pjbooks Chapter 149 The Queen leaves the base and establishes a divine temple.
Chapter 149 The Queen leaves the base and establishes a divine temple.
As dawn broke, Lu Yan was fast asleep.
"Clang!"
The dormitory's metal door, frame and all, crashed to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.
Zhao Leiguang strode into the room, stepping over the warped door. His military boots screeched against the metal. He yanked off the covers, grabbed Lu Yan by the collar with one hand, and lifted him off the bed.
"Wake up, big news!"
A military-grade tablet was pressed directly against Lu Yan's nose. The screen brightness was turned up to the maximum, making his eyes sting.
Lu Yan raised his hand to push the tablet aside and squinted at it.
It was a satellite aerial video that had been magnified multiple times. The background of the footage was the snow-covered Arctic Ocean.
Large swathes of charred remains lay scattered across the ice. In the center, a body clad in Europa-style armor lay violently ripped in two. Internal organs and blood had frozen into dark red ice sculptures in the extreme cold. The cuts were jagged and uneven, the result of brute force.
The emblem on the armor was clearly visible. Knights of the Round Table, codename Arthur.
"Hahahaha!" Zhao Leiguang slapped his thigh, making a crisp sound. "Serves you right! Serves you right for being so cocky!"
He pointed at the horrific scene on the screen, spitting as he spoke.
"It must have been done by the ancestor Chi You! That grandson Poseidon went to so much trouble to find a vessel to possess, and it's only been a few days? He's been torn apart!"
Lu Yan rubbed his face, took the tablet from Zhao Leiguang's hand, and put on his coat.
The video progress bar was dragged to the bottom. There were no signs of any other biological activity next to Arthur's body.
"Look at this cut," Zhao Leiguang pointed to Arthur's tattered armor on the screen, "This was definitely caused by a blunt weapon, then torn apart by hand. Poseidon was resurrected, only to run into the warlord Chi You; he was just asking for death."
Lu Yan zoomed in on the image, observing the cracks that stretched for hundreds of meters across the ice. The edges of the cracks exhibited a vitrified state, as if scorched by high temperatures.
"These are traces of an energy clash." Lu Yan tossed the tablet back onto the bed. "The fighting style of Ancestor Chi You was even more ferocious than we expected. But he didn't leave any behind. We can't even detect any residual energy at the scene."
"Who cares where he went? We're not losing out this time anyway." Zhao Leiguang turned and walked out. "Let's go to command post."
The two left the dormitory building and headed towards the command post.
The art style at the base has changed.
In the corridor, several office workers who usually strolled slowly with thermos cups were now walking briskly with folders tucked under their arms. Their leather shoes made a rapid drumbeat in the corridor.
Passing by the training ground, I saw a group of retired, disabled veterans, shirtless, doing weighted squats. The barbell plates were stretched to their limit, and the barbell was bent into an arc shape.
An old soldier with a missing left arm grabbed a barbell with one hand, stood up, roared, and slammed the barbell onto the rubber track. Two shallow craters were created in the ground.
"The blessing of the Earth Goddess is more effective than high-level recovery potions." Zhao Leiguang looked on with envy. "I can now devour a Lord-level monster whole."
Lu Yan glanced at the veterans. Their skin had a healthy rosy glow, and the old wounds they had sustained in the battles of the secret realm had been completely healed under the blessing of the Earth Goddess.
Several logistics personnel are moving ammunition boxes. Boxes that used to require a forklift to move can now be easily lifted by two people.
"This power increase is at least thirty percent." Zhao Leiguang clenched his fist, his knuckles cracking like popping beans.
The doors to the command center were wide open.
Commander Chen, who had succeeded Li Tianshan, stood in front of the tactical screen. On the screen, dense red dots flashed across the maps of the Europa Alliance and the White Eagle Empire.
"Poseidon's vessel is destroyed, but they haven't stopped." Commander Chen pointed to the data on the screen. "The Western false gods are accelerating their infiltration. They've abandoned a single powerful vessel and started mass-producing low-level chosen ones."
Lu Yan looked at the data distribution on the screen; the red dots were mainly concentrated in coastal cities and the entrances to large secret realms.
"A large number of mutated monsters have appeared in the secret realms of Europe. These monsters are corrupted by divinity, and ordinary awakened beings will find them very difficult to deal with." Commander Chen pulled up several photos of the monsters.
The monster in the photo has deformed limbs and its body is covered with a layer of mucus.
"They're looking for a new anchor," Lu Yan said. "Arthur is dead, and Poseidon needs a new medium for his arrival."
"Our coastal defenses have been reinforced." Commander Chen typed a few words on the keyboard, bringing up China's defense deployment map. "First squad, stand by."
"Understood." Lu Yan nodded.
Lu Yan walked out of the command center and went to the base's rest area.
A person was standing in front of the vending machine in the rest area.
The Goddess Houtu, dressed in a simple, earth-yellow long dress, stood barefoot on the floor tiles. She was staring at the drink behind the transparent glass of the vending machine, and reached out to poke at the button.
The machine is not responding.
Lu Yan walked over, took out his phone, scanned the QR code, and selected a can of iced cola.
The aluminum can rolls into the pickup slot.
Hou Tu bent down, picked up the can of red beverage, and pulled the tab. The carbonated bubbles hissed.
She took a sip, and her brow relaxed.
"The changes in later generations are quite interesting." She looked at the aluminum can in her hand. "Even mortals can create these exquisite objects without using magic."
"Technology." Lu Yan leaned against the wall beside him. "It's the only path that humanity has found that can change lives."
Houtu looked at the other drinks in the vending machine, pointed to a bottle of orange juice, and asked, "What's that?"
Lu Yan scanned the code and bought another bottle of orange juice.
Houtu took a bite and commented, "It's too sweet; it's not as interesting as the previous one."
She threw the empty can into the recycling bin next to her.
"Thank you for your introduction, but... I have to go." She looked out the window. "The ley lines have awakened, but they are not stable enough yet. I need to travel to famous mountains and rivers, build temples, and establish my divine roots."
"I can sense that there are many old friends sleeping on this land," Houtu said. "They are all waiting for the time to awaken."
Lu Yan straightened up and stepped aside to make way.
"Okay, then we wish you... a safe journey."
Houtu nodded and strode towards the gate.
With each step she took, a tiny, tender blade of grass would sprout from the cracks in the paving stones beneath her feet, full of vitality.
After seeing Hou Tu off, Lu Yan turned and entered the base's dedicated equipment room.
On the central control panel of the equipment room, a global ranking of handcrafted equipment is projected holographically.
This list only counts equipment crafted by players using blueprints and materials, providing the most direct reflection of each country's cultural heritage.
Lu Yan swiped the screen.
The top four positions were all occupied by the red flag of China.
First place: The Scepter of Eternity, holder: Lu Yan.
Second place: Earth Pulse Set, owner: Zhao Leiguang.
Third place: The Gift of Yao Guang, holder: Su Yunqing.
Fourth place: World-Destroying Thunder Crossbow, wielder: Wen Yue.
Of the top ten, six are from China.
"That's good. In terms of equipment, other countries are basically unmatched now."
Next, we need to consider defense.