Chapter 351: Extra (13)
The dim lighting of the underground city did nothing to hinder Tang Yu’an’s sight—he could clearly see the people trapped inside the inscription trap.
Their uniforms were incomplete and visibly torn. Fresh blood seeped from several wounds.
These soldiers were in poor condition, as though they had just endured a grueling battle.
Zhou Qi also looked upward.
They were already very close to the surface, and he could hear the rumbling coming from above—most likely caused by the army fighting the exotic beasts.
“Their condition isn’t good,” Zhou Qi said.
Tang Yu’an extended his spiritual sense outward toward the surface.
He saw that the thousand-strong army above was composed of magic-users. Their teamwork was excellent, and the power they displayed was enough to hold off exotic beasts far stronger than themselves.
However, the difference in strength between the two sides was still too great, and casualties had already appeared among the human soldiers.
“Let’s rescue them first!”
Tang Yu’an decided instantly and asked Little Round Biscuit to take them to the surface.
“Do you have a way to handle those beasts?” the little fairy asked while leading them toward a corner of the wall.
“We can protect the soldiers,” Tang Yu’an replied.
He wasn’t sure if he could wipe out the entire beast tide, but protecting this human army was entirely possible.
“What are you planning to do?” the little fairy asked.
“You’ll see once we get to the surface.”
“…Alright.”
The fairy led them into a hidden passage, winding through several turns before they finally saw light.
The moment they left the dim environment, Tang Yu’an felt his vision open wide.
They were inside a tree hollow, and through the opening they could see the battle in the Xisa Forest.
Clearly, the human army had already begun to falter.
“Once you leave the tree hollow, the effect of the Fairy World inscription will be undone,” the little fairy explained.
Tang Yu’an nodded.
“We’ll go out first. You and Iso stay here for now.”
He exchanged a quick glance with Zhou Qi, and the two of them flew out of the tree hollow in perfect sync.
The moment they emerged, their bodies returned to their normal size.
The battle in the forest was intense—no sooner had they appeared than they were attacked.
Zhou Qi immediately positioned himself around Tang Yu’an, blocking the beasts’ assaults and shielding him from the shockwaves of the human army’s spells.
Tang Yu’an, meanwhile, quickly issued a command to the system.
“System, I want to summon the Peace General Store main branch! Move the store to the location I specify!”
This was one of the abilities unlocked after Tang Yu’an gained the system’s highest permissions.
As long as it was within the same plane, he could summon the RV-form or aircraft-form main store to his side at any moment.
[Summoning “Peace General Store” to the designated location. Please wait…]
Among the Roland soldiers fighting the beast tide, someone had already noticed Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi.
“Are they locals who were trapped here?”
The commander of the army—also its strongest combatant—Li Zhecheng was the first to spot them.
“Their clothes don’t look like it,” his adjutant replied.
Axin Star had fallen for many years. The Roland Empire had suffered heavy losses, forced to shrink back into its inner territory and barely hold on to survival. Only in recent years had it finally regained the strength to reclaim lost lands.
As they steadily pushed the imperial frontlines outward, they discovered that some compatriots had survived all this time, struggling under the siege of the interstellar beast tide.
The Xisa Forest had only recently fallen within reach of the advancing lines. Scouts detected signs of human activity, prompting the border troops to send an advance team to investigate.
But to their surprise, the number of beasts in this forest far exceeded their estimates. The moment they ventured deeper, they were embroiled in bitter combat.
“Whatever the case, we rescue them first!”
Li Zhecheng stared sternly at a massive interstellar beast and silently recited: Heavy Sword Technique!
Zhou Qi suddenly felt his vision blur and instinctively dodged to the side.
Then he saw a sword—ancient in style and heavy in design—fly past him and stab straight into an interstellar beast that had been trying to ambush him, pinning it hard to the ground.
Zhou Qi froze. Could magic-users in this world also manipulate metal?
Just then, the RV of the Peace General Store suddenly appeared out of thin air about a meter above the ground—then crashed heavily onto it!
While waiting for the RV to finish teleporting, Tang Yu’an hadn’t been idle.
He quickly granted permission to every green dot present, and by the time the RV landed, he had already completed all preparations.
Guardian Barrier, activate!
With that command, a transparent barrier appeared without a sound and rapidly expanded outward.
Wherever the Guardian Barrier passed, the beasts vanished one after another.
Within just a few breaths, except for the beast corpses already on the ground, every beast within a two-kilometer radius of the RV had disappeared.
The human soldiers, suddenly losing their targets, stood there in dazed confusion.
Watching from the tree hollow, Little Round Biscuit and Iso could no longer contain themselves—they burst out of the tree and flew toward them.
“Tang Tang, what just happened?” Little Round Biscuit landed on Tang Yu’an’s shoulder, asking in astonishment. “Where did all those beasts go?”
“They were sent outside the Guardian Barrier,” Tang Yu’an explained.
With the crisis resolved, Zhou Qi landed beside him, turning his attention to the bewildered human soldiers.
Contrary to their expectations, these people were not all Western-looking—many had black hair and black eyes, clearly of Huaxia descent.
Tang Yu’an also examined them curiously and was just about to greet them when he heard a metallic clang, clang sound.
He turned toward the noise.
The heavy sword that had been embedded in the giant beast’s skull… was moving on its own.
Because it was buried so deeply, it struggled to shift, but little by little, it managed to pull itself free.
Zhou Qi immediately stepped in front of Tang Yu’an defensively.
Whoosh—
The moment the blade came loose, the heavy sword flew toward them.
Zhou Qi’s face remained cold and tense. Even though they were inside the Guardian Barrier, he did not relax—not when they were in a new world with an unknown power system.
However, the sword did not attack them. Instead, it halted a short distance in front of them and then…
Turned into a blood-covered human?
Both Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi couldn’t help widening their eyes.
What?
The sword wasn’t being controlled by a metal-ability user—it was a human who transformed!
The man wiped the blood off his face and sincerely praised the two boys: “What are your names? You’ve got great skills!”
Then as if remembering something, he lightly slapped his own forehead and said:
“Ah, right. Nice to meet you for the first time. I’m Li Zhecheng, the commander of the Roland Empire’s vanguard unit.”
