Chapter 803 - 159: Prolonged War
The movements of his hands grew faster and faster, the blade of the longsword carving afterimages through the air, and his speed at killing Ghouls kept increasing.
But it still couldn’t make up for the sheer number of these Ghouls; more than a dozen had already clustered around him, launching relentless attacks.
These Ghouls weren’t stupid either. They knew this human was the strongest presence here, so their main goal was to pin him down, planning to kill everyone else first and then come back to deal with him.
By this point, there was no room left to run; one thing was certain—everyone in the squad was going to die here today, torn apart by these starving Ghouls.
Someone in the team already showed a panicked expression and turned to run, only to fall right into the Ghouls’ encirclement and be pounced on and dismembered.
And after these Ghouls devoured these humans, there was a very high chance an even more powerful existence would be born—a Tomb Evil Ghost.
The strength of both sides was relative. While humans were growing, these monsters were also growing, and they might even grow at a faster rate.
This was also why the man hadn’t chosen to flee. He knew he couldn’t just let this pack of Ghouls go. If they couldn’t be completely wiped out today, then soon after, their gathering place would suffer.
So all they could do was fight for their lives!
Seeing these people, Su Changxing’s face split into a slight smile; he felt a bit of comfort, though he didn’t really know where that comfort came from—probably because he felt their earlier efforts hadn’t been in vain.
As gunshots rang out one after another, the Ghouls sprinting around them started dropping one by one, crashing to the ground in a clatter, like stalks of chives being cut down.
The people fighting the Ghouls were stunned, and the Ghouls were stunned as well; this sudden turn of events left neither side able to react.
In a very short time, most of these Ghouls were dead or dying, and the survivors scattered in all directions in panic.
"Who is it?"
Everyone showed a look of surprise and saw a blurry figure standing in the Darkness, staring at them. That pair of eyes was extremely striking, like stars flickering in the sky, radiating an uncanny light.
No one had expected that at a place like this, at a time like this, someone would actually make a move to save them.
This was a strongman beyond imagination.
Fang Muping stood there dumbly, longsword dripping with black blood in both hands, gazing in Su Changxing’s direction.
This scene was something he found impossible to forget; even a very long time later, the memory remained vivid. He only felt that such a person was like a beam of light walking out of the Darkness.
Even the sky-filling black mist couldn’t conceal such brilliance.
"Thank you, sir, for stepping in to save us." Fang Muping walked forward, his face full of gratitude as he spoke.
Su Changxing sized them up and asked, "Who are you people? What are you doing here?"
This question immediately stumped Fang Muping; normally they were the ones asking others that.
With a polite smile, Fang Muping explained, "Sir, we’re a unit from the Autumn Night Gathering Place nearby, out on assignment. I’m the captain, Fang Muping. Our main mission was also to clear out these Ghouls, but we accidentally fell into their trap."
"We were careless, underestimated these monsters’ intelligence. We didn’t expect them to set up a trap like this—using a small squad of Ghouls to mislead our line of sight, as if they were planning to wipe us out here in one go."
"Luckily you intervened, sir, otherwise we’d definitely have been done for today. I fear not a single one of us would’ve gotten out; we’d all have died here without even a corpse left."
Su Changxing nodded to show he understood, then said, "So that means there are a lot of these Ghouls around here."
"Yes, which is why we have no choice but to take the initiative to clear them out. Not just Ghouls—there are many other monsters as well. They move in packs, different from the other creatures in the black mist." Fang Muping said, his expression grave.
Su Changxing glanced again at Fang Muping’s black combat uniform and said, "You’re part of Team 17 under the Security Bureau, right?"
His position wasn’t all that different from before.
An odd look crossed Fang Muping’s face as he nodded and said, "We’re Team Seventeen of the city’s Security Bureau, but we don’t use that name anymore."
Su Changxing frowned slightly. "If you don’t use that name, what do you call yourselves now?"
By now, Fang Muping had already noticed something strange about Su Changxing, like someone who had been off-track for a long time, as if he hadn’t paid attention to the outside world in ages.
This made him think of things like seclusion training. Legends said those ancient strongmen also needed to go into seclusion to cultivate. Perhaps a powerful Extraordinary like Su Changxing would do similar things, so it was perfectly normal for him not to know what had been happening outside.
"We’re called Seventeen now, and we’ve long since had nothing to do with the Security Bureau." Fang Muping said.
Hearing Fang Muping’s words, Su Changxing wasn’t particularly surprised; this was within his expectations. Team 17 and the Security Bureau were bound to break sooner or later, simply because they were too powerful.
There was no helping it.
And even without Team 17, the Security Bureau would eventually fall apart as well—in all sorts of ways. The end result would always be the same.
Seeing that Su Changxing’s expression hadn’t changed much, Fang Muping quietly let out a breath of relief. What he feared most was that Su Changxing wasn’t on their side, or belonged to some hostile faction.
Su Changxing asked thoughtfully, "So how is Team 17 doing now? Can you tell me in a bit more detail?"
Fang Muping nodded. "We’re still at war. It’s just that we’re stationed on the fringe, so you could say the war hasn’t really spread to us. Even so, dealing with these damned things is still exhausting. And because of the war, there’s no one up top who can spare any manpower to support us."
This was beyond what Su Changxing had expected.
After all this time, they were still fighting? How long had this war been going on?
Back then, he had thought that even if there was war, it wouldn’t last too long. Given how harsh the conditions were, after a short burst of conflict, war should have been very hard to sustain.
It seemed some major upheaval had taken place, something neither he nor Zhu Wenwu had foreseen.
This new upheaval was likely triggered by him as well, probably tied to the Third Apocalypse.
Right now, they were still in the Second Apocalypse.
Fang Muping did not take the initiative to ask about Su Changxing’s identity. At a time like this, not asking was better than asking. If the other party turned out to belong to an enemy force, things would get awkward.
In any case, they were all compatriots. As long as they didn’t tear open the veil of identity, they could still get along just fine.
Seeing the others begin quickly cleaning up the battlefield, Su Changxing said casually, "By now, most people should be Extraordinary, right?"
Hearing this, Fang Muping became even more certain that Su Changxing had been cut off from the outside world for a while. He explained,
"Not all of them. There are still some Ordinary People. After all, resources are limited, especially in fringe areas like ours."
As they talked, he still didn’t sense any malice from Su Changxing, so the more they spoke, the more relaxed he felt.