“Base City 3, I think.”
“My son signed up for Xingyue Martial Arts Academy in Base City 3. The benefits are quite good, and it’s one of the top ten martial arts academies.”
Mother Su said this with a smile, looking toward where Su Aoxue was sitting.
However, Mother Shen was slightly surprised. “Your family is going to Base City 3 as well?”
“Our Yan also plans to go to Base City 3. It seems the academy he signed up for is also Xingyue Martial Arts Academy.”
“In that case, did you two brothers discuss this beforehand?”
Mother Shen couldn’t help but look at Su Aoxue and Shen Yan.
However, at that moment, Su Aoxue looked at Shen Yan with a confused expression and asked in a low voice, “Wait, you’re going to Xingyue Martial Arts Academy too? Didn’t you say you were going to Jiuquan Martial Arts Academy?”
To this, Shen Yan responded with a smile, “Me? I feel like the competition at Jiuquan Martial Arts Academy is too high, so I chose one with a slightly lower ranking.”
“Is it really not because I changed my mind at the last minute that you decided to go to Xingyue Martial Arts Academy together?”
Su Aoxue couldn’t help but frown while looking at Shen Yan.
He had his reasons for going to Xingyue Martial Arts Academy. If Shen Yan had changed his school choice because of him, he would feel terrible about it.
After all, Shen Yan’s first choice had been Jiuquan Martial Arts Academy, the top-ranked school in the entire Base City.
“Of course not. To me, any martial arts academy is pretty much the same.”
Seeing Shen Yan shake his head slightly, Su Aoxue still didn’t believe him.
“You guy!”
After thinking about it, Su Aoxue sighed helplessly.
Shen Yan’s behavior as a Martial Arts Fanatic was purely due to his single-mindedness.
Even though he seemed to have gained some wisdom now, the things Shen Yan had done in the past were deeply etched in Su Aoxue’s mind.
Therefore, Su Aoxue knew he couldn’t sway Shen Yan once the other had made a decision.
“Just don’t regret it.”
After leaving those words, Su Aoxue chose to remain silent.
However, what the two of them didn’t know was that Su Muqing, who was very close to them, had already overheard their entire conversation without missing a single word.
As a result, a question arose in Su Muqing’s heart.
‘Huh? Why does Brother Shen want to follow my brother to Xingyue Martial Arts Academy?’
‘Is it because the bond between them is too strong?’
While Su Aoxue and Shen Yan were discussing, their parents began to discuss their rental plans after arriving at Base City 3.
Based on their discussion, there was a high probability that the two families would first rent a place together for a transition period.
However, as they talked, the parents all sighed in unison.
Mother Su looked out the window at the flickering yellow glow with a trace of melancholy. “We’re talking so positively now; I just hope it can actually be realized…”
At the same time, her hand under her skirt couldn’t help but clench tightly. Her eyes looked as if she were recalling something from the past, and her mood turned somber.
“It will be realized, Sister Min. Big Brother Su saved my life back then, and I will protect your family too!”
Father Shen said, patting his chest.
Su Aoxue looked at the expression on his mother’s face, and a pang of sadness flashed through his heart.
‘Don’t worry, Mom. After this crisis, I will never let us be homeless again!’
This wasn’t the first time their family had lost the city they lived in and experienced a life of displacement.
……
“Section Chief, they aren’t attacking. What does this mean?”
“It’s as if they’re waiting for something. Is the timing not right?”
The observer, staring intently at the Life Monitoring Instrument, spoke with confusion, a bad premonition rising in his heart.
“Timing? You’re right. It really does look like they’re waiting for the right moment,” Xiong Ye said irritably.
The muscles in his right arm bulged as he gripped the combat knife in his hand.
If any Elite-grade Gray Mist Creature outside the mist entered visual range or showed the slightest inclination to attack, he would not hesitate to rush forward and intercept it outside the city.
Just as the atmosphere was becoming heavy, a voice suddenly appeared. “What’s the situation now?”
It was Mayor Chen Xun, who had arrived late. However, Mayor Chen’s face was also filled with extreme worry.
“A Commander-level Mist Ghost is likely about to appear.”
Xiong Ye looked at the monitor on the side.
Mayor Chen also frowned and looked over.
“Can we handle it?”
“Handle it? That’s easy to say, but it’s a Commander-rank! With one slap, this pathetic barrier of ours will shatter!”
However, just as Xiong Ye said this, a woman’s voice suddenly rang out from behind Mayor Chen. “If there’s only one, there might still be a chance.”
“Huh?”
Such arrogant words caused Xiong Ye to instinctively shift his position to look behind Chen Xun. He saw a mysterious person wearing a black cloak that hid her face, standing behind the Mayor.
“And you are?”
Chen Xun explained at that moment, “She is an S-rank Martial Artist I invited.”
“!”
Xiong Ye glanced at the mysterious cloaked figure, then looked at Chen Xun and couldn’t help but say, “So you weren’t talking to me just now?”
To this, Chen Xun said helplessly, “Can you handle a Commander-level Mist Ghost?”
“I…”
Xiong Ye was momentarily speechless, and the atmosphere became a bit awkward.
“Dammit, I really thought you were telling me to go fight a Commander-rank,” Xiong Ye muttered, silently moving back to his original position.
After thinking for a moment, Xiong Ye changed the subject. “How is the evacuation plan going?”
“I was just about to say. President Meng has returned, and the situation is very unsatisfactory,” Mayor Chen said, his mood agitated. “He led a team to conduct reconnaissance in the east, west, and north of the city, and they found traces of Gray Mist Creatures in all of them. Our Base City is suspected of being gradually surrounded. But personnel preparation and the removal of supplies will still take some time. Time is too tight. Everything happened too fast. There was simply no time to prepare!”
“Then abandon some things! If more than two Commander-level Mist Ghosts show up, we’ll all die here!”
“You know that our city’s barrier can’t withstand an attack from a Commander-level Mist Ghost at all. It will be smashed into pieces in minutes!”
Twenty years ago, this Base City was just an underground mining base. The energy barrier it used could only withstand attacks from Elite-level Gray Mist Creatures.
After 20 years of development, it had gradually evolved into the medium-sized Base City it was today, with a population of 600,000.
To this, Mayor Chen said helplessly, “Don’t I know that? I just came here after finishing the rush. In about 10 minutes, the citizen evacuation can begin.”
Xiong Ye’s momentum faltered, and he quickly changed the subject again. “What about the evacuation? Where are we evacuating to?”
“The Transportation Tunnel!”
“Given the depth and defensive strength of the Transportation Tunnel, we should be able to barely deal with those Mist Wraiths and buy ourselves some time to escape.”
Hearing this, Xiong Ye was stunned for a moment. “The Transportation Tunnel? Didn’t that thing collapse 1 year ago during the Abyssal Creature invasion! It has never been repaired. Is it too late to repair it now?”
Mayor Chen shook his head. “The one in our Base City is abandoned, but there is a deserted Base City to the north. Because no one lives there, there’s a high probability that the tunnels are still intact.”
Twenty years ago, during the war, there were essentially no small Base Cities. Except for a few Core Base Cities, the rest were all mining bases.
For the safety of mineral transport, interconnected tunnels were excavated beneath every mining base using special alloy materials as support barriers.
Ordinary Abyssal Creatures could not destroy them, and the safety factor was extremely high.
However, as the war with the Gray Mist Creatures ended, overcapacity led to the gradual abandonment of surplus mining bases.
It was undeniable that even after being abandoned for many years, as long as they didn’t encounter a tide of Abyssal Creatures, the Transportation Tunnels could still be perfectly preserved.
And Abyssal Creatures only liked to attack living things on the surface.
This was why Mayor Chen proposed this idea.
The only drawback was that the tunnels were too small for cars to enter.
Mineral transport vehicles also couldn’t carry hundreds of thousands of people, and such a large number of people could easily attract an attack from Abyssal Creatures.
However, Chen Xun spoke with a firm tone. “As long as we can escape to that abandoned Base City in the north, there is hope! The breakout plan is already in place. Once the people have gathered and the food is ready, we can start the breakout. Of course, this is the worst-case scenario. If there’s only one Commander-level Gray Mist Creature, our city can still make it through this! We… might be able to take a gamble.”
As Mayor Chen spoke, he looked at Ling Feng.
If there was only one Commander-level Gray Mist Creature, they wouldn’t need to abandon the city and flee.
In his heart, there was still a sliver of hope. What if there was only one Commander-level Mist Ghost?
However, just as Mayor Chen had this thought, a powerful sense of heart-palpitating dread suddenly occurred.
Not only that, but the entire garrison on the city wall was affected by a mysterious power, experiencing varying degrees of anxiety.
“This feeling!”
Xiong Ye’s breathing hitched, and he quickly looked into the distance.
In the Gray Mist, a massive silhouette was faintly visible. Its size was actually taller than their city wall.
Standing there, it was like a small mountain — so large that they could observe it directly with the naked eye. Several crimson glows also appeared at the very top of that “small mountain.”
“Commander-rank!”
“It’s a Commander-rank!”
“It really appeared!”
The moment they saw this behemoth, the garrison on the entire city wall was no longer calm. Although they had long been mentally prepared…
“A disaster, a City-Destroying Level disaster. To witness such a massive existence with my own eyes… even if I die, it’ll be worth it!”
The powerful aura released by the Commander-level Mist Ghost made the garrison feel cold with fear even from a distance.
But the soldiers on the high wall were veterans, and they didn’t immediately fall into chaos.
With a loud thud, the landing of the Commander-level Mist Ghost caused countless clouds of Gray Mist to scatter in all directions.
It turned out that this behemoth, which was as large as a small mountain, had actually been floating forward at an ultra-low speed!
“No wonder there was no movement. It turns out to be a Mist Wraith with the ability to float.”
As Mayor Chen looked at the massive silhouette in the distance, a sense of realization flashed in his heart, along with regret for his own error in judgment.
Since a Commander-level Mist Ghost hadn’t appeared yet, Chen Xun had thought they still had plenty of time.
After all, the Commander-rank is the largest and slowest-moving rank among all Mist Wraiths.
However, Xiong Ye asked in confusion, “Why isn’t it attacking yet? What is this Commander-level Mist Ghost thinking?”
Mayor Chen looked at Ling Feng. Just as he was about to ask for her opinion, he heard her suddenly speak.
“There’s another one.”