Chapter 1198: The Largest Army
A massive explosion echoed across the entire "End."
The sweeping sound waves shattered nearly all the remaining glass in the city.
Every participant standing at the entrance of the "Zodiac" first felt the ground shake beneath them, and seconds later, the deafening roar reached their ears.
If not for the red they could still see when they opened their eyes, anyone would have thought this city had already been destroyed.
"It's time." Qi Xia stood up after the explosion faded, glancing at the few people around him. "Let's go."
Everyone nodded, taking one last look at the dilapidated building before them, as if it were the final time they would see this scene. Then, one by one, they stepped through the "door."
At the same time, all the "Extreme Path" teams seemed to move in tacit agreement, boarding the "train" alongside their respective "Zodiacs."
The expression on every face was unusually grim, for they knew what awaited them.
If they had been this battered just facing a single "Divine Beast," what would happen if they encountered all the "Earth-level" and "Heaven-level" opponents? How would the situation turn out?
But none of them had any way back.
Their hopeless existence had dragged on for far too long, and even death could not liberate them from the "End."
If that was truly the case... what harm was there in dying on the "train"?
Whether this plan succeeded or failed, these unbearable days were finally coming to an end.
Chu Tianqiu took a deep breath, turned to give Zhang Shan a signal, and the two of them stepped up to the "door."
Beside them, Qin Dingdong crossed her arms, turning her head to scan the distance.
Wei Yang had just led over a thousand natives toward the direction of the Vermilion Bird, and now a huge explosion had come from there. Was that old bastard dead or alive?
"Oh... esteemed leaders..." The Mole squinted as he looked at Chu Tianqiu at the front. "Have you decided to leave now?"
"That explosion just now felt like some kind of sudden signal." Chu Tianqiu pondered for a moment before saying, "I think it's time."
"Very well..." The Mole slowly bent over and extended his hand in a gesture of invitation. "VIPs, three of you. Welcome to the 'Endless Hell.'"
Jin Yuanxun was also standing behind the three of them at this moment, just staring at the distant "door" without moving.
Chu Tianqiu and Zhang Shan steadied their minds and walked into the door one after another. Li Xiangling and Little Glasses silently watched them leave.
Then came Qin Dingdong and the Mole. One by one, the four of them vanished from the spot.
Little Glasses and Li Xiangling waited a few seconds, making sure there were no issues, before turning back to look for Jin Yuanxun. They found that Jin Yuanxun had disappeared too.
"Huh...?" Little Glasses was startled. "Where's Jin Yuanxun?"
Li Xiangling also realized something wasn't right. Jin Yuanxun had clearly been standing right there just a moment ago.
"Damn..." Little Glasses turned his head worriedly to look at the teleportation portal. "Isn't his 'Jump' only supposed to reach 'where his eyes can see'? Now he..."
...
When Wei Yang arrived at the Vermilion Bird's arena, all that remained was a huge crater that looked like an impact site.
Thick smoke billowed nearby, as if some missile had landed there, demolishing nearly half the street. Scattered limbs and flesh could be seen vaguely in the area, but it was impossible to tell how many people had been there originally.
Was this the extent of what an "Echo" could do...?
He and the thousand-plus "natives" behind him stood frozen in silence.
Even his "Mind Reading" couldn't tell him what had happened now.
"The Vermilion Bird... is dead?" Wei Yang asked uncertainly.
If the Vermilion Bird was dead... then what about the "natives" behind him...?
Wei Yang slowly turned around. What greeted him were thousands of eyes.
Those eyes were flickering, as if they were receiving some unbelievable news.
Seeing this, Wei Yang involuntarily took a step back.
How many precedents were there in the "End" of "natives" regaining their sanity?
As far as he knew, there should be none.
As long as the Azure Dragon was alive, as long as the Vermilion Bird was alive, the sanity taken by "Soul Stealing" could never be returned to its owner.
After all, this was not only a way to stabilize the rule of the upper echelons but also their method of toying with humans.
But what exactly was the attitude of these "natives" toward him?
To keep these "natives" under control, he had subjected them to both physical and mental torture.
Now, if they regained their sanity... what would their attitude be toward him?
Having never experienced anything like this before, Wei Yang had no idea what would happen next.
"This is..."
A native man, the first to regain his sanity, spoke slowly.
"I think I..."
The man looked down at his own body, feeling that something was strange.
He felt as if he had been suffering from amnesia and had only just remembered why he was here.
But this feeling seemed different from amnesia. All the days he had lived through were still vivid in his mind. He seemed to have been a child with an undeveloped intellect, always following an adult's lead.
An... 'adult'...?
The man slowly raised his head and looked at Wei Yang before him.
Wei Yang didn't know what the man's attitude toward him was, so he could only pretend nothing was wrong and met his gaze.
Then, one by one, more and more "natives" began to have light in their eyes.
They were no longer vacant, expressionless walking corpses, but real people.
What Wei Yang hadn't expected was... the thousand-plus people before him were now unusually quiet. They all raised their heads to look at him, but not a single person spoke.
Why were they all staring at him... in total silence?
"Wait..." A thought suddenly struck Wei Yang.
Although he didn't understand the principle behind "natives" regaining their sanity, he understood human hearts.
Over the years, he had undoubtedly been the nightmare of every single one of them.
To train these beast-like "natives," he had instilled in them the deepest fear. Even though their sanity had returned, without a doubt...
The "fear" remained.
Their subconscious minds had been so thoroughly battered by him that even if they could now think independently, there would still be a voice in their heads telling them not to defy him.
This abstract feeling was like the ruling method of the Celestial Dragon and the Azure Dragon.
As long as the deepest fear was planted in everyone's heart, it was absolutely impossible for anyone to take the lead in rebelling.
The batch of "natives" before him were clearly people caught in a crack—their hearts contained both the "fear" of the Celestial Dragon and the Azure Dragon, and the "fear" of him.
Now it was just a matter of seeing whose "fear" ran deeper.
"What are you looking at?" Wei Yang asked.
Upon hearing this, several rows of "natives" in the front unconsciously lowered their heads and averted their gaze.
"Good... excellent!" Wei Yang thought to himself.
These people hadn't even considered rushing up and tearing him apart. That way, they could achieve complete liberation.
It was as absurd as the wartime scenario where two armed soldiers could guard a hundred prisoners.