“Captain, an unidentified creature has been spotted ahead. It’s not recorded in the mission manual.”
“Hm? Observe it first. Once we confirm it’s something we can handle, we’ll attack.”
“Got it.”
A team made up entirely of white people had just escaped the instructors’ “humiliating” beatdown when they came face-to-face with scorpion-tailed humanoid creatures, instantly putting them on alert.
After determining that the danger level wasn’t too high, the white captain decided to take the risk himself and test the enemy’s strength.
He first circled around to the other side to avoid exposing the rest of the team’s position, then launched a surprise attack while the scorpion-tailed person wasn’t paying attention.
He was a close-combat mage who could manipulate ice elements into armor and sharp blades. With a single strike, his sharp ice sword sliced through the scorpion-tailed person’s throat.
“That weak?” The white captain was stunned. Suddenly, he felt a chill behind his head.
With a crisp “crack,” shards of ice scattered behind him, just barely blocking a sneak attack. The white captain nimbly leaped away and turned to strike back, his ice sword colliding with the scorpion-tailed person’s thick tail.
Anyone who could enter the Pride Camp and remain until now was no simple character, let alone someone chosen as captain from among six geniuses.
“Not bad strength, late D-rank. The scorpion tail accounts for over eighty percent of its overall power.” The white captain muttered to himself, already forming a judgment, and decided to probe a little more.
The scorpion-tailed person whose throat had been cut didn’t seem weakened much by the wound. Instead, it seemed to grow fiercer the more it fought.
The white captain maintained control, ensuring the opponent’s strength stayed within his grasp at all times.
After about a minute, the scorpion-tailed person was finally thoroughly enraged and exploded with full power, entangling the white captain in a fierce fight.
The white captain held back from killing the scorpion-tailed person three times in a row. Finally, on the fourth time, he cut off its head with one sword and chopped the scorpion tail into several pieces.
He shouted toward his companions: “Record this: scorpion-tailed person, strength late D-rank, can reach peak D-rank when enraged, but because its tail is poisonous and troublesome, its overall combat power can barely reach C-rank.”
A quiet, gentle-looking girl finished recording and asked in confusion, “Captain, this scorpion-tailed person is so strange. Could it be an invader from another world?”
The white captain frowned in thought. “That possibility can’t be ruled out. After all, we’ve never heard any related information about them before.”
“Then what are we waiting for? It’s only D-rank. Let’s go up and kill a few more for Earth.”
As soon as one energetic young man finished speaking, the white captain slapped him hard and said irritably, “Are you stupid? We’ve only run into one. We still can’t confirm the exact strength of the other individuals. What’s the difference between rushing out and throwing your life away?”
“Oh.” The energetic young man knew he had been rash and didn’t argue. He obediently listened to the captain’s lecture.
“Listen up, all of you. Unless it’s a special situation, no one is allowed to attack any creature without my orders. Understood?”
“Understood,” the five said in unison.
While they were discussing the scorpion-tailed people’s strength, on a slope about three hundred meters away, a scorpion-tailed person watched with a grave expression.
After a long while, he glanced at the rock behind him and waved his hand. Immediately, dozens of figures walked out from behind the rock, though most were old, weak, sick, or disabled.
“General, Old Black, he…” An old woman-like scorpion-tailed person choked up.
The scorpion-tailed person called General shook his head helplessly. “That person is very strong. Old Black is no match for him. The others with him are at least on Old Black’s level. Although I can handle him, my chances of winning against six of them aren’t good.”
The old woman said bitterly, “If this place weren’t suppressing us so heavily, why would the General fear them?”
“Shh!” The General made a silencing gesture, signaling everyone not to act rashly. Only after confirming they were safe did he breathe a sigh of relief. “We are invaders to begin with. We came to this unfamiliar world for resources. Being able to survive is already a blessing.”
“But we only came here because we had no other way out. Why won’t they leave us even one last path to survival?” Someone was indignant.
The General said, “Racial conflict is like this. Morality has nothing to do with it. Overwhelming strength is the capital for survival.”
“But now many powerful humans have come to the mountains. Every one of them has Old Black’s strength. What should we do…”
The General pondered briefly, then suddenly seemed to make up his mind. His eyes turned fierce. “If worst comes to worst, we’ll fight to the death. No matter what, we must carve out a way for the young children to live. As long as they can take root in this world, I believe time can slowly erase the suppression.”
“That’s not necessarily true.” A hoarse voice sounded. A graceful man walked out of the forest, wearing a malicious ghost mask on his face and followed by a puppet.
The puppet was made from a real person. Its every movement was controlled by the man. But the puppet was battered and broken all over, as if it had been scorched by fire.
“Humans!” A commotion broke out among the scorpion-tailed people. They all looked at the man in terror.
“Who are you? Why can you understand our language?” The General instantly became wary.
An unpleasant laugh came from beneath the mask. The man said, “I know many languages. The frog people of your language family once cooperated with me.”
The General’s expression changed drastically. “Senior, are you a Ferryman?”
“Exactly.”
Hearing this, the General was overjoyed. “I didn’t know Senior Ferryman had graced us with your presence. Please forgive any rudeness earlier.”
The Ferryman didn’t seem to care. He said to himself, “I originally came to help you, to help you reunite with your clansmen.”
“Clansmen!” Including the General, all the scorpion-tailed people became excited. “We still have living clansmen?”
“Of course. They’re in the primitive forest to the east. At least a thousand of them. If you’re willing to trust me, I can consider helping you.”
“How does Senior plan to help, and what do we need to do for you?” Though excited, the General understood that nothing good ever fell from the sky.
No one knew what expression was beneath the Ferryman’s mask. They only heard him ask, “Do you want revenge?”
The General’s eyes sharpened. “Yes!”
“Good. When the time comes, help me kill a few more Pride Camp students. I want their corpses. If you run into this person, I want him alive.”
The Ferryman handed him a photo. The General took it and looked. After a moment, he hesitated. “I am very willing to serve Senior Ferryman, but our realms are heavily suppressed. I’m afraid we are no match for them.”
“That’s easy to solve.” The Ferryman took out a black pill. “This is a medicine I developed that can resist the suppression of rules. After eating it, you can recover at least sixty to seventy percent of your strength.”
The General didn’t take the pill for a long time, struggling inwardly. Only when the Ferryman grew impatient and was about to take it back did he snatch the pill and stuff it into his mouth.
“Very good. I have more here. Those who want one can come get it. The chance only comes once.”
Seeing that even the General had taken it, the other scorpion-tailed people surged forward. In less than a minute, all of them had taken the medicine.
The originally old, weak, sick, and disabled group instantly became a fighting force with everyone at D-rank or C-rank. Even the elderly had impressive combat power, and the General recovered to B-rank strength.
The Ferryman nodded in satisfaction. A drop of black liquid condensed at his fingertip. “There are quite a few strong ones among those young people. I’ll give you this drop of divine blood. It can help you increase your strength, so you don’t die before accomplishing anything.”
The divine blood the Ferryman mentioned flew into the General’s brow and disappeared. A vast power shook his mind and spirit. His blood and qi instantly surged, and two streams of blood flowed slowly from his nostrils.
