Chapter 160: Chapter 160: Ice Continent Arctic, Annihilation of the Nations’ Vanguard

After obtaining the Dragon and Tiger Primordial Divine Force and the True Martial Jade Vein Lotus, the Tai Sui God’s efficiency in hunting Cold Energy Monsters and survivors grew higher and higher.

This activity naturally drew the attention of the various nations.

As for the Cold Energy Monsters, they weren’t like the nations’ survivors who could all communicate through the Apocalypse Game’s chat channels.

Thus, they were far inferior in terms of intelligence, and the incidents of large-scale Cold Energy Monster deaths and disappearances did not attract their attention.

The nations, on the other hand, were already monitoring rulebreakers, so Qi Suian’s actions naturally caught their eye.

This was mainly because the Tai Sui God had grown stronger; no matter how numerous the Cold Energy Monsters were in certain regions, they couldn’t withstand its ravages.

Therefore, it had to include survivors as targets as well.

Whether it was Cold Energy Monsters or survivors, they both fell into the category of making up for a lack of quality with sheer numbers.

As Extraordinary Survivors, each possessing a superpower, their value as fuel far surpassed that of ordinary materials.

However, despite their attention, the nations took little action. Their main focus remained on the Ice Continent.

Qi Suian timed it perfectly. After the nations’ survivors with Extraordinary powers arrived at the Ice Continent, he followed them there as well.

His goal was simply to pick up the scraps and finish off the wounded.

’In any case, not a single one of these survivors will be leaving the Ice Continent alive.’

He would also take the opportunity to scout the inner regions of the Ice Continent. If it wasn’t as dangerous as he imagined, it would become the Tai Sui God’s personal hunting ground.

’At a bare minimum, I still need three more module slots.’

’The Feast superpower, the Red Keel, and the juggernaut vehicle modification.’

He had come to understand that the boost that cross-system modules gave the Tai Sui God was truly potent.

’Since I have the Ancient Martial Power system, if I add this world’s Cold Energy Qi Cultivation system, I’m sure I’ll get a similar enhancement.’

"ROAR!!!"

A savage beast’s roar echoed out, followed by the sounds of one explosion after another.

The Extraordinary strength of the nations was indeed not very high. Excluding special individuals like protagonists and modified humans, their highest dual stats were only around 2 points.

True, they were much stronger than the first batch of survivors, but compared to modern firearms, the only noteworthy advantage of being Extraordinary was longevity.

Everything else was pretty much useless.

That was why Qi Suian didn’t get any closer.

The Tai Sui God could block attacks, even react in advance to dodge, and on occasion, catch bullets with its bare hands.

But this was only if the enemy wasn’t using heavy weaponry to launch a saturation strike.

Otherwise, if it were hit with a bombardment of a hundred or so missiles, even the Tai Sui God wouldn’t be able to take it.

The effects of the Dragon and Tiger Primordial Divine Force and the True Martial Jade Vein Lotus were powerful, but they were ultimately limited by the Tai Sui God’s own armor value and still required more evolutions to grow.

For now, they were just modules whose full effects had not yet been unleashed; they were not a ticket to invincibility.

He could slaughter survivors indiscriminately, but against an organized Extraordinary Army armed with weapons of mass destruction, these two modules couldn’t guarantee the Tai Sui God’s safety.

But he could use the Floating Cannons to get the kills.

’I can afford to lose this batch of fuel, but I must strike a blow against the survivors’ forces to weaken the Apocalypse Game.’

The battle raged for about three hours, and the explosions never ceased. On top of that, a cacophony of beast roars and bird cries erupted continuously.

The most terrifying moment was when Qi Suian saw a Cold Energy Monster burst through the ice.

It was the same cetacean Cold Energy Monster that Qi Suian had seen before, but its appearance was now completely different.

Its body was covered in dense scales like a suit of armor, and it displayed human-like intelligence. When it broke through the ice and then crashed back down, the resulting noise briefly drowned out the roar of the heavy weapons.

Then, this cetacean Cold Energy Monster was killed.

Its body was too large, and it was immediately focus-fired.

It seemed to have been repeatedly struck by multiple powerful weapons, its flesh and blood blasted everywhere.

The sight made Qi Suian’s heart ache with regret.

’Such a huge creature,’ he thought. ’If I used it for fuel, its size alone would surely produce a massive amount of evolutionary energy.’

However, after the nations’ Extraordinary forces killed this cetacean Cold Energy Monster, they seemed to have angered a certain existence within the Ice Continent, which was known as the Cold Beast Ancestral Court.

Not long after, the sound of modern weapons gradually died down.

Along with the sounds, the lives of the nations’ Extraordinary members also vanished.

It wasn’t clear how they died, as Qi Suian hadn’t been very close.

He could only observe the general situation from a great distance.

However, he could confirm one thing: from the moment the cetacean Cold Energy Monster was killed to the complete annihilation of the nations’ Extraordinary forces, only a minute had passed.

This meant the entity not only possessed immense strength but also had the means for wide-area slaughter.

Qi Suian made a mental comparison. ’Its power is not to be underestimated. It might be a Venerable-class at its peak.’

On the Ice Continent, the entity likely had a home-field advantage, allowing it to exert power far beyond its normal level.

Otherwise, it couldn’t have wiped them all out in just one minute.

At least the Celestial Traveler Venerable, whom Qi Suian had captured alive, would not have been able to accomplish this in such a short time, even at his peak.

The nations had sent around three thousand Extraordinary Survivors in total. They were a vanguard force, and their strength was considered upper-tier.

Considering the pressure from the cetacean Cold Energy Monster before its death and the siege from other Cold Energy Monsters, based on the sounds of weapon fire he had heard, Qi Suian estimated the entity had killed about a thousand people in that one minute.

Even the Celestial Traveler Venerable at his peak, going all out, would have struggled to do the same.

This was why Qi Suian suspected a home-field advantage was at play.

"Good thing I didn’t go. If we didn’t use the Floating Cannons’ Ghost Energy Storm, we definitely couldn’t have pulled off a slaughter like that in such a short time."

"Severely wounding the Celestial Traveler Venerable in advance back then was incredibly farsighted of me," Qi Suian said to the AI.

’Sure, I have Feast, which grants an extra fifty percent to both my physique and Spirit attributes, but who’s to say my enemies don’t have something similar?’

’We’re all boss-level templates, and they’ve been around longer than me. Aside from my protagonist halo, the only significant advantage I have is the Tai Sui God.’

’Anything that has survived from ancient times to the present, unless its intelligence has been nerfed, would be a top-tier existence among the Cold Energy Monsters—even if it started as a pig.’

"So, have the Floating Cannons start charging. Get ready to launch a Ghost Energy Storm over there." Qi Suian decided his period of caution was over; now it was time to be reckless.

His plan was simple: first, take advantage of the chaos to weaken the Cold Energy Monsters, then venture in to investigate the situation.

’At the very least, just harvesting the corpses would be a massive gain.’

’Best case scenario, I find that suspected Venerable-class Cold Energy Monster in a weakened state after its outburst, allowing me to swoop in and reap the rewards.’

For anyone else without a protagonist halo, rushing in would be suicide. But Qi Suian was different; he would most likely come out ahead.

He still remembered asking his protagonist halo to find him a Venerable-class Cold Energy Monster to use as fuel.

Before, the delivery was on its way; now, it might have just arrived. Whether or not he could seize this opportunity was all up to him.

’The protagonist halo has already delivered it to your doorstep. If you can’t claim it yourself, you can’t blame the halo.’

"Protagonist halo, do me a favor. Better yet, help me capture it alive," Qi Suian added.

’Home delivery is one thing, but help with the pickup is another matter entirely.’

Perhaps the protagonist halo’s service already included that, but it didn’t hurt for Qi Suian to give it another reminder.

After all, it was just a simple request. If it helped, all the better.

[Detected a survivor attempting to flee. Commence pursuit?]

"Have the Floating Cannons hold their charge. Let’s catch that survivor first and see what their situation is," Qi Suian said.

The lone survivor was one of the nations’ Extraordinary Survivors who had ventured deep into the Ice Continent Arctic. His survival was likely thanks to a bit of help from Qi Suian’s protagonist halo.

Otherwise, it would be too much of a coincidence for someone to appear right after he’d spoken.

Therefore, this person might know some key information on how to capture the powerful Cold Energy Monster inside alive.

Qi Suian wasn’t demanding. For such high-quality fuel, capturing it alive was ideal, but if that failed, a complete corpse would also be acceptable.

The worst-case scenario, of course, was the Cold Energy Monster getting disintegrated by a blast from the Floating Cannons.

Then all of Qi Suian’s efforts would be for nothing.

Sometimes, having weapon modules that were too powerful was its own kind of hassle.

’It seems I can finally arrange for a melee weapon for the Tai Sui God. It wasn’t possible before, but it is now, thanks to the Ancient Martial Module.’

’At least... I’ll be able to leave a complete corpse for fuel.’

He was reluctant to unequip a module, so he could only put it off, letting the Tai Sui God continue to fight bare-handed. Besides, the Dragon and Tiger Primordial Divine Force was working quite well at the moment.

On second thought, if it couldn’t win a fight, he would just use the Floating Cannons anyway. Whether it had a melee weapon at this stage wasn’t really important.

-----------------

Yu Sen scrambled and crawled away from the Purgatory-like battlefield, all thanks to his superpower—Scapegoat Doll—which had allowed him to escape with his life.

In truth, he hadn’t seen what happened. His vision had simply gone black, and the next thing he knew, his superpower had activated.

When he opened his eyes again, he had already died and come back to life. He then saw the battlefield littered with corpses, and terror compelled him to flee frantically.

But in a fleeting glance, he saw a colossal shadow flit by beneath the ice.

He suspected that he had been killed by an attack from that enormous Cold Energy Monster.

But right now, his mind was consumed with escaping; he had no spare capacity to ponder such things.

’It’s targeting me. I’m definitely being targeted.’ Yu Sen couldn’t stop the thought, and his body began to tremble.

’A superpower that brings you back from the dead... The creature must be curious. It must want it.’

’That’s why it didn’t kill me right away.’

However, the Scapegoat Doll superpower had a cooldown. It would take a full year before it could be used again.

If he died now, he would be well and truly dead.

The more he ran, the colder and more hopeless he felt.

CRACK...

The ice suddenly let out a sharp cracking sound.

This made Yu Sen freeze in place. It was definitely the terrifying sound of the enormous Cold Energy Monster’s body brushing against the ice.

This confirmed it: the enemy had been following him the whole time.

’There’s still a chance. As long as I can get back to...’

Unfortunately, before Yu Sen could finish his thought, a notification from the Apocalypse Game dealt him another heavy blow, completely extinguishing his last sliver of hope.

[Warning: Rulebreaker is one kilometer away.]

This was truly a case of when it rains, it pours.