Chapter 558: The Demon’s Methods [Two in One]
Edited by Aelryinth
“What’s going on over there? Why are there so many military personnel closing in on us? Are they arresting some major criminals?”
Although the nearby civilians had been evacuated for the military’s sudden operation, the ones further away came out and started watching the spectacle.
Joining and watching from the crowd was the nature of the Chinese. Despite knowing it was dangerous, many people would still do so happily!
“Who knows? But since the military is making such a drastic move, they must be here to arrest some big time criminal. I have long thought something was not right here. There are always some sketchy people coming and going in this run-down neighborhood. It’d be a wonder if there was nothing strange going on.”
“Right, right, I thought so, too! This place had been around since the beginning of the new age; since when did you see any experts with the strength of mid-tier beastmasters and above around? But in recent months, I started feeling there seemed to be many powerful people settling down here. I wouldn’t believe it if you said there was nothing wrong.”
“Tch, your stories are really great. Nothing but hindsight. If you had really noticed many unfamiliar experts coming and going a long time ago, wouldn’t you have reported this matter already? You had to wait until now to tell us?”
Some people scoffed at those Hindsight Zhuge Liangs in disdain. {TLN: Zhuge Liang was a Chinese politician, military strategist, writer, engineer and inventor, recognized as the most accomplished strategist of his era. It’s like saying Hindsight Hannibal.}
The unknown experts hiding here had done things very carefully. How could ordinary civilians possibly notice anything strange? All of them were only boasting!
What nonsense about sensing the auras of mid-tier beastmasters! Hah!
Commoners, and even most low-tier beastmasters, were unable to sense the auras of those who were stronger than them. Really, one didn’t have to pay taxes to boast. They really bragged about whatever they could!
A bunch of people started discussing the commotion, making the atmosphere very lively.
Of course, watching the spectacle was one thing. No one dared to get close to the area over there, afraid that they might get caught up in the affair if they were careless and lose their lives. It would be too late for regrets then!
Suddenly, some well-informed people who had obtained accurate information from gods-knew-where, started discussing within the crowd, immediately drawing the attention of those around them.
“Ai, let me tell you. The military is here to raid an evil cult this time. I heard this is where their headquarters is located! The military only found this out after investigating for a long time, and today they are launching a swift attack on them, aiming to destroy these evil cult members thoroughly to prevent them from causing more destruction everywhere!”
“What? Headquarters of an evil cult?”
“No wonder! I was thinking why the people coming and going around here seemed a little strange. It turns out these people are damn cult members! Not only do they cause destruction everywhere, they also spread propaganda. It’s good that the military is dealing with them!”
The crowd erupted once more.
——
Every member inside the Freemason headquarters was mobilized. They Summoned out their subdued beasts, and defended against the attacks of the military experts.
For a period of time, all kinds of subdued beasts were Summoned, appearing either in the sky or on the ground, filling up the area. Killing sounds and screams rang out everywhere.
He Luotu was watching the various subdued beasts that had appeared everywhere with a dark expression. Cold, sharp light flashed in his eyes, hatred towards Yang Sen in his heart.
It was all that coward’s fault. He didn’t want to die in Jingzhou, so he brought everyone back to headquarters while letting a military agent infiltrate them. In the end, the headquarters’ location was exposed. Even ten thousand deaths weren’t enough to excuse his mistake!
However, it was already too late to talk about all that. Even if he killed Yang Sen now, along with all the Xinjing branch members, the situation would not change!
The Freemasons he had built up bitterly with months of efforts would be severely damaged, at the very least. Not only that, it would be difficult for him to keep this body he was possessing. He would have no choice but to abandon it in the end!
“The great plans of us demons are actually ruined. Damn it all!” He Luotu cursed fiercely. With a wave of his hand, several subdued beasts with powerful auras appeared around him. He mounted one of the flying creatures and yelled out loud, “All high-tier beastmasters, break through the enemies’ encirclement with me at the center! Force our way out!”
Since things had progressed to this point, He Luotu didn’t harbor any hopes of getting lucky. He knew the best choice he could make right now was to preserve their strength and try his best to escape with all the high-tier beastmasters, then plan their next moves afterwards.
Although his efforts had been wasted, He Luotu didn’t feel too sad about it. In any case, most of the people in headquarters were brainwashed, and many of them had restrictions on their souls. Even if they were arrested by the military in the end, they wouldn’t leak any important intelligence.
Moreover, he had never told anyone about his most secret plans. Even if someone was able to undo the restrictions he had planted and made the captives spill everything they knew regarding the Freemasons, it didn’t matter too much.
In the end, the military would only determine the Freemasons were an ordinary cult, and wouldn’t link it to his identity as a demon.
When he thought of things this way, He Luotu no longer felt much pity inside. At the most he’d hide himself for a period of time if everyone here died, and he could develop in another city. It really wasn’t too big of a deal.
After arriving on Mercury, he realized there wasn’t much here, except humans. If he had the time, he could develop another batch of subordinates loyal to him, including more high-tier beastmasters.
At that thought, He Luotu felt things were acceptable. In any case, what he needed to do right now was to break through the encirclement. He didn’t believe the military could stop him here.
However, He Luotu had not imagined that his identity had already been exposed. The military knew he was an enemy from the demon realm who had infiltrated the human world, and thus viewed this matter with utmost importance! They wanted to keep him here, no matter what!
At the same time, there was another powerful foe he had not expected inside the Freemason headquarters, emerging right in the middle of his forces and going on a killing spree!
——
At that moment, a few subordinates suddenly came running up in a sorry state, crying out in a panic, “Not good, President! There really was a spy from the military among the people Yang Sen brought back!…”
He Luotu was enraged. He berated them, “What are you panicking for!? If there’s an enemy, can’t you just get rid of him?! Why are you running to me?!”
One of the panic-stricken subordinates explained, “President, the spy is too strong. He has more than one epic-quality subdued beast; the brothers there can’t stop him at all, and many people were already killed by him!”
The subordinates all thought, -Get rid of him? You think it’s that easy? He’s a high-tier beastmaster with epic-quality subdued beasts! He’d be a top-rate expert in the Freemasons; us mere foot soldiers, how can we possibly be a match for him?-
“What?! More than one epic-quality subdued beast!?” He Luotu was shocked at the news. He didn’t expect the military to have such great plans for the Freemasons, sending such a powerful warrior to infiltrate their base. It seemed like his decision earlier was the correct one: he had to leave this place as soon as possible!
Done thinking, He Luotu immediately ordered his men with a fierce expression, “Gather everyone and focus on resisting this person. I’ll go get rid of him when I can find the time to. Hurry!”
Although the subordinates knew their President was pretty much asking them to sacrifice themselves, none of them dared to go against his words. They could only brace themselves, turn around, and lead their group of subdued beasts with mixed strengths to fight Zhang Che.
Meanwhile, He Luotu quickly gathered a group of high-tier beastmasters and brought together all his high-end forces, forcefully charging their way through one point in the military’s encirclement, trying to break through in one go so as many of them as possible could escape.
Even if all these subordinates couldn’t escape in the end, He Luotu didn’t care at all as long as the body he had possessed got away safely.
Not every one of the dozen or so of his high-tier beastmasters owned an epic-quality subdued beast. However, by bringing them together, they were a mighty force nonetheless! Dozens of powerful subdued beasts rose to the skies at the same time, flying in the same direction and forcing their way out of the military’s encirclement.
Very quickly, the soldiers at the military’s first defensive line were struggling to stop them.
Although the soldiers were all experts specially chosen for this mission, they were up against all the guards of the entire Freemason headquarters. It couldn’t be helped that their forces were spread out. With so many powerful subdued beasts suddenly making a rush, the cult members quickly forced an opening!
Huang Juyun, who was overseeing the battle from behind, immediately understood the infiltrated demon was trying to escape, no matter the cost. He quickly yelled out and directed his Metal Tyrant to charge forward. “Not good. The enemies’ top executives are trying to escape! Come with me. Don’t let them get away!”
Although the Metal Tyrant wasn’t a speedy beast, it wasn’t slow in such a terrain, either. The huge creature rushed forward, and swung its thick arm. Countless metal spikes appeared out of nowhere, shooting at the group of Freemason experts.
Before the arrival of the new age, this area was covered in high-rise buildings. There was no lack of all kinds of metals in the ruins below. It was very advantageous for the Metal Tyrant to display its powers here. The effects were clear to the eyes.
At the same time, the group of high-tier beastmasters who were escorting Huang Juyun closely directed their own subdued beasts to attack the same spot.
For a period of time, various lights flashed in that area, on the ground or in the sky. Even the sunlight from the sky couldn’t hide them.
Those were the elemental and skill attacks of the powerful subdued beasts. When unleashed together, it was truly extremely eye-catching!
—
Inside the Freemason headquarters, Zhang Che had also quickly gotten rid of a bunch of foot soldiers. He led his army of powerful subdued beasts and pets and charged out, chasing after He Luotu’s group.
“Want to run away? Have you asked my children?!” Zhang Che laughed out loud. With a wave of his hand, all his epic-quality subdued beasts and pets struck at the same time, using their respective skills. Many lights flashed, all of them hurtling towards He Luotu’s position.
The moment Zhang Che’s pets and subdued beasts made their moves, He Luotu realized his true identity, since he had read his basic information. He immediately shouted in the air, “Damn it, it’s actually you! I’ll definitely kill you one day!”
At the same time, a bright line shone in He Luotu’s eyes. A mind-confusing force suddenly spread out from him in all directions. He wanted to force an opening through the encirclement with a mental attack.
Alas, Zhang Che knew some of He Luotu’s background. Before he could activate his attack, Zhang Che shouted, “Watch out, everyone! This guy has a method to attack others mentally! Move back!”
Zhang Che’s timely warning saved the lives of many soldiers.
After hearing his warning, the soldiers retreated one after another, while commanding their subdued beasts to tighten their encirclement, preventing He Luotu from using the opportunity to escape.
A formless, colorless ripple quickly spread from He Luotu. However, only the subdued beasts of some soldiers were left inside his attack’s range.
Although those subdued beasts didn’t dodge the mental attack, they had very high resistances against such attacks to begin with. Their attacks were interrupted, but they didn’t suffer any serious injuries from He Luotu’s attack.
A tiny opening in the encirclement was forced open, but was immediately closed again.
He Luotu’s mental attack wasn’t without limit. After failing in his attempt, he could only stop helplessly and lead his men to continue fighting their way forward berserkly.
For a period of time, the crowd who were observing the spectacle from afar only saw all kinds of powerful subdued beasts fighting in a mess, be it on the ground or in the sky. Lights flashed, and rumbling noises rang out nonstop.
The visual and audio effects left the heads of those who were watching spinning. They had never seen such a grand spectacle in their lives before.
Fortunately, they understood the battlefield ahead was extremely dangerous. Although they wanted to get a clearer look, they backed off some distance subconsciously, afraid of being caught up in the terrifying attacks!
—
Huang Juyun was commanding the battle from the middle. He was incredibly gratified to see Zhang Che killing his way out from the back of the Freemason headquarters and warning the soldiers to dodge He Luotu’s mental attack. A faint smile showed on his face, and he said loudly, “Everyone, keep in mind not to be greedy for merit and risk yourselves to advance! You only have to keep the enemies contained here and not let them escape!”
In terms of overall strength, the military held an overwhelming advantage. As long as they weren’t greedy and kept the encirclement tight, they would definitely end up the victorious party in this battle!
He Luotu’s expression became even darker when he saw the path ahead was blocked. Wanting to break through was incredibly difficult. A dangerous cold glint shone in his eyes, and a terrifying aura quickly spread from his body.
Suddenly, killing intent surged in his eyes. He cried out loud, “Explode!”
His cry was like the rumbling of thunder, making the Freemason top executives tremble. All of them seemed to have forgotten to direct their subdued beasts to attack at the same time.
However, the expressions of the military officers, as well as Zhang Che,sank at the same time.
In the next moment, they saw the eyes of the Freemason top executives’ turning bloody red. It was like they had lost all rationality, leading their respective subdued beasts to charge forward without fear of death, not caring about the danger ahead.
Zhang Che felt a chill in his heart. He hurriedly shouted, “Everyone retreat!”
Alas, his reminder was a little too late.
The dozen or so Freemason high-tier beastmasters had led their respective subdued beasts and rushed to the encirclement perimeter, and were mixed up with the soldiers and their subdued beasts who were keeping up the encirclement.
At this moment, a faint ripple appeared from the bodies of those Freemason top executives and their subdued beasts.
In the next instant, intense light shone from the bodies of all the subdued beasts of the Freemason top executives, exploding out!
The sounds of the violent explosions converged together, like a nuclear warhead was detonated.
Intense light gathered at one spot, making even the sun in the sky lose its luster. The whole space was covered in intense white light, blinding everyone temporarily.
He Luotu’s heart was filled with hatred. He had actually ordered those beastmasters to detonate their own subdued beasts at the same time through his mind control! A terrifying shockwave quickly spread in all directions from the detonation points.
Huang Juyun’s expression had finally changed. He had shut his eyes to avoid the intense light of the explosion, but he quickly yelled out, “Retreat! Quickly retreat from this area!”
——
Zhang Che had immediately ordered his subdued beasts and pets to turn around and avoid the detonations. After he felt the shockwave coming from behind, he was so scared he quickly recalled his subdued beasts and pets with a wave of his hand, then ordered the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon to fly away.
He Luotu was truly a demon. His methods were actually so cruel, forcing his subordinates and their respective subdued beasts to detonate themselves without a care for their lives, all just to force an opening in the encirclement for him to escape!
It seemed like they had underestimated the danger of this demon!