Ineffective

After Number Five said she would pull Lin Chenxing into the illusion too, Lin Chenxing thought he was done for. But after he felt his mind grow hazy for a moment, nothing else seemed wrong.

He stared at what had happened in astonishment. Number Five and Number Sixteen were just as surprised. They had no idea why the illusion had failed this time.

But for Lin Chenxing's side, this was good news. He immediately raised his gun and charged straight at Number Five while she tried to cast her illusion on him again.

Number Five was still stunned and hadn't recovered. Her illusions had never failed since she had mastered them, and as a result, her physical combat skills weren't very good. Unable to understand what was happening, she started clumsily blocking Lin Chenxing's attacks while repeatedly using illusions to interrupt him.

Number Sixteen wanted to help Number Five, but the other base's Martial Artists had surrounded her. This time, they had miscalculated.

Their leader had believed that dealing with a small base whose fighters were only at the intermediate or Advanced Battle General level would be no trouble. Still, to be safe, he had sent Number Five, who ranked fifth, to handle it. She was a Psychic Master and Illusionist, and could usually control everyone without them realizing it. Only War God Level Martial Artists, one level above her, might be able to resist.

How could a small base like this possibly have a War God Level Martial Artist?

They had even waited to strike until after provoking a Beast Tide. They had been extremely cautious—and could practically consider victory assured.

But now, both Number Five and Number Sixteen began to regret their earlier confidence. They also cursed their leader for not sending more high-ranking fighters.

But nothing could be changed now.

Number Sixteen refused to surrender and fought to the death. She was overwhelmed and killed.

Seeing Number Sixteen's gruesome end, Number Five knew she could no longer escape. She looked at Gao Zheng and He Qishun, who were still trapped deep in the illusion, and came up with a plan. She shouted, "Since neither of us can get out of here alive, I'll make sure those two die in the illusion!"

Illusions were usually sustained by their caster. Kill the caster, and the illusion would dissolve. This piece of information flashed through Lin Chenxing's mind.

So all he had to do was kill Number Five before she used her illusion to kill Gao Zheng and He Qishun.

Lin Chenxing unleashed speed and strength he had never shown before. He sprang nearly five meters into the air, then thrust his gun down at her.

Number Five died with Lin Chenxing's gun piercing her chest. One hand reached toward Gao Zheng and He Qishun, as if to clench into a fist, but it never closed.

Lin Chenxing immediately looked toward Gao Zheng and He Qishun and saw their bodies go limp and start to fall to the ground.

He dashed over and caught them, then gently lowered them down. In a hurry, he called the others over to help carry them to the infirmary.

At last, the battle was over. Lin Chenxing began to feel intense aches throughout his body, especially in his legs.

He staggered toward his office, taking a shaky step with every stride. There was no help for it. After a major battle, everything at the base needed to be put in order.

Before, Gao Zheng and He Qishun had shouldered the burden, so he could slack off and go rest whenever he got tired. But the base's situation now left him no such choice.

When Lin Chenxing reached his office, he found Ma Tianxing and Guo Qichang already there, waiting for him.

Watching Lin Chenxing's unsteady gait, Ma Tianxing teased, "You and Old Guo walk exactly alike. Come on, tell me—which one of you copied the other?"

Lin Chenxing was speechless. "Cut it out. I just came from Gao and He's rooms. They won't be waking up anytime soon. We'll have our hands full until then."

Guo Qichang chimed in, "Old Ma, if you ask me, you need to train harder. After that fight, I'm almost on the verge of a breakthrough. You're the only one lagging behind."

Ma Tianxing smiled wryly and waved a hand. "You can't rush training. You know what I'm like—I play it safe. I'm not going to challenge monsters I can't beat like you do. Anyway, Chenxing, you'll have to handle the base's affairs until Old Gao and Old He recover. Old Guo and I just talked it over. I'll take the team out to keep looking for a route, and try to make contact with other bases—official ones, if possible. As for Old Guo, he'll take Old He's team and explore Hehe County to see if anyone in town survived."

Guo Qichang said, "I was never any good at planning and arranging things. You should've sent me out with a team ages ago, haha!" As he laughed, Guo Qichang clutched his stomach and groaned. His whole body was in agony from the aftereffects of his burst of power, and he had only made it here by gritting his teeth.

After wiping the sweat from his brow, Guo Qichang said, "All right, I'll head back first. Old Ma, stay here and help him handle things for now. I can't go on. I need to rest and catch my breath."

After Guo Qichang left, Ma Tianxing said with a wry smile, "Chenxing, you lie down and rest for a while too. If there's a lot to take care of later, I'll call you."

Lin Chenxing gave a slight nod and went into the rest room beside the office.

Fortunately, everyone at the base had clear responsibilities, especially when it came to the post-battle tally. Ma Tianxing handled everything in an orderly fashion and didn't make Lin Chenxing keep working when he was so exhausted.

After taking a look into the rest room and hearing a faint snore from inside, Ma Tianxing smiled and went back to work.

But when he saw an item recovered from the two Jesters, he knew he had no choice but to wake Lin Chenxing from his sweet dreams.

It was a document containing information about the state of the world. This information would be vital in guiding the base's future transformation, and the sooner they put it to use, the better.

The document listed the countries whose governments still remained intact: Huaxia, Tianzhu, the United States, the Western Alliance, and Luosha Country. All the others were merely settlements where people were still fighting among themselves for power.

According to the document, almost every settlement with a population of over a hundred thousand had at least one War God stationed there. Even so, settlements still fell from time to time, since the number of Lord-level Monsters continued to grow.

Nuclear weapons had been used many times, but they could only wipe out some of the monsters. More kept gathering, time and again.

The document also introduced Psychic Masters, a special kind of Martial Artist.

First, becoming a Psychic Master wasn't something anyone could accomplish simply by training. Every Psychic Master was exceptionally gifted and had awakened their abilities on their own!

Second, there were three main types of Psychic Masters. One type could control objects, while another could launch direct mental attacks. A small number could mentally influence people and trap them in illusions, but most could only distract their opponents before killing them by controlling objects from a distance. The third type was Beast Tamers. The Black and White Clown had someone who could calm monsters and influence them—and that person was their leader. These three types were the mainstream, though other schools existed as well.