Chapter 2: Mutants (Part 2)

Guo Shier said, “So many creatures have died, and their souls have scattered in this valley. It would be strange if you felt peace in your soul.” After several lifetimes, he had gained a deep understanding of souls and no longer saw them as something intangible. With so much killing, the number of souls scattered here must be astonishing. Although the souls had vanished, something remained—things that could not be described in words.
Though the ground was extremely hot, the souls of each professional felt a chilling cold. These two sensations intertwined, creating an uncomfortable feeling.
Less than a kilometer into the valley, Guo Shier received a message token with two runes on it: “Enemy encountered!”
Guo Shier shouted, “Get ready for battle!”
Eagle Demon perked up and asked, “Mutants?”
Guo Shier replied, “I don’t know. It just says there’s an enemy. Let’s go first!” He then yelled, “Wild Ox, Ning Xin, control the team and stay on guard where you are!”
The two flew low over the ground. Just a few dozen seconds later, they saw several tall figures and groups of professionals running around, with rune lights flashing as the two sides fought fiercely.
Qian Rongyao hovered a few meters in the air. Spotting Guo Shier and Eagle Demon approaching, he shouted, “What are you doing here? Go back! This isn’t your business. Take care of your own team!”
The two immediately stopped. Guo Shier said, “Okay!” Influenced by his past life, he had to obey a commander’s orders. So after taking one glance, he turned back with Eagle Demon.
Since the two teams were not far apart, they returned quickly.
On their way back, they witnessed a shocking scene. Three mutants appeared out of thin air.
Guo Shier was shocked to the extreme. He had always thought mutants entered through the valley, but they could appear out of nowhere. Yet there was no entrance or exit to the secret realm—what trick was this?
It was only then that Guo Shier truly saw what mutants looked like. They were as tall as five meters, resembling small mountains, with extremely muscular builds, short legs, arms longer than their knees. They resembled gorillas from his past life, but with skin similar to humans and long silver hair.
Their heads were huge, with broad jaws, flat noses, long narrow eyes, faint eyebrows, and protruding brow ridges, giving them a strange appearance. When they opened their eyes wide, blood-red pupils could be seen, exuding a fierce aura.

What shocked Guo Shieru the most was that these three mutants were wearing black armor, which covered only their shoulders, chest, and lower body, with a pair of black boots that seemed to match the armor. Just from this, he concluded that these mutants possessed intelligence on par with or even exceeding that of humans. A chill ran through him—such formidable mutants with intelligence would undoubtedly be tough opponents.

The three mutants were two males and one female, or more precisely, two males and one female. Though they had human appearances, they were not true humans.

The female mutant held a thick bone club, seven or eight meters long, obviously extremely heavy, yet she carried it as if it were a lightweight stick. The other two male mutants—one carried a huge shield seven meters wide, clearly made from the scapula of some mutated beast, while the other held a large hammer also crafted from bones, rough but practical.

Guo Shieru and Eagle Demon were only about 200 meters away from the three mutants. Upon seeing the three mutants appear out of nowhere, Eagle Demon’s hair stood on end, and he shouted, “Shieru… let’s go!”

The two of them dashed across the ground at high speed. The three mutants let out a strange cry and chased after them with their short legs.

Despite their short legs, each step covered over ten meters. Though their speed couldn’t compare to flying, their momentum was terrifying. As they stepped on the broken bones, it sounded like pounding on drums, producing a deafening thud. Their roars were thunderous, making one’s scalp tingle.

Guo Shieru was close to the Tenth Squad. He shouted, “All members, pay attention! Form a talisman array!” This was something they had trained for specifically—using talisman arrays to unite everyone’s strength, combining individual powers into a massive collective force.

One group formed a small talisman array, and seven groups formed a medium-sized one. Each of the three squads had its own set of talisman arrays: two medium defensive arrays and one medium offensive array.

Guo Shieru knew well that relying solely on the individual strength of these members would make survival here difficult. But by combining their strengths through the talisman arrays, proper organization could ensure their survival. This was also why the members of the Tenth Squad were willing to train. Here, masters were just cannon fodder; only those professionals who survived the brutal battles were willing to give up any means to stay alive. This was a perfect opportunity to test the power of the talisman arrays.

After Guo Shieru and Eagle Demon left, Wild Bull and Ning Xin formed a talisman array and stayed on high alert. Thus, as soon as Guo Shieru’s shout reached them, they immediately activated the defensive array.

Guo Shier and Eagle Demon suddenly rose high, breaking through the defensive talisman array to land directly inside it. The three mutated beings behind them had already charged forward.

A roar came from Bullman: “Stay steady! Stay steady! Everyone, stay the hell steady!” He was terrified. Those three mutated beings could wipe out an entire squadron; maybe only a few would escape. He absolutely couldn’t make any mistakes.

Ning Xin also screamed, “Whoever messes up my talisman array… I’ll twist off their head!” She and Bullman were in charge of one defensive talisman array each. Every professional in the squad served as a talisman to form the array, and if just one professional failed, the array would collapse.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The three mutated beings collided head-on with the defensive talisman array. The immense force turned everyone’s faces pale, but they managed to withstand the impact, boosting their confidence instantly. Bullman roared, “Good! Keep staying steady!”

Guo Shier unleashed his life talisman blade—the Moon Blade, which transformed into a 12-meter-long giant sword. Behind him stood the first squad, forming an attack talisman array. Under Eagle Demon’s command, they transmitted the power of the array to Guo Shier. A fierce force surged into the Moon Blade, drastically changing its form, making it difficult even for Guo Shier to control.

The female mutated being let out a deep roar and swung her massive bone club down with force. If that hit the defensive talisman array, who knew if Bullman and Ning Xin could still hold back the attack.

Guo Shier shouted, “Slash!”

The 12-meter-long Moon Blade glowed red, turning into a blazing red beam that slashed straight at the female mutated being. A scorching heat burst forth, stunning all the professionals.

Boom!

With a deafening explosion, the female mutated being’s bone club flew from her hand, and she was thrown high into the air. Blood gushed from her facial features as she hung in midair. The other two mutated beings changed expressions and rushed toward their companion.

A trickle of blood appeared at Guo Shier’s lips. The power was simply too great; the head-on collision had caused him slight shock. Fortunately, with the support of the talisman array, he might have still won despite the heavy blow. Seeing the two mutated beings trying to save their companion, Guo Shier knew his chance had come.

He roared, “Change the array! Kill them!”

Bullman and Ning Xin immediately changed the array. This was the advantage of using professionals as talismans—they could reconfigure the array at any time. The two defensive talisman arrays instantly turned into attack arrays. This time, Bullman and Ning Xin were the ones to launch the attack.

Guo Shier cast seven spells in succession, channeling the power from the talisman array behind him into the Moon Blade.

Due to the power of the talisman array, Guo Shier only could control the Moon Blade to make simple slashes or sweeps, unable to make any other changes to it, as he couldn’t manage such immense power.
“Sweep!”
Just as the two mutants caught up with their severely injured companion, the Moon Blade swept past with even greater force this time. It contracted slightly, becoming about ten meters long, and swept across the ground. If hit, the mutant would likely be cut in half.
The mutant holding a bone shield roared loudly and turned to raise his massive shield for defense.
Boom!
With explosive energy, a violent gust of wind raised countless clouds of white bone dust. It was another head-on collision.
The Moon Blade was forced to retreat dozens of meters. Guo Shier tapped it again: “Circle!” The Moon Blade vibrated with a humming sound, suddenly flying forward and spinning rapidly around the three mutants, gradually contracting as it tightened its grip.
Crazy Bull and Ning Xin didn’t intervene. They couldn’t act now either, as the Moon Blade was circling above. If they launched an attack, the Moon Blade would also be within range, so both were waiting for an opportunity.
The professionals of Squad Ten showed extreme excitement on their faces. It was unprecedented for a single squad to withstand three mutants. Last time they encountered two mutants, their squad suffered heavy losses, including the death of their squad leader right there. This time, thanks to the talisman array devised by Guo Shier, they had managed to block the attacks of three mutants without falling at a disadvantage.
The Moon Blade kept sweeping back and forth. Guo Shier was too fast; the mutant didn’t even have time to adjust his stance before the Moon Blade was already upon him. With a loud explosion, the bone shield cracked loudly. The mutant stared in disbelief—this shoulder blade of the mutant talisman beast was incredibly hard, yet it couldn’t withstand the attack. He let out a furious scream.
The other mutant desperately tried to block with his bone hammer, attempting to shatter the rapidly spinning Moon Blade, but Guo Shier’s target wasn’t him but his companion holding the shield behind him.
The third sweep.
The bone shield shattered into countless pieces, and one of the Moon Blade’s sharp corners silently sliced through the mutant’s abdomen before spinning away lightly.
The Moon Blade’s sharpness was beyond imagination. The mutant had just taken a step when a line of blood appeared on his abdomen, quickly turning into a large crack. He looked down in disbelief. At that moment, the Moon Blade circled back and passed over his chest. He felt darkness before his eyes and then collapsed to the ground.
The mutant with the bone hammer started screaming wildly, his eyes wide open, his red pupils seemingly about to spill blood.

Guo Shier immediately activated his Moon Blade. This was the most chaotic moment for the mutants, as well as the best opportunity to attack.
The Eagle Demon suddenly shouted, “Kill them! Kill them now!”
Guo Shier looked up and his expression changed drastically.