Chapter 305 - A Pause to the War
Chapter 305: A Pause to the War
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
In the Gobi Desert in the otherworld, the treants retracted their huge roots and moved towards the space-travel passage, revealing the original terrain of the area.
At this moment, the cave where the space-travel passage was located had already been razed to the ground. Circles of treants surrounded it and entered it one after another.
From the sky, with the space-travel passage as the center, the surrounding 20 to 30 kilometers were covered in a sea of green, and outside this area it was grayish-white.
A huge tree was rooted in the green sea. Its trunk was much taller than the surrounding treants. In addition, its leaves were not green, but a cold metallic color.
Even though the giant tree did not move, the air currents around it had a sharp edge to them. The treants that walked past it consciously avoided it.
On the blue planet, surrounding the strange village, three mushroom clouds had appeared in a row, leaving behind an empty area of about 10 kilometers. Deadly nuclear radiation that could not be seen or touched was scattered in the air. This was a place of death that humans had created with nuclear explosions.
The treants who walked out of the space-travel passage could only move safely in the radiation environment if they had mastered the internal force.
However, they would still feel that an invisible force was invading their bodies. Their internal force was constantly being consumed to resist it, and there would be problems if they stayed in such an environment for a long time.
The treants who had not mastered internal force immediately felt uncomfortable after coming out of the space-travel passage. A few of them soon felt strange all over, and their combat strength was greatly reduced.
The invading treants not only encountered a harsh environment from the start, but also artillery shells that were constantly flying over from the sky.
There were treants burning everywhere after being bombarded, but the humans were still nowhere to be seen. The treants had never experienced such an attack before, and they were still foolishly gathered together and stationed around the village, allowing the humans to bomb them as they pleased.
…
In the command center behind the encirclement, the screen replayed the scene from the strange mountain village in real time. The treants who had mastered internal force were constantly fighting head-on with the incoming artillery shells. Before their internal force was exhausted, they would only suffer some light injuries.
“Why did the intelligence of these treants suddenly drop by several levels? The second line of defense we set up outside the radiation area is no longer needed.”
Zhao Shumin laughed as she stabbed her spear into the ground, creating a hole in the floor.
According to the original plan, most of the martial arts power in Jiangnan province, coupled with the reinforcements from the various provinces, would fight the treants who had rushed out of the radiation area in a melee battle to stop them from spreading further.
The other three people from the capital, Ling Zhongyun, Zhu Song, and Jiang Kai, were also smiling brightly. They did not expect the nuclear explosion to make things go so smoothly along with the usual long-range attacks.
“The invading treants have suffered heavy casualties, but there are still no signs of them retreating to the otherworld. We can’t let our guard down so quickly.”
Wang Ronghui paused for a moment and continued, “I reckon that when the treant above the master realm appears, the other treants will definitely launch powerful attacks. Since the treants have such large numbers, they might still be testing us further.”
This made sense, but the atmosphere in the command center was still relatively relaxed.
The reason was that there were no good materials on the blue planet. The main conflicts with the otherworld had always been with creatures from the otherworld below the master realm.
This was also the reason why humans could still maintain a stable footing even though they were at an absolute disadvantage compared to the otherworld.
The topic quickly changed to the stronghold established in the otherworld in Jiangnan province. The four people from the capital asked Wang Ronghui about the Sam Nation’s martial master, Rover.
“Rover is the result of the best research on the bloodline warriors from the Western corporations. He has always avoided fighting us head-on,” Wang Ronghui shook his head and said helplessly, “It’s a pity. It’s very difficult to keep the news of the treants’ invasion a secret from the stronghold. There’s a high chance that he will take the opportunity to escape back to Sam Nation.”
“Rover is a very troublesome person.”
Ling Zhongyun crossed his arms and nodded. “Five years ago, there was a conflict between the Daxia Kingdom and the Sam Nation over a small island in the Pacific Ocean. Rover’s ability to control the blood bats was extremely difficult to deal with.
At that time, two blood bats were attacking me. The blood bats could constantly convert the blood energy to recover from their injuries, while my arrows could not kill the blood bats. In the end, if not for Rover being forced back, I might have lost my life there.”
Jiang Kai recalled the battle on the island and had a bitter expression on his face. “You could still rely on your speed and archery skills to deal with the blood bats. My speed was inferior to the blood bats, so I could only rely on my large shield to fight them head-on. That was why one of the blood bats chased after me. At that time, its fangs pierced through my protective internal force and sucked my blood. I almost lost my life because of that. It took me a few months to recover completely.”
Zhao Shumin pouted. At the mention of this topic, she fell silent. In that battle, she was even worse than Jiang Kai. Jiang Kai was a tank with thick skin, while she was a fighter with explosive attacks.
In a battle at the level of the half-step master realm, she relied on her explosive lethality to achieve victory. However, against an enemy at the master realm, her attacks were not enough.
In addition, her defense and agility were not outstanding. At that time, she had been in an extremely sorry state when fighting Rover’s blood bats. It could be said that she had become a burden to the team.
Among the four people from the capital, the last was a middle-aged man, Zhu Song. Like Zhao Shumin, he smiled and stayed silent.
The poisonous internal force on his flying wheels was useless against the blood bats. On the other hand, the blood poison from the blood bats had almost killed him, and the aftereffects had yet to be completely eliminated.
This was the difference between the internal force and the power of nature. The difference in quality between the two types of powers was not something that could be made up for with a substantial amount of spiritual power.
Comparing the two, the internal force after fusion was equivalent to a well-furnished house. The power of nature was equivalent to a tsunami rushing towards the coast.
Unless one had a special talent, no matter how well the house was designed, it would usually not be able to withstand the impact of the tsunami.
Just as the people in the command center were talking about Rover, a commotion comparable to a nuclear explosion suddenly appeared in the distance. Then, a terrifying tremor spread out, and the entire command center building shook continuously.
“This… this…”
Wang Ronghui was the commander in the war with the treants. When such a thing happened at this critical moment, he fell speechless for the second time in a row.
The eyes of the four people from the capital twitched. They rushed out of the command center and looked in the direction of the commotion.
That was an area close to the coastline. However, they could not understand why such a sudden change had happened there. After all, there was nothing special about it.
Soon, an officer ran over with an anxious expression. “The treants have all taken root and returned to their normal tree forms.”
Wang Ronghui had a serious expression on his face when he heard this. One form was good at defense, while the other form was good at offense. The treants could switch between forms at will.
Now that the treants were clearly affected by the changes in the distance and had temporarily changed to a defensive stance, should the military also try to determine what was happening along the coastline?
After weighing the pros and cons, Wang Ronghui ordered, “Stop the bombardment for the time being, but make sure all the troops are on high alert. Once the treants show any signs of returning to their humanoid form, fire again immediately.”
“Yes!” The officer turned to leave.
Wang Ronghui turned around and picked up the phone again. After a few words, he arranged for two military investigation teams to go to the location where the commotion had occurred to investigate the cause.
After giving the order, he returned to the command center and looked at the map on the wall in a daze.
At this moment, he was already so tired that his eyelids were trembling. However, before there was an outcome, he did not dare to fall asleep. He could not even rest for a while.
Before long, the troops outside the encirclement stopped firing. Other than the treants who had turned into tree forms, no new treants appeared from the space-travel passage.
Peace returned to the battlefield and a strange atmosphere emerged.
…
East Lake City was the hometown of the new martial master in the Daxia Kingdom.
At this moment, although they had entered a state of war according to the orders from the province, the atmosphere in the city was not as tense.
Before the war with the treants broke out, although a few people had the intention to leave Jiangnan province to avoid trouble, more people had entered the province than had left.
Chen Yiming had gotten rid of Rover, so he no longer had to worry about the other party causing trouble when the treants invaded. Hence, he returned home with a peace of mind.
He did not know that the commotion caused by the giant descending from the sky had not only frightened the invading treants, but also all the humans, causing the war to be put on pause.
“Son, are you alright?”
At around four in the morning, the Chen family’s house was brightly lit. Father Chen, Mother Chen, and Chen Yingying had all woken up.
“Dad, Mom, what are you worried about? The army is in charge of the war with the treants. I’m just providing support,” Chen Yiming comforted them.
Although he said that, it was impossible for them to let go of their worries. Father Chen and Mother Chen watched the news faithfully every day. The war with the treants had long been declared a nationwide war.
In reality, this was also the case. Without the orders from the capital, the Jiangnan province would not be able to attack with the continuous bombardment.
Therefore, on the surface, the battlefield was limited to a certain place in Jiangnan province, but in reality, the treants were facing the entire Daxia Kingdom. Once the encirclement established in Jiangnan province showed signs of being broken through, the Daxia Kingdom would immediately be able to mobilize more troops to provide support.
“You must be hungry!” Father Chen brought the food he had warmed up to the table. “There were still some of your favorite braised pig trotters left from last night. It’s too late to make a fresh one now, so make do with it and eat something to fill your stomach.”
…
While Chen Yiming was chewing on the pig trotter, Chen Yingying asked curiously, “Brother, did you know about the tremor earlier?”
Chen Yiming didn’t want Mother Chen to know too much. The more she knew, the more she understood the danger involved. Hence, he tried to bluff her. “It should be an earthquake! What’s the big deal?”
Chen Yingying’s eyes widened in surprise.
At that time, a few classmates who were close to her had called. After chatting for a while, they all agreed that something big had happened that was similar to the treants’ invasion of the blue planet.
Chen Yiming chuckled to himself and picked up another braised pig trotter to eat. He asked, “Then what do you think happened? Did a meteorite fall from the sky?”
Chen Yingying stammered in response.
Chen Yiming had successfully tricked his sister. He turned around and continued to finish off the braised pork trotters. Not long after, there were only bones left.
…
Chen Yiming was in a good mood after managing to pull out a nail that had been stuck to the ground in Jiangnan province. He felt much more relaxed, so after eating braised pork trotters at 5 am, he slept until almost noon.
By the time he took the item that Rover had left behind to the command center, it was already afternoon.
At this moment, Wang Ronghui, Ling Zhongyun, Zhu Song, and Jiang Kai couldn’t take it anymore and finally went to their rooms to rest.
“Chief Chen… Brother Chen, you’re here. I’ll go make a pot of tea for you.” Zhao Shumin looked like a little girl as she blushed and scrambled to find the tea leaves.
Fortunately, while the command center was the center of the war, it did not lack for coffee and tea. Even if Zhao Shumin was not sure where it was usually kept, she could easily find it.
“No need! No need!” Chen Yiming quickly waved his hand in refusal.
Before he entered, he had thought that everyone was present, so he did not ask the soldiers guarding the door. However, all of a sudden, it was just one man and one woman alone in the room.
Furthermore, Zhao Shumin was an extraordinary woman. On the surface, she looked like a gentle lady, but she had a violent personality. One could tell that from watching her fight.
Now that she was even calling him brother, Chen Yiming was firmly against it. He was clearly the one who was much younger.
A few minutes later, Chen Yiming was forced to drink the tea that Zhao Shumin had made.
From the moment she started brewing the tea, it was obvious that she had not studied how to make tea. In the end, she had naturally wasted these good tea leaves by just boiling them directly.
“You’re here. We really couldn’t take it anymore and finally took a short nap.”
Just as Zhao Shumin was about to ask Chen Yiming for guidance on martial arts, Wang Ronghui entered with dark circles under his eyes. Behind him were Ling Zhongyun, Zhu Song, and Jiang Kai.
“It’s alright. I just arrived not long ago.” Chen Yiming smiled. They had arrived at the right time. He knew his own teaching standards and he didn’t want to give Zhao Shumin a chance to get too close to him.
Wang Ronghui asked Chen Yiming about the incident that happened near the coastline last night.
“Oh that! At that time, it suddenly occurred to me that there was a high chance that Rover would take advantage of the treant’s invasion to think that all our forces were being held here and try to escape back to Sam Nation,” Chen Yiming said calmly, “I just tried to ambush Rover. I didn’t expect to catch him.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he took out the item that Rover had left behind, a ball of flesh that had clear traces of life.
“I wasn’t careful and didn’t control my strength well enough. I ended up beating him until there was only this left,” Chen Yiming explained.
The command center suddenly fell silent. Other than Zhao Shumin, who had a glint in her eyes, the others were clearly stunned and did not know what to say.
The men had waited until dawn for the news from the investigation teams, who reported that the scene was similar to a meteorite hitting the ground.
The huge pit at the point of impact was nearly four kilometers wide. It destroyed an area of more than 10 kilometers around it, and indirectly affected an area of 20 to 30 kilometers.
After communicating with the meteorological department, they confirmed that no meteors had fallen from the sky at that time.
After eliminating the possibility that a meteorite had fallen from the sky, there was only one possibility. Someone above the master realm must have fought there, and it was someone with powerful destructive power,
As Chen Yiming didn’t communicate with the command center immediately, Wang Ronghui and the others thought of the worst after discussing it with many parties.
They suspected that a powerful creature from the otherworld had suddenly appeared in a space-travel passage in Jiangnan province. Chen Yiming had been monitoring its movements, so he couldn’t contact them.
They hadn’t expected that Chen Yiming had just gone home to sleep after defeating Rover.