Chapter 19: Welcome
The sky was a murky gloom, thick and viscous green liquid gradually seeping through the clouds, staining the heavens with a chilling, corrosive sound. A massive face, as if from beyond the sky, pressed forward. The next instant, this colossal face festered into a haze of dark green smoke, which poured down along with the wails and howls within it—a scene of apocalypse.
!
Su Xiao, lying on the boat, suddenly snapped his eyes open. He sat up, bare-chested, and gently rubbed his forehead with one hand. The dream just now had been too real—so real that he even remembered the details of that massive face and the smell of the dark green smoke.
That was no scent that existed in the world, or rather, it wasn't a smell that would exist in the world of the living. It was decay, filth, and a strong aura of despair and resentment.
Su Xiao walked to the window, pushed it open, and the morning scent of grass and trees blew in with the dawn breeze, refreshing his mind and sweeping away the filth brought by the dream.
Su Xiao didn't think this dream was a coincidence. At his level of strength, this was a fairly common occurrence. When perception reached its peak, it became precognition. However, he wasn't a dedicated perception-type cultivator and couldn't reach the level of precognition. But because his perception was strong, before a disaster struck, he would have prophetic dreams or feel a sense of dread.
Today was the sixth day in this world. According to the time limit Kaisa mentioned, only four days remained. The good news was that Jila had advanced to the Dominator level, and their mother nest had officially entered mass-production mode. The bad news was that the Nether forces were stronger than imagined.
Logically, the Sun Nest's rise in the south had reached such a level that it had become the uncrowned king of the region. Yet the Empire not only showed no reaction but even the fanatical believers sent as messengers were only politely received, with no follow-up.
In the past few days, Shenfu, who was on the Empire's home planet, occasionally sent back a message. Su Xiao and the Undead Girl also sent messages to Shenfu, maintaining intelligence sharing.
According to Shenfu, the situation on Oka Star had completely spiraled out of control. The Empire had abandoned all branch cities and districts except for the "Directly Administered Cities" and had built barrier walls to enclose several of these cities in the central zone. As for the citizens further out, the Empire's current stance was to encourage them to form their own defense squads.
The Empire, a dictatorial regime, was actually encouraging the establishment of civilian armed organizations outside the "Directly Administered Zones." This alone showed how severe the situation on Oka Star had become.
Aside from the "Directly Administered Zones" protected by barrier walls, all other cities, towns, and districts in the Empire were in chaos.
The Nether forces' invasion still didn't seem obvious; the most serious issue was the change in the Empire's citizens. Now, except within the "Directly Administered Zones," most citizens in other areas were showing signs of mania, irritability, bloodlust, and severe violent tendencies.
In some remote areas, Empire citizens had even started hunting each other. Firearms and other thermal weapons required palm prints to unlock and fire, but these weapons had been uniformly locked by the Empire, with internal chips burned out. Yet this didn't stop the citizens from hunting each other. Some simply grabbed fire axes or makeshift Molotov cocktails and went out to hunt people on the streets.
The mutual hunting of citizens wasn't the most serious problem. A few days ago, the concept of "death" had ceased to exist on Oka Star.
After citizens became corpses, over time, wisps of dark green smoke would rise between heaven and earth. Each wisp of dark green smoke represented an "Undying One." Like those eerie beings, these "Undying Ones" were equally dangerous, just still in a state of dormancy.
This phenomenon caused by the Nether invasion was called the "Eternal Life Omen" by the cult organizations on the Empire's home planet. As for why the Empire didn't eradicate these cults, it simply couldn't be bothered.
Now, the Empire only wanted to accomplish one thing as quickly as possible: abandon all colony planets, including their home planet, and send all fleets and citizens not yet corrupted in mind to Pandora Star.
Last night, the Empire's Monarch, Ording, did several major things. First, from his home planet, Monarch Ording successfully dismissed General Sand, the highest commander of the Third Fleet stationed on Pandora Star.
General Sand's nephew, the Empire's Hand, Rhine God, took his place, responsible for deploying the Third Fleet's various units and receiving the other Empire fleets that would gradually station on Pandora Star.
Though they had never met, Su Xiao was sure that Monarch Ording was a formidable figure. Earlier, Su Xiao had suspected that there were traitors among the high-ranking members of the Third Fleet. The drastic changes on Kara and the assassination attempt on the Crimson Queen were both carried out by the Third Fleet. In the current environment, doing such things was no different from digging one's own grave.
Originally, Kara was a common ally of the Empire, the Company, and the Sun Nest, a chosen one representing the world's will. Now, she had been turned into a giant monster corrupted by Nether forces by the traitors in the Third Fleet.
Although Su Xiao had known that the Third Fleet had problems, he wasn't the Pacific Police and wouldn't meddle that far. Besides, in his view, if an entity as massive as the Empire could collapse just because of a traitor among its fleet's high-ranking officers, it might as well collapse sooner. With such poor resilience, when the Nether forces arrived, it would likely be a liability.
Now, it seemed the Empire wasn't a liability. Monarch Ording, far away on the home planet, had dealt with General Sand across interstellar distances.
Judging by Monarch Ording's intentions, he would arrive on Pandora Star before tonight to take charge.
Upon hearing this news, the Company immediately donated 2.9 million units of living ore to New Star City, along with over 700 kilograms of various monopolized rare metals, plus compressed food from over a dozen heavy transport ships.
The Company was practically kneeling to show that it would always be the Empire's dog.
The mere rumor of Monarch Ording's arrival had the Company so scared they nearly wet themselves, showing just how much authority Monarch Ording had wielded on the home planet.
Su Xiao estimated that the Empire's citizen relocation would be completed by tomorrow at the latest. It was said that the Empire had spared no expense to relocate nearly 50 million people, with 30 million living in the supercity of New Star City and the remaining 20 million going to the Company's Platinum Capital.
Don't think that 50 million was a small number. The Empire's home planet, Oka Star, combined with its 15 colony planets, had a population exceeding 47 billion. Oka Star alone had around 6.5 billion people, while the colony planets, though controlled, generally had over 2.5 billion each.
In other words, the Empire was abandoning nearly 46.9 billion first-class and second-class citizens. From the 6.5 billion first-class citizens, only 50 million were chosen to be brought to Pandora Star.
A more intuitive analogy: from a district of several hundred people, only one family of three would be taken away. The rest were left on the home planet or colony planets, their fates already sealed.
There was one thing Su Xiao couldn't figure out. The home planet was already that dangerous, yet Shenfu showed no sign of returning. He claimed that since they were cooperating, he should show sincerity. But Su Xiao felt that this old geezer, Shenfu, probably had a backup plan.
It wasn't that Su Xiao didn't trust Shenfu. In their few encounters, when had Shenfu not backstabbed his teammates? He had even given Huishenshi a small stab.
Now, Su Xiao felt that Shenfu was about to pull out his "Teammate-Specific Artifact: Backstabbing Blade."
If anyone else said they were joining the Nether forces, Su Xiao would think they were committing suicide. But with Shenfu, even if the old geezer did join the Nether forces, he might not necessarily be in trouble.
Fortunately, before the last negotiation with Shenfu, Su Xiao had left a contingency plan. His Devourer wasn't so easy to accept.
Compared to the situation on the Empire's home planet, Su Xiao needed to stabilize Pandora Star first. Eliminating the Cruel Fortress, Kara, was urgent.
This matter, concerning the Empire, the Company, and the Sun Nest, Su Xiao didn't intend to handle alone. Even if he did, the Empire and the Company would have to offer sufficient compensation.
"Woof."
Bubu Wang emerged from stealth. Last night, it and Baha had gone to "New Star City" and "Platinum Capital" to discuss the Kara issue with both sides.
This time, both sides were relatively proactive. On the Empire's side, Monarch Ording himself was handling the matter. They were in the midst of a large-scale relocation. If Kara attacked "New Star City" now, the Empire would be in a world of pain.
The Company's true leader also appeared. His name was Aitaigi Fuke, the largest shareholder of the Company. Just by looking at the Company's full name, "Aitaigi Biotechnology Pharmaceutical Company," one could see how much influence Aitaigi Fuke had within the Company's faction.
"Woof."
Bubu Wang took a tech bracelet from the team storage space, lifted its head, and pushed the bracelet toward Su Xiao.
Su Xiao took the bracelet. It turned into liquid metal, forming a ring that he wore on his index finger.
Immediately, Su Xiao felt a unique fluctuation from the ring. He wasn't particularly familiar with tech-side items, but his intuition told him this was more like a mental projection device.
Su Xiao sat cross-legged on the ground, closed his eyes, and tried to inject his mental energy into it. Gradually, radial faint light appeared before his eyes, and then his surroundings became clear. His mental body was now in a conference room that wasn't luxurious but was grand and simple. He was seated in one of the three main seats at the round table.
These three main seats were positioned opposite each other around a circular table nearly seven meters in diameter, forming a triangular stance. Between the three main seats were other seats.
The conference room was a bit noisy. Some people were whispering in small groups, while a few old scholars were arguing heatedly, their faces red. None of these people were mental bodies.
As Su Xiao's mental body was projected, the room gradually quieted down. Most of them cast glances at him, but none dared to hold his gaze for long. After all, with a Charm attribute of -12 and a reputation value of -32,600, saying he had a notorious reputation was an understatement.
Su Xiao looked at the other two main seats. One was occupied by a slightly chubby man with a smiling face. He wore a deep purple suit, and nine of his ten fingers were adorned with expensive rings, except for the ring finger of his left hand. This man had a friendly, smiling expression—he was the Company's largest shareholder, Aitaigi Fuke.
The other main seat was occupied by a man so thin he was almost skin and bones. His frame was unusually large, and even at this level of thinness, he exuded a strong sense of authority. Unlike his sickly, emaciated figure, his eyes had a chilling brilliance.
Even though Su Xiao knew he had only the physical fitness of an ordinary person, and due to years of overwork, his health was worse than that of a strong average person, meeting his gaze made one instinctively want to look away. This was because his soul was powerful.
Indeed, this was Monarch Ording.
"Everyone's here. Quiet, please."
Aitaigi Fuke, the Company's largest shareholder, spoke. Upon hearing this, everyone in the room fell silent.
"I've called you all here today. Let's skip the pleasantries. You all know the situation. The invasion is drawing closer. Before that, we must all retreat to Pandora Star. This is our only chance."
Aitaigi Fuke finished speaking and looked around. The people present were either the Empire's various power factions or the Company's shareholders. At this critical juncture, it was best to speak frankly.
"Our primary issue is to ensure Pandora Star has no hidden dangers. As I understand it, the Insect Race Mother Queen, Kara, mutated into a giant monster several hundred meters tall a few days ago. This is a huge threat to New Star City, Platinum Capital, and the Sun Nest."
As he finished, Aitaigi Fuke cast a glance at Su Xiao. Up until now, both he and Monarch Ording couldn't figure out Su Xiao's stance.
"I'll deal with Kara."
Su Xiao spoke, surprising everyone in the room, who all focused their attention on him.
"Afterward, you provide the resources."
Hearing Su Xiao's second sentence, everyone present smiled knowingly. That was normal. No one would deal with Kara for free.
"Lord Bai Ye, what price are you thinking of charging?"
Aitaigi Fuke revealed his true businessman nature. Neither the Empire nor the Company wanted to deal with Kara. The former was stabilizing the aftermath of the traitor incident, while the latter was more than willing to pay to avoid trouble.
"As for the reward, you two sides can decide freely."
Su Xiao still didn't set a price, smiling amiably.
"Well, that..."
Aitaigi Fuke showed a somewhat troubled expression. He continued, "Lord Bai Ye, if the reward is too little, you won't get angry, will you?"
Hearing this, the amiable smile on Su Xiao's face gradually faded. He stared at Aitaigi Fuke in silence for over ten seconds before his mental projection slowly disappeared, leaving Aitaigi Fuke to figure out for himself what would happen if the reward was too little.
Inside the second floor of the wooden building, Su Xiao opened his eyes. He removed the mental transmission ring from his index finger. With this item, subsequent negotiations with the Empire and the Company would be much more convenient.
After breakfast, Su Xiao left the wooden building and entered the mother nest, heading straight for the egg-laying tissue.
The soul of Barbatos, which had been dormant in the mother nest, had awakened. Now, only the dragon body was needed for Barbatos to assist Su Xiao in battle.
Regarding this dragon body, Su Xiao didn't plan to infuse it with solar energy. The reason was that Barbatos was a demonic type, and its soul characteristics were the same. Since the soul already had this inclination, adding solar energy would make it seem impure.
Since he wasn't adding solar energy, he might as well make Barbatos lean more thoroughly toward the demonic type. He would cultivate it with Primordial Demonic Power. Among their insect race, only Jila had enjoyed this resource.
Su Xiao had Jila directly interfere with the mother nest's egg-laying tissue. At the cost of 500,000 units of bio-energy, they cultivated an exceptionally powerful Flame Dragon egg. Then, Su Xiao poured the remaining 70% of the Primordial Demonic Power into this Flame Dragon egg.
After investing such a heavy price, Su Xiao began to wait. If this failed, the loss of bio-energy was manageable, but the loss of Primordial Demonic Power was more critical. This was a resource that couldn't be obtained within this world.
Outside the mother nest, Su Xiao waited for nearly three hours before the incubation nest behind him showed movement. The massive incubation nest began to writhe, and then its top opened like a blooming flower with a wet slap. A black dragon, its body still covered in translucent mucus, emerged with its upper body and wings, roaring at the sky.
"Roar!"
The leader-level Demonic Flame Dragon, Barbatos, roared, sending layers of air waves. The surrounding large number of Sun Flame Dragons were startled into flight, circling nearby.
With a whoosh, a massive shadow passed over Su Xiao and swooped down behind him. Then came the sound of flesh being torn. The Sun Flame Dragon that Su Xiao had been using as a mount was torn apart by Barbatos in a few bites, with most of its flesh devoured.
If the leader-level Mantis Armor, Bru, represented "Loyalty," then the leader-level Demonic Beast, Abaddon, represented "Wrath" and "Slaughter." Finally, the leader-level Demonic Flame Dragon, Barbatos, represented "Pride" and "Greed," like the pride of an evil dragon and the greed of a black dragon.
This wasn't a replication of the Seven Deadly Sins. Rather, an independent soul couldn't be born out of nothing. Jila used one of her own emotions as a foundation, replicated the soul fluctuations representing that emotion, and then created the independent soul of the leader-level unit.
Barbatos stood behind Su Xiao. Its dark golden vertical pupils looked up at the circling Sun Flame Dragons. After a moment, it turned its head, spread one wing, and subtly shielded Su Xiao, waiting for his command.
"Barbatos, I have a very important task for you."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, Barbatos's dragon pupils constricted. It had heard similar words from Su Xiao before. That time, it had nearly died. But it didn't fear death.
Entrusted with a heavy responsibility, Barbatos was ready to die. But what it never expected was to be brought to a massive golden formation. Before it could react, a golden thunderbolt was drawn down and struck it with a bang.
"Roar!!"
Barbatos, its entire body undergoing electrotherapy, spread its wings and roared.
A moment later, Barbatos was carried by thousands of worker scorpions to a custom-made "ground nest." Barbatos never imagined that after sleeping for so long, the first thing it would do upon waking was to be struck by lightning.
The thunderous roar continued. Su Xiao's reason for doing this was simple: to physically enhance Barbatos's resistance to World Thunder.
In this regard, Su Xiao had plenty of experience. He himself, Bubu Wang, Amu, Baha, and even Beini had all improved their World Thunder resistance this way. Now, whenever Beini saw Su Xiao constructing a golden formation, she felt her cat paws go weak.
Su Xiao observed Barbatos's lightning adaptation process for a while, then told Baha to increase the intensity. After that, he jumped onto the wooden building to meditate. But as the saying goes, even a master can slip. He had just started meditating when a bolt of World Thunder struck him directly on the head.
In the distance, behind a small dirt mound, Hao Mei, wearing a shielding device, watched through binoculars. Seeing Su Xiao suddenly struck by World Thunder, she couldn't help but laugh, laughing especially happily.
"You're still laughing."
Yueshitu spoke. Hearing this, Hao Mei suppressed her laughter. Thinking that Molei had been captured while trying to save her, Hao Mei felt a pang of guilt.
Hao Mei hadn't seen Molei near the Sun Nest. She guessed that Molei was locked in a dungeon—damp, cold, dark, and isolated. Thinking of this, Hao Mei felt even more guilty. She murmured, "Molei, you're suffering. Bear with it a little longer. I'll come to rescue you soon."
Meanwhile, in a bedroom on the first floor of the wooden building next to the Sun Nest.
Molei lay on the bed in a rather ungraceful sleeping position. Dreaming of something, she smiled like a silly girl. Groggily, she reached into her pajamas, scratched herself, and then continued sleeping.
...
At 1:00 PM that day, in front of their mother nest, countless Demonic Beasts lay prostrate on the fungal carpet. After successive waves of mass production, the number of elite Demonic Beasts had officially exceeded 100,000.
Currently, their combat insect race numbers were:
Elite Demonic Beasts: 107,697.
Sun Flame Dragons: 1,318.
In addition to these, there was the leader-level Demonic Flame Dragon, Barbatos. The remaining ordinary Demonic Beasts or Sun Flame Dragons had been decomposed by the fungal carpet.
Su Xiao leaped onto Barbatos's back. As Barbatos spread its wings and took off, a total of 1,000 Sun Flame Dragons and 100,000 Demonic Beasts set out. The rest stayed to guard the base.
On the dragon's back, the wind whistled past Su Xiao's ears. Bubu Wang, wearing pilot goggles, sat crouched beside his leg. If one didn't know better, they'd think it was the dragon rider—a Woof Dragon Rider.
The scenery below sped by. Soon, a valley came into Su Xiao's view. The front part of the valley was a narrow, one-line-sky terrain, while the inner part was an open-air cave. The cave's floor was level with the ground, with shallow water up to the ankles.
As Barbatos descended, Su Xiao jumped off its back. Landing in the slightly enclosed open-air cave, Su Xiao's feet splashed water.
Looking around, the area was about several hundred square meters. The surrounding rock walls were covered with many vines, and the rocks above seemed to converge slightly.
Su Xiao crouched down, touching the wet rock under the shallow water with one hand. A wave of mental energy spread. The Demonic Beasts and Sun Flame Dragons on standby all retreated, and Barbatos also flew away.
This was a good place for a one-on-one fight. Su Xiao took out the [Sacred Oak] and activated the mark on it.
Buzz!
A wave of plant-golden-green energy spread, first sweeping over a large surrounding area. After confirming there was nothing unusual, the mark on the [Sacred Oak] began to expand.
The ancient deity, Sacred Oak, though quite angry, hadn't lost its mind. It first confirmed there were no ambushes nearby and assessed Su Xiao's strength before beginning its descent.
After this wave, the metal armlets hidden under Su Xiao's right sleeve glowed faintly, preventing the ancient deity Sacred Oak from probing his true strength.
A large number of branches burst out from the massive mark ahead, forming a being over 12 meters tall, half-tree, half-human. It looked like a giant formed from intertwined branches, roots, and vines, but it had three arms and a cluster of heads that vaguely formed a face.
"Mortal, is it you, who dares to defy..."
The ancient deity Sacred Oak's voice was like a great bell. Just then, a sound of air being torn came. Barbatos smashed through most of the cave and swooped behind Su Xiao.
Was the ancient deity Sacred Oak strong? Of course. Without strong power, it wouldn't have come looking for trouble.
But the ancient deity Sacred Oak had apparently never encountered an alchemist before, especially one who had developed a legion-style alchemy.
As Barbatos swooped down, a pillar of metallic light descended from above, enveloping an area of 3 kilometers around, including Su Xiao and Barbatos.
Alchemy runes appeared on Su Xiao and Barbatos, allowing them to move freely within the light pillar's range for over ten seconds. Su Xiao leaped onto Barbatos's back, and Barbatos burst into flight speed, rushing out of the light pillar's range.
Inside the golden light pillar, the ancient deity Sacred Oak was inwardly alarmed but, as a deity, it had seen all kinds of situations. This small scene naturally couldn't intimidate it.
However, before the golden light pillar dissipated, over a dozen overlapping alchemy formations appeared in the sky. No one had ever said that alchemy formations could only be placed on the ground.
These alchemy formations, set up at high altitude, had successfully evaded the ancient deity Sacred Oak's detection. Now, they were the things that would take its life.
Facing the "guest" who had come from afar, since it was a deity-type existence, Su Xiao decided to let it follow local customs. First, let it praise the sun, then talk about other things.
All the alchemy formations activated to their maximum. Even more terrifying, the energy core of these alchemy formations was the "Sun Ring" that Su Xiao had temporarily removed from the mother nest's core. The faith energy of the sun within it was directly used to drive the formations.
When the dozen or so interconnected formations converged, a pillar-shaped barrier enveloped the ancient deity Sacred Oak. Everything happened too fast. The connection of the various formations was nearly perfect. Fishing for evil gods was a skill honed through practice.
Inside the barrier, the ancient deity Sacred Oak realized the situation was bad. It had arrived in this world less than two seconds ago and was already facing such an unexpected situation. It would be a lie to say it wasn't alarmed.
Inside the barrier, the branches all over the ancient deity Sacred Oak's body grew wildly, trying to break through the barrier. Just then, the Sun Ring above was illuminated by the sun, becoming exceptionally brilliant. A dazzling golden solar flame gathered at the top of the barrier and then poured down.
Sensing this dazzling golden solar flame, the ancient deity Sacred Oak finally lost its composure. Shock and disbelief appeared in its eyes. It recalled the fear of being dominated by the Sun God Clan.
"No!!!"
Boom!
The dazzling golden solar flame fell, crackling and burning inside the barrier. The ancient deity Sacred Oak, which had just been looking down on all beings with arrogance, was now being burned, crashing around inside the cylindrical barrier, roaring incessantly.
A total of 1,000 Sun Flame Dragons flew over. They surrounded the barrier, gathered dragon flame in their chests and abdomens, and then sprayed solar fire onto the outer wall of the cylindrical barrier, making the temperature inside even more terrifying. Solar flames burned both inside and out.
On Barbatos's back, Su Xiao opened the lid of the pocket watch in his hand and checked the time. When slow-roasting evil or dark gods, one had to pay attention to the heat. If they were burned to a crisp, the gains would be greatly reduced.