Chapter 1435

pitter-patter

The rain poured down in torrents.

Water droplets splashing onto the ground fell into the black, muddy puddle, and with a patter they burst into fine tiny droplets.

The dirty puddle murkily reflected a leaden sky; everything felt oppressive.

At the mountain's base, Zhang Tie, who was stationed outside Wangjiang City with an elite squad, sat somewhat dazed on the armor vehicle's roof, lifting his gaze toward the mist-shrouded summit.

Under his buttocks, the hard alloy armor seemed to have sunk in from his weight, and the six-wheeled armored vehicle was deeply mired in the muddy water.

The whole team remained silent; the few Awakened Ones soldiers in charge of the drones merely controlled the distant drones silently, flying them back to try to find useful information in the captured images.

They dared not, or rather could not, approach that mountain.

Although they were an elite squad of higher rank within Long An, they were qualified to follow Zhang Tie on outdoor operations.

But perhaps aside from a few core members of Long An, no one knew who exactly was staying on that mountain.

They had been staying with Zhang Tie here for a long time, as if waiting for something.

"Lin Dui... why haven't you come back yet..."

With a soundless sigh, Xiong Hanzi felt a bit sad and braced himself backward; his dense body instantly made the armored vehicle beneath him creak.

He knew who was on the mountaintop, but although he clearly knew that guarding here with people might be meaningless, he still refused to leave even half a step.

Therefore, even though Long An's internal manpower is tight now, various war zones have erupted in varying degrees of turmoil, urgently needing personnel to suppress.

He also didn't want to leave.

It's very simple.

If an accident occurs here, it would mean that Colonel Chu's arrangements have all failed.

Not to mention internal turmoil in Huaxia; even the entirety of human civilization would be destroyed in an instant.

"Those little bastards, taking advantage of the trial, all jumped out."

"Now it's either chaos here or chaos there, damn it... those idiots simply don't realize we're almost done playing..."

He let out a long breath, and Zhang Tie muttered a few irritable words.

Since the revelation that the capital was the monsters' lair and had fallen, the entire Huaxia war zone has almost descended into chaos like a pot of porridge.

Apart from the few Safe Zones secretly controlled by Long An, which are still okay, the other war zones have begun to split and fight each other.

Especially the various Military Regions, which originally had the strongest control, after losing unified command of the capital, were instead the first to be 'carved up' by various factions.

At first, perhaps some still thought Long An would appear to solve this problem, and many forces dared not make a move. After all, Lin An is the world's first Fourth Stage, his prestige immense; everyone feared drawing his attention.

But as Long An fell into an eerie silence, merely continually shrinking its forces, everyone realized that perhaps the problem wasn't so simple.

Especially..

Not long ago, a large number of unimaginable beings burst out of the capital, and the forces within each war zone suddenly realized that there existed an extremely terrifying enemy inside the capital!

Although we don't know why those beings suddenly retreated, under the tremendous threat, people all simultaneously had the same thought.

Gather supplies quickly, stockpile food! Hide!

Without unity and cooperation, without solidarity, and without realizing the magnitude of the crisis before them, they should join together to do something.

That batch of monsters seemed to be heading first to slaughter Long An...

They don't care who's at the front or what the future holds; taking advantage of the monsters' disappearance now, they should hurriedly preserve themselves.

Perhaps some survivors have realized that if this continues, let alone whether a new crisis will appear.

If this continues, the Huaxia war zone will completely split.

They should swiftly elect a new leader, a new 'military command.' Rather than now, when each fights for themselves.

But responders are few, especially since Lin An has never shown up.

He casually closed his favorite chat channel, and Zhang Tie sighed again in vexation.

If it weren't for the alien species matter, perhaps after Captain Lin became Fourth Stage, many of their plans could have begun—reintegrating the entire Huaxia war zone and accelerating the cultivation progress of Awakened Ones.

Developing psychotronic technology, arming forces to exterminate the corpse tide...

Even to unify the globe! Build an ultimate fortress!

He knew there would be further disasters ahead. All of this requires the world's strength to unite and resist together!

But the time they had painstakingly won, the advantages they had built, are all now 'paused' at this moment.

Moreover, survivors worldwide probably don't realize that they have already walked through the gates of hell once—it was Captain Lin and Colonel Chu who brought them back.

"If only I were stronger..."

Just as Zhang Tie, feeling irritated, was about to jump down from the vehicle to walk around.

"Boom!!!!"

In an instant, an awe-inspiring pressure to the extreme erupted like a solid substance, and with a sudden boom it pressed him into a stagger. Like the wrath of a deity, a cluster of black light shot up from the distant mountaintop, then like a shockwave it crushed the surrounding forest.

The scene resembled a nuclear explosion; the large number of Awakened Ones soldiers who had been operating the drones were instantly blown away like leaves.

The mountaintop shattered, and large chunks of fractured rock shot outward like artillery shells.

The armor screamed, but just this single pressure crushed everything around it to pieces!

It was as if an invisible mountain had suddenly pressed down!

Awakened Ones with weaker physiques even vomited blood, their eyeballs as if bearing the utmost human pressure, instantly congesting and bulging.

In shock, Zhang Tie abruptly lifted his head, staring in awe at the distant mountaintop.

In his eyes, the mountaintop's peak seemed to have appeared a black sun; even without close contact, he felt the other's wrath!

That fury seemed as if it wanted to destroy the entire world!

However, in the very next second, that terrifyingly extreme, god‑like existence suddenly tore open a great door before him and rushed in without hesitation.

Its speed was so swift, its urgency so pressing, as if it dared not waste even a second!

"Chu An!!"

I remember you!!

Accompanied by a thunderous roar of anger, in an instant this ferociously unmatched super existence vanished.

Everything happened too fast.

Whether it was Zhang Tie or the Long An Awakened Ones guarding the surroundings, they were all shocked to see the mountain peak constantly collapsing. Only now did they realize what level of enemy was waiting on that peak!

Their ears were filled with painful groans; if the distance weren't relatively far, the impact they received wouldn't be considered large.

Just this single burst of anger-filled pressure could shake to death large numbers of third-rank beings!

They simply had no time to attend to the Awakened Ones groaning all over the ground.

As if thinking of something, Zhang Tie's face suddenly changed as he came to his senses, and he instantly rushed toward the mountain peak.

Oh no! Colonel Chu is still up there!

At the same time.

On the continually collapsing mountain peak, a rock strangely remained intact amidst the crumbling mountain body.

On what seemed like a platform suspended in midair, Chu An hunched his body, swaying unsteadily.

It seemed as if he would fall off the rock in the next second, buried in the shattered rubble.

His head was full of white hair, his originally youthful face resembling that of a withered old man, with wrinkles filling the corners of his eyes.

Even though he was nearly out of oil and his lamp about to die, he remained calm, silently watching the direction in which the Alien Species Emperor departed.

Although the Alien Species Sovereign had already tried to strike him before leaving, like a madman intending to kill him outright and, in the process, have all Alien Species simply destroy this world.

But he ultimately won the gamble.

"Wu Qing," he dared not gamble.

He didn't know why Lin An, who had only entered the Fei Yi Shijie for a few days, had grown so fast, nor did he know what the messages sent by his clansmen actually meant.

He only knew that if he didn't go back, perhaps in a few hours what awaited him would be his clan's extinction, and a "Lin An" breaking out of the gate.

He could no longer worry about his return... whether it would provoke Chu An to threaten him with destroying this world.

It's meaningless! Even if he can't escape to Earth, at least he can live a bit longer!

But if they let Lin An keep eating like this, they won't even survive until tomorrow!

Moreover, he believed that Chu An could no longer possibly destroy this world.

Hope is at hand! There is simply no such thing as mutual destruction!

The situation instantly reversed!

Only when he realized that Lin An might very well break through to the Fifth Stage did he realize that Chu An's so-called threats and all his arrangements were deceiving him!

What this man wanted was nothing but those few days! He was betting that within those few days, Lin An could create a miracle!

"Just a little more... and I would have died..."

Perhaps having reached his limit, when the entire mountain peak collapsed to its base, Chu An, unable to support the stone pillar beneath his feet, suddenly fell.

Just like a bird without wings, he fell soundlessly.

In fact, perhaps the Alien Species Sovereign himself didn't know; he feared that wasting his strength would cause some mishap upon his return.

His sole opportunity to kill Chu An was missed.

He also didn't realize that perhaps staying here was his last hope to survive. He dared not wait any longer; the chance to break the situation lay just a few seconds ahead.

In his soundless fall, Chu An calmly looked up at the rubble about to bury him.

He had completely run out of strength.

Falling down, buried under millions of tons of rubble, he would have no hope of survival.

But he seemed not to be worried.

All that could be seen was Chu An slowly closing his eyes, as if falling asleep, letting himself drop.

A few seconds later, with a panicked roar, a pair of somewhat rough large hands suddenly caught him.

"Chu An!!"

"You damn well can't die!!!"

"Wake up! Wake up!!"

"Beep, global announcement: second round of trials ended."

"This time's global first trial participant: Gao Tian"

"Obtained reward...."