Chapter 1844: with translation of chapter title

In a pair of huge hands as thick as steel pillars, the ice‑red battle axe burst forth with dazzling light.

"Split Axe!"

Just as Tayel glared and shouted, the battle axe he swung split rapidly when it struck the white spirit body.

"Bang! Bang bang bang!!"

The icy‑red rule power crackled, constantly leaping amidst a series of twisted, sharp whistles.

One splits into two, two into four! Four becomes eight!

In the blink of an eye, the rapidly splitting axe light turned into chain lightning, instantly covering the entire battlefield. Amidst the continually bursting axe glows, it directly blasted large groups of surrounding spirit entities into pieces.

The piercing shriek made the exploded spirit entities let out a sharp cry and then dissipate into white mist.

In a short time, the spirit entity army that had tightly surrounded Tayel was now cleared by more than half.

After a brief breath, seeing the destructive power of his own rule wreaking havoc among the troops, Tayel couldn't help but flash a hint of pride in his eyes.

His rule was comprehended from the harsh environment of Soviet Russia! The intense heat generated by an instantaneous burst can cause ice to shatter from within! The rule that detonates internal stress within objects is extraordinarily useful in group combat.

As long as it hits a target, the nearest enemy will suffer half the damage; through mutual conduction and stacking, the damage ultimately rebounding onto the first target can even double and double again!

Originally he was a bit nervous, fearing he couldn't bear the requirement of Gao Tian to draw attention.

But now it seems, although these spirit entities are terrifying, he is at least one of the strongest humans today! Under level suppression, he can still put up a fight!

"Gao Tian! I'll try to make a bigger commotion! Help you clear a shooting lane!"

He spoke boldly, his mental power swiftly transmitting back. Tayel then gripped his battle axe tightly, without hesitation, simply taking a few skeleton monsters and continuing to charge.

According to Gao Tian's request, he, Ron, and the four mid‑level Fourth Stage Awakened Ones of Long An will draw the enemy's attention from six directions.

Around the ghostly stronghold created by Mo Ling, there is support from other Fourth Stage forces behind, and in critical moments they can also retreat to their positions.

As long as these spirit entities are pulled apart and scattered, Gao Tian can, amidst the gaps in the enemy ranks, fire an arrow that pierces ten thousand meters, directly killing the gigantic female corpse hiding at the rear!

"If that kid Gao Tian can really instant‑kill that female corpse, we might actually have a chance to break out!"

"By then, that little girl covering the rear, we can withdraw from the sea surface!"

"The only problem is..."

On the lower left and right sides of the ghostly stronghold, just as Tayel had a thought flash in his mind, in his peripheral vision he unexpectedly saw Ron also looking at him; the two exchanged a glance, and both simultaneously flashed a hint of worry.

There is hope, there is hope, but what about after escaping?

However, there was no time to worry about the future.

"Yaiii!!!"

The sharp, piercing wail instantly pulled the two back to reality.

Just as hundreds of white spirit entities screeched and charged, Ron suddenly realized that these spirit entities also bully the weak and fear the strong; this whole swarm of ghosts was actually rushing straight at him!

Damn it!

No time to think more, Ron hastily focused his spirit, his face deathly pale as he fled madly.

The azure speed rule erupted fully; under its acceleration effect, his whole body became like a wind snake, rather embarrassingly darting quickly between the spirit entities.

Unlike Tayel, who solidly mastered a defense rule akin to bodily strengthening, he, who had been hunted by the entire war zone since Second Level, naturally grasped a rule related to speed after reaching Fourth Stage.

Using the acceleration rule as an attack and wind‑element fusion as evasion, the two combined made him perform excellently when being chased. But in genuine, head‑to‑head combat, Ron stifledly found that he had actually become the worst performer among mid‑level Fourth Stage Awakened Ones.

The battle was fierce; soon, after Ron let out a muffled groan, having been pierced straight through by three consecutive spirit entities, he had no choice but to hurriedly accelerate to open distance.

"Gao Tian! The pressure here is too great! Let me swap with your Fourth Stage!"

Not minding his embarrassment, Ron gritted his teeth and requested support, then, still feeling uneasy, temporarily withdrew; unconsciously, he couldn't help but look up at Mo Ling.

If you don't fight, you won't know—these spirit entities are extraordinarily bizarre; spiritual energy attacks are nearly ineffective against these ghosts, only the effect of rules can barely weaken their essence.

Even after being shattered they can regenerate, as if impossible to kill completely; he truly admires how Mo Ling manages to single‑handedly hold off more than half of them!

Let him come—he couldn't last even half a second!

"The vitality loss is too severe! Damn it! Tayel and Zhang Yong can endure it, being pierced a few times does nothing to them!"

"I can't handle it! As soon as I face them I'm going to die!"

"Is the speed system really this trash? I'm clearly a top‑tier powerhouse from North America!"

He felt a bit of bitter resentment in his heart.

Feeling the deep‑to‑the‑bone chill within his body, Ron's face turned ashen; he sensed that his vitality had been reduced by more than a third after the spirit entities' attack.

If it weren't for his speed, that round of encirclement just now would have killed him on the spot!

Between breaths, watching Tayel, who wielded the blood‑stone rule like a war god, and then glancing at Zhang Yong holding a huge shield, Ron actually felt a twinge of envy for their physical strength.

"Being fast is really useless... no rule is as good as bodily strength! No wonder Lin An, that freak, follows the body system!"

After gulping down a bottle of system props with a wince, Ron didn't dare delay the battle any further and hurriedly charged out again.

But for some reason, as he attentively observed each spirit entity's attack, he always felt that these monsters seemed somewhat off.

With his powerful dynamic vision, he clearly noticed that these so‑called heavenly ghosts, the Awakened Ones of the Japanese theater, seemed to have no consciousness of their own...

Being able to turn into ghosts is naturally crazy, but to be crazy to the point of having no emotions at all, with everyone acting like true ghostly beings—isn't that somewhat... wrong?

The Japanese mainland has indeed been flooded over half, yet in the system information the Japanese theater has not been removed... Their survivors still belong to the 'living' category.

However, before Ron could ponder this further, another large wave of spirit entities that had been pursuing him surged forward, instantly forcing him to hurriedly pull back.

Meanwhile, above the battlefield.

Relying on a mental power strength up to four hundred times to control the entire field, in the Judgment Space Lin An silently observed everyone.

Like Ron, having long noticed the oddness of these spirit entities, Lin An's brows slightly furrowed, evidently he had also thought of something.

But the doubt was only a fleeting moment; Lin An shook his head, gave a light laugh, and seemed completely unconcerned about whatever problem lay behind.

It doesn't matter; he could certainly guess that, with the Japanese theater under the control of refugees for so long, it must still hide many trump cards—perhaps a powerful gathering of resentment, or perhaps high‑level mutated Awakened Ones.

"But."

"So what then?"

There is a death-star-level strong person serving as a trump card; this group of Awakened Ones from the Japan war zone, even if they bring out Heavenly Shine, he can also crush them to death with a single finger!