Chapter 272: Chapter 272

Chapter 272: Dragon Tooth Soldier (2)

The reason why the Demon Eye told him to fill all the skeleton's job classes in the Path of Growth.

He found out what that reason was before long.

[You have filled all job classes of the Skeletons!]

[All Skeletons acquire the trait ‘Form Transformation’!]

It was because a message appeared.

The content was simple.

If the previous structure required cancelling the summon and resummoning a Swordsman to transform a summoned Blacksmith into a Swordsman.

It was different now.

Battle with the Dragon Tooth Soldiers.

Haeo, who was an Assassin, instantly transformed into a Warrior holding a greatsword and struck down.

Perfect stance switching without delay.

Bone joints were reassembling in real-time, evolving into the optimal form to match the battle situation.

Even the System reacted to those grotesque yet fluid movements.

[Dragon Tooth Soldiers' proficiency breaches the critical point!]

[All Skeletons before transformation possess ‘Form Transformation’!]

[Unique Trait ‘Formless Frame’ opens!]

[Delay occurring during job change is deleted, and real-time replacement during battle becomes possible.]

The corners of Kim Minwoo's mouth curled up deeply.

Including all skeletons, and even the Dragon Tooth Soldiers, which were the superior transformation structure, could change their jobs in an instant.

From Swordsman, to Mage, to Priest, to Assassin, and then to Archer.

An all-round legion dominating the battlefield without a fixed form. It was truly a name perfectly fitting for them.

He had personally grasped just how terrifying its power was by conducting sparring sessions that felt like real combat over the past three days.

‘In short…… it’s killer.’

Since even Kim Minwoo had to sweat quite a bit to handle ten Dragon Tooth Soldiers…….

It could be called a true jackpot.

While he was proceeding with the Dragon Tooth Soldiers' training like that.

The world was getting noisier.

[Breaking News] China inland, multiple S-rank Gates occurring! Gate appearance frequency exceptionally high……

[Breaking News] Gansu Province Lanzhou City, Gate explosion! Massive appearance of monsters paralyzing the city center!

[Breaking News] Chinese government urgently deployed military forces but difficulties in establishing defense lines……

Red subtitles filling the bottom of the TV screen flashed ceaselessly.

The landscape inside the screen was truly pandemonium.

Skyscrapers in Lanzhou City crumbled helplessly, and the silhouettes of massive monsters were visible through the dusty clouds. The ambient sound, a mix of screams and sirens, seemed ready to swallow even the announcer's urgent voice.

Kim Minwoo clicked his tongue.

It was not a simple natural disaster.

The occurrence frequency of the gates, the locations, and even the explosion timing.

It was impossible for them to explode simultaneously unless someone artificially manipulated them.

The smartphone placed on the table vibrated loudly.

Caller: President Lee Kanghoon.

“Yes, Mr. President. I am watching the news.”

As soon as Kim Minwoo picked up the phone, Lee Kanghoon’s heavily sunken voice came from the other side of the receiver.

―Mr. Minwoo. The situation in China is unusual. So... do you happen to have any idea?

“Seems the news is true? I thought they’d slap an embargo on it.”

―It went beyond the level they could block. The Chinese upper echelons tried desperately to control the reports, but it seems they couldn't stop real-time videos spreading via SNS. Right now, diplomatic lines are all dead too. We can’t even contact the Beijing side.

Bewilderment lingered in Lee Kanghoon’s voice.

No matter how closed-off China was, cutting off hotlines with neighboring countries during a national disaster situation was outside the realm of common sense.

They always boasted about being a great power, so even if they didn't accept help, wouldn't maintaining contact be normal?

Kim Minwoo remained silent for a moment before opening his mouth.

“There’s nothing strange about it. The person who should be giving orders is distracted elsewhere, so naturally, you can’t reach them.”

―...Yes? What do you mean by that?

“According to my source, the Chinese Chairman is currently packing his bags.”

―Pa, packing his bags?

“Literally. Since it looks like the country is going to ruin, he’s packing national assets and valuables to flee. So how could contact work? When the control tower is only thinking about running away.”

A sound of gasping for breath was heard from over the receiver.

Lee Kanghoon asked back as if he couldn't believe it.

―Is, is that really true? No, a leader of a country... trying to take assets and run while citizens are dying? What kind of crazy bastard is that!

Curse words finally burst out from the usually gentle Lee Kanghoon’s mouth. That was how shocking the news was.

Even if a Hunter Association President ran away, they would be criticized, but for a Head of State to attempt escape first?

“The Shadows probably seduced him. Since he was already deeply involved with the Chinese branch. They probably promised his safety. It’s likely a ploy to sink the ship called China and slip away like a rat.”

―The Shadows... was it them after all?

“Yes. There’s a high probability they caused the gates to explode . To take the Chairman amidst the chaos, turn China into anarchy, and swallow it whole. Or...”

Kim Minwoo’s eyes narrowed.

Creating chaos might not be the only goal.

The reason they specifically targeted China. That vast landmass and population.

The words he heard when he met the High Priest came to mind.

―The Outer God has regained His glory. The world will undergo a cataclysm. Not a vague distant future. Very soon.

―We are building an Ark to prepare for it.

Could the chaos currently visible in China be that process?

‘Of course, there are many questionable points...’

If the world was undergoing a cataclysm, it would be normal for chaos like in China to occur everywhere.

However, while other countries saw an increased frequency of gate occurrences, they hadn't reached such a state.

‘Is it because the Chairman abetted it?’

When the head is rotten, defense couldn't possibly go well.

Lee Kanghoon’s voice over the receiver hardened rapidly.

It was a voice stained with instinctive fear, different in nature from the anger or bewilderment just a moment ago.

―Mr. Minwoo, I think you need to check the news right now.

―Just now... breaking news came in. This is... impossible.

Kim Minwoo immediately turned his head to stare at the TV screen.

The screen, which had been showing the wretched state of Lanzhou City until just now, cut off abruptly, and red warning text covered the entire screen.

The announcer’s voice was now close to a scream.

[Emergency Breaking News] Above Shanghai Oriental Pearl Tower, Gate estimated to be SS-rank or higher collapses!

[Ultra Emergency] Unmeasurable! Mana wave value breaches measurement limit!

[Warning] Immediate evacuation order issued within 100km radius!

[A gate estimated to be SS-rank or higher has collapsed in Shanghai. Considering there were no previous reports, it is viewed as a gate secretly hidden by China…….]

A scoff burst out from Kim Minwoo's mouth.

Since it exploded because the first clear failed, the difficulty must have jumped by half a step.

This was not a simple disaster.

It was a catastrophe that could blow away an entire country if things went wrong.

‘So they’ve been hiding something …….’

Gates are not structured to explode and pour out monsters immediately upon creation.

A certain amount of time is given until clear, and if cleared, it stays quiet for a certain period after that.

It means China has been concealing the existence of this gate for at least a few months.

On the screen, a dark red vortex was tearing the sky open above Shanghai's skyscrapers.

Pitch-black energy poured down like a waterfall, like a massive hole punctured in the sky.

―Crazy…… China looks like it’s done for, Mr. Minwoo. Such a thing opened up, yet that Chairman bastard is trying to run away…….

Lee Kanghoon’s despair-mixed sigh.

It was understandable.

Up until now, S-rank gates were all that appeared on Earth, but suddenly an SS-rank gate exploded.

However, Kim Minwoo’s eyes had sunken coldly.

Staring piercingly at the black vortex on the screen, he muttered.

“He isn't simply running away.”

The timing was too exquisite.

The Chairman’s escape and the SS-rank gate explosion.

This is not a coincidence.

It was a thoroughly calculated scenario prepared by the Shadows.

Kim Minwoo stood up from his seat.

It would be fortunate if it ended with China collapsing, but with a gate of that scale, the aftermath would surely reach the Korean Peninsula.

No, perhaps their real target might not be China.

“Mr. President, for now, put the entire military on emergency standby. That isn't just China's problem.”

Strength entered Kim Minwoo’s hand holding the phone.

It seemed the opportunity to deploy the just-completed Dragon Tooth Soldiers into actual combat had arrived much sooner than expected.

Perhaps he might see that bastard again.

[Breaking News] Chinese government completely refuses humanitarian aid from UN and countries around the world!

[Breaking News] Chinese Standing Committee passes emergency resolution ‘Protection of China’…… “Armed intervention by other countries will be considered infringement of sovereignty and declaration of war.”

[Breaking News] “China’s disaster will be solved by Chinese people.”

The tone of the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on the TV screen was not just firm, but arrogant.

Even in front of the unprecedented disaster of an SS-rank gate falling on Shanghai, they locked their doors.

In a situation where contact with the Chairman was cut off, the decision made by the Standing Committee members holding real power was isolationism, volunteering for isolation.

“Crazy, they’re crazy. Everyone’s going to die while they uphold their pride.”

People watching the news clicked their tongues, but as the screen switched to the Shanghai site, that ridicule turned into astonishment in an instant.

A view of the outskirts of Shanghai filmed from a helicopter.

There, an endless crowd was lined up like a massive barrier.

[Can you believe it! All the personnel captured on screen right now are S-rank or higher Awakened!]

The reporter's voice trembled with excitement.

An overwhelming volume that could only be explained by the phrase 'Spirit of the Continent'.

Befitting a great nation with a population of 1.5 billion, the number of S-rank Awakened conscripted from across China reached a whopping 20,000.

A force equivalent to the entire military of a decent-sized nation had gathered solely to block a single gate.

And at the center of that massive human sea.

A close-up shot focused on a few figures exuding a presence that overwhelmed the crowd.

Lightning struck down from a clear sky, revealing a man.

A man standing on empty air, wrapped in blue electric currents.

Earth's greatest Spirit Master and the man called the ‘Thunder Emperor’, Chen.

“It is merely a single gate. The power of China is higher than the sky and wider than the earth, so there is nothing we cannot block!”

The earth vibrated along with his command.

Following him were Liu, the Summoner known as the ‘Immovable Wisdom King’ accompanied by a massive rock giant, and Wang Xiao, a descendant of the Sword Emperor, the legendary martial god said to have split the Yangtze River with a single pair of swords.

As the twin swords in his hands sliced through the air as if dancing, a chilling sound of tearing air, sounding as if space itself were being sliced away, dominated the battlefield.

A majesty combined with the Thunder Emperor's lightning, the Immovable Wisdom King's heavy presence, and even the Sword Emperor's sharpness.

This was not even the end.

Behind them, a giant figure holding a shield as large as a house walked out, shaking the earth with every step. Thud, thud.

It was Zhang Wei, China's number one Tanker and the man called the ‘Living Great Wall’.

As he stood firm at the front, an intimidating sense of an iron wall that seemed absolutely impenetrable weighed down on the battlefield.

Four transcendent powerhouses listed in the double digits of the World Rankings stepped forward, showing off their majesty.

As the 20,000 S-rank Awakened behind them released their mana simultaneously, Shanghai's sky was dyed in brilliant multicolored light.

“We will save China! Citizens, do not be afraid!”

The Thunder Emperor's roar rode the broadcast waves and echoed across all of China.

At that moment, hundreds of millions of Chinese people trembling with anxiety on the streets shouted cheers in unison.

“China! China! China!”

“Long live the Thunder Emperor! Long live the Communist Party!”

The heat of Sinocentrism that did not break even in the face of the crisis of destruction.

Those madness-filled cheers were reminiscent of a religious revival meeting.

They did not doubt for a second.

That those great heroes would save them.

“Let's go! Sons of China! Advance!”

The Chinese Awakened began to move toward the chaotic Shanghai.