56: The final blow! The Nine-Book Emperor was wiped out on the spot!
Bang!
A very dull thud.
The Ghost Pig Rider landed lightly, its four hooves, burning with pale blue soul fire, stepped on the cold ground without raising even a speck of dust.
The knight on its back slowly drew out a massive war hammer, covered in mottled rust, that was greatly disproportionate to its own size.
On the hammer's face, a grotesque, twisted pig's head symbol was engraved, emanating an ominous aura that made one's heart palpitate.
The knight raised the war hammer high.
There was no flashy wind-up, no superfluous movements.
It simply brought it down with all its might onto the building before it, a structure that symbolized the highest glory of the nine-star base and had driven countless people to despair!
Boom--!
A blood-red, shocking damage number slowly floated up from above the Little Devil's main base.
[Main Base Durability: -1500!]
Immediately after, the Little Devil's main base's HP bar was completely emptied by this single hammer blow.
[Main Base Durability: 0 / 1]
The world trembled violently under this hammer blow.
Everything around him, his once proud layered fortress, the eternally dim, blood-red sky, all began to become illusory, their colors rapidly fading, and all solid structures twisted, blurred, and dissipated.
"I refuse to accept this!!!!"
An unwilling, heart-wrenching roar echoed in the completely collapsing world, then was swept into boundless darkness.
The world returned to a pure, dead silence.
The next second, a cold system announcement, devoid of any human emotion, like the final judgment of a deity, resounded throughout the entire 8888 War Zone, in the ears of all survivors.
[System Announcement: Lord "Little Devil" has been defeated by Lord "Heaven's Choice", his fortress has been destroyed, his lord qualification has been stripped, and he has been eliminated from this war zone.]
These blood-red words, like a final death knell, heavily struck the hearts of everyone.
The Demon-Slaying Expeditionary Force channel fell into a suffocating silence, longer than any previous one.
It was as if everyone's breath had been forcibly cut off by this sudden, yet expected, outcome.
After a long while.
Swift Wind Swordsman typed out a few words in a dreamlike tone, filled with a strong sense of unreality.
"...We won?"
"...Did we... really win?"
This question, like a needle, instantly pierced the solidified air.
The next second, the complex emotions of fear, suppression, anger, and despair that had been accumulating in everyone's chests could no longer be restrained, erupting like a breached dam!
"We won!!! We won!!! That bastard is finally dead!!!"
"Heaven's Choice is awesome!!! (Voice breaking)"
"Damn! Heaven's Choice is a god! From today on, Heaven's Choice is my only faith! Anyone who dares to speak ill of him, I'll be the first to object!"
"Ah ah ah ah ah! So satisfying! Did you see the Little Devil's ugly, rabid dog-like state at the end? It's truly gratifying! Let him show off! Let him show off again!"
The channel was completely ignited.
Countless messages furiously flooded the screen, filled with the revelry and clamor of survivors after a disaster. All survivors were venting their excitement and agitation in the most direct, most primal way.
At this moment, Lin Feng, the absolute center of this celebration, calmly watched the loot settlement interface, which only he could see, cascading down like a golden waterfall before his eyes.
There was not a single ripple on his face.
That earth-shattering battle, significant enough to be recorded in the history of the entire war zone, seemed to him nothing more than a routine calculation and execution.
His cold gaze calmly swept over the dazzling lines of numbers and icons.
[Ding! You have successfully destroyed Lord "Little Devil"'s fortress. Loot settlement in progress...]
[Settlement complete!]
[You gained Gold x200000!]
[You gained heavy oil x100000!]
Two hundred thousand gold coins, one hundred thousand heavy oil.
An astronomical sum that would make any eight-star lord gasp for breath.
With it, Lin Feng could even upgrade his main base directly from eight-star to ten-star in one go, without any pressure, achieving an astonishing leapfrog development.
But this was just the appetizer.
The real harvest was yet to come.
[You gained Epic Defense Tower Exchange Card x4!]
[You gained Legendary Defense Tower Exchange Card x1!]
[You gained Legendary Spell Exchange Card x1!]
[You gained Legendary Treasure Chest x1!]
Watching these three special rewards, radiating deep purple and brilliant orange light respectively, Lin Feng's unruffled eyes finally showed a barely perceptible ripple.
Exchange cards.
They meant he could completely ignore the tech tree restrictions and directly exchange for any type of defense tower and spell of the same quality that he desired.
One Legendary Exchange Card meant a top-tier combat power capable of dominating an area, such as the Little Devil's multi-headed Hell Tower, or perhaps a brand new, even more terrifying defensive core.
And that silently floating Legendary Treasure Chest was filled with infinite possibilities.
"The harvest is not bad."
Lin Feng's chest rose and fell slightly, letting out a breath of stale air. The corners of his cold lips finally curved into a genuine, satisfied smile.
The entire process was indeed thrilling, with many twists and turns.
That Little Devil did have some cleverness, and his final trump card, [Lightning Storm], almost truly caused him to be overturned.
But, in the end, he was still too naive.
A lord who overly relied on his hero's individual abilities, when he thought victory was assured, easily used his most crucial assassination trump card just to show off and humiliate his previous opponent.
This flaw was keenly captured by him, and ultimately led to a fatal blow.
If the Little Devil had played it safe from the beginning, holding onto the Phoenix Empress's [Royal Cloak] tightly, waiting for the moment his hero appeared to launch a fatal strike, the direction of this battle might indeed have been hard to predict.
Unfortunately, there are no 'ifs' in this world.
Just as Lin Feng was tallying his abundant spoils, his mind racing to figure out how to convert these resources into absolute combat power with maximum efficiency, a private message notification abruptly popped up.
The sender was that lofty ID, burning with a golden phoenix emblem.
Phoenix Empress.
Lin Feng's eyes moved slightly, and he tapped his fingertip to open the message.
Phoenix Empress: "Well done."
Just four short words, still in that condescending tone, as if praising one of her capable subordinates.
Lin Feng did not reply.
He knew this was just a polite opening, and the true purpose was yet to come.
Sure enough, the second message followed immediately, with almost no interval.
Phoenix Empress: "According to our previous agreement, fulfill your promise."
Phoenix Empress: "Trade half of the spoils to me. I will keep my word and distribute the share belonging to the others."
Her tone was self-righteous and brooked no argument.
Every word revealed an arrogant sense of condescension.
As if Lin Feng's victory in this battle was entirely due to her, as if her previous "clumsy teaching demonstration" had paved the way for him.
Lin Feng stared at these words, silent for a moment.
Then, he slowly typed out a reply on the virtual keyboard.
Heaven's Choice: "Are you... telling me what to do?"