Chapter 557: A Sudden Huge Battle [Two in One]
Edited by Aelryinth
At Xinfan City…
Zhang Che was chatting with the cult members who managed to escape from Xinjing City when he suddenly felt a slight vibration from the personal terminal he had hidden on his body.
He showed no changes on his face, and laughed heartily, saying to the crowd, “You guys continue talking. I need to make a trip to the loo. I just can’t help it after drinking!”
“Hahahaha, Old Zheng, quickly go and return, then. You try to slip away everytime we’re drinking. We brothers won’t let you go this time!”
“Right, right. We’re not returning sober today! Whoever doesn’t collapse from drinking isn’t a real man!”
The crowd burst into laughter, every one of their faces bright red. Obviously they already had a great deal to drink.
Zhang Che grinned widely, saying disdainfully as he walked in the direction of the washroom, “Freaking hell, you think your daddy here is afraid of you guys? Just wait; we’ll see who makes the other drop first!”
After leaving where everybody was gathered, Zhang Che immediately opened his personal terminal after he made sure no one was around. He saw Huang Juyun had sent him a message.
After opening the message, Zhang Che’s pupils constricted uncontrollably in astonishment. -Damn, they’re going to launch an attack on the Freemason headquarters today! Since when does the military act so swiftly?-
He had only sent out the information yesterday afternoon. The military had already made the necessary battle arrangements in less than a day?
Wasn’t that a little too quick of them!?
-But, it doesn’t hurt to be fast. I can leave this damn place earlier the faster we’re done here. I feel like I’m about to start rusting staying here all day with nothing to do. If I used all this free time to hunt exotic beasts in the beast world, perhaps I’d have gained a few more epic-quality subdued beasts.-
Although the raid was much earlier than Zhang Che had anticipated, there wasn’t much for him to prepare on his side. When the army arrived, he’d only need to coordinate with them and try to stop He Luotu and the other higher-ups from escaping, especially He Luotu himself. That man, who was basically possessed by a mysterious being from the demon world, couldn’t be allowed to escape, no matter what!
It would become incredibly difficult to try and capture him in the future if he managed to escape today. Perhaps there wouldn’t be any more chances to do so!
However, the military was determined to achieve their objective this time. They mobilized large numbers of high-tier beastmasters. Among them, the number of beastmasters with epic-quality subdued beasts had exceeded two digits. It was rare for them to invest so many resources in an operation.
If that demon He Luotu still managed to escape in the end despite all this, it could only be attributed to fate at work. It wasn’t something that could be helped.
The huge battle was imminent. Zhang Che didn’t dare show anything amiss.
After coming out of the washroom, he directly returned to where the others were drinking. He raised his cup and toasted them.
The original Zheng Huawei was naturally not a match for the others when it came to drinking. However, Zhang Che was a high-tier beastmaster, and his physique was far better than ordinary beastmasters. If he wasn’t willing to get drunk, then no one really could force him to.
Of course, he didn’t dare to expose the fact that he couldn’t get drunk. That’d simply draw the suspicion of everyone right away.
As such, he didn’t break down the alcohol that entered his body immediately, allowing it to course through his body. In the end, his face was flushed, his eyes turned red, and his body swayed about uncontrollably, looking like he was about to fall at any moment.
Even so, the drinking capacity he had shown today had surprised the others.
A burly man stood up unsteadily, his eyes red, unable to focus his sight on Zhang Che and saying in disbelief, “You’re good, Old Zheng. So you have been faking it all this time! Your drinking capacity is actually this good! You’re dishonest, you! If it wasn’t because you have nowhere to go today, I’m afraid you’d be acting drunk again! Come, let’s work harder, brothers. We have to get this sly guy drunk today and teach him a lesson!”
A bunch of drunks echoed their sentiments and started toasting Zhang Che one after another.
Zhang Che felt light, like he was about to float into the air.
He didn’t dare use his spiritual strength to break down the alcohol in his body. He felt like his body didn’t belong to him, and he might sway and fall to the ground at any moment.
However, fortunately these men were already drunk. Although they had nearly forced him to collapse, they couldn’t hold on either, and fell to the ground, none of them able to get back to their feet.
The corners of Zhang Che’s lips curled up into a faint smile.
-Boy, even if I don’t cheat, you are looking down on a genius high-tier beastmaster too much if you want to get me drunk with just you guys!-
That was what he thought to himself, but the effects of the alcohol rushed to his head. He too, felt his legs going weak, and sat down on a chair to rest for a short while.
There was about half an hour more until the time his father-in-law had set to launch an attack on their side. Naturally Zhang Che would have sobered up by then.
It’d be too suspicious if he walked out right now. It was absolutely not something he should do.
In any case, Xinfan City was located at the south end of Hua Xia. Even after the sudden climate change, the weather was nice and warm. Zhang Che decided to just bathe in the sun here for a while and treat it as resting for the upcoming battle.
——
Time ticked away, one second at a time. When it was nearing the appointed time, Zhang Che circulated his spiritual force around his body, immediately digesting all the alcohol in his body, and he sobered up.
“The huge battle is almost starting. I’m so looking forward to it!”
Zhang Che’s originally unfocused eyes immediately cleared up. Two rays of intimidating lights shot out from his eyes. He was ready to summon out all his subdued beasts and pets at any moment and give the Freemasons a huge surprise.
Suddenly, the entire headquarters area was alerted by alarms. Many people ran around in a hurry. Zhang Che overheard some faint noises.
“This is bad. The military has surrounded us! Everyone get ready to fight!”
“Hurry, hurry! Inform everyone! The military is attacking us! Get ready to retreat!”
It went without saying that it was impossible for the military to not alarm the Freemasons given how big of a move they were making.
At the same time, in the main hall of the Freemason headquarters, a hint of shock flashed across He Luotu’s face. Afterwards, he said gravely, “Everyone, there must be a traitor among us! The military has completely surrounded us! It’s time for us to fight for our freedom; I don’t want to see anyone dropping the ball!
“Of course, the military is in a greater position of power. We can’t sacrifice ourselves meaninglessly, but to win some time for everyone else to escape, we have to do something. It all depends on you now!”
He immediately gave the order to have all the mid-tier and above beastmasters spread out in four areas and summon out their respective subdued beasts, preparing to break out.
At the same time, He Luotu quickly pondered some things, and realized that a military agent must be hiding among the people Yang Sen brought back, and had sent out information, leaking their location.
It was impossible for there to be such a coincidence. The Freemason headquarters had been around for a few months, and of all times, trouble immediately came just after that group of people arrived!
“Really, that bunch of good-for-nothings!”
Killing intent flashed in He Luotu’s eyes. He commanded in a low voice, “Men, go bring Yang Sen’s men under control. Kill anyone that resists without mercy!”
“Yes, President!” a few beastmasters nearby responded to the order, immediately rushing towards the small courtyard Zhang Che and the others were resting in.
Obviously, everyone had realized there was a problem with the people Yang Sen had brought back, leading to their headquarters being surrounded by the military. Killing intent rose in their hearts, wanting to grind those people’s bones into powder to vent their hatred.
Shouting and screaming could be heard in all directions outside the headquarters. The commoners who lived in this district were evacuated in a hurry, to prevent any innocent casualties from the upcoming huge battle.
Having too many civilian casualties was definitely not something the military wished to see, even if they eradicated the Freemasons.
Fortunately, the military was well-prepared for this raid. At almost the same time as the operation started, staff dedicated to evacuating the innocent civilians immediately went to work. There wasn’t too much of a chaotic situation.
——
Zhang Che was long ready for this. A faint smile curled up at the corners of his lips, thinking, -It’s finally here!-
Suddenly, a wave of hurried footsteps came from outside the small courtyard. Someone yelled out loudly, and powerful subdued beasts surrounded this courtyard. “Hurry, bring them all under control! Kill anyone that resists!”
Zhang Che cursed inside, -Damn, these people’s reactions aren’t slow. They realized there’s something wrong on this side so quickly! Luckily I’m way stronger than ordinary beastmasters. If I was some random intelligence personnel, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to leave this place in one piece.-
Seeing the powerful subdued beasts barging in from all directions, all the Xinjing branch members were astonished, losing all color on their faces. Even the group of people Zhang Che got drunk earlier immediately woke up from the shock, cold sweat pouring from their bodies.
“What’s going on? Brothers, is there some misunderstanding here? We’ve been waiting here obediently for the past two days, and didn’t break any rules of the headquarters!”
“Right, right! Let’s talk this over, brothers. What is this?”
The branch members had no intentions of resisting at all. In the headquarters, where experts were as abundant as the clouds, they had no way of resisting if these people really wanted to kill them. Instead of putting up a meaningless resistance, it was better to make things clear and see if there were any misunderstandings going on.
The leader, a high-tier beastmaster, swept his frosty gaze across the Xinjing branch members and said coldly, “Misunderstanding? Hehe. Listen closely to the noise outside and see if there’s any misunderstandings!
“Listen here, all of you. The President suspects there is a spy from the military among you. Come peacefully with me, or we’ll kill anyone who resists!”
With that said, the Xinjing branch members’ faces immediately changed one after another.
“What? There’s a spy among us? How is that possible? We’re all long-time members and definitely wouldn’t betray the organization! This brother, perhaps there’s a misunderstanding?”
“Right, right! If there’s a traitor among us, we wouldn’t have escaped from Jingzhou safely and would have been caught by the military long ago. How could we have made it back to headquarters?”
“We want to see Branch Chief Yang! There must be a mistake in this matter!”
Everyone cried injustice, wanting to prove their innocence.
Even so, the high-tier beastmaster didn’t waste his breath with them. He directly waved his hand and commanded, “Round up all these people and bring them back to the President. He will have his ways to determine who the spy is. At that time, we’ll definitely cut him up into countless pieces and show everyone what the consequences for betraying our organization are!”
Done speaking, he ignored their cries and had his men escort the Xinjing branch members to the huge courtyard He Luotu was in.
At this moment, someone from the crowd suddenly shouted, “Eh? Where’s Old Zheng? Where’s Zheng Huawei that sly fellow?”
“Right, where’s Zheng Huawei? Why is everyone but him here? I understand now, Zheng Huawei must be the traitor! Brothers from headquarters, don’t let him get away!”
“Damn it. I knew Zheng Huawei wouldn’t have been able to escape from the military prison. It turns out that brat turned on us. What a dog! We can’t let him off!”
Hearing their cries, the high-tier beastmaster suddenly narrowed his eyes and turned his head abruptly and looked towards a corner of the courtyard.
Several extremely powerful auras suddenly rose from that corner, and his heart trembled.
“Hahahaha, you Freemason scum! You’ve been deceiving the people and causing trouble everywhere. Today is the day you die!”
A laugh rang out. Everyone saw Zheng Huawei riding on a huge deep blue dragon, suddenly rising from the corner of the courtyard and flying towards them.
That deep blue icy dragon had an overwhelming presence, forcing all the nearby subdued beasts to prostrate in fear, not daring to make the slightest move.
“T-th-that… That is actually an epic-quality subdued beast!”
“How is that possible!? How did Zheng Huawei have an epic-quality subdued beast!?”
Everyone was astonished, especially the Xinjing branch members who were familiar with Zheng Huawei. They simply couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
Zhang Che suddenly rubbed his face, revealing another appearance and laughed loudly, “Hahahaha, scum of the Freemasons, Zheng Huawei has been waiting for you in the ground six feet under! Don’t worry, this master will send you to see him now!”
Done speaking, the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon under him suddenly opened his mouth and breathed out stream after stream of deep blue fog, immediately freezing several beastmasters, along with their subdued beasts. They fell to the ground and shattered into countless ice shards.
The Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon was an incredibly powerful creature, even among epic-quality exotic beasts. How could these lowly pawns possibly hope to withstand his attacks?
“Hurry, retreat to the main courtyard. This fellow is too strong; we’re no match for him!”
Everyone present was astonished. They didn’t dare stay behind and stand against him. They scurried their way out to the main courtyard.
——
Huang Juyun stood on the Metal Tyrant’s broad shoulder, looking at the Freemason headquarters with narrowed eyes. He waved his hand and commanded the many squadrons of military elites, “Soldiers, we can’t allow a single evil cult member to escape from us! If anyone resists, kill without mercy!”
“Yes, General!” the military’s elite troops responded in unison. They directed their respective subdued beasts and closed in on the Freemason headquarters, not leaving an opening unguarded.
The huge battle to eradicate the Freemasons had finally begun!