Chapter 403 - 336: A Miracle Appears, the Underground City Explodes
...
North District Fortress.
Li Tiannan stood on the fortress wall, his gaze directed downward. Below the wall, rows of bodies, their blood still fresh, lay upon the ground.
Fifteen minutes ago, a great battle had been raging here.
The alien races had gathered an army of tens of thousands, broken through the defensive line established by the Human Alliance outside the North District, and wiped out three garrisons in a single push.
Then, the alien army assaulted the fortress.
The army garrisoned in the North District had risen up to repel them.
In this battle, human casualties exceeded three thousand. Bright red blood stained the battlefield, leaving an indelible crimson against the white snow.
Just then, a soldier with a general’s star on his shoulder approached Li Tiannan from behind. He saluted respectfully and presented a battle report to him.
"Elder Li, this is the battle report," the soldier said.
"I stopped meddling in the Military Department’s affairs long ago. Just report directly to Commander Qin," Li Tiannan said, waving his hand dismissively, showing no intention of taking the report.
"Yes, sir!" The soldier nodded.
"How many times have they attacked the fortress this month?" Li Tiannan tilted his head back, his expression impassive, his eyes betraying no emotion.
"This is the third time," the soldier replied.
"How are the other war zones?"
"The situation in the West District is relatively stable. Although the alien races launched two major attacks, our casualties were light. The Eastern and South Districts are also holding their ground. It’s just... the North District..." The soldier trailed off, not finishing his sentence.
"Winter is here. The alien races on the Northern District Battlefield are native to frigid lands. Add to that the fact that the North District Fortress has the weakest defenses of the four war zones, and it’s perfectly normal for you to be under pressure." Li Tiannan naturally knew what the soldier wanted to say.
"Elder Li, last year wasn’t this intense," the soldier said after a moment of thought.
"Indeed... This winter will be a difficult one." Li Tiannan nodded, then looked away from the battlefield. "Perhaps this time, the great war will arrive sooner than expected."
"Rest assured, Elder Li! No matter how fierce the aliens’ assault, we will never give up the fight! As long as I live, the alien races will not take a single step into the City of Hope!" the soldier declared, his tone solemn.
"I understand what you mean, but the Military Department truly has no more troops to spare. With a great war approaching, it’s already a struggle for each war zone to simply defend itself."
"If we just had more high-rankers... even just twenty of them, we could..."
"Enough. I’ll figure something out," Li Tiannan said, waving his hand again.
Just then, his phone buzzed. It was a text notification.
Li Tiannan casually took out his phone. There were two debit notifications.
"Notification: 30,250,000 Alliance Coins have been spent from your bank card ending in 0568. Reason for debit: Unknown. Remaining balance: 38,500,000 Alliance Coins."
"Notification: 38,500,000 Alliance Coins have been spent from your bank card ending in 0568. Reason for debit: Unknown. Remaining balance: 0 Alliance Coins."
’Is it finally all gone? My one billion...’ Li Tiannan took a deep breath, then slowly slipped his phone back into his pocket.
"Elder Li, is there some important military intelligence?" the soldier asked cautiously, having witnessed the exchange.
"No, it’s just some brat who’s asking for a beating again." Li Tiannan shook his head, then added, "I’ve been here for ten days. It’s about time I went and took care of some things."
"Shall I arrange for a car to take you?"
"No need. A car would be a waste of time." As soon as Li Tiannan finished speaking, he vanished on the spot.
...
Underground City.
Zone 93.
Zhang Hongying was truly stunned. She just stood there, dumbfounded. Two stalks of Five Dragon Fruit, two Purple Thunder Pills, and a pile of Fire Dragon Tongue Fruit and Thunder Mushroom Grass.
’This luck is just too terrifying, isn’t it?’
While she was thinking, Gao Neng and the others finished gathering the Thunder Mushroom Grass. There were 17 stalks in total. After they were done, the three of them continued onward.
’Still looking?’ Zhang Hongying swallowed hard and hurried to follow.
「An hour later.」
Gao Neng discovered another spot.
It was another elemental raw material.
Its name: Seven-leaf Flower.
It was a Metal-type raw material with seven leaves in total. The first leaf was golden-yellow, making it look like a golden flower.
And, as expected, Gao Neng once again found two evolved specimens among the patch of Seven-leaf Flowers.
The Seven-leaf Golden Lotus!
As Gao Neng held up the Seven-leaf Golden Lotuses to show Fang Tangtang and Shen Ning’Er, he felt he was being really low-key. ’See? I only found two this time!’
’Totally acceptable!’
However, just as he was using his ’Source’ ability for the third time, he suddenly felt his communicator vibrate slightly.
"Huh? Is someone looking for me?" Gao Neng picked up his communicator and glanced at it. On the screen was a debit notification, its content quite concise.
"Notification: 41,000,000 Alliance Coins have been spent from your bank card ending in 0888. Reason for debit: Unknown. Remaining balance: 5,258,000,000 Alliance Coins."
Gao Neng: "???"
’The last two times I used my Source ability, I didn’t get a debit notification like this. Why did one suddenly pop up this time?’
’Could it be...’
’Li Tiannan’s one billion Alliance Coins... are all spent?’
HOLY CRAP!
’Am I really this good at spending money?’
’What’s that saying again? You don’t feel the pinch when you’re not spending your own money.’
’Evolving two Seven-leaf Golden Lotuses actually cost 41,000,000 Alliance Coins?’
’I’m down to 5.258 billion!’
’I’m so poor!’
Gao Neng felt a pang in his chest.
Of course, Shen Ning’Er and Fang Tangtang had no idea what Gao Neng was currently feeling.
Their eyes were glued to the two Seven-leaf Golden Lotuses in his hands.