Fight and flight

At the warrior supply base, a group of warriors who had rushed back after hearing the frightening news of the rat tide gathered together.

Some had already left, either returning to the base city or heading elsewhere.

Luo Feng planned to do the same.

After a month of training and killing over ten thousand Beast Soldier Level monsters, he was ready to rest for a while.

Before long, the Fire Hammer Squad would be setting out again.

Just then, an announcement shocked every warrior.

"A king-level monster, the Long-Armed Ape King, has appeared in 0231 County-Level City. The war god squad sent to eliminate the source of the rat tide is fleeing for its life."

"A king-level monster?"

"How is that possible?"

The warriors erupted into discussion. A mere county-level city had produced a king-level monster-and it was 0231 County-Level City, which had never even had a lord-level monster before.

But an announcement from the military could not be false.

All they could do was pray for the war god squad.

Someone switched on the projector in the hall, casting an image onto a white screen.

It played satellite footage of the Long-Armed Ape King's appearance. The picture was not particularly clear.

Even so, the king-level monster's destructive power was plainly visible.

Forty years had passed since the Great Nirvana began. Although 0231 County-Level City was dilapidated, traces of its former appearance had remained. Yet the collateral damage from the king-level monster chasing the war gods had destroyed fully half of it.

Compared with that, the rat tide was nothing.

"Monsters really are humanity's enemies."

The warriors in the hall counted themselves lucky. Had they not been called back, even if they had survived the rat tide by sheer luck, they would have had no chance against a king-level monster.

"May the war gods return safely." One warrior raised his glass and drained it.

"May the war gods return safely." Moved by his words, the others raised their glasses as well.

"May you all return safely." Luo Feng did the same.

The war gods were no match for a king-level monster, but escaping was still possible. The only question was how many would fall.

Luo Feng could not help wondering. His spiritual power was currently at the Advanced General level. One more step would make him a Low-Level War God. Would he then be able to escape a King Level monster?

Meanwhile, out in the wilderness, Dongguan was running desperately, covering over a thousand meters with a single stride.

But the Long-Armed Ape King was no slower. Charging on all fours, he covered several kilometers with each leap.

Had Dongguan not been using his spiritual power and weaving unpredictably as he ran, he would have been caught long ago.

Psychics can fly. Dongguan naturally knew that.

But with the Long-Armed Ape King's extending arms and leaping ability, he could reach over ten thousand meters into the air. Unless Dongguan chose the right moment, taking flight would only turn him into a target.

His perfect-level movement technique let him exploit the surrounding terrain. That was the only reason he had held out against the Long-Armed Ape King this long, changing direction several times already.

By now, he did not even know where he had run to.

This won't work. Dongguan knew warriors could not match monsters of the same level in endurance, let alone his current self against a king-level monster.

Besides, avoiding his pursuer demanded intense concentration, while the monster had a far easier time of it.

Numerous messages had already arrived on his communication watch, but Dongguan had not had a moment to check them.

As he sprinted, Dongguan himself failed to notice that a certain deeper intent had emerged within his movements.

The Perfect War God had finally moved beyond the perfect level.

Dongguan drew his saber, running in winding circles as he gauged the distance between himself and the Ape King.

Even if his level was lower, turning the tables and killing his pursuer was not impossible.

He had observed that the Ape King was stronger and faster than him, but not by too much. He was probably at the first stage of planetary grade.

Having fully mastered the Ninefold Thunder Blade, Dongguan could unleash three thousand tons of force at full power-enough to injure him.

The Long-Armed Ape King pursued Dongguan, a gleam of intelligence flashing through his golden eyes.

As a king-level monster, he had even learned human language. Naturally, he possessed ample intelligence.

In fact, back in City 004, he had bribed a human warrior. The information he obtained had led him here.

Over ten years ago, when he had still been a little Warrior General level monkey, this human had slaughtered his parents and siblings right before his eyes.

Had he not run fast enough and been overlooked, he would never have survived to this day.

He had broken through to king level, and when the human he bribed told him that his enemy had yet to break through, he could no longer sit still.

He had thought victory was assured, but now he discovered that while he could beat his enemy, he could not catch him.

So this is all you amount to.

Watching that tiny fleeing figure, the Long-Armed Ape King suddenly came to a realization.

He had been deceived by the fixed image in his memories. The enemy who had wrought that bloody slaughter was not so powerful after all. He, too, would run away.

The Ape King felt that making this man his goal had been far too petty.

His opponents should be Emperor Level monsters, or humanity's peerless powerhouses—Hong and Thunder God.

He set those grand ambitions aside for the moment. He needed to hurry.

If he wasted too much time, human experts at his level would arrive, and then things would become troublesome.

Kill him, then leave.

The Ape King lunged again, but his prey still escaped.

This little pest was getting on his nerves.

Don't humans have a phrase for this-luring the enemy in deep? He decided to show his opponent an opening, then seize him in one stroke.

This time, when the Ape King lunged, he exposed his soft belly and did not leap too high.

An opening! Dongguan immediately spotted the weakness. His saber whistled as he poured all his strength into a slash at the monster.

Swish!

A wound tore open across the Ape King's belly, but no blood appeared.

The saber was over a meter long, but against the hundred-meter-tall Ape King, it was still little more than a toothpick.

"Hahaha!" The Ape King opened his crimson maw in a grin. The cut hurt a little, but he did not care. Both hands slammed toward his belly.

When the shadows of those palms appeared, Dongguan realized he had fallen into a trap, but it was already too late to dodge.

He made an immediate decision. Following his blade, he slipped his entire body into the wound in the Ape King's belly and churned the saber furiously.

"Roar!" The Ape King rose upright and howled at the sky, pounding his belly with both arms.

The repeated impacts injured Dongguan's internal organs, and he could not hold back a mouthful of blood.

But he kept a tight grip on his saber, refusing to budge from inside the Ape King's belly.

After a while, the Ape King confirmed that he could not force him out.

Being too large had its drawbacks, but the special ability he had gained upon reaching king level could help him escape this predicament.

Water-Like Body!

His body softened, then soon shrank to only a few meters tall. Dongguan had no choice but to emerge.

Bang!

Shrinking was not the end of it. The Ape King's iron arms swept toward Dongguan and collided with his saber.

"Your strength dropped quite a bit after you shrank, didn't it?"

Dongguan retreated several steps, pointing his saber straight at him.

"Enough to kill you," the Ape King growled.

Although shrinking to this size left him with only seventy percent of his strength, he was still stronger than Dongguan.

Swish!

Dongguan swung his saber and shifted his feet, turning into a series of afterimages as he slashed at the Ape King from every direction.

Feints became real strikes, and real strikes became feints.

A cut opened on the Ape King's arm, but it healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Besides allowing something akin to freely changing size, Water-Like Body also enhanced recovery. Its drawback was that his body was less tough than others at his level. That was why Dongguan had managed to burrow inside him.

Dongguan's pupils contracted, and he struck again.

Unleashing his full three thousand tons of force, he drove a hole through the Ape King's chest.

But the Ape King paid it no mind. His right arm suddenly enlarged, and a punch hammered into Dongguan's chest, sending him flying a thousand meters into the air.

At that same instant, the Ape King's left arm shrank.

Compared with the Great Strength Demon Ape, the Long-Armed Demon Ape's mutation lay in his arms, which could naturally unleash twice the strength.

Without your weapon, what can you do now?

The Ape King looked up at the sky without even pulling out the saber.

He knew that human warriors lost half their combat strength once deprived of their weapons.

Yet the black speck in the sky grew smaller and smaller, rising past ten thousand meters before flying away.

"A Psychic?" Furious, the Ape King pulled out the saber. His body swelled to several hundred meters tall, and he leaped into the air. His arm enlarged as he reached for the black speck as though plucking the moon from the heavens, but his opponent had already flown far away.

Only then did he realize his mistake. His opponent had been fleeing all along. He had willingly taken an injury to gain a chance at a head-on fight, but taking away the man's weapon would only make him flee again.

A standard weapon like this, even an SS-Level one, was merely a matter of money.

"Roar!" Landing back on the ground, the Ape King bellowed in fury.

A deep-blue fighter aircraft shaped like a flying saucer appeared in his field of vision.

Upon seeing it, the Ape King fled across the ground.

Boom!

A laser beam shot from the aircraft and struck the Ape King's back.

A huge hole appeared in his torso.

Then, taking advantage of the impact, the several-hundred-meter-tall Ape King vanished.

Only a figure a few meters tall remained, racing across the wasteland.

Under these circumstances, it would be very difficult for the laser cannon to hit him again.

"Dongguan is a Psychic, too?"

A white-haired councilor flew out of the aircraft, but did not catch up with the king-level monster.

The warrior supply base.

The three war gods who had returned earlier waited in the hall with the other warriors.

The atmosphere was heavy.

"War God Dongguan lured the Long-Armed Ape King away alone to cover our retreat. We don't know whether he's alive or dead."

That was what they had said upon returning to the base.

Afterward, they had waited near the entrance.

They did not know what would arrive: the man himself, or a death notice.

"We have news." Zheng Guo, the military district commander, entered the hall.

Everyone's eyes focused on him.

"Good news," Zheng Guo said with a smile. "We've just received word that a councilor-level expert drove off the Long-Armed Ape King."

"Drove him off? Not killed him?" Zhong Yang looked at him.

"King-level monsters aren't so easy to kill." Zheng Guo shook his head. "And according to the intelligence that just came in, the Long-Armed Ape King's special ability is extremely troublesome. It makes him exceptionally hard to kill."

"A special ability?" The warriors were all curious.

"Whether humans rise above war god level or monsters reach king level, they awaken special abilities. The ability differs from one individual to another." He did not mind explaining; he could treat it as a little general education.

"Above war god level... special abilities?"

At last, a corner of the mystery surrounding those beyond war god level had been lifted before these warriors.

"What about Captain Dongguan?" Lu Gang asked.

The death of a war god would be announced nationwide. Since no death notice had arrived, perhaps he was fine, but Lu Gang could not be certain.

"War God Dongguan..." Zheng Guo paused. "His current condition is unknown. But according to our intelligence, he had already left before the Long-Armed Ape King was driven off."

"How did he leave? He escaped a King Level monster, but he hasn't returned to the base," a warrior asked in confusion.

"War God Dongguan appears to be a Psychic."

"What?"

"No wonder," Guo Ruinian murmured. "He could locate the rat swarm's lord and detect the Long-Armed Ape King in advance. So he's a Psychic."

Luo Feng suddenly understood as well.

No wonder Brother Guan could tell I was a Psychic.