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Chapter 74: Within the Black Mist

Chai Xuyang deeply regretted his decision.

Why did he raise his hand recklessly? He should have just followed the majority. Now, it was too late to turn back. Shu Jun had made his intentions clear, and if Chai Xuyang were to backtrack now, he would be seen as indecisive.

Shu Jun’s actions were resolute, not just empty threats. Now, Chai Xuyang could only pray that Captain Shu had a plan to save them both from this predicament.

The others were also stubborn, refusing to act against their will. They remained firm near the stronghold, waiting for further instructions. The two of them, on the other hand, were isolated as they approached the stronghold, attempting to find an infiltration route.

Although the cultivation stronghold was close to the city, it was still located on the outskirts of the erosion zone. Thin mist hovered above the muddy ground, and the air passed through their masks, leaving a bitter taste. Shu Jun silently moved forward on the muddy ground, his footsteps making no sound.

Chai Xuyang silently followed, watching as the other team members disappeared from his sight.

Chai Xuyang was a member of Groundwater and considering the relationship between Groundwater and Blackbirds, there was an awkward atmosphere between the two of them. Others had always said that the captain of the Blackbirds was warm and friendly, but they never mentioned how imposing Shu Jun’s presence could be. After going around in circles for a while, Chai Xuyang couldn’t help but speak up—not out of boredom, but to bolster his courage.

“Um… Do you know where our captain is?” It had become somewhat of an unsolved mystery within Groundwater.

“He’s in Y City,” Shu Jun replied softly, without turning his head.

“And? Could you please update us on the situation? The other teams have their captains with them, but our captain is missing since the Reunion Festival…” Chai Xuyang struggled to swallow his saliva. “And we lost a comrade during the celebration.”

“Luo Duan has his own ideas. I will eventually inform everyone.” Shu Jun stopped walking and surveyed the nearby wall. “…But now is not the right time.”

“When will the captain return to the team?”

“I don’t know.”

“…And when will the captain be able to contact us?”

“I’m not sure.” Shu Jun finally turned his head and showed a complicated expression. “But I assure you, you will have the opportunity to speak with him. Okay, the patrol just left. Let’s go.”

Go where? With their limited weaponry, they were no different from being unarmed. Chai Xuyang closed his eyes in agony. Unfortunately, orders had to be followed. The two of them quickly climbed over the wall, huddling in a corner, waiting for another patrol to pass.

“I remember your ability is to control sand, right?”

“Yes.”

“Can you manipulate dust?”

“I can…” But it doesn’t seem very useful.

“In that case, let’s play a trick on those purifiers over there. We should be at a safe distance now. It doesn’t have to be too complicated. Just raise some dust and cause them to malfunction.”

Chai Xuyang agreed and began carefully manipulating the dust. Fine particles danced leisurely in the air, defying the wind as they entered the air vents of the purifiers. The noise from the machines grew louder, and overheating was only a matter of time.

Shu Jun nodded and rubbed his temples.

Shu Jun wasn’t feeling very comfortable himself. The purifiers here were much stronger than the ones at the Reunion Festival. He suppressed the erosion within his body to the limit but still felt uncomfortable. Fortunately, this location was close to the erosion zone, so the low erosion concentration here wasn’t as severe as in the city, allowing Chai Xuyang to use his abilities.

He had a rough idea of the patrol situation in this area. The main focus of defense was a familiar office building, indicating that an important figure was visiting. Compared to the incident where Shu Jun encountered Marshal Zhu, the current level of defense was even higher, clearly indicating the importance of the visitor.

Zhu Sheng.

…Y City should be busy with various matters at the moment, so why did Zhu Sheng suddenly come here?

During such a tense moment, Zhu Sheng’s presence meant that he would have a powerful security detail. The other team members were left outside, which was fortunate in a way. If they knew Zhu Sheng was here, they might seek immediate revenge, and Shu Jun wasn’t sure if he could stabilize the situation.

Currently, Luo Duan was lurking in Y City. If Zhu Sheng died here, Luo Duan would definitely assassinate Yi Ning. At that point, the humans would be left without a leader. Even if Zhu Yanchen took over, he wouldn’t be able to regain control immediately. Without any trace of the “Suppression” weapon and with Sigma taking advantage of the situation, they would be in deep trouble…

The pace of this war must not be controlled by Luo Duan.

“How about we retreat first?” Chai Xuyang suggested in a low voice after sabotaging the purifiers. “It doesn’t seem like a permanent reinforcement here. Captain Shu, let’s go back for now. We can come back when the situation improves.”

“And how do we explain our retreat? Those people outside will surely suspect the visit of a high-ranking human official and take action.”

“Why involve us then?” Chai Xuyang said with a snort. “Just bring over your little obedient Blackbirds. It would be much simpler.”

“Without you all around, I’ll send you to another settlement. What am I thinking, letting you extremists run rampant and stir up trouble.”

“But knowingly approaching danger isn’t wise,” Chai Xuyang complained even more quietly. “This is a dilemma.”

Shu Jun pinched his brow. Preparing for war required ruthlessness, but dealing with hatred required finesse. It was manageable when handling one side, but managing both made him exhausted.

Seeing Shu Jun’s silence, Chai Xuyang became more vocal.

“I don’t understand why you have to protect humans so adamantly. Yes, I know they may not all deserve to die, but this is going too far. Actually, I think the people outside have a point. Maybe it was that Smoke who did it. Humans can’t possibly be so kind-hearted to go through such trouble out of ‘sympathy’. They must have ulterior motives…”

These people hadn’t even fully digested reality yet, and they hadn’t even faced the challenging dish of Sigma. They still had no news about the treatment methods for synthetic humans. If he revealed everything at once, it would only lead to more desperate “Luo Duan” situations.

Shu Jun secretly made up his mind.

“Survival of the fittest has always been the rule, and we are famous for our expertise. Captain Shu, why don’t you consider this: let’s kill this high-ranking official as a warning to others…”

“Are the purifiers over there destroyed?” Shu Jun interrupted the incessant chatter of Chai Xuyang.

“Huh? It’s destroyed. I was just about to say…”

Before Chai Xuyang could finish speaking, Shu Jun threw a flashbang into the courtyard. “Run!”

With that, Shu Jun ran towards the tallest building in the stronghold. In theory, the synthetic human children would be kept on the lowest level. Looking at it from a different perspective, Zhu Sheng would probably be better off here.

Chai Xuyang was completely confused by his sudden actions. His mind was still in lecture mode, and it took him a while to react.

“What are you doing?” His voice was trembling.

“Just testing the opponent’s abilities to choose the next strategy.” Shu Jun grabbed Chai Xuyang’s clothes and pulled him forward. “Although the opponents are different, we’ll continue with the original plan—create a commotion and block the stronghold.”

…and meeting Leader Zhu. Shu Jun added that to his personal agenda.

“No, not this…” Bullets started flying, and Chai Xuyang’s legs went numb. He desperately kicked up dust to obstruct the enemy’s vision. The Erosion Swamps and the mutant beasts didn’t use guns, so he wasn’t accustomed to this type of combat environment.

“We were originally here to be the bad guys, so we might as well go all the way.” Shu Jun’s voice even carried a hint of amusement.

It’s over, it’s over, it’s over. Shu Jun has gone crazy. Chai Xuyang almost burst into tears.

As it turned out, the people brought by Zhu Sheng were indeed skilled. The guards instantly locked onto their positions and blocked all possible escape routes—if both of them were ordinary synthetic humans, they would have no chance of escaping.

The response from the other side was just too quick. Just as Chai Xuyang destroyed the nearby purifiers, more purifiers were activated. Chai Xuyang’s dust hadn’t fully risen before it fell back to the ground.

But then it was swept up again by the wind.

The nearby erosion concentration was too low, making it difficult for Shu Jun to manipulate. But as a genuine Erosion Swamp, his power far surpassed Chai Xuyang’s—he grabbed Chai Xuyang by the back of his collar with one hand, and then lifted them both using wind. The stronghold gradually shrank beneath them.

Luo Duan was also a top-level ability user, but his power was more supportive, and his offensive capabilities were far inferior to Shu Jun’s. Chai Xuyang was quite uncomfortable with this crazy fighting style, so he was so shocked that he couldn’t speak, and it took him a while to stammer out a sentence. “We’re… We’re flying so high…”

“I have a rough idea of their abilities. The erosion concentration below is too low, so I’m slowing down.”

Is this even human language? How is he still complaining about it being low? Chai Xuyang hadn’t seen any impact on Shu Jun’s ability intensity. What difference does it make if he slows down? They still have to go down later…

“Ahhhhhhh!” Before his brain could fully process it, Chai Xuyang couldn’t help but let out a scream.

Dense erosion gathered, almost forming a visible black mist. Shu Jun’s wind swirled the black mist together above their heads, creating a swirling dark cloud, like a whirlpool in the sky. Just looking at it with the naked eye, the ominous aura was enough to make one tremble.

Chai Xuyang was held by Shu Jun like a little chicken, completely numb. Isn’t Shu Jun’s ability related to wind? What on earth is that huge black vortex above their heads?

‘No, I know what it was,’ Chai Xuyang thought heavily. It was something he didn’t want to admit from the bottom of his heart.

He had never heard of players being able to manipulate erosion.

“We’re going down. Be careful.” Shu Jun glanced at the mass above their heads with a quite satisfied expression.

The two plummeted rapidly, with the black vortex following closely behind, crashing into the stronghold together. All the purifiers instantly overloaded. Within the black mist, they emitted a hoarse, sizzling sound as they collapsed one by one. Zhu Sheng’s people didn’t engage in direct confrontation; they immediately withdrew and infiltrated the interior of the building.

The black mist was truly terrifying. Chai Xuyang held his breath tightly, only to find the erosion mist bypassed him as if there was an invisible bubble around him.

He glanced at Shu Jun and refused to ponder the reason. “What are we doing now? Shall we open a window and blow things up?”

“Wait.”

“Wait? Wait for who?”

“Zhu Sheng.”

“After everything that’s happened, how could he come out? No, wait a minute, the people who came here are from Zhu Sheng?!”

“Yes. Wait and see. It won’t be in vain if he doesn’t come out.” Shu Jun concealed himself within the black mist, observing the people running back and forth in the corridor. “I just have something I want to show him, and you happen to have a chance to see it too.”

“……” Chai Xuyang had never been this homesick.

He shouldn’t have raised that hand after all.

In the depths of the cultivation stronghold.

Zhu Sheng stood in front of a screen, coldly observing the scene outside. Through the transparent screen, the erosion mist pervaded the surroundings of the building, as if the entire structure had sunk into a sea of smoke.

The stronghold commander wiped the sweat from his forehead and saluted. “For now, it appears that the attackers are mutated synthetic humans. From what we can tell, it is similar to the attackers from the Reunion Festival incident, possessing the ability to manipulate erosion.”

“Mm.” Zhu Sheng frowned.

“Sir, don’t worry. You are currently located on the lowest level of the building in the cultivation stronghold, and the building is specially designed with excellent sealing. Considering the situation just now, we have sealed off the entire building and purified the air according to the highest standards. They can’t harm you.”

“Mm.” Zhu Sheng’s brow remained furrowed.

“Our team has already begun assembling heavy weapon-type purifiers. Once the mist outside disperses a bit, we’ll be able to clean it up quickly. The two teams you brought have also switched to equipment with oxygen packs. The enemies won’t linger for long. Even if they’re synthetic humans, they will be affected by such high concentrations.”

“They’re not coming for me.” Zhu Sheng continued to stare at the screen. “My itinerary was absolutely confidential. It’s just a coincidence.”

“But…”

“They want to reclaim their young ones.” Zhu Sheng glanced at the small hibernation pods below.

Currently, he was sitting in a monitoring station, and the hibernation pods were densely arranged below. Many of them were emergency transfers, and there was no need to consider the <Erosion> activities of these young ones. The pods were tightly packed together, creating a dazzling sight.

“Just two individuals?”

“The number of people doesn’t matter. Whether they genuinely want to snatch the young ones or they’re intentionally doing it to provoke us, it proves one thing—they care about these young ones. Since they care, we will inevitably seal off the stronghold.”

Zhu Sheng tapped the ground with the tip of his cane.

“What I’m more curious about is that they knew there were visitors here but still insisted on attacking. The synthetic humans are quite interesting.”

“Sir, I don’t understand what you mean,” the stronghold commander responded helplessly.

“Whether they are in exile or hiding, their days won’t be easy. The number of synthetic humans is limited, and if they seek revenge, they will concentrate their strength. If they want to survive, they will value their lives… In theory, they should have waited for me to leave with my people and then launched a surprise attack, instead of being so arrogant.”

“Well…”

“I’ll go up there.” The old man tugged at the corners of his mouth. “The screen has limited angles; I want to see those two synthetic humans with my own eyes.”

“That’s too dangerous!”

“Bring along guards from both teams. I know the capabilities of my own people,” Zhu Sheng said lightly, ignoring the commander’s objections. “They haven’t made any substantial attacks yet. They’re waiting. The chaos outside might be intentionally created to show me.”

“I can send soldiers to observe and report back.”

“No, seeing is believing.”

Zhu Sheng raised his hand and waved it. “I’ve brought top-tier elites. If both teams can’t defend against two synthetic humans, there’s no point in me hiding here. If they can be stopped, my appearance as the culprit most likely will provoke their abilities. That’s valuable information.”

“You…”

“Take me up there,” Zhu Sheng repeated his request.

The author has something to say:

This might be the most intense, hostile parent meeting ever (?