79: Chapter 79 The Eve of the Storm

What a billion nether talismans bought was a clarity that saw through everything, but also a heavy pressure. Intelligence showed that the Lord of the Ultimate End's awakening process was even faster than expected—three days, only three days left!

The entire Underworld Fortress, like a war machine fed its final command, began to operate with unprecedented and frantic efficiency.

All resources, whether accumulated previously or just absorbed and converted from the edges of the ancient battlefield, were poured in without hesitation.

The Ghost Soldier Camp (now upgraded to the Ghost General Temple) operated at full capacity, its eerie light never fading day or night. Squads of ghost soldiers, with more solid soul fires and superior equipment, were "produced" like assembly line products, quickly filling every corner of the defensive sequence.

Atop the city walls, twenty newly constructed Bone-Eroding Arrow Towers stood like hideous metal hedgehogs. The sensing runes at their peaks flickered with dangerous light, automatically adjusting their firing angles. More defensive runes were inscribed and activated, layers of eerie light barriers enveloping the Fortress like a giant tortoise shell.

Su Qingyu displayed astonishing coordination skills, managing the logistics with perfect order. Weapon distribution, energy core allocation, personnel assignments... all the trivial and complex matters became clear and organized in her hands. She even organized an auxiliary team of non-combatants responsible for emergency repairs and casualty rescue during the battle.

Zhang Hao, meanwhile, completely let loose, leading his growing "ragtag army of Bizarre Monsters" in final sweeps and defensive deployments around the Fortress's perimeter. Utilizing his ghost-taming ability, he drove various Aberrations and vengeful spirits to set traps in specific areas, building a bizarre "biological defense line." His monster subordinates seemed to sense the approach of the ultimate battle, becoming unusually restless and... excited?

As for Lin Chen, he devoted all his energy to familiarizing himself with and practicing the use of the Three-Phase God-Slaying Formation Base.

He, Bai Qi, and Zhang Hao were designated as the assault team for the three core locations.

Bai Qi was undoubtedly the strongest and was responsible for attacking the most powerful core, wielding the god-slaying spear.

Zhang Hao, relying on his ghost-taming ability and sensitivity to the aura of Bizarre Monsters, was responsible for tracking and attacking the core with the most elusive position, wielding the boundary-breaking shield.

Lin Chen himself sat at the center, responsible for attacking the third core, which was relatively stable but had the strongest defense, wielding the annihilation core.

The three of them needed to strike the three constantly moving cores with the power of the array base precisely at the same second, across distances that could be hundreds or thousands of kilometers! This required ultimate control over timing, energy, and space!

Deep within the Fortress, inside a secret chamber sealed by layers of runes.

Lin Chen closed his eyes in concentration. The annihilation core floated before him, emitting heart-palpitating fluctuations of collapse and expansion. His spiritual power, like countless fine threads, wrapped around the annihilation core, sensing the rules of destruction contained within as he attempted a simulated activation.

Bai Qi stood like a statue of an eternal god of slaughter in another secret chamber. The blood-colored god-slaying spear in his hand emitted a faint hum, as if thirsting for blood. He didn't need to practice; the killing instinct was already etched into his soul.

Zhang Hao was the most disheveled, sweating profusely as he tried to establish a connection with that pitch-black boundary-breaking shield. The space-warping force emanating from the shield made him dizzy, and several times he was nearly pulled into spatial rifts by his own power. But he gritted his teeth and tried again and again, relying on his reckless grit and desire for survival to gradually find the knack of it.

Time flew by in the tense preparations.

The second day passed.

The third day arrived.

This was the final day before the decisive battle.

The atmosphere inside the Fortress was heavy to the extreme, as if the air were filled with invisible gunpowder smoke. Everyone was in a hurry, their faces set with determination. No one spoke; only the clashing of weapons and the sound of footsteps echoed.

However, amidst this extreme suppression and tension, Lin Chen made a move that left everyone stunned.

At dusk, he walked out of the secret chamber and came to the central plaza of the Fortress.

This was originally a place for assembly and issuing orders, but now he had ordered someone to set up... a giant copper hotpot?

Yes, a hotpot!

Charcoal burned fiercely at the base of the pot, and the red spicy oil broth bubbled and rolled inside. The rich, pungent aroma spread dominantly, forming an absurd and intense contrast with the surrounding murderous atmosphere.

Various ingredients that would be considered luxuries in the apocalypse were brought out—mutant beast meat sliced thin as a cicada's wing, rare emerald-green vegetables, and even several plates of very fresh-looking offal!

Lin Chen sat at the head of the table, picked up his chopsticks, dipped a bright red slice of meat into the boiling red soup, then dipped it into sesame oil and garlic sauce before putting it in his mouth. He chewed slowly, a look of satisfaction appearing on his face.

"Why are you all standing there?" He looked up at Su Qingyu, Zhang Hao, and several core members who stood like wooden statues. "Sit down and eat."

Everyone was dumbfounded.

On the eve of a great battle, with a powerful enemy pressing in and life and death uncertain... at a time like this, they were having hotpot?!

Zhang Hao's throat bobbed. Looking at the bubbling red oil, his stomach growled betrayingly, but his feet felt nailed to the ground. Su Qingyu also frowned, looking at Lin Chen in confusion.

"Mas... Master, this... tomorrow..." Zhang Hao stuttered, trying to say something.

"What about tomorrow?" Lin Chen dipped another piece of tripe, his tone flat. "Even if the sky is falling, you have to fill your stomach first."

He put down his chopsticks and swept his gaze over the crowd. His eyes were calm, yet they carried a strange, reassuring power.

"Is being nervous useful? Can fear keep you alive?" He picked up a wine glass next to him, filled with clear, high-proof liquor. "The preparations we needed to make, we've made. The schemes we needed to plot, we've plotted. All that's left is to wait for it to come, and then..."

He tilted his head back, drained the strong liquor in one gulp, exhaled a breath of hot air, and a sharp light flashed in his eyes.

"Fuck 'em!"

Crude, but incredibly morale-boosting!

Watching him calmly eat meat and drink heavily, the string in everyone's hearts that had been tightened to the limit seemed to loosen inexplicably. That's right, what will come will come. Rather than living in constant fear, it was better to eat and drink their fill and save up their strength to fight for their lives!

"Damn it! Let's eat!" Zhang Hao was the first to react. He flopped onto a stool, grabbed his chopsticks, fished out a large piece of meat, and stuffed it into his mouth. He gasped from the heat but roared indistinctly, "Eat our fill so we can get to work!"

Su Qingyu also slowly sat down and picked up her chopsticks. Although her movements remained elegant, her gaze had become much firmer.

Seeing this, the other core members also gathered around. At first, they were a bit restrained, but after a few bites of hot meat and gulps of strong liquor, the atmosphere actually began to warm up. Loud laughter, the clinking of glasses, the pungent aroma... all of this was completely out of place with the apocalyptic scene of approaching blood outside the Fortress, yet it carried a tragic and heroic sense of facing death to find life.

Lin Chen looked at the group as they gradually let loose, the corners of his mouth curling into a barely perceptible arc.

This was exactly the effect he wanted.

Ultimate fear needs to be faced with the most ordinary mindset.

However, just as the atmosphere of this pre-war hotpot feast reached its peak—

A mutation occurred without any warning!

Inside the copper pot, the bubbling, originally bright red and enticing spicy oil broth began to darken at a speed visible to the naked eye...

Within a few breaths, it actually became like congealed blood, showing an extremely ominous, viscous...

Dark red color!

At the same time, a nauseatingly thick scent of blood, as if condensed from the wails of billions of living beings, replaced the original spicy hotpot aroma, bursting forth from the pot and instantly enveloping the entire plaza!

"Blech—!"

Someone vomited on the spot.

Everyone's movements froze, and the laughter stopped abruptly.

A piece of meat Zhang Hao was holding in his chopsticks fell back into the blood-pool-like pot with a "plop," splashing a few drops of "blood water."

Su Qingyu stood up abruptly, her face pale.

Lin Chen slowly put down his wine glass. Looking at the "hotpot" that had completely turned into viscous blood water, his gaze suddenly became incredibly sharp, like an unsheathed sword piercing through the calm he had just deliberately created.

He raised his head, his gaze seemingly penetrating the thick dome of the Fortress to look into the deepest part of the endless void.

The blood color has arrived.

He has awakened.