attributes... Comparison complete. 100% enemy data obtained.]
Name: Wood Vassal Tribe (Mutually Devoured Twice)
Category: Dead Wood Trait, Erosion, Semi-Insane
Health: 100%
Life Force: 1813/1813 points
Strength: 118 (True Attribute)
Agility: 97
Stamina: 120 (True Attribute)
Intelligence: 12
Charm: 1
Skill 1, Twisted Life (Passive, Lv.38): Health +3200 points, blunt damage reduced by 21%, fire resistance -28 points.
Skill 2, Rebirth (Passive, Lv.42): After being eroded by the "Ancient God Seed," these reborn Wood Vassals are followers of the ancient god, yet also betrayers.
Tip: Cannot resist the will of a seventh-rank or higher ancient god, and have developed self-awareness.
Skill 3, Wood Born (Passive, Lv.31): The skin of Wood Vassals is extremely tough. Physical defense +53 points, health +600 points. Body surface is considered armor-type defense.
Skill 4, God-Forsaken Tribe (Passive, X): Can grow by devouring their own kind.
Tip: This Wood Vassal has grown twice. Maximum five times. Each growth has a 0.012% chance of evolving into a stronger individual.
Seeing this data, Su Xiao confirmed the nature of the withered monsters, the Wood Vassals. They weren't mindless monsters or undead. These were living creatures, reborn after being eroded by ancient god energy.
Wood Vassals could devour each other to enhance individual strength. That meant the number of Wood Vassals under Gelu's control wasn't as large as imagined. After rounds of mutual devouring and survival of the fittest, the remaining Wood Vassals wouldn't be weak, and their numbers wouldn't be absurdly high.