CH 201

Although I didn't understand their meaning, the shocking feeling still came over me.

Toman keenly felt the invisible momentum contained within them, and the mocking words choked back, unable to help asking, "What do you mean?"

Rode smiled and simply changed the story behind these two sentences into a background they could understand.

Unexpectedly, he actually received two "flowers of humanity" because of this.

Is this also possible?

"Flowers of humanity" are very precious materials, generally difficult to obtain. Rode has only stored five so far.

Can I really move people with just a casual story?

But Toman refused to admit it.

"Ha, don't use made-up stories to deceive children."

"I don't believe it at all."

"I'm just here to make money, you don't need to give me a pep talk."

Rode smiled and said no more.

Dmitri then explained in more objective language the significance of the dark tide and this operation.

Under his explanation, Rode gradually understood everything.

As Toman said, the dark tide in the dark world is like a huge wave on the dark sea, and what Thalorian bears is just the aftermath on its edge.

The cause of the dark tide is unknown, and the study of it has always been one of the important subjects of the Thalorian Kingdom.

The existing main theories are "Monster Power Change Theory," "Spiritual Realm Change Theory," "Migration Theory," and "Civil War Theory."

But no matter which theory, they all acknowledge that Thalorian is protected by unique geographical advantages and will not directly confront the dark tide.

However, this time, the situation has changed somewhat, and a part of the dark tide has unexpectedly turned towards Thalorian, which is nestled in the corner of the Dead Ash Mountains.

The Investigation Corps and the White Tower simultaneously issued the highest level of warning to the royal city.

The royal city immediately convened the head of the Investigation Corps, Lester, the Lord of the White Tower, Meredis, the Great Prophet Iyeta, and the Chief of the General Hospital, Theodore, to discuss countermeasures.

Through a series of actions such as investigation, prophecy, stargazing, and exploration of the spiritual realm, they determined that detonating enough corrupt matter at a specific time and place could trigger a regional chain reaction, causing a change in the direction of the dark tide that was heading towards Thalorian.

The plan was thus determined.

Originally, the last person in the team was Theodore's magic guard, but for some reason, it was changed to Rode.

The plan was also delayed, making the time seem so tight.

"However," Dmitri said, "our operation is much smoother than expected. The two nodes are on both sides of the Eternal Seal, and we still have four hours, enough to complete the task."

Toman snorted coldly, "Don't think too highly of it, there will definitely be unexpected encounters."

No one responded.

For some reason, what he said was not particularly repulsive.

Soon, the three of them crossed the Eternal Seal and arrived at the first node.

It was a huge depression, with broken holes underneath.

Dmitri once again rang the Bell of Silence to cover Toman's use of spiritual energy fluctuations.

Toman sat down, pressed his hands to the ground, and a strong spiritual energy fluctuation emanated from him.

The air began to distort, and after a moment, accompanied by a loud explosion, a metal cylinder at least five stories high fell in front of Toman.

The scene was very shocking, and Rode thought to himself that Toman really had some skills.

He looked very tired at the moment, and it seemed that moving such a large object was also very difficult for him.

Dmitri wanted to carry him, but was refused.

"I can walk."

Toman staggered to his feet, but then fell to the ground.

Dmitri picked him up.

The two ran outside.

"Do we need to open it?" Rode asked.

"No need," Dmitri said calmly, "metal cannot withstand the influence of so much corrupt matter. The monsters will soon tear it apart."

Toman cursed, "Stop talking nonsense, run!"

The black mist began to roll, showing some kind of ominous sign, and in the distance, a low howl could be faintly heard, an uneasy feeling floating in the air.

Dmitri grabbed Rode and flew to the second node.

For some reason, the black mist in this area became very thin, and Rode's field of vision greatly extended.

He looked back and saw, in the infinite darkness in the distance, a deeper darkness was surging towards them, like a tsunami rising from the depths of the sea.

Suddenly, Dmitri dropped down sharply.

A huge black shadow flew over his head, its speed so fast that Rode had no time to react.

Then, more black shadows flew past, all heading towards the first node.

Dmitri quickly landed on the edge of the Eternal Seal and chose to travel on foot.

But the ground was also restless, and the wandering monsters became active and aggressive.

Dmitri's invisibility ability was dispelled by some unknown influence, and he had to release it repeatedly, finally attracting the attention of an acid monster.

It was a disastrous battle.The sudden attack of the acid monsters caught Dmitri off guard, and he didn't have time to use the Silent Bell. They tried to escape directly, but the commotion attracted more acid monsters, as well as a strange bird that fell from the sky.

Their speed was extremely fast, and no matter how Dmitri and Rode ran, they couldn't shake them off.

"Let's split up."

Dmitri said briefly, throwing Toman and the star disk onto Rode, then turning and running in the opposite direction.

He continuously activated his fire seed ability, shimmering invisibly, attracting a large number of monsters to follow him.

"Sure enough, something has marked him."

Toman murmured.

"When we leaped through the Eternal Seal, we were cursed by something."

Rode looked in the direction Dmitri had gone, the glow of his psychic power flashing continuously, proving that he had been caught up and the battle had begun.

The aftermath of the battle attracted more monsters, making their path forward empty.

"Dmitri..."

Rode hesitated.

"Will he survive?"

Toman sneered, "Of course he'll survive. He's known as the invincible of Iron Furnace City. Although he only has six fire seeds, he has already risen to the rank of a fourth-level combatant. His combat skills are superb, his thinking is agile, his tactics are varied, and his self-preservation ability is extremely strong. He has survived even more dangerous situations. Do you think it's you, this little greenhorn who hasn't even fully developed?"

Rode felt something cool dripping down his back, soaking a patch.

"You... are you crying?"

"Stop talking nonsense," Toman cursed angrily. "I'm a tough guy, I won't cry even if I die. Besides, I knew the mission would fail a long time ago. Everyone will die, so why cry?"

Rode fell silent for a moment and replied, "We won't die."

"Stop dreaming, we're doomed, the mission can't succeed... this way, the direction is off by a degree."

Toman held the star disk, pointing the way.

Rode ran with all his might.

But their good fortune didn't last long, and soon they encountered a group of long-nail demons.

These were abyssal creatures, proving that there was an abyssal rift nearby, but this was not their mission, and such a distant rift had no impact on the royal city.

Rode tried to shake them off, but the long-nail demons not only had a speed far beyond his, but they could also teleport short distances.

Rode could only stop and fight them.

But as soon as they clashed, he realized how tricky these long-nail demons, which Mephisto had slaughtered like pigs, were. The large number of wooden puppets he summoned were easily torn apart, and his thunderstone and spirit spear couldn't even hit them.

What's worse, the aftereffects of the Awakening seemed to be reaching their limit, and he felt a huge tearing sensation in his soul, followed by waves of dizziness.

No way, is the mission really going to fail?

Rode regretted deeply. He actually had a lot of trump cards, but he hadn't had a chance to use them.

No, it's impossible.

I'm sure I still have something.

Rode changed direction, turned around, and dashed out of the encirclement.

The rioting psychic power smashed under his feet like a battering ram, propelling his figure at an extremely fast speed to break away from the demons.

But with a few loud bangs, the long-nail demons teleported near him, and their huge nails stabbed at him.

Rode turned and dodged the attack again.

Suddenly, a gust of wind came from behind, and Rode didn't have time to dodge. He opened his psychic defense, turned and raised his hand to take the blow, and was thrown out a long way with the help of the force.

His arm was slightly painful, and the psychic defense couldn't block the attack completely. The long nail had left a big gash on his arm, blood dripping.

However, the pain made Rode's brain suddenly clear.

He remembered, he still had an item.

The Director's Whistle!

Although the phantom was not strong, its combat intelligence was very high, and it might be useful.

Rode immediately took out the whistle from the dream and blew it hard.

Suddenly, his psychic power surged into the whistle like a tide, and Rode had to use the Awakening twice to satisfy its strong suction.

The invisible psychic power fluctuated in the air, and after a long time, the phantom of the Director once again appeared.

It glanced at Rode, seeming to blame him, then waved its staff and smashed the head of a long-nail demon that had suddenly teleported over.

The phantom leaped into the midst of the demons, like a war god descending, the staff dancing up and down, and the heads of the demons burst one after another.

"How... how did you become so strong?"

Rode hesitated for a moment, suddenly understanding.

"Is it the Director again? He strengthened the whistle..."

The aftermath of the battle attracted nearby monsters, which was a good opportunity to continue on their way.

Rode immediately turned and ran, and he could already see the second node directly, just 10,000 yards away, a rugged mountain of broken stones.

Victory was within reach.

But at that moment, Rode felt a heat on his back, and a large amount of blood flowed down his neck.

What?

Rode immediately put down Toman, only to see two huge penetrating wounds in his chest and abdomen.

Toman's face was as pale as paper, and his tightly closed teeth had bitten off his lower lip.

With such serious injuries, Rode didn't even hear him cry out in pain.

"Sorry..."

He spat out a mouthful of blood, and bits of flesh spun in the blood."The mission... really failed."

Rode felt as if his heart had plunged into thorns, the intense pain distorting his voice: "Why didn't you call out?"

Toman's gaze dimmed.

"I... I was afraid of disturbing you, I wanted to endure... endure until the node, maybe there was still a chance, but... but I couldn't hold on anymore..."

"I'm sorry, I can't hold on..."

His tears fell in large drops, mingling with blood, seeping into the ground even faster.

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from "pawread dot com".

"We... we've failed again..."

"No." Suddenly, Rode spoke.

"We haven't failed."

Toman looked at him, a strange mix of hope and disbelief in his eyes, he whispered: "My spirit is dissipating, I'm about to die... Without the rot material, the mission is doomed to fail..."

"Move it now."

"60 tons of rot material, you can't take it with you."

"I can take it, I have spatial storage."

In an instant, a flash of lightning seemed to cross Toman's eyes: "Really... really?"

"Mhm."

Toman didn't ask any further, perhaps he had no strength left, or perhaps he feared a negative answer.

Spiritual energy rose around him, the fluctuations in the air became apparent, but his breath rapidly weakened, blood flowing from him like a torrent.

The battle in the distance intensified, the Grandmaster's phantom surrounded by countless monsters, yet it slaughtered all the approaching creatures like a war god.

The strong aftermath of the battle covered the spiritual fluctuations here, preventing any interference.

Dozens of seconds later, accompanied by a loud noise, a huge steel cylinder fell beside Rode.

Toman could no longer speak, only looking at him with hopeful eyes.

Rode approached the cylinder, and using the method the Grandmaster had once told him, he sliced his palm open, drawing a huge lightning symbol on the cylinder with his blood, just like the gesture he made.

Then, forming the hand sign, he focused his attention on the entire cylinder.

Closing his eyes, he sensed it in his mind.

The next moment, he felt lighter, as if something had been drawn out of his body.

Rode opened his eyes, the cylinder had disappeared, and in his mind, a massive object lay quietly in the dream.

On it was a lightning symbol, shining brightly.

This was the ritual mark, with this method, only one item could be sent in and out of the dream.

"It worked!"

Rode turned around with a smile.

"I told you, with me here, the mission won't fail."

But Toman's eyes were lifeless, his breath gone.

His spirit had dissipated, but what remained on his face was a smile.

Humanity's Flower +1

Rode turned silently and headed for the node.

The phantom vanished, and the horde of monsters was charging towards him.

Rode recklessly used [Awakening], the intense spiritual energy surging madly within his body, disappearing in an instant, then reappearing just as quickly.

His speed reached unprecedented heights, the wild spiritual energy propelling his body like lightning, even the flickering long-spiked demons couldn't catch up to him.

A distance of 10,000 yards, he covered in 30 seconds.

As Rode stepped onto the mountaintop, his body was nearly bursting apart, and no matter how he used [Awakening], the terrifying presence in the void didn't delay a single step.

But.

I have already succeeded.

Rode revealed a victorious smile, forming the hand sign, the 60-ton cylinder crashed down heavily onto the node.

The moment it appeared, the entire space's atmosphere changed.

Countless darkness surged towards this place, the long-spiked demon arriving first, piercing through his chest.

At the same time, the huge backlash from [Awakening] also erupted within his body.

Rode's vision darkened, and he finally lost consciousness.

—

Royal City.

Supreme Military Department.

Everyone involved in the plan was extremely tense.

The Investigative Legion, White Tower, and Observatory were all constantly monitoring the movements in the west.

Messengers shuttled back and forth in the hall, conveying any slight piece of news.