Chapter 675: Chapter 661: The Victor Chen Feng stood at the ship’s bow, his gaze fixed on the endless sea. Even though he possessed legendary power, he still felt small before the might of nature while navigating the waters.
A Giant Dragon circled overhead, occasionally accompanied by laughter; the Inferior Demon had evidently perched atop the Giant Dragon, soaring through the skies.
White Dragon.
In just one short year, this hatchling had transformed into a colossal entity, its body reaching fifteen meters in length. Simply spreading its wings could impose an extremely terrifying pressure.
If you were to closely inspect a dragon scale, you would discover a dense layer of hair in the innermost layer, firmly anchored into the epidermis like roots. Within the hair follicles, there are glands that secrete an adhesive substance that binds the scales tightly to the skin. This substance, primarily derived from minerals, dictates the color and hardness of the dragon scales. The outermost layer of the scale is a semi-transparent horny texture, giving the scales a sheen.
According to the adaptability of Giant Dragons, a dragon can live healthily for 1200 years, or even longer, save for some unfortunate circumstances.
Regardless, all dragons start from a humble egg and evolve through 12 distinct stages. Each new evolutionary stage manifests in the dragon’s body, mind, or behavior.
Some Sages dedicate several generations to follow and study a Giant Dragon because of its extraordinary vitality. This leads researchers, even until their death, unable to glimpse the future growth changes of their subject; thus, help is needed through apprentices or offspring.
This White Dragon is only one year old. In the dragon family, it is merely an infant, yet its size is surprisingly large, with wings spreading fifteen meters—already rivaling a dragon that has grown for decades.
The credit goes to Lin Yueqiu’s genetics.
When Chen Feng first acquired this White Dragon, he never intended to raise it normally. First, he had come into contact with the blood of an adult white dragon, which was a root cause of blood feud evaluation for the hatchling. The second reason was the slow growth cycle. If it followed a step-by-step growth, the White Dragon, even with more potential, could not become Chen Feng’s ally in a short time.
In this situation, Chen Feng decisively chose to gradually accelerate its growth cycle. Although doing so meant permanently losing intelligence, it could yield the highest value.
This White Dragon had been injected with too many genetic agents, Lin Yueqiu used the life essence of over a thousand monsters to spur its growth. In a year, the White Dragon had become a Golden Tier powerhouse, but as a cost, it only had about twenty years of life left!
To unlock potential!
Excessively exploiting the White Dragon’s potential had undeniably consumed too much of its vitality and caused irreversible damage!
Great accomplishments do not focus on trifles.
A mere dragon’s life, if exchanged for the prosperity of Order, no one would dare to object to Chen Feng.
Setting out to sea again, Chen Feng’s feeling this time was slightly different from before; the previous expeditions were more exploratory, but this time, it was a clear invasion.
Flower City.
This is the name of the occupied city. Unlike zombies, Beastmen still possess some reason. They do not kill all captives as long as food isn’t depleted. They excel at enslaving, driving them to construct buildings or perform daily tasks.
This indicates that Flower City still holds a large number of survivors. If Order is restored, Chen Feng’s Power of Faith will receive another boost.
Eliminating surrounding threats.
Saving existing humans.
Gaining new faith points.
This is clearly a matter with only benefits and no drawbacks.
Dozens of battleships sailed towards Flower City. Although some lurking monsters wanted to feast, they were deterred by the Giant Dragon’s might, choosing to remain silent nearby, not daring to show themselves easily.
The power of a Giant Dragon is not invincible within Order, but with bloodline intimidation, its presence levitating beside the ship clearly averts many troubles.
Few monsters dare to provoke a Giant Dragon, even if it is slightly immature and not very bright; the majesty is evident; this is the depth of its bloodline.
Just like humans, wealth coming to an end is the poor’s self-consolation. Those born with a silver spoon are hardly comparable to the impoverished from the start.
The seabed is a place nurturing life. In this period of evolution, countless monsters have emerged. But when confronted by the Giant Dragon, they are still somewhat suppressed, having to watch the prey slowly drift away.
However, while you stand on the bridge enjoying the view, someone else views you from the building above.
Yet those regretful monsters fail to realize, the sailors aboard are also sighing, for this voyage is a combat mission aimed at reaching the destination as quickly as possible. Thus, they cannot fish for sea creatures like before to stave off hunger.
Countless sailors gaze into the depths with hidden sorrow, lamenting the loss of a genuine seafood feast.
...............
On a broad plain, many people were screaming in panic.
Their clothes barely covered their bodies, and their skin was filthy. As for their cheeks, they were emaciated to the extreme, resembling some concentration camp prisoners, no longer retaining a human shape.
"I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die yet!"
"Why do we have to go through this pain?"
"Run! Those monsters promised us that if we can reach the finish line, they’ll let us go. This is our only chance!"
Awooo!
The haunting howl of a wolf echoed.
Accompanied by some war drums, dozens of giant wolf mounts suddenly charged out from the distant beastman ranks, and on the backs of these wolves were pack of jackal-wolfmen with wolf heads and long fur!
This was a routine activity of the beastmen.
The wolf mounts needed plenty of food, but compared to dead food, they preferred fresh flesh and blood.
Predators.
A famous action force among the beastmen. At this moment, the distance was closing, the shadow of death loomed over everyone. Although the promise was that if they reached the finish line, humans would gain freedom; on one side were the ferocious wolf mounts, on the other, exhausted bodies starved for days. The final outcome was clearly evident!
The distance was getting closer and closer.
The wolf mounts’ foul breath washed over them, while the jackal-wolfmen on their backs emitted howls of ghosts and wolves, charging into the crowd in an instant.
Humans could no longer shed tears, for in just a few months, they had suffered too much tragedy. At this moment, they could only speed up, for as long as they reached the end, they could leave this land comparable to hell!
Pleasant lovers from the past could no longer care for each other now. Even if the woman clutched the man’s sleeve pleadingly, hoping he would take her away from this dreadful place, the man glanced at the finish line not far away, felt the burden on his sleeve, and a hint of pain flashed through his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by fear.
He made a decision.
The man forcefully shook off the woman’s arm, disregarding her inertia causing her to fall to the ground, gritting his teeth and starting to stride towards the end!
"No!"
A painful screech sounded behind him, followed by the roar of a fierce wolf, and the woman’s voice abruptly ceased. Even without turning back, the man knew precisely what horror had befallen her!
The man cried, and at this moment, memories of knowing and falling in love flashed through his mind. They were indeed lucky because of Sun Jin; they did not experience the apocalypse. Those monsters were driven out of the city.
But even so, the apocalypse was still tough. Food was the primary issue to resolve. In the early stages of Flower City, due to a lack of food, the man ate only one meal a day, leaving all the rest for his beloved girlfriend. She wasn’t in good health, and he feared she wouldn’t survive in such harsh conditions.
As days went by, the situation improved.
The man and the woman had gone through the apocalypse and countless trials in the days that followed. The man firmly believed that they would be together forever, but just now, he had personally cut off the woman’s chance of survival.
He was scared.
Flower City was no longer under the reign of Sun Jin. Instead, the monsters ruled here. Every few days, large numbers of humans were ruthlessly slaughtered, their screams a source of entertainment. Every swing of the blade marked the end of some human lives.
The man broke down.
He wasn’t even sure when he broke down. Was it months ago? Weeks ago? Days ago? Or was it the moment his beloved girlfriend clung to him, delaying his escape?
The man thought he would take care of her for a lifetime, just as he had shared his last food with her. He would hold her and keep going, no matter how many tribulations they’d face. But in the face of reality, he was terrified.
Destroying his girlfriend’s life with his own hands inflicted immense pain on his heart every moment. Yet, the more it hurt, the faster his steps became.
"Lily can’t die in vain, I need to live for her!"
"That’s right, she likes cream cake and cherries. She told me yesterday that if she could eat cake again, even if she lived one year, no, three years less, it would be worth it!"
"I must live for her, I must fulfill this dream for her!"
This belief in his heart became the motivation for the man to run. He surpassed one companion after another, sprinting towards the finish line at an astonishing speed.
Behind him, an occasional wail and screech echoed, but the man never once looked back. He just ran tirelessly, desperately, extracting the last thread of conviction to run. Perhaps, it was the humans behind him that distracted the wolf mounts’ attention. Finally, he achieved his wish, reaching the finish line. The man half-knelt on the ground, a victorious smile on his face, though his eyes were long drenched with tears. He gazed at the woman’s half-eaten body by the wolf mounts, trembling with a voice:
"Lily, did you see? I won, I... sob... I won..."