Chapter 73: Even Stronger

They busily hauled weapons like ants moving house, stashing them one after another behind the cages.

During this time, they saw Tang Zhao and Zhou Zhuo Hua sitting around Bai Tao, guarding her. Bai Tao sang in the center of the cage, and the low-level ability users influenced by her rapidly boosted a portion of their strength.

Some could not bear the burden and vomited blood on the spot.

The brief commotion was quickly suppressed by Liang Zhi and his people.

This lord of Deer Cry Ancient City soon realized there was no such thing as a harmless pie from the sky, but he swiftly made the same decision as Jiang Ye.

Overall, these ability users, who had no training or combat awareness, indeed gained considerable improvement in a short time. They acquired decent physical strength, becoming full of confidence and radiant, no longer the listless bunch they had been at the start.

—

At dusk, the sky was awash with sunset glow.

Ancient City was quiet, with only the cries of passing birds and the groans of zombies.

On the rooftop, Bai Chen Zhu glanced at the sky and nudged the guy pillowed on his leg. “Get up. Time to work.”

How could anyone sleep so soundly before doing something big? He had said he would take a short nap, but ended up sleeping straight through to evening. Bai Chen Zhu stared at the ‘sound asleep’ Jiang Ye and pinched his cheek. “Still pretending to sleep?”

Jiang Ye rolled over, turning his back to him.

“Childish or what?” Bai Chen Zhu found it amusing and grabbed his ear, tormenting it.

“Aren’t you tired?” Jiang Ye rolled back. “You stayed up all night last night, and you’ve been busy all day today.”

“I can’t sleep until the job’s done.” Bai Chen Zhu said sincerely. “If it succeeds, I can sleep for two days. If it fails, it’s eternal sleep either way. Sleep’s sleep.”

Jiang Ye pinched his mouth. “With me here, you think you’ll get eternal sleep? Fat chance.”

Bai Chen Zhu paused, his eyes curving in a smile as he swatted his hand away. “Then thanks a lot, Boss Jiang.”

Jiang Ye leaned in very close, so close that Bai Chen Zhu could see a thumb-wide smudge of dirt on his face. Bai Chen Zhu did not dodge, letting him scrutinize.

“What is it?” Bai Chen Zhu asked, reaching up to touch his cheek and gently wipe away the dirt mark. “If you have something to say, just say it. Your eyes are full of emotion.”

Jiang Ye suddenly hugged him tightly.

Bai Chen Zhu patted his back.

“Nothing. I was just thinking…” Jiang Ye said in a low voice.

Bai Chen Zhu thought his mood was off and listened attentively, pondering how to comfort him carefully later. Unexpectedly, Jiang Ye said, “You’re really good-looking.”

Bai Chen Zhu: ?

He pushed the man away outright, his face full of exasperation at Jiang Ye.

Jiang Ye burst out laughing, got up, and patted the dust off himself, extending a hand to him. “Does A’Zhu get shy when praised?”

“You think?” Bai Chen Zhu took his hand to stand, brushing off the fine dust on himself. “Jiang Ye… tsk.”

Recalling his own reaction just now, Bai Chen Zhu shook his head, as if helpless against his bad temper.

Jiang Ye straightened his clothes and tucked the selected machete at his waist. Looking into Bai Chen Zhu’s eyes, he said gravely, “This time, you’ll need to use mental power. You must hide it well.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll try not to let them discover that humans can use mental power.” Bai Chen Zhu said. Though such an idea was a bit fanciful—the best approach would be to let none escape.

But Jiang Ye shook his head. “I don’t care about those. I’m just worried about you.”

Being praised was something Bai Chen Zhu was used to. But Jiang Ye’s straightforward words always caught him off guard. He lowered his eyes, gaze flickering. “…You be careful too.”

—

The sun had set, taking the remaining warmth with it. The night wind was cool, and a strong gust rose by the river.

Bai Chen Zhu hid behind the stage curtain near the cages, waiting as he watched a group of Insect Race members fly in from the first-floor entrance.

One, two, three…

Bai Chen Zhu roughly counted and arrived at a number: about sixty.

That was no small number. The humans numbered roughly twice that.

They conversed with each other.

Bai Chen Zhu touched the translator by his ear. Too far away—he could hear nothing clearly, only vague sounds.

He thought for a moment, then began wrapping mental threads one by one around the iron cages.

The short one reacted first. It stopped speaking and swiftly looked toward Bai Chen Zhu. His heart jumped—he almost thought he had been discovered.

It pondered briefly, then immediately spread its wings and flew over, hovering in the air as it looked at the humans in the cage. Its green eyes swept over the crowd. “Leka? Jenixi? …”

It called out names one by one that no one recognized, perhaps trying to pinpoint the source of the mental power.

But there were only humans here, of course, offering no response.

It fell into confusion and circled the iron cage warily from a distance.

One alien race member brought a translator. It held the translator to its mouth, and a mechanical voice emerged, translating into Chinese. “Hey! You lot—did anyone come here during the day?”

Liang Zhi stepped to the front, his face earnest and sincere. “Yes, one with wings came in.”

He gestured the shape of a winged figure, as if there really had been such a person.

“Where is it now?” The short one demanded imperiously.

Liang Zhi fell silent.

Everyone watched their exchange and held their breath, afraid of giving anything away.

The short alien race member’s tension and impatience were visible to the naked eye.

Bai Chen Zhu understood. Jiang Ye had once said this race had an extreme gender imbalance—any male insect was a ‘protected species’ to them.

And such a protected kin was nowhere to be seen.

“I’m asking you, where is it! Why does it smell like it here!”

Liang Zhi’s gaze darted evasively, looking somewhat guilty. “It left.”

“You’re lying! You’re lying!” The short one grew agitated. Its head antennae trembled, the frequency of its wing flaps quickened, and it eyed the people in the iron cage one by one. Regrettably, it found no trace of its kin.

The short one grew restless and landed on the railing.

Liang Zhi said, “It really left.”

Bai Chen Zhu increased his mental power output.

This statement and the mental power were two separate answers.

Mental power fluctuations meant it was still alive! The short one’s green eyes widened instantly. It could wait no longer and directed an Insect Race member to open the cage.

“Drag them out one by one for inspection. If it’s not it, kill them outright.”

These words nearly incited the humans to riot, but they restrained each other with glances, holding back from rash action.

Bai Chen Zhu gripped his gun stock tightly, watching intently as the first alien race member approached, just like countless times before. It deftly opened the door and reached out to grab Liang Zhi.

At that moment, a gunshot rang out.

“Ah!”

The bullet pierced the alien race member’s wing, and blue blood splashed onto Liang Zhi.

Bai Chen Zhu looked in surprise at Jiang Ye, who had stepped out from behind the curtain and fired first.

This gunshot was like a signal. Liang Zhi smashed a fist into the dazed alien race member’s face, sending the door-blocking creature flying several meters. He was the first to step out of the iron gate, and the humans behind him pulled out their hidden weapons—brooms, sticks, fruit knives… all sorts—and charged out yelling.

“Rebellion! Kill them all!” The short one flew up high at once, hastily issuing orders.

At the same time, Bai Chen Zhu blended into the crowd. He and the other four hid amid the surging humans, seeking chances to aim at the alien race members’ wings.

Several gunshots rang out. Injured alien race members had their wings pierced and, as their altitude dropped slightly, were yanked down by leaping humans, dragging them into the fray.

Bai Chen Zhu aimed at the short one’s wings.

They were slimmer than the others’, looking malnourished and easier to bring down.

Bang—

The shot missed, grazing its shoulder. The short one flew into a rage, exerting itself to fly to the highest point and hide behind the dazzling glass chandelier. “You all wait for me!”

It let out a strange cry. The cry carried mental power that spread out, like some kind of signal.

Was it calling for reinforcements? Bai Chen Zhu thought it bad. “Jiang Ye!”

Liang Zhi swung his arm. “Subdue them! Quick!”

Jiang Ye vaulted onto the railing and swiftly climbed the curtain to the highest walkway. He lunged forward; the short one dodged swiftly, and he landed on the swaying massive retro chandelier.

The short one immediately tried to fly away.

Jiang Ye suddenly spoke in insect tongue.

The language was familiar yet strange to the alien race—familiar in grammar and phrasing, strange in the obscure tone and the native speaker’s accent.

Bai Chen Zhu, with his translator, easily understood Jiang Ye’s words.

—The Insect God has long abandoned you.

You fart! The short one whipped its head back. Before its insult could escape, Jiang Ye seized the pause and pounced, grabbing it tightly. The two plummeted from dozens of meters high to the first-floor stage in an instant, smashing a small crater. Dust billowed from the already filthy stage.

The chaotic crowd and alien race members alike looked down involuntarily, falling into a moment of silence before the battle surged fiercer. The alien race dove down in haste, while the humans pressed on with renewed vigor.

Bai Chen Zhu swung his knife to block a claw for one person, kicking the alien race member away.

He wiped the blood and filth from his face and, hiding in the chaotic crowd, suddenly sensed someone approaching from behind. He turned warily to find it was Sister Zhuo Hua and the others.

“You’re okay. Good.” He said.

Zhou Zhuo Hua hurried up and looked him over. Seeing no injuries, she relaxed and nodded emphatically. “Don’t worry!”

Bai Tao, highly sensitive to mental power, tugged Bai Chen Zhu’s sleeve and pointed at the short alien race member fighting Jiang Ye. “Brother Bai, who’s it calling?”

In the time it took to say those two sentences, the four of them had fallen back to the main group’s rear, standing on the walkway. Below, the stage hosted a fierce clash between humans and alien race members.

The double doors burst open with a boom, and a tall figure emerged from the smoke.

Everyone recognized the all-too-familiar appearance they had seen the night before.

“It’s that monster!”

“Damn it! It called it here!”

“Kill it!”

…

The red-eyed monster snorted through its nostrils and stepped forward steadily.

Bai Chen Zhu’s eyes sharpened. His mental power spread through the air, swiftly wrapping around the short alien race member.

As expected, as planned, the monster’s gaze followed the mental threads and locked onto the alien race member.

At that moment, the short one also spotted Bai Chen Zhu in the crowd.

—The source of the mental power, the ‘kin’ it had desperately sought, was actually a human male!

The short alien race member’s eyes widened in shock. It staggered to its feet, covered in wounds. “You’re human!” It cried in disbelief.

Its mental power sharpened like a blade, slicing through the air toward the detestable human who had deceived it, aiming to impale him.

A human girl shoved Bai Chen Zhu aside and stepped forward, blocking its attack with even sharper, fiercer mental power.

Not just one human had mental power!

Wind rose inexplicably indoors as the two forces clashed like crossed long needles—whoever yielded first would be pierced.

The pressure spread, weighing heavily on everyone’s heads like a sword poised to fall.

Bai Tao gritted her teeth, refusing to yield, even as her mind throbbed with pain and her vision flickered between black and white.

The alien race member glared fixedly at the two humans before it, its eyes bursting with bloodshot veins.

Jiang Ye, closest to it, endured the pressure and timed his strike. His long leg swept out; the alien race member folded its wings to block and was sent flying into the wall.

At the same time, Bai Tao’s mental power pierced its brain, as devastating as churning its marrow.

The monster charged over, raising its claws and opening its bloody maw.

Jiang Ye’s attack, Bai Tao’s mental power, and the oncoming monster drew a scream from the short alien race member.

Blue blood sprayed across the wall like some mystical painting, the stench spreading.

While the monster feasted, the alien race members’ eyes nearly popped out as they tried to rescue their ‘leader,’ only to be swarmed by humans seizing the chance.

The ability users’ strength surpassed the alien race members’ expectations. They could not understand how these humans had changed so much in such a short time and were caught off guard, beaten badly.

Jiang Ye raised his arm and shouted, “Everyone, kill them! Avenge our fallen comrades!”

—

Everyone grew emotional, but Bai Chen Zhu, supporting Bai Tao, felt a chill run down his spine.

He seemed to have made a mistake. He shouldn’t have given the alien race to the monster. Bai Chen Zhu breathed rapidly and stared intently at the monster as it chewed, sensing the fluctuations of mental power from the monster.

It seemed… even stronger.

He couldn’t let it continue. He had to weaken the power on its body. Bai Chen Zhu handed Bai Tao to Tang Zhao, picked up the scorching handgun, and aimed it at the monster’s collar.

The black collar was embedded with a semicircular silver ring, which was covered in mottled and profound mental power. It had indirectly promoted this monster’s ‘evolution.’

From the angle where the monster was facing sideways toward him, Bai Chen Zhu could clearly see the striking silver ring fragment on its throat, rolling with each chew.

His black eyes stared quietly at the monster’s throat. He pulled the trigger.

The elastic collar snapped abruptly and fell into midair. Bai Chen Zhu rushed over quickly and reached out to catch the falling fragment.

At that moment, he met a pair of green eyes filled with hatred.

The owner of those eyes still had breath left! It had watched itself being devoured and was still struggling on the brink of death.

In that instant of eye contact, his mind felt as if it had been smashed by a hammer, leaving him stunned in place.

A fist came straight at his face. Bai Chen Zhu snapped back to his senses and dodged the monster’s furious punch.

The alien race laughed loudly. In the same way that Bai Chen Zhu had used before, it wrapped all its mental power tightly around him right before death.

At the same time, the monster’s fist swung toward Bai Chen Zhu once more. He knew he would be injured but still raised his hand directly. The gunshot accurately pierced the alien race’s forehead.

In the next instant, he was sent flying by a tremendous force, and the handgun rolled across the ground.

“Ah Zhu!”

“Brother Bai!”

…

Bai Chen Zhu’s ears buzzed. He coughed twice, half-knelt up from the ground, yanked off his mask, spat out a mouthful of blood foam, and quickly stuffed the fragment from his palm into his pocket.

His bloodstained red lips curved into an arc.

Got it.