Forge a path to success.

Chapter 231 The Final Operation

Chu Hengkong was stunned for about three seconds.

"You mean you're usually like this... on the verge of death?"

"Otherwise, why would I bother practicing the Heart-Breaking Technique when I have nothing better to do?" Chongming said with a half-smile. "I'd die if I even touched your Dragon Township Fist Technique, I can't practice it!"

"No, then how did you fight back then? With your physique, you can only decide the outcome in a short time. You'd be out of breath after running a long distance for an hour, right?!"

“Find someone to take me,” Chongming said. “During the great battle, I rode on Duranbai’s celestial horse.”

Chu Hengkong rubbed his forehead, finally clearing up his confusion. He had always wondered why Chongming, with a mass of 7, was fighting alongside Du Lanbai, who had a mass of 5. It turned out that it was because his physique was too weak and he needed Du Lanbai's help to carry him.

Mr. Duranbe's mission back then was probably to use armed helicopters to airdrop bombs on Chongming and then, after the matter was resolved, to retrieve the half-dead man...

After such a long partnership, it's no wonder Du Lanbai felt ashamed. Anyone with common sense would probably question their own existence seeing Chongming win every single time despite his near-death experiences. In "Memories of the Murderous Blade," Du Lanbai would definitely let Chongming go first. From his perspective, if the attack helicopter breaks down, he can simply replace it, but if the bomb is gone, it's truly gone...

"I never expected you guys to be so carefree during the war back then."

"A fight is a fight, why do you all have to look so miserable?" Chongming pointed to himself, "Look at me, even in this terrible state, I still insist on being a mature commander and a kind big brother to you newbies. This is the spirit that the Allied Forces have always upheld!"

Chu Hengkong's lips twitched twice: "How can someone with such a trashy personality have the nerve to say 'kind-hearted big brother'..."

"Are you looking for trouble, kid?! Put your hand on your heart and tell me, haven't I been consistently encouraging you guys all along?!"

"Yes, you are trying." Chu Hengkong said expressionlessly, "But every time you try to play the role of the big brother commander well, you overdo it and act out the nuclear mutation. Everyone in the research institute works very hard to cooperate with you in your acting. After receiving your encouragement last time, Qingye secretly told me that she suspected that you had been in a high-pressure environment for too long and had collapsed, to the point that you had a mental breakdown and were in a daze."

Chongming coughed loudly.

"On the contrary, your sarcasm and irony are extremely sharp, you're adept at hitting people where it hurts, and you always utter words that cut to the heart. You can make a newcomer cry with just a few words." Chu Hengkong showed no mercy. "Tell me, what kind of image do you have in everyone's eyes?"

Chongming gave the middle finger: "You bastard, shut up! I'm getting angry."

Chu Hengkong smiled helplessly: "I'm not good at this kind of thing to begin with, so why bother dressing myself up like this?"

A cold wind brushed against their faces, the sound of the wind like a soft laugh. Chongming looked up, gazing at the dark sky.

"Is there a sun in the desolate wilderness?" he suddenly asked.

"No."

“There is no sun or stars here. If you light a fire, you will be arrested. If you sleep outside, you will have nightmares,” Chongming said. “After the night, it is still dark. You can endure a whole day but you can’t see any light. You can watch the days go by without feeling anything. It’s like falling into an eternal hell.”

This is a hopeless place, so people need light. Light can be a battle plan, a strategy for becoming stronger, a dream, hope, or love and courage… but it must exist; only with light illuminating the path can there be direction to move forward.

Chongming picked up a grain of sand and threw it into the sea.

“Someone once told me these things, and I dismissed them, saying I could keep going even without light… It wasn’t until much later that I realized they were right, but the people who could shine were gone, and I couldn’t shine anymore, so I could only imitate what I remembered of them.” Chongming said, “You’re right, I can’t imitate them at all. Now you have the power, you can become the real light.”

“I’m an assassin, and I’m not good at these things at all.” Chu Hengkong shrugged. “Besides, I’m not exactly strong either. We were able to fight our way out because of your knife… I don’t even know what it’s called.”

The murderous blade at Chu Hengkong's waist was still vibrating, seemingly growing increasingly agitated. Chongming glanced at the blade and laughed, "You've drawn it, haven't you? Now it's your blade, give it a catchy name."

"You're not planning to take it back?"

"It was originally meant for you guys, otherwise why would I leave it here?" Chongming waved his hand. "Remember to talk to the sword when you have time. There are three sword techniques inside, enough for you."

Chongming walked toward the settlement, his cloak, like a lingering ember, billowing behind him, blending into the night. Chu Hengkong watched his retreating figure and suddenly called out, "Hey, Commander Chongming."

"how?"

"Since we've already started this one battle, let's see it through to the end."

Chongming scoffed and left the beach. The murderous blade fell silent at that moment, its previous rage, which had been so intense it seemed ready to unsheathe its blade and kill, vanished without a trace.

Chu Hengkong tapped the scabbard and guessed, "Did you think he had forgotten you before?"

The murder weapon jingled and rattled, sounding somewhat aggrieved.

"Think about it again, why did you leave the armor and cloak behind, but instead kept you?" Chu Hengkong said.

The murder weapon remained motionless, as if deep in thought.

Chu Hengkong patiently persuaded him: "Of course, it's because you have excellent professional skills and are reliable. Otherwise, what's the use of keeping a rookie in armor to play a couple of dead games? Can he win? No way! So we have to keep you. Think about it, once you're unsheathed, you're guaranteed to win! Doesn't that make sense?"

The murderous knife jerked slightly, as if suddenly realizing something. "It's good that you've figured it out. Now that you're in a new workplace, what should I call you from now on? If you want a new name, just move it a couple of times. If not, I'll continue to call you Murderous Knife."

The murderous blade moved slowly twice. Chu Hengkong picked up the long sword and examined it closely.

"After all, you have a distinguished record of battles, and you were once a blade that slew an evil god. From now on, I'll call you 'God Slayer,' how about that?"

The murderous blade emitted a cheerful ringing sound. Chu Hengkong sheathed his longsword again and walked back to the three-story building.

Ji Huaisu was still awake, lying lazily on a bench in the hall. When she saw him come in, she looked up and asked, "Going out on a date again?"

"No." Chu Hengkong patted the scabbard. "I'm chatting with my sword."

·
The weather the next day was neither good nor bad; lightning flashed through the thick clouds, and distant thunder rumbled faintly—even someone with little experience could tell that rain was imminent. After finishing his morning exercise, Chu Hengkong joined everyone at the sacred pillar that served as the canteen, where he received a piece of batter and two tomatoes from the cook.

"……What's the meaning?"

"That's what I mean," Jie An said. "I repeatedly emphasized the food shortage to you guys last night, you should remember, right?"

Vande stared blankly at the small mouthful of batter he had been given: "What did I do wrong that you're bullying me like this?"

Jie An rolled his eyes and pointed behind him with both arms. Following his direction, the group saw two bags of flour, several cabbages, a small basket of tomatoes, and a few pitifully gnawed bones.

As night fell, a glimmer of hope remained: "Is this our lunch today?"

“My esteemed lady, this is all the food left for the more than one hundred people in this settlement.” Jie An smiled broadly. “In two and a half days, I will have the honor of telling you that we’ll be eating nothing but the northwest wind tonight.”

"That's impossible!" Qingxia exclaimed incredulously. "The food I hunted earlier was enough to feed everyone for at least a week!"

“There used to be plenty of food in the settlement, but most of the stored food was eaten by snakes while we were healing,” Shaks said ruthlessly. “I don’t think we can eat this stuff for two days; we’ll probably die within a day and a half.”

Jie An sneered: "Even if we eat dirt, we can still hold on a little longer..."

"No! No, no! This is the bottom line! We still have to fight the Demon King! We absolutely cannot eat dirt!" Ji Huaisu's face was deathly pale. "We must go hunting this morning! Even if we have to eat sandworms, we must get through these next few days—"

“The second piece of bad news is that there are no more sandworms,” Shakes said.

"……what?"

The sniper sighed deeply, very deeply.

"Your Meteor Dust Slash and the Banshee's Poison Tide have plowed up nearly half the wilderness. Why do you think there are still any monsters alive?"

“Children, he’s right.” Slar raised his little paw. “I went out to scout last night, and there’s nothing left in the desert but pus. It almost melted my fur.”

"No!!!" Qingye cried out in anguish.

"The dead have come back to life!!!" Gulibo let out an even sharper wail.

Slar exclaimed in surprise: "Why do you make it sound like a ghost story?!"

"Because it's haunted, you old geezer! You suddenly appeared out of nowhere, what do you expect us to say?" Vande squinted. "Is Silar resurrected?"

"There's no need for such a grand celebration... at least have a small one..."

"Grandpa, there's nothing to celebrate with you," Qingxia said sadly. "Your welcome party will just consist of grass porridge..."

"This is absolutely outrageous!"

The crowd was excitedly chattering about Silar's return. Chu Heng swallowed the clump of dough and walked up to Jie An: "Tell the truth, how many more days can you hold on?"

Jie An took out a small bottle containing the "Three-Day Harmony Pill" that he had previously developed. One pill could keep one full for three days.

“Using pills to stave off hunger, an ordinary soldier can last for a week. But you guys are strong and eat a lot, so relying on pills to fill your stomachs is unlikely.” Jie An put away the small bottle. “At most four days. If it drags on any longer, insufficient supplies will affect our combat strength. I don’t know just how powerful the Nightmare King is, but I don’t think fighting it on an empty stomach is a good idea.”

"The newcomer is right. To win, we need to stay at our peak. There's no more time for you to dawdle!"

A powerful shout rang out, and everyone turned around in surprise to see the spirited wild warrior. Chongming strode over, carrying a map hand-drawn on animal hides by the settlement warriors on his shoulder. He tossed the map aside and kicked it away, revealing the entire Desolate Wilderness before them.

"Get your act together! The Demon King isn't going to sit here in the city and wait for you to come to him. If you don't take action now, Vansalal will personally lead his army to slaughter you all." Chongming pointed his sword sheath at the location of the Demon King's city. "Have you all rested enough? Even if you haven't, pull yourself together. From now on, it's the final battle!"

(End of this chapter)