Monarch of Evernight - Chapter 616

Chapter 616: 616

Chapter 616: Changes [V6C146 – Sorrow of a Silent Parting]

At this moment, the old general said, “Young Master Jingzhan, Young Noble Qingyun’s power is outstanding, but he hasn’t secured victory just yet . Otherwise, why wouldn’t the family just give him the Storm Pearl directly? What’s the point of setting up these rankings? It’s surely because they’re worried about public outrage .

“Moreover, the combat squads dispatched by the various clans will be arriving in a few days . The profits this time have moved many people, and with how big the empire is, there are hidden tigers and dragons everywhere . Who knows which expert would jump into the fray? Young Master, muddy waters are a good thing . As I see it, we need to try hard in harvesting contributions and not go back so soon . That way, our contributions won’t be publicly known . ”

“That’ll only drag things out a bit, what’s the use?” Li Jingzhan was apparently vexed .

“There might be some changes if we drag it out for a bit . For instance, if Young Noble is really interested and has accumulated enough contributions, we could consider switching allegiance to the third branch . Why would we need to stay suppressed under the second?”

Li Jingzhan’s expression transformed radically . In the end, he said through gritted teeth, “Fine, let’s do it that way!”

It was at this time that a clamor arose outside of the tent . Li Jingzhan looked up and shouted, “What’s with the ruckus? Scandalous!”

A personal guard rushed into the tent despite Li Jingzhan’s angry glare and cried, “Young Master, things don’t look good . There’s a beast tide charging over!”

Li Jingzhan shot up and delivered a prompt slap . “What’s so big about a beast tide? I’ve killed no small number of them, haven’t I? Set up the autocannons and slaughter them .

Li Jingzhan had brought hundreds of elites from the Li family private army . He had come well-prepared with ample firepower and ammunition . The combat strength of this unit had long since been proven in battle . They had annihilated three dark race hunting sub-parties in the past month—at least in terms of head-count, these sub-parties weren’t inferior to Li Jingzhan’s group .

As for beasts and midgets, their main threat lay in their numbers and indefensible poison . Organized elite troops were the nemesis of these creatures—as long as there was sufficient ammunition, large bore autocannons could practically mow them down .

In order to deal with these beast hordes, Li Jingzhan had brought six high-speed autocannons and vast amounts of ammunition . In the past month, the storm of metal spewed out by these cannons had killed at least several thousand midgets and beasts .

Li Jingzhan heard the familiar rumble of the autocannons . As far as he could remember, the stream of flames would mow down large swathes of beasts as though they were grass .

However, the personal guard didn’t back down even after being struck . He kept on shouting, “Young Master, it’s not the same this time! Run quickly!”

He hadn’t even finished speaking when his expression froze . Afterward, he looked down to find a spear tip poking through his chest .

It was a wooden stake, the most common type found throughout Misty Wood . After birth, the midgets would cut down the leaves and branches of the giant tree and sharpen them into wooden spears . Afterward, they would use a mixture of their own saliva and some unknown plant juice to coat the stake in poison . And thus the powerful poison that brought both factions no end of trouble was born .

Li Jingzhan’s eyelids twitched as he glanced at the spear tip, and his brain went completely blank .

He was very clear about this personal guard’s strength and was also familiar with the grade of his armor . Even Li Jingzhan himself would need to attack seriously in order to pierce this guard’s armor, but now, it had been pierced through by a wooden spear right in front of him .

In his memory, the spears thrown out by these midgets could barely cut through the chainmail of his guards . They were far from being capable of penetrating the entire body .

A whistle rang out at this point as another spear shot toward Li Jingzhan . The latter responded at lightning speed, immediately drawing his sword and cutting the projectile into two . But just this movement caused the sword to tremble and emit a low drone . The strength behind the spear was so powerful that Li Jingzhan swayed slightly backward .

Both shocked and furious, the man slashed the tent open and rushed out .

In a short moment, the entire camp was already in ruins . Many soldiers had been nailed to the ground by the incoming spears . Some of the stakes had pierced right through their shields and into their chests .

The air was filled with whistling sounds as numerous spears flew in from the distant woods and landed in the camp . One beast after another charged out from the mist with several human figures moving in their midst .

“W-What are those things?!” Li Jingzhan was shocked as he looked at the incoming beasts and aboriginals .

These native entities retained their familiar appearance, but they were no longer midgets . They had grown to twice their previous height and were now comparable to a young human . There were numerous red veined patterns on their bodies with golden specks mixed in . Moreover, those that possessed more golden specks were evidently more powerful .

The beasts had also grown larger than before and also possessed the same pattern of red veins and golden spots . Their speed, strength, and build all saw a sharp increase—even the autocannons could only produce bloody holes on them, a far cry from the past where they would be blasted into a bloody mess .

Ten meters away, a boar-shaped mutant beast was charging against the hail of bullets, and it only died after taking a dozen shots from the autocannons .

“This…” Li Jingzhan’s hands and feet turned cold . He was truly at a loss about what to do .

The beasts and midgets charging over weren’t exactly great in number—only several hundred in total . However, their combat strength had undergone a complete transformation and was enough to drown their entire squad .

At this moment, the old general dragged Li Jingzhan away and fled in the opposite direction of the beasts .

“No, let me go . My soldiers are still in the camp . ” Li Jingzhan struggled .

“They’re lost, Young Master . You must live today in order to make a strong comeback in the future!” The old general allowed no explanation as he towed Li Jingzhan away .

Before long, the clamorous camp became deathly silent .

…

Meanwhile, a human squad was advancing silently along the borders of the Misty Wood . Judging from their direction, they were traversing the Misty Wood and headed for the Song clan warzone . The group was mostly composed of Li family private soldiers with a mixture of mercenaries and adventurers among them .

There was a big, fierce-looking man at the center of the group . His lightning eyes, from time to time, scanned the identical forest on either side .

A middle-aged man with a fair complexion laughed after seeing this . “Sire Li is too cautious . This area is fairly peaceful, and the dark races rarely if ever appear here . Even if they do, they won’t have an expert overseeing them . If they really dare appear before us, they’ll just be offering more contributions to you . ”

The burly man’s expression relaxed slightly . “That might be the case, but we can’t be careless . I heard there’s a demonkin count operating in the area . ”

The middle-aged man sneered, “Those are just rumors . Besides, our troop strength is no longer comparable to the past . Even the two counts who attacked our base never dared to appear again . It’s been so long since the beginning of this conflict . If there really is some kind of expert, how can those youngsters from the family return safely every time? As I see it, the dark race fellow in charge of this area must be a useless slacker, count or not . He’s probably not worth mentioning . ”

The burly man said with a smile, “You have a point there . . . ”

He had just finished half his sentence when the middle-aged man fell backward and half his head flew into the air .

Even someone of the burly man’s strength couldn’t help but become startled . He then came to, drew his gun, and roared, “Enemy attack!”

Just after shouting thus, his entire body flew out as though he had been struck by an invisible hammer . When he crashed to the ground, the armor on his chest had been shattered, and the flesh there, badly mangled .

The burly man clambered up, but before he could celebrate how the thick armor had allowed his heart to remain intact, he discovered something wrong . He looked down at the blood flowing out of his injury and saw that they were black . Moreover, his origin power was being drained at a rapid pace .

Black titanium!

This name emerged in the man’s thoughts . Immediately afterward, he saw a calm and elegant figure traversing the many-layers of defense set up by the soldiers . Wherever that silhouette passed by, all the warriors there—regardless of their rank and combat strength—would freeze up and gradually fall down,

The burly man’s vision was turning blurry . He could no longer see clearly how the veteran warriors under his command had died .

The shadow arrived before him in the blink of an eye .

The man struggled indignantly . “Who are you?”

The man uncovered his hood to reveal a handsome countenance that did not belong to the human race . His lips moved slightly into a mocking smile as he said, “I’m that useless slacker you guys were talking about, Eden of the Dark Abyss . ”

This name formed the burly man’s final memory .

. . .

The Li clan base was recently becoming livelier by the day with squads from various aristocratic clans and families surging into the base . These competing units were each more well-equipped and powerful than the next .

The leaders were all core characters of the aristocracy, and they only had one objective here—the Storm Pearl . Before their departure, their family heads had ordered them to obtain one at all costs .

In the several days that followed, Li Tianquan was completely occupied with work . He was troubled but delighted because, from his past experience in managing such major activities, he could tell that his authority in the elder assembly would definitely take a step forward . Moreover, the Li family was the host this time around, and the Storm Pearl was their property, so all the other aristocratic families were fairly deferent toward him . Li Tianquan was up in the clouds these days and had almost forgotten his position .

The arriving aristocratic family combat squads all required lodging, food, and supplies—these administrative arrangements kept Li Tianquan frantically busy . Fortunately, these squads didn’t stay very long and would head into the Misty Wood after a brief period of organization . And only after most of them had entered the forest did Li Qingyun bring his own squad into the woods .

The true struggle for the contribution rankings had just begun . No matter how experienced the independent hunters were, they were hardly a match for the well-trained private armies of the aristocratic families .

Even Qianye could only take a detour whenever he encountered a thousand-strong army—at most, he would be able to harass them with sneak attacks . But this kind of attack wasn’t helpful for accumulating contributions, and the reason was simple, there was no way to collect proof of contribution even after killing the targets .

However, most of the combat squads dispatched by the aristocratic families were made up of their core forces . A group of five-hundred soldiers could easily digest such an enemy squad .

Little over a month remained until the three-month deadline, but the various aristocratic families, including the Li clan, didn’t really care about the independent experts currently occupying the top of the board .

Only the Zhang and Zhao didn’t send a combat squad to the Misty Wood . These two clans have always upheld their status and would never take part in such private contests . Moreover, the war was in a critical stage . The Zhang clan had managed to hold out for a fairly long time, but they were pretty much spent at this point . Reportedly, they were being pushed back with every skirmish, and most of their warzones had fallen into enemy hands .

It was said that the Zhao clan had disregarded their past enmity and dispatched a motorized unit to the Blacklight warzone to reinforce the Zhang clan . Those two colossal powers had their eyes on the main battlefield, not even sparing a glance for the things taking place here .

Li Tianquan was naturally dissatisfied . He felt that the two clans were too arrogant and didn’t put the empress’ clan in their eyes . However, his status wasn’t high enough to express his dissent for them . The clan lord and Marquis Seagazer, Li Tianshi, made no comment on the complaint he had submitted about this matter . This became a small knot in the midst of his happiness .

At dawn this day, Li Tianquan had the rare leisure to brew a pot of good tea as he began looking through the recent battle reports . He had just turned a single page when he heard an urgent knock on the door .