Chapter 259: Matters Concluded, Dusting Off the Robe as One Departs

The mountain trembled, stone fragments flying, and the soldiers of Shen Zhao State not only had to dodge the frenzied attacks of the two Great Demons, but also guard against falling debris from the side.

The secret research hidden below, as the surrounding geology continuously collapsed, finally appeared before everyone's eyes, with even the gate smashed halfway.

The Black Tortoise stood outside the pit blocking the pursuers, its massive shell completely shielding those soldiers, while the Monkey King charged into the research institute, and upon seeing the scene inside, his eyes nearly burst with fury.

"Little fox!"

Only to see it lying amidst a vast array of technological mechanical arms, laser beams flashing, attempting to cut through everything, the white little fox appearing so weak and helpless.

The Monkey King's eyes instantly turned blood-red, killing intent surging skyward, nearly taking tangible form.

It let out a furious roar, rolling sound waves spreading, and the several huge, thick mechanical arms ahead were directly shattered into pieces, along with much of the surrounding technological equipment and research personnel, none spared.

The research personnel stationed slightly farther away escaped by a hair's breadth, yet even so, their ears and eyes bled bright red, they collapsed to the ground in agony, wailing incessantly.

The Monkey King looked at them as if they were already dead, scooping up the still-unconscious little fox, his movements exceedingly gentle and cautious, as if handling some priceless treasure.

Beside him, the white-haired old professor, at this moment, charged forward madly, trying to block the Monkey King, "No, you cannot take it! This is our Shen Zhao State's precious experimental subject!"

"Quickly stop them——"

Before the old professor finished speaking, the Monkey King casually swung, like shooing a fly, instantly flying dozens of meters away, collapsing to the ground lifeless.

The Monkey King shielded the little fox in his embrace, enduring the barrage of artillery fire head-on, and charged outward.

Seeing the little fox successfully rescued, the great tortoise hesitated not, following the Monkey King's steps.

The ground was entirely covered in bright red blood and shattered human limbs, the brown earth a scene of utter devastation.

Over half the guard troops were slain, the research institute reduced to ruin, vast amounts of equipment and data destroyed utterly, and most importantly, the research personnel were all either dead or wounded.

The officer in charge of guarding this place, veins bulging on his forehead, eyes entirely blood-red, he roared angrily: "Open fire!"

"Lock onto the target with the ground-to-surface missile vehicles, fire at full power!"

With his howl, several missile vehicles, already recovered from the magnetic field's influence, were deployed, their dark muzzles aimed at the Monkey King and the great tortoise.

Over a dozen light missiles, almost as if free, were ignited simultaneously.

"Boom—"

Only to hear several tremendous booms, colossal fire serpents spewing forth, carrying vengeful flames, tearing through the black veil, roaring as they surged outward, the intense heat melting everything around.

The great tortoise and Monkey King, in the midst of fleeing, sensed the missiles approaching from behind, their expressions shifting slightly; though immensely powerful, facing such violent technological barrage, they could not afford complacency.

The distance between them was truly too close, in an instant the missiles closed in, even if they wished to dodge, there was no time.

A terrifying mushroom cloud erupted in the jungle, thick gunpowder smoke filling the air, all scenery devoured by this fire dragon.

A crimson metallic storm, like a leviathan gulping, suddenly swept the surroundings, unleashing massive shockwaves, dust flying, countless towering beasts collapsing.

At the same moment, golden and green light rose, enveloping the Monkey King and the great tortoise, the tortoise's defense high, it stood before the Monkey King, while the Monkey King clung desperately to the little fox in his arms.

Even so, the two Great Demons at the epicenter of the shockwave still suffered unimaginable impact; despite spiritual power shielding their bodies, they were driven back repeatedly, leaving deep, bone-revealing scars on the earth, as if an abyss had descended.

Witnessing this scene, the officer behind had his eyes flash with cold light.

"Finally effective—seems we still need heavy ordnance!"

"Keep firing!"

As the officer gave the order, another batch of missile vehicles rolled forward, these steel beasts brimming with fighting spirit, dozens of missiles ignited again and launched skyward, descending with devastating force upon the Monkey King and the great tortoise.

The great tortoise fared well, after all, it has always been renowned for defense, possessing abnormal resilience, but the Monkey King's side was not so fortunate; even with its help sharing the burden, much of its fur was scorched black.

If this continues, breaking through their defenses is only a matter of time.

"The Monkey King cannot go on like this!"

The Monkey King clearly realized this, his eyes slightly narrowing, golden pupils swirling with battle intent, yet showing no fear or retreat.

"My master once said the best defense is offense!"

Only to see the Monkey King draw the Like-Illusion Golden Hooped Staff, roar angrily, "Enlarge!"

The Like-Illusion Golden Hooped Staff instantly swelled in size, resembling a pillar holding up the heavens, golden spiritual power surging in like an ocean, countless runes and patterns appearing upon it, filled with ineffable mystery and majesty.

Flames flickered around the Monkey King, his face pale, after the previous battle, his spiritual power clearly depleted, now it was scarce, even the golden light dimming.

"Great Tortoise, lend me your strength!"

As he spoke, their long-standing understanding allowed the great tortoise to instantly grasp his meaning, green spiritual power carrying the essence of life flowing into the golden hooped staff.

In that instant, countless ancient vines twined around the heavenly pillar, as if mountains, rivers, and seas converged, forming the earth's unique patterns, truly awe-inspiring.

Golden and green spiritual power converged, the Like-Illusion Golden Hooped Staff continually expanding, truly possessing the aura described in novels—reaching the nine heavens, descending to the nine hells, a pillar holding up heaven and earth, standing firm between heaven and earth.

Not far off, the Shen Zhao State soldiers gazing at the golden hooped staff all gaped, their eyes wide, the combat power of these two beings truly beyond ordinary comprehension.

Now this colossal weapon utterly overturned their worldview, just like in films and novels, truly inconceivably vast.

Even if the Monkey King now wished to wield the golden hooped staff, it might be difficult, fortunately the Like-Illusion Golden Hooped Staff is his natal Dharma Implement, long since attuned to his heart and mind.

As the Monkey King infused a divine thought into it, he suddenly swung hard toward the distance.

The next second, a violent gale swept forth, as if heaven and earth collapsed, a huge rift torn open, endless wind pouring from the fissure, carrying the power to destroy all.

Exactly like the scene of the world's end!

The originally dim sky grew even darker, nearly pitch black, an unprecedented aura surging toward the Shen Zhao State soldiers, even forming a black-hole-like energy field around the golden hooped staff, voraciously consuming everything around.

The officer first sensed something amiss, his face turning deathly pale, "What are you staring at? Hurry and open fire!"

The others quickly reacted—if caught by this force, the consequences would be unthinkable.

Countless shells fired in unison, weaving in midair into a vast net covering heaven and earth, yet compared to the heavenly pillar, still vastly inferior.

That power was truly terrifying—missiles and artillery fire were straightaway torn apart by the gang wind, not even having time to explode, vanishing into the void.

After shattering those missiles, the gang wind's pressure did not relent, the enormous black hole lunged toward the Shen Zhao State soldiers.

By the time they reacted, it was already too late.

"Ah!"

Only to hear cries of agony rising and falling, like the Death God wielding his scythe, instantly reaping vast swaths of life, wherever the gang wind passed, all things were devoured.

Innumerable fissures appeared on the soldiers' bodies, terrifyingly swift, directly slicing them into countless fragments, red blood mixed with white brain matter scattering across the ground.

Among them, many vehicles and boulders were also swept in, directly chopped into scrap metal and countless stone fragments.

Their proud large-scale lethal weapons could not withstand a single blow.

A small portion of surviving Shen Zhao Kingdom soldiers watched the two living beings not far away, as well as the massive Ruyi Golden Cudgel, their faces twisted with fright, some even losing their wits.

In fact, even the Monkey King and the great turtle were astonished, never expecting that after the Golden Cudgel was infused with abundant spiritual power, it would possess such tremendous destructive force.

The Monkey King couldn't help but swallow his saliva, "No wonder it's a Dharma Implement refined by my master, this destructive power is indeed extraordinary."

In fact, it does not know that the Ruyi Golden Cudgel refined by Ye Qin is of the growable type, capable of increasing its power along with the Monkey King's cultivation level.

The great turtle beside also eyed it enviously, "I don't know when my master will be able to refine a similar Dharma Implement for me, it's truly awesome."

The remaining Shen Zhao Kingdom soldiers, seeing the situation was unfavorable, all tried to flee.

But the Monkey King noticed their small movements, "Want to run now? It's already too late!"

The Golden Cudgel was swung again, and in an instant heaven and earth trembled; those soldiers were severed by invisible gang winds, and countless equipment turned to dust.

Facing the miserable state of these people, the Monkey King showed no mercy, his eyes unmoved, after all they struck first; vast gang winds swept over, sweeping away the remnants of clouds, devouring all surrounding life.

In just a moment, everyone at the research institute base, including those soldiers, had no vitality left; only a few fortunate researchers hid in a corner, trembling, covering their mouths, faces twisted with terror, daring not to make a sound.

The radiance around the Golden Cudgel faded completely, it quickly shrank and returned to normal size, while the Monkey King also seemed exhausted, leaning against the ruins, gasping heavily, appearing somewhat weak.

Although the power of this Ruyi Golden Cudgel is very great, its consumption is also considerable, and it has a time limit; it cannot be used blindly.

Only a few minutes passed, and it had already reached its limit; fortunately, the surrounding enemies were all eliminated, no longer posing a threat to them.

At this moment, the golden eagle also arrived, looking at the research institute littered with corpses and wreckage, its beast pupils flashed with surprise, "You two are impressive, still worried you couldn't handle it?"

Originally thought the battle would continue, never expecting it to have ended just as it arrived.

"The little fox has already been rescued, let's withdraw quickly, while Shen Zhao Kingdom hasn't recovered yet; otherwise, if missiles lock on later, it won't be fun."

To avoid drawing attention, the three Great Demons reduced their size to normal; the Monkey King and the great turtle had consumed much in battle, so they simply climbed onto the golden eagle's back.

The golden eagle let out a long cry, flapped its wings, circulated its entire body's spiritual power, and in nearly the blink of an eye, carried the several demons away into the dark night sky.

After they had left for several hours, many Shen Zhao Kingdom soldiers and guards hurriedly arrived here.

Seeing the ground littered with debris, countless broken limbs, and the collapsed research institute, one could imagine what kind of great battle had taken place here; they only felt their vision darken and eyes nearly burst.

Such a vast Shen Zhao Kingdom actually allowed these few creatures to kill their way in and even take the target!

Judging by the current situation, they have even already fled!

The leading officer took a deep breath, almost fainting, he suppressed his surging anger and hurriedly reported the information from here upward.

The huge office building, military heavy-duty generators were working nonstop, transmitting continuous rumbling sounds.

Numerous staff members kept running back and forth in the command department, each person's expression hurried and anxious.

And in the chief commander's room, continuous roaring sounds came; Chuan Shan Feng looked at the urgent information transmitted from all directions, his face gloomy to the point of almost dripping water.

"What exactly is going on!"

"Mount Fuji is clearly in a dormant period, why did it suddenly erupt, and without any omen!"

Just a few hours ago, Chuan Shan Feng was still commanding, wanting to encircle and annihilate these several colossal beings in Guangdao, but before he could issue orders, the entire command department plunged into darkness.

All kinds of communication means suddenly failed, utterly useless.

Fortunately, he reacted immediately, hastily sending people to deliver messages and convey orders, while simultaneously dispatching personnel to investigate the cause.

Yet he never expected it to be Mount Fuji's sudden eruption.

Thick black smoke shrouded heaven and earth, a powerful magnetic field swept across the entire Shen Zhao Kingdom, causing all satellite signal connections to be completely cut off.

And cities closer to Mount Fuji all fell into paralysis, power systems collapsed, countless high-precision instruments malfunctioned, leading to the local area plunging into unprecedented chaos.

After seeing this information, not only was Chuan Shan Feng shocked, everyone in the command department was dumbfounded.

Why did Mount Fuji suddenly erupt?

Although some strange things had appeared near Mount Fuji recently, along with unknown strange cries, it should not yet have reached eruption level.

This completely caught them off guard, and even if Mount Fuji erupted, why would such a strange magnetic field envelop the entire country?

Coincidentally, at this critical juncture, several colossal beings suddenly attacked!

These matters truly caught them off guard, with no preparation whatsoever, giving the feeling of being premeditated!

After the order was issued, all troops rushed to Guangdao, but the battle had already ended; they saw only corpses littering the ground and shattered laboratories.

Several colossal living beings and that little fox had long since disappeared.

"Bang!"

The high-level leaders of Shen Zhao Kingdom slammed their fists on the table, their expressions furious to the extreme, "The mighty Shen Zhao Kingdom actually allowed these few creatures to run rampant on our territory, acting lawlessly! Even finally stealing our test subject!"

"Who can tell me exactly what happened!"

"Countless artillery fire, even missile vehicles were used, yet the result was total annihilation in just a few hours, simply disgraceful! What exactly were those soldiers eating!"

"They are utterly useless, does His Majesty the Emperor raise you just for show?!"

The high-level leaders cursed endlessly, their faces extremely ugly; the officer in charge of this matter, including Chuan Shan Feng and others, all lowered their heads, daring not to utter any excuse.

Truly inconceivable, even if those three living beings were powerful, dispatching so many troops still could not stop them; spreading the news would indeed be embarrassing.

A soldier came running hurriedly, "Report, the eruption of lava from Mount Fuji cannot be stopped; this eruption is the largest in history, setting a historical record!"

"The thick volcanic ash has already covered a radius of a hundred miles, causing magnetic fields to fall into disorder everywhere, power failure, instrument damage, etc., already triggering nationwide panic."

"The several cities around Mount Fuji suffered severe damage and request support."

The soldier reported the information in his hand; those around listened, their faces growing increasingly grim; the consequences of Mount Fuji's eruption are simply incalculable, the various losses caused cannot be measured by numbers.

So far, all news has been bad; the only somewhat good thing is probably the warships and aircraft docked near Hokkaido, because they are distant from the orchard, thus less affected by the magnetic field, and have now recovered.

"Should the commander dispatch them to pursue?"

The high-level leader took a deep breath, "Pursue! Of course we must pursue!"

If these creatures are allowed to escape successfully, where would the face of Shen Zhao Kingdom be placed? Spread internationally, wouldn't other countries laugh at us?

Moreover, these creatures have brought such losses to Shen Zhao Kingdom; by emotion and reason, we cannot let them go.

"These creatures are definitely sent by the Daxia side!"

"Deploy troops to assist in evacuating civilians near Mount Fuji! Also, I need to know the cause of Mount Fuji's eruption and why such a massive magnetic field has appeared."

With the person in charge's roar, orders were issued one after another.

"If it weren't for the coincidence of encountering Mount Fuji's eruption, how could these creatures' actions have been so successful?"

"Also, get me in touch with Daxia—I want to ask them exactly what they mean."

Countless high-ranking officials of Shen Zhao Country were furious due to Mount Fuji's eruption and the chaos and destruction caused by these mutant creatures; according to incomplete statistics, their losses have already reached an astonishingly terrifying amount.

Although I feel these two events happening are somewhat coincidental, for now no one has connected Mount Fuji's eruption with the mutant creatures, and even if someone did, it would only be an extremely rare guess, not something they dare to confirm.

Compared to the turmoil in Shen Zhao Country, Daxia on the other end of the ocean has been completely unaffected.

At this moment, the Daxia Navy was patrolling the sea area, originally with nothing abnormal, but the radar detected a strange shadow.

This shadow was moving at extreme speed toward the Daxia sea area; from its volume, it didn't look small, and according to information relayed by sonar, it didn't resemble any kind of detector or similar device.

"Strange, what exactly is this?"

"Should we fish it up to take a look? Could it be something other countries placed in the sea area?"

Just as the Daxia Navy was puzzled and confused, the object was already within arm's reach, and soon someone could clearly see what it was, instantly showing a dazed expression.

Because what was coming toward them was not some detection instrument, but a green turtle!

Most importantly, there was a small bird and a monkey on the turtle's back.

???

What kind of strange combination is this?!

The Daxia Navy couldn't help but show expressions of doubting life; the key was that the turtle's speed was astonishingly fast, and just as they were stunned, the turtle had already brushed past them.

Many navy personnel pointed and gestured, their expressions full of surprise, but only one senior officer seemed to recall something, slightly furrowing his brow.

He recalled what had happened during Shen Zhao Country's military exercise at sea earlier.

Although this turtle was peculiar, with other animals on its back, it wasn't enough to constitute any threat, so no one took it to heart, and they continued patrolling the surroundings.

Not long after the turtle swam by, the distant sea surface suddenly showed new movement.

A fleet of Shen Zhao Country's ships came sailing over.

Seeing this scene, the leading senior naval officer of Daxia was somewhat puzzled—why had Shen Zhao Country suddenly come over at this time?

Daxia naturally could not ignore it, leading their fleet forward and directly blocking the path of the Shen Zhao Country navy.

But they never expected to completely provoke Shen Zhao Country's misunderstanding—originally just a guess, now they could be certain it was definitely the Daxia side behind it; otherwise, why would they still send people here to receive them?

How could there be such a coincidence in the world?

Recalling those few creatures running amok in Shen Zhao Country, causing massive destruction, the enraged navy, furious and defeated, directly shouted in anger,

"Daxia Navy ahead, retreat immediately! This is the Pacific Ocean—you have no right to block the advance of my Great Shen Zhao Country! Hand over that turtle!"

Facing the Shen Zhao Country navy, Daxia had no intention of yielding—what right did they have to demand passage?

"Daxia Navy conducting exercises ahead—please retreat! If you insist on forcing your way through, you bear the consequences!"

The Shen Zhao Country personnel instantly flared up in anger—what navy exercises? Just an excuse!

Thinking of the dire situation at home and the losses they suffered, they originally wanted to ignore everything and charge straight through, but since Daxia's side had overwhelming numbers and their warships were several times more numerous, they couldn't act rashly.

This time, they only dispatched five ships for the pursuit, while Daxia had over a dozen; the Shen Zhao Country personnel couldn't just charge over recklessly, for if a conflict broke out, they would be the ones to suffer—even if their fury reached the heavens, they could only grit their teeth and endure. (End of Chapter)