Chapter 148: The Cruelty of War
In the southern part of the Munro Stronghold, according to Wei Zheng’s assignment, each squad guarded a designated area.
The squads were spaced a hundred meters apart. To train the students, all five instructors kept their distance, observing the battle from afar. Unless a student encountered mortal danger and issued a distress call, the instructors would not interfere.
Chen Mo told Ning Xuan to hold the fort for a moment as he needed to use the restroom.
In reality, Chen Mo stealthily slipped two hundred meters outside the perimeter of the battlefield, activated his slaughter mode, and instantly boosted his meditation stat to five hundred points!
Grade-A Spiritual Eye, activate!
Ordinarily, the range of the Spiritual Eye was limited to fifty meters, but amplified by the five hundred points of meditation, even three hundred meters fell under his control.
Hum!
A red light flashed between Chen Mo’s brows as his Spiritual Eye ignited. He made a grabbing motion toward the corpses on the battlefield, shouting mentally: Come here, you bastards!
Whoosh—
Chen Mo’s consciousness detached like a soul leaving the body, rushing across the battlefield and transforming into a hand of pure thought. Grabbing the orange fireflies floating above the corpses of both the Munro Guild and the Shadow Legion, he reeled them straight back into his mind.
[Zunzi +1]
Continuing to project his consciousness via the Spiritual Eye, he snatched them again: One Zunzi, ten Zunzi, a hundred Zunzi—they were all mine! I want them all!
[Second Zunzi component (100/100)]
[Brain upgrading...]
1%
4%
10%
...
66%
99%
100%
[Brain upgraded to Lv.2]
[New Brain permission unlocked—Dungeon Channel Switching]
What? Dungeon channel switching? What kind of useless feature is this?!
[Dungeon Channel Switching]
[Allows switching to other channels within the same type of dungeon]
Chen Mo’s mind clicked. Wasn’t this just like online games where the same map was divided into Channel 1, Channel 2, Channel 3, and so on?
Take the last PUBG-style dungeon, for instance. If Chen Mo had possessed this dungeon channel-switching feature back then, he could have jumped straight into his sister’s dungeon instance.
Chen Mo understood now. The Brain’s permissions mirrored the basic functions of the Evolution Orb, akin to standard online game utilities like data-digitization and maps. They didn't grant substantive combat boosts, such as raw strength increases or enhanced skill lethality!
Chen Mo’s heart suddenly skipped a beat. A daring thought popped into his head: back when he used data-digitization in reality, everything literally became digitized; when he used the map, a real map appeared out of nowhere; what would happen if he tried to use dungeon channel-switching in the real world?!
A shudder ran through his entire body. The thought was terrifying!
If he actually managed to switch channels in reality, his entire worldview would completely collapse.
Chen Mo held his breath, tense to the extreme.
He sent the command to his brain: [Switch Dungeon Channel]
Boom-hum—
Chen Mo felt a sharp jolt in his mind, as if he were plunging into a bottomless abyss.
[Warning! Current world cannot be switched]
Haa—
Chen Mo’s heart had truly leaped into his throat. If the entire world had actually switched, it would prove that Earth was fake and everything was just data, causing his psyche to completely shatter. Fortunately, Earth could not be switched, which proved that the real world was genuine, and channel-switching was only possible within dungeons.
He activated his Spiritual Eye once more to continue devouring Zunzi!
[Zunzi +1]
[Third Zunzi component (354/1000)]
Chen Mo had successfully plundered 270 Zunzi. This wasn't because only 270 people had died on the battlefield, but rather because many had died simultaneously in batches. Since they were too far away, he could only grab ten at a time, causing nearly half of the floating Zunzi to drift away and waste away.
Still, Chen Mo was not one to dwell on missed opportunities. He was already immensely satisfied with harvesting 270 Zunzi on this single trip! The more Zunzi he had, the more alter egos he could create, expanding his trump cards for the future!
The Munro Guild had reached the end of their rope. Out of over seven hundred members, nearly five hundred had perished, leaving a mere two hundred survivors. The leader of the Munro Guild was a peak General-rank grand mage. A resolute look flashed in his eyes: "The Munro Guild cannot fall! My fellow Munro members, let my light illuminate your path—charge through!"
The Munro Guild leader shockingly chose to self-detonate his body. Thousands of blinding pillars of light erupted from him, instantly blinding every Shadow Legion warrior.
On the Brain’s map, Chen Mo saw the red dots scattering in all directions amidst the blinding glare.
Sensing trouble and the imminent arrival of enemies, Chen Mo abruptly accelerated and dashed back to his squad’s defensive perimeter.
"Bro! Why did you take so long in the restroom? Is something wrong with your kidneys?"
Chen Mo’s face darkened. Ning Xuan really had no filter: "Alright! Cut the chatter! Stay sharp! Prepare for battle!"
"Battle? Where are the enemies?!" Ding Yan raised his flaming sword in bewilderment.
Chen Mo said sternly, "Remember, I am your captain, and you will execute my orders unconditionally! Ye Zhiyan, cast Leaf Shields on Ding Yan! Shangguan Chaoyue, cloak immediately and hide to the side! Ning Xuan, ready your spells!"
Seeing Chen Mo look this serious for the very first time, the group instantly tightened their focus.
Leaf Shield!
Ye Zhiyan closed her eyes, sensing the surrounding foliage. Summoning three hundred leaves all at once, she orbited them around Ding Yan to form a protective green barrier of leaves.
Shadow Stalker!
Shangguan Chaoyue activated her skill, cloaking her presence and vanishing into thin air.
Ning Xuan gathered frost elements, her magic primed and ready!
Swish, swish, swish!
The sound of friction against the ground echoed, and judging by the noise, there was more than one person.
Three blood-soaked Munro members burst into view—a warrior clad entirely in C-grade gear wielding a massive battleaxe, closely followed by two senior mages.
"Huh?!" Possessing sharp five-senses, the Munro warrior detected enemies a hundred meters ahead. However, with the Shadow Legion in hot pursuit from behind, they had nowhere left to run.
"Hahaha! Turns out to be a bunch of wet-behind-the-ears students! Get the hell out of my way!"
The Munro warrior lunged forward with a Triple Slash, transforming his battleaxe into three roaring phantoms that tore through the air with explosive sonic booms.
This Munro warrior possessed high General-rank strength, far superior to Ding Yan, who was merely at peak Soldier-rank.
Ding Yan didn't even have time to react before the warrior's triple axe-blow came crashing down upon him!
Hum!
The Leaf Shield activated its green barrier!
Boom! The barrier cracked!
Yet Ding Yan remained completely unharmed!!
Ding Yan was startled at first, but elation quickly followed: "Haha, die!"
Triple Flame Sword!
Fwush, fwush, fwush! Flames surged as three fiery sword arcs merged into one. Though he was only at peak Soldier-rank, he had unleashed General-rank damage!
Slash!!
The strike sliced through the Munro warrior’s breastplate, carving a bloody gash across his chest, though it wasn't a fatal wound.
"Little brat! How dare you pull tricks! Grandpa's gonna hack you to pieces!"
Earth-Shattering Slash!
The Munro warrior stomped the ground, channeling terrifying power into his battleaxe as he brought it down directly toward the top of Ding Yan’s head!!
Even from several meters away, the sheer pressure of the blow made it hard for Ding Yan to breathe.
Freeze!!
At the exact split second before the terrifying Earth-Shattering Slash could land, Ning Xuan unleashed the frost magic she had been charging in advance, locking onto the Munro warrior. Bang!!
The Munro warrior’s body froze solid in an instant!!
Oh no!!
The two mages trailing behind the Munro warrior flared their robes—one manipulating lightning, the other controlling gales.
Thunderstorm! Gale Blades!
Both were high General-rank mages with immense power, yet they still couldn't cast spells instantaneously like Chen Mo; they required a two-second incantation.
Meanwhile, Shangguan Chaoyue, who had long been hidden behind them, wore a confident smirk. Stealth Strike, dual-wielding simultaneously—Fatal Twin Stabs!
Puff, puff!
Two gorgeous sprays of blood erupted from the mages' necks. Pity the two senior mages; they died on the spot without even finishing their spell chants.
Seizing the opportunity, Ding Yan hoisted his flaming sword high and cleaved the frozen Munro warrior in two with a single strike!!
Clap, clap, clap!
Chen Mo applauded, "Not bad! You guys executed that brilliantly!"
From start to finish, Chen Mo hadn't lifted a finger, yet he had maintained absolute control over the entire battlefield. Every step and every move was meticulously calculated. Small fry like these weren't worth his effort; his main goal was to train the squad's coordination.
"Two on the left, one on the right! Team, attack! Don't let the other squads steal our kills!!"