Chapter 314
Under the gaze of the people, Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi slowly descended from the aircraft.
They hovered in midair, surveying the hill below.
“Brother Qi, what do we do next?”
Thanks to the voice call feature, Tang Yu’an’s voice came through clearly to Zhou Qi’s ears despite the strong wind in the sky.
Zhou Qi looked at the several giant beasts rapidly approaching and the massive swarm of giant insects, and said in a low voice, “Let’s rescue these people first.”
Since they had brought the main store with them, their range of operations was now much broader.
“Okay!”
Currently, the main store’s protective barrier could only cover a 300-meter radius. The farthest point on this hill was at least a kilometer away from the aircraft.
For every 1,000 credits spent, the protective barrier could be expanded by one meter.
So Tang Yu’an directly spent one million credits, expanding the protective barrier’s radius to 1,300 meters.
After a simple operation, he and Zhou Qi flew toward the direction of the beasts.
Once they got close enough, they stopped.
Tang Yu’an, wearing a golden mask, spoke.
“A pleasure to meet you all! I am Twilight, the most devoted follower of the God of Commerce!”
He floated in midair. Even though he was so far away, his voice carried clearly into everyone’s ears.
God of Commerce? That must be the Commerce Church!
Thanks to Chi Hao’s promotion, at least the refugees on this hill were aware of such an organization.
However, they never imagined that the Commerce Church’s power was so overwhelming.
“Upon hearing the call of the faithful, we have descended here.”
The voice sounded like a deep, refined, yet dignified middle-aged man.
Each of his words rang clearly in the ears of everyone present.
“The mission of our Commerce Church is to carry out the will of the God of Commerce and bring prosperity back to this land.”
“Now that we have arrived, your suffering will end today.”
At first, the refugees were skeptical.
After all, they weren’t ignorant wastelanders. Life in the fortress had not been easy, but at least it wasn’t dangerous. They were not so easily fooled.
God? If a real god existed in this world, it must have long since fallen. Otherwise, how could things have become so bad?
Yet, looking at the sky-darkening aircraft above them, the people couldn’t help but feel a sliver of hope.
Even if these mysterious people were only invoking a god’s name, if they could actually save them, then why not believe?
As hope began to bloom, they saw the golden-masked figure suddenly raise his arm and shout:
“O great God of Commerce, please bestow your blessing upon these suffering refugees, and grant them a place of refuge in this perilous land!”
The mountain range where the refugees were was already not far from Qingmu Fortress.
Just as he finished his words, the massive insects seeking food were already within reach.
At this distance, people could clearly see each insect was as big as a millstone, wings buzzing with a deafening hum.
The sound alone sent chills down spines.
The refugees couldn’t help but complain internally—Is now really the time for theatrics? Can’t this god stuff wait until after we survive?
But then something strange happened.
Just as “Twilight” finished his invocation, the previously aggressive swarm of giant insects suddenly stopped in midair!
They continued to flap their wings and attempt to fly forward, drawn by the scent of tens of thousands of human lives.
But no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t advance even an inch.
The people, once gripped by terror, began to calm down.
They watched the insects flail and struggle as though an invisible barrier separated them—one that was protecting the people.
Of course, not everyone was protected.
It was soon discovered that some individuals near them had mysteriously vanished.
“Look! There they are!”
Beneath the hovering insects, a group of two to three thousand people had appeared.
Once they realized they were in danger, they panicked and tried to run toward the mountain. But whenever they got close, they would involuntarily turn around and retreat, repeating this odd behavior over and over.
Of course, those who had robbed Chi Hao the day before found the scene very familiar.
Yesterday, they couldn’t enter the courtyard of that small shop. Now, they couldn’t even get onto the mountain?
At this moment, that deep, solemn voice rang out once more:
“Thank you, O God of Commerce, for hearing and answering my call!”
His voice brimmed with fanaticism. “I declare: from this day forward, this mountain range belongs to the Church of the God of Commerce!”
“This land shall be under divine protection. Any who harbor ill will toward the Commerce Church or its followers shall be unable to enter!”
Then Twilight looked toward the thousands at the base of the mountain.
“O lost sheep, let go of your prejudice! That is your only path to divine protection!”
Tang Yu’an could not bear to watch those people be slaughtered by the swarm.
They had only just arrived, and had not yet clashed with these people. Whether or not these people had issues with Chi Hao could wait until after the current crisis.
Hearing this plea—and facing the threat of death—someone finally understood the key.
“I don’t want to die! Please, grant me divine protection!”
A man shouted loudly, charging toward the mountain again—and this time, he successfully entered the protected area.
Realizing this, he immediately fell to his knees and kowtowed toward the two mysterious figures.
Seeing this, others quickly followed suit.
No matter what they previously thought, or why they had been excluded by the “Malicious Intent Rejection” aura, their survival instinct now overpowered everything.
More and more people managed to break through the barrier—until the very last one.
He stumbled in, collapsing as he did. Just behind him, the spot where he had stood was instantly overwhelmed by the insect swarm.
Had he been just one second slower, he would have been devoured alive.
His companions helped him up. They were only a hair’s breadth away from the insect swarm, and could clearly see the terrifying mandibles and antennae up close—far more horrifying than from a distance.
And now, the giant beasts had arrived too.
Seeing these towering monsters, over ten meters tall, many people were so terrified they lost the will to run.
Could the protection of the God of Commerce really stop monsters this powerful?
The answer… was yes.
“ROAR!”
The leading giant tiger beast charged forward with an earth-shaking roar, but just like the insects, it was stopped cold by the barrier!
Even Chi Hao, who had heard of and studied this on forums, was stunned to see such a high-level beast really blocked by the protective barrier.
Mu Sheng turned to him and asked in disbelief, “What kind of organization is your Commerce Church, really?”
Chi Hao coughed lightly and quickly adjusted his expression.
“I’ve said it many times—it’s the grace of the Divine. Now do you believe?”
Mu Sheng didn’t argue anymore. He nodded solemnly.
“This… is a miracle.”
“Roar!”
The giant tiger, blocked by the protective barrier, became extremely agitated and began attacking the mountain.
However, the barrier remained completely unmoved. No matter how powerful the assault, it was entirely intercepted outside, and the people at the foot of the mountain were unharmed—though they were so overwhelmed by the sheer might of the high-tier beast that they couldn’t move.
The tiger’s strength was terrifying. The other giant beasts arriving in succession all avoided this area and went off in other directions.
Tang Yu’an retracted his wind-based power and quietly asked Zhou Qi, “Brother Qi, do you think you can take on that big tiger?”
Zhou Qi’s expression turned grim and he shook his head.
This tiger was likely the result of a fire-type ability user beastifying—it was incredibly powerful. Even Zhou Qi wasn’t confident he could extract the spirit insect inside it.
Perhaps that was also why his own spirit insect hadn’t reacted.
Under normal circumstances, his spirit insect would’ve been excited long ago, trying to take over his body and devour the opponent.
“Then let’s leave it alone for now,” Tang Yu’an said. “It can’t get in anyway.”
“Mm.”
Tang Yu’an looked toward Qingmu Fortress in the distance. The spatial rift that had appeared near the fortress still hadn’t closed, and otherworldly creatures were continuing to pour through.
From the map, he could see that many people in the fortress still hadn’t escaped.
If left alone, their chances of survival were slim…
Tang Yu’an felt a pang of guilt, but he hadn’t lost his reason.
They had already managed to save over 200,000 people around the Qingmu Grocery Store—an enormous feat. As for the rest, they would have to wait until this situation was resolved.
With that thought, Tang Yu’an retracted his gaze and descended with Zhou Qi to the Qingmu Grocery Store.
Chi Hao and Mu Sheng noticed their movement and rushed over.
“Lord Twilight! Lord Dark Moon!”
Chi Hao respectfully bowed to the two, and Mu Sheng didn’t slack in his manners either.
Tang Yu’an looked over Chi Hao. It had been over half a year since they last met, and he hadn’t changed much—except…
Brother Qi was now taller than him!
Even if they took off their masks now, Chi Hao probably wouldn’t recognize them, right?
Tang Yu’an chuckled inwardly but maintained his Twilight persona on the surface. In a deep voice, he said, “Chi Hao, you did well.”
Chi Hao let out a small sigh of relief.
Good thing he hadn’t shouted his name in front of Mu Sheng!
“Your mission is complete.”
Although Chi Hao hadn’t yet reached level Lv21 and couldn’t activate the Qingmu Grocery Store’s protective barrier himself, now that they had arrived, the mission was effectively fulfilled.
Tang Yu’an directly marked the mission as complete.
Since the branch store had been established, Chi Hao was now acting manager of the Qingmu Grocery Store, and Tang Yu’an didn’t immediately remove him from his position at the Purple Sky Grocery Store either.
After all, Chi Hao was their first official employee in the true sense of the word. Tang Yu’an decided to give him a break and wait until he reached level 21.
Then he entered the Qingmu Grocery Store, upgraded the store, activated and leveled up the protective barrier, and enabled overnight lodging.
Finally, he merged the Qingmu store’s barrier with that of the main store.
This increased the overnight lodging capacity to 222,000 people, just enough to accommodate the mountain’s refugees.
But more would inevitably arrive, so the number was still insufficient.
Thus, Tang Yu’an gave Chi Hao a new task—gather people to build Qingmu Grocery Store No. 2.
As for the manpower issue, after discussing it with Zhou Qi, they decided to activate the teleportation array, and following their original plan, summon the selected staff.
Standing outside the courtyard, Chi Hao had just been reviewing the task of building the new branch when he saw—
The stone house’s door suddenly opened, but the ones who stepped out weren’t the two envoys…
“Sis? Old Xie?”
Chi Hao stared blankly at the two familiar figures, eyes turning red. He rushed toward them and hugged Xie Zhaori tightly.
Even though he already knew Xie Zhaori was alive, seeing him in person felt completely different.
Xie Zhaori almost fell over from the bear hug.
“Okay, okay, I’m still alive. If you squeeze any harder, I really will die!”
Chi Hao quickly let him go.
“How are you here? Where are the envoys?”
Trying to calm himself, he looked inside the stone house—only to find that the two envoys were already gone.
