Disaster Codenames

Midnight within the Star Empire.

A sizable inn was shrouded in the night, with only the torches under the eaves providing a guiding light.

A group of nearly two hundred people emerged from the darkness and stopped in front of the inn. They were so disciplined that they didn't seem like a caravan; their movements were orderly, and apart from the sounds of livestock and carriages, there was not a single human voice.

The waiter on duty was awakened and, seeing the large number of people, quickly reported to the manager.

Before long, the once quiet inn became brightly lit, and the resting staff were all woken up, rubbing their sleepy eyes as they came forward to provide service.

"We need to change the horses," Hansite, the leader, said to the manager. "All the camels, change them all!"

The shopkeeper quickly counted the number and quality of the camels and beasts in the caravan and soon calculated the price. After agreeing on the price with Hansite, the workers quickly led out energetic animals from the backyard to replace the exhausted camels that had been driven and were now trembling with fatigue.

Changing livestock was the most common service provided by inns to passing caravans. However, ordinary caravans would only change their animals after traveling for several days and when the animals were exhausted. The animals that were changed out of this caravan, although tired, were far from being exhausted.

In fact, caravans shouldn't be traveling at night.

After the livestock exchange was completed, the caravan quickly departed, disappearing into the night in no time, leaving only the fading sound of hooves.

The shopkeeper stood at the door, his brows furrowing even more deeply. The group of two hundred men had only about twenty freight wagons.

They all seemed to be in a hurry, and there was an air of strict discipline about them; they didn't look like a caravan at all.

The shopkeeper's heart skipped a beat. He summoned his most quick-witted waiter and ordered him to rush to the nearest military camp that very night and report everything he had just seen.

After giving his instructions, he turned and went back to his room. Just as he was about to take off his clothes to rest, a magical light suddenly struck from the shadows, and his body fell straight onto the bed, losing consciousness.

A few minutes later, several slender figures emerged from the inn. It was the Feather Race mage squad that had accompanied the Final Bone Mad Machines operation and was tasked with reconnaissance and rearguard duties.

A Feather Race returned from outside and casually tossed the unconscious figure on his back to the ground; it was the messenger who had been sent to deliver the message.

"Have all relevant memories been erased?" a Feather Race member asked. "Were any missed?"

They checked the headcount with each other to confirm that there were no mistakes, and then disappeared into the night, following the direction the main group had traveled.

****

At the residence of the Princess in the capital, many people were also not resting.

Head maid Lilishan, looking exhausted, stood guard beside the communication array, watching the priest send the message to the Radiant Holy City word by word.

Princess Janet's sketches were terribly illegible, and the meeting minutes were extremely lengthy. The priest in charge of sending the communications would occasionally stop what he was doing and, together with Lilishan, bend down to study the writing, trying to decipher what a certain blurry mark meant.

The princess had already gone to sleep, so the two of them dared not disturb her and could only carefully check and send the documents.

The meeting minutes were finally sent out, and the priest then sent a supplementary report about departing to return the following morning. Their work was only complete when the Clock Hand on the wall struck one in the morning.

Lilishan rubbed her sore eyes and returned to the corridor, where she encountered two servants carrying a wooden tub filled with gardenia petals. These petals had been painstakingly picked by the servants from the garden, and the air was filled with the smell of alcohol.

In a few hours, the princess would be setting off for the Temple of Light, so these tedious preparations had to be completed overnight.

As Lilishan passed by the room where the girls were, she saw them huddled together in a corner, their faces pale and trembling. Their bodies reeked of alchemical potions, and their skin was covered with an unnatural crimson.

A maid approached Lilishan, her voice tinged with hesitation and reluctance, "These—this petal liquid, are we really going to apply it all over them?"

"Apply it!" Lilishan said firmly, without the slightest hesitation, "Do it strictly according to the Princess's instructions, there can be no carelessness!"

"Yes," the maid replied, bowing her head.

"Hurry up and finish it. Go get two or three hours of sleep as soon as you're done. We'll be there to take care of you when it gets light," Lilishan instructed before continuing on her way to her room.

Behind me came painful sobs, clearly audible even through the wall, but quickly covered by a maid's hand.

Lilishan felt pity for these girls, but she was powerless to help. She could soften her heart and spare them some pain tonight, but it would be pointless. If the princess was dissatisfied with these "goods" because the makeup wasn't applied properly, these girls would lose their value and be mercilessly killed.

Even in the eyes of the eldest princess, this did not count as murder, but was merely the disposal of non-performing assets.

****

Eternal Night Port, morning.

The Dawn shines on the azure sea, creating shimmering golden light.

Su Ming had a good rest last night and was strolling along the beach, enjoying the breeze. He had never been to the beach when he was on Earth, but since transmigrating to this world, he had been surrounded by the salty, humid air almost every day, until it became a habitual indifference.

A member of the communications team ran up to him, "President, the Ashy Drongo Scholar Chloe from Northern Ice Island has sent a message."

Recently, both Eternal Night Port and Northern Ice Island have erected tall radio communication towers. This has significantly improved the efficiency of information transmission and made real-time dialogue much easier.

Su Ming took the communicator and put on the earpiece.

Good morning, Miss Chloe.

"Good morning, Mr. Su." Chloe's voice came from inside, mixed with a little static, but overall still clear. "The attack plan is about to officially begin. I hope everything goes smoothly."

Su Ming, however, sensed the worry in the other person's words. Although the Final Bone Mad Machines was the main force in this operation, the Feather Race not only spared no effort in logistics and transportation, but also deployed Feather Race newly expanded navy.

For the Feather Race, this is a gamble with everything at stake. If they win, they can gain a foothold in the Taya Plane and escape their predicament of barely surviving; if they lose, they may face utter destruction.

"You don't need to worry too much. Our plan always includes a backup plan," Su Ming said calmly. "Even if this attack fails, we can withdraw at any time, and our base will not be affected."

For the first time, the battlefield against the Divine Covenant Faction was pushed to the Western Continent's homeland. Although this required a huge logistical cost and involved facing an enemy who had the advantage of fighting on home ground, it also gave Su Ming's side the strategic initiative. They could come and go as they pleased.

Upon hearing this, Chloe stopped worrying and began reporting on the progress of her research on the Rift Tribe ruins.

"Currently, the preliminary research on the Rift Tribe ruins is basically complete, and we need to move into the magic array testing phase," Chloe said. "May I ask where we plan to locate our experimental base?" she asked Su Ming.

Su Ming thought about it for a moment.

His initial plan was to build an experimental dimensional teleportation array in Dragon Valley, but now that the Final Bone Mad Machines no longer needs to hide, he might as well choose the most convenient location.

"Find a suitable location near the Rift Ruins to set up," Su Ming instructed. "This way, we can refer to the prototype of the magic array ruins while testing the new array, maximizing efficiency."

Northern Ice Island's remote location was originally unsuitable. But after a moment's thought, Chloe understood, "It's not bad at all. We now possess the H-6 WZ, which allows for rapid transport of supplies and troop mobilization."

"Yes, you also have Lanmo, the Saint Rank Otaku Dragon, guarding you there," Su Ming said, "You have that security too."

"Lanmo has been trying hard to play the game you gave him lately," Chloe said. "Maybe after a while, he'll be able to suppress his problems."

Su Ming originally wanted to arrange physics lessons for Lanmo, but when the Earth support team heard that it was about teaching about entropy, they shook their heads like rattles.

"We already have two ticking time bombs, you and Miao Xin," Jisu objected. "We can't afford to destroy the other world before we can establish a connection between Earth and the Taya Plane!"

So, you're just leaving it for yourselves to wreak havoc?! Su Ming thought to himself.

The final result was that the support team created several games for Lanmo, such as "Physics Battle" and "Ink Principles Millennium," to slowly and comprehensively improve his understanding, making this homebody dragon more confident in playing games.

****

Just as Su Ming was about to hang up, Miao Xin suddenly leaned over, "Hurry up, ask Chloe about her and King Xialike!"

"What's so interesting about gossip?" Su Ming rolled his eyes.

"Oh dear, it won't take more than a few minutes. We still have half an hour before we leave!" Miao Xin persisted, hopping around on her four pig legs.

Because they were speaking in Chinese, the two were not worried about Chloe overhearing them on the other end of the communicator.

Su Ming had no choice but to ask Chloe, "Hmm, I heard that the God of War Meiwu'er, died from the ' Sevenfold Poison ' you created?"

Asking her directly about her relationship with King Xialike would be too abrupt, so Su Ming chose a roundabout approach, trying to bring up a topic to start a conversation.

"Its correct name is ' Seven Absolutes Concerto '," Chloe corrected, her tone becoming increasingly professional and precise. "It's an extremely complex poison, its prototype developed by the toxicology master Yu Yao— "

Chloe spoke at length about the development details, formula, and toxicology of the poison. Su Ming glanced helplessly at Miao Xin, only to find that she pursed her lips and walked away nonchalantly, leaving him to suffer alone.

"The ' Seven Absolutes Concerto ' technique has complex and demanding conditions for use, but its penetrating power is extremely strong. Once successfully executed, even a strong person would find it difficult to resist," Chloe continued. "Besides Meiwu'er, Lingna was also affected."

"Who is Lingna?" Su Ming seized the opportunity and quickly interrupted her.

"She was a Saint Rank expert of unknown origin," Chloe replied, her tone turning somber. "Master White Pheasant died at her hands."

Su Ming's heart skipped a beat. An unknown origin, Saint Rank expert, hunting down top scholars everywhere—this description sounded more and more like the Plundering Clock.

"If it's a woman, could it be that one named Death Knell?" Su Ming asked.

After the battle against the Super Crystal Dragon, none of the members of the Plundering Clock survived. However, Zijin was present and managed to prevent their souls from escaping, capturing seven or eight "dead men."

The Saint Rank expert Nitelai, was extremely stubborn. Despite using all his methods, he failed to obtain any information and could only be used as fodder to upgrade the "Dawn and Dusk Bracelet." The remaining seven or eight "dead mouths" were forced to glean some information under the pressure of Zijin's improved "Soul Punishment" spell, including the name of the organization's high-ranking member, Death Knell.

They also need to know that among the Clock Hand- level leaders like the Plundering Clock Death Knell in the Taya Plane, there is only one left named Hairspring.

Su Ming and Chloe compared the details and confirmed that this "Lingna" was indeed Death Knell.

"The domain of the Death Knell is ' Arcane Zero-Sum,' which can backfire on all buffs," Chloe said gravely. "The stronger the buff, the more troublesome the side effects will be." She added with lingering fear, "I suffered a great loss because of this when I fought her before."

"----You actually survived facing her?" Su Ming was very puzzled. Chloe was not Saint Rank, and as a scholar, she didn't have any outstanding combat skills.

"At that time, Death Knell was already affected by ' Seven Absolutes Concerto,' which weakened her, and I wasn't a main force in the fight," Chloe explained, then continued, "Besides the backlash buff, Death Knell could also use ' Arcane Shock,' which nullifies magical attacks."

"Isn't she a nightmare for magic-based combatants?!" Su Ming exclaimed. "Doesn't that mean only physical combatants can fight against the Death Knell?"

"Not entirely. A dragon's breath, a creature's inherent power, can also harm her, but—" Chloe changed the subject, "Death Knell's class is Arcane Blade, and her melee abilities are terrifying."

"No!" Su Ming was shocked. "Doesn't the Death Knell have no obvious weaknesses?"

"I didn't find any weakness in her," Chloe said truthfully. "At the time, the Death Knell was poisoned and was attacked by Meiwu'er and the Executioner, but she still managed to escape despite being wounded."

The Executioner, a count of the Star Empire, is a Saint Rank warrior whose combat skills are somewhat unorthodox, but whose strength is beyond doubt.

"The Death Knell is this powerful?" Su Ming couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, feeling a sense of apprehension.

"The ' Arcane Zero-Sum ' from the Death Knell has reached the conceptual level; ordinary Saint Rank are no match for it," Chloe explained.

"Does Zijin's ' Natural Rhythm ' domain work on her?" Su Ming asked.

"It's ineffective," Chloe shook her head. "This is a limitation of the Zijin Domain. At the level of the Death Knell, her distortion of the rules is treated as the rules themselves." She pondered for a moment, "Unless the Zijin advances towards legendary powers like ' Eternity of All Things ' or ' The Tracks of the Heavenly Chariot, ' it cannot interfere with an enemy like the Death Knell."

This level of power has exceeded the traditional understanding of Saint Rank power in the Taya Plane, and it has also exceeded their current ability to cope with it.

"Zijin can't advance in these directions, can she?" Su Ming said. "Zijin already possesses the Law of Life, so it's impossible for her to master any other conceptual-level powers."

Even the Law of Life themselves were enough to give her a hard time.

"Yes," Chloe sighed softly, "If we're going to counter the Death Knell, we'll have to find another way."

According to the intelligence obtained, Death Knell is still suffering from the effects of the "Seven Absolutes Concerto" poison. But if she heals her injuries, things will become very difficult.

"What a troublesome enemy," Su Ming muttered, beginning to consider countermeasures. "Perhaps I can assemble a sufficiently powerful 'physical' combat force."

****

Everything is proceeding smoothly and according to plan.

The H-6 WZ took off on time, its massive fuselage slicing through the sky, rounding the edge of the Northern Continent, and speeding toward the western coast of the Western Continent.

Besides the territory of the Star Empire, that area also includes the Radiant Jurisdiction of the Temple of Light, the Four Seasons Islands, and other spheres of influence. It is the main battlefield for the third and fourth phases of this campaign, or rather, Su Ming's true target.

Meanwhile, the Final Bone Mad Machines the Bone Machine First Battalion along the official road of the Star Empire, lightly equipped. Along the way, they would spend money to replenish their food and water and change their camel pack animals at the post stations.

Once daylight arrived, the group blended into the passing caravans and no longer attracted much attention. After all, the Star Empire's trade activities were very prosperous, so it wasn't unusual for some special groups to appear.

In the evening, Princess Janet's carriage arrived safely at Mist Mountain Bay. She dismissed the Star Empire guards who accompanied her, and then, led by her accomplices, headed to a nearby, extremely secluded Plundering Clock.

It was a building hidden in the mountains and forests. Janet finally met the Death Knell, as well as another Quarter Hand who had arrived in this plane at the same time as the mage Kulandeer, the warrior Matiasu.

After exchanging greetings, everyone sat around the table and began the meeting.

Janet was about to leave the room when, unexpectedly, the Death Knell suddenly called out to her.

"Although Janet is currently only Provisional Quarter Hand, she has made outstanding contributions to the organization and is qualified to attend this meeting," said the Death Knell.

Janet was flattered and quickly bowed, saying, "Lord Death Knell, you flatter me. Serving the organization is what I should do."

The Death Knell interlaced his fingers, forming a hand gesture representing a clock, and chanted a prayer. "The serpent sheds its chains, the universe is strangled, calamity descends upon the world, the End shock comes!"

The others followed suit, offering their devotion to the earthly serpent Jörmungandr, the supreme god.

After the prayer ended, the bell-ringing priest unfolded the Book of Doomsday, which was filled with densely packed names and related information.

"The oracle of our god Jörmungandr, the Book of Doomsday, records the names of over four thousand obstacles, half of whom belong to the Taya Plane," he told everyone, his tone tinged with pride. "After twenty years of relentless effort, searching and hunting them down, we have now killed ninety percent of them."

The newly arrived Kulandeer and Matiasu immediately praised, "Thank you for your hard work, pioneers!"

"But the remaining two hundred-plus people are mostly lost in the crowd, their whereabouts difficult to find," the bell-ringing priest added, changing the subject. "Many of them are unknown, or hidden in the corners of the world, unknown to most. We've spent a lot of time and resources searching for them, but it's inefficient and progressing slowly."

"Besides these two, there are many others with formidable combat power," Death Knell added. "For example, King Wu Su Ming and Bay Owl; we've tried many times but failed to eliminate them, and instead paid a heavy price."

"Your difficulties are known to my God." Kulandeer slowly rose, his expression respectful and his tone solemn. "He has issued a new decree: the execution list in the Left of the Last Days can be stopped; those who escape are no longer a threat to the Great Order."

The man who had been Death Knell immediately breathed a sigh of relief, and the heavy look on his face faded considerably.

"In that case, shouldn't we consolidate our forces and focus all our efforts on preparing for the arrival of our divine army?" asked the Death Knell.

Kulandeer shook his head and said, "In the Book of Doomsday, there are still six separate beings remaining."

He took out a parchment scroll from his bosom, unfurled it, and the runes on it immediately emitted a dazzling light. Several lines of golden text appeared in the air, radiating a faint pressure:

* The Painter of Fate *

* The Traitor of Time and Cocoon *

* Unexpected Visitor *

* Doll of Life and Death *

* The Lonely Wallfacer *

* The Broken Wing Against the Wind *

[The Shining Scholar]

[The Favored Child of Light and Sword]

[Swan of War]

"This is my god's instruction, to eliminate the calamity that hinders my god's control over the planes!" Kulandeer said, "The last one of them is already dead."

"So, if I kill just six more, my god can successfully rule over Taya?" the bell-ringing priest asked.

"Not all of them are needed," Kulandeer shook his head. "My divine will has decreed that as long as two of them are killed, the grand plan will be unimpeded!"

Upon hearing this, the attendees relaxed considerably. Choosing two out of six was significantly easier than eliminating them all, especially since the main plane would be sending a powerful ally in about a month.

Overall, this is fantastic news!

****

Later generations began to analyze the identities of these "disaster-bringers," matching them with the names of real people.

"The Broken Wing Against the Wind" are not in this plane. Kulandeer continued to convey the message, "That's the mission of the Earth advance team; our Taya team doesn't need to worry about it."

Everyone then focused their attention on the remaining five: the Painter of Fate, the Traitor of Time and Cocoon, the Unexpected Visitor, the Doll of Life and Death, and the Lonely Wallfacer.

"The Unexpected Visitor is clearly King Wu Su Ming," Quarter Hand one of the attendees at the meeting.

He arrived several years ago, and now his strength has fallen to the very bottom of the "Legendary" level, equivalent to Grand Magus Mentor or Grandmaster in the Taya Plane.

The mountain man disagrees with this claim; the great disturbance brought about by King Wu cannot possibly be excluded from the list of "disasters."

Of the five natural disaster code names, this one best corresponds to the most.

However, the identities of the remaining four "Disaster Leftists" are difficult to ascertain.

"The Bay Owl should be among them," the bell-ringing priest said. "Her destructive power is growing stronger and stronger."

Everyone has many doubts about this, but it's unclear which one she should be. The most typical label for the Bay Owl is scholar, but the "Shining Scholar" is already dead.

Zhennihu suddenly took a deep breath, stood up, and requested to speak, "My lord, I have something to say."

"You may speak freely, it's fine," the Death Knell gestured for her to continue.

"Lord Shu!" Zhennihu. "King Wu and Bay Owl are powerful, protected by the Final Wu Mad Machines, and also have the formidable White Fortress. We cannot gain the upper hand in a direct confrontation. But this time, they are fighting far from home, and their forces are scattered, presenting us with an excellent opportunity to defeat them one by one. We cannot afford to miss it!"

Death Knell understood what Zhennihu meant. "You mean you want us to cooperate with the Temple of Light?"

"Exactly!" Zhennihu. "Previously, the Lord instructed his subordinates to ease tensions between us and the Left Division of the Temple of Light. I believe we can try to take it a step further and join forces with them to fight against the Final Wu Mad Machines!"

"The Temple of Light and King Wu are sworn enemies, truly natural allies," the Bell-Beatling Priest added. "However, although relations between our two sides have eased somewhat, no trust has been established, making cooperation impossible."

"I understand your concerns, sirs," Zhennihu said matter-of-factly. "The young girl I've prepared is intended as a gift for the cardinals of the Council of Cardinals, to foster closer relations and express our sincerity in cooperation."

"A gift in the name of 'Plundering Left Clock '?" a Quarter Hand asked.

"Yes," Zhennihu continued, "We can arrange for an official to accompany me on a visit, and then they can persuade the Pope and the Ashen Repentance Friar."

The more she spoke, the more confident she became. "I know everything about what's going on inside the Holy See. Now that King Wu is attacking with overwhelming force, if the temple's battle goes smoothly, that's fine. But if a major upheaval occurs, the Pope and the Ashen Repentance Friar will definitely seize the opportunity and agree to join the joint attack on Final Wu Mad Machines!"

Everyone was now tempted. If Xie Gong could cooperate with Da Xie of the Temple of Light, killing Su Ming and Zijin, these two "calamities," would be much easier, allowing them to extricate themselves from the mission of dealing with the "obstacles" as soon as possible.

The Death Knell immediately decided that a person in Full Quarter Hand would accompany Zhennihu to the Radiant Holy City to demonstrate the "sincerity" of the Plundering Left Clock.

As long as we can eliminate the enemy King Wu, a mere low-profile broadcast is nothing.