Chapter 566: Chapter 273: Spreading Sea of Blood

Gazing at the Sea of Blood below, Chu Xiu’s eyebrows furrowed tighter and tighter.

At this moment, he had already pushed his Divine Sense to its limits, but he found that the Sea of Blood was just like Yin Qi, interfering with his Divine Sense. He could only detect up to two or three thousand meters, beyond which was impossible to see.

This depth was only sufficient for coastal searches. If Blood Demons were hiding in the depths of the sea, there was no way his Divine Sense could detect them.

"Besides, I don’t have the time for this needle-in-a-haystack stupidity."

Chu Xiu pondered for a moment, pointed his finger, and a large number of Ghosts surged downwards, beginning to hunt the Blood Demons.

He released only a small portion, hoping to lure out High Tier Sea of Blood creatures.

Unfortunately, he was disappointed. Nearby Sea of Blood creatures quickly formed small teams to fight against the Ghosts, but creatures farther away continued to rush towards the base unrelentingly. Meanwhile, the Sea of Blood showed no reaction to Chu Xiu’s interference.

Chu Xiu sighed, knowing it was impossible to bait the Blood Demons out with such simple tactics.

Moreover, he observed that the attributes of these Sea of Blood creatures were significantly enhanced near the Sea of Blood. He even saw large-rooted vines growing towards the mainland from the depths of the Sea of Blood.

[Heaven-Reaching Blood Vine]

Compared to Chu Xiu’s Artifact, these Blood Vines were completely embedded in the Sea of Blood, absorbing its Energy. The Domain they created was unimaginably vast, extending to almost fifty kilometers, affecting all Blood Demons within this range with an increased Life Recovery Speed.

Near the coastline, this enhancement was ridiculously high. Chu Xiu personally witnessed a Blood Demon being shattered by his Ghost General’s strike, only to regrow new limbs in less than three seconds thanks to this bonus.

"Is this really the toughest part of this Trial?"

Chu Xiu felt a headache coming on. The Sea of Blood was constantly expanding, and if his calculations were correct, it would reach the base by the thirtieth day. By then, he’d face an endless Frenzy of Blood Demons, bolstered by the Sea of Blood buffs.

"If the Civilization Envoys also benefit from the Sea of Blood enhancements..."

Chu Xiu dared not think more. He initially believed his current strength was sufficient for the [Doomsday] difficulty, but now it seemed far more challenging.

The key lay in this [Slaughter Mode]!

With this mode, Chu Xiu had to find the right way to clear the challenge. Otherwise, even with his strength, he might barely manage to hold out until the thirtieth day, relying on sheer force to obliterate the entire Blood Demon Army.

After some thought, Chu Xiu decided not to alert the enemy. He instead retracted all the Ghosts and headed back towards the base.

Judging by the time, the first wave of attack was almost upon them.

...

One hour later, inside the base city.

A piercing alarm shattered the night’s silence, waking the entire city from its calm.

"Attention, frontline radar stations have detected an unprecedented density of Abyssal creatures heading towards our city at high speed, currently estimated to exceed three hundred thousand and rising!"

"The first wave is expected to arrive in ten minutes! Non-combat personnel, please evacuate in an orderly manner!"

The sharp metallic siren was like an invisible whip, spurring everyone into action. Farmers and workers ceased their work, grabbing nearby supplies, hurriedly breaking through the iron doors, pushing aluminum carts stocked with canned goods and rations towards the Shelter.

Fortunately, similar drills had been conducted many times before, so despite the panic, people managed to evacuate safely to the depths of the Shelter.

Simultaneously, soldiers rushed to their posts, armed helicopters took to the skies for patrol, and armor-piercing bullets were loaded into high-caliber machine guns. Powerful Awakened individuals assumed positions pre-planned for optimal effectiveness based on tactical schemes.

Chu Xiu stood high in the air, surveying the entire situation.

The base was located in a large gorge surrounded by mountains, with only one entry and exit point at the front. Steep cliffs over three hundred meters high enclosed the rest.

Especially the peak opposite the entrance, deliberately carved and trimmed to exceed a thousand meters in vertical height, resembling a Ten Thousand Feet Cliff.

In ancient times, this place would have been considered a fortress—easy to defend and difficult to attack. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say a single person could block thousands.

Regrettably, against extraordinary creatures like Blood Demon thralls, averaging Warrior Tier or higher, the cliffs were no longer an obstacle. Naturally, those responsible for base defense were aware of this, so they designed a dual-layer defense system.

The lower defense primarily relied on guarding the natural fortress, with seven consecutive reinforced concrete city walls, ten meters wide and lined with heavy machine guns and various heavy weaponry. Each wall was higher than the last, ensuring that even if the front wall fell, the rear could still project firepower forward.

Numerous machine gun positions jutting from the cliff faces also provided descending firepower.

Upper defenses were handled by King Tier Awakened who could raise rock walls and a King Tier Mechanician seen by Chu Xiu earlier. This long-constructed defense, combined with the labyrinthine mountain terrain, created an extremely intricate maze filled with automated firepower capable of Remote Control.