Apocalypse: Master of Soul Beasts

”So, we must complete Lord Heaven’s Path’s command this time, no matter what!” the captain finally concluded.

Sensing the renewed silence above, Tang Haofei narrowed his eyes, quickly analyzing the current situation.

Heavenly Dao was sending people to kill Wen Yu... And this unknown place, Outer Space... And... These resurrected wraiths from the Universe of Immortals and Heroes knew their current state quite well—this differed from Tang Haofei’s recent judgments. The growth and development of Intelligent Races always came with power disputes and internal competition. But when facing imminent death, engaging in such trivialities seemed rather ridiculous. What was that saying? ’A dying man’s words are good.’ From their conversation, Tang Haofei could also discern the predicament Heavenly Dao was facing—its own life force was insufficient. Was Heavenly Dao trying to spite Wen Yu before its death? As for the claim that Outer Space could preserve a spark of hope for the Universe of Immortals and Heroes, Tang Haofei absolutely didn’t believe it!

Underground, Old Tang scratched his head. He couldn’t understand what Heavenly Dao was implying either.

「...」

”How much further to go?”

A voice sounded from above ground. Almost simultaneously, Tang Haofei, still underground, took a compass out of his space ring.

”Not much further, and…”

”His Highness the Young Master is approaching us.”

Tang Haofei instantly recognized the truth of this statement; the compass in his hand clearly indicated Wen Yu’s location.

A thought flashed through Tang Haofei’s mind—Wen Yu was coming to find him!

”Stop!” the captain ordered in a low voice, halting the advancing squad.

”Prepare here. We’ll pretend to run into him by accident. First, gain His Highness the Young Master’s trust, then strike when he’s off guard and take him down instantly. Don’t give him a chance to escape!”

”Understood!”

”Fatty, take out the Positioning Compass and check if anyone nearby is trying to play the ’mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind’ trick!”

Positioning Compass? Another new term. And this one immediately gave Tang Haofei a bad feeling—could these guys be using some kind of full-map hack to enter the field?

However, the response from above eased Tang Haofei’s worries.

”Captain, there’s no one else around. The Positioning Compass only shows the positions of the four of us and the Young Master. But I don’t know if there are any Demon Fiends nearby.”

”Understood,” the captain acknowledged, then issued his final command to his team members in a hushed tone.

”Get ready!”

「...」

Tang Haofei briefly pondered the matter of the Positioning Compass before putting it to the back of his mind. The Positioning Compass showed the locations of those four and Wen Yu, but not his own. Old Tang was destined to find no answer to this puzzle.

A more pressing issue was the target of the four-man squad above.

Having figured this out, Tang Haofei began to move slowly underground, heading towards Wen Yu’s direction. Concealed by the Power of Heaven and Earth, and with the squad’s Positioning Compass failing to detect his location, Tang Haofei’s subtle movements went completely unnoticed.

「...」

”He’s getting closer and closer,” Fatty, holding the Positioning Compass, continuously reported Wen Yu’s position to his teammates.

Then, a Spiritual Fluctuation was instantly transmitted back into Fatty’s mind: ”Idiot! Use Spiritual Fluctuation. If you speak aloud when he’s too close, the Young Master might hear you!”

Fatty responded with a slightly aggrieved ”Oh...” via Spiritual Fluctuation, then continued reporting: ”Boss, there’s a Demon Fiend’s aura fluctuation about fifty kilometers to the east. We can head there later.”

”Alright,” the captain, his expression unchanged, replied via Spiritual Fluctuation. He then turned to a skinny man beside him, who resembled a beanpole, and asked aloud, ”Zhu Zi, what’s our haul so far?”

”We’ve hunted twelve Level 7 Demon Fiends,” Zhu Zi replied.

Just like a regular team discussing their haul, this four-man squad sat under a withered tree, verbally discussing their upcoming tactics and plans. Yet, through their Spiritual Fluctuations, they were constantly scheming how to eliminate ”His Highness the Young Master”!

CRACK.

A faint sound echoed from nearby, triggering an exaggeratedly ”huge” reaction from the entire squad.

”Who’s that? Who’s there?”

Instantly, swords were drawn from their sheaths, and killing intent flared!

It had to be said, these men’s acting skills truly lived up to their age and experience.

”It’s me,” a calm voice sounded from the nearby darkness. ”I heard sounds from this direction, so I came over to take a look.”

Then, Wen Yu’s expressionless face slowly emerged from the darkness.

Seeing this, the captain leading them let out a sigh of relief, as if a great weight had been lifted. He quickly sheathed his battle saber and bowed respectfully to Wen Yu, saying, ”So it is His Highness the Young Master. This humble one, Heluo, greets Your Highness.”

”Heluo, right? I remember you; we met in the cafeteria,” Wen Yu said with a smile, greeting Heluo.

”Your Highness has a keen memory. This humble one is deeply impressed.”

Heluo lowered his head even further, but secretly, the Spiritual Fluctuation link connecting all squad members transmitted a new directive: lure His Highness the Young Master into their four-person encirclement, then strike to kill immediately!

Heluo had roughly estimated Wen Yu’s strength before. Now, upon meeting him, he immediately assessed Wen Yu’s true power—so weak he was completely unworthy of the title ’Young Master’! Any one of his team members had the strength to take down this ’His Highness the Young Master’ in a one-on-one fight. Once Wen Yu was lured into their four-person encirclement, even if he possessed Tongtian abilities, he wouldn’t be able to escape their brutal combined assault!

Under normal circumstances, Heluo’s tactic was not wrong. Vipers are often more lethal than tigers; if one doesn’t strike, so be it, but a strike must be fatal, leaving the enemy no chance to escape. This was an important lesson taught in the elementary school textbooks of the Universe of Immortals and Heroes.

However...

「...」

Wen Yu spoke as if he knew nothing, seemingly talking to himself while slowly walking towards Heluo’s group of four. ”What a coincidence. I didn’t expect our teleportation points to be so close, or that the four of you could regroup so quickly.”

”Indeed, it is quite a coincidence,” Heluo said, his expression unchanging. Then, as if a thought suddenly struck him, he asked Wen Yu with a puzzled look, ”I remember His Highness the Young Master also has a teammate, right? That otherworlder... I wonder...”

”Oh, you mean that fellow?” Wen Yu said, as if suddenly enlightened. ”You’ve reminded me. Let me see...” He paused, stopping about two hundred meters in front of Heluo’s squad.

Seeing this, Fatty immediately sent a Spiritual Fluctuation to Heluo: ”Captain, do we strike?”

Heluo replied via Spiritual Fluctuation: ”Wait a little longer!”