Meihe

Was this... a copy of the Saber-toothed Tiger? It had a pale purple body, and its shape and face looked a lot like a tiger's, except that two long fangs protruded from its mouth.

The skeleton gripped its greatsword tightly, ready to strike the intruder at any moment. The intruder seemed wary of the skeleton too and didn't dare attack recklessly. The two faced off against each other. Clearly, the skeleton wasn't capable of much thought. It was no longer willing to wait, and it charged at the Purple Tiger with its greatsword.

The skeleton's sudden attack actually posed a real threat to the Purple Tiger. The creature quickly retreated, then spat a yellow liquid from its mouth.

Unfortunately, the skeleton wasn't afraid of poison. The toxic substance the Purple Tiger spat out couldn't harm it at all. The skeleton paid no attention to the parts of its body that had been splattered and kept lumbering toward the Purple Tiger with its greatsword. Seeing that its finishing move had no effect, the Purple Tiger let out a couple of low growls and turned to flee.

The skeleton had wanted to chase after it, but its only task was to guard the area nearby, so it slowly returned to its post. Once it was back where it had started, Heming carefully examined the poison the monster had spat out. It was purple, and it clung to the skeleton's bones without seeming to corrode them. Maybe it was just ordinary poison...

Heming went into the tent, ready to get some rest. He was exhausted after today...

A little over three hours later, Heming got up. He glanced at Rie, who would probably sleep for another two hours or so. After seeing the Purple Tiger, he basically didn't want to explore alone anymore. It wasn't that he was afraid; he just couldn't stop worrying about Rie. He had no choice but to practice the Pitch Black Heart Method first.

At the same time, in Qiming's office...

"The major organizations around the world have already passed a unanimous resolution. We all agree that we should wipe out those annoying Shalu Aliens in three months. On Earth, they haven't just been damaging the environment. According to our latest investigation, they've even been capturing living humans for the kind of cloning we've always forbidden. Recently, they've even tried to capture some weaker ability users." Kuo Ming was the first to speak. He was sitting on Qiming's desk.

"So those few junior apprentices from the World Magic Association were captured by them, not the Dark Temple?" Ming Jian asked. He was sitting in Qiming's executive chair.

"That's right. You remember that intense magical fluctuation from a couple of days ago, don't you? It was caused by a few old-timers from the World Magic Association. They blasted a Shalu Alien base to pieces after discovering that their beloved students had been dismembered by the Shalu Aliens. Well, the news said it was a large-scale weapons test by some country," Kuo Ming replied.

"Then how many people are we sending in three months?" Yaming asked.

"Well, we only need to send Ming Jian and me. The Shalu Aliens aren't that hard to deal with, and Ming Jian and I are best suited for quick, decisive battles. We'll definitely finish the mission the fastest, which means we'll get the best prize," Kuo Ming replied.

"Oh, if you two are going, then that's settled. Now, about my latest discovery in Ao City: after several discussions with the Ao City representatives, we finally decided to build our branch on a piece of land in the far outskirts. What do you think we should do?" Yaming asked Ming Jian.

"What? They're sticking us out in the suburbs? Damn it. Qiming, go there today and summon Dela. Then, tonight, wipe out a tenth of Ao City. It's a commercial city, so there'll only be civilians in a few places at night. Be careful and try to avoid them. We can't help it if a few people get killed. This is the best time for us to expand, and it'd be a pain if anyone held us back." Ming Jian was the sort of person who spoke without restraint.

Qiming nodded. "Yes."

Yaming seemed to want to stop Ming Jian, but after glancing at Kuo Ming across from him, he gave up. Pitch Black had recently faced government restrictions in several places. If they let those small governments keep this up, they wouldn't be able to carry out their expansion plans, and that would be bad for everyone. Though all the organizations had agreed not to get directly involved in commercial wars, who hadn't pulled a few strings behind the scenes?

"That might be for the best. This will serve as a warning to the governments of those other small countries. If they still refuse to cooperate, we can wipe them out without a second thought. Governments in countries that small can be replaced whenever we want," Kuo Ming said, hinting at Yaming.

In the end, Yaming said nothing to stop Ming Jian before the meeting concluded.

Rie had woken up. What surprised Heming was that she'd woken up four hours after he began practicing the Pitch Black Heart Method. It turned out that even after being modified, Rie was still quite a heavy sleeper.

First, Heming told Rie what had happened the previous night. After hearing the story, she seemed especially frightened. She probably wouldn't sleep for so long again.

The two packed up the Super Tent and set off for the central area.

One thing worth mentioning was that, while packing up the tent, they found a strange creature that had made its home inside the skeleton's skull. It looked a bit like a bat, but it had no ears. Its pale green skin was completely hairless, and its eyes sat on stalks on its head, which stretched out now and then. It was adorable.

But after what had happened the previous night, Heming and Rie didn't dare approach the little thing. They also didn't want to scare it away, so they let it stay inside the skeleton's skull.

They didn't walk very far today because Heming's goal was to find something like a river or a lake. In theory, places with water should be home to many creatures.

The skeleton walked ahead the whole way, clearing a path. Rie chose to walk beside Heming. She now felt that even with a magic shield, it wasn't entirely safe behind them, and besides, she seemed to feel more secure walking with Heming...

They did find a lake, but unfortunately, it wasn't what Heming had imagined. The sight made them uneasy. The water was green, and every so often, a few enormous bubbles rose to the surface. There was probably one or more giant creatures underwater. Heming was very curious, but for Rie's sake, he gave up on the idea of going in.

Rie seemed to see what Heming was thinking. She picked up a small stone and tossed it into the water. Splash! Heming didn't know what to say as he watched Rie's daring move.

Sure enough, the surface began to churn, and a huge Machine Monster emerged from beneath the water.

"A machine?" Heming was only mildly surprised. He hadn't expected the Machine Monster to attack so soon. Its head began firing wildly. Heming could dodge bullets moving at that speed, and Rie called the skeleton inside the magic shield.

"Use poison mist and poison rain! This thing might have a special shield. I can't get close to it!" Heming immediately made his assessment.

Rie first summoned the poison mist, then the poison rain. Whether the mist could seep into the machine was beside the point; the poison rain could definitely break through the special shield and damage the Machine Monster's outer weapons.

After a brief pause, the Machine Monster started moving again. This time, it didn't use its machine gun, but the Fire Thunder Cannon beneath its chest. Unfortunately, the cannon needed time to gather energy. By then, Heming had already blasted a hole in the Machine Monster's back and ripped out a whole tangle of wires...

This time, the pause would probably last a long while. Heming told Rie to be careful, then started dismantling the Machine Monster's head by himself. He figured the armor there would be thinner. He was absolutely right: he lifted off the top of the Machine Monster's head with ease. He gestured to Rie, then climbed inside.

This was definitely something made by aliens. Although Heming didn't see any aliens in the cockpit, the strange controls and displays gave away the identity of the aliens who had attacked them first.

There were no bodies in the cockpit, so Heming had to dismantle the door to move onward.

Rie kept her magic shield up, watching the Machine Monster warily. She wasn't worried about Heming getting into trouble anymore. Instead, she was afraid of what she'd do if she were suddenly attacked. She could still use a few ordinary spells, but if she were attacked, her magic shield definitely wouldn't last long...

Pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft! Dozens of Flight Pods shot out from the Machine Monster's rear. Heming, still inside, clearly hadn't noticed them.

Rie had no choice. She used the magic she had left to cast an intermediate spell: Bone Dart.

Hundreds of bone darts shot toward the Flight Pods. They were fast, but they were no match for the magical bone darts. Unfortunately, she'd cast the spell too late. It only hit the last few Flight Pods, and only two were actually shot down.

Inside the Machine Monster, Heming had already sensed that the aliens were preparing to escape. But a small pulse of energy drew his attention. Maybe this was what he'd been looking for. He searched the Machine Monster carefully. Its interior was quite complex, and some areas were equipped with Laser Guard Systems, which slowed his search considerably.

About ten minutes later, Heming finally found an imposing door. The faint energy was coming from behind it. After quickly taking out four laser guards, he dismantled the door.

The door crashed to the floor with a heavy echo. Inside the laser room was a huge Tyrannosaurus, with a color that matched exactly. The energy was coming from the Tyrannosaurus. It was probably what Heming had been looking for.

He took out the Demon Sealing Bead and reached it through a gap in the laser room. He captured the Tyrannosaurus with ease.

Rie was starting to worry because Heming had been gone for so long. Just as she was wondering whether she should go inside, Heming emerged.

"I think I've completed the mission. I'll call back first," he said as he jumped onto the shore.

Rie nodded, relieved.

The call was answered quickly. "Hello, is that Qiming? It's Heming. I ran into some unidentified aliens in Meihe. I dismantled their machine, but I didn't catch anyone. I did find a Tyrannosaurus inside it, though. There's a faint energy fluctuation coming from it, so I think it's the target of the mission. I went ahead and captured it." Heming spoke as he fondled the Demon Sealing Bead.

"Hmm? I'm not at the office right now. Just consider the mission complete. Drop the Biological Data Scout on the ground; I'll arrange for someone there to take over. Head back to the office first. I've got something to do. I have to go." Qiming finished quickly and hung up.

Heming took out the Biological Data Scout, found a fairly concealed patch of grass, and tossed it inside. Then he said to Rie, "The mission's complete. We can go back to the office. Dismiss the skeleton!"

Rie nodded, told the skeleton to sit down, then dismissed it. If no one disturbed this skeleton that had already been used, the little creature inside its skull should be able to live there for a while.

Rie had originally planned to tell Heming that she'd shot down two Flight Pods, but the moment she heard the mission was complete, she forgot all about it.

Neither of them noticed a strange creature across the river, apparently watching the two of them as they prepared to leave...

Because of the journey, they had no choice but to spend one last night in Meihe. This time, instead of the skeleton keeping watch, they had a Scout Bat. Rie soon fell asleep, probably because she'd used up too much magic. Heming still wasn't sleepy. He analyzed everything that had happened that day. He enjoyed analyzing the things he'd experienced...