A group composed of fifteen men armed with modern machine guns, fifteen soul evolvers above level 25, and a war tank were in charge of guarding the north gate of the main base located in the central district of the city of Beijing.
This team was in charge of dealing with the straggling zombies that somehow managed to slip between the various patrol points that the government and the military had placed 20 kilometers around the entire base. However, it was rare to see a zombie these days so their main function was to make sure that in case a survivor or soul evolver appeared looking for help they would not cause problems.
Staring at the huge floating city that was even bigger than the base itself slowly moving away and about to disappear into the horizon, the leader of the group who happened to be a war veteran nodded reverently, "Looks like something big is about to happen."
One of the soul evolvers replied, "Ah, Xiao Mei told me that when she took that little mutant beast she took as a pet for a walk she saw Commander Chen organizing some troops today morning. I think our Leader will probably take down someone big this time, else he would have no reason to go personally."
"Xiao Mei saw Commander Chen in person and didn't fall surrendered at his feet? Hahaha, you should be thankful to heaven, Luo Lei!"
"Hahahaha!"action
"You little sons of your mothers..." The soul evolver named Luo Lei wanted to cry but had no tears to shed as he looked at his teammates.
"But, what Luo Lei said is reasonable." The old team leader sighed, "I don't know how big it will be this time since people like us are pretty far down the giant pyramid, but something tells me that many things will change after today."
The group of thirty watched in silence and with somewhat reverent expressions until the giant city disappeared into the distant horizon.
This group of soldiers was not the only one, many other groups of soldiers and even more survivors stood watching the sky for a long period of time before resuming their daily duties; some had to go to work, others would accompany their children to school where they would not only be taught knowledge of the old world but also instructed in the ways of magic and martial arts, and others would simply go for a walk through the many commercial streets.
Standing on top of the central building of the base, Wu Yijun's father patted the shoulder of the person next to him after the floating city disappeared, "Don't worry... By next time it will be your time to shine."
Bai Delan smiled bitterly as he nodded, "With Zemin there I'm not too worried about Linger's safety nor Qi'er's... It's just that I feel a bit useless now."
Wu Yijun's father looked at Bai Zemin's father with an expression of understanding, yet he shook his head, "For better or worse, you are already a Third Order soul evolver while I am still stuck at the top of the Second Order... But don't worry, even if Zemin didn't take you this time he surely will in the future."
"I hope so..." Bai Delan sighed, "I don't want to be a useless father of a family, no offense."
"Haha, don't worry about it... Also, Delan, remember that with your son's ability it's only a matter of time and patience before our levels and Orders skyrocket. Isn't your wife proof of that?"For the war to come, Bai Zemin decided to leave his father Bai Delan behind.
This was because Bai Delan's level had stagnated at 135 and he was finding it difficult to level up. Of course, this was because the number of high level enemies was no longer particularly high in China which meant that everyone required a greater amount of time to level up.
The problem was precisely that Bai Zemin could not afford to waste something as precious as time, and since his father had neither the sufficient level nor the purity of Soul Power required to ensure his safety in what was to come, Bai Zemin decided to leave him behind this time.
"I hope so..." Bai Delan sighed again, and as he looked towards the horizon he pleaded in his heart, 'Zemin, please take care of them... And take care of yourself.'
* * *
Hero City, Sky Emperor Palace.
"In summary, the number of soul evolvers above level 150 here in Hero City add up to around 32 while those below level 150 are over 100." Standing under the stairs leading to the throne in the throne room, Chen He reported everything to Bai Zemin with a serious expression on his face.
Sitting on the Throne of Creation, Bai Zemin stroked the hair of Bai Shilin who refused to move from his lap, "Chen He, you really managed to set everything up in such a way that none of our bases lost much in terms of defense even though we took out most of the Third Order soul evolvers that were protecting each territory... You've grown up a lot."
"I don't know if you're praising me or insulting me..." Chen He smiled wryly after hearing Bai Zemin's words, "It wasn't easy though... But it wasn't impossible to do either. Compared to what you have done this is nothing."
"Don't put yourself down." Bai Zemin rebuked in a serious voice as he looked at him, "Chen He, I know you compare yourself with me.. and I won't be a hypocrite, but I hope you'll stop doing that. I consider you a friend, and have for some time now. You don't need to compare yourself to your friends, do you? You're one of the most talented soul evolvers I've met so far, even above Angelo from my personal point of view."
"Friends..." Chen He stared at him in surprise as he did not expect Bai Zemin to say such words. However, he suddenly chuckled and nodded as if it was natural, "Of course... We have been fighting together for more than two years and the tip of our spears point to the same target."
Then, Chen He suddenly raised a finger and pointed, "However, even if we are friends you don't need to lie to me to make me feel better."
"Lie?" Bai Zemin looked at him with genuine surprise, "What do you mean?"
"Angelo has been able to deal with Fourth Order dragons by himself for months now, but I doubt I'd be able to accomplish such a thing on my own." Chen He sighed and his shoulders dropped, "Fighting Fourth Order soul evolvers below level 210 should be fine but beyond that and my head would surely roll in the sky."
Bai Zemin stared at him for a few seconds before closing his eyes and slowly saying, "Chen He, give time to time and you'll see... After this war, we can have this conversation again if you want, and then we'll see if you can still keep saying the same thing."
Chen He chuckled as he nodded. He turned to leave as he said without looking back, "You've always liked to act mysterious haven't you? Ever since university. Be thankful this isn't a light novel or the readers would want to kill you."
Bai Zemin was dumbfounded looking at Chen He's withdrawal. His hand that had been frozen went back to work on the hair of the little princess in his lap as he muttered to himself, "This guy has gotten pretty good with words..."
Suddenly, Bai Zemin thought of something and tried to act calm as he asked feigning composure, "Little princess, you know you can always be honest with me don't you?"
"Em. Shilin knows." The beautiful little girl nodded as she combed the doll in her hands the same way Bai Zemin was combing her hair.
Bai Zemin held his breath as he asked softly, "In that case, is there any guy that Shilin thinks is nice and likes him?"
"Shilin thinks father is beautiful and I like him very much!"
"No... don't say beautiful but handsome... But, anyone else besides the father?"
"Grandpa!"
"... Besides grandpa?"
"Mmm... Uncle Wu often gives me candy on the sly!"
"Wu Keqian, you little bastard... Just wait until I tell your wife about this."
"Eh? What does Aunt Sun have to do with it, father? She'll scold Uncle Wu for giving Shilin candy?"
"About that..."
As Bai Zemin began to worry that his princess might like some man since she couldn't be considered a baby despite her real age, Hero City took to the skies and moved in a westerly direction.
Although Hero City had enough energy to move for two years all over the Earth at high speeds, Bai Zemin who had no way to feed the city's core with Higher Existence Soul Stones decided not to push too hard and save as much as possible.
Actually, everyone was puzzled as to why he took out Hero City. From everyone's point of view, including Lilith and Fire Sorrow, the wise and prudent thing to do would be to save Hero City only for times of emergency since replenishing the consumed energy would be a big headache.
However, Bai Zemin who knew the truth did not think like them.
The universe could come to an end in less than 5 years, what was the point of saving now? He might as well give it his all and use everything he had to speed up his empowerment.
If in 5 years everything would be over, Bai Zemin felt there was no need to think too far ahead. For now, his next goal was obvious to the 200 or so people who came to Hero City with him for this operation.
* * * * * * *
Really thank you very much to all those who send gifts to the novel and support with valuable Golden Tickets. I hope we can all keep it up <3