“Brat, how do you feel?” Qin Hu hesitated for a moment before he added, “I feel…”
Meng Chao cradled his head and endured the pain. It felt like a volcano had erupted in it.
The nightmare a moment ago appeared before his eyes again.
The fragments of the nightmare stuffed his eyes, which made them shine with a fierce light. He gave off a completely different air.
He was no longer an eighteen-year-old, hot-blooded youth, but a burning skeleton which had crawled out of hell.
Qin Hu and Lu Siya sucked in a sharp breath and retreated to the deepest part of the cave in spite of themselves.
“I feel like I had a nightmare.” Meng Chao had a dazed look on his face. His lips twitched, and he said in a grave voice, “In my nightmare, the northern offense failed because of various reasons, and Dragon City’s first large-scale expansion ran into a wall.
“All the resources that had been poured into the northern offense were lost, and we couldn’t organize a second offense within a short period of time. Dragon City descended into a vortex where it did not have enough living space and resources. This resulted in the conflicts that had been brewing among us for decades to explode.
“To obtain more resources for the city with a population of tens of millions to continue its operations, the superhumans had to go into the fog to hunt more often, and they had to fight in an environment where the weather was extreme and space and time were distorted. Normal people and the Red Dragon Army could not help them much, so the superhumans could only rely on their individual strength.
“To increase their individual strength, the city had to pour a vast amount of resources into them.
“But the more resources the superhumans obtained, the fewer were received by the normal people.
“And as the superhumans continued improving and evolving through the fights, they gradually learned divine abilities that allowed them to transcend and even destroy the world. Their strength, power, and wealth took another step beyond the normal people. The differentiation between the powerful and the weak in Dragon City grew to the point where it could tear apart our entire civilization.
“In time, many superhumans became arrogant. They believed that they were the ones defending Dragon City and civilization when they fought in the fog, while normal people were just trash, a burden, and pitiful insects who could only tremble behind them for protection.
“Normal people might have been grateful for the superhumans’ contribution, but they grew increasingly displeased with the superhumans’ aggressive and superior attitude. Being protected but not being able to do anything to help did not feel good, and the people did not want to forever rely on the mercy and charitable acts from the superhumans to survive. But the point was that they could not see an end to this life.
“At some point, we won against the monsters. But a rift that could not be crossed had already opened up within our civilization. Superhumans and normal people had turned into two completely different existences. They had different interests and ways of living. The definition of ‘us’ and ‘civilization’ were completely different between the two groups.
“Dragon City, at that time, seemed to be flourishing and burning with power. We appeared to be winning and advancing boldly. We could still motivate our people by saying that we are doing this for Earth, and while stimulated by the thought of snatching loot, we could maintain the face of unity.
“But in truth, the people had already divided themselves a long time ago. Once we ran into truly powerful enemies, the war machine that seemed to be indestructible and operated with loud rumbling sounds started crumbling from within until the day of its ruin arrived.”
Meng Chao’s expression terrified Lu Siya and Qin Hu.
But the next moment, two sparks lit up in his eyes. He clenched his fists and growled, “But that’s just a damn nightmare! I will definitely shatter this nightmare!”
Boom!
Dozens of spirit tattoos appeared on his arms. As a thunderous roar rose, he punched the ground and left a deep crack. It crushed countless dim crystal clusters and traveled forward until it reached Lu Siya and Qin Hu’s feet.
Even if most of the spirit energy contained in the Blue Origin Crystals had been drained dry, his force was still terrifying.
Lu Siya and Qin Hu gulped.
Both of them had the same question pop up in their heads at the same time.
His spirit energy ripple was really strong. Was it really something a mere two-star superhuman could create?
Meng Chao’s punch allowed him to vent the fighting will burning in his heart. It also allowed him to regain some clarity of mind.
‘Oh, no,’ he thought.
He had absorbed too much of the rampaging spirit energy and his cultivation base had increased by leaps and bounds, which instantly unlocked many memories from his previous life. For some time, the emotions and thoughts from his previous life enveloped him, and he lost control over himself.
One of the people in front of him was ambitious and longed for power. She would use every method at her disposal to achieve her goal.
The other was selfish. He acted according to the situation and never sided with anyone.
When faced with the threat of death, the three of them worked together.
But now, the main danger had passed, and their relationship had become delicate. It would be better if he did not let them know too many of his secrets and his real strength.
After thinking about this, Meng Chao circulated his spirit energy in secret and forced out a mouthful of blood from his throat. At the same time, he made his face turn pale and swayed his body a little.
He fell on the ground and cried out, “It hurts! It hurts! My head hurts! I think the rampaging spirit energy from the Red Radiance Jades was too strong and I’m suffering from really bad internal injuries. I-I’ve always been a broken-star superhuman. Now, my injuries have worsened, and I’m going to become useless…”
Lu Siya and Qin Hu looked at each other.
“Brat, we saw it just now. The spirit energy moved slowly into your organs through all 1,024 branch meridians and your organs were all refined. You’ve already become a two-star superhuman. Why are you still putting up an act?!” Qin Hu spat in anger.
“And you’re not a normal superhuman in Spirit Transformation Realm either,” Lu Siya said airily. “You have hundreds of branch meridians, more than ten main meridians, and a crystalized dragon meridian going through your spine. I’ve never heard of such a strange phenomenon before.
“Your fighting strength right now is probably higher than that of any ordinary two-star superhuman. There’s no way that you would suffer from a rebound so bad that you would cough up blood after a simple punch.”
Meng Chao got up while feeling slightly awkward. He found it too shameful to continue coughing up blood, so he could only scratch his head and say, “There isn’t?”
“Duh. Do you think we’re blind or dumb?” Qin Hu said angrily. “When the spirit energy tsunami rushed inside and the Red Radiance Jades and Blue Origin Crystals resonated with each other, you absorbed at least 70% of that spirit energy, brat.
“Damn it, your body is practically like a blackhole. It just kept sucking in spirit energy. There were a few times when we thought you were going to explode and die, but you just kept sucking away. You only left 30% for us to enjoy.
“With just these scraps, Ms. Lu was able to become a fighting-class and supporting-class superhuman who is at Heaven Realm, and my spirit meridians were stuffed full as well. I haven’t cleared them yet, but once I do, I’ll be able to beat up Hell Beasts with one punch.
“We became so much stronger from the scraps, while you took the biggest slice of the pie and didn’t end up dead from it. So you’re definitely so strong that everyone will want to beat you up! Why are you still pretending to be weak?!”
Meng Chao was speechless for a moment. “You can say anything you want, and you can cause a ruckus as well, but please be civilized when you speak. I wasn’t pretending to be weak. I was just… being humble.”
“Humble, my foot,” Qin Hu said firmly. “Ever since elementary school, I hated ace students who like pretending to be humble. If it weren’t for my spirit meridians being blocked and my strength still exhausted, I would definitely beat you up until I cripple you!”
Meng Chao found himself feeling resigned.
When he recalled what had happened, he realized that it was really dangerous.
The spirit energy tsunami had ravaged his body and mind more than a hundred times.
The tens of thousands of contribution points he had accumulated after so much effort should have been gone long ago, so how?
Meng Chao blinked. He could vaguely remember that when his body was about to be crushed, Kindling shone at the corner of his eyes and a lot of notifications popped up.
The ending of the northern offense had changed!
With Lin Chuan working together with them, the explosion from the Red Radiance Jade mine was not as strong as it had been in Meng Chao’s previous life. The spirit energy tsunami that rose up did not turn into a spirit energy magnetic field storm that could destroy the world, either!
The numerous superhumans who were fighting fiercely in Raging Waves, Graveyard Forest, and Shattered Starlake all survived!
Hence, he managed to get an astronomical amount of contribution points. He exchanged them all for healing, and with the super healing skill fighting the rampaging spirit flames, his body was refined to the point that he became a new man and was born anew!
“Big Brother Lin, you did it! We did it!” Meng Chao mumbled.
Even though he could not be certain whether the victory of the northern offense would mean that Dragon City would no longer head to ruin, at the very least, he could now sit down and catch a breath before he went down a brand new path.
While thinking about this, Meng Chao looked at Lu Siya and Qin Hu.
These two people’s fates had also been changed completely by him and Lin Chuan.
Lu Siya did not die tragically underground. This ambitious woman, instead, gained a brand new ability and “weapon”.
Qin Hu no longer had a reason to turn into that dark, ruthless, and lonely avenger who spent the rest of his life and energy on chasing the White Spirit, even though he could never kill it.
Now, what sort of ripples or storms could these two brand new “butterflies” bring to Dragon City?
Meng Chao had a thought, and he said hesitantly, “I know that everyone’s stances, interests, personalities, and thoughts are slightly different. When we were underground, I had to say certain things that… weren’t a reflection of what I really think. It was to fight against a powerful enemy.
“But since we met, it’s fate. We managed to escape death together, and we gained a blessing in disguise, which can even be considered a miracle. There’s no longer a need to hold any hostility toward each other and suspect as well as be wary of each other, right? We should be able to face each other honestly and carry out Big Brother Lin’s dying wish. What do you think?”
“Makes sense. A person should be sincere. There’s no need for us to keep lying to each other. So, we should start with you,” Qin Hu’s gaze burned intensely. “Let’s not talk about anything else, but focus on how you knew that there was a Blue Origin Crystal cave here and that it could help us avoid the disaster. We even encountered a miracle because of it.”
Meng Chao was slightly stunned. He shook his head and said, “I didn’t know that there was a Blue Origin Crystal cave here!”
“You didn’t know? Then why did you drag us over here? You even said that it had a perfect S-shaped curve! Did you think you were lying to elementary school kids?!”
Meng Chao scratched his head. “Um…”
Qin Hu sneered. “Go on. Keep lying!”
“It’s fine. Everyone has their own secrets,” Lu Siya said. “There are plenty of times when blood has to be spilled once a secret is revealed. I’ve seen too much blood over the past few days and don’t wish to see us shedding our own blood.
“Of course we should be honest with each other, but we have to deal with the aftermath of this incident and get rid of the problems so that we can maximize our interests. We’ll talk about the other stuff later!”