82: foreplay

Sato Shinsui irritably scratched his hair. His fingertips touched the coarse stubble, matching his current chaotic and vexed mood.

Sato Shinsui had been very annoyed lately.

Ever since the failed ambush on Xiang Yan last time, he felt as if the entire world was working against him.

For some unknown reason, one piece of damaging information after another about him began appearing online.

Then there were those idiots on the internet who used to worship him crazily—those guys who worshipped him to death day and night, and the so-called online Believers who previously heaped infinite praise upon him and placed him on a pedestal. Suddenly, they all seemed to have changed their temperaments, criticizing him day and night like a pack of bloodthirsty hyenas, crazily tearing into the "glorious deeds" exposed on the internet.

Whenever he opened his virtual screen, he didn't see worship or admiration, but rather overwhelming abuse and mockery, which annoyed him to no end.

The key thing was, if those things were fake, that would be fine, but the problem was that out of ten of those messes, eleven were true.

It left him not even knowing how to defend himself.

Of course, this wasn't the most troublesome part. After all, he had been building his golden reputation for 50 years; it wouldn't be broken so easily. As long as he handled the subsequent operations well, it would be like a gentle breeze, having no real impact.

What truly bothered him were his wives. Recently, their attitude toward him had taken a sharp turn for the worse. They were all clamoring for a divorce, and some even showed him no Face at all, directly separating from him.

At first, he thought Xiang Yan had exposed the fact that he had killed his wife to prove his Dao that day. He secretly captured a few wives who were temporarily separated from him and subjected them to various tortures. Fingernails were pulled out one by one, whips lashed against their bodies making teeth-grinding sounds, and wails echoed in the secret chamber. In the end, they were tortured, humiliated, and played to death by him.

Yet even so, he failed to get any useful information from them. This confirmed that this mess had nothing to do with Xiang Yan, but it also made him more depressed and angry, because he absolutely did not believe there was no mastermind behind these events.

"Who on earth is playing tricks behind my back?!" Sato Shinsui roared, his arm covered in bone as he punched the hard metal wall in front of him. A deafening dull thud resounded, and a clear fist print instantly dented the wall.

There was no help for it. Since he couldn't find out, Sato Shinsui decided to set this matter aside for now, shift his focus, and fix the public opinion first. But this step ran into trouble as well.

In the past, with just one word from him, various media outlets treated his words as imperial decrees, proactively considering every aspect of the matter and handling it, and finally even having to come and thank him for choosing them.

Now, they no longer sang his praises unconditionally but instead opened their mouths like Lions, demanding exorbitant prices and playing all sorts of tricks. None of them would release the eagle without seeing the rabbit, and some even wanted chickens when they saw the rabbit; some even set their sights on his wives.

He went over to threaten them subtly, and then these guys became shockingly united, collectively writing damaging reports about him. Even if there was no dirt, they would forcibly manufacture some. This made Sato Shinsui burn with rage. He was a God King!

How dare these lowly commoners defy him?

Later, once he survived this wave, he would definitely grind all these guys who dared to challenge his authority into powder!

To reverse the situation and save his reputation, Sato Shinsui held a press conference himself. Without consulting anyone, he leaked the news that the human side was about to have a decisive battle with the Monster side.

He even vowed confidently that he would personally take off the head of the Monster Emperor and create a new era for humanity.

This move proved effective, and the public opinion was forcibly turned around for the time being.

Sato Shinsui dared not linger and immediately took all the Jinchuriki from his Jinchuriki Agency, rushing to the battlefield to avoid arguing with these guys in the rear.

A few days after Sato Shinsui arrived at the battlefield, the Jinchuriki army of the human side had also assembled quickly. The battle flags fluttered, making "pop-pop" sounds in the wind.

Even quite a few war correspondents had arrived, pointing their long and short lenses at them, with flashes going off one after another, recording this historic moment.

However, this group of guys all had long Faces.

After all, in the original plans of the human High-ranking Official, they did not intend to disclose the matter of the decisive battle. After all, this matter was too big; if any accident occurred and they failed, the blow to the morale of all humanity would be too severe.

But they couldn't stop that bastard Sato Shinsui, who acted on his own, caring only about himself and ignoring the big picture, which resulted in this current situation.

And the superiors of these reporters, for some unknown purpose, told them the truth of the matter, letting them know that they actually didn't need to come and do this head-lopping task at all.

As a result, every single one of these war correspondents now looked at Sato Shinsui as if they wanted to knife him.

When all preparations were completed, the seven commanders stood in front of the army. Sato Shinsui took a step forward and stood at the very front.

He raised his right arm, his palm slightly open as if to grasp something, his gaze looking down at the countless army in front of him, and the other six commanders standing beside him with cold eyes. It was as if at this moment, he had once again become the respected, high-and-mighty God King who had the final say.

He took a gentle breath, then exhaled slowly.

Sato Shinsui took a deep breath and suddenly blew the horn in his hand. The sharp sound tore through the air and spread across the entire battlefield.

"For the future of humanity! Charge!"

The Jinchuriki moved at the command, shooting toward the enemy line like arrows released from a bow.

The earth trembled beneath their feet, and the air was filled with a thick, murderous Qi, mixed with that intense belief.

Meanwhile, the gates of the City of Monsters swung open with a boom, and countless Monsters poured out like a tide.

They were diverse in form and hideous. Some had bat-like wings, circling in the air and emitting shrill screams; some were shaped like giant pythons, slithering on the ground and leaving behind viscous liquid; others were as huge as hills, making the earth tremble with every step.

The air was filled with a nauseating stench, as if the gates of Hell had been opened, releasing endless evil ghosts.

The Jinchuriki were not to be outdone. Although their movements differed, a uniform, loud, and world-shaking "Transformation" echoed from unknown places.

Light flickered, flesh and blood deformed, and the originally normal humans turned into various strange Monsters.

Some grew sharp claws and teeth, some possessed hard shells, and some even turned into burning fire people.

The two armies collided fiercely like two torrents.

Boom!

A loud noise, the world changed color, dust flew, obscuring the sky and the sun.

Flesh flew, screams, roars, and explosions intertwined to form a cruel symphony of war.

Intense fighting unfolded on the ground and in the sky. Jinchuriki with flight capabilities tangled with flying Monsters, claws and fangs colliding, making shrill metal friction sounds.

Fireballs, lightning, and ice cones danced in the air, dyeing the sky into a colorful purgatory.

The earth also trembled; giant Monsters and Jinchuriki who had transformed into giant forms wrestled together, each collision as violent as an earthquake.

"Roar!" A Jinchuriki who had transformed into an ape-like creature with four arms roared at the sky. His muscles bulged, hard as steel, gleaming with a metallic luster, and then rocks grew on his skin to wrap around him, as if he had put on armor.

His four arms swung like the wind, each punch carrying strong gusts and emitting dull explosions.

The muscles under the rock armor were knotted and bulging, each exertion bringing an impact like a landslide.

Any Monster that got close would be knocked flying the moment it was touched by his fist.

The Monsters that were blasted away hit those still charging like bowling balls, and the huge impact knocked a whole row down, after which they could no longer get up, with only a few barely able to move.

Seeing this, the ape Jinchuriki was a bit dazed, not knowing when he had become this fierce.

Soon, he had no time to let his mind wander, because a despicable Monster tried to attack his chrysanthemum, and he had to turn around to defend urgently.

Of course, there were Jinchuriki in the field showing off their Divine Might, beating a crowd of Monsters to a pulp, and there were also moments of Monster highlights, beating the Jinchuriki into retreat.

In the battlefield, a giant octopus-like Monster stretched out its long tentacles, dancing crazily. Every tentacle was swung with great momentum, extremely sharp.

Anything touched by its tentacles lost the ability to resist, but it was unclear if it had killed until its eyes were red; its attacks were completely indiscriminate.

Even so, the losses it caused were unquestionable, and both sides were quickly producing a large number of casualties.

Soon, this valiant octopus bumped into that valiant ape.

At this moment, the ape Jinchuriki had just knocked down another crowd of Monsters with iron fists when a cold, sticky sensation suddenly struck from behind, accompanied by a fishy stench rushing into his nasal cavity.

He roared and turned around abruptly, two of his four arms swinging backward, hitting the octopus Monster that was trying to sneak attack him.

The tentacle was hit by the rock-wrapped fist, making a teeth-grinding "splat" sound, and green liquid sprayed out, emitting a nauseating stench.

But this octopus Monster had too many tentacles; the rest of the tentacles whipped against his rock armor, making "bang-bang" dull sounds.

Even with the protection of the armor, he felt bursts of sharp pain.

The ape Jinchuriki gritted his teeth, ignored it, and charged violently toward the octopus Monster, starting to wrestle with it.

On the battlefield, screams connected into a continuous patch.

Jinchuriki and Monsters kept falling from the sky, crashing into meat paste.

On the ground, those Jinchuriki who were beaten back to their original forms were like lambs waiting to be slaughtered, torn apart by the swarming Monsters, bloody and horrific.

In the sky, there were sneaky attackers attacking from time to time, but they were soon focused and eliminated.

A flash of fire passed, and a winged Griffin Monster was hit by dozens of attacks simultaneously, exploding in the air, with blood rain falling.

"Damn it, there are too many of these Monsters!" A Jinchuriki roared, smashing a spider Monster climbing on his back into meat paste with one punch.

His stamina was being consumed rapidly, and quite a few wounds appeared on his body.

Suddenly, the ground beneath his feet shook, making him almost lose his footing. "What is going on?"

The earth trembled violently, as if some behemoth was about to break out of the ground.

At first, both sides in the fierce battle did not pay attention, just thinking it was the vibration caused by the aftermath of the battle.

But as the tremors became more intense, cracks began to appear on the ground. Some Jinchuriki finally noticed the abnormality and wanted to retreat, but the Monsters in front of them were like possessed, entangling them tightly and not giving them any chance to escape.

"Boom!" With a loud noise, the ground exploded, and a giant snake-like monster burst out of the ground. It was covered with hard scales, reflecting a nauseating oily light.

Its bloody mouth opened, revealing dense fangs, and the fishy breath rushed toward them, nauseating.

Following that, there were a few more loud noises, and more Monsters drilled out from underground. Some were shaped like earthworms, some like centipedes. They were huge and hideous, like evil ghosts from Hell.

"Ah!" A Jinchuriki couldn't dodge in time and was swallowed by a giant earthworm, not even having time to let out a scream.

Other Jinchuriki saw this and tried their best to escape this land of death.

Some relied on powerful strength to carry it hard, fighting with fists and feet to repel the approaching Monsters; some relied on astonishing speed to dodge, weaving through the giant mouths of the Monsters, in dangerous situations.

However, more Jinchuriki failed to escape their fate and were devoured by these suddenly appearing Monsters, not even leaving bone residue.

But strangely, what these Monsters devoured the most were actually their own kind.

Those smaller Monsters had no resistance in front of the giant Monsters and were swallowed whole, not even having time to let out a wail.

The Jinchuriki who were accidentally involved were instead like unexpected "harvests."

Behind the battlefield, in the Jinchuriki command post, the seven Jinchuriki commanders looked calm and indifferent to the news coming from the front.

They sat firmly on the fishing platform, waiting silently. They were waiting, waiting for the appearance of the Monster Emperor, because that was their true target. In order to be able to kill the Monster Emperor with their own hands, they had to conserve their energy.

On the other side, next to the command post, unlike the calm command room, a group of war correspondents were holding communicators and shouting crazily at their superiors.

"Listen clearly, the frontal battlefield is too dangerous, I am not going! I am willing to take a shot from far away for you, which is already very sincere."

"What?! You are not satisfied? Then if you have the ability, come over and shoot it yourself!" A reporter roared at the communicator, his Face covered in sweat, veins bulging on the back of his hands, looking extremely angry and nervous.

"What? You want to fire me? Damn it, if you have the ability, fire me now! If you dare to fire me, I dare to run now!" Another reporter was even more excited in tone, his emotions almost out of control.

In short, under the threat of life, these previously timid laborers were all as tough as war gods, brave beyond belief, and their own superiors were stunned by them.

In the City of Monsters, inside a towering building, Mizuno Hiroshi listened to the report on the battlefield situation from the Monster kneeling in front of him.

After listening, Mizuno Hiroshi asked: "How many of the carnival personnel are in place?"

"Your Majesty, 70% of the Monsters have completed the transfer."

"Very good." Faced with this answer, Mizuno Hiroshi looked very satisfied and immediately changed from his human form to his true Monster form, walking toward the door.

Just as he was about to push the door and go out, Mizuno Hiroshi said to the reporting Monster: "You also go and choose a place to prepare to participate in the carnival."

After speaking, he walked slowly toward the battlefield without looking back.

The Monster kneeling on the ground paid high tribute to Mizuno Hiroshi and then silently headed to the carnival place he had already chosen.

Mizuno Hiroshi walked out of the building, and the sunlight shone on his true Monster form, reflecting a chilling light.

He took a deep breath, a hint of crazy smile on his Face, and walked slowly toward the battlefield.

"The carnival is about to begin!"