Apocalypse: Master of Soul Beasts

Blue Monk was the codename the military had given Laughing Monk.

What else would you call a bald man in a blue monk’s robe, if not Blue Monk?

The next command came over the communicator.

”Target confirmed dead. Code number 3360, please proceed to the next target location and observe the little Daoist’s every move.”

”3360, received.”

The soldier, having received his orders, swiftly scanned the surrounding battlefield and, without pausing, immediately rushed northeast.

Blue Monk, the little Daoist...

From the codenames given by the military, it wasn’t hard to see that they had already targeted several Breakthrough Achievers on the Fourth Level of Heavenly Palace.

The power and intelligence network of a large organization, once fully activated, could indeed produce results beyond anyone’s expectations!

...

In the War Operations Command Center established by the military on the Second Level of Heavenly Palace.

Listening to the reports from his subordinates, Fran looked expressionlessly at a spot nearby.

There, Tang Haofei sat leisurely on a sofa, holding a glass of red wine and watching the bustling soldiers and equipment outside.

”Wen Yu killed Blue Monk.”

”Oh? What about it?”

Fran thought for a moment, then a smile touched his lips.

”Nothing much. We just lost two Esoteric Level skills, that’s all.”

Hearing Fran’s words, Tang Haofei casually waved his hand.

”You’re overthinking it. Esoteric Level skills? Bullshit! If Esoteric Level skills were that easy to acquire, there wouldn’t be only two Human Race Breakthrough Achievers in the world right now—me and Wen Yu!”

Fran understood Tang Haofei’s implication perfectly—the military possessed the ability to extract skills from corpses. However, few insiders knew this ability wasn’t flawless; for instance, it couldn’t extract skills from the Demon Tribe or mutant beasts.

Nevertheless, its value was substantial. All the military’s powerful experts had entered a virtuous cycle; as long as skills weren’t lost, the military could create another identical powerful expert anytime, anywhere.

During this expedition to the Heavenly Palace Treasure Land, after gaining a basic understanding of the overall strength of the Universe of Immortals and Heroes, the military immediately implemented another plan: scour Heavenly Palace for Breakthrough Achievers and extract their skills!

They had a Breakthrough Achiever—Tang Haofei had just captured a Breakthrough Level dead soul on the Third Level of Heavenly Palace, the only one on that level!

All that remained was to await the report from Yanjing.

...

Perhaps Fran still clung to a sliver of hope, as he couldn’t help but argue, ”How do you know the plan won’t succeed? Once this plan succeeds, the overall strength of the Human Race will definitely experience explosive growth. It’s not that I’m criticizing you, Tang Haofei, but can’t you ever say something encouraging!”

Fran was old and had lived long enough to see many things clearly, including Tang Haofei.

Tang Haofei was a good man. Even though he had killed many people, he was still fundamentally good. He couldn’t care less about hierarchy. Others might treat him with utmost respect due to his strength, but Tang Haofei probably didn’t want that kind of deference.

In other words, Tang Haofei’s temperament was akin to an ancient Mountain King; he preferred feasting and drinking heartily with friends, shooting the breeze and talking about anything and everything.

Within the entire military system, apart from the former members of the Ultimate Force Team, perhaps only Fran and Lin Haifeng dared to confront Tang Haofei directly.

As expected, Fran’s words didn’t upset Tang Haofei in the slightest.

Old Tang just chuckled, shook his head, and lightly tapped his own.

”You all trust your skills and your so-called deductions too much, but you’ve overlooked something else: intuition.”

”My intuition has always been sharp. It tells me the Dominator won’t allow Heavenly Palace to become a slaughterhouse for the military to harvest Esoteric Level skills. Besides, we can’t even extract skills from mutant beasts, which are also creatures from Earth. Do you really think we can do it with the natives of the Universe of Immortals and Heroes?”

Although Tang Haofei wasn’t optimistic about this plan, what needed to be done still had to be done.

Even if there was only a one percent chance, the military wouldn’t relinquish such a prime opportunity!

...

About two hours later, the intelligence from Yanjing finally arrived.

Fran listened expressionlessly to the report from Yanjing, then took a deep breath and, with a sigh, issued orders to the messenger soldier.

”Recall all scouts from the fourth and fifth levels. The plan to extract skills from the natives of the Universe of Immortals and Heroes has been confirmed as completely unfeasible!”

”See? What did I tell you?” Tang Haofei, completely ignoring Fran’s and the entire military’s mood, nonchalantly remarked from the side.

”Sigh...”

Faced with Tang Haofei’s attitude, Fran couldn’t be bothered to retort and instead issued another operational command.

”How’s the relocation of the Second Layer Forge of Heaven Palace progressing?”

”It’s nearly finished.”

”Mobilize personnel and have the main forces proceed to the Third Layer of Heavenly Palace. A large ruin has been discovered there, preliminarily assessed to be a branch of some sect.”

”Received.”

Command after command issued from Fran’s lips. Once all arrangements were made, Fran finally turned to look at Tang Haofei.

”Well? Care to join?”

Hearing Fran’s words, Tang Haofei hesitated briefly, then gently shook his head.

”No, my intuition tells me you guys won’t face any danger this time. I’ll sit this one out.”

”So, you’re just going to sit here and do nothing? You don’t strike me as the type to stay idle.”

Tang Haofei smiled, raised his wine glass, and made a toasting gesture towards Fran.

”I never said I was going to be idle. By the way, did the report just now say Wen Yu offed Blue Monk?”

Fran nodded.

”Then I’ll go check out the Fourth Level. My intuition tells me, tsk tsk, it might be far more interesting there than here!”

The moment Tang Haofei finished speaking, he vanished, leaving Fran to spread his hands with a wry smile.

There was truly no one in this world who could stop Tang Haofei from doing what he wanted.

What troubled Lin Haifeng and Fran even more was that this fellow, theoretically, was also a type of independent hero. Though not as ’lone wolf’ as Wen Yu, there was essentially no substantial difference!

Wen Yu paid no heed to the military. Tang Haofei also tended to obey orders only when he felt like it; he was the type who would accept assignments but ignore formal summons!

...

Meanwhile, also on the Second Layer of Heavenly Palace.

Kasu strolled leisurely across the vast expanse of the Second Layer of Heavenly Palace, wandering about as if without a destination.

In fact, Kasu indeed had no clear objective.

His search on the First Layer of Tiangong had made Kasu realize that, given the sheer scale of Heavenly Palace, the chances of finding Akad here were virtually nil.

Kasu was an interesting character. Since the odds are so pitifully low, why bother trying to catch him? Wouldn’t it be much more delightful to wander around Heavenly Palace and look for some benefits for myself?