Lu Su: Thanks for Nature’s Gift

Fox Jiu was completely grasping at straws now. Of course, he knew that if even he could not resist this opponent, then his subordinates stood no chance either.

But did he have any other options?

He did not want to die. That was all.

Fox Jiu scrambled backward in retreat while his subordinates stood before Lu Su with terror written all over their faces.

Most of the Demons realized that they were unlikely to meet a good end today. Their master had already been reduced to such a state; what they were doing now was no different from throwing eggs at a rock.

"You!"

They had barely opened their mouths to threaten him when a sudden slash cleaved them in two.

The surviving Demons in the rear looked at the hellish sight before them, their legs giving out as they collapsed to the ground.

Lu Su simply walked past them with his cards and casually said, "Don’t block the way."

He had no time to waste here. He had no idea what exactly was happening in Great Ming.

Ever since his Teacher had sent him those two messages, he had received nothing else.

By now, Fox Jiu had fled quite far away, but the wounded giant fox was obviously nowhere near as fast as Lu Su.

A few breaths later, he once again felt that hair-raising aura of death behind him.

I can’t die yet.

With that thought, Fox Jiu immediately prepared to turn around and beg Lu Su for mercy.

Unfortunately, when he opened his savage jaws, he found that he could not say a thing.

It was not that he did not know what to say, but rather—

"Zero!?"

Fox Jiu called out the name of the other soul within his body in shock.

He could clearly sense that he had lost control of his body again.

Zero, who had not spoken another word since seeing through the fact that he had never escaped the illusion, said calmly, "Begging, useless."

"I, make a final stand."

Though he said that, he had no intention of discussing it with Fox Jiu.

After all, Zero’s mission objective had been set the moment he appeared. He was only saying this so Fox Jiu would not hold him back.

At the end of the day, the giant fox was still the original owner of this body. Even if Zero burned everything he had to seize control again, it would still be difficult to control if Fox Jiu refused to cooperate.

But Fox Jiu’s mind was filled with thoughts of begging for mercy, so naturally he would not listen to Zero. "Give me back my body, Zero!"

Seeing that the fox was completely impossible to communicate with, Zero chose to block out his voice.

Noticing the change in the other party’s aura, Lu Su tilted his head slightly. "Changed people again?"

Then, he signaled Aizen and the others with his eyes to go deal with him.

Struggling to withstand attacks coming from every direction, Zero said in an even tone, "Mission, stall."

"Illusion, irrelevant."

Even now, Zero could not confirm whether he was still trapped within Aizen’s Mirror Flower, Water Moon. Everything that had happened earlier had made him doubt himself.

But none of that mattered to him anymore.

What mattered was that as long as he remained in battle, Lu Su was still here. And all he had to do was delay for as long as possible.

That was also why he had initially allowed Fox Jiu to flee toward his nest.

Lu Su naturally understood Zero’s intentions, but he knew that panicking would not help. It was better to deal with him quickly and return to Great Ming.

Kurosaki Ichigo’s Mugetsu state was also nearly over. Since he had not fought much earlier, it had lasted exceptionally long this time.

When a slash that dyed the secret realm black and white appeared, Fox Jiu’s body under Zero’s control was left with only its final tail.

It had to be said that the Demon Fox’s vitality was indeed formidable. If it had been Tempest, it would have fallen long ago.

But from another perspective, if Tempest had been here, it might not have suffered such severe injuries from Aizen’s Mirror Flower, Water Moon.

Meanwhile, the voice in Zero’s mind had changed from curses to pleas.

Fox Jiu was truly terrified. He now hated himself for getting involved in the battle between City within a City and Great Ming. Had he known things would end up like this, he would rather have stayed here as a local tyrant.

Yet even so, Zero continued fighting the cards without a care.

Realizing that words alone were likely incapable of stopping this experimental subject, Fox Jiu hardened his heart and began fighting with all his strength for control of his body.

As mentioned before, although Zero could currently control this body, it would still be arduous if its original owner, Fox Jiu, refused to cooperate.

Not to mention that the giant fox was now determined to seize back control.

As their struggle grew fiercer, Lu Su and his cards noticed that the movements of the besieged Demon Fox would occasionally twist out of shape.

Because of this, Fox Jiu’s body gained several new wounds in a short span of time.

Seemingly realizing that there was no way to turn things around, Zero sighed softly in his mind, then gave up resisting. Fox Jiu took this chance to reclaim his body.

Uncontrollable ecstasy appeared on the giant fox’s face. Opening his mouth, he wanted to shout, "Spare—"

Before he could finish, several slashes had already swept through his body.

And because he had only just regained control, Fox Jiu was completely unprepared for those attacks.

He lowered his head to look at the huge lines of blood appearing across his body. Disbelief showed on his savage fox face. "What…"

Boom—

The Demon Fox’s enormous body crashed down, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Fox Jiu was dead. This Fox Spirit, who had lived for an unknown number of years, died because of his desire to live.

At that moment, a somewhat blurry figure slowly appeared atop the lifeless fox head. Looking down at those enormous, dull eyes, it muttered softly, "Stupid fox…"

No wonder his creators had always called Fox Jiu a stupid fox behind his back. It seemed they had been right.

Zero stared at the dead Fox Jiu for a while before raising his head to look at Lu Su, who was vigilantly watching him from afar. "Now, still, illusion?"

Faced with his question, Lu Su merely stared at him coldly, neither moving nor speaking.

Seeing this, Zero’s blurry figure began to flicker.

Yet until he turned into faint light and dissipated into the air, he did not say another word.

At the very end, only a meaningless syllable drifted away on the wind.

"Heh."

The artificial creation ultimately left this not-false world carrying doubts about the world itself.

Seeing this, Lu Su could not help but relax inwardly.

Having successfully killed Fox Jiu without paying much of a price, he could now return to Great Ming without worry.

As for Goryeo and this small country…

That could wait until the matter in Great Ming was resolved.

Lu Su came before Fox Jiu’s corpse and bent down to pick up the Master Grade Material Calamity Fox Spirit (Red) that had dropped.

"With this, Naruto’s materials are complete."

"All that’s left is for me to break through to Master Grade."

All three materials needed to make Naruto were now in Lu Su’s possession. Unfortunately, no miracle of a breakthrough in the heat of battle had occurred. Otherwise, he could have finished making Naruto before returning to Great Ming.

Just as Lu Su was about to set off for Shanghai City, an incomparably familiar stirring rose in his heart.

He abruptly stopped and turned back in astonishment. "No way…"

Lu Su had never expected to find the final piece of the puzzle here.

This coincidence made him think of more than a few things.

Once or twice could be called coincidence, but after so many times, could it still be coincidence?

Just then, a whisper drifted faintly past his ear.

"Go. In the end, you will learn all the answers."

Catching that trace of a voice, Lu Su’s expression grew solemn.

He had always despised people who spoke in riddles, but fortunately, it seemed that the day he learned the truth was not too far away.

And now, all he had to do was accept the gift?

Then return to Great Ming and resolve the current crisis.

With that thought, Lu Su raised his foot and walked toward that inexplicable sense of familiarity.

Shanghai City.

The previously clear sky was now covered in dark clouds. The thick clouds formed a massive vortex, with roaring lightning darting through them.

Surging waves continuously battered the rocks along the shore, producing booming crashes.

Bai Yueming frowned at the apocalyptic sight before him and quietly instructed the assistant beside him, "Notify the surrounding cities to evacuate."

"Also, put every city in the country under martial law."

Having lived so long, the old man naturally understood that the scene before him could not possibly have been caused by ordinary weather.

Without question, the one behind all this was his old rival, Jin Ping.

So the matter in Goryeo really is connected to that old bastard.

Bai Yueming sighed inwardly. Fortunately, Shanghai City had already been abandoned because of what happened before, so there was no need to consider evacuating civilians now.

Not long afterward, Ji Weirui appeared beside him. "Master Bai, how are things?"

Bai Yueming was not surprised by her arrival. Now that the Demon Army was gone, the combat strength of the former Shuběi Army had essentially been freed up.

Compared to before, the situation had actually improved considerably.

If not for the issue in Goryeo.

"I’ve already sent Xiao Luo and the others messages, but there hasn’t been a response yet."

As he spoke, a trace of worry appeared between Bai Yueming’s brows.

Hearing this, Ji Weirui pressed her lips together and said quietly, "Ye Diantang’s condition is getting worse and worse. I’m afraid…"

She did not finish her sentence, but the old man knew what she meant.

Nothing more than this: if today truly became the final battle with Jin Ping and the others, then Ye Zhou’s next move might be his last.

"…Great Ming made it through when things were far more difficult before. Xiao Ji, don’t worry too much."

After briefly comforting Ji Weirui, Bai Yueming fell silent and watched the two secret realms in the distance continuously spew out Demons.

At the same time, on the turbulent sea.

Jin Ping stared coldly at Shanghai City in the distance, where many Card Masters were stationed, and muttered angrily, "If those trash from the Demon Army hadn’t died so quickly, Great Ming wouldn’t have had so many troops guarding this place."

After calming himself slightly, he turned to the two Master Grade Demons beside him. "I’ve done everything I promised you."

"Don’t forget your promise."

The two Demons exchanged glances, then grinned. "Of course. We’ll always remember President Jin’s help."

"But the time is about right. We can make our move now, can’t we?"

Jin Ping lowered his head to look at the communication device in his hand. After confirming that matters in Goryeo had reached the right point, he nodded. "Yes. Do it."

As his words fell, the restless Demon Army upon the sea surged toward Shanghai City in wave after wave.

Yet Jin Ping and the other Master Grade fighters remained where they were, completely motionless.

Marcus asked in confusion, "Aren’t we going?"

"I’m hungry."

As he spoke, he rubbed his stomach.

Facing the black person’s question, Jin Ping said cryptically, "Marcus, when we said we could begin, we didn’t mean what you thought."

"?"

Marcus froze, instinctively opening his mouth to say something.

But the chains that suddenly appeared interrupted the words about to leave his mouth.

"There was originally no need to do this." Jin Ping sighed faintly and said with some regret, "If you want someone to blame, blame Great Ming for reacting too quickly."

At this point, no matter how foolish Marcus was, he had realized that the people before him likely meant to harm him.

He immediately began struggling.

Like Fang Wenlong, Marcus was a Card Master who specialized in close combat. As his movements grew increasingly violent, the commotion he caused also grew greater.

Yet amid the screeching friction, the chains wrapped around him only tightened further and further.

At this moment, a contract that had appeared on Jin Ping’s right hand at some unknown point began to burn slowly. "Fortunately, I left myself a backup plan. Otherwise, everything might have been ruined."

Seeing this, Marcus stopped moving, as though he had given up struggling.

Jin Ping paid it no mind.

Just as the contract was about to burn away completely, Marcus, who had not moved at all, suddenly began to laugh. Against his dark face, his pearly white teeth gleamed with a trace of coldness. "President Jin…"

"Do you really think I’m a fool?"

Seeing the strange smile on the black person’s face and hearing the meaning behind his words, Jin Ping immediately felt that something was wrong.

But before he could question him, the chains binding Marcus began snapping apart inch by inch.

Casually tearing away the broken chains around him, the black person stretched his body without restraint, then licked his lips as he looked at Jin Ping. "Your contract."

"Very delicious."

As his words fell, Jin Ping’s face instantly turned pale. Then, he coughed up a mouthful of blood. "How is that possible!?"

The old man’s contract had backfired. The one paying the price had changed from Marcus to himself.

At this moment, every Master Grade being present watched the scene coldly, waiting to see what choice Jin Ping would make next.

To them, it did not matter whether Marcus paid the price or Jin Ping did.

As long as the third secret realm could descend successfully, that was enough.

"President Jin, your contract can still continue, can’t it?"

"So, will you become my enemy, or…"

At this point, Marcus gave Jin Ping a meaningful look.

Jin Ping glanced at Skin Peeler and the other two, then looked at Marcus with a savage expression. "Good. Very good."

"You really put on quite a show."

Once again, the situation had slipped beyond the old man’s control. The first time had been Lu Su; this time, it was Marcus.

Those two betrayals had made him look like nothing more than a clown.

But did he have any choice now?

Jin Ping forcibly suppressed the venom in his eyes as contracts began spontaneously igniting around him one after another.

At the same time, members of the Fallen Cult who had joined Jin Ping’s side in both Australia and Europa bled from all seven orifices and died on the spot.

Without question, those Card Masters who had signed Jin Ping’s contracts had become the old man’s Substitute Deaths.

Seeing this, Marcus relaxed his body, which had been ready to launch a surprise attack at any moment, and grinned.

"Looks like President Jin made the right choice."