150: Chapter 150 The Majesty of a Grandmaster (Part 1)

Inside the mobile fortress, everyone was stunned.

"Beep! Beep! Beep!"

The detection instrument suddenly began to sound a frantic alarm, the red warning lights flashing incessantly. The values on the screen skyrocketed, eventually going off the charts and turning into a mess of garbled code.

The soldier in charge of reconnaissance turned pale, his body trembling, his voice filled with undisguised Terrify:

"Re... Report!"

"Rank... The Rank cannot be directly detected!"

"Based on the energy fluctuation estimation... at least... at least Rank 85!"

"An... an eight-star monster!"

As his voice fell, a deathly silence descended upon the entire mobile fortress.

An eight-star monster!

Jiang Ruoxue's face instantly turned ghastly pale, completely drained of color.

She subconsciously took a step back, murmuring to herself: "An eight-star monster... is equivalent to a human Grandmaster-level Awakened..."

Lu Zhiyao was also stunned, his eyes filled with disbelief: "How is that possible? There are no fixed Dungeons in this vicinity at all! How could an eight-star monster appear?!"

Indeed, this made no sense.

Eight-star level monsters are only produced by fixed Dungeons of Rank eight or higher. Furthermore, even if it were a stray monster that escaped from a Dungeon, it would be impossible for it to appear here.

Because there are no eight-star fixed Dungeons in this vicinity at all!

An eight-star monster appearing in this wilderness for no reason was, in itself, an extremely bizarre occurrence.

Moreover... its target was too clear.

From the moment it appeared, its gaze had been locked onto the mobile fortress, as if it had known they were here all along.

This was not random wandering.

This was... a deliberate arrival.

This thought appeared in everyone's hearts, making their mood even heavier.

Captain Zhao and the other three team leaders also had extremely grave expressions.

The four of them, by joining forces, might be able to stall an eight-star monster temporarily.

But that would only be stalling it.

To defeat it would be impossible.

The gap between an eight-star and a seven-star is an insurmountable chasm.

For a moment, everyone's gaze once again focused on Escort Leader Wang Qianshuo.

This Rank 89 eight-star Grandmaster was their only hope now.

Escort Leader Wang Qianshuo stood at the highest point of the mobile fortress, his black combat uniform rustling in the wind.

He watched the eight-star monster walking slowly toward them, without the slightest panic on his face; he didn't even frown.

It was as if what stood before him was not an eight-star monster capable of destroying a city, but merely a slightly larger ant.

He slowly turned around, looked at Lin Yan and the other two, and instructed them again.

"Stand here, and do not move."

Having said that, he turned back around and raised his right hand.

With his palm facing down, he pressed down gently.

Hum—

An invisible ripple spread out from his body.

The next second, a black figure slowly condensed behind him.

That figure went from blurry to clear, becoming increasingly real.

The same black combat uniform, the same height and build, and even the expression on its face was exactly the same as Escort Leader Wang Qianshuo's.

A Clone!

Everyone widened their eyes, watching this scene in disbelief.

It wasn't that they hadn't heard of Clone-type skills.

Many Awakened have similar abilities, such as summoning shadow Clones or energy Clones.

But those Clones mostly only possess one-tenth or even one-twentieth of the main body's combat power; they can only be used to confuse the enemy or perform simple auxiliary tasks.

But this Clone of Escort Leader Wang Qianshuo...

The moment the Clone fully formed and opened its eyes, a terrifying aura erupted from it.

Eight-star!

The aura on this Clone had actually reached the eight-star level as well!

It was on par with that eight-star monster!

"This... how is this possible?!"

Lu Zhiyao gasped, his eyes wide as saucers.

He had stayed in the Seventh Safe Zone for so many years and had seen many high-level Awakened. Yet, he had never heard of anyone whose Clone could possess over eighty percent of the main body's combat power!

This was no longer a Clone; this was practically a second Escort Leader Wang Qianshuo!

Lin Yan's pupils also contracted sharply.

A single Clone has Grandmaster-level combat power?

Jiang Ruoxue stood to the side, murmuring to herself, her voice tinged with a trance-like quality: "Is this... what an eight-star Grandmaster is?"

She had only heard of the power of a Grandmaster before, but had never truly witnessed it.

Only today did she understand just how terrifying a Grandmaster-level Awakened truly is.

Just as everyone was in shock, the Clone moved.

Swoosh—

The Clone's figure instantly vanished from where it stood.

The next second, it had already appeared in front of the eight-star monster.

Without any flashy moves, it simply threw a straightforward punch, slamming it toward the monster's face.

The speed was extreme, and the power was concentrated to the extreme.

The air was blasted apart by this punch, emitting a piercing sonic boom.

The eight-star monster obviously hadn't expected the opponent to attack so suddenly, and with such speed. It roared, crossing its thick arms to block in front of itself.

Dark purple scales protruded on its arms, forming a thick, scaly shield.

Bang!!!

The fist collided with the scales, erupting with a deafening roar.

A circle of terrifying shockwaves spread out in all directions; the dust, gravel, and even the ordinary monsters crawling on the ground were blown away by this shockwave.

The thirty-meter-tall eight-star monster, with its massive body, was actually forced to retreat repeatedly by this punch.

One step, two steps, three steps...

It retreated for dozens of meters before stabilizing its figure, plowing two deep trenches into the ground beneath its feet.

On the arms it had crossed to block, several scales had shattered, and dark purple blood seeped from the wounds.

One punch!

Just one punch, and it had injured an eight-star monster!

Inside the mobile fortress, everyone was stunned.

Is this Escort Leader Wang Qianshuo's Clone?

Isn't this too strong?

"Roar!!!"

The eight-star monster let out an angry roar, its scarlet vertical pupils filled with fury.

As an eight-star monster, it was a top-tier existence among monsters; when had it ever suffered such an injury?

And the one that injured it was merely a Clone of the opponent!

To it, this was simply a humiliating disgrace.

It suddenly opened its mouth, and a dense cloud of black mist sprayed out, transforming into countless sharp black spikes that shot toward the Clone, covering the sky.

Each black spike carried a corrosive aura, and everywhere they passed, even the air hissed as it was corroded.

If one were to be struck by these, even alloy armor would be melted.

Facing this overwhelming attack, the Clone stood in place, neither dodging nor evading.

Hum—

A layer of transparent barrier appeared around its body.

Cling, cling, cling, cling, cling—

Countless black spikes struck the barrier, emitting a dense, crisp sound, like raindrops hitting a windowpane.

But that seemingly weak, transparent barrier was Stand Behind Me.

All the black spikes were blocked on the outside, failing to even scratch the surface of the barrier.

The black spikes were exhausted, and the barrier remained completely intact.

The Clone slowly raised its hand.

Its palm faced upward, its five fingers slightly spread.

The next second, dozens of black light swords slowly condensed above its head.

Each light sword emitted a terrifying energy fluctuation, with its tip pointing downward, aiming at the eight-star monster below.