Chapter 52: Chapter Fifty-Four: The Northern Warrior

Life-and-death duel arena.

As comrades who fought together, it's natural that we couldn't really fight to the death.

Like the virtual technology used in the Challenge Tower, injuries and even deaths in the Life-and-death Duel Arena are 'half-virtual'.

Jiāng Jiāng accepted her first challenge of the month today.

At Dragon Gate, challenges from others can be refused freely, without any cost.

But whether continuing to act like a shrinking turtle is actually a good thing for Jiāng Jiāng, her judgment is not necessarily.

Over the past month, Chén Chén could be said to have really made a splash; such attention for Chén Chén can be said to be a double-edged sword.

The downside is attracting attention and envy; the upside is that it lets the big shot behind Chén Chén value Chén Chén more, and in the big backdrop of humanity vs. monsters, fame can also serve as Chén Chén's protective umbrella.

And my original plan to follow Chén Chén because my talent wasn't lacking also showed a loophole when Chén Chén shone brightly.

The martial world values bloodline and genes; if Chén Chén truly shows outstanding talent, those eyeing Chén Chén might not be limited to the family behind her— that guy named Jī Héng obviously has the same idea.

Thus, Chén Chén's danger is also my danger, or perhaps one should say that when I decided to come here, this outcome was destined.

Unexpectedly, Jiāng Jiāng accepted all challenges at once, scheduling one per day straight into next month.

Whether the arena battle is public depends on the challenged party; Jiāng Jiāng certainly wouldn't choose to make it public, but even so, many still pay attention to this battle, especially Jiāng Jiāng's upcoming opponent.

"Do you think Jiāng Jiāng, junior sister, can pull it off?"

"Nonsense, you wouldn't think Jiāng Jiāng, junior sister, is a vegetarian, would you? You forgot what happened at the banquet that day?"

"Tsk, I remember she eats vegetarian."

Thunderbolt Martial Hall Bystander B: ……

Do I really need to discuss this kind of issue with this guy?

"I'm saying what Lei Dong, the boss, said; the junior sister is someone the Chief Hall Master personally assigned, and if you think about her rank when she joined, nobody would really treat her as a soft persimmon, right?"

The two were talking when they saw a flyer swoosh by.

"That was Jiāng Jiāng, junior sister, right? Is it about to start?"

Another person pulled up the Dragon Gate internal network news on their smartwatch while the arena's synchronized information bulletin was updated.

"That's not the way to the arena; the battle has already ended."

"But..."

The two received the news that the challenge here had started, and less than a minute had passed.

Life-and-death Duel Arena, Jiāng Jiāng, current record:

1-0

————

India's Northern Base City, which is also India's most populous and largest base city. It was also the first base city to secretly turn toward the World Tree three years ago.

The leader of Northern Base City, Yóu Gélì, chief of the Three High Priests of the Indo Teaching, is bestowing blessings upon his top Valiant General and the Northern Strongest, Luò Déwǎ.

The solemn blessing ceremony ended, and Yóu Gélì called Luò Déwǎ to rise.

"Northern Warrior Luò Déwǎ, I summoned you not only to receive the supreme blessing but also for an important matter."

Luò Déwǎ thought to himself, 'As expected,' having long been accustomed to such formalities, which feel like charity to oneself, yet the result is still being asked to handle something.

"Speak."

Luò Déwǎ feels no respect whatsoever for this so-called High Priest before him, since three years ago this guy was merely a mouthpiece under his control of the North.

After the Great Nirvana, the era of martial artists arrived; traditional weapons' deterrence faded, and most of the top power in human society fell into the hands of martial artists.

Like Hóng, the Thunder God, and others, they seized the lands of destroyed nations and built their own 'kingdoms'. Like the Third Chairman Hàn Mò dé sēn, who relied on personal prestige in America to rally his own faction, becoming the most influential figure in the United States. The Fourth Chairman Yīsītè, together with several other marquis-level powerhouses and a few families of the HR Alliance, jointly controls the EU.

And before the World Tree appeared, Luò Déwǎ was the actual ruler of this land.

Unlike other countries worldwide, India truly governs by faith, with its national leaders all connected to the Indo Teaching.

Even though Luò Déwǎ possesses great power, to better control his subordinates and Northern Base City, he must rely on the faith of the Indo Teaching.

Luò Déwǎ doesn't object to this; after all, throughout history India has maintained rule this way, the Indo Teaching's faith and doctrines aren't important, but the Indo Teaching itself is very important to Luò Déwǎ.

Thus, Luò Déwǎ found Yóu Gélì, treated him courteously, and used Yóu Gélì as a front to actually control Northern Base City.

Until three years ago, Yóu Gélì secretly found another backer, which the Indo Teaching now considers to correspond to the Supreme God, the World Tree.

"The Divine Revelation shows that there will be disaster; the cunning black rat of the Earthnet will wreak havoc in the North, and you need to deal with it."

Luò Déwǎ accepted the mission, nodded, and withdrew.

Although he doesn't want to admit it, in Northern Base City he is no longer the one in charge.

Luò Déwǎ is not a devout believer; after all, during the Great Nirvana, countless believers died or fled, yet no so-called deity saved mankind.

In ordinary people's eyes, perhaps it's Yóu Gélì, or perhaps oneself, who can become the embodiment of a deity; when the image of a god was once placed upon myself as the 'Northern War God', Luò Déwǎ only felt that he himself was a god.

But now it seems I must become one who crawls and kneels; whenever I think of this, Luò Déwǎ feels only a ball of anger in his heart.

Returning to his residence, he selected two maidservants from his household to vent his feelings thoroughly.

After the anger subsided, his household lost two more maidservants; Luò Déwǎ felt some regret, but after that regret came even more anger—if it were the past, his household's women being rotated daily would have been perfectly normal.

Even if everyone knows these people died in his own home, the believers would sigh and be glad that these women could end their suffering early in life.

Rather than now, where he merely killed two and has to handle them carefully.

He ordered his subordinates to investigate the Earthnet matter, and Luò Déwǎ himself no longer concerned himself with it.

If it were three years ago, Luò Déwǎ might have acted personally, for this is his turf, and acting recklessly here would be slapping his own face.

As for now, watching those who 'betrayed' him instead go off to worship some bird deity and die as lowly folk, Luò Déwǎ feels a hard-to-describe joy.

But speaking of it, if one could attract the Earthnet, ordinary lowly folk wouldn't be worthy.

After several days, Luò Déwǎ received the first piece of news about the Earthnet, but not in Northern Base City; rather, in the Wasteland Region, a renowned high-ranking war commander died under suspicious circumstances.

Being able to know this isn't because Luò Déwǎ's control over the North is strong, but because that high-ranking war commander was his own subordinate.

Luò Déwǎ grew even more enraged; since losing power, his loyal followers have been dwindling, and now another one is gone.

What's even more infuriating is that this group of Earth Net's rats, as soon as they appeared, first killed their own people, making Luo De Wa feel like he was easy to bully.

Luo De Wa had originally still planned to wait for them to run rampant for a while, wait for some people to die, then step forward as a hero. Luo De Wa also enjoyed this feeling, which could let him almost return to the past.

But since they've provoked me, I might as well strike early; settling it early also counts as giving You Ge Li some face.

Earth Net is an organization spread all over the world, specializing in dirtier commissions than the Underground Alliance; even in China, where stability is relatively high, they have a presence, and in India, which is famous for chaos, they have been comparatively rampant.

Unfortunately, Luo De Wa has several subordinates who are closely connected with Earth Net, or rather, as members of the Dark Net.

Zhe is probably also the reason why You Ge Li, despite clearly having a decent intelligence network, still asks for my help; at least, in Luo De Wa's view, he's seeking me.

Through information from his subordinates, Luo De Wa quickly confirmed Earth Net's recent trend.

Because the HR Alliance, the Western World, and the World Tree's relations have completely broken down, many people in Earth Net think this is a good opportunity to make money.

At the same time, once the world truly achieves some form of unification, Earth Net is likely to face a reckoning; the previously stable Earth Net suddenly fell into frenzy.

Some people planned to wash their hands of it and retire from Earth Net to live ordinary lives, but most of those who held this idea have recently died.

And more people chose to give it a shot, because everyone knows that in this world, only strength is real.

Furthermore, according to information from Earth Net, the quotas for ancient civilization relics are already extremely limited, and adding to that, a portion of law‑breaking intermediaries leaked some people's account information earlier, so the entire Earth Net is now in a state of competition.

Previously, the businesses that people would only choose after careful consideration are now being taken up in large numbers.

It is said that within the two countries, a craze for hunting the World Tree has already been stirred up in secret.

Looking at the information sent by his subordinates, Luo De Wa silently nodded; this is self‑evident from the patron behind the scenes. Since the European Union and the United States want to expel the World Tree's forces, merely issuing a statement is certainly not enough, and Earth Net is naturally the best hunter for such business.

If I had also been able to discover the World Tree's deployment in time back then, I would certainly have chosen to do this.

I just didn't expect that those people from Earth Net would go so crazy as to act against the World Tree's people. It seems that after this, Earth Net is preparing to fight to the death.

I just didn't expect the other side to be so oblivious, actually bringing the trouble to my own door.

But speaking of which, on the surface I still seem to be a senior general of the World Tree in India……

Since they've moved against me, I can't be polite.

Luo De Wa decided to unleash his full strength……

At the same time, many media outlets in India also began promoting domestically that the Northern War God intends to personally eliminate the Earth Net organization that has long plagued the country.

For a time, Luo De Wa's reputation reached a height not seen in a long while.

Luo De Wa enjoyed this feeling, enjoyed the sensation of becoming a War God; the Earth Net organization in the India region was swiftly cleared out under the guidance of his subordinates, and the wrongdoing that surfaced together with it made the Indian populace feel great relief.

Luo De Wa didn't expect the so‑called Earth Net organization to be this easy to resolve; if he had known earlier, he would have acted sooner and could have enjoyed this long‑absent sense of honor.

Although his subordinates also suffered considerable losses during this period, what of it? Subordinates are meant to be expended. Moreover, Luo De Wa knows these people all too well—they are those excluded by the World Tree and cannot accept its recognition.

As for why they cannot be recognized, Luo De Wa understands this better than most, because these people are largely like him, having at some point been 'rats', and not only that, even now many of them are restless.

Even if they die, it's fine; once I properly serve the World Tree, these people won't become a blemish on my attempt to clear my name.

After all, even the World Tree would not reject someone who is beloved by the people and possesses planet‑level strength.

In the blink of an eye another month passed; with the Northern Base City's plan to eradicate Earth Net a great success, some strongers in other parts of India also began to emulate it.

However, this also depends on some luck, or rather, on whether these heroes have connections with the Dark Net……

The eradication campaign was in full swing, yet no one noticed that, according to the expanding casualties, the War Gods alone were already about to break into double digits. Also, no one noticed why this usually so secretive Earth Net could be found so easily this time.

Above the wilderness area outside Northern Base City, Luo De Wa had just personally struck, eliminating a campsite that Earth Net had disguised as an ordinary mercenary unit's stronghold.

Luo De Wa felt a lingering fear, because out of his few six War God‑level subordinates, five have already been lost—and this is only counting War Gods; it would be wise to lie low for a while after returning.

Fortunately, the Earth Net in Northern Base City should already have been uprooted by me.

It's just strange that, so far, only two War Gods have been captured, and their strength isn't particularly strong; logically speaking……

Something's not quite right.

If it were someone else, they might not have noticed, but the recent deceased share a common trait—whether they were assassinated by Earth Net or were my own subordinates……

The bounty Earth Net received certainly isn't from……

Luo De Wa broke out in a cold sweat, speeding up toward the base city.

This is a purge, but the target seems not to be only Earth Net.

Luo De Wa cursed in his heart, doing his best to restrain his expression and stay calm; just as he was about to reach Northern Base City, he saw a woman in a red cheongsam in the sky above.

She was standing empty‑handed in the midair, and it looks very likely she is also planet‑level.