Chapter 496: Clare People

Chapter 496: Chapter 22: Clare People

Under the veil of night, although the red glare of artillery fire occasionally flared up, the intense gun battles were gradually dying down.

The battle cries echoing from all over the Mountain City receded like a fading tide, no longer as fierce as they had been at the start. The corpses of many warlord soldiers were being dragged across the ground, signaling that the Alliance Country soldiers had already begun clearing the battlefield.

“MEOW~”

In the silence, a low, cat-like cry rang out. Lu Chao stood near the collapsed ruins of the fortress, watching Ghost Element walk up to ‘Ao’Er’s’ headless corpse. After tonight, Fortress Mountain City would fall completely under the control of the Alliance Country. The leader, Lu Weilong, had been slain by him and Brother Hao, and the most powerful faction, the Red River Army, was clearly going to be suppressed with no chance of fighting back.

As for ‘Ao’Er’ right in front of him…

“Go ahead,” Lu Chao said softly, tacitly allowing Ghost Element to devour the lingering spirit from the corpse.

The creature needed to consume Spiritual Power to enhance its strength. The process was somewhat similar to humanity’s Life Energy development, requiring adequate nutritional intake. Ordinary living spirits were useless to it now, but the residual spirit of a Transcendence Level expert was undoubtedly a tremendous tonic.

“MEOW~”

Receiving permission, the Ghost Elemental Beast’s eyes brightened slightly. Immediately, as it mobilized its spirit and twitched its nose, an invisible power activated. Spiritual Power, invisible to the naked eye, surged from the corpse on the ground and was absorbed, flowing into the creature like streams of intangible air.

Lu Chao could sense this thanks to his own formidable Spiritual Power and keen five senses. He watched in silence the entire time without interfering. Ghost Element was now under his control and was undoubtedly his battle beast. As its strength increased, his own trump cards would naturally be bolstered as well. Not to mention, the creature had suffered some injuries earlier while trying to hold this man back.

Besides that, there was another crucial point.

“Spiritual memories…” he thought, his eyes flickering as he considered Ghost Element’s unique trait.

Because it frequently fed on the residual Spiritual Power of other lifeforms, Ghost Element had gradually mastered a technique over time. There was a certain probability that it could glimpse fragmented, incomplete memories. The man before him had clearly been a high-ranking member of the Rebels. If they could obtain some Rebel secrets from this, it would be nothing but beneficial.

BUZZ!

Suddenly, a subtle sensation transmitted through their Spiritual Link. Lu Chao opened his mind and traced the connection. Soon, relying on Ghost Element’s shared feed, he learned some information.

[Suo Hui].

This was the true identity of the man disguised as ‘Ao’Er’. He was the former person-in-charge of the Northwest Wilderness base and a Senior Law Enforcement Officer of the Rebels. Due to the war and the orders of the Rebel leader, he had come to Fortress Mountain City to recruit Lu Weilong, intending to use him to intercept the northbound Alliance Country army.

Furthermore, he learned about the newly appointed person-in-charge of the Northwest Wilderness base and its approximate location.

“Tan Shanzhong…” he thought, surprised to receive this unexpected news.

Tan Shanzhong, the Patriarch of the Tan family—one of the founding families of the Red Maple City Circle—had unexpectedly come to the Northwest Wilderness and become the new person-in-charge of a large Rebel branch base.

At this thought, a trace of killing intent rose in Lu Chao’s heart. He certainly hadn’t forgotten the numerous times he had been targeted back when he was in the Red Maple City Circle and the Southern Wilderness. Without Tan Shanzhong’s tacit approval, he didn’t believe Tan Yue would have dared to act so brazenly.

“MEOW~”

Promptly, Ghost Element’s low cry sounded. The invisible connection quietly severed. Lu Chao opened his eyes and once again saw the night-shrouded Mountain City, the shattered earth, and the headless corpse on the ground.

“Is that it?” he asked.

“MEOW~” Ghost Element nodded gently.

This method didn’t work every time. Because a living being’s memories were far too vast, it could only rely on luck to glimpse a small fraction, and what it saw wasn’t guaranteed to be important. Lu Chao felt relieved, roughly understanding its meaning. He considered himself quite lucky this time; if he had only seen memories of mundane daily life, it would have been completely useless.

“This is good enough,” he said, nodding.

Learning about his enemy, Tan Shanzhong, and the location of the Rebel branch base was already far more valuable than most intelligence. Moreover, he glanced at Ghost Element and noticed that its ruby-amber beast eyes had grown a degree brighter. It was obvious that the creature had gained a lot from this meal, and it might even be able to boost its strength by another margin in the future.

He nodded to himself. This made all the effort he had spent choosing to launch the attack today worthwhile. In truth, he owed much of this to Penelope’s help; without the video recording she provided, it would have been difficult for him to confirm the whole situation.

With this in mind, Lu Chao turned and headed straight for the center of the Mountain City.

Fortress Mountain City was about to be claimed by the Alliance Country. Consequently, there were many matters that required him, the temporary commander-in-chief, to make final decisions on. These included the Red River Army’s munitions armory and the subsequent management of the Mountain City’s residents. Additionally, there was one thing he was currently most curious about.

Lu Weilong had entrenched himself in Fortress Mountain City for so long. Logically, he should have a stash of treasures, right?

In the wilderness.

The night sky was dotted with stars, and the fairly bright moonlight spilled down like a pale veil draping over the earth. Mountains, forests, sandstone, and dirt slopes lay under its glow. The desolate land occasionally echoed with the heart-palpitating roars of Mutant Beasts. Gusts of cold night wind swept across the ground, biting like daggers, the temperature dropping drastically compared to the daytime.

Even the most experienced Wilderness Hunters would never dare to move out easily at night.

Yet, a clear CRACKLE of burning firewood echoed across the ground.

Looking over, a deep red bonfire blazed in the center of the sandy terrain. A massive Mutant Beast, a full four or five meters large, had its body skewered by an alloy spear and was being roasted over the roaring flames.

CRACKLE… CRACKLE…

Fat dripped into the fire, bursting into strings of sparks. A faint Beast King aura quietly emanated, clearly coming from the corpse of the Mutant Beast. Its thick, dark scales gave a sense of supreme sturdiness, and its lizard-like head with ferocious slit pupils was enough to strike terror into anyone’s heart.

However, this very Beast King—a tyrant that dominated the surrounding sandy domain—was now reduced to a mere half-carcass. The incision slicing through its scales and abdomen was exceptionally flat, smooth as a mirror.

[Environmental scan complete—Oxygen concentration: 22%. Humidity: 51%. Gravity coefficient: 1.07. Radiation coefficient: 1.23. Ecological environment: Primary habitable life planet—Irradiated Wasteland Zone…]

An emotionless, intelligent female voice rang out. Beside the deep red bonfire sat a figure. He wore a streamlined, form-fitting battle armor that was entirely silver, inlaid with black-gold patterns that exuded a sturdy alloy luster. A diamond-shaped black-gold emblem rested on the breastplate, occasionally flashing with faint blue light, as if charging and filling the black-gold veins.

His visor was half-retracted, revealing the sharp, chiseled face of a young man. He looked remarkably similar to an Earth Star human, but upon closer inspection, his irises were dark gold, and faint scale patterns traced his forehead.

“It’s just an ordinary Planet-level civilization, yet after all these years, they still haven’t managed to incorporate it into Clare territory. Those conservatives from back then truly wasted an opportunity,” he said. His tone was flat, seemingly holding immense disdain for the past.

A silver metal sphere hovered beside him, suspended automatically by some kind of magnetic field.

[Fifty-three years ago, in the Exploration Stellar Calendar Year 3285, the Earth Star Civilization Assistance Draft was deliberated by the Clare Supreme Council. Of the thirty-seven attending councilors, eighteen voted in favor, five abstained, and fourteen opposed…]

The intelligent female voice emanated from the metal sphere once again. Several strands of blue light flashed across its metallic surface patterns, mimicking the breathing of a carbon-based organism or the vibrational frequency of a silicon-based lifeform.

Hearing this, the man frowned. He could naturally tell that the AI was refuting his statement. The assistance draft back then hadn’t just been supported by the conservatives; in reality, even some of the radicals had voted in favor.

“Boring,” he muttered, shaking his head. He sat loosely in place upon a silver-blue carpet spread over the ground. Faint lights periodically shimmered across the fabric, keeping it entirely free of dust.

As he ate the roasted Beast King meat, he gazed at the distant wilderness peaks. From time to time, fiery red meteors fell to the earth, echoing with the booming of artillery.

As if sensing his thoughts, the intelligent sphere spoke again: [Long-distance energy detection in progress… Bearing: East, 65 degrees. Distance: 35 kilometers. Vaguely detected mid-intensity energy fluctuations. Classified as a mid-scale Planet-level armed conflict…]

BUZZ!

The AI projected a light screen, displaying a three-dimensional sandbox image of Fortress Mountain City, complete with the rough outlines of the red and blue factions.

[Shall we go?] The emotionless female AI voice sounded again, seemingly asking for orders.

“No rush,” the man said, his expression impassive as he swallowed a mouthful of Beast King meat and shook his head. “We’ll wait until they’re done fighting.”

[But…]

“They are nothing but barbaric natives,” the man interrupted, his tone chillingly indifferent. “There are no ‘what-ifs,’ and there are no ‘buts.

“When the time comes, if they want to live, they’ll have to get on their knees and obey me.”

WHOOSH!!

The biting night wind swept through the fortress, scraping across skin like a flurry of knives. Lu Chao, who was leaping between the buildings, paused his steps and frowned. Looking back, the flames of war within the fortress had already ceased. Most of the area had been occupied by the Alliance Country army, leaving only a few isolated corners where sporadic gunfire still rang out.

However…

“MEOW?”

Ghost Element stood on his shoulder, seemingly puzzled by his sudden halt. It followed his gaze backward, seeing the searchlights illuminating numerous areas of the dark Mountain City, driving away the night. It didn’t notice anything unusual.

Without replying, Lu Chao simply looked further out toward the fortress walls, his line of sight extending past them and into the distant wilderness.

Nothing out of the ordinary appeared. Yet, his brows furrowed slightly. He had just felt an inexplicable intuition of impending danger.

It was as if some threat was closing in, reminding him of certain past experiences. It felt like the time he had been targeted by the Hidden Streamer when he was only at the Limit-Breaking Level, or the similar sensation he had gotten when the Biotechnology Company’s Transcendence Level expert appeared.

“MEOW?”

Sensing his unease, Ghost Element let out another low cry, its soft, slender black tail gently rubbing against his shoulder and back.

Lu Chao finally snapped back to reality and shook his head. “It’s nothing.”

He withdrew his gaze and looked forward toward the center of the Mountain City. The Red River Army barracks, cordoned off by barbed wire, were brightly lit with military searchlights sweeping every direction. Armored vehicles from the Alliance Country were parked everywhere, surrounded by the silhouettes of elite troops. Nearly ten warlord commanders had been restrained and shackled, most of them having surrendered due to their previous injuries and the lingering effects of Ghost Element’s Spiritual Shock.

As if noticing his arrival, Brother Hao, Yue Zhenhong, and the others looked up one after another.

As their eyes met, Lu Chao shook his head. “There are no threats left,” he said, seemingly comforting Ghost Element while simultaneously suppressing that nagging sense of danger in his heart.

He wasn’t far from reaching the Transcendence Level now. With all his cards on the table, there were very few people on the Earth Star who could shake him.

No matter who they were.

And no matter which faction they came from.