Occupy Smoke Mine

"Our identity? What identity could we possibly have..." Ye Luo stepped closer to Angelina, one pace at a time.

"Shapeshifting magical beasts!" Angelina said softly. "Mage Chelman has already confirmed it. You are a new breed of magical beast—a kind that can take human form before reaching the sixth rank..."

"...Magical beasts."

Those two words shattered the last of Ye Luo's illusions. He was a magical beast; even in human form, in the eyes of these humans, he would never be acknowledged as one of their own.

Suddenly, Ye Luo felt he had no sense of belonging to the humans of this planet.

He nodded, pursing his lips. "Then, why have you come here? We are magical beasts, a newly emerged lineage on this continent. If you capture us and turn us over to the Kingdom, I imagine you'd receive a handsome reward, wouldn't you?"

"But you saved my home, you saved my father... Ye Luo, I know my father's decision has chilled your hearts, but that was only because he saw you so suddenly... He was terrified by the massacre your kin inflicted upon Hiller. Once he wakes up, he will surely regret it..."

"So..." Ye Luo narrowed his eyes.

"The inn has been surrounded. Mage Chelman has set a net outside; you cannot escape. Kidnap me, Ye Luo—only by kidnapping me can you leave!" Angelina looked at Ye Luo with sincerity.

Ye Luo suddenly let out a scoff. "What a silly girl. Do you know what the consequences will be if you do this?"

"My Emperor, those soldiers have already begun to head upstairs!" Ye Wang's warning suddenly reached Ye Luo's ears.

"Bang!" The room door was kicked open, and a dozen guards rushed in. Angelina acted first, throwing herself into Ye Luo's arms and pulling his hand to press against her smooth neck. It was skin he had long coveted, yet he never expected to be touching it in such a manner.

"Ye Luo, you... you, let go of the young lady!" The soldiers who rushed in saw the scene and immediately roared in tension.

Ye Luo sighed inwardly, his right hand tightening against Angelina's neck. "Get out! Clear a path, or I won't mind letting your beautiful young lady accompany me to the grave!"

"...Quick, back down! Do you want me to die?" Angelina shouted with perfect cooperation. The soldiers blocking the door immediately cleared a path.

Holding Angelina hostage, Ye Luo, along with Ye Yi and Ye Feng, reached the entrance of the inn, where Robert and the so-called Mage Chelman had just arrived.

"Father, save me..." Angelina cried out in immense fear.

Ye Luo pulled her tightly into his embrace. "Lord Robert, I saved your Morton main city, yet I never expected you to treat us this way. It seems I misjudged you..."

"Ye Luo, stop the act! We already know your identity, you damned magical beast! Release my daughter!"

Cold light flickered in Ye Luo's eyes. With a slight increase in pressure, his nails pierced Angelina's skin. Blood trickled down her snow-white neck, a shocking sight. "Three warhorses! Bring me three warhorses immediately. Once I am out of the city, I will return your daughter!"

Robert clenched his fist tightly. "Don't even think about it! Damned magical beast, we will not compromise with you!"

"Very well, then let your only daughter accompany us to the grave!"

"You!"

"Father, save me! I, I don't want to die, save me..."

Robert's face was filled with fury. Ye Luo's heart stirred; Ye Yi, standing beside him, flickered and vanished instantly. In the stables on the other side of the inn, three warhorses bolted toward them in a panic. The three of them mounted, with Angelina sitting in Ye Luo's arms, and they galloped straight toward the city gate.

Robert clenched his fists repeatedly, but in the end, he did not give the order to kill on sight.

Breaking out of Morton, the three of them headed straight for the west...

"Where... are you going?" Angelina turned her head in surprise, but because she was pressed so close to Ye Luo, her lips nearly brushed his face as she turned.

Ye Luo's face was ashen, his eyes devoid of emotion. "West. The Smoke mines..."

"Smoke..." The Smoke mines were a large-scale mining site in the Morton territory, sixty miles from the main city. It had originally been heavily guarded, but due to the rebellion, the troops had been pulled away to defend Morton. After Ye Meng and the others defeated Hiller's army, they had marched toward Smoke. At this moment, the Smoke mines had been completely conquered!

After the horses had run for ten miles, there were no pursuers behind them. Ye Luo slowed down and said coldly, "You can leave now..."

Angelina stared at him, dazed. After a long while, she shook her head firmly. "I want to go with you..."

Ye Luo looked at her in disbelief. "Do you know what you are saying?"

Angelina nodded stubbornly. "As long as I am in your hands, my father won't take any extreme actions... This way, at least we won't owe you any more, and the soldiers of Morton won't have to die because of my father's rash military orders..."

Ye Luo looked deeply at Angelina. "I never expected that beneath that angelic exterior, you would have such a beautiful heart. Very well, you made your choice—I hope you don't regret it..."

The horses galloped on. Three hours later...

At the edge of the Smoke mines.

Angelina looked down at the bottom of the mine and recoiled in terror.

The massive Zerg hive was over thirty meters tall. Even built in the depression of the mine, it still rose several meters above the ground. Hundreds of Zergling scurried back and forth. Many of them, seeing the unfamiliar Angelina, instinctively bared their sharp, seven-to-eight-centimeter-long fangs. In the center of the Zergling, the Hydralisk standing upright was even more terrifying.

Ye Meng and the others had been waiting for a long time. Seeing Ye Luo return, they hurried to greet him. "My Emperor, this vein is very rich. It is enough for us to evolve to a level six base!"

Ye Luo nodded. "Don't rush to upgrade the base level yet. Our identity has been exposed. Now, immediately gather an army of Zergling and Hydralisk. Prepare to meet the enemy!"

Ye Meng glared fiercely at Angelina; had Ye Luo not stopped him, he would have already rushed over to tear her to shreds.

Angelina regained her composure and hurried to Ye Luo's side. "Ye Luo, my father might not necessarily send a large army immediately..."

"Your father might not..." Ye Luo interrupted her directly, "but I must be prepared for battle!"

Angelina lowered her head and said nothing more.

As it turned out, Ye Luo's caution was not misplaced.

Mage Chelman of Morton turned the memory crystal over to the local Mages Guild that very day, and within a single day, the crystal reached the hands of the King.

The King stared at the image in the crystal of a Zergling biting off a soldier's shoulder and made a decisive command. He gathered nine thousand troops from the three provinces of Morton, Caernarfon, and Arika to launch the first attack on the magical beast nest. Meanwhile, the Kingdom's Third Legion, consisting of eighteen thousand soldiers led by the sixth-rank second-stage General Warwick, would follow, determined to capture this lineage of magical beasts within half a month!