Chapter 894 - 504: Embers of the Long Night (Part 13)

Su Huan lowered his eyes, looking at a segment of the Rule pattern dimming on the back of his hand. This Evil Anomaly could latch onto an entire unit, much stronger than the last one. To seal it, he had to constantly maintain his Domain, consuming a large amount of energy. But this consumption was nothing compared to the occupied Rule.

If he sealed hundreds of such powerful Evil Anomalies, he would revert to the state when he first entered the Eternal Night Zone—unable to utilize the Rule.

And unlike the Pale Demons, these Evil Anomalies cannot be digested over time.

"I wonder where those two guys ran off to."

Thinking of the two escaped Pale Demons, Su Huan began to feel annoyed again. Fortunately, the most bizarre ability, the Impersonator, had been killed by him. The remaining two who escaped were the False Remembrancer Recill and the False Fate Marcus. These titles were quite mystical, but the specific usage was unknown.

However, he wasn’t too worried. After digesting the two demons, his Life Force had significantly increased, and his understanding of the Rule had improved considerably.

At this stage, for him, it was hard to say he mastered the Rule. It was more like being the first to step into a treasure trove. Since he was the only one there, he could utilize everything in the treasure trove.

If there were a second person in the treasure trove, his control would likely decrease significantly.

The Evil Anomalies in the Eternal Night were like the gatekeepers of the treasure trove. They were part of the treasure trove but couldn’t steal from it, so they could only use the Rule to devour people.

Although the Pale Demons were very familiar with the use of the Rule, his feeling was that their access was more like borrowing keys from someone else, barely entering the treasure trove, and unable to touch many things.

As for the Terror Slaughterer, it was probably the one with the greatest potential here. Unfortunately, it had just evolved to Tier Four, not very bright yet. Adding Su Huan’s overwhelming power, it was completely killed before it could grow.

If ranked by the utilization of the Rule, Evil Anomalies were the weakest, followed by Pale Demons, then Slaughterers, and finally Su Huan.

After comparing through battles multiple times, he vaguely understood where the path to Tier Five lay.

Currently, he merely entered the treasure trove. There was still a long way to become the master of the treasure trove, and that distance was the mastery of the Rule.

Now, he understood the Rule purely by instinct.

Simply put, it was enlightenment; if he could perceive it, he perceived it. If not, there was no way for him to learn it.

So, although he had been at Tier Four for quite a while, his control over the Rule had not substantially increased.

And this "ability to learn the Rule" might be the privilege of a Tier Five Evolver.

Feeling the approach of Qin Mian and the others, Su Huan looked up. The Major had returned to his soldier-like demeanor, looking resolute, only the dark circles under his eyes were heavy.

He came over solemnly, "Communication from higher-ups."

"What does it say?"

"Not yet connected."

Su Huan appeared bewildered, "Answer it, what do they want with me?"

Although Lieutenant Colonel was gone, the composite brigade still had several Majors. Even in a pinch, there were Captains and Lieutenants; it shouldn’t come down to him answering this communication.

The radio in the hands of the communications soldier buzzed, and everyone instinctively looked at Su Huan, including the Major.

Su Huan’s face twitched. Is this learned dependency...?

Helpless, he answered the communication, "Hello, this is the 892nd Composite Brigade. Previously, we were trapped in a forbidden zone..."

Su Huan briefly explained what had just happened, then a familiar voice came from the other side, "It’s you again. Where’s Colonel Zhang Chengxu?"

"Gone, everyone above Major is gone. The nearest to me is..."

Su Huan suddenly realized he didn’t know the Major’s name and gave him an inquiring look. The latter stood at attention as if being reviewed by a superior officer and said, "Temporary integrated Battalion Commander Shen Li."

There was a brief silence on the other end, "What’s your name?"

Su Huan had a vaguely ominous feeling, "Su Huan."

"Su Huan, you are now the Commander of the 892nd Composite Brigade. The previous mission is canceled. After hanging up, bring everyone to report to the division HQ. If you can bring back more than a thousand people unharmed, I, He, guarantee you a Colonel’s rank with my head!"

Then he swiftly hung up, giving Su Huan no time to react.

Brigade Commander, oh no, Commander Su’s pupils slightly dilated, stunned in place like a rookie soldier.

Before everyone could react, Qin Mian had already stood at attention, saluting crisply, "Salute to the Commander!"

Shen Li and others also saluted without hesitation.

...

Half an hour later, Commander Su reluctantly led over a thousand subordinates on the journey to the division HQ.

In reality, it was the strength of a regular regiment. But because they were what was left of the Composite Brigade, well-equipped with heavy firepower mainly, their combat effectiveness was comparable to a regular reinforced regiment.

According to Qin Mian’s statement, upon reaching division HQ, they should be supplemented with a few more regiments and reorganized.

According to Donghuang’s seven-tier system of Army Group-Army-Division-Brigade-Regiment-Battalion-Company, once completed, it would comprise at least 6,000 to 10,000 soldiers. A journey others couldn’t complete in a lifetime was reached with two phone calls for Commander Su.

However, Commander Su’s heart wasn’t particularly happy, as heavy equipment couldn’t be casually discarded, making the marching speed significantly slower than when he was leading a ten-men squad.

It was uncertain how many days it would take just to reach the division HQ. But having taken on the mission, Su Huan couldn’t abandon them, so he could only endure the snail-paced advancement.

The first day as Brigade Commander, marching.

The second day, continuing to march.

On the third day, they encountered a small skirmish, which Su Huan didn’t even have to engage in. A single round of bombardment from the reinforced regiment cleared the opposition, and a heavily-battered reinforced battalion was absorbed into the Composite Brigade.