The undead army fanned out, hunting down the Dark Beasts across the plains. Deprived of their Royal's orders, the Dark Beasts followed their primal instincts to flee, scattering in all directions. Wei Huan spared none that remained within sight, hunting them down systematically.
Meanwhile, he led his crew down from the Burrow Beast's back to stand before Captain Fang.
Captain Fang, 133 crew members, and little Dou Lin were right there. To sustain Captain Fang's protective shield, everyone had pushed themselves to the limit; drained of energy, they collapsed to the ground the moment they were saved.
Only Dou Lin was in slightly better condition. He knew someone had come to save them, but he couldn't see the people standing right in front of him. He reached out blindly, his face a mask of anxiety and vigilance.
Wei Huan noticed the playing cards hovering around the boy. Though the strength was dialed back, they remained in a state of hair-trigger readiness.
"Who is it? Brother Liu? Is Brother Liu back? Where's Moji? Why can't I see Moji?" As Dou Lin finished speaking, he seemed to remember something and tensed up. The deck of cards fanned out behind him like a peacock's tail, his grey eyes filled with solemnity.
"It's me, Wei Huan." Wei Huan spoke up quickly to soothe the child, though he was deeply concerned about the absence of Liu Chengzhi and the fact that Dou Lin's eyes were shrouded by black mist. Even at such close range, the boy was blind. It seemed the black mist blocked the vision of any "stowaway" humans, preventing them from seeing the true Dark Beast world.
Wei Huan had spoken, but Dou Lin didn't react. He continued to peer around warily, his gaze never focusing on Wei Huan. Looking closer, the boy's ears were also wreathed in black mist—even his hearing had been screened out. This was the punishment of the World Will for trespassers.
Wei Huan wanted to say more, but he saw Mu Zhong heading toward Captain Fang. Under Captain Fang's seemingly calm exterior, a murderous intent was brewing; if handled poorly, he would certainly strike. Ignoring everything else, Wei Huan grabbed Mu Zhong. "I'll leave Dou Lin to you. The kid is a bit triggered."
With that, Wei Huan moved toward Captain Fang.
Captain Fang and his crew were actually remarkably composed. They had endured the siege without food or water until their energy was spent, yet their first instinct upon detecting an anomaly was to wait and judge rather than descend into a killing frenzy. Of course, without sight or hearing, gaining their trust would not be easy. Wei Huan did not push forward recklessly, nor did he allow others to approach. Even though Captain Xue had volunteered—being quite capable of taking a hit—Wei Huan didn't want to take the risk.
He chose a method only he could use to announce his arrival.
Under his command, several Facehuggers approached the group like a pack of tail-wagging, tongue-panting dogs, devoid of any killing intent. They used their bodies or long limbs to gently brush against the challengers' legs, or simply walked in circles to announce their presence in a non-threatening way.
One crew member, highly aggressive, instinctively killed a Facehugger, sending bone fragments flying as he tensed up. However, others immediately sensed the anomaly and calmly felt the message Wei Huan was sending.
Captain Fang sat in the middle of the crowd. Two Facehuggers were near him; under Wei Huan's orders, they didn't crowd him but approached gradually in a spiral pattern. Captain Fang felt the air displacement near his hand. After a few seconds of deliberation, he spoke loudly: "Don't be nervous. It's Captain Wei's undead."
He paused, his voice brightening. "They're Facehugger skeletons. We're saved!"
Dou Lin, who had been like a bristling porcupine, froze upon hearing this. He reached up and touched the large hand resting on his head. He felt warm blood on the palm—blood from a cut caused by his own cards. He didn't know whose hand it was, but he gripped it tightly. Then, his small face crumpled, his lips trembled, and tears began to fall.
Mu Zhong, heart aching, pulled the child into a hug, whispering gently in his ear, "It's okay. You're safe now."
"Brother Mu Zhong... 'waah'..." Dou Lin recognized him and threw his arms around Mu Zhong's neck.
Wei Huan saw Mu Zhong's bleeding hand, a flicker of annoyance passing through his eyes. He knelt before Captain Fang and took his wrist. Captain Fang gripped Wei Huan's wrist back, squeezing twice as if finally confirming reality. His body visibly relaxed.
Then, he tightened his grip again with renewed urgency. "Wei Huan, the rest can wait. To find us food, Liu Chengzhi took Moji and 50 of our crew members. They've been gone a long time. I'm worried something happened to him. Leave a few people who can see here, take the rest, and go find them."
Wei Huan knew Captain Fang couldn't hear him, but that wasn't a problem. After about ten seconds, "Iron Heart" successfully interfaced with Captain Fang's portable system. While these systems appeared to transmit information via eyes and ears, they actually acted directly on the nerves. Using Iron Heart as a hub to reboot the portable systems, Wei Huan provided Captain Fang and the others with basic electronic vision.
Captain Fang's eyes lit up as he saw Wei Huan standing before him.
Wei Huan spoke: "Humanity won the opening battle. We've earned the right for 100 people to enter the Dark Beast Plane for the Warrior Challenge. Rest assured, our perceptions are normal here. You all stay here and recover; I'll take men to rescue them immediately."
Captain Fang nodded and gave a bitter smile. "Give me some water first. I'm dying of thirst."
It had been an incredible feat for them to survive being accidentally pulled into this plane while completely blinded and deafened. Faced with a siege and no support, food and water had been a secondary concern. For three desperate days, they had held on. Now that they knew they were truly safe, many simply collapsed, unwilling to move even a finger.
Dou Lin hung onto Mu Zhong like a little koala, refusing to let go for a long time; he had been too terrified. Wei Huan left half the troops there with Mu Zhong, including the core combatants like Captain Xue and Xu Qingqiang, to prevent any Dark Beasts from returning. Mu Zhong's presence there was more valuable than him following along, as the place Wei Huan was heading might not be safe.
---
It was a stroke of luck within misfortune that Moji had been pulled in with them. As Moji's master, Wei Huan only partially understood this unique lifeform. It was always... special. Not only did it have its own emotions and a rebellious streak, but it also possessed a child-like curiosity, boundless energy, and a magnetic field capable of disrupting illusions and stabilizing reality.
It was this unique ability that made Moji the only "lamp" for Liu Chengzhi and the others after they were screened by the World Will. When Moji was present, it cleared the black mist in a hundred-meter radius, allowing Captain Fang and the others to see their surroundings and realize they were deep within Dark Beast territory.
Initially, they had cautiously cleared a Shura Horse tribe, intending to proceed slowly and silently. Unfortunately, while the Dark Beasts lacked an "internet," the Thought-Parasite Beasts living in the Royal territories performed regular intelligence gathering. The mass deaths of Shura Horses soon alerted the race. First, they sent powerful Dark Beasts, and eventually, a Dark Beast Royal was dispatched.
Over the last few days, they had been pushed to the edge of a cliff. Beyond the threat of death in battle, the shortage of food and water accelerated their decline. Out of necessity, after clearing a wave of monsters, a ravenous Liu Chengzhi volunteered to hunt Swift Wolves or Carrion Bears to gather supplies. Moji went with him because "gathering" required eyes, whereas "defending" didn't—Captain Fang's strength was enough to hold out until their return.
"But Liu Chengzhi has been gone too long," Captain Fang's voice came through the earpiece. After drinking and eating, his voice had regained some strength. "He had 50 crew members with him—nearly my entire main combat force. But they haven't returned. I'm terrified they've met with disaster."
Mu Zhong's voice also joined the channel: "We don't know about the others, but Moji is still alive and well. I suspect Liu Chengzhi and the others are likely okay too."
Captain Fang continued, "It's a pity we were teleported into a Royal's territory. We're near the core, which is no place for low-level beasts like Swift Wolves. Otherwise, we wouldn't have had to go so far to find food; we could have scavenged even if we had to eat it raw."
Mu Zhong noted, "Dark Beast society is strictly tiered. The closer a tribe is to a Royal, the higher its star-rating. To find Swift Wolves, they'd likely have to reach the edge of this territory or might have inadvertently entered another Royal's domain."
"I hope it's the former," Captain Fang said, then asked, "What's the situation with Moji now? Can you communicate?"
"I can," Wei Huan replied curtly. He had already separated from the group and was speeding toward Moji on Dot Mom's back. The channel went silent for over ten seconds.
After a moment, Mu Zhong asked, "How did the communication go?"
Wei Huan went silent for a few seconds before saying hesitantly, "It says it has taken down a tribe. The ordinary beasts in the tribe view it as their leader. It wants to lead an army to challenge the Dark Beast Royal and become the new King?"
By the end of the sentence, Wei Huan's voice was full of doubt. He was deeply questioning his own understanding of the message.
Mu Zhong, however, sounded pleasantly surprised. "Can a Dark Beast Royal be replaced? What about the Dark Beast King?"
Captain Fang added, "Dark Beast Royals are determined by bloodline. Only they possess the ability to empower every beast for combat and consolidate their strength into a 'Dharma Image'. Will Moji's actions be recognized by this world?"
Mu Zhong countered, "The fall of any powerful dynasty requires a revolution. Whether Moji succeeds or not, this is an experiment—a spark that could start a prairie fire. We should support any seemingly accidental change."
"..." After a brief silence, Captain Fang agreed, "Yes, we should support it."
Wei Huan was surprised by their attitude and reflected on his own shock. Perhaps it was because it was too bizarre; when Moji sent him that message, his first reaction was that it was a "joke," not a reality. Was it because Moji was his subordinate? Was he unable to accept that his control wasn't absolute? Or was it because his foresight from his past life was fading, affecting his ability to process new developments?
Wei Huan listened in silence as they finished. Meanwhile, he felt himself getting very close to Moji. Along the way, he encountered no Dark Beast Lords, only ordinary beasts living in various tribal forms.
The Shura Horses lived on the ground, preferring plains. Eye Demon Lords favored dark burrows but flew out at night. Flying Monkeys lived in the treetops, Kobolds gathered in earthen pits, and Ghost Crows were scattered everywhere in small groups. Swift Wolves and Carrion Bears mostly lived on the ground, in caves or forests. Only the Double-Headed Hidden Demons lived on cliff faces, looking down from the heights like lords of the domain.
One Dark Beast Royal was dead, and countless Thought-Parasite Beasts had perished. In a battle of a hundred against a hundred thousand, they had left behind a field of corpses but no points. He hadn't even seen what a Royal's nest looked like before he wiped it and its subjects out.
Now, these leaderless ordinary beasts left in the tribes were emerging from their territories as if following a call, converging in a single direction. Wei Huan had already tested them and found they had no intention of attacking him; they were simply moving toward Moji.
Wei Huan synchronized this footage to the others.
Mu Zhong was amazed. "I didn't expect Moji to actually have this ability. What's the principle? Why can it control ordinary beasts? And what is the basis of a Royal's control over the race?"
Captain Fang said, "This trip wasn't in vain. We are touching the core secrets of the Dark Beast race."
It was a chilling thought. If the secret of the Royals were cracked and other lifeforms could command the Dark Beast Lords, what exactly was this race? If the queen of a hive is killed, does the hive mutate a new queen to take over? Is that it? Because Wei Huan had killed the local Royal, the leaderless beasts naturally bowed to the nearest strongest entity.
Strictly speaking, though Moji was undead, it was also a "new lifeform" with Dark Beast blood. Its existence was recognized by the beasts. Did that mean if Wei Huan could promptly seize the territories of the Royals he killed, he could take them all for himself? Or, as Mu Zhong hoped, could he fight his way to the Dark Beast King and replace him?
The more Wei Huan thought, the more excited he became, though he knew there were still too many unknowns regarding the Dark Beasts. A race so fundamentally different from human civilization could not be understood through human logic. There had to be a more critical, core secret yet to be discovered.
Just then, Wei Huan saw Moji standing on a cliffside, chest puffed out, looking majestic. Moji sensed his arrival. Despite their prior communication, when Moji saw its master actually appear, a visible flash of fear crossed its eyes. Even though it stood high above a gathered army of tens of thousands, its legs went weak the moment it saw Wei Huan. It lay down on the ground, thought for a moment, and then rolled over to show its belly in a submissive gesture.
Wei Huan didn't pay it much mind. His attention was on a pathetic-looking Liu Chengzhi and over a dozen wounded challengers. Wei Huan remembered clearly: Captain Fang had said 50 people went out with Liu Chengzhi. But only 17 remained alive before him. Behind them, two more warriors lay on the ground, severely wounded and unable to stand.
That was all of them.
"Boss! Boss!" After Wei Huan finally flew within a hundred meters, Liu Chengzhi—aided by Moji's presence—finally saw him. His 190cm, 140kg frame charged forward, fat jiggling, wailing at the top of his lungs. He performed a sliding kneel, and before Wei Huan could even dismount the Burrow Beast, he had grabbed Wei Huan's leg.
Wei Huan shifted his gaze from the wounded and looked helplessly at the "Big Fatty." Of everyone, he was in the best shape; though disheveled, he had no obvious injuries. He had been well-protected. But it had cost the lives of many warriors.
"Captain Wei," the squad leader who had gone out to collect food stepped forward, skipping the formalities. "I'm sorry we can't explain more now. Two of our men are critically injured. They might go at any second... Captain Fang is a Prayer; he can save them. Please..." He looked expectantly at Wei Huan, then at the Burrow Beast.
It was too far to rush back. Even if Moji could command Shura Horses to carry them, it would take too long. Flying was the best option. Wei Huan wanted to dismount, but a "terrified" Liu Chengzhi was still bawling in relief. Wei Huan had Dot Mom lean in, and after the wounded were carefully loaded, they took off.
With a clear goal and lives on the line, Dot Mom moved at full speed. In less than three minutes, they were back with Captain Fang. When Captain Fang saw that only 19 of the 50 men had returned, with two in critical condition, a wave of grief struck him. He seemed to age ten years in an instant.
He said nothing, silently pushing his weakened body to crawl to the wounded. He sat cross-legged, took a blood-stained, mangled hand, and poured every ounce of his energy into the man. Mu Zhong went to treat the other, slightly less critical soldier. As a Shaman, he had minor healing abilities—far inferior to a Prayer, but enough to treat surface wounds and dull the pain.
Mu Zhong quickly asked about the situation, puzzled: "Moji didn't come back?"
Wei Huan replied, "I want to see how far it can go."
"Liu Chengzhi looks uninjured."
"He can turn invisible and doesn't participate in combat."
"Moji said it could become King. What's that about?"
"Before we killed the Royal, they were being attacked. Luckily, the strongest Lords were here, and only a few were hunting them. Unfortunately, the casualties were too high; they were backed against a cliff. At the final moment, the Royal died, and the beasts that were attacking them a moment ago bowed to Moji."
"So if we had been even a little later, Liu Chengzhi and the others would have...?"
"Yes."
Mu Zhong looked at the wounded man before him, eyes full of heartache. He sighed deeply. Even though they were strangers, it hurt. They were heroes. Humanity had won, but they would never see the global celebration.
Wei Huan then said, "I'm going back to check on Moji."
Mu Zhong turned, surprised. "By yourself?"
"Yes. The teleportation gate can't carry others."
As he spoke, Wei Huan activated one of the three magic skills equipped on his clothing: [Magic Gate]. It allowed Wei Huan to reach a certain location and, once a coordinate was set, travel back and forth freely. The distance limit hadn't been tested yet, but likely only a world plane could block it. The only downside was that only Wei Huan could pass through; otherwise, he would have sent the wounded back through it earlier.
Now, Wei Huan had left a coordinate at Moji's location. With Moji watching the situation, it was safe to teleport, and he could learn the rules of Dark Beast kingship. Furthermore, the other end of the gate remained here, so he could return at any time.
Mu Zhong wanted to suggest someone go with him but realized Wei Huan moving alone was more efficient. Still, he warned, "Be careful. Consult with me immediately if anything happens."
Wei Huan nodded and stepped into the teleportation gate standing before him. It was like stepping into water; ripples spread across the gate, and he vanished.
"Wei Huan?"
Just as Wei Huan emerged from the gate, he heard Mu Zhong's voice in his earpiece. Knowing he was worried, Wei Huan said, "I'm here. Arrived safely."
"Good. Be careful. Keep in touch."
"Understood."
Wei Huan shifted his attention from the earpiece to the scene before him. Moji was still standing on the cliff like an Emperor at his coronation. Wei Huan's sudden appearance startled it; its puffed-out chest shrank back. It looked over with its small, round, child-like face, looking quite handsome.
Wei Huan stood his ground, not approaching Moji. He could feel that his presence was somewhat affecting Moji's takeover of the tribe; the beasts were becoming restless. That wasn't a good thing. Wei Huan wanted to see if Moji could truly succeed in this usurpation.