Chapter 90: Returning Empty-Handed

Upon seeing Zihui’s method, Xu Qian felt profoundly that she had been thinking in circles. Without hesitation, she turned to the dozen or so Flame Demons trailing behind her and severed their legs, then used her abilities to forge an iron chain, binding the bodies of the Flame Demons together and stringing them into a line to drag along as she ran.

Because the journey was long and the heroes did their best to capture and lure the creatures, they managed to bring back only about six hundred Flame Demons.

Several heroes had encountered even more formidable beings and had suffered injuries.

Fortunately, since all the first-level evolved heroes acted in teams, no one had been killed.

The heroes wisely locked the Flame Demons in ice prisons. As the temperature outside dropped with nightfall, and the creatures were wounded, the Flame Demons made no commotion and remained locked inside.

“Could this method be used on other invading civilizations as well?”

“There’s no need to go to such lengths with the other invading civilizations—the threat isn’t as severe. But it’s different with the Voodoo Demons. If it weren’t for fear of the virus spreading, we wouldn’t be making such elaborate arrangements.”

“But we could herd the hunting creatures into a confined area and then hunt them there, couldn’t we?”

“It might be better to build a base outside the city, just like in North Capital.”

“What a pity about North Capital.”

As everyone discussed the future, the ever-present threat of life and death made them all the more thoughtful.

Qin Hao said, “Building a base outside the city isn’t realistic. Twice now, disasters have struck, and the first wave of alien hunting creatures always follows the population. Otherwise, why would the Voodoo Demons appear at the North Capital base? If we abandon the heart of the city, then when the third wave of the Alliance’s large-scale invasion comes, we’ll all have to abandon the base and move back again.”

It would exhaust the people and waste resources.

Now, there were no resources left.

Building houses and transporting tools for daily life had already become a problem; there were no vehicles anymore.

At the Sky Dome base, the thick walls had been erected thanks to resourceful old mechanics who dismantled tires and repurposed them into flatbed carts. Teams of evolved humans hauled bricks and cement from unfinished construction sites. It was risky and labor-intensive.

Many had died just building the walls.

“When everyone reaches level three evolution, then we can consider these things,” Qin Hao said.

By the time people had reached the third stage of evolution, human society had already begun to change. The evolved ones became the workforce, able to create many things to transform daily life.

The group’s conversation turned to other topics, and before they realized it, midnight was approaching.

Victory or defeat would be decided now.

Qin Hao stepped onto the ice wall. Inside, the Flame Demons, sensing the aura of a hero and spotting Qin Hao’s figure, began to roar furiously.

“Szzzt!”

Flames burst from the single eye of a Flame Demon, shooting toward Qin Hao.

No fewer than five or six Flame Demons had spotted Qin Hao and attacked with their fiery gazes.

The scorching beams struck the solid ice, carving deep holes. Had they struck a person, they would have pierced right through.

“Ice!”

Qin Hao dodged the Flame Demons’ attacks. Under his mental manipulation, ice spread into the prison he had created. In an instant, the temperature plummeted, a frigid current swept through, frost crept up the bodies of the Flame Demons, and their blood began to freeze.

Silently, the Flame Demons died in their cell, the star-essence crystals falling from their bodies and clattering to the ground.

For a moment, time itself seemed to stand still.

Midnight had arrived.

Zihui and the others held their breath, waiting for the black hole to open.

Only Qin Hao remained calm.

He knew that the spatial black hole would not open at this moment.

The Ancient Demon Civilization was different from the Claw Alliance. They did not open spatial rifts at this hour.

In fact, the Kaya Civilization, being a sea-dwelling one, would open theirs at high tide—around 6 p.m.

On the other hand, the Eternal Night Civilization and Claw Alliance were similar in their timing.

With anticipation mounting and no black hole appearing, Zihui’s expression changed. She activated the Eye of Ten Thousand Sects to scan the city for any sign of a black hole.

“Behind us! A spatial black hole has appeared behind us!” a hero shouted.

Everyone turned to look at the road they had come from. Sure enough, a spatial black hole had opened on the highway, and many creatures were already crawling out.

They were Ironspike Demons.

“A spatial black hole from the Claw Alliance has appeared.”

“Could it be that we killed so many hunting creatures along this route that the black hole opened here?”

“Whether it’s Flame Demons or Ironspike Demons, killing them is killing them. Let’s deal with what’s right in front of us first!”

“No, the Voodoo Demons are still the most important.”

But no one knew where the Ancient Demon Civilization’s spatial black hole would appear.

“Maybe we’re overthinking it. Just because the Claw Alliance’s black hole appeared now, doesn’t mean the Ancient Demon Civilization’s will too. The Claw Alliance opens them at midnight because of their environment. The Ancient Demons might not. If that’s the case, let’s keep bringing Flame Demons here, kill half, and leave the rest. That should at least give the illusion that this area is short on Flame Demons,” Qin Hao suggested, feigning analysis.

He didn’t want everyone to think he was omniscient. Otherwise, he would have mentioned the Ancient Demon Civilization’s rift-opening time when making the plan.

Since he kept silent, no one else could guess. Hearing his suggestion, no one objected.

However, with the road ahead blocked by the Claw Alliance’s black hole, the group did not act immediately.

After about ten minutes, the black hole closed. On the highway were nearly 1,500 Ironspike Demons, more than sixty Eaters, and three Greatmaw Demons.

The Eaters seemed to be an evolved form of the Fanged Demons. Their bodies, too, hugged the ground, their sharp teeth gleaming coldly. They were faster now, and their bodies stretched to two meters in length.

Eaters didn’t just devour flesh and blood; they also sampled trees and houses, though their intelligence was low.

The Greatmaw Demons were currently the largest creatures.

Their bodies were like small hills, standing between three-point-two and three-point-five meters tall. They resembled octopuses, with eight tentacle-like legs, each one covered in scales, reminiscent of snake tails.

The Greatmaw Demons could ensnare enemies with their tentacles, then open their gaping maws—wide as doors—and swallow them whole.

Such colossal creatures exerted an almost insurmountable pressure on humans.

But for Qin Hao, they posed no threat.

He was now a third-level evolved human, with both mind and life having ascended to the third tier. The aura of the Greatmaw Demons didn’t intimidate him in the slightest. On the contrary, when he looked at them, he felt their life force was pathetically weak.

“Let’s kill them,” Qin Hao said, drawing Ice Abyss and Starshatter—one sword in each hand—and charging into the swarm.

The Ironspike Demons, sensing the presence of a hero, advanced, their bodies clashing like metal, their sickle-like limbs aiming to slice him apart.

With a slash of the Ice Abyss blade, a wave of white mist swept out, freezing the Ironspike Demons in place.