Chapter 29: A Clear Division of Labor

Chapter 29: A Clear Division of Labor

Directly above the base camp, a dark aperture several kilometers in diameter had formed, sealed by a layer of semi-transparent membrane. Even so, one could still see the huddled Corrupted Ones within.

Below, Su Xiao stood atop a wooden building, watching the Nether army brewing in the sky. The Nether side was preparing to repeat its old trick, using the same method to crush the Sun Nest.

It could be said that the Nether faction's tactic was both simple and unstoppable. This spatial technology pushed the advantage of swarm tactics to the extreme, omitting the most casualty-heavy charge phase and directly pouring down from above.

Inside the base camp, the World Child, Lekeli, looked up at this scene. Throughout the journey, he had acted like a cheerful and open-minded youth.

But at this moment, he stared expressionlessly at the sight above, undisguised hatred in his eyes. This morning, everyone connected to him had died. He went from grief to despair, until it seemed a string in his mind snapped with a crack. All grief and despair vanished, replaced by numbness.

The scene before him made Lekeli recall the pain again—his parents screaming in despair against the door, his younger brother paralyzed with fear and confusion, his little sister dumbstruck at the dining table. Everything, everything, turned into scattered limbs and flesh within a dozen seconds. His family didn't even have the chance to become monsters.

"I... should have died. Why wasn't I home then? Why is the image in my memory... from outside the door?"

Lekeli's eyes held a trace of bewilderment. He tried to recall, but his memories were exceptionally fragmented. He vaguely saw the monster that killed his family smashing the door, but for some reason, this image of smashing the door was from a first-person perspective in his mind, and his parents, younger brother, and sister's terrified and helpless faces were also from a first-person perspective.

Lekeli looked at his right hand. Unbeknownst to him, cracks had spread across his arm, and a dark green energy surged within, showing a hint of brilliance. What confused Lekeli was that he could... actually control this energy.

"I..."

Lekeli understood one thing, which brought immense terror to his eyes. His pupils gradually turned dark green. He looked for help to Aiseiya beside him, and the next second, a fist enlarged before his eyes.

Bang~

Darkness enveloped Lekeli's vision. As he fell, Aiseiya grabbed him by the back of his collar.

"Bai Ye, he seems to have discovered his Nether constitution. If I'm not mistaken, the Nether forces are attacking so urgently because they might have sensed his existence. I feel that this youth is a rare treasure to the Nether faction. His body energy combines 'Fate Blood' and 'Nether Power.'"

Aiseiya held Lekeli's neck with one arm until she was sure he was completely unconscious before letting go.

"..."

Su Xiao didn't speak. He pointed at the wooden building below. Aiseiya immediately understood his meaning—she wouldn't participate in this battle. She only needed to ensure Lekeli wasn't taken.

Su Xiao looked back up at the sky. The Nether faction's spatial technology was formidable, especially in constructing ultra-long-distance spatial passages.

This also meant that their side's insectoid building, the Ambusher, hadn't played its intended role. Having Baha block this dark aperture was meaningless; Baha's Demon Hawk Domain had too long a cooldown. Even if this attack was stopped, the Nether forces would still strike again later.

The current situation made Su Xiao vaguely grasp a key piece of intelligence: Lekeli was far more important than imagined. This youth had been appointed World Child in the world's time of crisis.

What could be confirmed was that Lekeli's strength after becoming World Child was definitely not in combat. In this world, Aiseiya and the Empire's Hand, Rein God, were the combat powerhouses.

From another perspective, the current situation was the Nether's invasion of this world. The Nether's invasion would inevitably cause irreversible damage to this world. Otherwise, the World Consciousness wouldn't have taken so many actions.

First, the chosen Kara, then making Aiseiya the savior, and finally sparing no effort to create the World Child, Lekeli.

This series of actions showed that this world's World Consciousness was desperately resisting the Nether's invasion. Unfortunately, the World Consciousness was both strong and weak. If it were someone from this world who angered the World Consciousness, they would have no way out.

Conversely, when facing the Nether forces, the World Consciousness was instantly helpless.

Analyzing this way, the World Consciousness would lean toward their side. As for why it didn't favor the Empire, that was understandable.

The Empire was a technological civilization, and a dictatorial one at that. Developing technology produced massive pollution. Facing such a local force, the World Consciousness naturally wouldn't like it.

Assuming the World Consciousness favored their side, could it directly help them? The answer was no. Su Xiao and Jila were not natives of this world, and they were both under the certification of Reincarnation Paradise.

If the World Consciousness bypassed Reincarnation Paradise's certification to grant Su Xiao and Jila benefits, the trouble would be immense. To put it bluntly, this was just a Primordial World's World Consciousness. Directly violating Reincarnation Paradise's regulations would result in it becoming a core on the spot—yes, a World Core.

Since direct help was impossible, a compromise was still feasible. This world's final powerful assist was making Aiseiya encounter Lekeli and sending Lekeli to the Sun Nest.

Thus, Lekeli's importance was clear. This youth probably wasn't the key figure; the Fate Blood within him was what truly mattered.

Not to mention, the Nether forces attacking so urgently somewhat compromised the Great Emperor's dignity. Although they hadn't met, Su Xiao always felt pressure from the Nether Great Emperor. But this time, the Great Emperor seemed a bit hasty, unlike the careful, step-by-step approach shown before.

Su Xiao took out a crystalline, semi-transparent ring. The ring was light purple overall, made by Jila using a small amount of her own source blood and Black Maple Tree charcoal crystal. Jila's talent for wastefulness seemed innate.

The ring's function was simple: it acted as a signal amplifier, enhancing Jila's control range over her insectoid units.

It wasn't needed yet, but if they could counterattack, this ring would be crucial. At that time, Su Xiao would cross realms to the Nether faction's world. Without this ring, Jila couldn't control her insectoid units across realms.

The dark aperture above was still brewing. This showed that their side's insectoid building, the Ambusher, was still useful. When the Nether attacked Platinum Capital earlier, the dark aperture fully opened in under a minute. Now, over five minutes had passed, and the several-kilometer-wide dark aperture above was still brewing.

The dark aperture was within the Titan Beast's firing range; the plasma cannon could hit it. Su Xiao didn't do that. Blasting a large hole in the membrane would only help the Nether forces attack faster.

Su Xiao controlled a Sun Flame Dragon to fly high into the sky, heading straight for the dark aperture. As the Sun Flame Dragon ascended, it reached a few dozen meters below the aperture, within spitting distance of dragonflame. Burning a few dozen-meter hole in the membrane would let fewer Corrupted Ones leak through, making it easier to handle.

Whoosh!

The Sun Flame Dragon spat dragonflame upward. This was secondary Sun Flame, not as pure as Apollo, but still Sun Flame.

With a sizzle, the semi-transparent membrane burned with a foul, scorched smell. The Corrupted Ones inside, scorched by the high heat, howled incessantly.

"Nice!"

On the ground, watching Molei clenched her fists in joy. Fate was truly wonderful. Earlier, the three of them had hoped Su Xiao would lose because they were the ones getting beaten then. Naturally, they wanted their enemy to lose.

But now, they desperately wanted Su Xiao to win because they had already paid—70,000 Soul Coins in "accommodation fees." If they lost, Molei and the other two would cry themselves to death in the bathroom.

The dragonflame burned, and the membrane area under attack grew thinner, about to break. At that moment, dark green smoke suddenly appeared around the Sun Flame Dragon and seeped into its body.

The dragonflame stopped abruptly. A powerful will followed the Sun Flame Dragon's mental connection, heading straight for Jila.

Before this Nether will reached Jila, it was first blocked by a ring acting as a relay—the purple crystal ring on Su Xiao's index finger.

The Nether will changed targets, intending to assault Su Xiao's soul. Then there was nothing.

Su Xiao looked at the Sun Flame Dragon in the sky. It should now be called the Nether Flame Dragon. This Flame Dragon had been eroded by Nether power and was now being controlled by someone.

The other party clearly liked this Nether Flame Dragon, intending to use it as a mount or something. They made the Nether Flame Dragon pounce at the dark aperture's membrane and try to burrow inside.

At that moment, the Nether Flame Dragon roared, and the solar energy condensed within it detonated.

Boom!

The Nether Flame Dragon exploded, also blasting a hole in the membrane. The Corrupted Ones inside didn't pour down; they grabbed and even bit each other. This was clearly the controller not wanting such a number of Corrupted Ones to fall, causing pointless troop losses.

Inside the Abyss Aperture, besides the Corrupted Ones packed on the membrane, further in, the Corrupted Ones stood densely but weren't crowded together.

This was a vast space filled with a thin, dark green mist, seeming boundless. A dark green moon hung in the sky.

Behind the many Corrupted Ones, soldiers in black armor stood in formation. Their faces were covered by helmets, revealing only dark green glows.

On a throne seemingly fused from white bones sat a figure in dark gold full-body armor. Its helmet had feather ornaments, a two-handed greatsword inserted on the left, and a metal greatbow on the right.

The man on the throne was named Solaro, one of the Four Knights under the King, granted the name Black Eagle, a ruthless character.

The Nether faction's power structure wasn't complex. The Nether Great Emperor was the absolute ruler, below whom were the Four Knights.

Black Eagle Solaro.
Golden Lion Miu.
Owl Furia.
Serpent Gumo.

These Four Knights under the King each had their specialties. At the top was Black Eagle Solaro, the Nether Great Emperor's hunting falcon. He could not only find prey but also kill it, bringing back the valuable parts.

Black Eagle Solaro was most trusted by the Great Emperor. Even though he campaigned abroad year-round, his position with the Great Emperor was stable. No one dared speak ill of Black Eagle Solaro behind his back.

Among the remaining three Knights, Golden Lion Miu was the Great Emperor's palace guard captain, the commander of the Imperial Guard.

Owl Furia didn't command the Nether's armies. Her strength lay in personal combat, with methods not for warfare but for dealing with individual powerhouses.

As for the last, Serpent Gumo, whether this person existed was uncertain. The only known intelligence was that this person was a strategist type.

Due to Serpent Gumo's extreme mystery, those who knew of the Nether faction generally believed him dead. The Four Knights under the King were often called the Three Knights under the King.

At this moment, diagonally behind Black Eagle Solaro stood a figure in armor similar in style to his but much slimmer. The armor was blue-black in tone, lacking the heaviness and shine of ordinary armor, being form-fitting and smooth in luster. Judging by the figure, this person was likely female.

On the throne, Black Eagle Solaro looked at a slightly blurry image before him—a bird's-eye view of the Sun Nest.

"At all costs, seize the prophesied one."

Solaro spoke in an ancient language. This command was quickly relayed.

At the center of the vast space, a giant metal wheel was built, rusted and mottled. With a crack of a whip, a supervisor roared.

As the shout fell, giants around the giant metal wheel woke up. Like mules fitted with harnesses, they pulled the giant metal wheel into motion. The friction of thick metal produced a grinding sound.

Clang!

The giant metal wheel locked into a slot. At the same time, the tough membrane sealing the dark aperture ruptured. All the Corrupted Ones in the Nether space surged toward the dark aperture like a tide.

Directly above the Mother Nest, countless Corrupted Ones fell from the sky. Their filthy, blackened clothes were tattered, their messy, fluffy hair floated on its own, and their predatory dark green eyes sent chills down one's spine.

The scene before Platinum Capital's fall reappeared. The falling Corrupted Ones formed a black pillar several kilometers thick. Their howls merged into one, piercing eardrums.

Su Xiao watched this calmly. This wasn't Platinum Capital, nor were there those middle-level officials consumed by greed. All the resources their side had obtained were used to build 200 Brutal Turrets. Now, it was time for them to show their firepower.

When the black pillar of Corrupted Ones descended to 3,000 meters above their base, all 200 Brutal Turrets were activated. Chitinous barrels tilted upward, and dense living missiles blasted out of the chambers.

Boom, boom, boom...

The roar was unending. The living missiles their side launched had no fixed targets. They were homing, tracking biological signals from the detection towers to automatically pursue the nearest units to the Mother Nest.

This caused all the living missiles, after launch, to arc gracefully and meet the falling pillar of Corrupted Ones head-on.

Their side had a total of 200 Brutal Turrets. Each turret could fire 257 living missiles per minute, meaning a total of 51,400 missiles per minute, or about 857 per second.

What did launching nearly a thousand missiles per second mean? It meant these forearm-sized missiles formed a homing barrage.

Boom! Boom! Boom...

Explosions came from above. The roaring Corrupted Ones were first shattered by the blasts, then burned by the liquid flames splashed from the missile explosions.

A spectacular scene appeared. Above, the black pillar of Corrupted Ones tried to drown their base, while their 200 Brutal Turrets fired nonstop. Missiles exploded in flame clouds above, holding the black pillar at bay.

Amid the deafening explosions, fire rain fell—the remains of Corrupted Ones, burning as liquid flames clung to them.

Due to the liquid flames' properties, these remains didn't turn to charcoal but became a gray semi-fluid.

This clash that shook both sides was just an appetizer. Platinum Capital had held out for 20 minutes under such an assault. The Sun Nest could certainly withstand it, or there would be no fight.

A low moan like a whale came. A war beast, completely rotten, whale-like, and semi-mechanical, charged out of the dark aperture. Under the cover of many Corrupted Ones, this Nether Dragon Whale swam down in a dive. It broke through the flame clouds, heading straight for their Mother Nest—huge, determined, with terrifying defense.

Living missiles slammed into the Nether Dragon Whale. It let out pained moans but didn't stop, intent on crashing into the Mother Nest. With its terrifying size of nearly 300 meters in length and its full-body bio-metal layer, it might actually succeed.

Just as the Nether Dragon Whale broke through and dove toward the Mother Nest, a Titan Beast beside the Mother Nest lowered its body. Its plasma belly sac swelled, and its flower-bud-shaped upper body flattened. Due to the highly activated internal plasma, it glowed fluorescent blue.

Boom!!

A plasma ball several meters in diameter flew out. Some might think this plasma ball was small, but it was compressed. Without compression, it would be at least a hundred meters across.

Whoosh, the fluorescent blue plasma ball left a trail of light particles, following a not-very-fast parabolic arc to hit the Nether Dragon Whale. Plasma cannons were like this—they looked slow, but in reality, their speed was absurd.

A magnetic storm explosion burst open. The previously majestic Nether Dragon Whale was shattered by a single plasma cannon shot. Its giant, half-metal fish eye flew diagonally into the distance, crashing into a distant mountain peak.

As soon as the plasma cannon fired, three Nether Dragon Whales that had just swum out turned and swam back. These semi-mechanical lifeforms corrupted by the Nether, when facing plasma weapons, had met their daddy.

Su Xiao didn't relax at all due to the current advantage. The Nether faction's combat power was somewhat absurd. He could confirm that the attacking force was the Nether faction's local legion developed within this world. Their core combat power hadn't been deployed yet.

This intelligence was shared by the Empire. When the Empire was on "Aokai Star," they were first attacked by Corrupted Ones. The Empire had thought, "Is that all?" But when the Nether faction's main force attacked, the Empire resolutely abandoned "Aokai Star."

After learning this, Su Xiao made an estimate. If they could easily withstand the Nether faction's ragtag army, then they would have a fighting chance against the Nether regulars.

The current problem was that the ragtag army's strength was somewhat beyond expectations. It was much stronger than on "Aokai Star." This was likely because the Nether faction, with its numerical advantage, had conducted survival-of-the-fittest devouring.

The beings of over a dozen planets in this world had been Netherized. Even if one in a hundred was chosen, the numbers were still unstoppable.

Clearly, the enemy commander had optimized the ragtag army, which also caused Platinum Capital's disastrous defeat of falling in 20 minutes.

Most of the company's high-ranking officials survived, taking large amounts of supplies and technology to the Empire's New Star City. Su Xiao deeply regretted this. If they had come to him, the number of Brutal Turrets might have doubled. Don't underestimate the company's wealth—the greedier they were, the richer.

Kaisa hadn't come to the Sun Nest because he didn't want to bring the Abyssal Jar and add pressure to Su Xiao. The Nether faction's main goal in this invasion was to seize the Abyssal Jar. This "Daddy-level" artifact, feared by others, was a treasure the Nether faction desired.

Kaisa went to plague the Empire's forces. Unfortunately, Su Xiao's side had a World Child who fused Nether energy with Fate Blood, causing the Nether commander, Black Eagle Solaro, who was originally preparing to attack New Star City, to instead attack their side.

A burnt smell and blood scent drifted down from above. The roar continued. Su Xiao watched the still-pouring Corrupted Ones above. Now, it was a test of endurance—whether their living missiles would be breached first, or the Corrupted Ones would be pushed back.

After ten minutes of this clash of cannon fodder and firepower, the enemy commander in the Nether space above revealed a second card.

Don't forget, Platinum Capital had already been captured. The Nether faction used it as a base to open a more stable spatial channel, continuously transporting Corrupted Ones into the city.

A tremor came from under Su Xiao's feet. He frowned, leaped onto a Host, then floated up via the Host to the highest insectoid building, the Jila Spiral Tower.

The roar above continued, fire rain never stopping. Su Xiao stood atop the 200-meter-tall Jila Spiral Tower, overlooking everything.

Looking around the horizon, a "black tide" was converging on their base. The enemy's numbers were too hard to calculate—just a dark mass gradually covering the surrounding land. Billions of Corrupted Ones were attacking.

First, an air strike to pin down their main firepower, then a 360-degree encirclement from all sides. The enemy commander intended to drown their base with swarm tactics and devour everything.

"Roar!"

Corrupted Ones rushed to the city wall. They didn't climb; the latter stepped on the former. In just a few seconds, the Corrupted Ones, with their considerable running speed, piled up slopes around the wall and surged over. Some, rushing too fast, flew up like waves crashing on rocks. The term "swarm tactics" was vividly illustrated here.

Boom! Boom! Boom...

Living missiles exploded in succession. The Corrupted Ones that had just formed slopes outside the wall were mostly blown apart. As the missile fire shifted, Corrupted Ones around the wall were shattered in large swaths. But the falling pillar of Corrupted Ones in the sky grew lower, now only about 2,000 meters from the Mother Nest.

Jila's mental power was fully activated. She had to lock onto every Corrupted One's position and adjust the Brutal Turrets' firepower based on threat level.

"Damn it, damn it!"

Baha's eyes could barely keep up. Unfortunately, at this time, joining the fight was meaningless and would only get him hit by friendly missiles.

Above, in the Nether space, Black Eagle Solaro watched the battlefield through the phantom image before him. His gaze fixed on Su Xiao, growing solemn.

"This seems... a Law Destroyer?"

Black Eagle Solaro's tone held some doubt.

"Sir, the Law Destroyers have perished."

The slim female warrior slightly behind and to the side spoke, her voice serious but with a hint of tenderness—only for Black Eagle Solaro.

"No, he is a Law Destroyer. The era of the Law Destroyers has indeed passed, but that doesn't mean a new one can't appear. Even in this era, with inheritance, it's possible for a Law Destroyer to emerge."

Black Eagle Solaro's fingers pressed against the armrest, his index finger tapping the eagle head on it.

Seeing this, the female warrior beside him slightly bowed and asked, "Sir, should we withdraw?"

"No, we should respect him, then defeat him, and grant him the highest honor of death. No matter the time, Law Destroyers deserve respect, even as enemies. But... only a dead enemy can be trusted."

As Black Eagle Solaro spoke, dark green flames ignited on his throne. At the same time, the dark green in all the Corrupted Ones' eyes became more pronounced. Their bodies grew stronger and taller.

The change in the Corrupted Ones sharply increased the defensive pressure on their base. The billions of Corrupted Ones around and the falling pillar above all pressed closer, as if about to drown their base at any moment.

The Corrupted Ones' howls were unending. Sun Flame Dragons spat dragonflame outside the wall. The high-pressure flame blasted large groups of Corrupted Ones into the air.

A shocking scene occurred. The Corrupted Ones grabbed each other, forming a black hand that seized a Sun Flame Dragon.

If another Sun Flame Dragon hadn't rescued it with dragonflame, this Sun Flame Dragon would have been torn apart and gnawed into a skeleton within 30 seconds. The Corrupted Ones' teeth and claws, boosted by Abyss passives, had attack power far exceeding other grunts.

No one noticed that their fungal carpet was rapidly expanding. Originally only reaching the wall, it had now spread over 2,000 meters outward.

Inside the Mother Nest, Su Xiao followed the main passage to the core, stopping before the Mother Nest core, which resembled a giant heart.

Through experimentation, their heavily invested fungal carpet could indeed absorb Corrupted Ones, extracting bio-energy from their flesh.

This was undoubtedly good news. With billions of Corrupted Ones besieging them and the continuous falling pillar above, as long as the fungal carpet's efficiency kept up, a massive amount of bio-energy was about to be obtained.

Then, they could continue building Brutal Turrets and cultivating Titan Beasts, expanding the base area, strengthening the wall defenses, and so on. The situation would snowball for the better.

But all this depended on solving one problem. While their fungal carpet absorbed bio-energy from the Corrupted Ones' flesh, it also absorbed Nether energy.

To separate the two, they had to go through the Mother Nest's energy filtering organ—unique to their Mother Nest, a symbiotic organ of the fungal carpet.

The problem was that after separating the Nether energy, this energy was uncontrollable and hard to expel from the Mother Nest. In other words, while the fungal carpet absorbed bio-energy from Corrupted One corpses, the Nether energy accumulated in the Mother Nest would grow, a slow death.

Nether energy was a "negative attribute energy" boosted by Abyss power. Its removal difficulty was easy to imagine. Moreover, their Mother Nest was continuously filtering out Nether energy. This situation was somewhat unsolvable.

Su Xiao looked at the Mother Nest core, which had already turned dark green. As for how to solve the current predicament, there was indeed a way, but this way... was hard to describe.

Su Xiao took out the Primordial Mask from his storage space. This reserve "Daddy-level" artifact had become increasingly hard to perceive recently, with a growing demand for Abyss products. Since Su Xiao hadn't fed it Black Maple Tree branches for several days, it seemed ready to run away.

As soon as he took out the Primordial Mask, it sensed the Nether power within the Mother Nest core. This energy originating from the Abyss was naturally on the Primordial Mask's menu.

With a slap, the Primordial Mask attached to the Mother Nest core and merged into it. In an instant, the dark green on the Mother Nest core vanished. The Nether energy stored in the Mother Nest was devoured clean by the Primordial Mask.

Thus, the division of labor was clear. The fungal carpet absorbed life force mixed with Nether energy from the Corrupted Ones' flesh. This mixed energy entered the Mother Nest, which separated it. The life force was converted into bio-energy for storage, while the Nether energy was directly given to the Primordial Mask to devour freely.

The number of Corrupted Ones outside was countless. The Nether energy that could be absorbed would be immense. Then, to what extent would the Primordial Mask improve? Would it advance to a new Daddy?

If the Nether faction could be eliminated and all Nether energy absorbed by the Primordial Mask, this "Daddy-level" artifact would definitely become a very powerful existence.

For some reason, after thinking about the Primordial Mask advancing to a "Daddy-level" artifact, Su Xiao suddenly remembered the Devil Clan. Last time, they had taken over the Necronomicon. Now, a new "Daddy-level" artifact was about to appear. He wondered if they would be interested in taking over again.