Not Going All Out

Because he had to guard against a possible Demon Army ambush, and because Lu Su still needed to support other nearby military towns, he had not brought out his full strength.

Even so, the Demon Army in the distance from Jizhou Town had fallen into chaos because of his arrival.

Of course, the main reason was that Chris’s undead had scared them out of their wits.

Ignoring the Demons who had already descended into disarray in the distance, Lu Su turned his attention to the Demonized Card Master beneath the city walls.

"A Diamond Grade Demonized Card Master?"

Lu Su could tell from the man’s aura alone that he was terrifyingly strong. Ordinary Diamond Grade beings, whether Demons or Card Masters, would have stood no chance against him.

Clearly, compared to the still-imperfect Li Shuo from back then, the Demon Army’s technology had improved significantly.

Combined with recent events, Lu Su immediately thought of one possibility.

"Jin Ping must have contributed as well."

"But it seems this technology isn’t what he truly wanted."

Long ago, Lu Su had handed the Demonization technology he had tampered with to Jin Ping.

As expected, Jin Ping, lacking the crucial information, had made no progress in developing the technology afterward.

However, after Lu Su left the Spirit Summoning Society, Jin Ping would surely have realized there was something wrong with the technology Lu Su had submitted.

Still, after researching it for so long and recently getting involved with the Demon Army, it was hardly surprising that the technology had made a breakthrough through both sides’ efforts.

But judging by Jin Ping’s still-human appearance at the Shanghai City coast earlier, he most likely had not taken a liking to this technology.

Of course, it was also possible that there had been no suitable Master Grade Demon remains.

"Lord Lu, do you know the identity of that Demon below?"

At that moment, Petrovna noticed Lu Su lost in thought.

The girl was certainly not stupid. A stupid person could not become a Diamond Grade Card Master. Her emotional intelligence was simply a little low.

To put it nicely, she was straightforward.

Petrovna’s voice pulled Lu Su back to reality. However, rather than answering her, he looked toward Zhang Jingxing beside him. "Senior Disciple Brother, this is a product of Demonization experiments. You should have recognized that, right?"

Hearing this, Zhang Jingxing shook his head slightly.

He had indeed been shocked by the Earth-Yellow Figure’s strength at first. However, as a veteran Diamond Grade Card Master, he quickly calmed down.

Unlike Lu Su, who had encountered Li Shuo before, Zhang Jingxing had not identified the other party. He had merely assumed he was a particularly powerful Demon.

Lu Su was somewhat surprised, but he did not dwell on such a trivial matter. "Forget it. Let’s restrain him first."

"I imagine Master Fang and the others can make use of him."

As he spoke, he prepared to have his cards move in and restrain the man.

Just then, the utterly confused Petrovna hurriedly asked, "Lord Lu, what is this Demonization experiment you mentioned?"

She was anxious now. She felt like an irrelevant outsider, completely unable to join the conversation.

Hearing this, Lu Su reassured her, "Your Highness, the relevant information will be provided to the Empire afterward. You needn’t worry."

That was only proper. With the two sides now allies, Great Ming had no reason to hide such intelligence.

Yet Petrovna was not satisfied.

The Empire was the Empire, and she was herself. Didn’t that mean she still knew nothing right now?

It made her seem like some kind of mascot.

Though in Lu Su’s heart, the girl was exactly that.

But since Lu Su had already said so, the girl had no reason to keep pressing. Thus, she merely said dejectedly, "Then I’ll have to trouble you, Lord Lu."

Lu Su could naturally see Petrovna’s little sulk, but he was not her babysitter. He had no intention of catering to her emotions over something so minor.

By then, the Earth-Yellow Figure beneath Jizhou Town’s walls had also sensed the change behind him.

But for him, he was already stuck between a rock and a hard place.

If he advanced, he could never breach Jizhou Town alone.

If he retreated, he would have to be insane to seek a fight to the death with the Master Grade being behind him.

Fortunately, he would soon no longer need to worry.

"Hehehe."

A soft, fragmented laugh sounded behind the Earth-Yellow Figure, making him whip around.

Before he could see anyone, however, a massive fist with a pitch-black sheen shot straight at his face. The violent gust from the punch made the skin on his face ripple.

"A Diamond Grade card?!"

The Earth-Yellow Figure’s pupils contracted. He immediately prepared to summon his cards to block it.

But in the next instant, the giant fist opened its fingers and viciously closed around him in its palm.

The gap in strength left the Earth-Yellow Figure with no ability to resist.

With the battle already fully under control, Lu Su had no intention of playing Mebius.

He feared that fighting on the spot would damage Jizhou Town’s walls, so he had Luffy seize the man and take him away.

Whoosh—

As Luffy carried off the Demonized Card Master, a black crescent-shaped slash streaked across the sky in an instant, splitting the thick clouds in two.

Watching the Getsuga Tensho graze past him and fly into the distance, the Demonized Card Master broke out in a cold sweat.

"What is this?! Is that really the power of a Diamond Grade card?!"

Before he could think further, he immediately summoned all his cards.

Yet at that moment, countless black fist shadows tore apart the clouds, suppressing him in an instant.

"Damn it, I’m going all out!"

The thought had barely arisen in the Demonized Card Master’s mind when another Getsuga Tensho silently sliced through his body.

The battle was over. Not even a few minutes had passed.

Naturally. To Lu Su, who had successfully severed one of the Nation-Destroying Fox Spirit’s tails and killed Chris, the Demonized Card Master outside the city was merely a slightly stronger ant.

It would have been strange if he had needed three hundred rounds to deal with him.

Watching the battle in the distance settle, Petrovna parted her small lips slightly. "Lord Lu, you…"

The girl had initially thought Fang Wenlong’s claim that Lu Su could be regarded as a Master Grade Card Master was because of that white-bearded old man card from before.

But now, it seemed that was not the case?

Compared to Petrovna, who had been somewhat mentally prepared, the Card Masters of Jizhou Town had already fallen completely silent.

When had they ever seen a Diamond Grade being slaughtered like a pig?

Zhang Jingxing stiffly turned his head and stared fixedly at his calm junior brother.

In his memories, the figure who had once fled miserably before the Diamond Grade Demon Luster gradually overlapped with the figure before him now, one who did not regard Diamond Grade beings as anything at all.

Ignoring his senior brother’s complicated expression, Lu Su recalled all his cards. "Then, Senior Disciple Brother, I’ll leave the cleanup to you."

"I need to support the other areas."

Zhang Jingxing immediately came back to his senses. He took a deep breath to calm his turbulent emotions and said solemnly, "Leave this side to me."

"Stay safe, Junior Brother."

Hearing his senior brother’s concern, Lu Su smiled faintly and vanished from where he stood.

He did not bring Petrovna with him.

Seeing herself left behind, Petrovna froze for a moment before stamping her foot angrily. "Hmph, Lord Lu definitely did that on purpose."

Zhang Jingxing pretended not to hear the complaints of the noble girl before him and merely said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "Your Highness, let me take you back into the city to rest first."

At this point, Petrovna had no other choice. She could not exactly run around alone, so she could only say with a bit of lingering displeasure, "Then I’ll have to trouble you, Lord Zhang."

Meanwhile.

After leaving Jizhou Town, Lu Su headed for Shanhai Pass.

With Little Spider’s assistance, it did not take him much time.

Unlike Jizhou Town, Shanhai Pass was not under much pressure. Lu Su did not even need to send out his other cards. Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto alone suppressed the enemy.

Of course, that was also because the Ten Trillion Deaths Great Burial Array was simply too effective against groups. In this kind of battlefield environment, it could also snowball into something terrifying.

At that moment, the Demons who had attacked Jizhou Town not long ago appeared before Shanhai Pass.

In the form of dead souls.

What happened next was no different from Jizhou Town. Once Chris appeared, the Demon Army lost all will to fight.

After dealing with the Demon Army, Lu Su stood in the air and nodded toward the still-stunned Shuběi Army atop the walls. Then he vanished, leaving behind a group of Card Masters staring at one another.

After a long while, Shanhai Pass’s Commander-in-Chief finally asked in a bewildered low voice, "Was that lord a newly promoted Master Grade Card Master of Great Ming? Why have I never heard of this?"

He received only dead silence in reply. Clearly, no one present could answer his question.

He took a deep breath, glanced at the charred land in the distance, and ordered the still-dazed Card Masters beside him, "What are you standing around for? Hurry up and clean the battlefield!"

As his voice fell, everyone snapped out of it as if waking from a dream and hurriedly answered, "Yes!"

Besides Shanhai Pass and Jizhou Town, several small strongholds in this region were also under siege by the Demon Army.

Some resolved the attacks themselves, while others only wiped out the enemy after Lu Su arrived.

For a large portion of them, however, the Demon Army scattered like startled birds the instant he appeared, as though they had seen some plague god.

Seeing this, Lu Su could not help frowning slightly. "Has the news spread that quickly?"

Of course, he knew the Demon Army had its own intelligence network. Back when he served in the Shuběi Army, Ulquiorra had already been labeled a high-risk target.

Not to mention Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto now.

Unfortunately, what the Demon Army did not know was that, strictly speaking, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto could only be considered one of Lu Su’s main forces.

"They’ve gone mad, they’ve gone mad. How did these outsiders gain another Master Grade combatant?"

"Can the Army Lords really control the situation from here on out?"

Fear spread through the Demon Army.

At some point, hunter and prey had silently exchanged roles.

Demon Army.

Several Army Lords received word at once that a Master Grade being absent from their intelligence reports had appeared on the front lines.

"So that’s it." The Army Lord shrouded in darkness came to a realization and could not help muttering, "Could this be why Great Ming was willing to ally with the Tsardom of Russia?"

"But how was there not even a hint of news?"

A Diamond Grade Card Master breaking through to Master Grade was no trivial matter. By all rights, intelligence should have leaked out long ago.

At that moment, the White-Robed Demon, wreathed in clouds and mist, wore an indifferent expression. With a sweep of his sleeve, he displayed a smooth mirror in the air. "This footage was sent by one of my subordinates. Take a look."

Hearing this, the several Army Lords present immediately held their breath and focused intently on the footage in the mirror.

Perhaps because the Demon recording it was too terrified, the image shook violently, and rapid panting could occasionally be heard. The viewing experience was awful.

A scream rang out from the footage, and it seemed the fleeing Demon had accidentally fallen to the ground.

Then came a frantic bout of crawling.

As the Demon crawled, it kept turning back now and then to check behind it.

Only then did the Army Lords present clearly see the main figure.

A bald, white-bearded old man wearing a broad haori.

After seeing Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto’s appearance, the same thought flashed through the minds of the Army Lords.

"A card we’ve never seen before."

"And what are these remains?"

Looking at the charred skeletons spread across the entire battlefield in the footage, they could not help furrowing their brows.

With so little information, they had no way to judge the other party’s strength.

But something that left them somewhat dumbfounded soon happened.

"Am I seeing this right? Did he bring our dead men back onto the battlefield?"

The Dark Armored Warlord muttered in disbelief.

As the footage in the mirror abruptly ended, the scene fell into dead silence.

After quite some time, the Army Lord responsible for experimental matters finally spoke. "I do know some information about this card’s holder. Jin Ping shared it with me."

"Only…"

"Not long ago, he was merely a Diamond Grade Card Master."

As he spoke, he tossed an electronic device into the center of the room. A screen of light then unfolded before everyone.

Displayed on it was the battle between Lu Su and the Nation-Destroying Fox Spirit.

The Demons watched the entire battle in silence, their expressions shifting uncertainly.

"He broke through to Master Grade so quickly?"

At that moment, even the normally unruffled White-Robed Demon showed a trace of astonishment.

After a moment, the White-Armored Female Demon, who had remained silent until then, suddenly said, "Let’s call this card Corpse."

"For the next two days, have our people halt their attacks, lest he use them as resources."

"Also, notify Jin Ping. The backup plan he arranged can be used now."

Because they had not been present, the Army Lords of the Demon Army mistook Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto for the Master Grade combatant mentioned in their intelligence. They also believed the old man’s abilities were related to death and summoning.

They had no idea that Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto was not a Master Grade card at all, and that his abilities had basically nothing to do with death.

Lu Su was even less of a Master Grade Card Master.

That was what it meant to fear breaking a rat’s head while trying to smash a vase.

But even if Lu Su knew, he would not care.

He would be delighted if others mistook him for a Diamond Grade Card Master borrowing another’s power.

After all, the last person to do that—

Was named Chris. By now, the grass on his grave was already three meters tall.