During the last three days, Meng Chao only improved the skills he had by a small margin. He also traded himself an Initial Stage Healing Skill. After he finished healing all his hidden injuries, he did not activate any new skills.
As of then, his contribution points were at 7,523 points.
He had an unprecedented amount of “money” in his hands.
He thought about it and decided that he should not use up all of his contribution points whenever he gained them. He also had real money, so he did not need to panic.
On that day, fog descended on Dragon City again. It was the largest over the past decade, and it caught everyone off guard.
Since the national college examination was just around the corner, all the examinees stayed in school.
When it was midnight, Meng Chao was startled awake for a reason unknown to him. He felt that the air was stiff, and he could also hear faint shrieks. It was as if something was churning beneath the surface.
Then, a piercing alarm rang through the entire city, and the students got out of their beds.
“What’s going on? I didn’t hear the weather forecast station saying that monsters would be attacking tonight.”
“This is a special-grade alarm. A lot of space-time rifts have been torn in the city. The worst situation has appeared!”
“Didn’t they say that the space and time torrent is gradually stabilizing, and when monsters attack our borders, they seldom use the space-time rifts to appear straight in the city?!”
“Who the heck knows what’s going on?!”
Everyone got dressed in a flurry.
While they were still adjusting their combat boots, Meng Chao had already rushed out.
He saw an incredibly shocking sight in the corridor.
The night sky had been filled with stars, but at some point in time, massive vortices had appeared in it.
Nearly one hundred squirming limbs came out of the vortices. They looked sticky, and their color was bright, making it seem as if the night sky itself had been ripped apart, and now, there were bloody wounds on it.
The stars could no longer be seen. As the black vortices pulsed, huge monsters that could not be described with words flew into the sky above the city.
They swayed about while looking like demonic jellyfish that came from hell or huge, bloodshot eyeballs.
They had veins that were as dense as a spider’s net and strange pupils. The tissues around the eyeballs were bloody. They had everything that made them look disgusting and alive.
The tentacles looked like nerve cords. They hung down as if fishing on the streets and alleys for human souls.
The huge eyes released a strange light that scanned through the entire city like spotlights.
When the blood-red light swept through Ninth High School’s dormitory building, the students in the corridor felt their hearts tremble violently, and their mental strength index plummeted.
“It’s the Demonic Air Ripping Eye. That thing is skilled in mind attacks on multiple targets. Don’t meet its gaze!”
“Focus and calm your breathing. Enter a sitting stance and meditate! Make sure that you execute your breathing technique and meditation technique!”
“Where’s the army? Where are the superhumans? What should we do when there are so many superbeasts around?”
It was the first time that many of the students had seen something so terrifying and they lost their composure.
The booming sounds of propellers came from the sky. Eight armored airships and dozens of superhumans rushed over. They formed an aerial offense unit.
Guns were fired along with heavy artillery. The superhumans rose into the air, and their sabers as well as broadswords were as magnificent as lightning.
The Demonic Air Ripping Eyes were superbeasts skilled in mind attacks but who had weak physical bodies. Once they collected multiple wounds, they were like popped balloons and lost control of themselves. They flew everywhere while shrieking.
A heavily injured Demonic Air Ripping Eye coincidentally flew above an armored airship.
It immediately started swinging its tentacles and wrapped its torn body around the armored airship. While it cackled and shrieked, it fell down with the armored airship.
The sounds of explosions and the light from the fire shocked the students deeply.
The youngsters had grown up in the glorious age where Dragon City was in its most prosperous.
The armored airship is a mighty steel machine with power equal to that of a God, and no matter how strong a monster is, when it runs into an armored airship, it has to flee—this was common knowledge that supported their views of the world.
And now, their steel God fell.
“The Demonic Air Ripping Eyes we learned about in the textbooks aren’t this fast. Their tentacles aren’t that strong either. They’re not supposed to break bullets! Wh-what’s going on?!”
The faces of many students were stark white. Their eyes were dazed, and they could not control their muscles. They were all trembling.
If anyone tested them on their mental strength index right now, they would find that it had dropped by the tens.
They were about to break down.
Fortunately, at that moment, a loud war song rose from the depths of the school.
The familiar melody was like waves of lava that charged into them, flowing into their eardrums and traveling down their nerves, blood vessels, and brain cells. It gave them courage and helped them to calm down.
Meng Chao was the first among those in the corridor to respond to the melody. He threw his head back and started singing at the top of his voice.
He was quite tone deaf, and his singing could not be described as pleasant at all.
But it was a song sung by the martyrs on Earth, and now, it was also sung in the Other World. Songs like that were not meant to be sung with skill nor enjoyed by the ear.
They were to be sung with passionate blood and enjoyed by excited spirits. They were supposed to resonate with the people through their courage and beliefs.
Chu Feixiong was the second to break free from his shock. He moved next to Meng Chao and started belting out his notes toward the school field, the school, and the entire city. He let out furious shouts of a young Earthling at the monsters that covered the sky of the city.
His voice was even more out of tune than Meng Chao’s, but that was fine.
When countless teenagers gathered their toneless voices together to form an earth-shattering roar and when these sound waves pushed their spirits so high that they could turn into shocking waves that could sweep through the world, they became invincible.
The students and teachers in the corridors, dormitory building, school building, and the whole school sang together. Their voices turned into an impenetrable defense net that shattered the mind attacks from the Demonic Air Ripping Eyes.
The brainwaves from thousands of youths gathered together to form a sharp golden blade that seemed to have physical form. It launched a counterattack skyward, causing the Demonic Air Ripping Eyes to spasm violently, and they screeched.
All of the monsters suffered a backlash from their mind attacks.
It was not actually that difficult to block off mind attacks.
Certain activities produced certain effects in warding off mind attacks. For example, passionate military songs that stirred up courage, relics from deceased family members that stirred up memories, pictures of children to light up hope, or even debase entertainment could all divert one’s attention.
The key was that when hundreds of people were gathered together, someone had to take the lead for these activities to take effect.
If someone took the lead to stabilize their mental strength index and thought of ways to increase morality, they would release brain waves nonstop to resonate with the brainwaves of the crowd. Then, this would turn into a good cycle where everyone would become colder, bolder, and fearless.
Even if a coward was in the midst of people with high morale who were fighting fearlessly and passionately, they would march forward with indomitable spirit as well.
But on the other hand, if someone crumbled instantly, the brainwaves channelling fear would turn into a virus that would affect everyone.
When their mental strength index plummeted, the group would collapse, and the effect would be similar to that of countless fear bombs exploding fiercely. Even Meng Chao could not guarantee that his mind would not be affected if he were caught in such a situation.
Fortunately, they managed to stabilize their minds.
Just like in Ninth High School, the people in the other places gradually recovered with the loud war songs as well.
The citizens managed to break free from their initial panic. They acted according to the emergency procedures and defended against the enemies on the spot while also launching counterattacks.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Countless searchlights illuminated the night sky so brightly that it looked like it was day.
The anti-aircraft machine guns and anti-aircraft guns released thousands of bullets, leaving behind so many holes on the Demonic Air Ripping Eyes that they looked like punctured balls. They started screeching.
However, aside from the Demonic Air Ripping Eyes, there were other monsters as well. They invaded the city through the normal means and engaged the humans in close quarters combat.
For a period of time, the sounds of guns, artillery, shouts for murder, and explosions filled the streets, alleys, and every corner of the city.
A few buildings began burning around Ninth High School.
“Look!”
Chu Feixiong pointed at a building not far away from the school.
Its base had been set on fire, but the top of the building was bound by the tentacles of a Demonic Air Ripping Eye. The residents of that building could neither go up nor down. Many people started crying for help from their balconies. Some of them panicked and jumped off because their mental strength index had fallen too low.
“We have to hurry up and save them!”
Meng Chao and Chu Feixiong led the group from the third year out of the dormitory building like the wind.
At the school entrance, they ran into Principal Sun, Demon Yan, and a large group of teachers armed head to toe in armor and weapons.
Demon Yan held a heavy machine gun that was usually fixed to armored trucks. On his back was a broadsword with ghost heads, and it looked even mightier than the heavy machine gun. He glared at them and shouted, “What are you doing?!”
“Principal Sun, Mr. Yan, you’re going out to fight, right?” Chu Feixiong summoned his courage and shouted, “That’s just perfect! Take us with you!”
“Stop fooling around and go back. Before daylight, none of you are allowed to step out of the schoolyard!” Demon Yan let out a huff and glared.
“Why?!”
“Didn’t the Survival Committee release a law saying that if we run into monsters, we’re to help each other and fight with everything we have?”
“The monsters are wreaking havoc around us. How can we just watch?”
“A few days ago, I met even more hideous monsters during the mental strength test. I’m not afraid! I want to fight!”
After singing the war songs together, everyone had secretes too many superbrain endorphins. Their mental strength indices were all above 120% now, and the side effect was that they were not afraid even of Demon Yan. They started causing a ruckus like people who had received an extra dose of courage, which they had.
“Students, I can understand your feelings, and I absolutely agree with your beliefs that you should fight.” Principal Sun stepped forward from behind Demon Yan.
The shrivelled old man had switched to a loose camouflage uniform. He did not bring any weapons and appeared to be barehanded. He smiled gently.
“But you’re about to take your national college examinations. Many of you have a chance to get into universities and become superhumans. Even if you don’t manage to get into universities, you will be able to achieve great things in many jobs after you go through specialization training.
“The society, the school, and your parents have invested a lot in all of you to cultivate you to this stage. Everyone is looking forward to you blossoming. How can we let you perish meaninglessly before you reach full bloom?
“Yes, we have to make sacrifices all the time to survive, but sacrifices must be meaningful too. We must be rewarded sufficiently for every drop of blood that we shed. Understood?”
Chu Feixiong was someone easily excited. After his mental strength index went over the safety zone, he feared nothing. “Principal Sun, then why can you go out to fight?”
Demon Yan glared at him, but Principal Sun stopped Demon Yan with a smile and said, “We’re old now. We’re injured and disabled. Every bit of our potential has been wrung out. Even if we die, it’s fine.
“But you’re young. You’re the sun that shines at eight o’clock in the morning. You’re the future and hope of Dragon City. I’m fine with you rushing out to fight, but we should go by order, no? When all of the teachers and I have died, walk over our corpses, pick up our weapons, and kill as much as you want, alright?”