Chapter 469: Chapter 283: Second Evolution, Birth of the Four Bee Lords
"Only one skill point left." He thought, looking at the other two branches of skills waiting to be unlocked.
[Soul Absorption (Soul): When your Chess Species kills a demon, there is a chance to absorb the demon’s attributes, thereby making the Chess Species itself stronger. (One-time Chess Species cannot enjoy this effect)]
[Learning this skill requires ’1’ skill point.]
[Final Recruitment (Group): Gain one Knight Chess Species and three Soldier Chess Species.]
[Learning this skill requires ’2’ skill points.]
"Should I sell the Event Card to exchange for 1 skill point?" Xia Pingzhou glanced at the only Event Card on the second unit’s body.
[Card Name: High Noon]
[Card Effect: This card can only be used at ’midnight 12 o’clock’, releasing a peal of bells. Enemies who hear the bell will suddenly feel the gravity on them multiply several times.]
Thinking it over, he turned his head to look at the Queen’s Statue, seemingly waiting for it to provide some advice.
The Queen’s Statue shook its head, raised its hand, and a line of text formed from cold blue flames: "I believe this Event Card can handle some speedy, close-combat Power Users, such as... Jack the Ripper."
"True enough." Xia Pingzhou nodded, "No need to rush, the value of this card is far greater than those trash cards."
After a brief communication with the Queen’s Statue, he raised his hand and tapped the text of "Soul Absorption."
After pressing it with his index finger, the skill icon turned from dark to bright, emitting a black and white light that illuminated the indifferent face of Xia Pingzhou.
[Consumed ’1’ skill point, successfully learned the branch ’Soul’ skill — ’Soul Absorption.’]
[Note: The next skill in the ’Soul’ branch is now open for learning.]
Xia Pingzhou no longer had the heart to do anything else. He lay down on the roof of the loft, watched the starry sky for a while, then ordered the Queen’s Statue to keep watch nearby, being vigilant against the Japanese underworld coming at midnight, and then closed his eyes.
A night of silence.
.....
.....
"Restricted Superpower User, code 1002 — Ji Minghuan, Mentor visiting, quickly make preparations." Ji Minghuan opened his eyes and stared unblinkingly at the penguin on the ceiling.
The cold-toned light shone on his face, making it look deathly pale, so much so that he couldn’t help wanting to close his eyes.
He blanked out for a moment, then slowly turned his head.
As expected, it was the usual: whenever the Mentor’s mood wasn’t stable, he would either enter the detention room without a word or come directly to talk. At the moment, he sat silently as a ghost at the table, cold light reflecting off his glasses.
The Mentor was furious, speaking almost word by word: "Those people from the White Crow Travel Brigade, they killed Julius."
Ji Minghuan was stunned, slowly getting up from the bed, and asked blankly: "Uh...what happened? Julius is? Oh, I remember, that officer uncle."
His eyes widened in realization, "No way? He got killed by that group of bandits?"
As he spoke, inwardly he mocked: So, you have your day too, rare to see you show such an expression.
He got off the bed, took a cup of hot milk from a plate on the ground, inserted a straw, then sat opposite the table, lifting one hand to prop his chin, sipping the milk through the straw while silently enjoying the anger on his Mentor’s face.
It was obvious, the relationship between the Mentor and Julius was quite good. The two seemed to be performing a good cop, bad cop routine in front of Ji Minghuan, but in reality, their friendship ran deep.
After a moment, the Mentor finally spoke: "Yes, Julius was attacked by the brigade and died."
"Isn’t the brigade a bunch of small fry? Not even quasi-calamity level, the big sister could smash them with a stick."
"But we didn’t expect the brigade to have multiple Catastrophe-levels."
"Catastrophe-level?"
"Moreover...they seem to have taken a magical creature from the Terrarium with them." The Mentor said.
"Magical creature?"
Ji Minghuan tilted his head curiously at the Mentor, "What kind of creature? It can’t be a rainbow horse, can it?"
The Mentor nodded.
"It is a shark several hundred meters in length." He said, "Based on the photos sent over by Urushibara Ryuri, I deduced that it should be the legendary and supposedly extinct magical creature species — ’Eternal Abyss Shark’."
"Several hundred meters? Isn’t that like a football field flying in the sky?" Ji Minghuan was amazed.
The Mentor fell silent, thoughts swirling in his mind.
"Between both magical creatures, is the Eternal Abyss Shark more formidable, or is the Light-Eating Bee more so?" Ji Minghuan asked again.
"Hard to say, the number of Eternal Abyss Sharks is far less than that of the Light-Eating Bees, and typically they are marine creatures, not land dwellers." The Mentor said, "But this is my first time seeing a flying Eternal Abyss Shark, even books have no records of such."
"Is it because of a mutation that this shark survives?" Ji Minghuan asked.
"Possibly." The Mentor said, "Things are becoming increasingly complex. We have greatly underestimated what the White Crow Travel Brigade was hiding."
He paused for a moment: "If the reproduction capabilities of the Eternal Abyss Shark are as strong as that of the Light-Eating Bee, then the threat they pose to this world will be far greater than that of the Light-Eating Bee."
"But didn’t you say the Light-Eating Bees could become stronger by devouring Superpower Users?" Ji Minghuan said, "In this light, aren’t the Light-Eating Bees more dangerous? After all, they can infinitely boost themselves, just need to eat one Catastrophe-level and they soar to greater heights?"
"Correct." The Mentor said, "But we have found the whereabouts of the Light-Eating Bees and passed the information to Rainbow Wings. If nothing goes wrong, within ten days, the world’s last Light-Eating Bees will be completely wiped out."
Having said this, the Mentor took a deep breath, looking down at the table.
"Aren’t the Light-Eating Bees doomed in half a month? Why are you still so worried?" Ji Minghuan asked.
"There are many issues at hand, not only is the situation with the White Crow Travel Brigade beyond our expectations, but the Light-Eating Bees as well."
"What about those little bees?"
"According to our observations: The Queen Bee has given birth to four candidates for Bee Kings. We call these four Light-Eating Bees — ’Bee Lords’." The Mentor lowered his voice as he spoke the latter part.
"Bee Lords..." Ji Minghuan murmured.
"Currently, the Light-Eating Bee swarms led by each of the four ’Bee Lords’ are massively capturing Superpower Users from Japan, bringing them back to the islands to provide nutrients. At the current speed, it’s feared that within a month, the four Bee Lords will evolve into ’Catastrophe-levels’." The Mentor paused, drawing a sharp breath, "No, they very well may already be Catastrophe-levels."
"What about the Queen Bee?" Ji Minghuan casually asked.
"The Queen Bee is a tool for reproduction and does not have combat power." The Mentor said, "Even so, it is indeed the most dangerous existence. We will guide this Rainbow Wings operation, telling them that even if they cannot eliminate the four ’Bee Lords’ immediately, they must deal with the ’Queen Bee’.
He lowered his voice: "As long as the Queen Bee is dead, the Light-Eating Bees cannot continue to reproduce. Annihilating them is just a matter of time."
"Isn’t that a good thing?"
"The Bee Lords are planning to invade human territories; Japan’s Osaka might become their first target." The Mentor said, "If this matter isn’t handled well, it will cause immeasurable casualties."
Ji Minghuan raised an eyebrow: "So, if the situation gets out of hand, then it’s our heroic team’s cue to step in, right?"
The Mentor thought for a moment, then looked up: "Yes, if Rainbow Wings can’t completely annihilate the Light-Eating Bees, you must step up."
"Are you sure it won’t be too late by then?" Ji Minghuan suddenly said.
"What do you mean?"
"After devouring a dozen Catastrophe-Level Superpower Users, how powerful will those bee swarms become? Won’t they be unstoppable?"
"Relax," the Mentor said, shaking his head, "But those Light-Eating Bees won’t be a match for three Mythical-Level beings. We will, at that time, dispatch Sun Changkong, Shang Xiaoqi, and ’Zeus’.
"What if, just what if, even they get wiped out, then what?"
The Mentor was silent for a moment, meeting Ji Minghuan’s gaze.
"Then we will handle it ourselves." He finally said. "If it comes to it, it’s better that we obliterate the intruders ourselves than allowing them to survive and multiply, threatening the entire world."