The First Order

Ren Xiaosu was only able to go head-to-head against the terrifying creeper vine by relying on the armor. Without it, Ren Xiaosu would have found it very difficult to handle the inescapable spikes on the feelers.

But the armor always had a flaw—limited power.

It was way too slow to solely depend on the bioenergy of the human body to recharge its energy. Moreover, the nanomachines were too small in size, so the amount of energy they could store was also extremely limited.

Therefore, Ren Xiaosu’s armor was unable to sustain much longer after a lengthy and intense battle. Thus, he told Zhou Yingxue that she only had one chance.

If they failed this time, they could only continue fleeing for their lives and try their best to get out of this place quickly.

Although he still had the steam locomotive as his trump card, it was not an omnipotent solution. Ren Xiaosu was worried the massive steam locomotive would get entangled in the vines and end up stuck.

“We’re probably still about a 100 meters away from its roots.” Ren Xiaosu turned around and said, “Zhou Qi, can you still continue fighting? I need you to protect the others here while I send Zhou Yingxue in.”

Zhou Qi laughed and spat blood on the ground. “It’s rare that I can get to be the hero, so how can I turn you down? Don’t worry about me and go on. I won’t let anyone die before I die! I’m still waiting to go back so that Boss Luo can bestow Qing Zhen’s female secretary to me!”

Luo Lan ribbed, “That’s all you’re good for!”

Ren Xiaosu and Zhou Qi had never met each other before. But after today’s adversity, they could be considered comrades. As such, he developed a great impression of Zhou Qi.

“Let’s go!” Ren Xiaosu continued rushing forward. Zhou Yingxue let go of Li Ran and Luo Lan’s hands and followed Ren Xiaosu closely.

The moment Zhou Yingxue released her hand, the dense mass of vines swept towards Luo Lan and the others like they had detected new enemies. Meanwhile, Zhou Qi remained seated where he was and closed his eyes. Then a cerulean glow appeared over Zhou Qi’s body and the vines that went near them instantly withered!

Within a radius of 10 meters, none of the vines were able to approach them for a while!

However, Luo Lan realized that Zhou Qi’s face was paling. He sat down beside Zhou Qi and started feeling a little melancholic. Ever since he learned of the existence of supernatural beings, he had been extremely envious of them.

Luo Lan’s willpower was by no means inferior to others, but why was he unable to awaken his power and become a supernatural being?

At this moment, Luo Lan could only bemoan himself for being useless and watch helplessly as Zhou Qi started to overexert his mental strength to protect everyone around him.

If Luo Lan were also a supernatural being, and they really died this time, he could at least proudly tell Zhou Qi that he had died with dignity when they both met in the Underworld.

But unfortunately, he was not a supernatural being.

When Ren Xiaosu and Zhou Yingxue were still about 50 meters away from the roots, Zhou Qi finally could not bear it anymore. Within the radius of 10 meters, some of the vines managed to slip through his defenses, and a spiked feeler stabbed at his heart without mercy.

Zhou Qi could sense everything that was happening and knew he was probably on his way to meet his maker. To be honest, he himself was unsure if he had led a worthwhile life.

‘Qing Zhen, I’ve fulfilled my promise to you.’ After saying this in his head, Zhou Qi was prepared to die.

However, a surprising turn of events took place. A Qing Consortium soldier stepped in front of Zhou Qi and let the spike pierce his body. Then he grabbed ahold of the vine with his arm so the spike would not be able to hurt Zhou Qi behind him!

When the Qing Consortium soldier got pierced through by the spike, his ruptured organs started bleeding. Blood was flowing out of his wounds and mouth.

Luo Lan was stunned. “You…”

The Qing Consortium soldier smiled at Luo Lan and said, “Take care, boss.”

His head drooped limply.

Zhou Qi protected everyone by overexerting his willpower while the Qing Consortium soldiers abided by their duties and guarded Zhou Qi and Luo Lan with their lives.

It might be easy for one to say they were not afraid of death, but how many people in the world could really put those words into action?

In the hot and blazing afternoon sun, Luo Lan felt like something was stuck in his throat. This choking feeling was making him a little uncomfortable.

And then another Qing Consortium soldier died in front of Zhou Qi as he blocked a vine attack for him. It was the platoon commander this time.

He smiled at Luo Lan and said with his dying breath, “As the platoon commander, I couldn’t even match the conscientiousness of my subordinates. I’m really ashamed that he had to die before me….”

The platoon commander fell silent.

Luo Lan knelt on the ground with tears streaming down his face. However, he could not even let out a whimper.

Suddenly, Luo Lan fainted. When the Qing Consortium soldiers rushed forward to check on him, one of them was bewildered by what he saw. “Boss’s body seems to be covered in a mild golden glow, or am I seeing things?”

…

Ren Xiaosu did not know anything about what was happening behind him. He just kept mechanically slashing at the creeper vines around him.

When the nanomachines on his body started “dying” and falling off, Ren Xiaosu immediately recalled them back into his body to prevent them from becoming completely “dead.”

For the remaining 30 meters, he would have to use his own body to resist those vines.

As Zhou Yingxue silently followed Ren Xiaosu, she looked at the raging vines in front of her. However, none of the vines could threaten her because all of them were intercepted by Ren Xiaosu.

She looked at the young man’s back. Due to the strong wind stirred up by the moving vines, her hair and clothes were a little messy.

Zhou Yingxue suddenly said behind Ren Xiaosu, “Master, I really am a little jealous of Yang Xiaojin.”

As Ren Xiaosu could not hear her clearly, he shouted back without even looking, “What did you say?”

“It’s nothing.” Zhou Yingxue said with a smile, “I said you’re very handsome.”

Ren Xiaosu laughed heartily. “You’ve got good taste!”

Now, they were just five meters away from the roots. Ren Xiaosu kept slashing at the vines in front of him, then forced open a temporary passageway for Zhou Yingxue with four “fours.”

He turned around and roared at Zhou Yingxue, “You only have one chance!”

With that, he dragged Zhou Yingxue and tried his best to throw her into the passageway where the creeper vine’s roots were located.

Then Ren Xiaosu got overwhelmed by the vines.

The creeper vine’s roots started emitting a green, fluorescent light before bursting with light in an instant!

The stronghold fell silent. This was a long-awaited peace for Stronghold 61. As the creeper vines stopped moving and eating humans, the wind also seemed to have fallen silent for a moment.

Then the vines in the stronghold started withering. Ren Xiaosu fought his way out of the vines that had ensnared him and quietly watched all this. None of the vines were attacking him anymore!

But it was different from what Ren Xiaosu had expected. He had thought there would not be much change to the vines after Zhou Yingxue gained control.

But he could see with his naked eye countless beads of green light particles converging here from all directions. The light particles were traveling along the vines to where the roots were!

It looked as though… countless energy particles were converging on a single point, with the vines that had lost this source of “energy” shriveling into firewood.

And it turned out that Zhou Yingxue was the one gathering all the energy.