Chapter 570 - Great Ruler
"One of your possible future enemies captured a nuclear bomb base not too long ago."
Lilith's words were like a thunderclap striking just above Bai Zemin's house at the moment he was preparing to leave for a couple of days' vacation at the beach in the middle of the summer season.
He felt his blood run cold and begin to stagnate like water in a freezer waiting for total freezing. His whole body shivered for an instant before he could regain his composure.
A nuclear bomb base! Forget about the current Bai Zemin even if he was twice as powerful compared to his current self a single nuclear bomb was more than enough to send him to the afterlife at least a thousand times!
Even if Bai Zemin somehow managed to survive, which was totally impossible, the radiation would cause him injuries that would probably take years to heal from and could even cause strange mutations deforming him completely!
"W- What do you mean?" he asked in a stiff voice.
Lilith noticed by how his voice wavered at the beginning of the question that Bai Zemin was very tense, but she couldn't blame him. Humanity's nuclear weapons were undoubtedly deadly weapons that few Lower Existences could do anything against. When it came to technology, Lilith knew other races that surpassed Earth's current technology by far.... But when it came to destructive power, there were few races that possessed a weapon of mass destruction like those of humanity.
"This nuclear bomb base I'm telling you about had fallen when the apocalypse broke out. 80% of the troops stationed there turned into zombies and more than half of the personnel trained to operate the computers also failed to adapt to the mana so naturally, they mutated as well." Lilith began to explain the past situation in order for Bai Zemin to understand the present better.
"The operators managed to kill all the zombies inside the control room thanks to the fact that as humans they still maintained their intelligence, unlike the initial zombies who only move by instinct towards the nearest target. These operators stayed locked in there and barely survived by eating bagged relief food specially prepared for emergencies; similar to what many astronauts eat... But two days ago, someone arrived at the nuclear bomb base with a large army."
"A large army?" Bai Zemin seemed to think of something so he hurriedly asked, "Lilith, this large army you speak of is composed of military men?"
Lilith nodded and said in a serious voice, "The leader of this army is also not lacking of soul evolvers. In fact, this person is a soul evolver and a considerably powerful one at that. Although not on the level of Shangguan Bing Xue, probably only someone on the level of that Russian girl named Evangeline could do something about it. Maybe and just maybe, Chen He with his most powerful attack could also do something against this person."
"..." Bai Zemin remained silent for a long time, thinking carefully about the information Lilith had just given him.
If the other side only had an armed army, then he didn't have to fear anything. Bai Zemin was confident that his Blood Spear Legion alone was more than enough to wipe out an army of several tens of thousands regardless of the losses. However, when soul evolvers were added to the mix in large numbers, things were very different.
The skills that an existence could obtain by defeating enemies were powerful and many of them were skills with strange characteristics; so much so that even Bai Zemin himself had to be careful. Therefore, it was best not to take an enemy capable of erecting such a powerful faction in such a short time as a light matter.
However, Bai Zemin was fast to identify the possible identity of this person even without having seen him.
"It must be an important member of the Wu Family.... Or it could even be Bing Xue's father." He thought aloud.
"Without a doubt." Lilith nodded and pointed out, "The nuclear bomb base operators and soldiers would definitely not open the gates to the facility to just anyone unless a few more months passed, forcing them into total despair. This person must have a high rank within China's governmental or military power to be able to enter smoothly and take control of the site after its troops eliminated the threats around and inside."
Bai Zemin closed his eyes and began to do some calculations in his mind. After about 2 or 3 minutes, he opened his eyes again but this time his look was serious instead of a slightly panicked look.
"Oh?" Lilith looked at him in surprise and asked, "Did you find out something? I can't feel panic coming from you anymore, which while it's good, now I feel curious. Would you mind telling me what caused that change in you?"
Bai Zemin started walking towards the village that had appeared in his range of vision and slowly said, "While a nuclear bomb can kill me, this only applies if the bomb detonates in a place too close from me. Just now I just simulated different scenarios and managed to discover two ways in which the power of a nuclear bomb can be completely suppressed or decrease its threat by between 50% and 70%."
"... So, the way to decrease the threat would be to cause the nuclear missile to explode before it reaches the place where you are," Lilith said aloud, earning a nod from Bai Zemin. "But... Even if you manage to do that, the radiation will spread quickly so you'll be forced to mobilize all your people far away, and even then it's unlikely you won't suffer losses."
"Indeed." Bai Zemin said in a serious voice and pointed out, "Not to mention that if any of China's intercontinental or hypersonic missiles are located in that nuclear bomb base, then the idea of hitting the missile from a distance may well disappear."
The speed of the intercontinental and hypersonic missiles was simply too much for Bai Zemin to do anything about; especially the hypersonic missiles, if one of these were launched then he might as well start saying goodbye to his life from now on.
"What about the other method you speak of?" Lilith asked with a frown.
"The other method... Depends." Bai Zemin sighed and ruffled his hair as he said, "If the other party were to attack me with a normal nuclear missile, then maybe I could do something using Gravity Manipulation and Blood Manipulation along with Shadow Blink.... But then again, if what the other party uses is a hypersonic or intercontinental missile, all I can do is use the power of the title Irregular to flee to another world."
At the end of the day, Bai Zemin was still too weak to call himself unstoppable and invincible under the heavens. He clenched his fist tightly secretly as a burning flame of desire began to blaze in his midnight-black eyes.
Stronger! Stronger! It still wasn't enough! Even after all he had battled, even though he had been on the brink of death so many times and even though he had suffered such great injuries, he was still as small as an ant!
Bai Zemin felt useless for not even being able to do anything against humanity's strongest weapon created before evolution!
At the thought of fleeing to avoid death, Bai Zemin's stomach churned and the urge to vomit due to disgust flooded him for an instant. He, who had never taken a step back in a battle to the death, was actually thinking of running away to save his life!
"So pathetic..." He whispered under his breath as he gritted his teeth.
"..." Lilith watched his back as she walked behind him but said nothing at his whisper.
Bai Zemin had managed to emerge victorious in every battlefield he stepped on. Even powerful Fourth Order warriors failed to end his life and on the contrary, one of them was wounded by his blows while another was killed partly thanks to him. Therefore, Lilith understood how he was feeling right now since in the past she went through something similar.
In fact, every powerful warrior and all the brilliant talents experienced what Bai Zemin was experiencing now. Besides, this probably wouldn't be the only time he would feel like this.
"Bai Zemin, can I ask you a favor?" Lilith said suddenly, causing him to pause to look back.
Bai Zemin's eyes widened slightly as he saw the soft gaze Lilith was looking at him with, and without waiting for a response from him, she continued:
"I just want to ask you that if at any time you feel that all sense was lost.... If at any moment you feel that your only purpose in this life is revenge, please remember that you are never alone. I will always, always, be there to support you." She said with a smile that teetered between bittersweet and bitter.
Bai Zemin was silent for a moment before quietly asking, "Why are you saying that all of a sudden?"
However, Lilith did not answer him and instead shook her head. No matter how much Bai Zemin tried, she said no more.
Bai Zemin decided to leave the matter for later, but he kept Lilith's words in his heart because so far, there was no word she had said just for the sake of saying. On the other hand, he began to think about what to do with the Wu Family to which Wu Yijun belonged, as well as this possible future enemy that he had not yet faced but would probably have to face sooner or later.
There were many things that Bai Zemin had to do and many more things that needed to be planned very carefully. A single mistake, a misstep, and everything would fall apart in a matter of seconds.
It was difficult to build a great skyscraper, but you would be surprised how easy it would be to bring it to the ground; an instant was all that was needed.
On the other hand, Lilith continued to look at Bai Zemin's back with tenderness, anger, hatred, fear, and many emotions that were hard to explain which made her mood not the best.
But in fact, these emotions were not directed at Bai Zemin himself, but at something inside his soul; the rune of the UNIQUE skill 'Blood Berserker's Wrath'.
Although the name was different and probably the power granted to the user was different as well, Lilith knew a person with a skill that possessed side effects practically identical to the Blood Berserker's Wrath skill that Bai Zemin possessed.
This skill was so, so powerful, that it honestly shouldn't exist. However, as strong as it was, this skill was also deadly for the user... And worst of all, the user could do nothing to avoid the miserable fate that awaited it and all those around him.
Lilith could only silently plead and pray to the fate that the worst would never happen. Otherwise, far from achieving her goal, she might end up losing the existence that currently meant the most to her.
"We are here."
Bai Zemin's voice brought her out of her inner thoughts and as she looked ahead she noticed that at some point they had entered the abandoned village.
Bai Zemin and Lilith walked silently through the mostly dirt streets surrounding the village and found bloodstains and gnawed bones littering the ground. Most of the doors of the houses had been opened or simply broken down and a single glance to the inside was more than enough for anyone to understand that misery had struck those who formerly lived there.
"Don't tell me this place was also looted?" Bai Zemin growled. He had gone far away from all his bases; past and current, all for the sake of finding a village that hadn't been looted or else he probably wouldn't be able to use the power of his pagoda.
Just then, the sound of footsteps from the distance came within Bai Zemin's detection range, causing his eyes to sparkle with joy.
He rushed forward in a hurry and seeing his enthusiasm even Lilith couldn't help but feel a little excited as the desire to know the power of the small wooden pagoda grew within her.
"Lilith, can you see that zombie?" Bai Zemin asked with a smile and it seemed as if all his worries had disappeared as the mutant creature began to growl and run in his direction at a speed no slower than a normal human before the apocalypse.
With the constant evolution, the zombies were not only growing in terms of levels but the extremely low Agility was also starting to grow. Soon, they would become humanity's greatest danger.
Lilith looked at him in confusion, but when she saw Bai Zemin take out the small wooden pagoda from his storage ring, a thought that left her in shock struck her mind.
"Now I will show you, another reason why only I can rule over mankind! Only I, who possesses the treasure to save mankind, can be the great and only ruler!"
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