Wild Wolf didn’t know what "the Lord" was planning to do.

But he didn’t dare to disobey!

He had witnessed "the Lord’s" power. It was not something he could resist.

He could only lead "the Lord" to his own village, the C49 experimental base.

The villagers had only just moved. The residential area here had plenty of rooms, and the living conditions were a significant improvement over their old village in the barren valley. Most importantly, it was much safer.

According to ancient legend, no Divine would appear near the Divine Suffering Place!

They believed this without a doubt.

"Now that we’ve moved here, we don’t have to be afraid of the Divine anymore!"

"That’s right, the Wood Knot Monsters won’t find us here either. We have been redeemed. Praise the gods!"

Two villagers in burlap clothes were chatting idly. They were Scavengers planning to head out to search for food and water. Just as they walked out the main gate of the Divine Suffering Place, they saw their leader hurrying over with a stranger.

"The leader is back!"

"Huh? Who’s that? A new person? His clothes look a little familiar!"

The two Scavengers stepped forward to greet them. Wild Wolf nodded. Just as he was about to speak—PFFT! PFFT!—"Ma Changgui’s" two fingers instantly transformed into sharp bamboo spears, piercing through both of their chests.

Their eyes went wide with dazed, helpless expressions as they died instantly. Their bodies rapidly melted into bloody water, which flowed up the spears that were "Ma Changgui’s" fingers and slowly into "Ma Changgui’s" body.

A golden light flashed across "Ma Changgui’s" body. He slowly exhaled a puff of white mist, a pleased expression on his face.

Wild Wolf cried out in alarm, "Lord, why... why did you kill them?!"

"I told you. I need to upgrade."

"Ma Changgui" ignored Wild Wolf and walked straight into the C49 experimental base. What followed was a bloody massacre...

「Meanwhile, Wang Yi’s battle continued.」

He commanded his Soldiers to frantically reap the Grass Blades and Earth Thorn Vines at the edge of the grassy field.

Once the grassy field had consumed the entire cliff face, its spread slowed slightly without any Wood Knots to provide the red liquid.

But it was only a slight pause, as new, massive trees began to grow at a frantic pace.

One could imagine that once those trees matured, they would once again launch Wood Knots, once again saturate the earth with red liquid, and once again allow the grassy field to spread.

This process, if left unchecked, would not take long.

But Wang Yi had experience this time. Before those trees could mature, he again led his Soldiers to a new position, moving elsewhere to continue hunting Grass Blades and unleashing a furious barrage.

As a result, the grove of half-grown trees stopped its development, while new saplings quickly sprouted along the new battle line.

’Grass Blades can only move within the grassy field, and the same goes for the Earth Thorn Vines. The red liquid from exploding Wood Knots creates the field, and the Wood Knots have to grow on those leafless giant trees. Their launch distance is what, two hundred meters? Three hundred at the absolute most...’

Wang Yi narrowed his eyes, studying the rapidly growing saplings ahead. "This grassy field obviously has a consciousness," he muttered. "It’s constantly cultivating these leafless giant trees, creating Wood Knots, expanding its territory, and pursuing us relentlessly... But I can just kite you. I’ll wear your dumb ass out. I refuse to believe you can grow these giant trees indefinitely!"

Wang Yi, now fully committed to guerrilla warfare, shouted, "When the enemy advances, we retreat! When they halt, we harass! When they tire, we attack! When they retreat, we pursue! We’ll fight in shifts and rest in shifts. Come back for water when you’re thirsty and for food when you’re hungry. Keep it up, everyone! I’m sure the tide will turn soon. Victory will be ours!"

"Yes, sir!"

Everyone responded enthusiastically.

An hour passed, then two...

Wang Yi’s forces fell into a steady combat rhythm, and the situation stabilized. Within the terrifying, unnatural grassy field, more and more giant trees were left half-grown. The Grass Blades charged as mercilessly as ever, and the Earth Thorn Vines were just as frenzied, but that seemed to be the extent of their strategy.

Watermelon, having rotated out to rest, suddenly felt the grassy field was no longer so terrifying. ’It actually seems kind of stupid and inflexible,’ she thought.

’But will fighting like this actually accomplish anything...’

Just as she was pondering this, she heard the sound of wailing. She looked toward the source and saw a small child crying as he ran toward them.

"Black Beans!"

Watermelon was startled. ’What is he doing here?’ 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

She noticed two people following him: one was Wild Wolf, and the other wore a cloak that hid their face. Judging by the clothes, it was probably Water Monkey.

A Taisen stepped forward, blocking Black Beans. It wagged a finger in front of the boy, signaling him to stop.

A Boyka also moved to block Wild Wolf and the cloaked man. He performed a sharp display of kicks and punches before warning them, "God gave me a Talent, just one. I am the world’s most perfect Warrior! Strangers, any further advance will be considered a provocation, and I will fight you!"

Watermelon hurried over and put her hands on Black Beans’s shoulders. "Black Beans, why are you here? What happened?"

Black Beans’s face was a mask of terror. "They’re dead!" he wailed. "Everyone’s dead! Mom and Dad are dead, everyone, they’re all dead..."

"What?" Watermelon frowned, alarmed. "Slow down. Tell me exactly what happened."

Wild Wolf spoke up. "It was a Divine! An Earth Deity! It invaded the Divine Suffering Place. The three of us were the only ones lucky enough to escape. Everyone else was killed..."

"What? But how could..."

A buzzing filled Watermelon’s head. The news was too sudden, too cruel. She couldn’t process it.

Wild Wolf’s face was pale, his expression clearly terrified. He grabbed Watermelon’s arm. "Quick, take us to your leader! I have vital information that I must give him in person!"

Without a second thought, Watermelon agreed. "Wait here a moment," she said. "I’ll go get the boss."

A moment later, Wang Yi arrived. He glanced at the inconsolable Black Beans, then at Wild Wolf and the cloaked figure beside him. "What’s the information?" he said in a low voice. "Spit it out."

"The information is this!"

The cloaked figure abruptly threw back his hood, revealing Ma Changgui’s savage face. A cruel smile spread across his lips as his ten fingers instantly sharpened into bamboo spears. He lunged at Wang Yi, continuing, "The information is... you’re about to die!"

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

The sharp bamboo spears struck Wang Yi’s body, but they all broke, as if they had hit a block of iron.

Watermelon cried out at the sudden turn of events. The nearby Taisen and Boyka instantly slammed Black Beans and Wild Wolf to the ground.

"Your assassination failed." Wang Yi’s face was devoid of expression as he stared at the Assassin before him, enunciating each syllable: "Ma. Chang. Gui."

Ma Changgui froze. "Huh? Why aren’t you dead?!"

The answer came as three sharp ringing sounds. A flash of gold light shot past, striking Ma Changgui in the head three times in an instant, leaving three bloody holes and distorting his face.

It was Qin Mo, who had been hidden in the shadows. He materialized beside Wang Yi and bowed deeply in apology. "Master, this old slave was too slow..."

"See that you’re faster next time."

Wang Yi brushed the dust off his clothes and looked again at Ma Changgui with the three holes in his head.

Unbelievably, Ma Changgui was still alive. He asked again, "Why aren’t you dead..."

"I’m not that easy to kill."

Wang Yi appeared calm and untroubled on the surface, but inwardly he was shaken. ’If not for my Mountain and River Body Refining, that last attack would have turned me into a pincushion. I’d be dead for sure.’

’I truly never expected an assassination attempt. And for the Assassin to be Ma Changgui, of all people.’

Qin Mo moved to finish Ma Changgui off, but Wang Yi stopped him with a hand gesture. "Start talking," Wang Yi demanded coldly. "What exactly *are* you?"

"Hahahaha!"

Ma Changgui burst out laughing. "Do you know what it feels like to be underwater, unable to breathe? Imagine it. Your ears fill with water, so you can’t hear anything clearly. You can’t see anything. You struggle with all your might, but you’re just suspended in the water, neither sinking nor rising. There’s only darkness all around you. You open your mouth to scream for help, but icy water just forces its way down your throat. You can’t make a single sound. Every second stretches out for what feels like ten thousand years. Do you know what that’s like?"

Wang Yi narrowed his eyes. "What’s your point? Are you dead or not?"

Ma Changgui shook his head. "Thanks to you, I am living in agony! You’re desperate to know what’s going on, aren’t you? But I’m not going to tell you! We’ll meet again. Sooner or later, I’ll drag you down into that dark, dead water with me and let you experience what it’s like to live in agony! Hahahaha!"

BOOM.

Ma Changgui’s laughter cut off abruptly as his entire body exploded, dissolving into a fine mist of blood.