Chapter 138: The Demon In Gray
Emerald Sky, the sky was gradually darkening.
Although the entire city had been attacked by monsters and there were no longer any residents inside, the city was still operating, with scattered lights shining over the heavily damaged streets everywhere.
Inside a half-collapsed building, the Blood Wolf Gang, composed entirely of werewolves and ranked among the top fifty wilderness gangs outside Wanxing City, had gathered more than thirty of its experts in the building. Every wolf face was full of tension and fear.
“Can any of you tell me what is going on?” Dario, the Blood Wolf Gang’s vice gang leader, nearly three meters tall and wearing A6-level battle armor, glared angrily at the report in his hand and shouted in fury, “In just half a day, how could the more than twenty teams searching this street block disappear? That was over two hundred apprentice-level experts, gone just like that. And no one knows what happened?”
As a large gang ranked in the top fifty, the Blood Wolf Gang had many experts, but the death of more than two hundred apprentice-level experts was an enormous loss.
It was equivalent to losing more than one third of the gang’s apprentice-level experts; such a loss was even greater than going to full-scale war with another major gang.
And their Blood Wolf Gang did not even know what had happened. If this got out, they would absolutely be mocked to death by the other wilderness gangs.
“Vice gang leader, I do know a bit.” A middle-aged werewolf with the strength of an advanced apprentice raised his hand and spoke nervously.
“Speak!” Dario looked toward that werewolf, his gaze ice-cold. “Who did this? I will make them understand the price of provoking the Blood Wolf Gang!”
“Vice gang leader, I only heard it from other gang members passing by,” the middle-aged werewolf looked around and lowered his voice. “Those gang members said that Emerald Sky seems to have been holding a group of demons. Because something went wrong with the city’s operation, those demons have now escaped.”
“Those demons are all wearing silver-gray T-shirts, shuttling throughout the city. Members of more than fifty gangs have already been attacked. Experts below quasi-martial artist level barely even have time to react before they are taken out, and by the time the others react, the figures are gone and only their dead companions are left.”
“Some gangs did not believe it and deliberately set up an ambush for a roundup. But those demons were extraordinarily powerful. A single one took out dozens of the experts in the roundup and still escaped in the end.”
“Attacked members from more than fifty gangs, and escaped a roundup by dozens of experts? And still got away?” Dario’s brow furrowed tightly.
The wilderness gangs that had come to Emerald Sky this time had each dispatched their elite. There was not a single beginner apprentice; the weakest were intermediate apprentices. The leaders were generally limit apprentices or quasi-martial artists, and those wearing A6-level battle armor were likely not few in number.
Under such circumstances, to still be able to kill dozens of gang experts and directly escape, such strength was something that even a limit quasi-martial artist in A6-level battle armor might not be able to accomplish.
“Now many gang members believe Emerald Sky was not attacked by monsters at all. They think it was done by these gray-clothed demons. Otherwise, how could a city as powerful as Emerald Sky not even send out a distress signal before being destroyed?” the middle-aged werewolf said anxiously. “Vice gang leader, we should hurry back. If we are targeted by those gray-clothed demons, it will be hard for us to leave when we want to.”
The Blood Wolf Gang members present all could not help nodding in agreement after hearing the report.
If those below quasi-martial artist level had no power to resist, and a single gray-clothed demon could kill dozens of experts, how were they supposed to continue exploring Emerald Sky?
“No!” Vice gang leader Dario refused firmly. “This is a once-in-a-century opportunity. Just yesterday’s gains alone are greater than what our Blood Wolf Gang earns in a year. Do you want to give up this chance to advance further? No matter how powerful those gray-clothed demons are, they cannot stop us from exploring Emerald Sky.”
“Since those gray-clothed demons are strong, then we simply will not move alone anymore. Everyone will operate in groups of five teams. I don’t believe those gray-clothed demons can do anything to our Blood Wolf Gang then!”
The Blood Wolf Gang members present felt that vice gang leader Dario was right. Although the gray-clothed demons were formidable, it was just one of them before. At worst, they would just stick together in groups.
Just as the Blood Wolf Gang members were discussing how to divide into groups, a scream suddenly came from outside the building.
“Enemy attack!” Vice gang leader Dario abruptly stood up. “Everyone, come downstairs with me! I want to see who dares attack our Blood Wolf Gang’s base!”
The Blood Wolf Gang members present hurriedly followed him downstairs, curious to see who was so bold as to directly attack their temporary base.
As everyone went down, the Blood Wolf Gang members were quickly stunned by the sight.
Of the more than sixty gang experts who had been guarding outside the building, more than ten were now dead, and the remaining members were fighting several figures wearing silver-gray long-sleeved T-shirts.
“Gray clothes… they’re gray-clothed demons!”
“The gray-clothed demons are here!”
The middle-aged werewolf looked at the silver-gray figures slaughtering outside and could not help crying out in alarm.
At this, every Blood Wolf Gang member present felt a chill down their spine; their wolf fur and tails stood on end.
A single gray-clothed demon had killed dozens of members in a roundup and escaped. Now there were six gray-clothed demons present. How were they supposed to fight that?
“What are you panicking for!” Vice gang leader Dario roared. “Look carefully! They are not demons at all, just a group of human race experts!”
With Dario’s shout, the panicking Blood Wolf Gang members finally saw their attackers clearly. It was a group of humans wearing silver-gray long-sleeved T-shirts.
But these humans were strange. None of them used weapons in the usual sense; each only held a single B2-level arrow as they fought, yet they fought with incredible skill, always precisely piercing throats or hearts. A6-level armor was completely useless.
“Which gang are you from? Why are you attacking our Blood Wolf Gang?”
Dario fully activated his A6-level battle armor, grabbed his A6-level battle saber, and charged at a young man who held a B2-level arrow in one hand and an A6-level superconducting electromagnetic gun in the other. His eyes were bloodshot as he loudly questioned in the human language.
The apprentice-level martial skill Mountain Splitting!
With one slash, his strength directly doubled. With the assistance of the A6-level battle armor, the power of that strike approached two thousand kilograms.
The young man was caught off guard and raised the arrow in his hand to meet it.
Bang!
The arrow and battle saber collided, sparks flying. The intense impact shattered the ground beneath their feet.
The young man was forced back several steps before he could steady himself. The arm holding the arrow trembled uncontrollably, but his expression was filled with excitement instead. He turned to speak to a woman not far away.
“Sis, we’re in luck. We’ve found a leader monster that can speak human language!” Yi Ye Fu Yun watched Dario roaring something unintelligible and said to Ye Qinglu with a grin, “This leader monster is pretty impressive. If I hadn’t mastered the body strengthening secret technique, that sneak attack just now would have ruined my arm.”
“A leader monster that can speak human language? That’s not a low level of intelligence. Perfect for testing my new move.” After driving an arrow through a Blood Wolf Gang member’s heart, Ye Qinglu charged toward Dario with clear anticipation.
Seeing the two of them completely dismiss him and even insult his intelligence, Dario was furious.
“I don’t care which human gang you are from. Since you dared to come after our Blood Wolf Gang today, none of you are leaving alive!” As Dario spoke, he raised his saber and slashed at the oncoming Ye Qinglu.
Martial artist-level martial skill Seven-Spinning Slash!
This was Dario’s greatest trump card and the technique that had made his name in the wilderness outside Wanxing City. He had once killed a quasi-martial artist expert with a single use of it.
Seven blade shadows suddenly swept out from different directions, slashing toward Ye Qinglu. Each carried nearly fifteen hundred kilograms of force, a power that a quasi-martial artist could not block without using martial skills.
“As expected, smart enough to use martial artist-level martial skills.”
“Go!”
Ye Qinglu looked at the incoming blade shadows and was delighted rather than alarmed. The six B2-level arrows on her back flew free, coming to hover in front of her and forming a rotating round shield.
Bang bang bang…
A rapid series of impacts rang out. The defensive shield formed by the arrows was shattered, but it completely blocked Dario’s Seven-Spinning Slash.
“How is this possible!”
Dario stared at the uninjured Ye Qinglu in shock, utterly unable to understand what she had just done.
First, the arrows on her back had floated on their own. Then they had formed a shield that forcibly blocked a martial artist-level martial skill, Seven-Spinning Slash. This way of fighting was something he had never even heard of, let alone seen.
Before Dario could recover, one of the floating arrows stopped in front of Ye Qinglu. She struck out with a palm wreathed in lightning.
Bang!
A dazzling, searing white light burst forth. Dario instinctively tried to raise his battle saber horizontally to block, but as he did, he felt a sharp pain in his chest, and the world before his eyes began to dim.
“Demons!”
“They really are gray-clothed demons!”
“The gray-clothed demons are here!”
The Blood Wolf Gang members fighting nearby were stunned as they saw the charred hole in Dario’s chest.
Dario, the gang’s second strongest expert in combat power, had been killed in a single exchange. None of the Blood Wolf Gang members had even understood what happened before he was taken out.
“Run!”
“We can’t possibly fight these gray-clothed demons!”
The middle-aged werewolf from the Blood Wolf Gang, seeing this, shouted urgently and immediately turned to flee, not daring to stay another moment.
“This leader monster is so boring. I finally worked out Lightning Strike Three Forms, and he went down to just the first form, Lightning Spear. As expected, monsters in the suburbs are only at this level.” Ye Qinglu looked at the fallen Dario with some disappointment.
After days of research, Ye Qinglu felt that lightning sword control would be a very promising direction, so she painstakingly developed three forms, each more powerful than the last. According to her own estimates, the third form should reach the seventh stage level.
Unfortunately, after an entire day, she had not encountered a single leader monster in Emerald Sky that gave her the chance to use even the second form, let alone the third.
“Sis, how about after we clear this place, we head to the city proper?” Yi Ye Fu Yun watched the scattered Blood Wolf Gang members without chasing them and directly suggested, “These gang members are getting more and more cautious. Before, they moved alone or in small teams, but now they all act in large teams. Our exploration efficiency has gone down. From the look of it, Sister Wu and the others have already cleared what they can on their side without much gain. Let’s just go to the city proper and make a big play, see what the high-level maps are like.”
“Alright, there really isn’t anything valuable here. We’ll send this batch of items back, then go to the city proper.” Ye Qinglu nodded. “I’m curious too about the high-level monsters in the city proper. If they are too strong, we’ll just come back and keep exploring.”
“Great! Then let’s hurry. We can’t let the other teams beat us to it.” Yi Ye Fu Yun said with clear anticipation.
Emerald Sky, night had fallen.
The search and rescue team from the City of Light Chasing had arrived near the city proper.
“These big gangs and great families in the suburbs are really ruthless. They do not spare anyone who dares approach. I really don’t get what madness has taken these wilderness gangs. Those big suburban gangs have warned them so many times, and they still came. It’s already deep into the night, and their numbers are still increasing.” Qin Mu watched the members of various wilderness gangs constantly running in from afar and was very surprised.
“I heard them saying something about gray-clothed demons coming, and they want to ask those big suburban gangs and great families for help.” Hou Fei twitched his ears and translated.
