Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 290: Battle in the Wasteland

"Reserve combat units — prepare to enter the battlefield!"

Liang Yuzhi's voice rang out through the building once more. It was time for Nelson, Linus, Ellen, and the other freemen to join the fight.

But even now, Liang Yuzhi had no intention of calling Li Feng and Liang Yuying up from the third underground level.

She was confident the underground defenses could hold for now — nothing had broken through yet.

But that was her decision, and it wasn't about causing trouble. It was to cover for Li Wei.

Li Wei had never said what he intended to do next, but Liang Yuzhi and Li Yue had already guessed.

They couldn't support him directly in action — so they would support him in every other way they could.

Keeping headquarters from confirming Li Wei's true combat capability was critical. Perhaps only Li Wei himself knew this mattered, but the two of them had understood it long ago.

Li Wei with the Flame Baron title equipped, wielding two Destiny Resonance weapons and two enchanted weapons, was in truth only marginally below Li Yue in overall combat power.

Headquarters had almost certainly miscalculated. Whether it was Liang Yuying from the Resource Department or Li Feng from Logistics — they were dreaming if they thought they could pressure Li Wei into stepping back and surrendering this rare opportunity. That was nothing short of bullying.So Li Wei's true strength could not be revealed. His true intentions could not be guessed. If they had special item cards and decided to cause problems, the cost would be too high.

Because what Li Wei needed in this battle was to strike without warning.

"Move, move! Everyone stay calm — the mage is buffing us, radiation toxin is manageable, just fight like you trained!"

Nelson and Linus stood at the building's entrance, directing the freemen into their combat positions. All 150 of them were now equipped with 2+2 Profession Cards. Of those, 108 were former low-level Ability Users — people like a smaller version of Mark — with comparatively higher base attributes.

Under normal circumstances, none of them would have been permitted to leave the underground shelter during a full-scale Radiation Storm eruption.

But they had ample Blood Resistance Potions and Liang Yuzhi's Light Magic buff. Holding the line for an hour or two was genuinely no problem.

Their weapons were simple: spears, lances, shields, or sniper positions with lead-alloy ammunition boxes — because in this level of radiation, any ammunition left outside a lead-alloy container would fail to fire within seconds.

Fortunately, after fifteen years of the apocalypse, anyone still alive by now was a battle-hardened veteran.

Charging up to the walls and seeing mutant creatures didn't make them scream — they'd seen it all before.

With Light Magic providing clear, bright visibility, no immediate concern about radiation or Blood Plague toxin, and their own powerful fighters holding the front line — what was left?

Just killing.

Boom.

On the eastern wall, Thomas gripped his Enchanted Tower Shield and activated the City Builder title, stopping a mutant black dog the size of a tiger dead in its tracks. The creature's razor claws carved three deep gouges into the shield in a single swipe, instantly draining five points of enchantment durability.

The good news: the mutant black dog was cut down in the same instant by Benjamin and Xavier working in tandem.

A Four-Star mutant creature.

The Universal Gold Card it dropped blazed with brilliant light, shining like a star in the night.

The perfect lure for high-level ability creatures.

In fact, Thomas had three Universal Gold Cards positioned behind him at that moment — which was precisely why his position had become the primary target for most of the high-tier ability creatures attacking.

Without that, who could have stopped a Level 4 mutant black dog with its terrifying damage output, monstrous speed, and razor-sharp reflexes? It would have torn through the line like a knife through paper.

"Mrow!"

A great cat's cry rang out. Thomas caught only a blur — but it wasn't heading for him. It was heading for another anchor point thirty meters away: Mark.

He also had two Universal Gold Cards as bait.

Mark?

Thomas felt a flicker of concern. That mutant cat was even faster than the mutant black dog—

But there was no need to worry. Before Mark had even raised his Tower Shield, a sword-shadow descended — precise, unhurried, perfectly timed — and split the great cat's skull cleanly in two, like the most elegant executioner imaginable.

Leon.

The Decapitation Finisher.

That was the fundamental difference between him and the freeman soldiers.

The reason Benjamin, Santiago, and Xavier could defeat Leon in a fair fight was that Leon couldn't use his Decapitation Finisher on allies.

Thinking back five months ago — Leon's Decapitation Finisher had been raw and clumsy, technically sharp but tactically rigid, full of openings that even Thomas could spot.

Back then, Leon had to hide behind shield-bearers and wait for his moment, like a kitten waiting for a mouse to wander into reach. Without the right opening, without allied support, he simply couldn't execute the technique.

Five months had passed. Leon had finally transformed.

As Thomas reflected on this quietly, Liang Yuzhi on the rooftop — rolling a small fireball between her fingers — allowed herself a brief, private note of approval.

Still a few He Yuyings short of Li Wei's level, but this Leon could genuinely hold his own now.

This was the sign of a Destiny Grid breakthrough — a hidden attribute on the verge of awakening.

Given time, this little waste, and that little waste, and the other little waste over there — they'd all have a chance to step into Cross-Border Missions.

But in the end, her precious nephew was the real treasure.

Those who stand near cinnabar are stained red; those near ink are stained black. Those who stand near a treasure — even scraps become useful.

This side was stable.

Liang Yuzhi gazed out into the distant darkness. Even she couldn't pierce it to see where Li Yue, Li Wei, and the others were — not only because it was night, but because the chaotic, uncontrolled magical particles unleashed by the Radiation Storm at 180% difficulty were scattering in every direction, blinding both Perception and Inspiration.

Of course, this was also the perfect environment for a caster to absorb and refine those chaotic particles. Given enough strong soldiers to hold off the mutant creatures, ten such perfect opportunities would be enough for her to advance to Second-Order Casting Witch.

Easy to say. Terrifyingly hard to achieve. The special boss that appeared at maximum difficulty alone was a nightmare.

Meanwhile, outside the darkness-shrouded town, under Li Yue's lead and the glow of that small sphere of light, the six of them had already chased the boss over ten kilometers.

The Serpent Knight was infuriatingly cunning and utterly shameless — it simply ran, forcing them to give chase. At this point there was no turning back.

Every mutant creature in the Serpent Knight's path fled in panic, none daring to come within a kilometer. But Li Wei and Li Yue could both feel it — this thing was toying with them like a cat with mice.

Its pairs of cold, malevolent serpent eyes swept over each of them in turn, reading their capabilities with perfect clarity.

A smart, composed, and patient enemy.

Finally, after another five kilometers, the Serpent Knight stopped. It had apparently determined that at this distance, Liang Yuzhi could neither catch up nor provide support.

It had them. Eat them first, then go eat the caster.

Hiss.

The Serpent Knight turned slowly. Five multicolored pythons flicked their tongues in unison. The pythons were the main body — the humanoid figure below was the mount.

"Li Yue, you little wretch — why wasn't it you who died?!"

Li Guishan's familiar cursing voice rang out again. This was the curse — and it had been seeded long ago. Li Yue was a core family member, bearing the brunt of it. There was no avoiding it.

Even Li Yue, with all her ability, shuddered in that instant and fell into a brief state of numbness and confusion.

But almost simultaneously, Zhao Guozhu darted forward, an Enchanted Heavy Shield materializing in his hands. A single blow drove back one of the attacking deep-green pythons. Old John drew and loosed in the same breath, shattering the python's eye.

Annie was firing alongside them.

Li Wei too — nothing exceptional, because the moment hadn't come. He still needed to play the supporting role, and there was no need for him to draw aggro yet.

Sure enough, the next second, white light flashed across Li Yue's body, dispersing the curse. In the same instant, she closed the distance in a single blur and launched a bold charge at the Serpent Knight.

Cross Slash.

This technique of Li Yue's was apparently a Finisher as well — devastating in power, capable of crossing dozens of meters in an instant, even forming a few inches of sword aura at the blade's tip. Genuinely extraordinary.

But what happened next was even more extraordinary.

Li Yue's Cross Slash landed squarely on the Serpent Knight — and passed through it like it was made of air. The figure rippled like disturbed water and vanished. The real Serpent Knight reappeared in a completely different direction.

The black python slammed into the ground like a massive root, burrowing underground. A strange pulse of magical energy surged outward — and with a thunderous rumbling, enormous stone spikes, several meters tall and razor-sharp, erupted from the earth beneath everyone's feet.

Absolutely lethal.

Li Wei had sensed the danger a fraction of a second early, but still scrambled frantically, dragging Zhao Xuanxuan along in a desperate series of jumps, barely escaping.

Zhao Guozhu, Old John, and even the freelancer Annie all dodged cleanly.

Veteran players, through and through.

But just as everyone thought they'd survived the worst, more massive stone spikes erupted all around them — forming rows of walls over ten meters high that shifted and recombined continuously, while smaller one-meter spikes chased and harassed from every direction.

This time, even veterans like Zhao Guozhu, Old John, and Annie were thrown into chaos, separated from each other within the rapidly shifting stone-spike labyrinth.

In moments, all five — except Li Yue, who remained free — were cut off into four isolated groups. Only Zhao Xuanxuan remained with Li Wei, because he'd been holding her hand the entire time.

And the key to breaking through this trap would fall to Zhao Xuanxuan.

This was less coincidence than it was Second Aunt's foresight, and the depth of understanding between Li Wei and Li Yue.

When Liang Yuzhi had stopped Thomas and Leon but said nothing about Zhao Xuanxuan, Li Yue and Li Wei had both understood her intent immediately.

As for whether Zhao Xuanxuan would follow on her own — that was never in question. She was ready to die for Li Wei at any moment.

Thomas and Leon too.

They were no longer simply players participating in a mission. They were Li Wei's sworn fighters, his followers, his foundation.

It was that simple.