At dawn, a new day arrives.
Yet, many people cannot witness this day.
Once bustling cities across the country now lack the liveliness of the past.
Instead, hordes of deceitful mutant creatures wander through neighborhoods and streets.
Many survivors hide in darkness, despairing and fearful, awaiting rescue.
In Cloud City, after a night of rescue by the Imperial Army and many Super Martial Artists, though the losses were heavy, over 800,000 survivors were saved.
The original population of Cloud City was ten million, with seventy percent mutated, and out of the remaining three million plus, likely over two million perished at the mouths of the deceitful mutant creatures.
The Imperial Army's ability to rescue over 800,000 in one night shows their utmost effort.
The Cloud City Imperial Army shelter is located in the eastern suburbs.
It is a shelter covering an area of five million square meters, with walls reaching 300 meters high.
The reason it can accommodate so many survivors is that there are nine underground levels.
Inside the shelter, in the central conference hall.
In the luxurious hall, the remaining high-ranking officials of Cloud City sit at the conference table, watching the satellite projection screen.
At the head of the table sits a stern middle-aged man in a military uniform with two stars on his shoulder.
The others are also in uniform, male and female, all with solemn expressions.
They used satellites to scan the entire Cloud City.
They were shocked to find more than thirty million deceitful mutant creatures in total.
They are spread across the entire city, its counties, districts, and towns...
There are relatively few human mutations; most are insects, animals, and birds.
Particularly rats and ants.
Many towns near mountains have become true ghost towns, with satellites unable to detect any survivors.
That's considered the good news.
In Gu Qijue's past life, the entire Cloud City had at most only two to three hundred thousand survivors.
Among them, only two to three thousand were Super Martial Artists.
Thanks to Mu Qingxue's rebirth and report, the Imperial Army, prepared as they were, managed to save twice as many survivors.
Gu Qijue surviving for eight years with that death rate was largely due to luck.
"War General, what kind of tree is this, growing so fast, reaching two hundred meters tall in under three minutes..."
The Satellite Department head, Lin Manjiao, divided the satellite projection into nine segments, each showing a towering giant tree.
These trees, both trunk and leaves, are deep blue in color.
The fruits covering the trees resemble red apples, gradually maturing from deep blue to red, shimmering with a faint red glow.
Around these mysterious towering trees, countless deceitful mutant creatures swarm like tides.
The sheer number could make those with trypophobia faint.
The scent from the fruits, matured on the towering trees, attracts every flying and crawling creature.
In Cloud City, at the city center, a deformed tree grew as well.
It grows in the morning sunlight.
Countless deceitful mutant creatures gather, seemingly waiting for the fruit to mature...
The high-ranking officials of the Imperial Army in the conference hall, watching the projection screen, feel a chill run down their spines.
"What on earth are these trees and fruits that can attract all deceitful mutant creatures within ten kilometers?"
A man with one star on his shoulder, Ye Zhan Country, speaks with horror.
"Mu Qingxue should know, I'll contact her and inquire!"
War General Lin frowns slightly and uses the satellite to contact Mu Qingxue.
A moment later, the call connects, and Mu Qingxue's voice comes through:
"War General Lin, you contacted me to ask about the nine trees growing in Cloud City, correct?"
"These are Deformed Trees, and the fruits they bear are critical for us; when consumed by Super Martial Artists or deceitful mutant creatures, they tremendously enhance the former's Super Martial Star Level and accelerate the evolution of the latter."
"Furthermore, I am currently leading all Super Martial Artists to the deformed tree in the city center. War General Lin, could you initiate artillery bombardment near that deformed tree?"
Having a past life experience, Mu Qingxue clearly knows the current state of the city center.
She had wanted to contact Lin Zhengxiao earlier to have him use rocket fire to cover the area around the city center's deformed tree.
Lin Zhengxiao smiled, "Since seeing the area teeming with deceitful mutant creatures, I've had the same idea. Await the good news!"
Ending the call with Mu Qingxue, War General Lin immediately orders a salvo of ten thousand rockets to bombard the vicinity of the city center's deformed tree.
Meanwhile, on the rooftop of a ten-plus-story building two kilometers from the city center's deformed tree.
Led by Gu Qijue, along with White Fox, Zhao Hu, Ji Shang, and the remaining ten Super Martial Artists, they watch from afar.
Only they dare to stay this close. Without Gu Qijue and White Fox present, Zhao Hu, Ji Shang, and the other Super Martial Artists would have long been torn apart by the endless deceitful mutant creatures.
Deng Tian remarked with astonishment, "What a towering tree, its branches cover a radius of one mile..."
"With tides of deceitful mutant creatures, how do we harvest the fruits? Even with a snake-skin bag, we can't take much."
Looking at the mutated tree with at least thousands of fruits, Tang Huang wished to claim them all.
Gu Qijue said calmly, "Harvest as much as you can. Under the lure of the Mutated Fruit, even being the Disaster Level pinnacle, these deceitful mutant creatures won't retreat, as these fruits tempt them like a drug addict encountering heroin."
He never intended to monopolize this deformed tree.
With so many deceitful mutant creatures, even slashing them one by one wouldn't finish them all.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh—
Just as Gu Qijue finished speaking, a few shadows leaped across buildings, bypassing all deceitful mutant creatures, and landed under the deformed tree.
Roar! Growl—
Like tides, the deceitful mutant creatures roar at those four shadows, yet none dare to rush forward.
Just a glance from those figures makes the surrounding deceitful mutant creatures whimper and retreat.
"That's... the deceitful mutant creatures we encountered before, there are four..."
White Fox gasped in shock.
Appearing under the deformed tree are indeed four deceitful mutant creatures.
Apart from differences in complexion and claws, they are almost identical to the ones they'd encountered before.
These four deceitful mutant creatures have two with black skin and four claws, and one with golden skin and six claws.
They all emit a sinister, eerie, and malevolent aura.
In the early stages, human Super Martial Artists encountering deceitful mutant creatures, even Saint Level ones, only faced slaughter; meeting them meant death, absolutely not to be provoked.
"You stay here, White Fox, you come with me!"
Gu Qijue is unafraid, even slightly excited.
Devouring deceitful mutant creatures is more nourishing than devouring Disaster Level creatures.
With that, he beckons White Fox to leap across the buildings.