He scanned the seemingly empty sea of souls with his soul consciousness and realized that in such a short time, although he had fully activated the Heart of Flame and absorbed and converted a considerable amount of soul power, the total amount of this misty soul power, plus what he had obtained from consuming the Soul Pearl earlier, was only six or seven hundred.
This amount of soul power is quite substantial under normal circumstances; if obtained from ordinary souls, it would probably require devouring sixty or seventy souls to condense such power. However, if used in combat… it would likely only be enough to support Zhou Ziwei's Soul Roar twice at most.
Two soul roars were hardly effective against the enemy's estimated nearly a thousand men surrounding them.
Although Zhou Ziwei still has some Soul Beads, these Soul Beads are now considered a powerful weapon in his possession. It would be a waste to use them only to simply enhance his soul power.
Time... Right now, what Zhou Ziwei lacks most is time. If those enemies had arrived an hour or two later, allowing Zhou Ziwei to store up enough misty soul power, or to figure out a way to convert liquid soul power into misty soul power, then even if he faced more than a thousand well-equipped enemies, he would not have any fear.
But now... I'm afraid they won't give him that time to prepare anymore.
Time... we can only try to buy as much time as possible.
Zhou Ziwei knew that in his current state, facing the powerful local armed forces, he would most likely meet a certain death. Helpless, he had no choice but to divide all his insects, except for a few fruit flies which were not very lethal, and launch harassing attacks on the attacking enemies from three sides.
A force of a thousand men attacked from three directions, surrounding the area where Zhou Ziwei and his group were located.
Due to the terrain, ordinary vehicles couldn't pass through, so apart from a dozen or so armored vehicles, most of the militants advanced on foot. As they drew closer, they could see the convoy camped in a mountain hollow in the distance. Several commanders simultaneously ordered their troops to halt, rearrange their formation, and await General Bamo's order for the final attack. However, at that moment, a commotion arose simultaneously from the rear of all three convoys.
One after another, shrill screams rang out, immediately causing the commanders' expressions to change drastically.
Soon news came from the rear that each team had been attacked by unknown forces at roughly the same time. At least dozens of people suddenly started to fester all over their bodies for some unknown reason, while others suddenly developed a bloody hole in their foreheads, and still others inexplicably fainted and could not be woken up no matter how hard they tried.
The person with a gaping hole in their forehead was obviously dead. Those nearby initially thought their companion had been sniped, but upon examining the wound, they found the holes were very small, not like those from any bullet. Some people even had two holes in their foreheads, but the two holes weren't symmetrical. If this wasn't from a bullet… then unless the bullet entered the person's head, made a turn inside, and exited from the other end. But how could that be possible?
Some of the people with festering sores said they felt like they had been bitten by a mosquito, and the bitten area began to itch and fester. They never expected the speed at which the skin festered to be so horrifying. In just a few moments, some people had large holes in their skin, and even the bones inside seemed to be rotting. One person, when bitten by a mosquito, immediately slapped the mosquito to death, but the mosquito's filthy blood splattered out, and immediately caused his entire hand to rot away at a speed visible to the naked eye, leaving only bones.
In contrast, those who fell into a deep sleep were the luckier ones. Although they could not be woken up by anyone no matter how much they were called, their heartbeat, breathing and other reflexes were normal, as if they were really asleep.
The three commanders were all taken aback when they received the news.
A mosquito bite can actually fester deep into the bone—how is that possible? While the mosquitoes in this mountainous area are indeed more venomous, even the most venomous mosquito wouldn't cause this much damage! Moreover, the three teams, arriving from three different directions, were attacked by such vicious mosquitoes almost simultaneously—this is too much of a coincidence! Could it be… that someone is manipulating this?
Thinking of this, the three commanders found it hard to believe, yet dared not disbelieve it.
He immediately reported the situation to General Bamo and ordered his men to put on tactical helmets if they had them, and to cover their heads and faces with clothing and their hands with gloves or clothing, so that no skin was exposed. This way, even the most venomous mosquitoes would not be able to bite them.
However, by the time the orders of these three commanders were relayed and fully executed, more than a hundred others had already suffered the same fate.
As a result, including the first few dozen who were injured or killed, more than two hundred people were completely incapacitated in such a short time. As a result, nearly one hundred people had to temporarily leave the combat force to take care of and protect them.
Before coming here, many people found it incomprehensible that a force of thousands of people would be mobilized to deal with a convoy of only a dozen or so people.
But now no one thinks that way anymore. The battle hasn't even officially started, and they've already lost 30% of their troops. How can they possibly fight this battle...?
Regardless of whether these survivors were filled with fear, after General Bamo gave the order, the seven hundred men had no choice but to slowly approach the camp in the mountain hollow under the commander's coercion.
What a pity...
Zhou Ziwei hadn't expected that his Kun Pet army could achieve such brilliant results in a medium-sized battle. If he had known this earlier, he would have preferred to simply build an army of hundreds or thousands of Kun Pets. In that case, if thousands of Kun Pets attacked at once, even if each one was fighting one enemy, they could easily wipe out the thousand people in front of them.
However, Zhou Ziwei could only think about such things in his heart helplessly. It was completely impossible for him to actually capture thousands of insects to be his pets.
For Zhou Ziwei at this moment, he doesn't really care how much soul power he needs to expend.
The problem is that after these Kun pets are established, they need to be replenished with soul power every day in order for them to continue to survive and grow.
Imagine having thousands of mosquitoes and flies swarming around him every day, forcing him to replenish his soul power one by one. He wouldn't need to do anything else all day long.
Furthermore, it takes a considerable amount of time to cultivate a powerful insect like a ladybug to gradually develop its combat strength; this cannot be accomplished in a short period of time.
As for small mosquitoes, they can become lethal faster, but Zhou Ziwei still needs to have enough poison to feed them.
After sacrificing five mosquitoes, Zhou Ziwei's insect pet force, apart from the ladybugs, was finally unable to pose any threat to the enemies. So Zhou Ziwei immediately and decisively ordered all the insect pets to retreat. Then, Zhou Ziwei simply released all twelve new-style cross-shaped darts he was carrying.
They were also divided into three groups, and each group charged towards one of the enemy's three squads.
Although the effective control range of this new type of cross-shaped dart is only 600 meters, and the enemies are still nearly 2,000 meters away, Zhou Ziwei can't care about that now. In fact, beyond the 600-meter range, the new type of cross-shaped dart will only make it impossible for Zhou Ziwei to control them effectively, but it doesn't mean that the new type of cross-shaped dart will fall down or lose its lethality after flying more than 600 meters.
In any case, everyone except his own people was an enemy in this desolate place. Zhou Ziwei was not afraid that the new cross-shaped darts would hurt innocent people after they went out of control, so he simply let the twelve new cross-shaped darts fly around and slash wildly.
Zhou Ziwei didn't expect these twelve new-style cross-shaped darts to kill many enemies. As long as they could cause some chaos and delay them a little longer, Zhou Ziwei would be satisfied. The twelve silver lights shot out in an instant, and almost the next second, the three teams that were slowly approaching ahead were thrown into chaos again, with countless screams rising and falling.
As expected, the new-style darts all went out of control after flying 600 meters. Some began to spin in place, some shot straight into the air and disappeared into the unknown, while others simply pierced the mud. However, seven of the new-style darts eventually flew into the ranks ahead and began to rampage through the three groups. In just a moment, dozens more people were killed by the out-of-control darts.
Volume 2: The Assassin's Nightmare, Chapter 321: Surrender
There are many Chinese in Myanmar. Aki is a Chinese who has lived in Myanmar for three generations. His family was originally a scholarly family. His father had even served as a minor official in the local area. However, he offended a certain official and political figure, and as a result, his family was inexplicably ruined. His father was also killed under a pretext. Later, due to the pressure of life, Aki joined General Ba Maw's local armed forces.
Aki, who has loved Han Chinese culture since childhood, especially the classical fantasy novels that were extremely popular in China during the Ming and Qing dynasties, has the biggest fantasy of one day going to the legendary Kunlun Mountain, where immortal swords roam freely, to forge a connection with immortals and cultivate into a sword immortal.
Because Aki was one of the few militants with a decent education and was also quite reliable and capable, he quickly rose to become a leader under General Bamo after joining his forces. He commanded several hundred men, and although he was still doing dangerous work, his life was much better than before.
This time, under General Bamo's orders, he also led a group of men to participate in the encirclement and suppression of Zhou Ziwei. Before this, he had heard someone say that although there were only a dozen or so people in the convoy they were dealing with, there were several extremely powerful and terrifying individuals among them.
Several of them were virtually invulnerable; the barrage of bullets hitting them was like being hit by a few raindrops, causing them no harm whatsoever. Even more terrifying was that one of them possessed extraordinary abilities; he had once, with the power of a single finger, turned a falling missile into a pile of iron dust…
When Aki heard these words, his heart began to pound wildly. He guessed that those businessmen from China were no ordinary people; they might be the kind of sword immortals he had always admired. Otherwise… even the most elite special forces would only consist of a dozen or so people. Why would they need to alarm a local armed force of thousands of people?
Although he thought so, he was also aware that most of the classic fantasy novels that have been passed down were fictional worlds created by the authors, and they were probably not reliable. Whether there were such heaven-defying beings as sword immortals in this world was really hard to say.
Therefore, although he was somewhat tempted, he did not show it. Just now, Aki and the other two chieftains under General Bamo were each leading a team to approach the convoy. When they discovered that dozens of people had been inexplicably killed or wounded in their teams, their hearts began to tighten involuntarily.
He didn't know if he was really making an enemy of the legendary sword immortal. If he was, he was afraid that not only would he miss the only opportunity of his life, but he might also lose his life.
Despite his mixed feelings of worry and anxiety, he received a report that although the dozens of people had suffered strange injuries and deaths, most of them were simply poisoned by mosquitoes. For the time being, he was unable to determine the true identities of the victims.
Just as Aki was hesitating, several dazzling silver lights suddenly flew out from the direction of the opposing convoy. The silver lights were as fast as lightning, and in the blink of an eye, several of them suddenly rushed into their group. Instantly, twenty or thirty people fell down like wheat being harvested. Some had a large hole pierced through their foreheads, some had an arm severed, and some were even disemboweled, their deaths extremely gruesome.
Although the silver light moved extremely fast, one of them almost grazed past Aki. Aki watched helplessly as one of the guards next to him was beheaded as the silver light swept past, and bright red blood splattered all over Aki.
In the brief instant after the silver light severed the guard's head, perhaps due to resistance, its lightning-fast speed slowed slightly, allowing Aki to finally see the thing's true form.
"A flying sword! This is a flying sword!"
Upon seeing that strange weapon, barely three inches long, with a sharp blade, yet seemingly possessing a pair of metal wings, Aki finally couldn't help but scream wildly, a mixture of excitement and horror.
Although this thing in front of him seemed quite different from the flying swords he described in novels that could take someone's head from a thousand miles away, it was clearly made of steel, yet it could fly between heaven and earth on its own, searching for targets to attack... Just based on this characteristic alone, what else could this thing be but a flying sword?
Instantly, Aki felt his blood boil. Gazing at the man standing silently in front of the camp in the remote valley, looking indifferently in this direction, his heart was filled with boundless admiration...
"Everyone, lay down your weapons and we surrender!"
Aki immediately and decisively made his decision, which he considered the only truly correct decision of his life—to lead his men to surrender. Since the enemy was throwing away so many flying swords, which were such heaven-defying magical treasures, wouldn't it be suicidal for ordinary people like them to fight against them? Aki didn't want to die, nor did he want his brothers who had fought alongside him for many years to be slaughtered wave after wave like wheat being harvested. So he issued the order to surrender without hesitation.
The adjutant beside him, responsible for relaying the order, was stunned. He didn't pass on Aki's command, but stared at Aki in horror, muttering, "Commander...you...you're insane! If General Bamo knew you said such things on the battlefield, I'm afraid you'd be..."
"Enough with the nonsense! Pass on my orders: everyone lay down your weapons and surrender to the Sword Immortal!"
Since Aki had already made up his mind, he naturally wouldn't waver easily. Seeing his adjutant still hesitating, his face darkened, revealing his displeasure.
"Commander, please reconsider!" How could the adjutant so easily pass on such an order? What if this was just a chaotic order issued by Commander Aji in a moment of confusion? Then... their entire regiment might be implicated and die without a burial place this time.
"Bang—" However, what answered the adjutant was a crisp gunshot. Seeing that the adjutant was reluctant to convey his orders, and that the silver flashes were still killing his brothers all around, Aki became anxious and immediately drew his gun, killing the guy who dared to disobey his orders.
Akishi had long known that this adjutant was a trusted confidant planted by General Nabamo to monitor him. However, since the two had gotten along fairly well over the past year or two, Akishi did not want to kill him unless absolutely necessary. But now that he saw that the adjutant was not conveying his orders, he had no time to hesitate and immediately shot the adjutant dead without hesitation.
Aki then seized the communication device from the adjutant and immediately transmitted his orders through the internal command system.
At this moment, the entire team was also in turmoil because of those few silver lights. Their team had three hundred people when they came out, but they had lost nearly fifty people to mosquito bites. And now, for some reason, they were so unlucky that four of the seven new cross-shaped darts that had charged into the three teams flew towards them, and dozens more people died under the new cross-shaped darts in an instant.
As a result, the team of three hundred people was reduced to just over half, but they hadn't even entered the normal attack range yet... Many people were already feeling an indescribable sense of fear at this moment.
Just then, Aki gave the order to surrender. Immediately, most people cheered and threw their weapons to the ground. Aki, facing the convoy ahead, squatted down, raised his hands, and shouted, "Surrender! Surrender!" Some of the more valiant members didn't want to surrender to a foreigner, but... seeing that everyone around them had already surrendered, they knew that if they refused, they would be killed immediately. The regimental commander's adjutant was a prime example. Whether they wanted to or not, they had no choice but to throw down their weapons.
Upon seeing the unusual situation, the two teams next to them were stunned. However, the two team leaders were not people who blindly worshipped sword immortals, so they would not betray General Bamo so easily. Seeing this, they just snorted angrily. If it weren't for the fact that they were still quite far apart and had not received orders from General Bamo, they would probably have killed these traitors immediately.
Even Zhou Ziwei was not expected to see this situation. He was slightly stunned, but then felt a little happy.
However, he then became anxious again, because there were still four new-style cross-shaped darts circling above that group of people... If these people were to be massacred by his new-style cross-shaped darts after surrendering, then... they might regret it again.
The reason these people surrendered was simply because they were afraid of death.
But if I kill them after they surrender, then who will dare to surrender to me?
The problem is that those new cross-shaped darts are now too far away from Zhou Ziwei. Zhou Ziwei is unable to connect with the independent souls within those new cross-shaped darts through soul perception, and therefore cannot give any instructions to those new cross-shaped darts that have already gone out of control.
What should we do? If these surrendered teams rebel again, then... that would be terrible.
Just as Zhou Ziwei was getting anxious, the four new-style cross-shaped darts that were originally hovering above that team seemed to have conspired to change direction at the same time and rushed towards the other two teams on the left and right sides.
"Thank you for sparing my life, Sword Immortal."
When Aji saw that the four "flying swords" that had been hovering above his head actually flew away immediately after he led his men to surrender, he was overjoyed. He knew that this sword immortal was not the kind of person who would kill. It seemed that his life had been barely saved today. As for whether he could take this opportunity to gain some more immortal fortune, that would depend on his own destiny.
The reaction of the four new-style cross darts startled Zhou Ziwei slightly, but he was immediately overjoyed.
Undoubtedly, although the four new-style cross-shaped darts went somewhat out of control within Zhou Ziwei's soul perception range, they still seemed to be able to discern whether those people were hostile to him.
This means that... at least the independent soul entities within those four new-style cross darts should now possess a more advanced level of intelligence. This is indeed very good news for Zhou Ziwei.
If the independent souls within these new cross-shaped darts can continue to grow, then it's not impossible that they could one day become flying swords capable of severing people's heads from thousands of miles away.
Zhou Ziwei's hearing was quite remarkable, so he naturally heard Aji calling him "Sword Immortal" from afar. He couldn't help but smile slightly, and then shouted loudly, "Since you have surrendered, immediately retreat ten kilometers and do not participate in the battle again. If you have not retreated within ten seconds... I will kill Wuhe."
Zhou Ziwei shouted these words with tremendous force. With his physical abilities enhanced several times over, his voice was almost deafening, if not deafening for miles around. At least the few hundred survivors in front of him should be able to hear it clearly.
Moreover, Zhou Ziwei shouted these words in Burmese.
Zhou Ziwei had never studied Burmese before, but he had devoured the souls of countless Burmese people recently, so he had already acquired the language from their memories. Therefore, when he spoke Burmese, he was no less fluent than native Burmese speakers.
"Everyone is ready... move back ten kilometers."
Regardless of what the other two teams thought, Aki naturally dared not disobey the "Sword Immortal's" orders. As soon as he heard Zhou Ziwei's voice, he immediately and without hesitation issued the order again. As for whether he would be killed by the enraged General Bamo afterward, or whether the "Sword Immortal" would accept him as a devout disciple, those were not issues he could consider at the moment.
At this moment, Aki had 100% confidence in this "Sword Immortal". The Sword Immortal could shoot down missiles with a single finger, so dealing with them, who were just ordinary mortals, would be a piece of cake.
So he was afraid that if he retreated too slowly, he would lose his life here. He didn't dare to wait even ten seconds. As soon as Zhou Ziwei finished speaking, he immediately led his men to retreat.
"Aki, you idiot, the general will skin you alive."
The other team, which was closer to Aki's group, was furious when they saw that Aki had actually started to retreat. They jumped up and down in anger, then waved their hands fiercely and shouted, "Advance... Ignore those silver lights for now... Everyone advance at top speed. Snipers, get ready. In ten seconds, regardless of whether they are within effective firing range, fire immediately!"
The group couldn't figure out what those things were that could fly around and kill their brothers one by one, but at this moment they seemed to realize that the silver light was running out of steam, and their spirits lifted.
At the same time, he made up his mind that as long as he dealt with the guy who emitted the silver light, these things would naturally be unable to cause trouble once they were no longer under his control.
They have now advanced to within 1,700 meters, in ten seconds... Although they are not yet fully within the effective range of their weapons, they are not far off.
Unfortunately, the mountain road was difficult to traverse, and they hadn't brought any of their heavy weapons this time. Otherwise, with two heavy machine guns positioned here, a mere dozen or so men would have been wiped out instantly.
Ten seconds passed in the blink of an eye, and in that short time, the new cross-shaped darts that had just been rampaging between the two teams had almost all exhausted their energy, slowed down, and flew off in a wobbly manner to other places...
Zhou Ziwei sighed again, knowing that the high-efficiency batteries in these new cross-shaped darts could not store enough electrical energy. In a full-force battle, the electrical energy carried by a single cross-shaped dart would not be used up in a very short time.