“It’s been two hours since those Cloud Peak dogs stopped their attack, right?”
A man peered cautiously out the window of an abandoned factory building on a hilltop.
He was an evolved from Guan City, a third-tier city in the southern part of Ying City. Since the attacks began a few days ago by forces led by Shasha’s team, this was the first time the Cloud Peak-affiliated evolved had completely halted their assault.
The physical constitution of evolved allowed them to fight for extended periods without rest. For the sake of victory, they had been engaged in continuous combat.
The nature of the battles had constantly shifted from the initial ambush to direct confrontations and then to guerrilla warfare.
Yet, both sides had remained evenly matched.
Under the leadership of several bosses, the various Guan City teams had united. Knowing Cloud Peak’s plans from the start, they had not only taught Shasha’s team a lesson early on but had even managed to strike back at the real Cloud Peak forces.
Although the final casualty ratio was somewhat lopsided—around a hundred Cloud Peak members were killed while over three hundred of their own were lost—the various teams considered this a major victory, symbolizing the shattering of Cloud Peak’s myth of invincibility.
However, the subsequent alliance between Shasha’s team and Cloud Peak’s forces had made life difficult for them. While they hadn’t been wholly routed, they had been forced to abandon their positions one after another, and now they were on the verge of being pushed out of Guan City’s territory.
This abandoned factory building was where the leaders and high-ranking members of Guan City’s various teams had gathered to discuss their next moves. However, after their arrival, they first encountered the late arrival of several influential bosses, and then suddenly learned that the Cloud Peak-affiliated forces had stopped their attacks.
Thus, their meeting shifted from discussing battle plans to speculating about Cloud Peak’s intentions.
Someone chimed in, sparking a second wave of heated discussion. Everyone believed their own guess and analyses were correct, leading to frequent small-scale arguments.
“Let’s not argue among ourselves. Look at what you’ve become. There are over a hundred people here, all faction bosses. What would your subordinates think if they saw you like this?”
A middle-aged man sitting on a worn-out chair shouted, silencing the room.
This man was the leader of Guan City’s “Demobilization Team.” Although he had recently come to power, he was highly respected, and one of the strongest evolved in the area, having reached seven stars.
Around him, either standing or sitting, were several other notable figures from Guan City.
The man stood up, glanced outside, and his eyes flickered with uncertainty. He paced around the factory building several times as if considering something or waiting for something.
“Alright, let’s discuss what to do next, assuming the Cloud Peak-affiliated forces will continue their attack.”
Hearing this from the leader of the Demobilization Team, most people gathered around him, while a few remained where they were, their faces showing clear displeasure.
“Didn’t we already go over this earlier? Why are we repeating it? What’s the point of going back and forth? I don’t think there’s any need to keep analyzing this. What’s the use? Aren’t we still getting beaten like dogs? We said we could talk to Shasha and see what conditions they were offering. If it was suitable, why not join their team? Are we better off maintaining our independence now? Even if we don’t agree to join, leaving is still a good option. If this place doesn’t want us, plenty of others will. Why fight tooth and nail with them? In the end, won’t we just be driven out anyway?”
This group had never wanted to be enemies with Cloud Peak and had even considered joining them. However, they had been “dragged into” the conflict, and whether they liked it or not, they had already attacked Shasha’s team and Cloud Peak’s forces, making it impossible for them to join Cloud Peak now.
“Instead of being decent people, you’d rather be someone’s dog. Are you this filial to your mother, too?”
After hearing their complaints, a hot-tempered team leader became furious and slammed the table, pointing at them and shouting.
Everyone here was a boss-level figure, and no one could tolerate being insulted. The two sides immediately confronted each other, on the verge of coming to blows, and even the intervention of the Demobilization Team’s leader and others couldn’t calm them down.
After all, they weren’t true leaders but had been elected based on strength. There wasn’t much difference between them, and no one was willing to be ordered around.
However, at a certain moment, everyone suddenly fell silent and looked down at their feet. The dirty floor of the factory building began to emit light, starting very faintly but growing brighter and brighter.
“Get out of the way! What is this?”
The various bosses scrambled to the sides, afraid that something terrible would happen if they stayed in the mysterious light.
But before they could escape the factory building, the light stopped. Just before it did, four figures appeared in the center of the building.
“Eight stars!”
“Three of them!”
“Who are they?”
Among the four who appeared, three were detected to be eight-star evolved. In the vicinity, only Cloud Peak had such strength.
But these people clearly weren’t Ye Zhongming or Xia Bai.
“What’s going on?”
“Huh?”
“…”
The four who had suddenly appeared in the middle of the factory building were also confused. This place was completely different from where they had intended to go.
“Ah Chou, what’s going on?”
The group leader turned to ask the young man behind him, who wasn’t an eight-star evolved.
The young man scratched his head. “I’m Sorry, boss. I messed up. Let me try again.”
With that, he again cast light on the ground, but this time, the light expanded to cover the entire factory building. The bosses from Guan City watched in horror as they, along with the three eight-star evolved, disappeared in the light.
The factory building was now empty except for Heaven Chou, who had just performed the spell.
Walking to the window, Heaven Chou looked out at the quiet camp of the Cloud Peak-affiliated forces in the distance and smiled.
“Good luck, Boss Heaven Zi and the others. And good luck to the King of Cloud Peak.”
………………………………
At the same time, Ye Zhongming, who had just finished looting Heaven Yi’s body, suddenly felt a strong surge of energy around him. His speed was already extremely fast, but he couldn’t escape the range of this energy. He could only watch as mysterious glowing symbols appeared on the ground, and then over a hundred people materialized around him.
Everyone was stunned when they saw him. But upon realizing that they outnumbered him and had three eight-star evolved among them, their expressions shifted to greed and murderous intent.
The King of Cloud Peak… alone?