Chapter 2284: I am back

The night deepened. Apart from the occasional sound of wings flapping from flying lifeforms in the air, everything seemed to have quieted down.

Most people had gone to rest—a habit that had persisted through all these years of the apocalypse. Even when reaching a certain level made daily sleep no longer necessary, the practice remained.

The bonfire was still burning, though not as vigorously. Le Dayuan, Xia Lei, Mo Ye, and Guangyao sat together.

"Master Le, the Loki Crosses—will their effect on the Demon Whale be... limited?"

Guangyao hesitated for a moment, then voiced the doubt in his mind.

If the Loki Crosses could truly deal fatal damage to the Demon Whale, then there would be no need for a battalion to sacrifice itself against the Naga Battle Mage Legion.

With three Loki Crosses, even if each only hit once during the entire battle, it should be enough to wound the Demon Whale, right? Then Yangos, Red Hair, Undead Dragon Fish, and Yangfeng—left behind at Cloud Peak after Wang Hanran's death—four top-tier lifeforms that could contend with the Demon Whale in the air, could launch a surprise attack to try to kill it without much interference from the sea beasts.

Once the Demon Whale was dead, the threat of the sea beast legion would drop by half—a guaranteed victory for Cloud Peak.

But now, Guangyao could truly feel the worry radiating from Le Dayuan and Xia Lei.

Le Dayuan squinted his eyes, enjoying this rare, relaxing night. Hearing Guangyao's question, he simply waved his hand.

"That monster, the Demon Whale, has surpassed all the mutated lifeforms we've ever seen. In some ways, isn't it... somewhat like the Holy Father?"

Everyone was startled, then fell silent.

Guangyao had not experienced that battle, but he had heard about it in detail—it was part of his study of Cloud Peak's early campaigns. The Battle of Bru Secret Realm had truly laid Cloud Peak's solid foundation, giving it strategic depth. Even though the secret realm was later destroyed, it had provided Cloud Peak with immense resources and a host of excellent warriors.

Now, the Blue Battalion and the Holy Sanctuary Battalion were backbone forces within Cloud Peak's entire battalion system.

All of this had been achieved on the premise of killing the Holy Father.

"Absorbing spatial power—or rather, the universe's source power—to strengthen itself, not only changing its body but also its other abilities." Le Dayuan pointed at the Undead Dragon Fish, lying nearby like a small mountain, and said, "It received the legacy of the Nine-Winged Crow and has a kindred spirit like Red Hair, yet when facing the Demon Whale, it was struck down by a massive water tornado."

"Other top-tier lifeforms can use that ability too, but its power is a whole level below the Demon Whale's."

"That is the application of the universe's source power."

Le Dayuan said, turning to look at Xia Lei.

"Last time, Zhongming said that up in the sky, the cosmic races of the universe use Furelai to represent strength. He said that a newly ascended nine-star evolved would have at most a few hundred Furelai. So how much Furelai do you think this Demon Whale has?"

No one could answer that question, but they all understood what Le Dayuan was getting at.

The Demon Whale was advancing along a path that they had not yet touched. Perhaps its progress was slow, but it had already surpassed them.

In that regard, without any guidance, mutated lifeforms did indeed find the direction more easily than evolvers.

After all, Earth's evolved were still in a constrained stage, habitually relying on external forces for evolution.

"So, even though theoretically I believe the Loki Crosses can harm the Demon Whale, the time from research to manufacturing has been short—though it's already a miracle—I'm afraid we can't keep up with the Demon Whale's growth rate."

Guangyao pursed his lips. So that was it.

It seemed his concerns were valid. The Technology Department, which had always provided Cloud Peak with technological support, was facing a situation where it lacked certainty.

"What about... Sister Hong’s side?" Guangyao asked, not giving up, referring to Liu Zhenghong, who had not come.

Now the Technology Department included both Sister Hong's and Le Dayuan's laboratories, but genetic life sciences had always remained independent. Since Le Dayuan's side was uncertain, did Sister Hong have something new that could turn the tide?

To be honest, Guangyao had grown accustomed to Cloud Peak fighting from a position of advantage. Though the Battle of Mei City had had its surprises, the process had still seen Cloud Peak with a clear upper hand.

"Her side?" Le Dayuan thought for a moment. "She has projects unfinished—very busy. I rarely see her lately. I heard it's an innovative project, but you know I don't understand much about genetic bioscience, so I didn't ask what it was. But recently, she's put three brand-new production lines into operation and transferred over a thousand people with professional backgrounds to assist with manufacturing—there should be results, right?"

By the end, he was asking Xia Lei.

Xia Lei nodded. "A million-strong gene-soldier army, stationed a hundred kilometers away, ready to enter the battlefield at the right time. For that, I even set up several teleportation channels—it cost a lot of money."

Guangyao's heart eased slightly.

A million gene soldiers—that was a formidable force. Compared to before, Guangyao knew this force had been streamlined, and its overall combat power and battlefield stability were now at their peak.

More importantly, the vast majority of the gene-soldier legion was expendable.

Not in the sense of cannon fodder, but in that their deaths were easier to accept compared to other soldiers. Combined with Sister Hong’s control methods, Guangyao believed this million-strong army could very well become the decisive force.

"Deacon Water has already evolved successfully. Tang Tian and Park Xiuying are in the process of evolving. Once they wake up, we'll fight. The current situation no longer allows us to keep our combat power tied down here for long. No matter the outcome, we will have to withdraw."

Xia Lei stood up and looked into the distance.

……………………

Ye Zhongming walked out of the gate, and behind him came the sound of something collapsing.

He took a breath and a hint of intoxication appeared on the Cloud Peak King's face.

This was... the smell of Earth.

A few minutes earlier, he had used a special channel to teleport directly to this base, and then razed it to the ground.

This was the organization that had once schemed against Cloud Peak. His desire for revenge had long since faded, but Ye Zhongming felt that since he had finally come back, he might as well eliminate all remaining threats and factors for the villa.

After all, with the approaching Drawing Day and his plan to "smuggle" people out, Cloud Peak's strength would be somewhat diminished. He did not want his home front to become unstable.

Fixing the direction home, Ye Zhongming began to walk.