189: Chapter 188 Fear and Disappointment

Chapter 188: Apprehension and Loss (Second update, asking for monthly votes and follow-up subscriptions)

The national strength of the Lion Tribe Alliance had always been the weakest among the five major nations, but they were the country that adapted to the card era the fastest.

The reason was that they were the nation among the five major kingdoms that inherited the least amount of old-era technology. After all, without reliance, they could naturally adapt faster.

Moreover, the predecessors of the Lion Tribe Alliance were not advanced countries on this planet at that time, so the card era instead gave them an opportunity to overtake on a bend.

However, the overly backward old-era technology and harsh surrounding environment meant that although they had stepped into the card era, they were powerless to solve the problems of barren supplies and food shortages.

It was also from this that the Lion Tribe Alliance embarked on a unique path of a Card Maker, which was—eating.

That was right, this was the most primitive method, but for the Lion Tribe Alliance, it was also the most effective method.

They fought against lions on this vast golden grassland to temper themselves, and then searched for secret realms, entered them, and fought for their lives with monsters, or rather, saw who ate whom.

And those who ate the monsters from the secret realm and walked out alive could obtain the qualification to be bestowed a potion by the tribe's prophet. When these people took the potion, their first card would automatically awaken within their bodies.

This card was their [Companion Spirit], and it was also the official card sequence of the Lion Tribe Alliance.

Precisely because the birth method of Card Makers in the Lion Tribe Alliance was too cruel, the number of Card Makers in the Lion Tribe Alliance had always been the smallest.

Correspondingly, the Card Makers born under such a harsh environment were definitely no ordinary figures, and those who could stand out and take first place among such a group of Card Makers possessed even more astonishing combat strength.

Therefore, even though the Lion Tribe Alliance only permitted a few people to participate in this tournament this time, its citizens were exceptionally confident in these few people.

Previously, whether it was Qin Wudao who possessed the [Black Dragon] or the "Donkey Cart Brothers" whose coiled-dragon staff wreaked havoc in the secret realm, neither affected the citizens' confidence.

But Sun Po alone made the citizens who were originally full of confidence panic a little.

"Can the [Black Pharaoh] defeat this powerful Eastern Warrior?"

"Definitely. The [Black Pharaoh] hasn't even revealed his cards yet; he is completely under no pressure."

"But that Eastern Warrior only attacked with one hand; clearly, he hasn't gone all out either."

"Even so, he is still no match for the [Black Pharaoh]."

Suddenly, a child's timid voice sounded: "But that's only one card of this Yanhuang person. Even if the [Black Pharaoh] defeats this Eastern Warrior, he still has other cards."

The voices of the citizens instantly went silent.

At this oppressive moment, the elderly woman opened her eyes and suddenly spoke: "[Black Pharaoh] will bring back more resources and food for us, and this Yanhuang person will bring us transformation."

At the same time, in the taverns of the Northern Ice Bear Kingdom and the izakayas of the Sakura Island Company Divine Kingdom, the gazes of everyone in the world watching the live broadcast were firmly drawn to the screen frame featuring Sun Po.

Some cursed out of jealousy, feeling full of grievance and resentment.

"Baka!! That cowardly Yanhuang person just hid in the sky and resolved everything. Why?

—Why could he find a monster that is so powerful yet so stupid? This is unfair!!"

Some achieved a spiritual victory, comforting themselves.

"This is probably because that Yanhuang person has no other cards left. Two gold-grade cards—he is very powerful, but how long can his spiritual reserves support this? Maybe he'll tumble down from that cloud in the next second."

"His defeat is certain. No matter how many spiritual reserves he has with two gold-grade cards, they can't withstand such squandering, right? Does he think he is Lord Seimei?"

But there were also discerning Card Makers who saw through the trick.

"The cards of the Yanhuang people always have many weird and whimsical skills, and their Card Makers do too. Perhaps that card is not that powerful."

"That card is undoubtedly a powerful card, but I feel it is not as powerful as the miraculous white monkey standing beside this Yanhuang person."

Compared to these ordinary citizens, the compulsive gamblers were having a miserable time right now.

"Damn it, since this Sun Po is so strong, why did he play dead right after coming in?"

"This must be a match-fixing, right? Other contestants can't even find a single monster, yet this guy named Sun Po can easily find such a powerful orange-grade monster, and his card happens to counter this kind of monster? This must be a shady trick set up to harvest my money."

"Big bro, although I also bet fifty thousand on Qin Wudao, do you think the country's richest person would team up with the authorities to set up such a huge formation just to scam your petty cash?"

"There are still more than twenty hours left, and this has just begun. The big boss over there bet two million on the [Black Pharaoh] and isn't panicking at all, what are you panicking for?"

However, right as those words fell, a commotion suddenly came from the crowd over there.

"Someone fainted in front of the betting counter!!"

Of course, compared to these gamblers, the people from the authorities actually couldn't sit still even more.

Inside the [Central Laboratory], a benevolent-looking elderly man with white eyebrows was staring at the three-dimensional image in the laboratory hall——

That image was precisely the [Tianhe Naval Forces] flicking the skeletal [Armored Rock Boar] with one hand.

The white-browed elderly man was dressed in an official military-green uniform and a cape. Although he looked benevolent, he faintly exuded the aura of a person in a high position.

Beside the elderly man was Professor Zhou Gongdan, dressed plainly and wearing thick black-rimmed glasses.

Professor Zhou Gongdan adjusted his glasses, pointed at the projection of the [Tianhe Naval Forces], and said, "Chief Li, if you really aren't sure, you can summon [Li Changgeng] out to take a look."

"Now the result is already very obvious. The similarity between this card and the [Tianhe Naval Forces] recorded in ancient texts is over ninety percent. Although there are some discrepancies, it can basically be confirmed that it definitely belongs to the [Celestial Soldier] sequence."

"Not to mention that this card might broaden the advancement sequence of the [Warrior], even the peculiar divine body on it has extremely high research value. Moreover, this contestant is also the provider of that spirit meal which can act upon divine power."

"Therefore, I believe Sun Po can skip the second stage and be directly admitted through special recruitment. Just send him to my [Central Laboratory], and I guarantee that within five years, I can figure out the naval advancement route for the [Warrior]."

The benevolent white-browed elderly man said, "Professor Zhou, it's not that I don't want to, but there is too much involvement entangling Sun Po, and no one can touch him."

Professor Zhou Gongdan asked seriously, "Even the theater of war cannot touch him?"

This Chief Li smiled helplessly and said, "Professor Zhou, not to mention this child's blank destiny, even the [Red-White Conflict] was stirred up and ruined, yet we haven't seen any actions from the Red Emperor and the White Emperor, and even the Green Emperor is willing to come out and build momentum for him. Can't you see that clearly yet?"

Professor Zhou Gongdan drew a sharp breath, and immediately, his usually serene face actually revealed a look of joy as he said, "That person can free their hand to make a move—is there a turning point in the Endless Battlefield?"

The white-browed elderly man smiled helplessly and said, "Professor Zhou, let's just do our own jobs well."

Of course, speaking of who had the most complicated feelings upon seeing this scene, it had to be Xu Xiu.

Back then, she had been defeated precisely by this move in the municipal tournament, although the silver-armored, white-robed [Tianhe Naval Forces] looked far more glamorous than the previous [Water Soldier].

But Xu Xiu still recognized this skill at a glance—it was precisely that defying-common-sense [Water Element Summoning Technique] from back then!!

I'm afraid the vast majority of people could never imagine that the ultra-powerful card playing single-handedly with a dozen orange-quality monsters was merely a summoned creature, and such summoned creatures could be summoned by that monkey in sets of four back then. And what about now? How many can be summoned now?

The skill used by this summoned creature was also one she had never seen before in the municipal tournament. Could the other summoned creatures also use different summoning skills?

Could these summoned creatures all reach the degree of effortlessly dealing with orange-grade monsters? If that were truly the case——

Xu Xiu's originally calm state of mind almost showed signs of instability once again. Although she no longer wanted to vie for supremacy with Sun Po, she had never expected that she would be left so far behind.

There was a bitter taste in her heart. Ever since her defeat, she had never stopped striving, considered to have mustered courage from shame; she didn't expect that now she couldn't even defeat the summoned creations brought forth by his cards?

"Clang!!"

With a crisp, resonant sword chime, the [Water-Severing] longsword in Xu Xiu's hand was unsheathed, reflecting a cold gleam.

Xu Xiu looked at this sword that accompanied her day and night. The sword body was like a mirror, reflecting her clear and beautiful face.

Xu Xiu fell into a daze, seeming to recall the scenes of their past contention.

After a long while, the longsword returned to its scabbard, leaving behind only a sigh.

Meanwhile, inside the [Wind and Thunder Secret Realm], Sun Po felt that he understood Wuzhiqi less and less.

Or rather, he understood less and less of the bizarre things Wuzhiqi was researching.

Who would believe this if it were told? A purple-quality card's summoned creature could single-handedly bully orange-grade extraterrestrial monsters, and more than just one!!

What Sun Po hadn't expected was that a skill which was originally just a martial arts technique from his past life could actually become so perversely abnormal after being modified by Wuzhiqi in this world.

He thought to himself inwardly: "In the future, I must collect more similar martial arts skills and encourage Wuzhiqi to research some special [Tianhe Naval Forces]. If all my [Tianhe Naval Forces] have unique customized martial arts skills, then the [Tianhe Naval Forces] will instantly transform from ordinary troops into special forces!!"

But he also noticed one point: the completeness of his own [Five Elements Bloodline] actually affected the field card [Tianhe Budu].

Although he knew that [Tianhe Budu] was essentially his own spiritual space and also belonged to a part of himself, the fact that a complete bloodline could promote the intelligence of the summoned creatures born within it was something Sun Po hadn't expected. Also, what was that extra thing in the calamity auras?

Sun Po felt that after the competition, he must carefully study [Tianhe Budu]. Whether it was the [Double-Pupil Warrior] relying on the emperor yus ding to cross ranks and awaken into Overlord Xiang Yu, or Wuzhiqi creating the [Tianhe Naval Forces] far superior to before, all of this was revealing that many secrets were still hidden within [Tianhe Budu].

But right now, it was time to make use of these rampaging skeletal [Armored Rock Boar].