Tongzhou City, despite its vastness and current dilapidated state, once housed millions of people.
Even if a “radar” could precisely locate the planar distribution of all “Demon Seeds,” could the human faction eliminate all the clones before the Space-Time portal opened?
No matter how strong an individual was, it would still take a considerable amount of time to find each of these “Demon Seed” clones one by one.
It's important to remember that in a city full of tall buildings, the planar location displayed on the radar doesn't provide precise three-dimensional coordinates, which would undoubtedly increase the difficulty of the cleanup.
The simplest method would be to directly flatten the entire city; with full-coverage firepower bombardment, it would surely guarantee no stragglers.
However, completely leveling an entire city is easier said than done; even General Bai Ting, presumably, would be unable to achieve it.
After much thought, the best method would be to rely on thermal weapons for area bombardment, and then use human Awakeneds for precise cleanup.
But this is also the most helpless method, and the human faction must be able to restart the thermal weapons of the old era.
Even if everything could be achieved, if just one was missed in the end, all efforts would be in vain.
“Forget it, if you and I can think of these problems, can General Bai Ting not think of them? When the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up; we just need to leave this place as soon as possible.”
Lai Yinghuan had already decided that no matter what, he would leave Copper State that very night.
But when he turned his head, he saw Chen Bugu staring blankly at the bright silver crystal in his hand, as if he hadn't heard a word Lai Yinghuan said.
“What’s wrong with you? What is that?”
Chen Bugu didn't answer; he just twirled the crystal between his fingers, then applied a little force and crushed it.
Bright silver dust floated in the air, and a visible look of joy appeared on Chen Bugu's face.
He was certain he hadn't misheard; the moment the bright silver crystal shattered, an emotionless, cold voice appeared in his mind.
“Space Element affinity increased by 0.01.”
Space Element affinity!
Since Chen Bugu’s Space-Time awakening, he had only mastered “Time-type” abilities; this was the first time he had heard a description related to “Space-type,” and it was specifically about the Space Element.
Although he currently couldn't use “Space-type” skills, the fact that he could sense the energy inside the crystal indicated that he indeed possessed the seed of Space-type abilities.
Therefore, he had to seize this opportunity to rapidly increase his elemental affinity.
This bright silver crystal had fallen from the body of the dead “Demon Seed” clone. That’s right, that “Demon Seed” was a “tool” for anchoring Space-Time nodes, so it wasn't strange for it to possess “Space-type” abilities.
Thinking of this, Chen Bugu also had a clear plan for his next actions.
“You go, I want to stay in Copper State and hunt those clones.”
Chen Bugu looked at Lai Yinghuan, deciding to part ways with him there and then, and wholeheartedly begin hunting the “Demon Seed” clones within Copper State.
“Are you crazy? Can you kill them all? Even if you’re not caught by the combat branch later, after the new Space-Time portal opens, this place will be a battlefield.”
“After the Space-Time portal opens, how many Demon Seeds will be transported over? What will their strength be like?” Chen Bugu asked curiously.
“The number is unclear, but in previous instances, the fewest were two or three tens of thousands, with strengths primarily in the Silver and Black Iron stages. There were also Golden ones, but not in particularly large numbers.”
“In that case… there’s no escaping.”
Chen Bugu merely mumbled in a low voice, yet this remark was interpreted differently in Lai Yinghuan’s ears.
There’s no escaping!
Humans, facing Demon Seeds, were always in retreat, their front lines shrinking again and again.
Awakeneds died continuously, and to this day, only over three thousand people globally barely survived.
Gradually, many pessimists like Lai Yinghuan had already lost confidence, feeling that the extinction of humanity was merely a matter of time.
The Space-Time portal opened once more, this time in Tongzhou City in the Central Plains.
Even if they could withdraw from Copper State today, how much longer could they flee?
Escaping the first day but not the fifteenth… ultimately, there’s still no escaping.
So, instead of fleeing now, why not stay and do everything possible to prevent the Space-Time portal from opening?
Lai Yinghuan looked at Chen Bugu, surprised that he had such resolve, and understood why he wanted to stay in Copper State.
He respected Chen Bugu, but he couldn't do it, so he still had to run.
Lai Yinghuan knew he was just a small person, with no time to worry about all of humanity; even living one more day was a gain for him.
Of course, he didn't know that Chen Bugu’s true thoughts had almost no connection to his conjectures.
Chen Bugu heard that the Space-Time portal would cover the entire Copper State, so he only wanted to know the approximate number and strength of the enemies, so that he could retreat after hunting the worm-like “Demon Seeds.”
But hearing Lai Yinghuan say that, the number and scale of the enemies were extremely vast. In that case, if he remained greedy and stayed in Copper State, he would most likely be unable to withdraw when the Space-Time portal opened.
His remark, “There’s no escaping,” was simply him worrying about himself.
Chen Bugu thought for a moment and decided not to dwell on it. If he could raise his Space Element affinity to a certain level, then this “Free Secret Realm” would be quite fruitful, and for the rest, he could only take it one step at a time.
“Alright, then let’s part ways here. Be careful, and I wish you a safe departure from Copper State.”
Chen Bugu patted Lai Yinghuan’s shoulder, then walked away towards a staircase on one side.
Lai Yinghuan stood in the darkness, his raised hand still not lowered, and finally sighed in the direction Chen Bugu had left.
He had intended to ask for his radar back, but then he reconsidered, thinking that he was just a deserter.
Compared to him, Chen Bugu, who wanted to prevent the Space-Time portal from opening, probably needed that thing more.
Lai Yinghuan weighed the unfinished piece of meat in his pocket, comforted himself that he wasn't at a loss, and then quickly went downstairs, heading in the direction of leaving the city.
After parting ways with Lai Yinghuan, Chen Bugu focused on the “Demon Seed” at the intersection.
After some effort to kill it, Chen Bugu filled in the missing information.
First, the strength of these worm-like “Demon Seeds” varied; the one at the intersection already had an eight-star level.
Secondly, although these “Demon Seeds” would not leave their original positions, they would automatically attack enemies appearing within a certain range. Their attack pattern was relatively simple, mainly relying on corrosive black circular energy.
Finally, killing worm-like “Demon Seeds” indeed yielded energy and bright silver Space-Time crystals. The size of the Space-Time crystals varied somewhat, but the affinity boost they provided was only a meager 0.01.
Chen Bugu then recalled the black-winged “Demon Seed” he had killed on the train.
Based on the characteristic that its energy reaction disappeared from the radar, Chen Bugu should have killed the opponent.
However, he indeed did not obtain any energy at that time.
Thus, it seemed there were still some differences between “Demon Seeds,” but he temporarily couldn't figure out what those differences were.
Anyway, he was in a bottleneck and couldn't break through, so this point wasn't as important.
“Southwest three hundred meters, two; due south five hundred meters, one.”
Chen Bugu put away the radar in his hand, confirmed the direction, and then decisively moved towards his target.
The cool night was long, and the hunt had just begun…