Whether it was Deacon Water, Li Daqian, or Commander Mu, they had always been at the forefront of human evolution. Now, they were also the highest level evolved. Beyond their own strength, they each controlled immensely powerful factions. In the post-apocalyptic world, few could be considered their rivals.
This gave them strong confidence and a sense of pride.
Even when facing Ye Zhongming, who was an outlier, they acknowledged the gap but were not afraid.
But at this moment, they felt the blood in their bodies freeze. Despite believing they could no longer fear, their legs involuntarily trembled, sending signals to their brains.
They had occasionally heard their subordinates mention feeling suppressed in their presence. They had always laughed it off, thinking their subordinates exaggerated to flatter them, attributing it to psychological fear.
Now, they realized that suppression truly existed. Although this lifeform had not yet shown itself, its mere presence made their souls tremble.
The mutated lifeforms under Deacon Water and Li Daqian—the Pegasus and the Spotted Giant Bear—were now restless, constantly urging their masters to flee through their mental connections. The lower-level battle beasts of Thousand Beast Villa lay on the ground, trembling uncontrollably, some even losing control of their bodily functions.
Only a level-nine lifeform could cause such an effect!
Despite the three factions’ earlier bold declarations about killing a level-nine lifeform, now that they were truly facing one, they all simultaneously regretted their decision.
“I… I’ve faced a level nine before. How… how can this one be so… so terrifying?” Li Daqian’s voice was stiff and dry as he spoke.
As the only person present who had encountered and even killed a level-nine lifeform, he pointed out the difference between that one and this one. It was like comparing heaven and earth. Li Daqian even wondered if this powerful lifeform nearby had already surpassed level nine.
“It’s the Nine-Winged Crow, the most powerful lifeform in the Blue Secret Realm. So far, it’s the only level-nine here,” Guang Yao said, his forehead sweating. As a seven-star evolved, he felt even more pressure. However, because he had some understanding of this level-nine lifeform and was somewhat prepared, he had a slight psychological advantage.
Still, his confidence was shaken. He began to worry whether the battle plan would proceed smoothly.
“Are we… supposed to fight it?”
Commander Mu was already mocking himself, wondering if he was just unlucky. His first battle after coming out of hiding had to be against such a terrifying being. It was as if he hadn’t checked his fortune before coming.
Guang Yao shook his head, then nodded. “Maybe not, or maybe yes. But even if we do, it will be an injured version of it, not what we’re seeing now.”
“At this point, can you just tell us the truth?!” Mu Xinfei couldn’t hold back anymore, almost roaring at Guang Yao.
The others didn’t mind her bad attitude either; their eyes were also red.
Guang Yao was momentarily unsure of how to respond because he didn’t know the plan’s specifics either. That was all in Ye Zhongming’s hands.
But just as he was struggling to explain, a space gate suddenly appeared on the plain. A figure rushed out, teleporting repeatedly, covering hundreds of meters in the blink of an eye before disappearing into a special device. The next second, the device exploded with a boom, shaking the ground.
Li Daqian and the others turned to look. They hadn’t paid much attention earlier, but now they realized a teleportation device was there. The figure was Ye Zhongming, who had been absent all day.
But they didn’t focus on the King of Cloud Peak as usual. Instead, their eyes were locked on the still-open space gate.
Because from within, another terrifying presence was emerging.
A ‘small’ black shadow slowly extended its body from the gate, curiously looking around.
It was only ‘small’ in comparison—its actual height was over three meters, making it a giant among humans. However, because of the distance, it appeared similar in size to Ye Zhongming.
“The… the Armor King?!”
Deacon Water had access to images of many high-level mutated lifeforms in the nation, and the Armor King, ranked first, was naturally among them. She recognized it immediately.
The others looked at the Armor King, now standing on the secret realm’s soil, and then at the massive black cloud that had already swept over the distant mountains. They began to understand—Ye Zhongming wanted the two level-nine lifeforms to fight each other?
It was a good idea, but how could he be so sure the Armor King would follow him through the space gate into the secret realm? And how could he be certain the two level-nine lifeforms would ignore everyone else and fight each other?
Ye Zhongming, of course, knew.
When he heard the name ‘Armor King’ during the Bright Water Feast, it triggered memories from his past life.
Before his rebirth, the Armor King had already been killed, contributing its demon crystal and body to human evolved. Some of its legends were also known to people. The Armor King Ye Zhongming knew had obvious weaknesses.
First, it was prone to rage. Second, it was competitive and combative.
These traits were common among many mutated lifeforms and couldn’t be considered weaknesses. But the Armor King took these characteristics to the extreme. Perhaps this was why it had evolved to level nine so early. Later, it was also why it was surrounded and killed by evolved.
Of course, there was also an unconfirmed… hobby, if you could call it that. The Armor King loved to eat marine life.
A love for seafood—perhaps a habit left over from its pre-apocalypse life as a human.
Ye Zhongming hadn’t been sure if this rumor, often treated as a joke, was true. But he was almost certain when he heard that the Armor King had challenged a same-level lifeform in shallow waters shortly after evolving.
No land-dwelling lifeform would casually venture into the ocean to fight a same-level lifeform for no reason. Most likely, the Armor King had gone to the sea to hunt, encounter or attract that level-nine marine life, or perhaps it simply wanted to eat that level-nine ‘seafood.’
Knowing these three points, Ye Zhongming formulated his plan to kill the Armor King, gradually developing this bold battle plan.
The high-quality ‘seafood’ brought back by the Little Peng’s team, Ye Zhongming’s personal appearance to provoke, and… the Nine-Winged Crow formed a seemingly simple yet indispensable chain of events.
Now that the Armor King had revealed itself, it had completely forgotten the level-eight pest that had enraged it earlier. Instead, it was fixated on the black cloud in the sky not far away.
After a long moment, the Armor King let out a deafening roar!
The strongest lifeform from Earth had challenged the strongest lifeform from another world!