Diesel Company's Invasion

Geng Jun was dead.

He had died at the hands of the four Gnolls he had always secretly guarded against, yet still relied on heavily.

Momit pulled the scimitar from Geng Jun's lower back. Watching him clutch his stomach and stiffly turn around, his face filled with disbelief and rage, along with a hint of relief deep in his eyes, the Gnoll no longer bothered to hide his savage grin.

"Sorry, Sir Geng Jun. Compared to him, I don't want to keep following a useless piece of trash like you."

But Geng Jun could no longer say anything, because at that moment, another sharp scimitar plunged into his chest and directly shredded his heart.

He could only make hoarse, gurgling sounds in his throat, vomiting a great deal of blood before his eyes finally went blank and he collapsed limply to the ground.

His face remained twisted with rage as he finally fell silent, utterly dead.

"Then let's kill our way in."

A smug voice sounded from in front of Geng Jun's corpse.

Then more tall, thin figures darted past, entering through the Apartment Building's front entrance. No matter which apartment they came across, they kicked the doors open and charged inside with scimitars in hand to search.

Their conduct was exceedingly barbaric.

After all, these tall, thin figures wielding scimitars were themselves members of a savage race from among the Wasteland Races—

Gnolls!

And more than thirty Wild Goblins, each around 1.5 meters tall, squat as short tree stumps, carrying axes or maces, their bodies packed with muscles and looking equally savage and fierce, rushed toward the higher floors.

Bang!

The tremendous sound of Security Doors being kicked open rang out.

These thirty-plus Wild Goblins, along with the thirteen Gnolls, their brutal movements and crude manners, looked no different from bandits.

In fact, before the Spiritual Realm had shattered, these Gnolls and Wild Goblins had roamed the barren wastelands and deserts as notorious bandit races.

Kicking down doors and robbing homes one by one was practically their professional specialty!

"Sir Zhang Caidong, from now on, we are your Followers. We hope the scimitars in our hands can become your sharpest weapons."

In the front lobby by the Apartment Building's entrance, Momit, the Gnoll missing part of one ear, slowly lowered his head and humbly, obediently offered his allegiance to one of the three humans standing beside him.

The man at the forefront was none other than Zhang Caidong, deputy captain of the Twelfth Convoy from Diesel Company's Transportation Department.

"Your choice now is a wise one."

Zhang Caidong wore a smug expression, a gleaming scimitar slung over his shoulder, his tone exceptionally arrogant.

"I told you back then that if you got tired of Geng Jun, that old fossil, I would naturally be willing to take you in."

"We are grateful for your mercy."

Momit, the Gnoll leader, respectfully lowered his head.

His eyes swept over Geng Jun's still-open eyes by his feet, and mockery and derision filled his green wolfish gaze.

Gnolls had always worshipped violence and the strong.

Back when he had believed Geng Jun to be a Big Boss of some faction, he had chosen to pledge allegiance and offered up his soul for binding.

But after truly working with Geng Jun, leaving Diesel Company's core ranks, enduring all manner of restrictions imposed on them Gnolls, and facing a bleak future without hope had long filled him—and the other three Gnolls who had pledged themselves alongside him—with dissatisfaction and rage.

Now that they had found an opportunity to break free of Geng Jun, of course they were delighted.

Even as the bodies of the four Gnolls gradually turned insubstantial, seeming to become shadows and vanish from this world, it was the same.

That was because they had lost their anchor on Blue Star. Once Geng Jun, the one who had chosen soul binding, died, creatures like them from the Undead World would once more be rejected by Blue Star into the Space-Time Turbulence, returning to the horrifying fate of being sealed by time and space, unable to ever escape, with only their slowed thoughts aware that they were trapped.

That was also why Spiritual Realm Creatures would sometimes rather die in battle than fail to protect the masters they served.

The eternal seal within the Space-Time Turbulence—the agony of having time and space fixed in place while one's mind and soul could still think—was enough to torment one's sanity into complete madness!

Likewise, that was the root cause of why many Spiritual Realm Creatures became emotionally extreme after arriving on Blue Star.

They had been locked in a Dark Room for who knew how many years. Even with their thoughts slowed, their minds would still be dragged down by endless years of solitude and darkness until they became extreme.

Of course, Momit, the Gnoll missing part of one ear, no longer needed to care about any of that.

He had found a new anchor.

An anchor that had already established contact with his Gnoll tribe and could summon him from the time-space seal again, so long as there were enough Space-Time Crystal Core Fragments.

It was Zhang Caidong.

"Please don't forget me, Sir Zhang Caidong."

Yet as he completely vanished into nothingness, Momit still spoke up to remind him.

"Of course." Zhang Caidong watched the four Gnolls disappear, the smug smile on his face growing even wider.

Especially when he looked at his former nemesis beside him, the man who had relied on the previous General Manager's favoritism, now dead by his own hand with his eyes still open in death, his mood became even more pleasant.

Nothing felt better than killing an enemy one hated so much it made one's teeth ache.

"Deputy Captain Zhang, we agreed that if we really find any Spiritual Realm Mark, you'll have to give us brothers some fragments as payment."

At that moment, an equally sinister voice came from beside him, interrupting Zhang Caidong's pleasant mood.

Along with the cold gazes of two men fixed on his back.

That made Zhang Caidong uncomfortable.

But he understood that he still needed the twin brothers behind him.

Especially the thirty-five powerful Wild Goblins under their command.

"Come on, Sun Eldest Brother, Sun Second Brother. We've known each other for nearly a year now. Don't you trust me?"

Zhang Caidong turned around.

Before him stood two burly fat men, around 1.6 meters tall and weighing over two hundred pounds.

They wore simple leather armor, small round wooden shields in their left hands and One-Handed Warhammers with iron spikes embedded in their heads in their right. With their nostrils tilted skyward, fleshy faces, and tiny eyes squeezed into slits by fat yet filled with viciousness, they truly made people wary.

Zhang Caidong included.

"Deputy Captain Zhang, us brothers have always respected you. Of course we're happy that you're leading us to make a fortune this time, but since we're taking on a side job and putting ourselves in danger, it's better to be careful with the accounting."

Sun Boss, the leader, grunted, a fierce glint appearing in his eyes. "Also, leave no survivors."

"Certainly." Zhang Caidong glanced at Sun Boss and Sun Second Boss, who stood silently beside him, then nodded politely. Turning to look at the Apartment Building, his gaze grew darker. "We've taken on private jobs several times. When have we ever left survivors?"

With that, he led the Sun Family Brothers into the Apartment Building.

By then, the first floor had already been thoroughly cleared. Every Security Door had been kicked open by the Gnolls or Wild Goblins and carefully searched.

Even the occasional Undead Monster or Demon Monster inside had been killed with their weapons.

This showed just how seriously these Gnolls and Wild Goblins were taking their search of the Apartment Building.

From the Second Floor to the third and fourth floors.

Even the ordinary families living there had been forcibly dragged out.

With savage grins, they had driven them all into the corridors to await the arrangements of Zhang Caidong and the two brothers surnamed Sun.

But Zhang Caidong and the two Sun brothers did not even spare these terrified, trembling ordinary people, each too scared to speak, a glance. They merely waved their hands and casually said,

"We said no survivors. Once you've killed them, do whatever you want."

They clearly intended to reward the Gnolls and Wild Goblins.

Upon hearing that, the nearly forty ordinary people from more than ten households did not even have time to cry out twice before every last one of them was finished off in the corridors by the Gnolls and Wild Goblins, their faces filled with savage delight.

"Hehehe! Such fresh flesh!"

The Gnolls and Wild Goblins laughed excitedly, swinging their scimitars and axes. In just a few strokes, they hacked off tender flesh and stuffed it into their mouths, chewing in huge bites until their mouths were smeared with blood that dripped over their bodies, making them look even filthier.

The Gnolls and Wild Goblins ate with ever-increasing excitement, their spirits growing even brighter.

Blue Star's fresh flesh could not replenish their needs.

But it was fresh flesh, after all.

And it tasted...

Absolutely wonderful!

"Deputy Captain Zhang, we've already reached the fourth floor. Why haven't we seen any trace of the Magic Fluctuation you mentioned?"

The two Sun brothers were becoming impatient.

They lightly hefted the warhammers in their hands. Sun Boss, the more violent of the two, glanced toward the stairs, his tone brimming with aggression. "Don't tell me we wasted our time, came all this way, gained nothing, and have to slink back empty-handed?"

Sun Second Boss also tightened his grip on his warhammer and gave Zhang Caidong a cold look.

The two brothers did not have good tempers.

Calling him Deputy Captain Zhang was giving him face.

But they did not have to give him that face.

"Don't worry. My fellow townsman works in the Quality Inspection Department and specializes in Magic Crystal Ball reconnaissance. Whenever the three of us have gone out before, when have we ever failed?"

A shadow passed through Zhang Caidong's eyes, though he still smiled. Without looking back, he pointed at the thirteen Gnolls he had brought and headed toward the stairs with them.

"Move!" Seeing this, the Sun Family Brothers glared at the Wild Goblins still eating corpses, then followed him to the stairs and headed up to the next floor.

As they climbed, Zhang Caidong continued, "This Magic Fluctuation is quite obvious. It seems related to a class holder, perhaps even a large-scale spell. If we get there first, those people at Diesel Company who see us as outsiders won't get so much as a scrap behind us!"

"That's why us brothers admire Deputy Captain Zhang." Sun Eldest Brother offered a false smile. "Next time we meet, we think you'll be Captain Zhang, without that 'deputy' anymore."

"Hahaha, it all depends on what we make happen." Zhang Caidong reached the stairwell on the fifth floor.

But at that moment, from the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught sight of a figure flashing past.

"Halflings!"

The Gnolls, with their dim-light vision, saw more clearly. Their bloodstained mouths let out excited howls as they raised their scimitars, their green eyes full of greed. "They're the Halflings our kin mentioned, living on the fifth floor!"

"And there's a female druid too, right?" The two Sun brothers huffed after them, their eyes equally excited.

"Yes." Zhang Caidong nodded. "And on the seventh floor, there seems to be someone with Human Militia."

"Then the Gnolls and Wild Goblins under us might finally get a full meal!" The Sun brothers immediately grinned, revealing ugly smiles. They waved forward and shouted, "Kill your way in! Tie up that female druid. As for the other Halflings and humans, deal with them however you want!"

"Hehehe!" The Wild Goblins under the two brothers immediately grinned savagely, howling as they charged into the fifth floor.

Halfling screams and the muffled thuds of Security Doors closing

echoed throughout the fifth floor.

"Let's go too."

A suggestive smile appeared on Zhang Caidong's face. Turning to the Sun Family Brothers behind him, he said, "I'll give that female druid to you two brothers as a gift for coming with me this time. What do you think?"

"No problem." Sun Second Boss's face had turned red, his eyes wide with greedy lust.

"But if there are Crystal Core Fragments, you have to give us brothers some too. After all, we have a Wild Goblin Tribe behind us waiting to be freed from the time-space seal."

Sun Boss, however, stated his condition in a deep voice.

"Of course, that's no problem..." Zhang Caidong laughed, just about to agree when he felt a faint tremor beneath his feet.

His brows instantly knit together. "An earthquake!?"

The Sun Family Brothers also snapped back to attention.

They quickly lowered their bodies slightly and braced themselves in the stairwell. In the obvious shaking, all of their expressions became quite unpleasant.

Yet the tremor lasted only a dozen seconds or so, not very long.

But before the three of them could react in the stairwell,

from outside the Stairwell Fire Door,

there suddenly came a crisp, forceful shout that only a human could make.

"Stop! State your purpose!"

"...Enemies!"

Then came a series of faint whistling sounds through the air, several excited curses, and the sounds of Melee Combat.

The three people in the stairwell frowned slightly, sensing that something seemed wrong.

But based on the intelligence they had learned beforehand,

the strongest person in this Apartment Building had been Geng Jun, who possessed four Gnolls, and he had already been killed by them.

As for the rest,

wasn't there only that young man named Shen Mu, who had around a dozen Human Militia?

"Heh. I'd like to see what dares to block our path!"

Zhang Caidong pushed open the Security Door and entered with the Sun Family Brothers.

But the moment they entered,

they stood frozen at the Fire Door, staring in disbelief at the Apartment Building corridor, which they had imagined to be cramped and dark, suitable for defense but utterly incapable of stopping their Spiritual Realm bandits' attack. Before their eyes, it had become a...

castle hidden within the floor!