Chapter 769 - 120: Purge

In the camp’s central monitoring area, everyone, including Renou, clearly witnessed Wilhelm being decapitated and dismembered.

The sheer impact of the scene left their minds blank, and they all stood frozen, unable to react.

That was "Blue Blood" Wilhelm, ranked in the top thirty worldwide!

They hadn’t been able to see the specific details of the clash, nor could they discern the strategic back-and-forth of their attacks. All they saw was Wilhelm being cut down the instant they met. The impact and shock were immense; for a moment, they could accept it neither rationally nor emotionally.

They didn’t know the newcomer’s identity, only that the uniform Chen Chuan wore belonged to the Dashun Processing Bureau. ’Is he... an Investigation Chief?’

’Does Dashun have an Investigation Chief ranked in the world’s top thirty?’

As their minds raced for an answer, the figure in the settling dust turned to face them. His jade-like protective faceplate betrayed no emotion, but a chill crept into the hearts of all who witnessed it.

The pressure he exuded was far greater than what they’d felt from Wilhelm. That much was obvious, considering the man who had been pressuring them was now in four unequal pieces.

Renou fought the urge to retreat and stood his ground, shouting, "Send a telegram to the rear! Get the Airship airborne! Seal the passages and have all combat personnel converge on our position!"

His position was far from the entrance to the Merging Land, and signal transmission within the Merging Land was difficult. Regular telegrams could barely reach the rear, so they relied mainly on Airships for messaging. That was why he needed an Airship to take off now and report what was happening.

Beyond sending word, the camp’s most crucial function was to serve as a support point and rear base for personnel on the front. This location was what allowed those at the front to receive a continuous stream of support and to bring back any recovered Lost Objects.

Therefore, the camp could not be lost. No matter how powerful the enemy, they had to hold out.

Fortunately, he had an ace up his sleeve.

He glanced in one direction, toward the middle of the dumbbell-shaped camp. There, on a slightly elevated platform, electrically-driven metal plates were slowly sliding apart. The blast shields beneath parted to either side, followed by a sharp screech as a creature—half-man, half-scorpion, with a solid, dark-brown carapace—crawled out.

This was a combat creature placed here by the Federation to defend the camp. Its name was "Taxes," and it was a monster from the legends of the Ancient Rhine Region.

The creature stood about four meters tall but had no discernible head. Its two long, massive pincers were its most striking feature, clearly possessing immense destructive power. Its back and ribs were lined with rows of short, sharp legs, their hooked tips gleaming with a cold, metallic sheen.

Despite its massive size, it moved without a sound, and it was surprisingly fast. After emerging, it instinctively used the buildings and shadows for cover as it scurried rapidly toward Chen Chuan.

Renou took out a handkerchief to wipe the cold sweat from his head, then swallowed a pill. He tried to reassure himself. ’The Taxes creature has strong defenses, thick limbs, and immense power. Surely it can hold its own against this mysterious Dashun Fighter.’

After killing Wilhelm, Chen Chuan glanced at the gun core on the ground. He decided to finish his primary objective first and come back to collect everything later.

Just then, he heard the whir of propellers. He glanced over and saw an Airship slowly ascending in the distance.

He looked away, paying it no mind. The life signs of the personnel inside the Airship were very weak; they clearly weren’t Fighters. The camp’s strength lay in its Fighters. Once they were eliminated, the camp’s fortifications would be useless—they wouldn’t even be able to fend off the local creatures.

He wasn’t concerned about the Airship reporting back. Airships came and went daily, so the news was bound to get out eventually. This would only delay it by a day, or a day and a half at most.

Afterward, all he had to do was burn down this camp and all its supplies, then topple the Po Tower, and the place would lose its function as a support base. Rebuilding it would be no simple matter of a day or two.

Besides, he was certain that the main combatants of the Federation and the Lynx Federation had already entered the Merging Land. Even if some remained behind, they were merely security personnel who couldn’t be easily redeployed. There was nothing they could do even if they learned what was happening.

So he strode forward, heading toward a certain part of the camp. He hadn’t gone far before his gaze flickered toward a patch of shadow.

Although Taxes moved almost silently, its presence was a clear anomaly on his Realm Token.

In truth, even without the Realm Token, any living creature—as long as its level wasn’t too high—could not enter his mental range without him noticing.

Taxes was also extremely perceptive. Seeing Chen Chuan look its way, it immediately abandoned its cover. With a loud CRASH, it smashed through the building blocking its path and emerged into the open ground ahead. It let out a piercing shriek as its body slowly lowered, its two long, massive pincers spreading wide to flank him.

Renou watched the scene unfold nervously on the Domain monitor.

As a bio-weapon, Taxes possessed an incredibly tough body integrated with a large amount of Mutated Organization. Its defenses were astounding, and its outer shell was tough enough to withstand strikes from an ordinary Mutated Weapon.

It was also built with a new experimental technology, allowing it to rapidly self-repair and regrow destroyed limbs and body parts. Renou didn’t expect it to defeat this Fighter, but he hoped it could at least stall for a while.

Chen Chuan stood motionless. Suddenly, his figure flashed, and he appeared directly in front of Taxes. He clenched his fist, and a ring of air blasted out above it as he slammed his punch into the creature’s torso.

However, the impact of the punch didn’t create much of a disturbance. It was as if the force behind it had simply disappeared.

The two glittering eyes on Taxes swiveled downward to stare at him, and he met its gaze. He now stood in the shadow of its body, his expression utterly placid.

Just as Renou and the others onlookers thought Taxes had blocked the punch, and before any joy could register, the creature’s massive body slowly tipped to one side. It crashed down with a thunderous BOOM, kicking up a huge cloud of dust.

Five distinct areas on its torso now showed signs of collapse, as if the tissue within had been turned to mush.

The expressions on Renou and the others instantly froze.

Chen Chuan glanced at it. A moment ago, using his Domain and mental senses, he had perceived that the creature’s body was incredibly resilient. However, he also noticed several areas within it where the tissue was abnormally dense, which he suspected were critical points.

He had instinctively felt that destroying these areas would severely diminish its combat effectiveness, even if it could continue to fight. His punch had sent Power directly into those points and destroyed them all. He just hadn’t expected that losing those few clusters of tissue would cause the creature to collapse entirely.

Cold sweat beaded on Renou’s head once more. Shaking, he pulled out a cloth and wiped his bald forehead. He yelled into his Realm Token, "All personnel, regroup! Emergency teams, evacuate the camp—"

But he was only halfway through his sentence when his Realm Token filled with the sound of static. The connection had clearly been severed. It wasn’t just him; everyone’s Realm Token on site was experiencing the same thing. Even the Domain screen had gone blank, showing nothing but a uniform field of light.

The color drained from his face. He knew what had happened.

The camp’s communications Domain Creature had been destroyed.

In the very center of the camp, Chen Chuan stood on a bisected metal plate, slowly sheathing his Snow Monarch Blade. In the subterranean space below, a dead Domain Creature was visible through the gap, with large amounts of organic fluid leaking from its corpse.

With this Domain Creature dead, the camp’s communications network naturally went down, severing everyone’s connection to a unified command structure.

’Now, I just have to find and eliminate everyone in the camp who still has the ability to fight, one by one.’

According to Hong Fu’s display, he saw that these people were all gathering in one location. ’Are they planning to consolidate their forces to resist?’

It was an unwise move, but it fit their logic. Protecting the camp was their top priority, so they had no other choice but to concentrate their forces and confront him.

’This saves me a lot of trouble.’

He wondered if the camp had a way to recall the people who had gone deeper into the unknown region. If they did, he would be more than happy to see them try.

He deliberately waited for a while until most of them had gathered. Only then did he raise a hand to adjust the brim of his hat and begin to walk, unhurried, toward their location.

Meanwhile, in the camp’s monitoring area, all the remaining combat-capable and armed personnel had gathered, yet every one of them was on edge.

After all, they were about to face the man who had killed Wilhelm almost instantly. If his display of power hadn’t fallen just short of an even higher level, they would have mistaken him for a Fighting Master invading their camp.

Renou stared nervously at the main gate. Without the monitors, they could hardly observe the outside and had to rely on a lookout. Just then, a THUD sounded in the distance. He glanced over to see the lookout collapse.

Immediately after, a clerical worker not far in front of him collapsed to the floor with a THUD. It was as if a switch had been flipped; every few moments, another technician in the hall would fall.

Judging by where the people were collapsing, the pattern moved from the outside inward. It meant the enemy was approaching step by step, getting closer and closer, and the sense of oppression in their hearts rose to its peak.

After waiting for what felt like an eternity in the oppressive atmosphere, the metal gate was thrown down by an immense force with a resounding BOOM. As light from outside flooded in, they saw a figure standing there, holding a blade, silhouetted against the daylight.

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