Chapter 108.2
If audio player doesn't work, press Stop then Play button again
Ning Tianxing: Ning Kongran’s father, Ning Tianya’s older brother.
“Elder”: the mastermind of the conspiracy.
Feng: The Imperial High Advisor.
Jian: the Imperial High Advisor’s son. Studies History.
An Lunn: Feng’s dead boyfriend. Jian’s biological father, the old Emperor’s second younger brother.
Chu Rong led Qiao Zhiya onto the lift, selecting level eight of Area D. His spiritual energy was fluctuating slightly, which Qiao Zhiya immediately noticed, causing him to become worried and anxious.
During this period, Chu Rong’s power had been frequently impacted, and just before coming here, he had forcefully broken the mental lock in Ning Tianxing body-double’s brain. With his spiritual energy injured, he hadn’t had time to rest properly and had only taken some potions to temporarily stabilize himself.
Now that Chu Rong’s power was suddenly fluctuating, Qiao Zhiya couldn’t help but worry.
Chu Rong gently touched him, shaking his head and replied, “I’m fine,” while trying to gather his spiritual energy back as much as possible, his brow furrowed slightly.
In fact, he was feeling somewhat strange right now… but now wasn’t the time to worry about that.
However, Qiao Zhiya still worriedly took out a vial of potion from his storage bag, opened it, and reached out to feed Chu Rong. Chu Rong glanced at him and drank the potion from his hand, then ruffled his hair affectionately.
By the time they finished talking, the lift had stopped, the door opened, and the overwhelming sound of insect cries and the waving of limbs filled the air. Chu Rong’s expression changed immediately, and he quickly pushed Qiao Zhiya behind him, taking out his weapon to shoot down the approaching Zergs. Then, he summoned his mecha and blocked the elevator door.
Qiao Zhiya also quickly regained his senses. Seeing the situation outside, he swiftly dodged out of Chu Rong’s mecha’s range. He then summoned his own mecha and rushed towards the trapped soldiers in the field.
Seeing them arrive, Fan Xiangnan quickly connected to Chu Rong’s mech communication and said, “This area is a large-scale black hole teleportation device, and these red lines on the ground are exactly the same as the ones we found on those devices! Ning Tianxing released the Zergs and then ran back to the spaceship during the chaos. He’s trying to escape!”
Upon hearing this, Chu Rong immediately looked down at the ground and indeed saw traces of red lines amidst the writhing mass of Zergs and dim light. His expression darkened, and without hesitation, he took off into the air and aimed a powerful shot at the ground.
“Boom!”
The Zergs were blasted away, but the ground remained intact, and the red lines continued to spread at a stable pace, threatening to cover the entire space.
“Die! Die!”
Suddenly, Ning Tianxing’s voice came from the spaceship, tinged with pain and distortion. His spaceship, strangely, was not harassed by the Zergs and remained calm in the center of the field, looking out of place.
Chu Rong’s spiritual energy became even more unstable upon hearing this, and he immediately threw out a silver net towards the spaceship.
“Ah!”
Ning Tianxing, who had just finished his threatening words inside the spaceship, suddenly clutched his head and fell to the ground. Then, his body uncontrollably climbed up and took a few steps outward, before his mind cleared up for a moment.
He was terrified, binding himself to the captain’s seat of the spaceship, his eyes filled with fear.
What just happened? How did he unconsciously walk out on his own, as if his spiritual energy and consciousness were being controlled? Could it be that Chu Rong’s residual spiritual energy left in his brain was causing this?
‘No! Impossible!’ He shook his head, denying this terrifying speculation.
Chu Rong had only injected a trace of power into his brain, how could he control his consciousness? This was something that even an SSS-level spiritual power couldn’t achieve!
‘Remember, I still had a protective lock left by the Elder! Yes, the Elder… the Elder…’
“Ah!”
He once again clutched his forehead as intense pain surged through him. It felt like someone was repeatedly cutting into his brain with a knife, making it impossible for his thoughts to connect.
“Sir! The red lines are spreading!” Fan Xiangnan’s voice sounded urgent over the communication.
Chu Rong frowned, continuing to use the silver net to cover the spaceship as he approached it. He ordered, “Those who haven’t boarded mecha, hurry up. Those who have, cover your companions. Everyone retreat to the lift! Those who can’t retreat, try to ascend as high as possible, activate the protective shields, bind and fix each other to avoid being sucked into the black hole!”
“Yes!”
Upon receiving the order, the soldiers engaged in combat with the Zergs began to retreat efficiently. Some returned to the lift, surrounding the young people entangled by vines, while others, led by Fan Xiangnan, quickly ascended into the air, drawing the attention of the insects.
The black and gold mecha had already approached the spaceship and was trying to pull Ning Tianxing out from inside. At this moment, a voice like flowing blood suddenly sounded, and the ground glowed red, with a black hole slowly appearing around the spaceship.
“Chu Rong!”
Qiao Zhiya was shocked to see this and piloted his mecha to approach.
“You go up first!”
Feeling the suction force of the black hole, Chu Rong turned around and pushed the brown mecha upward with a silver net from afar. He then turned back, grabbed onto the protective armor of the spaceship, found the control room, tore open the armor directly, and found Ning Tianxing, who had already passed out inside. He grabbed him along with the chair, then stomped on the spaceship and used the force to ascend into the air, chasing after the brown mecha.
“Whoosh!”
The black hole suddenly expanded, sucking the spaceship in. The Zergs that were relatively close couldn’t withstand the suction force and were thrown into the black hole, disappearing without a trace.
The black and gold mecha, which had already ascended some distance, was caught by the suction force of the black hole, unable to ascend any further. In fact, it was pulled back slightly, and the black hole below rotated like a greedy beast, trying to devour all the prey in the sky.
“Qiuqiu, go!”
Seeing this, Qiao Zhiya was anxious and quickly threw out Qiuqiu to bind himself and Chu Rong together, preventing the black and gold mecha from falling further. Then, gritting his teeth, he exerted more force and flew upwards, trying to pull the black and gold mecha out of the range of the black hole’s indiscriminate devouring.
The high-performance mecha engines roared, and seeing something was wrong, Fan Xiangnan quickly descended to help.
“Boom!”
One of Qiuqiu’s vines couldn’t withstand the sudden suction force and broke. The black and gold mecha, which had just ascended a bit, sank down a bit, bringing the brown mecha along with it.
“Don’t worry about me, go up first!”
Seeing this, Chu Rong decisively tied Ning Tianxing to one of Qiuqiu’s vines, then took out a short dagger, cutting off all the vines entwined around himself, and pushed them upward, pushing the brown mecha out of danger. Then, as he passively descended, he twisted his body to the limit and pulled out his double-barreled gun, aiming it at the black hole and fired!
However, this black hole, supported by the entire device, was completely different from those created by portable devices and couldn’t be dispersed at all.
“Chu Rong！”
Seeing the black and gold mecha about to be sucked into the black hole, Qiao Zhiya couldn’t care less about anything else. Anxiously, he followed suit and dove down, while his magical power spread wildly. A large pile of vines instantly filled the entire space, layer after layer pouring towards the black hole. The thickest vine directly wrapped around the black and gold mecha, attempting to pull it back.
With other things filling the void, the suction force of the black hole immediately weakened significantly. Seeing Qiao Zhiya diving down, Chu Rong’s expression changed. He quickly launched a powerful blow towards the device he had observed within the wall, then all his spiritual power surged out. Using the force of this blow, he ascended, extending his arm to grab the brown mech that was descending. Stepping on the layers of vines spread out below, he leaped high into the sky.
“Boom!”
The metal wall was destroyed, and all the devices turned into ashes. The black hole on the ground twisted for a moment as if its power supply had been cut off, and the suction force suddenly weakened. Then, with the vines filling the void, it slowly dissipated.
Affected by the suction force of the black hole, all the Zergs inside lost their combat capabilities. After the black hole disappeared, they all fell to the ground, so the vines were piled with Zergs, along with the ruins, making the scene here look like some kind of bizarre hell.
“Crack.”
A strange sound rang out.
Chu Rong, who had just escaped danger, immediately looked towards the source of the sound. Qiao Zhiya, relying on his much better hearing and vision than humans, quickly caught sight of the scene where the sound came from. His expression changed, and he quickly said, “Oh no! This area is collapsing!”
This was the underground 8th floor. Chu Rong had just blasted down the entire load-bearing wall of the 8th floor, and Ning Tianxing had removed most of the ground between the 8th and 6th floors. Without effective support, this area was like a box with one side removed, about to collapse!
There was only one lift on the 8th floor. The laboratory areas on the 6th and 7th floors, which hadn’t had the ground removed, probably had more than a dozen lifts each. The first five floors were already empty. Chu Rong quickly went through the distribution map of this area in his mind and decisively ordered, “Disperse and retreat to the lifts on the 6th and 7th floors. Everyone evacuate from Area A immediately!” After that, he led Qiao Zhiya towards the soldiers who were staying on the 8th floor lift.
Fan Xiangnan was stunned for a moment but didn’t have time to think much. He quickly arranged for the soldiers to descend to the eighth floor.
“Crack crack crack, whoosh—”
As they descended, a clearer sound of collapse suddenly came. Qiao Zhiya’s ears pricked up, and he quickly grabbed Chu Rong’s arm, saying urgently, “We can’t make it! Let everyone gather together, quickly!”
Chu Rong frowned and chose to trust his judgment directly, commanding, “Stop the retreat, everyone gather near the 8th floor lift, quickly!”
Fan Xiangnan responded quickly, arranging for the soldiers to land near the 8th floor.
The ground was already gone, and everyone landed quickly.
After landing, Qiao Zhiya first took out Qiuqiu’s two children to protect the soldiers who were already in the 8th-floor lift. Then, he signaled for Qiuqiu to spread its vines and waited for the soldiers from above to land.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake violently, and broken walls and rubble fell from above. This area was on the verge of collapsing. Qiao Zhiya couldn’t delay any longer — there was still a group of soldiers who hadn’t landed in Qiuqiu’s protective circle!
Chu Rong frowned and started using the silver net to pull people.
Qiao Zhiya was reminded by his actions and quickly joined in pulling people, urging, “Faster! Everyone come over here!”
The last soldier was almost dragged in by Qiuqiu’s vines. Large pieces of metal wall were falling from above, and the laboratories on the 6th and 7th floors, which hadn’t had their ground removed, began to collapse and break. Qiao Zhiya dared not delay any longer. He jumped out of the mecha, hugged Qiuqiu’s vines, and his earth magic surged violently, layering hard soil blocks on the vines, creating a sturdy fortress, protecting everyone underneath.
“Rumble!”
The ground shook violently, and everyone staggered and fell to the ground. The sound of giant objects hitting the protective shield above their heads could be heard. The trembling vines dropped bits of earth, and the hearts of all the soldiers tightened as they stared at the vines and soil walls above their heads.
Once this shield was broken, they would be smashed into meat patties.
“Use the mechas to support the protective shield!”
Chu Rong instructed as he operated his black and gold mecha to support this sealed space. Then, he jumped out of the mecha and walked to Qiao Zhiya’s side. He took out some jade and placed it around him, while his spiritual strength surged upwards, starting to slow down the momentum of the falling objects from above.
As if waking from a dream, everyone quickly got busy, each lending a hand.
In a place unseen by them, the red lines on the ground seemed to sense some strange force, suddenly flickered, then completely lost their color, turning into the same dense black as the ground.
The collapse and tremors took a long time to stop. After confirming that the vibrations had completely ceased, Qiao Zhiya’s legs went weak, and he sat down on the ground, raising his hand to cover his forehead.
Seeing his condition, Chu Rong knew it wasn’t good. He quickly picked him up, fed him some medicine, and handed him the jade while looking towards Fan Xiangnan nearby, instructing, “Let everyone rest in place, count the number of people, and prepare to evacuate from here.”
Fan Xiangnan looked worriedly at Qiao Zhiya, nodding in agreement.
After replenishing some strength, Qiao Zhiya felt a bit better, although his forehead was still hot. He should be able to move around without any problems. He comfortingly squeezed Chu Rong’s hand, intending to help everyone, but Chu Rong stopped him.
“You rest well. They’ve all received training and know how to take care of themselves.”
Chu Rong frowned, instructing, and a soldier nearby who was tidying up hurried over, vigorously nodding and agreeing, “Yes, yes, the Marshal is right. Sir, uh… Young Master Qiao Zhiya, you just rest. We’ll take care of you next. Haha.”
Qiao Zhiya felt a bit embarrassed by the kindness and the gaze that seemed to regard him as some precious treasure. He glanced at Chu Rong’s worried expression, obediently nodded, and stopped pretending to be strong.
The headcount was quickly completed, and everyone was accounted for. Although some were injured, everyone was still safe.
Chu Rong took out the map of Area D and, together with Fan Xiangnan and the leaders of each squad, studied the retreat route. The remaining people all guarded around the unconscious Ning Tianxing and the assistant young man to prevent them from waking up suddenly and running away.
Qiao Zhiya was placed lying on a soft sleeping bag, and after relaxing his mind, he felt his forehead getting hotter and hotter, and the voices of Chu Rong and the others became increasingly distant until he finally couldn’t resist closing his eyes and falling into a deep sleep.
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
Ning Tianxing: Ning Kongran’s father, Ning Tianya’s older brother.
“Elder”: the mastermind of the conspiracy.
Feng: The Imperial High Advisor.
Jian: the Imperial High Advisor’s son. Studies History.
An Lunn: Feng’s dead boyfriend. Jian’s biological father, the old Emperor’s second younger brother.
Chu Rong led Qiao Zhiya onto the lift, selecting level eight of Area D. His spiritual energy was fluctuating slightly, which Qiao Zhiya immediately noticed, causing him to become worried and anxious.
During this period, Chu Rong’s power had been frequently impacted, and just before coming here, he had forcefully broken the mental lock in Ning Tianxing body-double’s brain. With his spiritual energy injured, he hadn’t had time to rest properly and had only taken some potions to temporarily stabilize himself.
Now that Chu Rong’s power was suddenly fluctuating, Qiao Zhiya couldn’t help but worry.
Chu Rong gently touched him, shaking his head and replied, “I’m fine,” while trying to gather his spiritual energy back as much as possible, his brow furrowed slightly.
In fact, he was feeling somewhat strange right now… but now wasn’t the time to worry about that.
However, Qiao Zhiya still worriedly took out a vial of potion from his storage bag, opened it, and reached out to feed Chu Rong. Chu Rong glanced at him and drank the potion from his hand, then ruffled his hair affectionately.
By the time they finished talking, the lift had stopped, the door opened, and the overwhelming sound of insect cries and the waving of limbs filled the air. Chu Rong’s expression changed immediately, and he quickly pushed Qiao Zhiya behind him, taking out his weapon to shoot down the approaching Zergs. Then, he summoned his mecha and blocked the elevator door.
Qiao Zhiya also quickly regained his senses. Seeing the situation outside, he swiftly dodged out of Chu Rong’s mecha’s range. He then summoned his own mecha and rushed towards the trapped soldiers in the field.
Seeing them arrive, Fan Xiangnan quickly connected to Chu Rong’s mech communication and said, “This area is a large-scale black hole teleportation device, and these red lines on the ground are exactly the same as the ones we found on those devices! Ning Tianxing released the Zergs and then ran back to the spaceship during the chaos. He’s trying to escape!”
Upon hearing this, Chu Rong immediately looked down at the ground and indeed saw traces of red lines amidst the writhing mass of Zergs and dim light. His expression darkened, and without hesitation, he took off into the air and aimed a powerful shot at the ground.
“Boom!”
The Zergs were blasted away, but the ground remained intact, and the red lines continued to spread at a stable pace, threatening to cover the entire space.
“Die! Die!”
Suddenly, Ning Tianxing’s voice came from the spaceship, tinged with pain and distortion. His spaceship, strangely, was not harassed by the Zergs and remained calm in the center of the field, looking out of place.
Chu Rong’s spiritual energy became even more unstable upon hearing this, and he immediately threw out a silver net towards the spaceship.
“Ah!”
Ning Tianxing, who had just finished his threatening words inside the spaceship, suddenly clutched his head and fell to the ground. Then, his body uncontrollably climbed up and took a few steps outward, before his mind cleared up for a moment.
He was terrified, binding himself to the captain’s seat of the spaceship, his eyes filled with fear.
What just happened? How did he unconsciously walk out on his own, as if his spiritual energy and consciousness were being controlled? Could it be that Chu Rong’s residual spiritual energy left in his brain was causing this?
‘No! Impossible!’ He shook his head, denying this terrifying speculation.
Chu Rong had only injected a trace of power into his brain, how could he control his consciousness? This was something that even an SSS-level spiritual power couldn’t achieve!
‘Remember, I still had a protective lock left by the Elder! Yes, the Elder… the Elder…’
“Ah!”
He once again clutched his forehead as intense pain surged through him. It felt like someone was repeatedly cutting into his brain with a knife, making it impossible for his thoughts to connect.
“Sir! The red lines are spreading!” Fan Xiangnan’s voice sounded urgent over the communication.
Chu Rong frowned, continuing to use the silver net to cover the spaceship as he approached it. He ordered, “Those who haven’t boarded mecha, hurry up. Those who have, cover your companions. Everyone retreat to the lift! Those who can’t retreat, try to ascend as high as possible, activate the protective shields, bind and fix each other to avoid being sucked into the black hole!”
“Yes!”
Upon receiving the order, the soldiers engaged in combat with the Zergs began to retreat efficiently. Some returned to the lift, surrounding the young people entangled by vines, while others, led by Fan Xiangnan, quickly ascended into the air, drawing the attention of the insects.
The black and gold mecha had already approached the spaceship and was trying to pull Ning Tianxing out from inside. At this moment, a voice like flowing blood suddenly sounded, and the ground glowed red, with a black hole slowly appearing around the spaceship.
“Chu Rong!”
Qiao Zhiya was shocked to see this and piloted his mecha to approach.
“You go up first!”
Feeling the suction force of the black hole, Chu Rong turned around and pushed the brown mecha upward with a silver net from afar. He then turned back, grabbed onto the protective armor of the spaceship, found the control room, tore open the armor directly, and found Ning Tianxing, who had already passed out inside. He grabbed him along with the chair, then stomped on the spaceship and used the force to ascend into the air, chasing after the brown mecha.
“Whoosh!”
The black hole suddenly expanded, sucking the spaceship in. The Zergs that were relatively close couldn’t withstand the suction force and were thrown into the black hole, disappearing without a trace.
The black and gold mecha, which had already ascended some distance, was caught by the suction force of the black hole, unable to ascend any further. In fact, it was pulled back slightly, and the black hole below rotated like a greedy beast, trying to devour all the prey in the sky.
“Qiuqiu, go!”
Seeing this, Qiao Zhiya was anxious and quickly threw out Qiuqiu to bind himself and Chu Rong together, preventing the black and gold mecha from falling further. Then, gritting his teeth, he exerted more force and flew upwards, trying to pull the black and gold mecha out of the range of the black hole’s indiscriminate devouring.
The high-performance mecha engines roared, and seeing something was wrong, Fan Xiangnan quickly descended to help.
“Boom!”
One of Qiuqiu’s vines couldn’t withstand the sudden suction force and broke. The black and gold mecha, which had just ascended a bit, sank down a bit, bringing the brown mecha along with it.
“Don’t worry about me, go up first!”
Seeing this, Chu Rong decisively tied Ning Tianxing to one of Qiuqiu’s vines, then took out a short dagger, cutting off all the vines entwined around himself, and pushed them upward, pushing the brown mecha out of danger. Then, as he passively descended, he twisted his body to the limit and pulled out his double-barreled gun, aiming it at the black hole and fired!
However, this black hole, supported by the entire device, was completely different from those created by portable devices and couldn’t be dispersed at all.
“Chu Rong！”
Seeing the black and gold mecha about to be sucked into the black hole, Qiao Zhiya couldn’t care less about anything else. Anxiously, he followed suit and dove down, while his magical power spread wildly. A large pile of vines instantly filled the entire space, layer after layer pouring towards the black hole. The thickest vine directly wrapped around the black and gold mecha, attempting to pull it back.
With other things filling the void, the suction force of the black hole immediately weakened significantly. Seeing Qiao Zhiya diving down, Chu Rong’s expression changed. He quickly launched a powerful blow towards the device he had observed within the wall, then all his spiritual power surged out. Using the force of this blow, he ascended, extending his arm to grab the brown mech that was descending. Stepping on the layers of vines spread out below, he leaped high into the sky.
“Boom!”
The metal wall was destroyed, and all the devices turned into ashes. The black hole on the ground twisted for a moment as if its power supply had been cut off, and the suction force suddenly weakened. Then, with the vines filling the void, it slowly dissipated.
Affected by the suction force of the black hole, all the Zergs inside lost their combat capabilities. After the black hole disappeared, they all fell to the ground, so the vines were piled with Zergs, along with the ruins, making the scene here look like some kind of bizarre hell.
“Crack.”
A strange sound rang out.
Chu Rong, who had just escaped danger, immediately looked towards the source of the sound. Qiao Zhiya, relying on his much better hearing and vision than humans, quickly caught sight of the scene where the sound came from. His expression changed, and he quickly said, “Oh no! This area is collapsing!”
This was the underground 8th floor. Chu Rong had just blasted down the entire load-bearing wall of the 8th floor, and Ning Tianxing had removed most of the ground between the 8th and 6th floors. Without effective support, this area was like a box with one side removed, about to collapse!
There was only one lift on the 8th floor. The laboratory areas on the 6th and 7th floors, which hadn’t had the ground removed, probably had more than a dozen lifts each. The first five floors were already empty. Chu Rong quickly went through the distribution map of this area in his mind and decisively ordered, “Disperse and retreat to the lifts on the 6th and 7th floors. Everyone evacuate from Area A immediately!” After that, he led Qiao Zhiya towards the soldiers who were staying on the 8th floor lift.
Fan Xiangnan was stunned for a moment but didn’t have time to think much. He quickly arranged for the soldiers to descend to the eighth floor.
“Crack crack crack, whoosh—”
As they descended, a clearer sound of collapse suddenly came. Qiao Zhiya’s ears pricked up, and he quickly grabbed Chu Rong’s arm, saying urgently, “We can’t make it! Let everyone gather together, quickly!”
Chu Rong frowned and chose to trust his judgment directly, commanding, “Stop the retreat, everyone gather near the 8th floor lift, quickly!”
Fan Xiangnan responded quickly, arranging for the soldiers to land near the 8th floor.
The ground was already gone, and everyone landed quickly.
After landing, Qiao Zhiya first took out Qiuqiu’s two children to protect the soldiers who were already in the 8th-floor lift. Then, he signaled for Qiuqiu to spread its vines and waited for the soldiers from above to land.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake violently, and broken walls and rubble fell from above. This area was on the verge of collapsing. Qiao Zhiya couldn’t delay any longer — there was still a group of soldiers who hadn’t landed in Qiuqiu’s protective circle!
Chu Rong frowned and started using the silver net to pull people.
Qiao Zhiya was reminded by his actions and quickly joined in pulling people, urging, “Faster! Everyone come over here!”
The last soldier was almost dragged in by Qiuqiu’s vines. Large pieces of metal wall were falling from above, and the laboratories on the 6th and 7th floors, which hadn’t had their ground removed, began to collapse and break. Qiao Zhiya dared not delay any longer. He jumped out of the mecha, hugged Qiuqiu’s vines, and his earth magic surged violently, layering hard soil blocks on the vines, creating a sturdy fortress, protecting everyone underneath.
“Rumble!”
The ground shook violently, and everyone staggered and fell to the ground. The sound of giant objects hitting the protective shield above their heads could be heard. The trembling vines dropped bits of earth, and the hearts of all the soldiers tightened as they stared at the vines and soil walls above their heads.
Once this shield was broken, they would be smashed into meat patties.
“Use the mechas to support the protective shield!”
Chu Rong instructed as he operated his black and gold mecha to support this sealed space. Then, he jumped out of the mecha and walked to Qiao Zhiya’s side. He took out some jade and placed it around him, while his spiritual strength surged upwards, starting to slow down the momentum of the falling objects from above.
As if waking from a dream, everyone quickly got busy, each lending a hand.
In a place unseen by them, the red lines on the ground seemed to sense some strange force, suddenly flickered, then completely lost their color, turning into the same dense black as the ground.
The collapse and tremors took a long time to stop. After confirming that the vibrations had completely ceased, Qiao Zhiya’s legs went weak, and he sat down on the ground, raising his hand to cover his forehead.
Seeing his condition, Chu Rong knew it wasn’t good. He quickly picked him up, fed him some medicine, and handed him the jade while looking towards Fan Xiangnan nearby, instructing, “Let everyone rest in place, count the number of people, and prepare to evacuate from here.”
Fan Xiangnan looked worriedly at Qiao Zhiya, nodding in agreement.
After replenishing some strength, Qiao Zhiya felt a bit better, although his forehead was still hot. He should be able to move around without any problems. He comfortingly squeezed Chu Rong’s hand, intending to help everyone, but Chu Rong stopped him.
“You rest well. They’ve all received training and know how to take care of themselves.”
Chu Rong frowned, instructing, and a soldier nearby who was tidying up hurried over, vigorously nodding and agreeing, “Yes, yes, the Marshal is right. Sir, uh… Young Master Qiao Zhiya, you just rest. We’ll take care of you next. Haha.”
Qiao Zhiya felt a bit embarrassed by the kindness and the gaze that seemed to regard him as some precious treasure. He glanced at Chu Rong’s worried expression, obediently nodded, and stopped pretending to be strong.
The headcount was quickly completed, and everyone was accounted for. Although some were injured, everyone was still safe.
Chu Rong took out the map of Area D and, together with Fan Xiangnan and the leaders of each squad, studied the retreat route. The remaining people all guarded around the unconscious Ning Tianxing and the assistant young man to prevent them from waking up suddenly and running away.
Qiao Zhiya was placed lying on a soft sleeping bag, and after relaxing his mind, he felt his forehead getting hotter and hotter, and the voices of Chu Rong and the others became increasingly distant until he finally couldn’t resist closing his eyes and falling into a deep sleep.
Ning Tianxing: Ning Kongran's father, Ning Tianya's older brother.Elder: the mastermind of the conspiracy.Feng: The Imperial High Advisor.Jian: the Imperial High Advisor's son. Studies History.An Lunn: Feng's dead boyfriend. Jian's biological father, the old Emperor's second younger brother. Chu Rong led Qiao Zhiya onto the lift, selecting level eight of Area D. His spiritual energy was fluctuating slightly, which Qiao Zhiya immediately noticed, causing him to become worried and anxious.During this period, Chu Rong's power had been frequently impacted, and just before coming here, he had forcefully broken the mental lock in Ning Tianxing body-double's brain. With his spiritual energy injured, he hadn't had time to rest properly and had only taken some potions to temporarily stabilize himself.Now that Chu Rong's power was suddenly fluctuating, Qiao Zhiya couldn't help but worry.Chu Rong gently touched him, shaking his head and replied, I'm fine, while trying to gather his spiritual energy back as much as possible, his brow furrowed slightly.In fact, he was feeling somewhat strange right now but now wasn't the time to worry about that.However, Qiao Zhiya still worriedly took out a vial of potion from his storage bag, opened it, and reached out to feed Chu Rong. Chu Rong glanced at him and drank the potion from his hand, then ruffled his hair affectionately.By the time they finished talking, the lift had stopped, the door opened, and the overwhelming sound of insect cries and the waving of limbs filled the air. Chu Rong's expression changed immediately, and he quickly pushed Qiao Zhiya behind him, taking out his weapon to shoot down the approaching Zergs. Then, he summoned his mecha and blocked the elevator door.Qiao Zhiya also quickly regained his senses. Seeing the situation outside, he swiftly dodged out of Chu Rong's mecha's range. He then summoned his own mecha and rushed towards the trapped soldiers in the field.Seeing them arrive, Fan Xiangnan quickly connected to Chu Rong's mech communication and said, This area is a large-scale black hole teleportation device, and these red lines on the ground are exactly the same as the ones we found on those devices! Ning Tianxing released the Zergs and then ran back to the spaceship during the chaos. He's trying to escape!Upon hearing this, Chu Rong immediately looked down at the ground and indeed saw traces of red lines amidst the writhing mass of Zergs and dim light. His expression darkened, and without hesitation, he took off into the air and aimed a powerful shot at the ground.Boom!The Zergs were blasted away, but the ground remained intact, and the red lines continued to spread at a stable pace, threatening to cover the entire space.Die! Die!Suddenly, Ning Tianxing's voice came from the spaceship, tinged with pain and distortion. His spaceship, strangely, was not harassed by the Zergs and remained calm in the center of the field, looking out of place.Chu Rong's spiritual energy became even more unstable upon hearing this, and he immediately threw out a silver net towards the spaceship.Ah!Ning Tianxing, who had just finished his threatening words inside the spaceship, suddenly clutched his head and fell to the ground. Then, his body uncontrollably climbed up and took a few steps outward, before his mind cleared up for a moment.He was terrified, binding himself to the captain's seat of the spaceship, his eyes filled with fear.What just happened? How did he unconsciously walk out on his own, as if his spiritual energy and consciousness were being controlled? Could it be that Chu Rong's residual spiritual energy left in his brain was causing this?No! Impossible!' He shook his head, denying this terrifying speculation.Chu Rong had only injected a trace of power into his brain, how could he control his consciousness? This was something that even an SSS-level spiritual power couldn't achieve!Remember, I still had a protective lock left by the Elder! Yes, the Elder the Elder'Ah!He once again clutched his forehead as intense pain surged through him. It felt like someone was repeatedly cutting into his brain with a knife, making it impossible for his thoughts to connect.Sir! The red lines are spreading! Fan Xiangnan's voice sounded urgent over the communication.Chu Rong frowned, continuing to use the silver net to cover the spaceship as he approached it. He ordered, Those who haven't boarded mecha, hurry up. Those who have, cover your companions. Everyone retreat to the lift! Those who can't retreat, try to ascend as high as possible, activate the protective shields, bind and fix each other to avoid being sucked into the black hole!Yes!Upon receiving the order, the soldiers engaged in combat with the Zergs began to retreat efficiently. Some returned to the lift, surrounding the young people entangled by vines, while others, led by Fan Xiangnan, quickly ascended into the air, drawing the attention of the insects.The black and gold mecha had already approached the spaceship and was trying to pull Ning Tianxing out from inside. At this moment, a voice like flowing blood suddenly sounded, and the ground glowed red, with a black hole slowly appearing around the spaceship.Chu Rong!Qiao Zhiya was shocked to see this and piloted his mecha to approach.You go up first!Feeling the suction force of the black hole, Chu Rong turned around and pushed the brown mecha upward with a silver net from afar. He then turned back, grabbed onto the protective armor of the spaceship, found the control room, tore open the armor directly, and found Ning Tianxing, who had already passed out inside. He grabbed him along with the chair, then stomped on the spaceship and used the force to ascend into the air, chasing after the brown mecha.Whoosh!The black hole suddenly expanded, sucking the spaceship in. The Zergs that were relatively close couldn't withstand the suction force and were thrown into the black hole, disappearing without a trace.The black and gold mecha, which had already ascended some distance, was caught by the suction force of the black hole, unable to ascend any further. In fact, it was pulled back slightly, and the black hole below rotated like a greedy beast, trying to devour all the prey in the sky.Qiuqiu, go!Seeing this, Qiao Zhiya was anxious and quickly threw out Qiuqiu to bind himself and Chu Rong together, preventing the black and gold mecha from falling further. Then, gritting his teeth, he exerted more force and flew upwards, trying to pull the black and gold mecha out of the range of the black hole's indiscriminate devouring.The high-performance mecha engines roared, and seeing something was wrong, Fan Xiangnan quickly descended to help.Boom!One of Qiuqiu's vines couldn't withstand the sudden suction force and broke. The black and gold mecha, which had just ascended a bit, sank down a bit, bringing the brown mecha along with it.Don't worry about me, go up first!Seeing this, Chu Rong decisively tied Ning Tianxing to one of Qiuqiu's vines, then took out a short dagger, cutting off all the vines entwined around himself, and pushed them upward, pushing the brown mecha out of danger. Then, as he passively descended, he twisted his body to the limit and pulled out his double-barreled gun, aiming it at the black hole and fired!However, this black hole, supported by the entire device, was completely different from those created by portable devices and couldn't be dispersed at all.Chu RongSeeing the black and gold mecha about to be sucked into the black hole, Qiao Zhiya couldn't care less about anything else. Anxiously, he followed suit and dove down, while his magical power spread wildly. A large pile of vines instantly filled the entire space, layer after layer pouring towards the black hole. The thickest vine directly wrapped around the black and gold mecha, attempting to pull it back.With other things filling the void, the suction force of the black hole immediately weakened significantly. Seeing Qiao Zhiya diving down, Chu Rong's expression changed. He quickly launched a powerful blow towards the device he had observed within the wall, then all his spiritual power surged out. Using the force of this blow, he ascended, extending his arm to grab the brown mech that was descending. Stepping on the layers of vines spread out below, he leaped high into the sky.Boom!The metal wall was destroyed, and all the devices turned into ashes. The black hole on the ground twisted for a moment as if its power supply had been cut off, and the suction force suddenly weakened. Then, with the vines filling the void, it slowly dissipated.Affected by the suction force of the black hole, all the Zergs inside lost their combat capabilities. After the black hole disappeared, they all fell to the ground, so the vines were piled with Zergs, along with the ruins, making the scene here look like some kind of bizarre hell.Crack.A strange sound rang out.Chu Rong, who had just escaped danger, immediately looked towards the source of the sound. Qiao Zhiya, relying on his much better hearing and vision than humans, quickly caught sight of the scene where the sound came from. His expression changed, and he quickly said, Oh no! This area is collapsing!This was the underground 8th floor. Chu Rong had just blasted down the entire load-bearing wall of the 8th floor, and Ning Tianxing had removed most of the ground between the 8th and 6th floors. Without effective support, this area was like a box with one side removed, about to collapse!There was only one lift on the 8th floor. The laboratory areas on the 6th and 7th floors, which hadn't had the ground removed, probably had more than a dozen lifts each. The first five floors were already empty. Chu Rong quickly went through the distribution map of this area in his mind and decisively ordered, Disperse and retreat to the lifts on the 6th and 7th floors. Everyone evacuate from Area A immediately! After that, he led Qiao Zhiya towards the soldiers who were staying on the 8th floor lift.Fan Xiangnan was stunned for a moment but didn't have time to think much. He quickly arranged for the soldiers to descend to the eighth floor.Crack crack crack, whooshAs they descended, a clearer sound of collapse suddenly came. Qiao Zhiya's ears pricked up, and he quickly grabbed Chu Rong's arm, saying urgently, We can't make it! Let everyone gather together, quickly!Chu Rong frowned and chose to trust his judgment directly, commanding, Stop the retreat, everyone gather near the 8th floor lift, quickly!Fan Xiangnan responded quickly, arranging for the soldiers to land near the 8th floor.The ground was already gone, and everyone landed quickly.After landing, Qiao Zhiya first took out Qiuqiu's two children to protect the soldiers who were already in the 8th-floor lift. Then, he signaled for Qiuqiu to spread its vines and waited for the soldiers from above to land.Suddenly, the ground began to shake violently, and broken walls and rubble fell from above. This area was on the verge of collapsing. Qiao Zhiya couldn't delay any longer there was still a group of soldiers who hadn't landed in Qiuqiu's protective circle!Chu Rong frowned and started using the silver net to pull people.Qiao Zhiya was reminded by his actions and quickly joined in pulling people, urging, Faster! Everyone come over here!The last soldier was almost dragged in by Qiuqiu's vines. Large pieces of metal wall were falling from above, and the laboratories on the 6th and 7th floors, which hadn't had their ground removed, began to collapse and break. Qiao Zhiya dared not delay any longer. He jumped out of the mecha, hugged Qiuqiu's vines, and his earth magic surged violently, layering hard soil blocks on the vines, creating a sturdy fortress, protecting everyone underneath.Rumble!The ground shook violently, and everyone staggered and fell to the ground. The sound of giant objects hitting the protective shield above their heads could be heard. The trembling vines dropped bits of earth, and the hearts of all the soldiers tightened as they stared at the vines and soil walls above their heads.Once this shield was broken, they would be smashed into meat patties.Use the mechas to support the protective shield!Chu Rong instructed as he operated his black and gold mecha to support this sealed space. Then, he jumped out of the mecha and walked to Qiao Zhiya's side. He took out some jade and placed it around him, while his spiritual strength surged upwards, starting to slow down the momentum of the falling objects from above.As if waking from a dream, everyone quickly got busy, each lending a hand.In a place unseen by them, the red lines on the ground seemed to sense some strange force, suddenly flickered, then completely lost their color, turning into the same dense black as the ground.The collapse and tremors took a long time to stop. After confirming that the vibrations had completely ceased, Qiao Zhiya's legs went weak, and he sat down on the ground, raising his hand to cover his forehead.Seeing his condition, Chu Rong knew it wasn't good. He quickly picked him up, fed him some medicine, and handed him the jade while looking towards Fan Xiangnan nearby, instructing, Let everyone rest in place, count the number of people, and prepare to evacuate from here.Fan Xiangnan looked worriedly at Qiao Zhiya, nodding in agreement.After replenishing some strength, Qiao Zhiya felt a bit better, although his forehead was still hot. He should be able to move around without any problems. He comfortingly squeezed Chu Rong's hand, intending to help everyone, but Chu Rong stopped him.You rest well. They've all received training and know how to take care of themselves.Chu Rong frowned, instructing, and a soldier nearby who was tidying up hurried over, vigorously nodding and agreeing, Yes, yes, the Marshal is right. Sir, uh Young Master Qiao Zhiya, you just rest. We'll take care of you next. Haha.Qiao Zhiya felt a bit embarrassed by the kindness and the gaze that seemed to regard him as some precious treasure. He glanced at Chu Rong's worried expression, obediently nodded, and stopped pretending to be strong.The headcount was quickly completed, and everyone was accounted for. Although some were injured, everyone was still safe.Chu Rong took out the map of Area D and, together with Fan Xiangnan and the leaders of each squad, studied the retreat route. The remaining people all guarded around the unconscious Ning Tianxing and the assistant young man to prevent them from waking up suddenly and running away.Qiao Zhiya was placed lying on a soft sleeping bag, and after relaxing his mind, he felt his forehead getting hotter and hotter, and the voices of Chu Rong and the others became increasingly distant until he finally couldn't resist closing his eyes and falling into a deep sleep.
