Chapter 189: The plan

"If the Youngest Prince appears, hold him back first." Cain’s tone became more serious as he continued, "I need to help some people advance to the 3rd Echelons and complete my Advancement Mission first. So, once they’re done, I’ll join you two."

Mo Xuanye remained quiet for a moment.

"What if we can kill him before then?"

"Then kill him." Cain shrugged and chuckled.

Viktor laughed heartily.

Mo Xuanye’s smile grew a little more visible.

Cain continued.

"But if he’s as strong as I suspect, just don’t let him interfere with me."

Mo Xuanye looked toward the central region again and responded.

"I’ll deal with him."

There was no hesitation in his answer.

A spark of interest appeared in his eyes as he continued.

"I also want to see how strong that Youngest Prince is to be able to change the System’s mission."

Viktor struck one fist against his chest. The impact sounded like someone hitting a thick metal plate.

"If he’s too much for one person, I’ll help hold him down."

Cain nodded in satisfaction.

"Perfect."

He then glanced toward Aurelia.

She had listened to everything without interrupting.

Her own mission created another complication, but also another advantage as he could help her kill one of the Youngest Prince’s subordinates as well.

Then there was Ron and other people too.

The central battle was becoming increasingly complicated.

Before thinking further, Cain crouched beside one of the Zombie Cores that had been brought over and picked up a piece.

"Now... About these."

Cain allowed a thin strand of True Ruin to enter the contaminated resource.

The corruption inside it began disappearing as dark impurities vanished from the energy within.

What remained became clean and usable.

The change took only a short time.

Cain held up the purified Core.

Viktor’s expression changed.

Tang Ziyue’s calm eyes widened slightly.

Mo Xuanye stared at the Core with genuine interest.

"You removed the contaminated substance."

Cain tossed it lightly in his palm.

"Yep."

"So that’s your method."

"Basically." Cain nodded.

Mo Xuanye looked at the Core again.

His Heaven-Devouring Demonic Art allowed him to use the contaminated resources directly.

But that benefit applied to himself.

Cain’s ability was different.

He could turn unusable Zombie Race resources into something that other humans could absorb safely.

The strategic value was obvious.

Cain spoke as he looked at Aurelia with a smile.

"Since the situation changed this much, I’ll make an exception."

Cain pointed at the growing pile.

"Whatever we collect here, I’ll purify it without charging anything."

Aurelia’s smile widened.

"Really?"

"Just this time."

Cain continued with a chuckle, "Don’t get used to it."

"We’ll split everything equally between four groups." Cain looked at the others.

Aurelia nodded without hesitation.

"Thank you."

Cain chuckled lightly and shifted his gaze as he looked toward the battlefield.

People were still gathering resources and more Cores were being carried toward them.

Blood Crystals had begun arriving from the warehouses.

Cain released a breath.

"Everyone should rest first."

He then raised his voice enough for the nearby members of his group to hear.

"Evelyne!"

The white-red-haired girl looked over.

"What?"

Cain took several purified Blood Crystals from his Inventory and tossed them toward her.

She hurriedly caught them.

"Absorb those."

Evelyne looked at the crystals.

"You still have injured people waiting for you. You’re useless if you drain yourself completely."

Her expression darkened at the word useless.

However, she knew that Cain was right.

She sat down beside the ruined wall and began absorbing the purified energy.

Cain returned his attention to the others.

"As much as I’d like to sit here and talk..." He said as he looked toward the central region.

"We don’t know what’s happening at the Central Base. So, let’s recover to our peak before heading there."

Mo Xuanye nodded, then turned toward Tang Ziyue.

"Have everyone help with whatever’s needed."

She nodded and left.

Viktor shouted toward his own people.

The remaining humans began moving faster.

Cain took several dozen purified Blood Crystals from his Inventory.

He sat on a broken section of wall before beginning to absorb them for himself.

His Mana reserves had taken a considerable hit after all the fight he had been through.

The energy from the crystals entered his Core.

His exhausted reserve gradually recovered.

Cain closed his eyes.

For now, all he needed was enough Mana to deal with the next unpleasant job.

The mountain of contaminated resources growing nearby.

The looting took several minutes.

By the time the last teams returned from the northern warehouses, a large collection of Zombie Race resources had accumulated beside Cain.

He looked at the pile.

Around fifteen hundred Blood Crystals.

At least three hundred Zombie Cores.

The amount exceeded what they had gathered after the previous battles.

Cain rubbed his forehead.

"Great."

Ron sat nearby drinking something cold to refresh himself.

"You don’t sound happy."

"Do you want to purify them?"

Ron immediately looked away.

"I believe everyone should specialize in what they’re good at."

Cain stared at him and snorted.

"Useless bastard."

Ron pretended not to hear.

Cain rested for another minute before starting.

He purified the Blood Crystals first.

The process itself was no longer difficult.

The problem was repeating the same precise control over such a massive number of resources.

By the time the last crystal had been cleansed, the mental exhaustion had returned.

Cain stopped and rested briefly before moving on to the Cores.

One Core after another became usable.

The pile of contaminated resources gradually disappeared.

When the final Core had been purified, Cain leaned backward against the broken wall.

"Fuck..."

His breathing was heavier than before.

He closed his eyes.

Even with his abnormal Mana and Magic, controlling True Ruin with enough precision to remove contamination without destroying the useful energy demanded concentration.

The quantity had made it far worse.

He quickly took a fizzy drink from his inventory and opened the bottle.

Tsssss!

He then drank several mouthfuls and sat there until the pressure behind his eyes eased.

Subsequently, he stood up and with a wave of his hand, roughly one-fourth of the purified resources disappeared into his Inventory.

Cain pointed toward the remaining piles.

"Divide those."

Representatives from the other groups moved forward and divided these into three parts.

Cain raised his voice.

"Anyone who still needs to improve their Core, do it now."

People immediately began sitting down throughout the ruined plaza.

For those still at the 2nd Echelon, the resources gathered here were extremely valuable.

A Perfected Mana Core would give them the best possible foundation before their next Advancement Mission.

Cain watched the activity for several seconds, then he walked away.

His own group had gathered near the remains of a broken wall.

Ron sat on top of it.

Elara leaned against the side with a drink in her hand.

Sonya had taken off part of her damaged outer clothing and was cooling herself after using Fire Skills throughout the battle.

Nathan sat nearby inspecting the string of his bow.

Jack was eating a sandwich leisurely.

The atmosphere around them looked strangely relaxed considering what had happened only minutes earlier.

As Cain approached, several heads turned toward him.

Ron raised his bottle.

"How’s the situation over there?"

Cain stopped beside the wall.

"Just told them to absorb the Cores and Blood Crystals before we head to the Central Base."

He climbed onto the broken section and sat beside Ron.

Ron shifted slightly to give him some room.

Elara looked toward Cain.

"What’s the plan now?"

Cain became quiet as he had been thinking about that since his Advancement Mission changed.

The situation was too uncertain for anything complicated.

However, going into the Central Base without at least a rough plan would be stupid.

Cain looked toward his group and explained roughly the plan that he had told the leaders from other groups.

"The main problem is the Youngest Prince."

Ron nodded in understanding.

Cain continued.

"Heavenly Demon and Northern Tyrant will hold him first."

Cain rested his forearms against his knees as he continued.

"Meanwhile, I’ll deal with the subordinate tied to my Advancement Mission."

Elara listened carefully.

Cain looked toward Ron.

"And if other people receive Advancement Missions that involve the Youngest Prince’s subordinates, I’ll help them."

Ron tilted his head.

"You’ll help them before finishing yours?"

"Yeah, because the problem isn’t killing my target, but what happens after I kill it."

Elara understood first.

"Your Core Metamorphosis."

Cain nodded.

"When I complete my mission, I’ll advance."

He looked toward the central region as he continued.

"If the Youngest Prince realizes what’s happening, why would he let me finish peacefully?"

Ron scratched his cheek.

"Especially if he already knows you’re Heavenly Dragon."

"Exactly." Cain nodded.

Cain had not forgotten why the Main World had reacted so strongly to his presence.

He guessed that the Zombie Race must have known about him somehow.

If the Youngest Prince had entered because of the Heavenly Dragon, then allowing Cain to advance safely would make no sense.

"So before I finish my target..."

Cain looked around the group.

"I want more 3rd Echelons on our side."

The idea became clearer to everyone.

Heavenly Demon and Northern Tyrant could occupy the Youngest Prince.

If Aurelia or another powerful human reached the 3rd Echelon, they could reinforce that fight once Cain began advancing.

Cain continued.

"I’ll fight my designated target without killing it immediately. At the same time, I can help the people whose missions allow assistance from 2nd Echelons or lower."

Ron stared at him.

Cain was currently only 1st Echelon, meaning that he could participate in assisting their missions.

"Once enough of them finish their missions, I’ll stop holding back and kill mine."

Cain pointed toward himself.

"Then all the 3rd Echelon needs to do is keep the Youngest Prince away from me until the advancement finishes or even kill that bastard if all of you have the ability to do so."

"Well, that’s the worst scenario in case all of you can’t kill that bastard without my help." Cain chuckled as he shrugged.