With the Tyrant Dragon King's submission, the once-surging tide of beasts seemed to lose its heart. After a brief moment of confusion, the remaining monsters scattered and fled, vanishing into the vast desert. The members of the Flying Squad and the Four-Color Squad finally breathed a sigh of relief, their taut nerves at last relaxing.
Night fell quietly. Stars glittered like diamonds embedded in the dark canopy of the sky. Beneath an unpolluted sky, they shone with a soft, mysterious glow. The desert night, free of the day's heat and clamor, felt especially quiet and profound.
To sort through the information they had gathered and discuss what to do next, everyone sat around a roaring campfire. Its light blazed across the vast landscape like a brilliant star.
Liu Yun sat at the center of the group, his shadow stretching tall in the firelight. The three Beast Kings—the Tyrant Dragon King, Tiger King, and Wild Ape—knelt respectfully on either side of him. The arrogance and wildness that had once filled their eyes were gone, replaced by deep reverence and obedience.
The sight stunned everyone present. They had never seen anything like it: a human powerhouse commanding such mighty Beast Kings. It was a clear testament to his strength—and to the unique power of a Psychic.
"War God Liu Yun, what should we do now? I won't hold it against you for damaging my personality!" Wang Tianba broke the silence. His voice held a note of anticipation and awe, though his personality had been missing for a long time.
Watching the flames dance, Liu Yun found himself at a bit of a loss. His Machine Race Clone had lost all its energy, and it wouldn't recover anytime soon. The Tyrant Dragon King was simply too difficult to control.
"How would I know? You're from the Limit Dojo, and we're with the HR Alliance. We'll probably be parting ways soon, each going our own way!"
Wang Tianba could only sigh at that. Who knew Liu Yun would improve so quickly? He couldn't keep up at all. He might as well stop worrying about it. There was still a good show to watch, so he'd make the best of things.
That good show was He Lan. At that moment, she was glaring like a lioness at Ruby and the others seated on Liu Yun's other side. She was proud of and reliant on Liu Yun's strength, yet also jealous and displeased that other women were getting close to him.
Ruby and the others naturally noticed He Lan's gaze. They exchanged smiles, a hint of mockery and disdain flickering in their eyes. To them, He Lan's behavior was childish and ridiculous. There was nothing ambiguous between them and Liu Yun; they were simply comrades-in-arms.
Still, that attitude annoyed them. Why should Liu Yun belong to her? Hadn't He Lan merely known him a few days longer?
"Hmph. If we really wanted him, we wouldn't just let Liu Yun go to that woman for nothing!"
Even the usually taciturn Blacka said so by the campfire. Ruby smiled apologetically. She had always felt that stealing someone's man had nothing to do with her. After learning the whole story, she even found herself sympathizing with both Liu Yun and He Lan.
"...I used to hear people from the CWVAA say that marrying a woman from the China Region meant being cursed with a lifetime of entanglement. Now it seems they weren't wrong."
She said this with her sister, Yang Xiaolong, and Yang Xiaolong laughed along as she joined in teasing He Lan.
"Ah, Chinese men really do live in hell! From the Ireland Base to the Qidan Base, everyone knows their bad reputation!"
The group burst into unrestrained laughter. The Flying Squad members looked surprised, then wholeheartedly agreed. Some things had long since become public knowledge.
Huang Mei wept as he searched the ground ravaged by the beast tide and found You Suowei's battered corpse. Everyone in the Flying Squad except He Lan was overcome with grief.
"Let's cremate Captain You. That way, we can take him back to the Jiangnan Base later!"
There was no hiding the sorrow in Huang Mei's voice. He carefully lifted You Suowei's battered body, as if handling a priceless treasure.
Liu Yun was solemn, too. He knew that You Suowei hadn't truly wanted to hurt him; sometimes, he simply hadn't been able to help himself.
"All right. We'll hold a simple cremation for Captain You, so his soul can rest in peace and he can return to the Jiangnan Base he loved in another way." Liu Yun's voice was steady and firm. He rose, walked over to Huang Mei, and gently patted his shoulder in silent comfort.
Everyone set to work, gathering firewood and building a simple funeral pyre. The laughter and cheer around the campfire gave way to a heavy silence. Everyone mourned You Suowei except He Lan. His figure gradually blurred in the firelight, then turned to a wisp of smoke that drifted away on the wind.
"People are impossible to read. I wonder if anyone will mourn me when I die."
Watching the smoke, Liu Yun felt a touch of melancholy. He looked at Ruby, Blacka, and the others, thinking that the test was finally about to begin. He had the Beast Kings conceal themselves first.
By then, Li Yao had reached the Australian Continent. He piloted a fighter jet with two Planetary Stage experts—Yan Hai and a mysterious old man—and was determined to kill Liu Yun.
Inside a hidden base on the Australian Continent, Li Yao stood before his private fighter jet, the Dark Night Falcon. He had only one goal on this trip: to wipe out Liu Yun, the villain who had killed his own son.
Li Yao's two Planetary Stage subordinates stood on either side of him. Their auras were cold and powerful, marking them as battle-hardened veterans. Li Yao took a high-tech watch from his pocket. He had prepared it carefully; it contained an advanced tracking system capable of pinpointing the matching watches worn by Blacka and the other members of the Four-Color Squad.
There was no way to track Liu Yun himself, but the same couldn't necessarily be said of the other members of the Four-Color Squad. Li Yao had already reached the target area, so he would have a few War Generals take care of some work first!
"Are you ready?" Li Yao asked gravely, keeping his eyes fixed on the blinking dots on the watch's screen. They marked Liu Yun and the others' location.
"Everything's ready, sir," one of his subordinates replied respectfully, then began checking the weapons systems on the fighter jet, especially the newly installed portable high-energy laser cannon. The laser cannon was humanity's most powerful mechanical weapon against Beast Kings. Even Planetary Stage experts couldn't afford to ignore it. They were taking these precautions to ensure nothing went wrong.
The gaunt old man, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke.
"I want seven days to interrogate War God Liu Yun and extract every traditional medicine prescription he knows. If you don't agree, I'm pulling out right now!"
He was raising his price at the last minute. Li Yao could only sigh, but he nodded in agreement.
"Fine. Why not? I won't let Liu Yun die too easily."
That settled things. After installing the high-energy laser cannon, Li Yao, Yan Hai, and the gaunt old man moved swiftly through the rolling desert terrain, like ghosts in the night. Their steps were light and agile, and they knew the lay of the land well, clearly having planned and prepared with care.
As they drew closer, their hearts began to pound faster, but their expressions remained cold and resolute. Li Yao gripped his War Blade, eager to bathe it in Liu Yun's blood.
"Now!" Li Yao silently cried out in his mind. His War Blade whipped through the air, its icy gleam cutting straight toward Liu Yun.
Yet at that critical moment, as Liu Yun mourned You Suowei, he seemed to sense the danger. He whipped around, meeting Li Yao's hate-filled gaze.
"Bang!" Their blades collided with a deafening crash. Shockwaves burst outward, making the campfire shudder and sending sparks flying.
The battle erupted in an instant. Firelight and shadows intertwined, tearing the tranquil desert night to shreds. Liu Yun and Li Yao clashed like two meteors colliding, unleashing a devastating force.
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