58: The ninth level has arrived! God-level artillery, designed to kill people!

“Upgrade the Main Base to Level 9!”

Lin Feng's will transformed into an undeniable divine decree.

[Gold Consumed: 80,000!]

[heavy oil Consumed: 50,000!]

The massive resources plundered from the Little Devil's corpse instantly transformed into two torrents of energy, one gold and one black, greedily and frantically devoured by the core of the Level 8 Main Base!

“Ascend!”

Rumble—!!!

This tremor far surpassed any previous one!

This was no longer a simple upgrade, but a terrifying metamorphosis, a brutal leap!

The entire fortress platform roared under the strain, as if an ancient beast, dormant for ten thousand years, was slowly awakening deep within its foundations.

A golden pillar of light, thicker and more brilliant than any before, shot into the sky like a divine sword splitting heaven and earth!

It instantly pierced through the eternal, lifeless crimson sky above!

It forcibly burned out a colossal, terrifying void in the center of the sky, its edges flowing with golden lava!

It was as if even this cursed sky trembled at the birth of this new Demon Lord, fearing this unreasonable power!

[Congratulations! Your Main Base has been upgraded to Level 9!]

[Wall Durability Increased: 8000 -> 9000]

[Defense Tower Slots: 16 -> 18]

[Resource Building Slots: 9 -> 10]

[Maximum Fusion Quantity: 6!]

[Barracks Population Cap: 250!]

[Institute Unlocked New Blueprints!]

[Hero Altar Level Cap Increased!]

[Spell Factory Storage Slot +1!]

Lines of golden data flowed like a waterfall across Lin Feng's vision.

A storm ignited in his eyes.

He could clearly feel an unprecedented, even more immense and pure power pulsating like a heart deep within his fortress.

This was the world of Level 9.

This was the absolute, irresistible suppression that could suffocate the entire war zone!

And this was just the beginning.

Lin Feng's gaze fell upon the few cards in his inventory, emitting a deadly allure.

[Epic Defense Tower Exchange Card x4]

[Legendary Defense Tower Exchange Card x1]

His mind was pushed to its limit in an instant, countless defensive layout schemes colliding, annihilating, and reorganizing in his brain.

“War of attrition?”

A chillingly cold arc appeared at the corner of his mouth.

He knew very well that the Phoenix Empress's so-called "fight to the death" had only one tactic: to use numerical superiority, to fill with lives, and to exhaust him through a war of attrition.

It was simple, and very effective.

Unfortunately…

Lin Feng's will, precisely and without hesitation, landed on the Legendary Exchange Card emitting a dazzling orange light.

“Exchange for the Sky Eagle Cannon.”

[Ding! Exchange successful! You have obtained the Legendary Building — Sky Eagle Cannon!]

After a violent spatial distortion, a gigantic cannon platform, entirely cast from obsidian and gold, with a ferocious yet magnificent design, rose from the ground!

It directly settled in the innermost core area of Lin Feng's fortress, becoming the new heart of this war fortress!

It lay there quietly, like an ancient beast that had reined in all its killing intent, its muzzle as deep as an abyss, as if it could swallow even light.

[Sky Eagle Cannon]

Quality: Legendary (Orange)

Attack: 1000

Attack Speed: 10 seconds / 3 shots

Trait: [Eagle Eye Lock] — This building will lock onto the entire battlefield, ignoring attack range limitations. When the total population of enemy troops (including heroes) on the battlefield exceeds 180, the Sky Eagle Cannon will be activated.

Trait: [Divine Retribution] — Once activated, the Sky Eagle Cannon will lock onto the most densely populated area of enemy troops. After a brief charge, it will fire three devastating homing shells, dealing massive area damage to the target area. After each attack, it enters a cooldown.

Gazing at these attributes, which seemed tailor-made for human wave tactics, Lin Feng's face revealed the cold and cruel smile of a hunter who sees a flock of prey willingly leaping into a trap.

The numbers you are so proud of will only become a death warrant accelerating your own demise.

This Sky Eagle Cannon was the first grand gift he had prepared for the Demon-Slaying Expeditionary Force.

Immediately after, his thoughts turned to the four purple Epic Exchange Cards.

“Exchange for Electromagnetic Cannon x4.”

[Electromagnetic Cannon]

Quality: Epic (Purple)

Attack: 2000

Attack Speed: 5 seconds / 1 shot

Trait: [Electromagnetic Charge] — This building will undergo an extended charging period. After charging, it will deal high area damage to the target hit.

Trait: [Current Paralysis] — The point where the Electromagnetic Cannon hits will generate a Tesla field around it, briefly paralyzing all enemy units.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Four steel war machines, full of violent aesthetics, rose from the ground on the outer perimeter of the fortress, their muzzles flickering with dangerous blue arcs of electricity.

Their sole purpose was to blast high-energy Electromagnetic Cannons into those fragile back-row formations, conducting a merciless area cleanse.

The Sky Eagle Cannon was responsible for overall deterrence.

The four Electromagnetic Cannons were responsible for area clearing.

Lin Feng could already imagine what a magnificent, apocalyptic fireworks display the so-called "Expeditionary Force" would witness the moment they gathered their proud army and stepped into his territory.

“Not enough.”

Lin Feng's gaze fell upon the last, and most mysterious, reward.

[Legendary Treasure Chest].

“Open.”

Buzz—!

The treasure chest exploded the moment his will was given, transforming into a sky full of dazzling, multicolored streams of light.

The streams of light did not condense into any physical entity but intertwined and circled in the air, finally outlining a divine phantom that was seventy percent similar to his War Lord, yet taller, more majestic, as if composed of pure thunder and storm!

[Ding! Congratulations! You have obtained the unique Legendary Hero Skin — Thunder War God!]

[Thunder War God]

Type: Hero Skin (Unique)

Equipped Hero: War Lord

Effect One: [Body of the Thunder God] — Hero's base health and attack power increased by 50%.

Effect Two: [Storm Battle Axe] — Hero's attacks will carry a chain lightning effect, dealing 25% splash damage to up to 3 enemy units around the main target.

Effect Three: [Skill Evolution: Thunder Storm] — Hero's active skill [Rage] evolves. Upon activation, the War Lord will summon a massive Thunder Storm. All enemy units within the storm will suffer continuous damage and have a 30% chance to enter a [Paralyzed] state for 1 second. At the same time, the War Lord will summon 20 Storm Barbarians clad in lightning armor to fight for you!

Note: When using this skin, the hero will be forcibly restricted to Close Combat Stance and cannot use the skill [Cloak of Invisibility].

Lin Feng's pupils, due to the terrifying attributes of this skin, suddenly contracted to the extreme.

His breathing involuntarily hitched.

This was no longer a skin.

This was a qualitative change!

It was deification!

It directly elevated a mortal lord, who combined offense and defense, to a new, almost mythical realm!

He could tank, he could deal damage, he could summon, he could splash, and he could perform large-scale crowd control!

One hero was an army.

One hero was a natural disaster!

“Very good.”

Lin Feng forcibly suppressed the ecstasy that surged within him from obtaining such a treasure, and his eyes instantly returned to absolute coldness.

He equipped the Thunder War God skin on the Hero Altar.

Boom!

The stone statue of the War Lord on the altar was instantly completely swallowed, torn apart, and pulverized by dazzling lightning!

When the light dissipated, a majestic deity, clad in blue and white lightning armor, wielding a huge battle axe wreathed in storm, and with eyes flashing with pure electrical light, took its place.

Having done all this, Lin Feng calmly glanced at his fortress.

The Level 9 Main Base stood in the center.

The Legendary Cannon dominated the landscape.

Four Electromagnetic Cannons were poised for action.

The defense tower slots were packed with various Epic and Legendary killing machines.

And the Thunder War God, like a god descended, stood at the top of the city wall, looking down coldly and dispassionately at the world that was about to be trampled under his feet.

“Now…”

A cruel arc appeared at the corner of Lin Feng's mouth.

He knew that everyone in the Demon-Slaying Expeditionary Force must be frantically assembling their troops, preparing to drown him with their self-proclaimed "human sea."

“Fill it with lives?”

“Then I'll show you how worthless your lives are.”