Chapter 188: The Four Leaders Meet

Hundreds of Zombie Race corpses covered the broken streets.

Several humans sat down wherever they stood.

Others leaned against ruined walls, breathing heavily.

The smell of blood had become thick enough to make the air unpleasant even for people who had grown accustomed to death during the apocalypse.

Cain flicked his sword, removing the blood from it before shouting loudly as he turned to his group.

"Gather the Cores!"

Several nearby people looked toward him.

"Don’t leave anything useful behind. Bring every Blood Crystal you can find!"

Aurelia heard him from farther away.

She immediately turned toward her group.

"You heard him. Move right away."

Her people began harvesting Cores from the corpses.

The people from the Northern group hesitated for a moment, before Cain looked toward their side.

"Those things aren’t useless, just do as I say."

That was enough as people started moving.

Cain had already proven that statement in front of Aurelia’s group.

He had no intention of explaining everything again right now as there would be time once the loot had been gathered.

Cain turned toward the Northern Spatial Anchor when he felt the familiar pressure appeared above the structure.

A massive black seal had formed in the air, Dense Heavenly Demon Qi filled every part of it.

The seal then descended and struck.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

The ground shook violently.

Cracks spread across the crystal supports.

One core shattered.

The second followed under the overwhelming pressure.

The Spatial Anchor distorted, energy erupted from the damaged structure.

Then the entire Gate collapsed.

A sound Cain had been waiting to hear filled the world.

[Ding!]

Everyone, whether they were in the Invasion Corridor or in their Original World heard the World Announcement.

Far inside the Central Base of the Corridor, Zombie Race soldiers heard the same cold voice.

Even Serath raised his head as he looked at the notification before his eyes.

[World Announcement]

[Heavenly Demon has successfully destroyed the Northern Spatial Anchor Gate within the Invasion Corridor.]

[All Spatial Anchors connected to Invasion Corridor 73-A have been destroyed.]

[World-Class Mission Progress: 4/4.]

[The Spatial Anchor Network protecting the World Gate Core has collapsed.]

[The World Gate Core of Invasion Corridor 73-A is now fully exposed.]

The final line disappeared.

Cain looked toward the central region with a smile.

This was going to become troublesome as their final destination was guarded by the Youngest Prince and its subordinates.

But for some reason, he was beginning to look forward to it.

The Northern Anchor Town remained busy even after the battle ended.

Humans moved between the corpses harvesting their Cores as this was the Heavenly Dragon’s order.

Others began searching military warehouses after Aurelia’s people explained that Blood Crystals could also become valuable.

Cain stood near the ruined plaza and watched the activity for a moment.

He then turned when he noticed that someone was walking toward him.

The black-haired man’s wounds had mostly disappeared after absorbing the energy from the dead commanders.

His long hair still carried traces of dust from the battle.

A dark-haired woman walked beside him.

Northern Tyrant approached from another direction.

His physical condition had also improved considerably after advancing.

The injuries remaining across his body looked severe, but the vitality of a 3rd Echelon being was already allowing them to recover.

Aurelia joined them shortly afterward.

Cain looked between the unfamiliar people.

Heavenly Demon stopped several meters away.

"Mo Xuanye."

Cain raised an eyebrow with a faint smile.

So that was his name.

He extended his hand.

"Cain."

Mo Xuanye looked at the offered hand before accepting it.

Their grips remained normal, since neither of them seemed interested in turning the introduction into a childish contest of Strength.

The Northern Tyrant stepped forward next.

"Viktor Morozov."

His voice was deep enough to suit his enormous frame.

Cain shook his hand.

"Cain."

Viktor nodded in satisfaction.

There was much less curiosity in his expression compared to Mo Xuanye.

The Northern Tyrant simply looked satisfied to finally meet another powerful human.

Cain’s attention shifted toward the woman beside Heavenly Demon.

She had long dark-purple hair fall down her back, her Violet eyes calmly studying Cain.

The daggers from earlier were no longer held between her fingers, though Cain could see several sheaths hidden across her clothing.

"Tang Ziyue."

Cain looked at her and raised an eyebrow, acting as if he was surprised a little bit even though he knew very well as he had seen her information.

"Poison Empress?"

Tang Ziyue nodded once.

"That’s me."

Cain glanced toward Mo Xuanye.

The way Heavenly Demon had called her Yue’er earlier made their relationship obvious enough that Cain did not need to ask.

Mo Xuanye looked at the people extracting Zombie Cores nearby and asked, "Why are you gathering those?"

Cain looked over.

Before Cain could respond, Mo Xuanye continued.

"They contain contaminated energy."

He paused briefly before continuing with a curious expression.

"Unless... You have something similar to my skill?"

Cain smiled faintly as he replied.

"That’s a good guess, but yeah... I can absorb them."

He immediately added, "But my method isn’t the same."

"Oh? What do you mean by that?"

"You’ll see it later."

Mo Xuanye stared at him for a moment, then simply nodded his head afterward.

"Fine."

Cain smiled faintly as he liked that response.

Mo Xuanye’s gaze moved toward Cain’s face.

"Also, tell me something else instead."

"Hm?"

"What happened earlier?"

Cain knew exactly what he meant.

"You suddenly ordered everyone to end the battle as soon as possible."

Viktor also looked toward him curiously.

Aurelia remained silent as she already knew the reason.

Tang Ziyue listened quietly at the side.

Cain’s expression became more serious.

"An external reinforcement force entered the Corridor."

Mo Xuanye’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Cain immediately continued.

"The System recalculated my Advancement Mission because of it."

"What was your previous mission?" Viktor asked.

"Destroy the World Gate Core."

That earned a reaction as Viktor’s eyebrows rose.

Mo Xuanye’s gaze became more focused.

Cain added as there was no need to hide such information.

"It changed after the reinforcement entered. My new objective is to kill one of the designated subordinates of the Youngest Prince of the Zombie Race."

"The Youngest Prince?"

Tang Ziyue spoke for the first time since introducing herself.

"That’s what the System called him." Cain nodded.

Mo Xuanye looked toward the central region, a smile appeared on his face.

"Interesting."

Cain chuckled quietly.

"That’s not the part I find interesting because I was ordered to kill one of its subordinates, instead the Youngest Prince himself."

Cain looked toward the distant central city.

"So either the System was being unusually kind to me..."

Cain smiled faintly as he continued,

"Or that prince is strong enough that killing him isn’t considered an appropriate Advancement Mission for me right now."

Viktor crossed his arms.

"How strong do you think he is?"

"No idea." Cain answered honestly as he shrugged. "I haven’t seen him yet."

His eyes narrowed as he continued.

"But I don’t intend to underestimate someone whose arrival was enough to completely replace my Advancement Mission."

He then added as he looked toward Mo Xuanye and Viktor.

"Because of that, I’m counting on you two."

Viktor pointed toward himself.

"Us?"