Chapter 704 - 536: The Human Race Must Win: I Now Command You... Begin the Counterattack

Shen Ning’Er’s voice faded.

A hush fell over the command center.

Because, just as Shen Ning’Er had said, war was the ultimate reality. The victor was crowned king, and only the strong possessed the right to the final word.

"War?" Liangshan and Guo Xin looked at the images on the screen.

On the screen, two giant dragons and a silver-white cat were locked in a fierce, mid-air battle with Tianzang and the Beast Race Sword Saint.

Beyond them, the other Strongest were also engaged in furious combat.

The war seemed to have reached a fever pitch.

Victory and defeat hung in the balance.

However, what Liangshan and Guo Xin didn’t quite understand was why, even after Gao Neng and Xu Zilan had revealed their dragon forms, Qin Lei and the others were still "fighting a desperate battle."

Li Tiannan’s expression was the most composed of all.

Despite being surrounded by the Great Angel Corps, he fought side-by-side with Northwest Wolf, seemingly completely unaffected by the fact that Gao Neng was a dragon.

It wasn’t just Qin Lei and Li Tiannan.

The other three Strongest of the Human Race were reacting the same way.

"Why? He’s a dragon! Didn’t you see? Bai Feixue is an alien... and so is Gao Neng! They’re..."

"Even if Gao Neng can turn into a dragon, that doesn’t mean he’s an alien!"

A voice rang out.

Then, a figure walked in from outside.

She wore a long, grayish-white dress. A vermilion mark adorned her forehead, and her eyes were as placid as a lake’s surface. From the moment she stepped into the command center, she exuded an aura of peace.

This struck everyone present as inexplicably odd.

Because in their memory, the woman before them had always been rather ’sharp’—or at least, never this serene.

"Zhou Zhiruo?" Seeing the woman who had entered, both Liangshan and Guo Xin were taken aback. "Sect Leader Zhou, this is a military command center. Even if you are the Sect Leader of the Emei Ancient Sect, you shouldn’t be here unless you are a member of the Supreme Council or have received an invitation, should you?"

"Merely as the Sect Leader of the Emei Ancient Sect, I naturally cannot enter. However, if I recall correctly, any Strongest in the Alliance has the right to oversee the Supreme Council!" As Zhou Zhiruo spoke, her placid gaze suddenly flashed with a brilliant light.

It was like the surface of a lake suddenly erupting with a thousand points of shimmering light.

With Zhou Zhiruo at the center...

Tangible streams of sword light began to swirl around her.

The immense pressure forced Liangshan and Guo Xin to take two involuntary steps back, their faces masks of utter astonishment.

Because this was the aura of a Strongest!

Zhou Zhiruo...

This woman, who had been stuck at the Tier Nine Late Stage for nearly a decade, had actually managed to break through?!

"Congratulations, Sect Leader Zhou. After ten years of arduous cultivation, you’ve finally achieved a breakthrough. This is a great blessing for the Human Race!" Liangshan and Guo Xin exchanged a glance before finally offering their congratulations.

"A great blessing for the Human Race? Councillor Liang, Councillor Guo, did you not understand what I just said?" Zhou Zhiruo shot a look at Liangshan and Guo Xin.

"Sect Leader Zhou... What do you mean by that?"

"What defines an ’alien’? If turning into a dragon makes one an alien, then what about the two of you? If I remember correctly, Councillor Liang, during the great war eighteen years ago, you were also fortunate enough to drink the Holy Water and gain the ability to ’transform,’ weren’t you?" Zhou Zhiruo’s tone was icy.

"That was..."

"Councillor Liang can vastly increase his body size. If that isn’t an alien trait, what is? By the standard you just applied, wouldn’t that make you an alien yourself?!" Zhou Zhiruo took a light step forward.

"..." A powerful pressure bore down on Liangshan. Sweat began to bead on his forehead, and a chill ran down his spine.

"And what about you, Councillor Guo? Your legs possess the abilities of the Cave Race, don’t they?" Zhou Zhiruo turned her gaze to Guo Xin.

"Heh, that’s just..." Guo Xin’s expression changed.

"Don’t give me any of that ’those not of our race must harbor dissent’ nonsense. Gao Neng’s father is a member of the Human Race, which means he is a member of the Human Race, too!" Zhou Zhiruo declared.

"..." Liangshan and Guo Xin fell silent.

"To become stronger, humanity must constantly break through its limits and allow our bodies to evolve. Is the Energy Warrior system not ’alien’ in itself? How can a normal human body produce a magnetic core? Councillor Liang, Councillor Guo, your rigid dogma is hindering the progress of the Human Race!" As she spoke, she thrust her right hand forward, and a snow-white blade of light appeared in her grasp.

The blade of light pulsed and shifted, its form in constant flux.

It seemed to tear at space itself.

"Upon breaking through to become a Strongest, I also gained the ability to ’turn water into ice.’ This is a special ability of the North District Alien Race. Does that make me an alien, too?" With a flick of her finger, the white blade of light transformed into a longsword of ice-blue crystal.

"Sect Leader Zhou, that’s not what we meant..."

"Then what did you mean? Let me tell you something else. The only reason I was able to achieve this breakthrough was because of Gao Neng. It was Gao Neng who helped me become a Strongest!" An intimidating, icy aura radiated from Zhou Zhiruo.

"..."

"It was Gao Neng?!"

"Gao Neng helped you break through to the rank of a Strongest? How is that possible? He’s only Tier Nine himself. How could he possibly help you?"

Liangshan and Guo Xin were genuinely stunned.

"I also thought it was impossible, but he did it. Just like when he said he was going to the North District to save twenty million people, who thought that was possible?" Zhou Zhiruo continued, "When the war in the Eastern District began, when the three-hundred-thousand-strong Alien Race Alliance Army was bearing down on us, who thought victory was possible? When Gao Neng, a mere Tier Nine, managed to injure the Beast Race’s greatest Sword Saint not once, but twice—who thought that was possible?!"