Chapter 218 - 217: They’re All Mine

The man in the red mask leaned in close.

When he straightened up again, his shoulders were trembling slightly.

Yan Ying urged, "Go on, hurry. I’ll have someone take care of your parents and sister. Remember, sneak over there. If you don’t succeed, your sister is dead!"

The man in the red mask activated his defensive shield and quietly circled around from the side.

Yan Ying turned her head. "Let’s go. Ignore him. We’ll regroup with the others first."

...

On the chaotic edge of the battlefield, the man in the red mask suddenly appeared and threw his arms around Zhang Qin.

Zhang Qin jumped in surprise, trying to throw him off with a shoulder toss. "If you want to die, die on your own! Don’t drag me down with you!"

The masked man thought of his sister, who always greeted him with a sweet smile when he came home. He gritted his teeth, clung on, and wrapped his arms around Zhang Qin’s legs.

’One of us has to die today.’

Zhang Qin couldn’t shake him off and started swinging his fists wildly.

He punched the man until he was coughing up blood, but he still wouldn’t let go.

Lu Qi also tried to help pull the man off, but it was like trying to uproot a stubborn turnip; he wouldn’t budge.

Zhang Qin’s eyes were red with frustration. "I give up!"

Jian Yu had already raised her hand.

But before she could act, Yin Jiu rushed out, bit off both of the masked man’s arms, and viciously threw him aside.

Zhang Qin breathed a sigh of relief. He saw the forelimb of a Mutated Armor Beetle sweeping toward him and instinctively raised a hand to block, but his nose suddenly caught a strange scent.

His Contracted Beast grew agitated, and he, in turn, was also affected.

After blocking one attack, Zhang Qin dazedly shook his head. An aura of manic irritability began to emanate from him.

Wang Hu caught sight of him out of the corner of his eye and shouted urgently, "Zhang Qin, what are you doing?!"

They were too far away; Wang Hu and the others couldn’t get to him.

They could only shout to Lu Qi, who was closer, "Lu Qi, go help him!"

Lu Qi stared at the spilled medicine on the ground, his eyes wide with horror, unable to hear anyone’s voice.

’Why am I unaffected?’

’Whatever! At least one of us—me or my powerful benefactor—has to make it out alive today!’

Lu Qi shoved Zhang Qin out of the way in an attempt to save him.

A Helmet Insect darted out and closed in, its sharp fangs aiming straight for his throat.

Lu Qi’s pupils contracted. The shadow of death instantly enveloped him.

His mind went completely blank, his own eyes reflecting the Helmet Insect’s, filled with despair and fear.

Just then, he heard someone sigh next to his ear.

Sheng Yue’s figure flashed by.

The sharp fangs, just moments from piercing Lu Qi’s throat, were suddenly knocked aside.

A hand grabbed Lu Qi’s shoulder and yanked hard, spinning him around.

A ripple of blue-white Soul Power spread out before him and then, with a BOOM, it exploded.

The surrounding Helmet Insects were blasted away, crashing to the ground with shattered carapaces.

The dozen or so High-level Helmet Insects that had been lucky enough to survive suddenly spurted fresh blood from their abdomens. Black blood slowly oozed out, and one by one, Beast Crystals slid from their open wounds.

Wang Hu helped Zhang Qin up. "Is Level 3S really that much stronger than Level 2S? It’s so unfair. I strongly demand that the Alliance re-evaluate the Level system."

A violent rage surged within Zhang Qin. He grabbed Wang Hu by the collar and started punching him square in the stomach.

Wang Hu shrieked, "AHHHHHH! Help, help! Brother Zhang has gone crazy!"

Lu Qi collapsed onto the ground. He hadn’t thought much when he was trying to save someone, but now that the danger had passed, a delayed fear washed over him.

Hearing Wang Hu’s miserable howl, he turned his head in a daze.

His legs were so weak he couldn’t get up. "Wha... What’s wrong?"

Yan Xu, unable to overpower Zhang Qin, opted to pull Lu Qi to his feet instead.

Teacher Hu looked at the evaporated medicine on the ground. "He’s been drugged. His Contracted Beast is rampaging, and his spiritual power is in chaos."

Sheng Yue restrained Zhang Qin and looked at Jian Yu. "I’ll leave this to you, Healer."

Jian Yu had already used Green Mist Treatment the moment she noticed something was wrong.

It didn’t seem to be working.

Looking at the red-eyed and enraged Zhang Qin, she was reminded of Pei Yin and the others during their Threshold Devouring Period...

’Their conditions also cause spiritual power to go berserk. Should I be soothing it? Instead of Healing?’

Jian Yu tried to draw out the Fu Yin Powder.

When Zhang Qin caught the Yulan Tea Fragrance, his face immediately flushed a deep red, but some of his reason finally returned.

He was panting, and he awkwardly turned his back. "Uh, well... I’m a normal guy."

Everyone wished they could just go blind.

Jian Yu, embarrassed, nodded and checked the remaining energy on her wristband.

She managed to squeeze out a little Green Mist to treat Wang Hu’s battered stomach.

Zhang Qin’s brow furrowed. "Where are Yan Ying and her people? I’m gonna teach them a lesson!"

The crisis was over, but the thick stench of blood hung in the air.

Teacher Hu explained, "Before the man in the red mask even came out to cause trouble, Yan Ying had already taken the others and run off."

He couldn’t be bothered to chase them at the time, and knowing he couldn’t catch them anyway, he’d let them go.

Jian Yu pursed her lips. "They might come back."

Zhang Qin snorted coldly. "They’d better not let me see them again!"

He walked over to the tide of Helmet Insect corpses and started digging out Beast Crystals. "This is a huge haul."

Seeing this, the others also started digging.

"Stop! Who said you could touch those Beast Crystals!" A sharp, shrewish shout suddenly came from behind them and to the side.

Yan Ying came rushing over with more than twenty people. Her face showed the lingering terror of having just survived, yet she forced herself to adopt a high-and-mighty posture.

Zhang Qin sneered, "So you went to get reinforcements."

Furious and embarrassed, Yan Ying pointed at them and said imperiously, "We discovered these Alien Beasts first! If we hadn’t drawn away most of their fire just now, do you think you would have had it so easy? These Beast Crystals should be ours!"

Jian Yu paused and turned around.

She looked at the clueless woman with an amused expression. "Oh? You drew them away? Who was it that was crying for their mommy and daddy and begging for help just now?"

Sheng Yue stared blankly at Jian Yu. ’Am I seeing traces of Ling Yanzhi and Pei Yin in her?’

’Is she being influenced by them?’

Sheng Yue’s lips tightened, and a dimness clouded his eyes. ’When will I be able to see a trace of myself in her...?’

Yan Ying’s expression stiffened, but she continued to argue illogically, "In any case, these are our..."

The ground began to shake violently, and a terrifying pressure, even more intense than before, bore down on them.

The earth shattered as a giant, Level 3S beetle burst out from underground.

It had a deep, purple-black carapace, two menacing bone spikes on its head, and rows of sharp, shark-like teeth on both its front and back.

Jian Yu stared at its teeth, thinking they looked like Zhu Bajie’s nine-toothed rake.

Lu Yi backed away cautiously. "Is this the leader of the Helmet Insect swarm? Is it here for revenge?"

The moment the Helmet Worm King appeared, its gaze locked onto them.

It was hard to say it wasn’t here for revenge.

Its big, fat teeth gnashed together, CRUNCH CRUNCH. The terrifying, murderous pressure made Lu Qi’s legs go weak.

Sheng Yue was the only 3S Awakener present. To prevent any disasters, he decided to take it on himself.

Jian Yu stopped Sheng Yue as he was about to move forward. "Don’t be hasty."

She raised an eyebrow and tilted her head to look at Yan Ying, her tone casual but laced with ice. "Since you said these were your spoils of war, then you shouldn’t have a problem when the source of those spoils comes to settle the score with you, right?"

Sheng Yue understood instantly. He erected a soul shield, separating Yan Ying and her group from them.

This Soul Beast Cover had a wide range, leaving Yan Ying with no way to hide behind them anymore.

Someone in her group started to mutiny. "Miss, we’re responsible for protecting you, but that doesn’t mean we have to throw away our own lives. If you keep acting so unreasonable, we’re leaving you on your own."

Their escape route was blocked from behind, and ahead of them was a leader-class Alien Beast that radiated the aura of a Fierce Beast.

Yan Ying could no longer act arrogant.

Her face was as white as a sheet. She didn’t want to go through what she had just experienced all over again.

A man next to her wearing a wolf mask, who was not as loyal as the first group, said, "Miss, we can’t beat it. Just admit you were wrong."

"No... No..." Yan Ying stammered incoherently.

Her eyes filled with tears and her voice trembled. "We don’t want the Beast Crystals! They’re all yours! Please... Chief Sheng Yue, we don’t want to die!"