Chapter 10: Conquest (Part 1)

The palm adorned with a blazing virtual talisman slammed down fiercely. The armored man could only raise his arm to block, but the blow landed on his arm, snapping it with a crack. That wasn’t all—the flame spread up his arm. The armored man let out a shrill scream. He was equally fierce; a dagger-like blade appeared in his other hand, which he swung down violently. He was even willing to sacrifice one of his arms.

Guo Shieru targeted another armored man. Wielding the long sword formed from the Moon Blade, he darted in front of that armored man and slashed without hesitation. The armored man had originally been charging at Li Ran but was surprised by another person appearing beside him. In panic, he threw a punch.

The Moon Blade struck his fist with a loud crash, shattering it. Guo Shieru didn’t hesitate and continued slashing at lightning speed. Only after engaging did he realize how incredibly tough the armored man’s body was—no wonder he could fight against a monster like Aizek without falling behind.

The Moon Blade slashed repeatedly, creating a golden barrier as it struck the armored man’s arms. The armored man kept retreating, shouting wildly incoherently. It was unclear what he was saying, but his arms were covered in cuts. Though his arms weren’t severed, the wounds caused him to bleed profusely.

To make matters worse, before the armored man could escape Guo Shieru’s attacks, another person rushed in. Zhen Wuji appeared silently behind the armored man and delivered a punch. *Bang!* With a cry of pain, the armored man collapsed. Seizing the opportunity, Guo Shieru launched another fierce slash. This time, the Moon Blade emitted a talismanic light, and with a soft *chop*, it easily severed one of the armored man’s arms.

Gohar and Yao Zebusong violently attacked the armored man hit by Li Ran, while Zhen Wuji turned to face the last armored man.

The four armored men might possess the highest combat skills in this world, capable of matching any of the nine fighters one-on-one. But when surrounded, they were utterly overwhelmed. After rescuing Aizek and slapping him, Li Ran stood by, watching. As long as his allies were safe, he didn’t need to intervene personally. But if anyone was in danger, he would act without hesitation.

Qi Wu Zhen did the same; after slapping her opponent half to death with a single blow, she just stood by to watch. The ones who actually took action were Guo Shier, Zhen Wu Ji, Ge Ha, and Yao Zebusong, while Meili was the one who brutally beat them. Ezek’s injuries provoked her, unleashing a frenzied urge to tear and strike, forcing everyone else to step back.

The four armored men were mercilessly beaten. The sudden attack terrified them; even though they were strong, they couldn’t withstand it.

Soon, everyone was surprised. No matter how fiercely they were attacked, the four armored men still had breaths left—unkillable. As long as they relaxed slightly, they would recover quickly.

Li Ran said, “Stop wasting effort. Tie them up. In a moment, once we tear open the space, we’ll throw them in and let the space’s power crush them.” It was a truly ruthless plan. Everyone took out magic ropes to bind the four armored men. These ropes were made from special materials, infused with spells, and were so tough that even top professionals could hardly break free.

Only after tying up the four armored men did everyone breathe a sigh of relief. Guo Shier said, “If there are dozens more armored men… we might have to run. We might not lose, but we can’t defeat them, nor can we use the space-breaking technique.”

Zhen Wu Ji shouted, “Look… those abnormal armored men!”

The wounds on the armored men were rapidly healing, and their severed arms were gradually regrowing. Everyone stared in shock. After more than ten minutes, the four armored men had fully recovered and began to struggle violently.

Ezek had also recovered. His injuries weren’t severe, and a single magic pill was enough to heal him. He walked up to the armored man who had hurt him and sneered, “If I tear off his limbs, I wonder if they can grow back. If they can, I’ll tear them off again and again…”

Everyone broke into cold sweats at this cruel idea. A creature’s regenerative ability might be incredible, but against someone like Ezek, it meant nothing.

Meili’s eyes lit up as she said, “Great idea!” She reached out and grabbed one of the armored men, ready to tear off his limbs.

The four poor armored men were on the verge of dying.

Meili pressed her claws onto one of the armored man’s arms, about to tear it apart, when she heard Qi Wu Zhen laugh and say, “Hehe, someone else has come…”

Dozens of black-armored men approached timidly. Meili stopped and looked up, saying, “It’s black-armored men…”

Li Ran and the others stood side by side, staring coldly at each other. The dozen or so black-armored men walked to a distance of about a hundred meters from them and crouched down one after another.
Guo Shier said in surprise, “Hey, it seems they’re not here to fight.”
Then the lead black-armored man made a few chirping noises. The other black-armored men took out a pile of items and placed them on the square. The lead man pointed at the items and then at the four gold-armored men, gesturing continuously to convey something.
Unable to communicate, Li Ran and the others guessed what the others wanted. Qi Wu Zhen said, “Shier, go talk to them. It seems they’re here for negotiations.” She knew Guo Shier was an expert in negotiations. Even if the others were strange creatures, among their group, Guo Shier was undoubtedly the best negotiator.
Whether it was Zhen Wu Ji, Ge Ha, or Yao Zebusong, they had all seen Guo Shier’s remarkable negotiation skills. Without exception, they had all been extorted by him before.
Guo Shier smiled and said, “Alright.” He walked over.
The black-armored men had placed various items on the ground, including many ores and some strange objects he had never seen before. Each small world was different, especially when it came to its specialties—things that couldn’t possibly be produced in other small worlds or even in the larger world.
Guo Shier pointed at the items on the ground and said, “Do you mean… to exchange these for those four?”
The lead black-armored man looked at him blankly, unable to understand Guo Shier’s words. He began gesturing again, trying hard to communicate with Guo Shier.
Guo Shier thought to himself, “Weren’t it better to communicate earlier? Why must it end in fighting?” He also stepped forward and started gesturing.
Mei Li glanced at the gold-armored men on the ground and said regretfully, “You’re lucky.” Then she kicked one of them hard before walking over to Aizek, touched his wound gently, and said softly, “Idiot, how could you get hurt? Couldn’t you be more careful?” It was her most comforting tone, showing that she was truly worried.
Aizek chuckled, stroked Mei Li’s head, and said, “Woman, I’m fine.”
Halechi stood by, stepped back immediately upon hearing this, and muttered to himself, “I don’t know you!” He thought those two were absolute monsters—non-human humanoid beasts that couldn’t be measured by normal logic.

After half an hour of negotiation, Guo Shier returned and said, “It was difficult to communicate, but I understood their intention—they want to exchange goods for the four captives. Those four in golden armor must be of very high status. The materials and items they offered include many I’ve never seen before. As for their usefulness, it will take time to test, but we don’t have that time.”

Li Ran said, “There’s no problem with the exchange. I hope they’ll leave the city so we can leave as well.”

Guo Shier smiled bitterly. “That’s a complicated request. I doubt they’ll understand.”

Qi Wuzhen said, “I believe you have a way. Go and negotiate with them.”

A moment later, Guo Shier returned, drenched in sweat. He felt like going crazy. Simple communication with them was okay, but anything more complex was like trying to talk to chickens and ducks. Yet he did have a plan—he asked them to withdraw first and talk again in a few days. It took him great effort to get them to understand even such a simple request.

Watching the black-armored men slowly retreat, they didn’t take any of the items left on the ground. It was clear these black-armored men weren’t good at negotiation, but it was also obvious they truly wanted to save those four captured men in golden armor.

Li Ran said, “Shier, go pick up those items. We can study their usefulness another time if we get the chance.”

Guo Shier nodded and went to gather the piles of supplies in the square. He didn’t really know what they were for, as he had never seen most of them before. But whether they were useful or not didn’t matter—as long as they could buy time to leave this world.

The group took a short rest, not daring to waste more time. Li Ran said, “Xiao Zhenzhen, let’s break through the boundary!”

Qi Wuzhen nodded. “Mm, let’s leave early so we can rest in peace.” She was also impatient to stop lingering.

They broke through the boundary and flew out. Li Ran and Qi Wuzhen cast spells simultaneously. Moments later, a beam of light tore through the void. Li Ran shouted, “Get ready… let’s go!”

The group was already familiar with this process, so no one hesitated. They rushed into the spatial rift quickly. Li Ran was the last to leave. He glanced at the four men in golden armor on the ground, hesitated for a moment, then turned and rushed into the rift. He didn’t untie the magic ropes binding the men in golden armor. If they were freed now and encountered trouble from those black-armored men, it would truly be a disaster.

The four men in golden armor watched helplessly as Li Ran and the others disappeared into the spatial rift, each of them terrified. One of the men in golden armor let out a shrill scream when Li Ran’s figure vanished and the spatial rift began to close. A group of men in black armor rushed over, surrounded them, and helped the four men in golden armor up, trying to untie the ritual ropes. Soon they realized that no matter what method they used, they couldn’t break these ropes, which were only as thick as a thumb. After much effort, the men in black armor finally gave up, unable to do anything about the ropes. From then on, the four men in golden armor had to carry those ropes with them for the rest of their lives, bound until death.