Transcending Worlds: I Have an Invincible Shelter

The ruins of Tokyo, a small island in the center of Lake Mizutama.

The island is small, only a hundred meters in circumference, and surrounded by water. No one comes here on weekdays. The lake is teeming with mutated water beasts, and even gifted individuals dare not venture here easily.

But today is different.

Ten small boats were moored on the island's shore; the leaders of the ten major camps had all arrived.

Ten people stood in different parts of the island; two or three were gathered together, and four or five were chatting idly.

"Ember Earth"

An obese man, with a cigar dangling from his mouth, the smoke curling up from the edge of his eye patch, made his one eye squint into a slit.

"Is your information accurate? Is there really a ruthless character in the Black Forest capable of instantly killing mutants?"

Jintu stood on the left, his expression solemn, meeting the gazes of the other eight, and calmly said.

"My people saw it with their own eyes, how could it be false?"

The obese man exhaled a puff of smoke and didn't respond. Jin Tu wasn't in a hurry either; he glanced at the other eight people on the island and lowered his voice by half an inch.

"The other side has threatened to swallow up the entire ruined city of Tokyo. Not just my Ash Earth Camp, but your territory, mines, and manpower—he wants it all."

He narrowed his eyes, scanning each of the nine people's faces one by one. "Those who feel it's none of their business can go back now. I won't stop them."

No one moved, but no one immediately made a statement either.

The club leaders exchanged glances; their tacit understanding needed no words. Each had their own thoughts, and none wanted to be the first to jump out and become the scapegoat.

The long-haired old man standing opposite the ash-covered earth finally put down his pipe. "In that case, let's gather our men."

The old man spoke, his voice calm and unhurried, "Recall all the talented individuals and mutants who went out. With the ten families joining forces, even if the opponent is truly a peak monster, we may not be without a fighting chance."

He spoke in a very measured and steady manner.

The obese man pulled the cigar from his mouth, flicked off the ash, and said, "Old Ding is right. The ten families combined have over a hundred gifted individuals and more than thirty mutants. Even if he were a god descended to earth, he would have to think twice about that number."

"Then it's settled." Jintu stood up, not giving everyone time to argue any further.

On the surface, an alliance was formed. After the meeting adjourned, the ten small boats gradually left the shore.

The sound of oars echoed intermittently across the lake; the boats were too far apart to hear each other's conversations.

But some boats, after rowing a short distance, found their passengers gathered together.

On the obese man's boat, one of his men lowered his voice.

"Boss, do you believe what Jin Tu said?" The fat man stubbed out his cigar on the ship's side, the cigarette butt making a hissing sound.

"Believe it for nothing." He stretched his muscular arms. "When has that guy ever told the truth? Who knows if he offended someone and is dragging us down with him?"

"Then let's..."

"Send men." The obese man gestured with his chin toward the bow of the ship. "Go check out the Black Forest. I need to know who they are, how many people they have, and what their trump cards are. We'll talk after we've found out."

He paused, then added, "Don't let that old fox Jintu use you as a pawn."

Similar conversations occurred on more than one ship.

……

It was midnight.

On the outskirts of the Black Forest, at the edge of a deep trench.

The hazy smog was even thicker than during the day, reducing visibility to less than thirty meters. The wind blowing up from the bottom of the deep trench carried a sour, pungent smell.

Three figures crept in from the direction of the ruined city of Tokyo. Their movements were extremely light, and they carefully chose their landing spots, making only a slight sound each time they landed.

The reconnaissance team, composed of third-tier talents, swiftly crossed the hundred-meter-wide trench.

Leading the way was a burly man with a ferocious face. He was a third-tier talent under the fat man's command, and his greatest skill was concealing his presence.

"Boss."

The skinny child following behind leaned closer, his voice barely audible, "The message from the Ash Earth camp says this place is sealed off by some kind of light barrier. Why can't I see anything?"

He reached out and made a gesture in the air in front of him, but his palm passed through and he didn't touch anything.

"There's no light shield."

Then came a taciturn, burly man who glanced around, shook his head.

The burly man frowned, but didn't say anything like, "I already said the intelligence from Jintu was unreliable."

In his code of conduct, inaccurate intelligence should be treated as the worst-case scenario, rather than a relaxation of vigilance.

"Enough with the nonsense. We'll see when we get there."

The three of them squatted at the edge of the Black Forest and looked inside, but it was so dark they couldn't see anything.

The air in the Black Forest is different from that of the ruined city of Tokyo; it's damp, heavy, and there's an indescribable sense of oppression that seeps into your pores.

Using the dark tree trunks as cover, the three of them kept a low profile and made their way towards the Tokyo mining area.

The sight of bones gnawed by mutated beasts everywhere slowed the burly man's pace even further.

Not only him, but the two people following behind also noticed this detail.

After carefully traversing for several hours, the three passed through a patch of low bushes. According to the old map they had, they were almost at the outskirts of the Tokyo mining area.

None of the three noticed that there was a person standing on the tree branch above them.

Lin Xuanzhi's right hand hung naturally at her side, her dim eyes flickering in the night, in sync with her breathing.

At this moment, she exuded a cold aura, a stark contrast to the frail woman kneeling at the tent entrance two days ago, her face covered in blood.

She looked down at the three people sneaking over below, her face expressionless.

After awakening her third-tier talent, her perception range expanded several times over. She locked onto these three people the moment they approached within 800 meters of the Black Forest camp.

Both being of the third rank, the eel concealed its presence.

This morning, while watching Jiang Xiaochen train the miners at the square, she felt an itch to do the same.

Her newly awakened talent made her eager to try it out, and to challenge Jiang Xiaochen and Zhao Xinyan was simply bullying them.

Meanwhile, the mutants, including Green Eyes, Tian Xiao, Fog Fungus, and Lou Tengjing, always gave way to her, which made Lin Xuanzhi feel quite bored.

It rampages inside the body, like a beast that has been locked up for too long, desperately needing an outlet.

"They've come to our doorstep," Lin Xuanzhi said softly.

He touched the branch with his toes and fell.

There was no wind, no rustling of leaves, and the landing was so light that it seemed impossible for a living person to do it.

By the time the burly man realized what was happening, there was already another person standing three steps away.

"Varied--"

His internal energy immediately erupted, and his reaction speed was not slow.

But he only managed to utter one word before his words were cut off, because a cloud of black mist had already drifted into their nostrils and mouths.

Immediately afterwards, a thin wisp of black poisonous flame burst forth on the face of the man with a face full of scars, instantly creating an extremely dense flame.

Amidst screams, the thin child immediately cried out, "An ambush!"