Chapter 58 - 55: Anomalies Arise, Demon Calamity Returns!

Chapter 58: Chapter 55: Anomalies Arise, Demon Calamity Returns!

Half an hour later.

When Dad returned, not only did he bring back a generous haul of daily supplies, but he had also managed to score a brand-new Military Staff Department uniform.

"Son, your eyes aren’t deceiving you! I enthusiastically answered the nation’s call. I’ve joined the Military Staff Department and become a glorious soldier!"

Noticing Liu Zimo staring at his uniform, Liu Yi puffed out his chest with pride. He fished an officer’s ID from his pocket and flashed it smugly in front of his son’s face.

"Look here, look here! Team Leader of the Military Staff Department’s Special Operations Group! I officially take up the post tomorrow. Your old man is now on the government payroll as a military officer!

"Do you know how shocked the guards at the recruitment desk downstairs were when they heard I had awakened an Invisibility Superpower?

"I’m telling you, their jaws practically hit the floor! They cried and begged me to stay and be their team leader!"

Dad’s habitual bragging and loud showboating drew Zhao Hongzhang and Liu Zihao out of the room, having just finished their cultivation.

Young and blunt, Liu Zihao looked at Liu Yi with utter confusion. "Dad, when my older brother awakened his Superpower, didn’t you keep saying that we absolutely couldn’t expose it? You even brought us all the way to Luozhou just to hide. Why are you voluntarily exposing yourself now? Aren’t you afraid of being abducted and sliced up for research?"

Zhao Hongzhang chimed in, equally surprised and teasing. "Yeah, Liu Yi, you’ve said more than once that good men don’t become soldiers, just like good iron isn’t used for nails! How come you’re getting all hot-blooded and impulsive now in your mid-forties?

"Don’t tell me you got smooth-talked by the little girls at the recruitment desk downstairs?

"Being a soldier right now means facing man-eating Demon Beasts. Anyone on the battlefield is just cannon fodder! Besides, your Invisibility offers absolutely zero combat prowess. It might be decent for a game of hide-and-seek, but forget about taking it to the battlefield—you’d just be a free meal for the Demon Beasts!"

"Shoo, shoo! One greenhorn and one bachelor—what the hell do you two know?" Liu Yi waved them off in annoyance. "Times have changed, don’t you get it?

"Heroes emerge in chaotic times! Right now, all of Great Xia—no, the entire world—is suffering. It is precisely the time for us Superpower Users to step up and save the world!

"I’ll have you know that every single member of this Special Operations Group I’m leading is an awakened Superpower User. You can’t imagine how much importance the Military Staff Department is placing on us!

"In the future, all of Luozhou City might have to rely on us Superpower Users for protection. You three brats—oh, and little Feihong too—just stick with me, and get ready to live the high life!"

Liu Yi thumped his chest and spouted grand speeches, clearly brainwashed by the recruitment personnel downstairs.

Liu Zimo knew very well that while Superpower Users had a bizarre variety of abilities—some with extraordinary combat strength—relying on them to save the world was a wild pipe dream. At least in the early stages of the Post-Apocalypse, Martial Artists were the primary force capable of saving the world. Superpower Users could, at best, play a supporting role on the sidelines.

However, his dad was right about one thing. Times had indeed changed. For the vast majority of Superpower Users and Martial Artists, joining the military early was undoubtedly a smart choice.

"Mo, why are you so quiet? Do you also disapprove of me joining the Military Staff Department?" Liu Yi turned to look at him.

His eldest son was the first in their family to awaken a Superpower. Liu Yi had just been thinking about pulling him into his squad—after all, nothing beat a father and son fighting side by side.

"No, I think it’s actually a pretty good idea!" Liu Zimo nodded. "It’s always good to lean on a big tree for shade. All of Luozhou will eventually fall under military control, so joining early means you won’t go hungry, at the very least!"

Saying that, Liu Zimo pulled his own ID from his pocket and flashed it in front of his dad.

"Look at you, Dad. I already joined the Military Staff Department back in Shangjing. We’re going to be colleagues from now on!"

URGH!

Liu Yi’s smug expression instantly froze. Seeing the gold-rimmed ID stamped with the military emblem in his son’s hand—looking undeniably more prestigious and high-class—he suddenly felt that his own dull, gray Team Leader ID wasn’t quite as impressive anymore.

"Special Martial Arts Consultant? Upper Advisor Rank?!" Liu Zihao shrieked in shock upon reading the contents of his older brother’s ID. "Brother! This is an Upper Advisor! In terms of pure rank, that’s even higher than the provincial Military Advisor Chief of Luozhou City! How did you do it?!"

He never could have imagined that after a single trip to Shangjing, his older brother would quietly become a Martial Arts Consultant for the Military Staff Department, complete with the military rank and privileges of an Upper Advisor! By comparison, their dad’s position as a Special Operations Group Team Leader was practically nothing, right?

"Don’t worry about how I did it!" Liu Zimo tucked the ID away and reached out to pat his younger brother on the head. "Just remember that in the Post-Apocalypse, martial strength reigns supreme.

"If you want to live well and eat your fill in the days to come—if you want to avoid cowering pathetically in a dark room, too afraid to go outside when danger strikes like before—then you must cultivate diligently and make yourself stronger!"

With that said, Liu Zimo reached into his coat, retrieved the final Body Refining Pill, and handed it to his dad.

"Dad, awakening a Superpower doesn’t mean everything will be smooth sailing. You can’t neglect your Martial Dao cultivation either.

"Here, I specifically requested this Body Refining Pill from the Military Staff Department. It will help you with your Martial Arts Foundation Establishment and make you a true Martial Artist!"

Liu Zimo had already said these same words to Zhao Hongzhang and Liu Zihao earlier. The Martial Dao was the fundamental foundation for survival in the Post-Apocalypse; one could never afford to be lazy or give up on it.

Naturally, Liu Yi didn’t stand on ceremony with his own son. He reached out to take the Elixir and glared at Liu Zimo with a hint of reproach. "You brat, how could you not give your old man a heads-up about something this huge? Did you just want to see me make a fool of myself?"

"I’d never do that!" Liu Zimo quickly lowered his head and offered an apologetic smile. "I just haven’t had the time, that’s all.

"Besides, I never expected you to have such great foresight to suddenly join the Military Staff Department, did I?"

After some coaxing, Liu Yi’s temper smoothed out. Letting the matter drop, he followed his eldest son’s instructions and consumed the Body Refining Pill.

Half an hour later, just like Zhao Hongzhang and Liu Zihao before him, the potent medicinal energy of the Body Refining Pill surged through Liu Yi. He successfully opened his Qi Sea, birthed his first wisp of Martial Arts Inner Breath, and became a preliminary-stage Copper Skin Realm Martial Artist.

With this, all three of his family members had smoothly stepped onto the Martial Dao and possessed a certain degree of self-preservation. Only then did Liu Zimo finally feel at ease.

Meanwhile.

The Military Staff Department and all the local factions in Luozhou City were in full swing, pouring all the city’s manpower and resources into constructing a secure defensive line outside the city walls.

Without cars, excavators, or any electrical equipment for support, they used the most primitive methods to build the fortifications.

Manual transport, pulley hoists, and cement pouring—where there was a will, there was a way.

Fortunately, Luozhou City was an ancient city that had once served as the capital for thirteen dynasties. Its ancient city walls had never been demolished, remaining sturdy and usable even in modern times. Now, they could perfectly rely on these ancient walls as a foundation—repairing, reinforcing, and extending their borders to enclose the entire city. This inadvertently saved a massive amount of manpower and material resources.

In fact, before Liu Zimo’s return, the Military Staff Department had planned this exact approach. However, due to ineffective military orders and poor coordination, the project had constantly dragged on, plagued by delays.

Things were different now. Thanks to Liu Zimo’s forceful integration, everyone was compelled to accept the Military Staff Department’s unified deployment. With all efforts focused in one direction and all resources pooled together, the speed of constructing the defensive line increased by ten—no, a hundred times!

In just a single night, the outer ring defense line, which would have originally taken ten days or even half a month, was completely finished!