Back to the Northern Border

"On August 18, 2057, humanity lost a War God. His name was Li Yao. Let us mourn him. But his sacrifice was not in vain. He successfully held off the King-level Monster, the Long-Armed Ape King. In the end, a Councilor arrived and subdued it, and War God Li Yao's widow, War God Vina, personally dealt the killing blow."

On August 25, 2057, a week after the day two beast kings were slain, the Heroes' Hall funeral home in Jiangnan Base City finally opened its doors to the public. Many came to mourn War God Li Yao.

Throughout those seven days, the memorial proceedings had been presided over by Li Yao's widow, Venina Polenas, the executive president of the HR Alliance's Huaxia region.

Prominent figures attended, including Jiangnan City Mayor Ye Zhong, Southeast Military Region Commander Li Dawei, the Limitless Martial Arts Hall's newly appointed Inspector for Jiangnan Base City, Luo Feng, and the Thunder Dojo's Inspector for Jiangnan Base City, Lei Meng.

That evening, once most of the mourners had left, Dongguan arrived, laid down a bouquet, and paid his respects.

Li Yao's frozen remains lay in the coffin before him.

Vina stood beside it. Though she was a blonde white woman, she wore traditional Huaxia-style mourning clothes.

Simply put, she was dressed entirely in white.

"My condolences." Dongguan nodded to her, then left.

Perhaps this outcome wasn't so bad after all.

Though Li Wei and Li Yao were both dead, at least Li Yao had died honorably this time, and Vina had survived.

Seated before the funeral altar, Vina merely lifted her head for a brief glance when Dongguan arrived, then remained where she was, her lifeless eyes fixed on Li Yao's coffin.

A trace of viscous black water faintly appeared at the fingertips of her right hand.

Walking along the streets of Jiangnan Base City, Dongguan looked up and seemed to see a streak of golden light descend from the sky and fly east.

"The Golden-Horned Behemoth?"

He lowered his head in thought. It did seem to be about time.

But even if he knew the Golden-Horned Behemoth had arrived, there was little he could do right now.

The oceans remained forbidden territory. He wasn't strong enough to search for the egg.

As for chasing it now, it was too fast for him to catch.

He wasn't sure whether seeing it was an illusion or something unique to him. The original story had said that Earth's satellites and other detection equipment couldn't discover its whereabouts.

He could tell Hong and Thunder God, but explaining the source of his information would be a problem. Even if they believed him, they might not be able to find it. Otherwise, why had they still failed to deal with the Beast Emperors?

"There's still time," he told himself.

Even if the Golden Horned Beast Egg had arrived, it wouldn't hatch so soon.

For now, he would head to the Limitless Martial Arts Hall.

Today was the banquet celebrating Luo Feng's appointment as Inspector. The intelligent fighter he had exchanged for with Hong was also parked at the Limitless Martial Arts Hall.

He didn't particularly care about the fighter itself; it was just an extra. Otherwise, he wouldn't have switched from a Primordial Level model to a Heaven and Earth Level model simply because Hong said the former was out of stock.

What mattered was what was inside the fighter.

The Ancient Civilization Gravity Chamber had already been installed in his villa in Northern Frontier Base City.

Apart from that, the Black God Set, the Sky-Escaping Shuttle, and the Virtual Reality Device were all inside the fighter.

Jiangnan Base City, the Limitless Martial Arts Hall headquarters.

Numerous distinguished guests gathered in the hall. Compared with Li Yao's funeral a few days earlier, today's gathering was far livelier.

After all, the dead couldn't compare to the living.

A purplish-red fighter descended from the sky and landed beside another fighter, both parked on the landing pad by the entrance.

The fighter's hatch opened, and Luo Feng stepped out.

Today, he was riding high.

Now that he had become an Inspector, there were no longer any obstacles between him and Xu Xin.

The Xu family patriarch, Xu Xin's grandfather Xu Yunguo, was also present.

It would be even better without that eyesore.

Luo Feng frowned.

He had spotted a young man pestering Xu Xin.

How could he allow that?

He walked over and directly edged the man aside.

It was Lei Yufeng, the son of the Thunder Dojo's Inspector, Lei Meng.

Though Hong and Thunder God got along well at the very top, their subordinates in the Limitless Martial Arts Hall and Thunder Dojo were always at odds.

"Inspector Luo, sorry I'm late." Lei Meng's booming voice rang throughout the hall.

Clearly, he was here to stir up trouble.

Luo Feng deliberately ignored him.

Lei Meng wanted to lash out, and Luo Feng was ready for him.

Compared with the original story, although Luo Feng had been rated an "Invincible War God" because he was a peak War God Psychic, he lacked the record of defeating four War Gods, making that title less convincing.

Lei Meng didn't think he was any worse than Luo Feng, while Luo Feng wanted to establish his authority.

"Looks like I'm not too late." A clear voice rang out.

It wasn't as loud as Lei Meng's, but everyone fell silent.

"Brother Guan, what brings you here?" Luo Feng was pleasantly surprised.

Having a Councilor attend was quite an honor.

"Councilor Dongguan, you're here." Lei Meng's expression stiffened.

Dongguan paid him no mind and spoke to Luo Feng instead.

"My fighter is parked here. Naturally, I have to fly it away, don't I?"

Indeed, of the two fighters outside, one belonged to Luo Feng, while the other had been prepared for Dongguan.

"Are you heading back to the Northern Border?" Luo Feng asked.

"Yes." Dongguan nodded. "But I have plenty of time to wait until your banquet ends."

"Besides, with my own fighter, traveling back and forth will be convenient."

"True." Luo Feng nodded.

For Luo Feng, that was certainly the case. He could fly at roughly a thousand meters per second, considerably slower than an intelligent fighter capable of exceeding ten times the speed of sound.

Dongguan's flight speed, however, was already close to that.

Still, the immortals in mythology all possessed astonishing speed, yet they rode mounts anyway. The same principle applied.

But looking at the hall, which had fallen utterly silent at his arrival, Dongguan said, "Carry on. I'll go take a look at my intelligent fighter."

Only after Dongguan left the hall and entered the fighter in the courtyard did the atmosphere liven up again.

Dongguan hadn't released any aura, but his status alone had made everyone reserved.

They continued talking to Luo Feng, though their manner had become even more respectful.

After entering the fighter, Dongguan first completed the ownership registration procedure.

"I'll name you 'Heaven and Earth.'"

Hong still held the fighter's highest access privileges. Dongguan merely regarded it as transportation, so he had named it directly after its class.

Then he looked at the boxes on the floor.

The Black God Set, the Sky-Escaping Shuttle, and the virtual reality server.

The server could create a small private virtual reality space. It resembled a little black box and shared the fighter's artificial intelligence.

These items were so novel that he lost track of time.

When he finally emerged, everyone in the hall had dispersed.

"What happened?" Dongguan stopped someone and asked.

"A Level 1 Beast Tide broke out along the coast. Inspector Luo went there, so the banquet ended." Clearly, this person had stayed specifically to inform him.

"A Level 1 Beast Tide?" Dongguan remembered that there seemed to be such an event in the original story.

Luo Feng had held his banquet a few days earlier this time, but it had still happened. It seemed to be part of Li Dawei's plan.

Still, monsters were humanity's enemies. Since this scheme was meant to combat them, it was understandable.

He returned to the intelligent fighter.

"Take off. Head to the southeastern coast, the Huangpu River Frontline Base," Dongguan ordered the AI, Heaven and Earth.

It had maps of most regions on Earth stored in its system.

The purplish-red triangular fighter sped southeast.

It was 12:11 a.m. when Dongguan reached the frontline base.

The mouth of the Huangpu River had been blocked with vast quantities of steel and concrete, and the frontline base had been built on top.

Numerous saucer-shaped fighters, along with Luo Feng's triangular fighter, were parked at the base.

Gun barrels protruded from the front, and artillery thundered.

All kinds of fish monsters leaped out of the river, their sharp teeth powerful enough to bite through reinforced concrete.

Luo Feng, Lei Meng, and the other War Gods were all along the shore, slaughtering the Lord-level Monsters that charged onto land.

Among them, Dongguan also spotted Lu Gang, Guo Ruinian, and Zhong Yang.

Zhong Yang had grown stronger and was now an intermediate War God.

Of course, dealing with the beast tide was more important right now.

Even Luo Feng, equipped only with the Black God Set and lacking the Sky-Escaping Shuttle, didn't dare stray too far from shore. He simply controlled his flying knives and slaughtered monsters with all his might.

His efficiency was still much higher than everyone else's, of course. That was the advantage of a Psychic.

In the military base's command hall, Li Dawei and the others watched the projection before them intently, their expressions tense.

Overall, humans were slaughtering countless monsters, and relatively few made it ashore. Even those that did were quickly killed by War Gods or picked off by Laser Cannons.

But the monsters were endless. Lord-level Monsters surged toward the shore as if they cost nothing.

There were many monsters in the ocean, and with such vast numbers, there were naturally plenty of Lord Level Monsters among them.

Fortunately, no King Level Monsters had appeared.

Inside his fighter, Dongguan frowned deeply as he watched the raging beast tide.

It wasn't this particular tide that concerned him. Rather, seeing such terrifying numbers made him realize he couldn't possibly fight his way into the ocean.

If the Golden-Horned Behemoth remained hidden as it had originally and only emerged after reaching Star Level, would they still have to risk their lives like that?

Alternatively, there was a B6-level Laser Cannon in Ruins No. 12. Knowing that the beast possessed an Origin Core, they could kill it.

But if they killed the Golden-Horned Behemoth and Luo Feng couldn't take Possession of its body, how would they deal with Nolan Mountain later?

Dongguan felt a headache coming on. If everything stayed exactly the same after his arrival, hadn't he come here for nothing?

Would I have to participate in the Six-Point Sacrifice? Let one of the five who originally died survive?

The main reason Luo Feng had defeated the Golden-Horned Behemoth was Hu Yanbo's inherited Soul Seal. But had the five people's sacrifice also been an important factor?

His thoughts grew tangled.

"Forget it. I'll deal with this beast tide first."

In the brief time he had spent thinking, several more soldiers had been killed by Lord-level Monsters that charged ashore, though those monsters had also been blasted to death.

The Black God Set and the Sky-Escaping Shuttle.

Dongguan was equipped with the same gear Luo Feng had possessed here in the original story.

He flew out of the fighter and hovered above the sea.

"That's a Councilor." Many people at the military base noticed Dongguan.

Li Dawei was overjoyed. When he had seen Dongguan at the banquet, he had thought success was assured.

But Dongguan had boarded his fighter and never come out. Li Dawei's arrangements weren't that precise, and the monsters wouldn't wait. The beast tide had erupted several hours earlier.

Fortunately, his original plan had only been to enlist the help of the War Gods attending Luo Feng's banquet. Dongguan's presence had been an unexpected bonus.

Now that he was here, all the better.

Dongguan released the Sky-Escaping Shuttle. Its blades separated, and eleven curved blades danced above the sea before plunging straight down.

Whether they were Lord-level Monsters, beast soldiers, or Beast General Level monsters, none survived the blades' harvest.

"The Sky-Escaping Shuttle is pretty handy." A blade spun in his hand as Dongguan looked down. He had already cleared a monster-free area five hundred meters in radius.

"Too much power, too little efficiency." Dongguan noticed that his Spiritual Force was strong enough that, with an elevenfold Mental Power Amplitude, each of the eleven blades possessed Planetary Level Second Order power. The monsters couldn't withstand them, but that much power was excessive.

"Then let's try this." More blades flew out. Controlling dozens of blades simultaneously reduced their power, but increased the efficiency of his slaughter.

"Wooo..." A gigantic squid monster thrust its tentacles out of the sea, launching a sneak attack at Dongguan.

"King Level." Dongguan narrowed his eyes and controlled the blades, restoring ten of them to full power while merely keeping the rest suspended.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Amid a continuous series of piercing sounds, the tentacles were torn to pieces in an instant.

At the same time, he located the squid monster's main body.

The blades pierced it, plunging into its body and wreaking havoc.

The monster was enormous, its body over a hundred meters across and its tentacles five hundred meters long.

Marine animals were more likely to grow to immense sizes than land animals, and the same held true for monsters.

As the blades tore through it relentlessly, blood poured from the monster, staining the surface of the Huangpu River blue.

"Die." Dongguan couldn't find its core, but the squid monster merely had decent regenerative abilities. It couldn't change its size at will or transform into flowing water, making it inferior to the Long-Armed Ape King.

The blades cut it into tiny pieces.

Though Dongguan ultimately never found its core, the squid's life signs vanished. Its core had probably been destroyed by the blanket attack.

After killing the King-level Monster, Dongguan flew to the military base's dam. The Sky-Escaping Shuttle transformed into countless blades, which lined up in a long formation and swept straight across from one end.

That line became a death line for the monsters, advancing all the way to the river mouth.

At a little past three in the morning, the beast tide ended.

"See you next time." After saying goodbye to everyone, he boarded his fighter.

"Heaven and Earth, head to Northern Frontier Base City." At his command, the fighter streaked across the predawn sky.