Chapter 421 - 380: After the Bloody Battle

Chapter 421: Chapter 380: After the Bloody Battle

"What... what in the world happened here?"

When Shangyuan Zi arrived at the farm, she was greeted by a scene of utter devastation.

The ground was covered in long gashes, and a massive crater had appeared in the middle of the farm. The earth around it was peeled back in several layers, as if a violent storm had just torn through.

But Guan Tong and Lucifer, the ones responsible for all this, were nowhere to be seen.

"They might be in the crater."

Shi Jingyi said, then with a light tap of her foot, her body gracefully floated over the crater.

Just as she peered down, a hand grabbed onto the edge of the crater.

"You..."

Shi Jingyi’s expression changed slightly. She quickly leaned over, grabbed the arm, and pulled the person up.

"Guan Tong, are you all right?"

Shangyuan Zi had just breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing it was Guan Tong climbing out, but then her brows furrowed as she saw he was drenched in blood and in terrible shape.

"Teacher?!"

Yelena rushed over just then. Seeing Guan Tong, covered in blood and supported by Shi Jingyi, her voice became extremely urgent.

She ran over to check on him, only to see his body was covered in a dense network of wounds. It was a terrifying sight.

"I’m fine..." Guan Tong managed to lift his head and speak. "It looks scary, but they’re all minor wounds. Nothing vital was hit..."

The final exchange between him and Lucifer had ended in his victory.

Lucifer had indeed greatly increased his power in his four-winged state by force-feeding himself a massive amount of drugs and items, but in a head-on clash, he was still no match for Guan Tong.

As they crossed paths, the Nanomite Swarm net from Guan Tong’s left hand had protected his vitals, disintegrating the bulk of Lucifer’s attack. The Shadow Armor and Gilded Guardian nullified the rest.

Meanwhile, the small, vortex-like space in his right hand had devoured two-thirds of Lucifer’s upper body. A Spatial Ability, instantly unleashed with over ten thousand points of Psychic Power, was something no one could withstand.

However, the Ultimate Storm Feather Blade Lucifer formed with his four wings had an enormous range. While Guan Tong had no problem protecting his vital areas, he couldn’t fully shield his arms, shoulders, and legs. Many feather blades broke through and sliced him up, leaving him covered in injuries.

"Blood... so much blood..."

Yelena’s lips turned pale. She seemed at a loss, a stark contrast to the decisive and ruthless demeanor she displayed earlier.

Shangyuan Zi immediately took out some recovery and healing items to give to Guan Tong.

Shi Jingyi, who had been supporting Guan Tong’s back with her arm, quickly assessed his condition and said calmly, "Good, no vital organs were hit, so his life isn’t in danger. But we can’t let him keep losing blood."

She raised her other hand, and Psychic Power rapidly gathered before flowing over Guan Tong’s body, forming a pressure. This pressure, incredibly precise and perfectly calibrated, acted on the bleeding points of every wound, staunching the flow of blood.

"Thanks... I’m really fine, just a little exhausted."

Guan Tong took a deep breath, accepted the items from Shangyuan Zi, and then smiled at the pale-faced Yelena. "Don’t worry. A few medical items will fix up these flesh wounds in no time."

Coming to her senses, Yelena’s face filled with apology. "I’m sorry... Teacher, you only got hurt to protect me..."

Although Guan Tong was heavily injured, he didn’t want the mood to become gloomy. He said with a smile, "Come on. We won, we should be planning a victory feast. Besides, I made a huge haul this time. You can see it, right? The score above my head."

The three of them simultaneously looked above Guan Tong’s head. The number "4144" was particularly conspicuous.

Guan Tong had killed those robbers earlier, bringing his score to 37. This time, by settling his grudge with Lucifer, he had not only killed him but also seized his score, causing it to skyrocket.

"His score was over four thousand before. Each point represents the life of one Ascender. Over four thousand points means more than four thousand lives were concentrated on him," Shangyuan Zi said, a lingering fear in her heart at Lucifer’s cruel bloodlust.

’If it were me,’ she thought, ’facing such an enemy and seeing that terrifying score, I probably would have been intimidated before the fight even started. My performance would have suffered.’

"Now all those lives are concentrated on me," Guan Tong said softly. "If there is a power above, I hope to carry their weight with me, to walk this path to the very end and witness the truth."

"I believe you can do it," Shi Jingyi said, looking at him. "Do you remember what I said when we first met?"

"...That you liked my name?"

Shi Jingyi smiled and nodded. "That’s right, you remember. Guan Tong... ’to clear the game’... At least from then until now, that name has proven quite effective."

"Haha... I guess you’re right."

After laughing, he saw Yelena still standing beside him with a worried look. He reminded her, "Yelena, since you’re here, it must mean you’ve dealt with Valery and the others. The cleanup work afterward must be both immense and urgent. As Governor, you should hurry and handle it."

"Ah..."

Yelena snapped back to reality.

He was right. With Valery dead, a mountain of work needed to be handled urgently. The ringleader was gone, but the many people who conspired and colluded with him could not be spared. They needed to be dealt with quickly to prevent anyone from escaping.

But...

Yelena looked at the dense wounds on Guan Tong’s body. "Teacher, your injuries... If I go to work now..."

"I told you, I’m fine. Go on."

"I’ll take good care of him," Shi Jingyi added.

Guan Tong then said to Shangyuan Zi, "Shangyuan, you go with Yelena. Even though Valery and Lucifer are both dead, we can’t be careless. There might be remnants who want to take everyone down with them. It’s better if you’re with her."

"Alright, Captain."

Yelena bit her lip slightly and nodded. "Alright then. I’ll have to trouble you, Lecturer Jingyi. I’ll be back as soon as I’ve handled everything!"

Yelena and Shangyuan Zi left in a hurry. Watching Guan Tong use several healing items, the wounds on his body beginning to heal at an accelerated rate, Shi Jingyi felt a great sense of relief.

She glanced at the massive crater. "To think your battle caused so much destruction."

"That was Lucifer’s doing," Guan Tong said. "He swallowed more than ten drug-like items to forcibly boost his power and put on a big show."

As he spoke, he was inwardly amazed at Lucifer’s strength.

’Even with the help of drugs, reaching that level of power is insane.’

’After all, with the vast reserves of Psychic Power I command through the Wordless Book, I have a natural advantage in battle. Fighting me might seem like fighting one person, but it’s actually like fighting many...’

’Especially since a single person doesn’t need to worry about coordination. One person wielding the Psychic Power of a hundred, as long as their abilities and items are compatible, can unleash a combat strength far greater than the sum of a hundred people.’

’Under these circumstances, it’s truly remarkable that Lucifer could fight me to this extent just by doping himself up.’

’But then again, Lucifer possessed a powerful, combat-specific Psychic Power item like the Fallen Angel’s Wings. Plus, he’s spent the last two years murdering and plundering everywhere, so it makes sense that he’d accumulated this much power.’

"...Did he have such a deep-seated grudge against you?"

Shi Jingyi knew a little about those kinds of drug-like items. She had heard the academy’s lecturer on items mention them before. She knew the side effects were enormous, and no Ascender would use them unless it was a desperate, last-ditch effort.

"The guy was an extremist. We clashed twice before, and it turned into a bitter feud. One of the ’debts’ I told you I had to collect was from him... I didn’t expect him to be hired by Valery and come to me. Saved me the trouble of looking for him."

"I see."

"How did things go on your end?"

"It was easy. The enemies were all weak."

"Haha, I bet there are very few people you’d consider a strong enemy."

Hearing this, Shi Jingyi raised a hand and poked Guan Tong on the forehead. "You’re definitely one. Once you’re fully recovered, let’s find a chance to have an all-out spar. I want to see what you’re like when you go all out."

"Huh? HISS... I’m suddenly feeling a little unwell all over. Looks like I won’t be recovering anytime soon..."

Shi Jingyi broke into a knowing smile, and Guan Tong laughed along with her.

...

Yelena’s retaliation was far more swift and severe than most people had imagined.

On the same day Valery died, large numbers of his associates in the Capital were arrested. The few who caught wind of the situation and fled were now facing a massive manhunt.

Valery had smugly boasted of his four pillars: "military, political, financial, and intelligence." With him, the "intelligence" pillar, now destroyed, only the "military" pillar—some generals stationed abroad—had yet to be dealt with. The key figures in the "political" and "financial" pillars were all brought under control immediately.

The next day, Yelena held a press conference. She publicly released some of the evidence of crimes committed by Valery’s faction, including but not limited to surveillance footage from the Night Health Club and evidence seized from the security bureau.

The moment these sordid secrets were exposed, they caused a nationwide uproar in Sisiya.

At the conference, Yelena stated that, as Governor, she would deal with these individuals severely. She also explicitly declared that she had personally executed Valery and the agents who had launched the rebellion with him.

Surprisingly, after the press conference, the entire nation of Sisiya erupted in cheers. Almost no one mentioned whether her actions followed proper procedure; everyone felt it was a great blessing for the country to have a Governor who was so tough and merciless toward criminals.

Some military generals who had been preparing to use the "Governor suppressing the security bureau" as a pretext for action were now dumbfounded. They couldn’t understand why the public would turn a blind eye to such an unconstitutional act.

They didn’t understand that in an era like this, what people truly cared about wasn’t rules and procedures, but whether they had a strong leader they could depend on psychologically—someone to be their spiritual pillar.

Yelena had previously faced a great deal of skepticism, largely due to her relatively low-profile approach after taking office. In the eyes of many Sisiya natives, a low profile was equivalent to weakness; they preferred a strongman.

Thus, when Yelena displayed this extremely forceful side of herself, she was instead met with popular support. This left the few opposing generals, who commanded significant military power, in a difficult predicament.

In an age where almost the entire population was concentrated in a few major cities, an army could do nothing without popular support. The soldiers themselves would be resistant, and once the finances were cut off—with no supplies or Sublimation Coins—who would still be willing to die for them?

But if they chose to yield... would Yelena even allow it?

With no other choice, the generals could only try to sound her out, hoping to receive a promise of safety.

In the end, they did not receive a promise of safety. What they received was Yelena’s public announcement of their dismissal, complete with evidence of their grave crimes.

This evidence had all been collected by Valery, originally as leverage to control these very people. Now, it had become Yelena’s weapon.

She not only announced their dismissal to the public and stripped them of their military authority, but she also ordered the subordinates of these generals to carry out the order.

With the tide turned against them, the generals could not reverse the situation with just a handful of loyal subordinates. One of them had just left his office when he found himself stared down by a group of soldiers. Then, one soldier made a move, and the rest swarmed in to apprehend him.

Just as the situation in Sisiya Country was undergoing this drastic change, the sixteenth rule was also drawing to a close.