Epoch of Twilight

Chapter 408: Inattentive

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Yesterday morning, after Luo Yuan finished battling against Ling Zhong-an, the latter returned to the headquarters of the Firearms Bureau. Ling Zhong-an was visibly stripped of his highly protective armor because when he was fighting, his battle suit had been ripped off by the strong wind which left him with nothing but flimsy trousers on top of a naked body. In stark contrast, Luo Yuan was still neatly dressed and looked almost as if he just returned from a regular field trip. Everyone was already aware of the fight between the two men. Now that they have returned in such conditions, the outcome of the fight was clear as day. Having to believe what they were seeing was just shocking and unacceptable for the crowd.

Now, who was Ling Zhong-an? Well, he was viewed as the spiritual pillar of support of the Firearms Bureau, was a natural leader, and was the foundation of the department. He was well known for his powerful strength and was respected as a God. Many people even thought of him as the last hope for mankind. Therefore, what is extremely mind boggling right now was that this spiritual pillar of support had lost the fight, or at least he did not win. This was simply unbelievable!

Originally, no one really paid attention to the new deputy minister and they even wanted to exclude him as they thought that it was only a political arrangement for decorative purposes. But now, suddenly, things looked the exact opposite. In everyone’s hearts, the new minister had suddenly cast a veil of mystery that held endless fascination and awe.

Strangely, this minister had suddenly vanished after the fight. This was because Luo Yuan did not go back to the Firearms Bureau but instead departed Hope City to the wilderness early in the morning. The existence of extraterrestrial civilizations was pressuring the city like a looming dark cloud. The survival of mankind had been on red alert. Due to the sheer power of the extraterrestrial civilization, humanity would be easily wiped off the face of the Earth if they were attacked; which leaves the Reconstruction Area with very little time for preparation.

However, the production of intelligent robots takes time. Furthermore, technological development could only improve gradually and not overnight. A hundred-year gap between science and technology seemed immaterial but it made a world of difference. Behind an inconspicuous technology, there was an industrial support system. In the early 21st-century, smartphones and an array of scientific theories were the most developed technologies. Even the most advanced countries like Germany and the United Kingdom would feel that these technologies were nothing but science fiction.

Although scientific technologies have been significantly improved over the last hundred years and many humans had now evolved and joined the scientific development team, they were still unable to emulate extraterrestrial technology. They could only try to develop the ability to fight but it could not be done in one or two years. All this was now common knowledge and not just what Luo Yuan understood. The management must quickly come to terms with this and find a way to secure the future of humanity. Despite the slim chances that they have, the Reconstruction Area still utilized all its resources to crack the encrypted technology of the extraterrestrial civilization. The future of mankind was at stake!

Even though the general mood of the people were gloomy under such a pressured state, Luo Yuan still seemed to act normally as if nothing had happened. The only notable difference was that it was always difficult for him to fall asleep when darkness fell. This invasion clearly affected him and there were a few times when he thought of eloping with his "wives" into the wilderness until all this was over. However, Luo Yuan eventually gave up on this idea. If he really went ahead with it, Wang Shishi would be dismayed with him and more importantly, he would look down on himself. He had to do something even though the odds were against them. His space-time bubble flight mode gave him some hope. Since his Will had been upgraded to 18 points, even space was not out of reach for him anymore.

The beauty of the independent space formed by his power was that it made him semi-detached from the three-dimensional world and so that he was immune to all attacks. Although he was not too sure about the progress regarding the high-energy laser, at least there was a ray of hope. To increase their chances, Luo Yuan knew that he had to become more powerful by increasing his strength and determination. He also had to become more intelligent and skillful in a short amount of time. Fortunately, the wilderness had a huge supply of resources which allowed him to do so. He had arrived at the Sichuan Area in less than 20 minutes thanks to his ability to travel at high speeds. This was the place where he had encountered mutated beasts of the highest level. He even came across numerous level eight mutated beasts which were commonly found in the area.

Luo Yuan tightened the strap on his forehead and quickly dived down from the sky and landed on a branch. He took a deep breath and jumped off the branch. He was not afraid of getting lost in the wilderness so he merely picked a random direction and moved forward at a quick pace. He was lucky as he only had to walk for half an hour when a task notification came from the system. His eyes became focused. This was a huge mutated beast! It was approximately 30 meters tall and 50 meters long. Its body was covered with armor which likened it to a rhino. However, its armor was even thicker. It looked hideous with numerous tiny thorns growing out of its face! Perhaps it was a cow before mutation. On its inverted triangle head, was a pair of long twisted blue horns which pointed straight to the sky like two swords. From a biological perspective, Luo Yuan predicted that this creature must have a strong defense system and should be vegetarian. However, mutated beasts generally could not be understood using common sense. Through intense and frequent mutations, these mutated beasts have been transformed to the extent that they are no longer linked to their origins and biological theories.

The mutated beast’s mouth was filled with razor sharp teeth and a trace of fresh blood dripped down slowly from its mouth. It was clearly not a vegetarian after all! Fortunately, it appears to be full and seemed to be looking for a place to take a nap under a tree. It was not aware of the frightening danger that was coming to it.

A week ago, Luo Yuan still needed to be extra careful when facing horrifying mutated beasts like this one. Before he attacked, he had to do everything possible to avoid catching its attention and would think of any possible scenario that could happen until he was confident that there would be no risk in attacking.

But now, it was completely unnecessary for Luo Yuan to do so. He walked towards the mutated beast very calmly. Along the way, he gradually decreased the pace of his heartbeat and aligned himself with the earth.

1000 meters, 500 meters, 300 meters...

The mutated beast laid motionless on the ground. Perhaps Luo Yuan’s movements were too insignificant to trigger the senses of this beast since it was taking a nap. Luo Yuan was not discouraged by this. He suddenly lifted his foot and stepped heavily onto the ground.

Earth Stomp!

"Bang!"

The mutated beast was startled! Its eyes snapped open immediately as it released a roar and rose to its feet. But just when it stood up, its body trembled and its limbs were weak. It immediately collapsed to the ground heavily and its internal organs were oozing out from its mouth and nose along with blood. Luo Yuan remained calm despite the gruesome scene ahead of him. He stepped heavily on the ground again and this time, the mutated beast’s throat started rattling... It was unable to make a sound. The beast’s blood was no longer oozing out slowly but instead gushed out like a fountain! The surrounding was now filled with the rusty smell of blood.

Luo Yuan’s Earth Stomp power had upgraded to level seven. As the upgrade was through his Sense, the range of his power than now increased 20 to 30 times but there was not much improvement in terms of his its actual power. With this long distance and highly-damaging attack, even if this was a powerful level seven mutated beast, it would not stand a chance! Luo Yuan continued to use his Earth Stomp power twice in succession and then exited his alignment with the earth. Just like that, the mutated beast had completely died. To avoid unnecessary trouble and to save time, Luo Yuan raised up his Zhanmadao and rapidly approached the mutated beast. In the next moment, he flashed his blade across the mutated beast and chopped off its head.

A minute after the mutated beast was beheaded, Luo Yuan received a notification that his task had been completed, hence, he inserted his Zhanmadao back into its sheath. In the blink of an eye, he was already at a faraway place. To him, the material from a level seven mutated beast was not as valuable as before. When the clock struck nine, Luo Yuan found another level seven mutated beast again. However, this time the mutated beast was not merely lying on the ground but was preparing to hunt. The mutated beast was very alert and extremely dangerous in this condition. However, it was barely a hassle for Luo Yuan.

After he cautiously approached the mutated beast, he used his Earth Stomp again. As the size of this mutated beast was rather large and the distance between its belly and ground was more than 20 meters, if he attacked the body it would not be powerful enough to kill it so he planned to attack the limbs. The next moment, its front legs suddenly exploded! Without any warning, the thousand-pound body collapsed on the ground which caused the ground to tremor.

Before it stood up, Luo Yuan took the opportunity to use another three Earth Stomps consecutively and proceeded to chop off its head using his Zhanmadao.

...

Two mutated beasts annihilated with ease. Luo Yuan looked at the system and learned that his experience had reached 275920/307200. He suspected that he would be able to upgrade after he completed one more task. However, his luck seemed to be running out as he was unable to find anymore level seven mutated beasts until noon. Fortunately, Luo Yuan was not in a rush to level up. Completing two tasks in one morning was already good enough for him.

Luo Yuan then kept circling the jungle. He subconsciously looked around and sensed something vaguely familiar which made him feel like he was here before. Luo Yuan generally had a very good memory so after taking some time to recall, he finally remembered that this was where he found the Demonic Horseman. He immediately looked to the other direction where he recalled the house of the mutated woman should be located.