Chapter 8: New Era (19)
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As Lin Nan sprinted away from the bomb shelter, falling rubble loomed precariously overhead, ready to collapse at any moment.
Just as she saw her stinky little brother, Ouyang Le, finally managing to do something right by stalling the second-form boss for a few extra seconds, Lin Nan swung her flaming kn*fe, slicing through the supporting pillars along her path, speeding up the shelter’s demise.
“Your Highness, over here, this way!”
The booming voice of the Great King of the Split Land echoed nearby.
Without a second thought, Lin Nan veered sharply and charged towards the Bull Head.
“There’s a shortcut this way!”
Trailing closely behind the Great King were familiar faces: the Tiger Demon, Hedgehog Monster, and Seven Feathers.
At first, they were all taken aback by Lin Nan’s appearance, but quickly realized the chilly aura rushing towards them was one they recognized all too well.
“We greet the Great King! We are guilty; please punish us!”
Lin Nan waved her hand hastily. “Get up! We don’t have time for this!”
The Great King hurriedly exclaimed, “Your Highness, follow us!”
With that, they stopped talking and bolted. The shelter was on the verge of complete collapse; if they didn’t escape soon, being buried underground would be akin to a d*ath sentence.
“Boom! Crash!”
Behind them, boulders larger than stone mills rained down.
They quickened their pace, with some of the weaker Great Demons straining every muscle just to keep up.
When they finally burst through the exit and were greeted by the vast starry sky, it felt like stepping into a different realm.
Meanwhile, the bomb shelter collapsed entirely. Both the main entrance and the makeshift passageway were obliterated, not even a mouse could sneak through the crevices.
No doubt, Fu Yetian was firmly trapped underground, and it wouldn’t be long before he’d breathe his last; everything would come to an end.
Everyone silently gazed at the ruins.
Beneath those stones, besides Fu Yetian, were countless bodies and pools of bl**d from those who had met a tragic end.
Perhaps the heavens decided to give these unlucky souls a resting place by burying them all together.
As they pondered, sporadic shouting from afar jolted them back to reality, reminding them that the ordeal was far from over.
Lin Nan immediately declared, “You lot, go find Eric. Before those demons realize you’ve turned on them, you’d better seize him completely. I’ll rally the humans!”
“Yes, Your Highness…”
Lin Nan always got straight to the point. After dropping that line, she sprang into action.
She worried that the officers from the Special Operations Bureau wouldn’t stand a chance against the demon warriors; those folks from Asking Dao Continent were masters of cold weapons and brawling.
Once the officers got in close, escaping would be next to impossible.
These operatives, who preferred to hide in offices blasting the AC, binge-watching shows, and sipping bubble tea, might as well be fighting with noodles against seasoned warriors who had survived through sheer grit and luck.
Just as Lin Nan had expected, especially the operatives sent in from afar to support Ocean City hadn’t experienced the previous monstrous battles. They were blindly confident in their powers.
Little did they know, unless their abilities enhanced their physical defenses, a close encounter with those agile, bloodthirsty demon warriors would inevitably spell disaster.
And let’s not even get started on the “d*ath Block” personally overseen by the demon leader, Freeman.
During her time in Ocean City, despite not interacting much with her subordinates, Lin Nan considered them her own. As their leader, it was her responsibility to protect them.
With formidable enemies looming, how could she simply look after herself?
Thus, Lin Nan dashed toward the bloodiest battlefield. She knew that wherever the fighting was fiercest, her subordinates would be wrestling with the enemy.
Sure enough, just when Nie Zhengchu and the others were about to become porcupine pincushions from a rain of spears,
Lin Nan arrived just in time to defuse the crisis and capture the enemy leader, Freeman.
“Either surrender or d*e!”
Lin Nan had no patience for chit-chat.
Freeman, filled with ambition, never expected to be taken down in one single move by an unknown human woman.
The humiliation was almost too much for him to bear, especially with his fellow demon warriors watching closely.
“I would rather d*e than let the honor of the demon race be tarnished!”
Lin Nan sighed. “Great! Then after I k*ll you, I’ll wipe out every last one of your lackeys!”
Freeman’s heart skipped a beat. He understood all too well how terrifying this woman was. If he could be subdued so easily, the rest were practically lambs to the slaughter before her.
In the face of absolute power, their dignity was worth less than dirt.
Once he abandoned his responsibility, he’d be dragging everyone down with him.
They had come into the maze to conquer challenges, not to lose their lives and everything else along with it.
Once the seed of doubt was planted, his thoughts shifted faster than he anticipated.
“I surrender!”
The moment he uttered those words, he felt a weight lift off his shoulders, as though something had vanished into the wind, never to return.
“Great! Immediately command your subordinates to lay down their weapons!”
“Understood…”
Freeman quickly let out a long howl only the demons could understand.
The demon warriors, currently engaged in ferocious combat with the operatives and cornering them, looked up with confused expressions.
Yet, out of habit, they immediately retreated into the shadows and gathered under the command per their superior’s instructions.
Five minutes later, Freeman’s thousand-man army was assembled.
“Publicly declare your surrender to me, and I will spare your lives.” Lin Nan boldly stepped in front of the neatly lined-up troops.
Some of the demon warriors, still unaware of the situation, began to make a ruckus, with a few even swinging their weapons and lunging at her.
“Crack! Sizzle!”
Once their bodies turned into charred remains, the scene fell silent.
Lin Nan intended this moment to serve as her announcement to the system that she had reclaimed the Sky Island.
But to her surprise, even after Freeman genuinely announced his surrender, the system remained silent.
Could it be that something had gone wrong with the Great King?
But soon after, the Tiger Demon appeared, panting heavily before Lin Nan.
He reported that Prince Eric had been secured by the Great King, and all the demon warriors under Eric’s command had surrendered.
Lin Nan stood frozen for a moment, feeling puzzled.
Fu Yetian was trapped under the collapsed cavern, unaware of his fate, and the demon warriors in charge of the island defense had lost their will to fight, so why was the system still unresponsive?
Could it be…
At that moment, the Sky Island suddenly began to tremble violently.
People stumbled all around, some even falling into the cracks in the ground with a terrified scream.
