Chapter 78: Invasion? None of You Will Leave!
It had been almost a month since the apocalyptic outbreak. Liu Yang's effort to expand his lineage was on a steady track, but trouble was brewing across the Divine Dragon Empire.
The moment his name appeared at the top of the Heaven Ranking, he became a prime target, destined for a life far from peaceful.
Lately, countless foreign ability users had been flooding into the Divine Dragon Empire.
Among them, those from the Little Sun Empire, the White Eagle Empire, and the Savage Bear Empire were the most powerful. The operatives dispatched were the absolute elite of their forces.
They had even deployed special units that were still in experimental phases.
...
Three days earlier.
Outside a survivor base in Yancheng, in the southern region of the Divine Dragon Empire, a team of ability users arrived. They pulled out binoculars and carefully surveyed the perimeter.
One of them-a stunning female ability user in a tight black suit that accentuated her voluptuous figure-spoke in the tongue of the Little Sun Empire.
"This is already the third survivor base. Hopefully, we can get some clues about Liu Yang here."
Beside her stood a burly man wearing sunglasses with a massive broadsword slung over his shoulder. He scoffed, "Let's just rush in and slaughter them all! I'm losing my patience anyway. Who cares if Liu Yang is here or not? Kill first, ask questions later!"
The beautiful girl frowned. "Inoue, I've told you already. Our primary objective is to locate Liu Yang, not slaughter random survivors.
"You left zero survivors in the last two bases. That kind of carnage easily alerts the Divine Dragon Empire's high-level ability users. If we get tracked, finding clues about Liu Yang will become ten times harder!
"If you dare act recklessly again, I won't hesitate to take disciplinary action.
"As of right now, I am still the leader of this squad. I suggest you remember that.
"There are twenty search teams infiltrating the Divine Dragon Empire. I have no intention of letting the other nineteen outshine us because of your stupidity!"
To hunt down Liu Yang, the Little Sun Empire had spared no expense.
They had deployed one main strike team alongside twenty auxiliary search teams.
All five members of the main strike team were top-tier experts on the Heaven Ranking.
In fact, the leader of that strike team was a powerhouse ranked in the top ten of the Heaven Ranking!
As for the twenty search teams, they were comprised of experts from the Earth Ranking and Mystic Ranking.
Scattered across different corners of the Divine Dragon Empire, these search teams scouted from various angles. Once Liu Yang's location was confirmed, they were to alert the main strike team, which would then rally all units to besiege him.
Because of this, the search teams were not meant to be frontline combatants. Their priority was intelligence gathering, and avoiding unnecessary combat was ideal. Even if they encountered Liu Yang, they were no match for him on their own.
However, Inoue was far too arrogant.
"Tch!" The burly man clicked his tongue in disdain.
Seeing Inoue express such open contempt for their captain, the other three men in the team frowned. One bearded warrior snapped:
"Inoue, did you not hear Senior Taozi? We are a formal ability user unit. In a military squad, you follow the captain's orders, got it?"
Inoue sneered, "Nakata, who doesn't know you've got a massive crush on Taozi? If you want to be a loyal dog, go right ahead, but don't expect the rest of us to lick her boots like you do."
The bearded Nakata's expression darkened instantly. He snarled, "Inoue! What did you say? Following the captain's orders is basic duty! If you keep talking trash, I don't mind beating some sense into you first!"
Inoue provoked him further, "Come on then! Let's see what you've got! You think I'm afraid of you? Don't just run your mouth-if you've got the balls, hit me!"
"You-!"
Watching the two bicker, Taozi's face turned icy cold. "Enough! Both of you shut your mouths! Whoever steps out of line again will answer to me!
"Inoue, drop the tough-guy act. What's the point of butchering a million ordinary survivors? If you're really that powerful, go duel Liu Yang yourself!"
Inoue's smile grew even more contemptuous. "So what if he's number one on the Heaven Ranking? What's the big deal? If I had taken the ranking assessment earlier, I might be at the top right now!
"If I run into Liu Yang, you won't even need to tell me-I'll take his head myself! And when the time comes, none of you better interfere!
"Once I claim his head and secure a promotion, you can all get down on your knees and lick my boots!"
Taozi rolled her eyes at the foolish brute. "All you do is brag and aim way above your weight. You're barely in the top 500 of the Earth Ranking, yet you dare look down on the top powerhouse of the Heaven Ranking?
"With an attitude like that, Inoue, you'll die a miserable death in this apocalypse soon enough. Promotion? The only thing you're close to is ascending to the afterlife!"
"Tch!" The burly man scoffed again.
Ignoring him, Taozi turned to issue orders to the rest. "Listen up. We infiltrate the base covertly, capture their ability users, and interrogate them for news on Liu Yang. Keep a low profile. Anyone who spots us gets eliminated immediately."
"Understood, Captain Taozi!" the three men affirmed.
Inoue kept his sneer firmly in place.
The five transformed into swift shadows, crossing the distance to the base in seconds before vaulting cleanly over the outer wall.
The five-meter-high concrete barrier posed no obstacle to them; a single casual jump cleared it completely.
All five were Earth Ranking experts.
Their leader, Taozi, was an elite warrior ranked in the top 100 of the Earth Ranking.
Among the four men, Inoue and Nakata were within the top 500, while the remaining two were around the 800th mark.
Against ordinary people, these ability users were an overwhelming force.
Any single one of them possessed enough firepower to obliterate a standard survivor base.
After all, most low-tier ability users couldn't even make it onto the lowest tier, the Yellow Ranking.
The gulf in strength between the Yellow, Mystic, Earth, and Heaven Rankings was astronomical.
A single Earth Ranking powerhouse could effortlessly crush ten Yellow Ranking ability users at once.
Besides, an average survivor base wouldn't even have ten Yellow Ranking fighters to begin with.
Inside the base's command room.
Four local ability users were gathered around a table, tallying the supplies scavenged earlier that day.
Suddenly, a shadow flashed across the room.
Before any of them could react...
Cold dagger blades were already pressed firmly against each of their throats.
The four local ability users froze, shock turning instantly to sheer terror.
Too fast!
These intruders were insanely fast!
They were ability users themselves-the leader of this base was even a Tier 2 ability user!
Yet none of them had detected the breach.
Before sense of danger could even register, blades were already at their jugulars. Had the intruders wanted them dead, they would have perished without ever seeing the faces of their killers!
Taozi stepped forward, speaking in slightly awkward Chinese: "Hey. Does your base have a guy named Liu Yang? Or do you know where he is?"
Hearing her accent, the base leader's eyes widened in recognition.
"Infiltrators from the Little Sun Empire?!"
In an instant, the terror on the survivors' faces melted away, replaced by burning fury.
"It hasn't even been a month since the outbreak, and you Little Sun Empire bastards dare invade our Divine Dragon Empire?! You think we're defenseless?!
"Looking for Liu Yang, the top master of the Heaven Ranking?! I am Liu Yang! Every single one of us in the Divine Dragon Empire is Liu Yang! Fuck you and your mother! You little dwarf pirates-not a single one of you is leaving the Divine Dragon Empire alive!!!"