Forge a path to success.

Chapter 209 Chaos Intensifies
Chu Hengkong's heart tightened. At this moment, he was finally able to accurately assess the person's strength. His previous caution and inaction were the right choice, but in this chaotic battlefield, he had no other options at the moment.

Should we just keep fighting with the Thunder God and try to figure out a solution after we're out of the battle? Or find another excuse to lure the Warm Hawk out of the settlement? That won't work. If we can't figure out the enemy's strength, the initiative will always be in their hands.

Still not strong enough...!
"Miss Qingye! We can handle this. Please go find the gardener first!"

At this moment, Silal spoke from horseback, and Qingye, hidden in the mist, nodded and dissipated. Silal, holding a leaf, gave the assassin an encouraging look.

"Children, don't panic," the old man said. "Just fight! If you win, you live; if you lose, you die! The battlefield is that simple!"

"Grandpa, don't lecture us during the fight!" Qingxia said helplessly. "We're not new recruits anymore..."

"No, it's very helpful." Chu Hengkong took a deep breath. "Let's shift our target and take it out first. Miss Wen Yao, can we expect some fighting prowess from you?"

"I will naturally do my best."

Wen Yao exhaled, blowing out a wisp of colorful powder, like butterfly scales. The powder fell onto Zhou Lei's body, instantly forming complex runes and slowing its movements. Qing Xia seized the opportunity to use the gravity of the Qingkun Spear to suppress Zhou Lei, while Chu Hengkong rose and shattered the lightning with his prosthetic arm. Zhou Lei let out a furious roar.

"Why do you have reservations? You haven't used your full strength!"

He angrily swung his heavy hammer, but Chu Hengkong clenched his fist and swung it back, knocking Zhou Lei's weapon away. A crimson light flashed across his back as the awakened Immortal Machine quietly underwent temporary modifications.

We shouldn't be using all our strength now. First, buy as much time as possible, make some preparations, and then we'll see what news comes from Qingye.

·
The spider hurriedly made its way through the fog, its thoughts a jumbled mess.

What exactly happened? With so many biological reactions, even if the Cursed Thunder admitted its mistake, it should have noticed it much earlier during its descent. The concealment of the historical fog isn't that strong; it must have been Wen Yao who secretly tampered with things.

But what good would this do her?! She should have been the last person to want to see the Demon King's army defeated; from a purely self-interested perspective, she shouldn't have done something like this. What was she after by mixing in with the newcomers? Was it simply to deceive Xiao Qingxia, or...?

"Damn it, crazy woman!" The spider gritted its teeth nervously. It remembered, "It's been so long since I've dealt with them, I'd forgotten. Those insects don't care about anything for pleasure!"

Although Cursed Thunder was powerful, it couldn't hold out for long against so many skilled opponents; its defeat would be disastrous. Fortunately, there was a backup plan. The Limb Spider hurriedly ran into the battleground and spotted another pillar of fire to the west.

Now it all depends on what Burning Ashes does. As long as they can get ahead, there's still hope. Hopefully, our old friend can slow down a bit...!
To the west of the battlefield, flames surged fiercely, scorching the black moonlight. Burning Ember, carrying a longbow, stood beside the fire, deliberately concealing his light and heat, materializing his luminous body into a middle-aged scholar dressed in a scholar's robe.

Such a sign should be conspicuous enough, Burning Ash thought. It sensed chaotic magical surging in the distance, likely indicating that other messengers were fighting the newcomers, but that matter had nothing to do with it. Outside of the final battle, everyone was responsible for their own battlefield.

It spotted Shax; days of grueling fighting had made him appear even more dangerous than anticipated, like a hawk cornered. The sniper carried a familiar aura of Burning Ember.

"Are you from Earth, Shax?" Ember asked.

The sniper glanced at him: "What, you can tell where someone is from?"

"The Empire's technology can do it, but elemental magic is not good at it," Burning Ember said frankly. "I met another Earthling before who claimed to be an assassin."

Shakes laughed: "That's brilliant. Who is it this time? A pervert? An animal? An antisocial person? Whichever it is, they're all far inferior to me."

“No, you are all the same. In your eyes, there is a powerful light unlike any other. It is a light rarely seen here, a light that inspires longing,” said Burning Ash. “In my life, as a commander of the army, I never had the chance to fight such people. I regret it!”

“I see.” Shax’s lips twitched with amusement. This guy was “one of us,” albeit a counterfeit.

He tossed a signal flare, and Burning Ash plucked a burning tuft of his beard and tossed it to him. This way, they would know each other's approximate location, and within the next ten minutes, they would see how far they got before a single shot decided the outcome. Savage, foolish, yet fair.

"It starts in ten minutes." Shax tensed, turning and walking into the mist, reminding himself not to let his guard down—

At that moment, a massive, dark, and muscular creature descended from the sky, its stitched-on hands binding Shax tightly like spider legs. Shax stared at the pale face that had suddenly appeared before him, his brain, tormented for days, nearly shutting down on the spot.

The burning embers behind him had the same blank expression as him.

"Sorry I'm late!" the limb spider shouted dramatically. "Proceed as planned. Move out, incinerate!"

The burning embers gaped open like a mole seeing the sun for the first time.

Shax reacted instantly, and he was even angrier than he had anticipated. "Ember, you fucking bastard...!"

"I didn't!" Embers glowed in despair. "I didn't!!" "You orchestrated this whole plan, and now you're playing the good guy?!" Spider seemed even more shocked than his old colleague. "Stop beating around the bush! If you won't do it, I will!"

With a powerful tug, it pulverized the sarcus into a pile of ice shards. The spider, staring at the ice crystals scattered on the ground, was just as shocked as its old colleague.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no," it muttered nervously. "Oh no, oh no, oh no!!"

Ten meters away, Nightfall emerged from the mist and appeared alongside the rescued Shax. Using the Mist-Transfer Technique to conceal herself, and her honed leg strength to catch up with the Limb Spider, she replaced Shax with the Ice Substitute Technique and concealed her form with the Mist Robe. Anyone with extensive experience in combat with those suffering from broken hearts would have noticed her actions… Unfortunately, the Limb Spider and the Burning Ember were far inferior to Nightfall in close combat, and neither of them discovered the truth in time.

"You've gotten a bit slow since I last saw you, Mr. Sniper. Is it because you haven't slept in a long time?" Qingye pulled up her scarf.

“You’ve become decent, you heartbreaker.” Shax picked up the communicator. “It’s a trap. Strike.”

"I knew it!"

Somewhere on the battlefield, a small animal emerged from a cabbage-shaped mobile pod. Using this specially designed, concealed plant vehicle, it quietly slipped away from the battle fortress.

Gulibo took one last look at the Battle Cabbage Fortress, the lush and towering vegetable it had nurtured with its own hands. Thinking of the days it had spent living and dying alongside the cabbage leaves, tears welled in its eyes.

"Goodbye, my good friend. I'll definitely grow an even tastier vegetable than you!" Gulibo waved its little paws. "Outer armor disengages, entering close combat mode!"

The combat cabbage, over ten meters tall, slowly rose from the ground like a missile poised for launch. Its roots, wrapped in soil, stood upright, forming black "feet." The outer leaves peeled away layer by layer, as if released from restraints. The core structure hidden inside the fortress became independent, and the life force in the outer leaves was transmitted through the cells within the cabbage, beginning to strengthen the internal structure, making the core increasingly robust and powerful.

The isolated core of the plant resembled a human figure. After the transformation, nutrients were concentrated on specific parts, causing it to grow thick arms and a majestic head like a general. The emerald green plant giant threw two punches into the air, letting out a roar that shook the battlefield.

"war!"

Battle Fortress Cabbage Transformation - Emerald Core Warrior!
Its leaves flow with the proud blood of warriors, and it shares the same hatred for the enemy as the Allied soldiers. This is a mutated variety, modeled on the melee combat pattern in its genetic material, and specially modified by Gulibo according to the battlefield situation, for use in the annihilation of giant creatures.

Without needing further instructions, the Emerald Core Warrior immediately detected the powerful external force's reaction. It unleashed a powerful punch, its emerald fist resembling a canopy of a great tree, hurtling straight towards the two external forces.

"Cabbage hit someone!!!" the spider screamed in despair.

Burning Ember, pointing at the limbed spider, shouted excitedly, "Hit it! Kill it!!!"

It grabbed the spider and slammed it into the warrior's giant fist. The spider, quick-witted and agile, immediately used pollutants as a medium to cast a Dark Moon Illusion. This trick to confuse the senses caused the warrior to momentarily lose her senses, and the giant fist landed five meters off course, with the blasted soil forming a small mudslide.

The spider wiped the cold sweat from its brow: "My God, how far has the war progressed in the later stages?! Even the divine tree city-states of our time weren't this insane, were they?!"

"Stop acting like a colleague, I'll kill you!" Burning Ember roared in fury and hurled a giant fireball at him.

The spider opened its mouth and inhaled, swallowing the fireball like a candy. It rubbed its limbs pitifully, its face contorted in misery: "Ember, don't despise me, I'm only doing this for my own life..."

"You've told me the truth, you bastard!"

"If I, who's so afraid of death, am going to die, then nobody will fare any better!" the Spider cried. "So how about we team up for now? We can talk about your duel later. We can't lose this one, we really can't lose this one!"

Burning Flame was enraged, its face blazing with fury. Rationally, it knew the spider's words were true; emotionally, it wanted nothing more than to burn this disgusting pig to ashes with a single flaming arrow. But ultimately, its duty as commander of the Demon King's army prevailed, and fear overcame its rage. It drew its bow, preparing to meet the next iron fist.

"You just wait...?"

But this time, the Emerald Warrior's iron fist didn't land in time. It strangely turned halfway around, throwing a punch in the opposite direction of the battlefield—

He punched Zhou Lei on the head.

The purple-haired messenger's lightning strike abruptly stopped, and purple lightning bolts surged upwards as if attracted by a lightning rod, charring the entire right arm of the Emerald Heart Warrior. The struck messenger was once again "refreshed" due to the severe injury, his height becoming three times that of before, and he stared blankly at the warrior engulfed in flames.

"You... are you a hero?" Zhou Lei hesitated. "You are not a hero..."

Gulibo, inside the cabbage, jumped up in a panic: "Wrong number! Wrong person!!"

(End of this chapter)