Chapter 65: The Chess Player, Foreseeing the Future

On the 90th day since descending into the instance, the snowballing advantage grew ever larger.

"Bai Xue Battle Body v1.0" progress: 17.55% → 39.01%

Network Hub (Virus Computer Demon) count: 519,200 → 1,272,400

"Infinite Castle: Heaven-Net" consumption of Fusang: 13.75% → 33.66%

Total card draw harvest: 159 SRs, 6 SSRs.

Through Meng Yi’s research, he discovered that SSR-class Blood Demon Arts generally fall into three categories: ① Extra-dimensional opening type; ② Coordinate teleportation type; ③ Wormhole technology type.

SR-class spatial Blood Demon Arts are secondary branch extensions of these three categories.

Meng Yi ordered his high-level cannon fodder to unite with hundreds of thousands of low-level cannon fodder to capture the Demon Slayer Corps Hashira who were out on missions, and transform them into Virus Computer Demons.

Aside from "Wind Hashira: Sanemi Shinazugawa," who awakened an SR-level secondary spatial Blood Demon Art, the rest of the Demon Slayer Corps Hashira possessed only the most mundane body-mutation Blood Demon Arts.

"Good embryos that should have been able to awaken SSRs, but wasted so much 'Rare Blood' potential due to practicing breathing techniques, only managing to awaken SRs."

Meng Yi felt listless. After three months of development, SR-level low-level lab rats were no longer scarce, and he already had six SSR-level high-level lab rats.

The Hashira-level combatants of the Demon Slayer Corps, captured with such great effort, seemed rather tasteless—not worth eating, yet a pity to discard.

He casually parsed the eight-fold muscle density of Love Hashira: Mitsuri Kanroji and the super digestive organs of Demon Eater: Genya Shinazugawa, storing the relevant data into the "Big Data Library: Memory Palace."

Mist Hashira: Muichiro Tokito, that descendant of Kokushibo, showed nothing that made Meng Yi’s eyes light up.

"Wind Hashira: Sanemi Shinazugawa" was packed and sealed into the lab rat warehouse.

The remaining Hashira-level combatants were incorporated into the ranks of "Upper Moon Demon: High-level Cannon Fodder."

Following this, the Demon Slayer Corps' Nine Hashira were reduced by six, leaving only Insect Hashira: Shinobu Kocho, Flame Hashira: Kyojuro Rengoku, and Sound Hashira: Tengen Uzui at the headquarters, as they had not gone out.

"The timing is about right. It’s time to test the mettle of Kagaya Ubuyashiki and Shiki Ryougi. If I drag this out any longer, Kagaya Ubuyashiki will be dead."

Meng Yi mobilized his forces, dispatching Mitsuri Kanroji, Muichiro Tokito, Gyomei Himejima, Genya Shinazugawa, Obanai Iguro, Giyu Tomioka, as well as Kokushibo, Doma, Akaza, Tengu, and Gyutaro.

A total of 1 D-minus grade cannon fodder and 10 E-plus grade cannon fodder were sent via wormhole to the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters.

With the surveillance screen broadcasting the scene live, Meng Yi, sitting in the Infinite Castle, could oversee the whole situation without needing to leave, his villainous boss aura growing ever more intense.

……

In the dead of night, the mountain forest was devoid of the sounds of birds, insects, or beasts; a deathly silence shrouded the heavily guarded base of the Demon Slayer Corps.

"Cough, cough, cough—!!"

From within a wooden building came a violent coughing fit that sounded as if it would cough up lungs.

A dim light was lit. Kagaya Ubuyashiki, his breath hanging by a thread, refused his wife’s attempt to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth.

"Quick… quickly go… call… Miss Ryougi, Kyojuro, Tengen, Shinobu, and Tanjiro here…"

"Something… something terrible has happened…"

"I… cannot… hold on… much… longer…"

The disfigured half of Kagaya Ubuyashiki’s face was rapidly rotting, black, filthy blood flowed from his blind eyes, and his life force was visibly fading.

His wife dared not be careless; she hurriedly threw on her robes and used 'Crow Communication' to urge those her husband mentioned to come quickly.

……

After a flurry of chaos, in less than half an hour, everyone mentioned by Kagaya Ubuyashiki arrived at the room of the Demon Slayer Corps leader.

"Master, you!!"

Seeing Kagaya Ubuyashiki’s miserable state, the more emotional Kyojuro Rengoku burst into tears.

Shinobu Kocho and Tengen Uzui also clenched their fists, wishing they could bear the suffering and torture for their master.

The novice Tanjiro Kamado sat in the corner, carrying his wooden box, looking lost and helpless.

The capable and elegant Shiki Ryougi frowned. Her fair hand, hidden beneath the wide sleeve of her kimono, gripped her short blade tightly, a sense of foreboding suddenly rising in her heart.

"Mr. Ubuyashiki, why have you called us here in the middle of the night?"

Shiki Ryougi went straight to the point, drawing angry glares from the Sound, Insect, and Flame Hashira.

With his wife’s help, Kagaya Ubuyashiki struggled to sit upright on his sickbed and rebuked his three subordinates.

"Do… not… be… rude… to Miss Ryougi!"

Perhaps it was a final burst of energy, but Kagaya Ubuyashiki’s mental state seemed slightly better.

"Time is short, so I will be brief."

"I saw Mitsuri, Muichiro, Gyomei, Sanemi, Genya, Obanai, and Giyu—they have all been killed by demons."

Once these words were spoken, the small room instantly erupted in chaos.

Kagaya Ubuyashiki tremblingly raised his hand to stop the commotion.

"Run! Run quickly! The demons are coming!"

"The Demon Slayer Corps headquarters has been exposed. You must run to the Swordsmith Village and rebuild the Corps."

Kagaya Ubuyashiki, whose time was running out, turned his head to look directly at Shiki Ryougi.

"Miss Ryougi, your talent is a hundred times greater than everyone else’s… you will surely end the demon scourge and sever the tangled thousand-year grudge."

"After I die, if Miss Ryougi feels Kiriya’s talent is insufficient, you may take it upon yourself to become the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps, lead them to break through the darkness, and pursue that glimmer of dawn before the morning light."

"?"

Shiki Ryougi was stunned for a moment; this sudden "entrusting of the orphan" caught the high school girl off guard.

After a long silence, the excellent training of her demon-hunting family allowed Shiki Ryougi to quickly regain her composure. She parted her lips slightly and said, "Alright, I understand."

She had been in this second instance for three months!

Aside from hunting a few demons at the very beginning, she had gained nothing in the past eighty-plus days.

Shiki Ryougi had also sensed how troublesome the players on the opposing side were.

She wanted to fight, but the enemy simply wouldn't engage her.

Having the "Mystic Eyes of Death Perception" but nowhere to use them, the feeling of drawing her blade and looking around in confusion was incredibly painful.

Having received an affirmative answer, the breath Kagaya Ubuyashiki had been holding dissipated. He collapsed into his wife’s arms, a smile on his lips as he said, "Run, run quickly."

"Even though the enemy is incredibly powerful, I believe that as long as Miss Ryougi is here, evil will never triumph over justice!"

Having said this, Kagaya Ubuyashiki’s lifeless eyes slowly closed, and he burned out and died.

Not far away, a spatial wormhole opened.

The D-minus grade Kokushibo led the way, with 10 E-plus grade Upper Moon cannon fodder following closely behind, surrounding the Demon Slayer Corps leader’s residence from the outside.

*Sniff—sniff—*

Tanjiro Kamado, with his keen sense of smell, felt beads of sweat the size of beans sliding down his forehead, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks.

"No! Run! They’re so strong! So many powerful enemies!"

"Boom—!"

Kokushibo drew his blade, his right arm, covered in double-layered exoskeleton armor, deforming and proliferating.

A forty-meter-long mutated blade slashed down vertically, directly shattering the wooden building.

Dust billowed, and rubble scattered.

Shiki Ryougi hurriedly raised her short blade to block. Her Mystic Eyes, swirling with rainbow light, saw the death lines on the mutated blade. She followed through, cutting the death lines, and the deformed blade withered and decayed.

With the bright moon in the sky, through the cold moonlight, both sides saw the faces of their opponents.

"Mitsuri, Muichiro, Gyomei, Obanai, Giyu, Genya, what are you doing?!!"