Chapter 145: Fantasy Universe

Since the fierce beast squads could not fly, they naturally had to head out through the main gate.

Lu Sheng kept a few monsters with special abilities that could be useful to him close by.

For instance, the White-Flame Blue-Scaled Bird, which served as his exclusive flying mount.

Lu Sheng naturally would not send it out to hunt; other fierce beasts could handle such tasks.

Up to this point, this was his only acquired monster that could both fly and carry passengers.

How could he possibly send it out? What if it accidentally got killed? Would he have to go back to riding that miserable white cloud horse?

That simply wouldn't do!

For some reason, although there were plenty of flying monsters, they were all slender and small-bodied. Huge flying monsters capable of carrying passengers, like the White-Flame Blue-Scaled Bird, were exceedingly rare.

Even with the global mutation and the emergence of massive numbers of monsters, Lu Sheng had yet to spot any giant bird-like species.

After dispatching the beast squads, Lu Sheng was in no rush.

He simply waited at home for the harvest to deliver itself to his doorstep.

At the same time, he pondered whether there were any hidden security risks around. He could leave the camp's construction alone, but safety was something he still needed to consider.

A thought quickly crossed his mind: the Serpent Forest.

He still hadn't dealt with that Tier 7 monster.

He wondered if it would end up causing him any trouble.

With this in mind, Lu Sheng prepared to lead a team to resolve the matter of the Serpent Forest.

Although he had dispatched some squads, they were all Tier 7—wait, no, they were all Tier 6, with not a single Tier 7 among them.

In Lu Sheng's view, relying solely on fifteen Tier 6s was somewhat insufficient to take down a Tier 7 giant python.

Having made up his mind, Lu Sheng hesitated no longer and prepared to go trouble the Tier 7 giant python.

This time out, he didn't bother notifying Xiong Dabiao and the others.

He had already told them to contact him directly via the sound-transmission bugs if anything came up.

Lu Sheng wasn't worried that these people wouldn't be able to find him if something happened.

Besides, in his view, nothing untoward would happen; he had already cleared out the surrounding monsters.

There were only a few Tier 6 monsters left lingering around the perimeter of the camp.

Lu Sheng had intentionally left those behind, figuring he should at least leave some scraps for Xiong Dabiao and his people.

Killing such a small number of surrounding Tier 6 monsters wouldn't bring him much benefit anyway, and leaving them behind would prevent any resentment from forming.

Some grievances might not be voiced, but people would dwell on them in their hearts.

Since they were going to be his subordinates in the future, there was no need to handle things that way.

Furthermore, he had no regard for such petty gains.

He would much rather encounter that squad of Frost Werewolves from before.

A single squad consisting of a hundred Frost Werewolves, including a Tier 7, yet after running into them once, he never encountered a large-scale Tier 6 unit like that again.

According to the people he rescued at the time, those Frost Werewolves had appeared out of nowhere, with no one knowing their origin.......

Hmm?

Perhaps he could summon the Frost Werewolf leader and ask.

As a Tier 7 leader, Lu Sheng hadn't sent him out.

The next second, a tall Frost Werewolf appeared before Lu Sheng.

"Let me ask you, do you Frost Werewolves have a lair in this world, or is your squad the only one that crossed over?"

The Tier 7 Frost Werewolf replied without the slightest hesitation: "Yes, Master. That floating continent above is the territory of our Frost Werewolf tribe. According to our chieftain, we were very fortunate to cross over here as an entire collective this time."

"You are an entire ethnic group?" Lu Sheng continued, "Then how many Frost Werewolves are there in total, and what is your strength like?"

"Also, you mentioned that crossing over here was a great fortune—why is that?"

The Frost Werewolf pondered for two seconds; Lu Sheng had asked too many questions at once, requiring him to gather his thoughts.

"The floating continent is indeed inhabited by the Frost Werewolf tribe, though we are just a weak branch. There are over thirty thousand Frost Werewolves in total, including about five thousand Tier 6s, one hundred Tier 7s, and three Tier 8s. Before dispatching me to gather intelligence, they were already preparing to launch a war, and I believe they will strike before long."

"Crossing over into the real universe is truly the greatest blessing for beings of the fantasy universe. Any creature from the fantasy universe with even slightly high strength or good intelligence knows that they are merely illusory bubbles within the fantasy universe, liable to be obliterated at any moment."

"In the fantasy universe, even the sudden disappearance of an entire world is a normal occurrence. Our life and death are inextricably linked to the real world."

"You're saying... that universe of yours is called the fantasy universe?" Lu Sheng said incredulously, "Does that mean the worlds and creatures on your side are essentially things imagined by our real universe?"

The Tier 7 Frost Werewolf nodded: "That is correct, Master. You may understand it that way."

"Then why do you kill people after coming out here?" Lu Sheng inquired.

"Because to truly exist, one must kill a sufficient number of people—ideally those whose strength is comparable to one's own. The greater the disparity in strength, the more people need to be killed. Only by killing enough people can we truly come into being," the Frost Werewolf said in a deep voice.

Lu Sheng was taken aback; he hadn't expected such a reason.

The fantasy universe... this was truly a massive revelation.

The Orcs hadn't known this information previously—perhaps because their strength was too low?

Or perhaps because he simply hadn't asked?

However, he didn't have time to dwell on these matters right now.

The crucial issue at hand was the impending assault by the Frost Werewolf tribe.

As the Frost Werewolf had just mentioned, they possessed a full five thousand Tier 6s, one hundred Tier 7s, and three Tier 8s. Dealing with them would be no simple task.

Although this wasn't strictly his problem alone, Lu Sheng did not believe that the entire District 13 possessed the strength to withstand such a powerful Frost Werewolf tribe.

Ultimately, his territory would inevitably come under attack as well.

He surely couldn't pack up and relocate his people yet again, could he?

Besides, digesting so many Frost Werewolves would allow his own strength to leap forward.

It all depended on whether his strength was sufficient to swallow them whole.

A fierce glint flashed in the depths of Lu Sheng's eyes, and he decided to accelerate his pace; he needed to acquire enough subordinates before the Frost Werewolves made their move.

The Frost Werewolves had known to first send out a hundred-man squad to scout the terrain, and by now, over a day had passed.

Given the current level of strength on the ground, it posed zero deterrent to the Frost Werewolf tribe.

Therefore, the Frost Werewolves would make their move very soon.

Lu Sheng believed this timeframe would definitely not be long. Even if someone were to tell him right now that the Frost Werewolves on the floating continent had already launched their attack, Lu Sheng would not be surprised.

What he needed to do right now was elevate his own strength; thinking about anything else was useless.

Facing troubles akin to a desperate situation, Lu Sheng felt no despair.

Instead, it compressed his laid-back mentality to the point of a rebound.

In his past life, he lay flat because hard work yielded no results; later on, his strength grew so rapidly that he ceased to encounter any real difficulties.

But things were different now—effort yielded visible results, and he could ensure his own safety from danger.

To Lu Sheng, this felt more like a reality game: fighting monsters, leveling up, and slaying bosses.

Lu Sheng knew this mindset was perilous; this was reality, not a game.

Yet his current circumstances unconsciously prompted him to apply game logic to them.

He shook his head to force himself to be cautious, aware that this attitude arose entirely from the fact that his life was not in immediate danger.

He didn't know whether this was a blessing or a curse, but for now, it couldn't be considered bad.

He was inherently afraid of death; knowing his safety was guaranteed meant he wouldn't hold back when taking action.

Even if he acted a bit recklessly, it was still better than cowering in fear of everything.

Gazing straight ahead, what he ought to be doing right now was carving out a visible path for himself.

Leaving aside the monster descent a month from now, the current crisis posed by the Frost Werewolves was not something he could easily resolve.

Monsters originating from the fantasy universe could inherently never become friends with humans.

They needed to kill humans to survive; otherwise, they would remain mere reflections in water, perishing at any moment.

Suddenly, Lu Sheng seemed to recall something.

Why was it that the Lizardmen of the Refluent Desert were a peaceful monster race that had never attacked humans?

Was there some hidden story behind that?

Lu Sheng felt he could find an opportunity to visit the Refluent Desert and inquire about what was going on.

As for Tier 7s, he no longer had any reason to fear them.

Mounting the White-Flame Blue-Scaled Bird, Lu Sheng flew off in the direction of the Serpent Forest.

At the same time, a few other regions containing Tier 7s, or relatively powerful zones, were all marked down by Lu Sheng.

Originally, he hadn't planned on making any moves today, but after learning about the floating continent, he lost all inclination to rest.

Right now, he only wanted to grow stronger, stronger, and stronger!

.......

Inside a valley, two squads numbering several hundred people each converged.

The two leaders of the squads greeted each other with smiles.

After sitting down to chat idly, the two became increasingly engrossed in their conversation, and their voices began to rise.

"I have no idea what game Xiong Dabiao is playing, talking about forming a new faction whose leader is supposedly some sixteen- or seventeen-year-old punk. I honestly don't know if that guy has lost his mind."

"Tell me about it! If he hadn't hyped that kid up as being so formidable, I wouldn't have bothered coming. Even though our original faction was shattered to pieces, with a few hundred people in our hands, we'd still be somebody anywhere we went. If we meet tomorrow and the guy isn't as amazing as Xiong Dabiao claims, I am certainly not willing to pledge my allegiance."

"My thoughts exactly. We came over to join them simply because Xiong Dabiao praised that punk to the heavens, and he sounded so earnest about it. Xiong Dabiao strikes me as a straightforward person, so he shouldn't be telling lies that would fall apart at the touch."

"If he really lied just to trick us into coming over, Xiong Dabiao wouldn't stand to gain anything. I assume he wouldn't dare pull a stunt like that."

"Since the two of us agree that this matter is reliable, do you think we should give the new leader a hard time tomorrow?"

"Let's see what the others say. Putting aside making things difficult for him, shouldn't he at least possess the strength Xiong Dabiao talked about?"

"That's true. We need to see some solid proof, or else I won't be convinced."

"If Xiong Dabiao actually dares to fool us, then even if we've been friends for years, we're going to teach him a lesson."

"You're right."

These two squads had arrived first, but subsequent squads continuously poured into the location.

Judging by their cheerful demeanor and lively chatter, they were all leaders from District 21.