The swarms of locusts gathered together, blotting out the sun, like a vortex, a tornado, or an ugly giant mouth, chasing after the two people on the shield and swallowing them whole!
Chapter 287 The Decisive Battle of Kunyang (Twenty-Four)
"Since we haven't decided the winner yet, why don't we have a contest and see who can kill more locusts?" Liu Xiu gripped his sword in the back of his hand, and the pebbles on the battlefield below floated up. Then he slashed at the pursuing swarm of locusts, and countless pebbles shot out like a rain of bullets!
Whoosh whoosh whoosh...
Snap snap snap...
The locust carcasses fell like snowflakes, yet they remained fearless, and some of the larger locusts even managed to break through the blockade.
puff!
Xiang Yu pierced a large locust with his sword. He examined it closely and found that its structure was similar to that of an ordinary locust, except that it had a pair of sharp-looking pincers and purple spots on its body. It looked extremely disgusting, and its vitality was exceptionally tenacious. Even after being pierced, its claws continued to move around, and its two pincers opened and closed.
"Xiang Yu, why don't you test the locust's teeth on Liu Xiu?" Hao Jiu suggested.
Xiang Yu's lips twitched violently. After thinking for a moment, he decided not to comply and instead tried it on his wrist guard.
With a single bite, the leather wristband was torn, but it was still far from breaking through the protective barrier of the domineering aura.
Then Xiang Yu tried the stone again. Although he couldn't break it, he still left a clear mark.
"These locusts are enough to kill ordinary people," Xiang Yu said worriedly.
"It's not just humans, didn't the elves say that most of the creatures on the plane would die? The culprits are probably mostly these locusts." Hao Jiu felt a chill run down his spine just thinking about it.
Xiang Yu casually crushed the mutated locust. "We can't keep fighting like this. The host of the Beast System hasn't appeared yet. We can't end this war without killing the host."
“That’s right, we must find the host of the Beast System as soon as possible. Even if we keep killing like this for a month, we might not be able to kill them all. The Beast System’s plan is to wear us down. The key is how to find them?” Hao Jiu pondered.
Xiang Yu killed another mutated locust. "My clone is outside; he can go. As for the suspected target host, that is..."
"Make friends!" Hao Jiu and Xiang Yu said in unison.
Soon after, a dark cloud of locusts descended, and a storm of gravel swept around the area.
Liu Xiu controlled the meteorite fragments to rotate at high speed around them, forming an inverted giant bowl that kept billions or even trillions of locusts out while simultaneously strangling and killing large numbers of them.
Occasionally, mutated locusts would sneak in, but Xiang Yu would kill them with a single sword strike. In his spare time, Xiang Yu did not idly practice his slashing techniques repeatedly. His battle with Liu Xiu in his Zoro form gave him some insights into sword energy, which he might be able to apply to his Haki.
Xiang Yu's domineering aura cannot yet be separated from his body or weapons. Only when he can fly a certain distance away from his weapons can he truly unleash his domineering aura.
Today's battle has had a profound impact on Xiang Yu, and he wants to quickly step into the world of the strong.
The astonishing phenomenon in Kunyang had already frightened everyone away. Xiang Yu ordered Ju Wuba to leave the black horse Wuzhui among the retreating Xin army, and then rushed back to the camp outside Kunyang City, where he found the tent where the strategist Jiaoyou was staying.
"General Ju shouldn't have come here."
The sound of friends talking came from the sleeping tent; he hadn't left yet!
"This humble general has come to rescue the strategist from this place." Ju Wuba, holding a long halberd, slowly approached Jiaoyou.
"Heh, rescue? I'm afraid they're here to kill me. Would you believe me if I told you you've chosen the wrong target?" Jiaoyou walked out of the tent.
Ju Wuba frowned. "Then who is the target?"
Jiaoyou pointed to the clouds of insects in the sky, "They're hidden in there, but they're not easy to find. Do you need my help?"
"How can we help?" Ju Wuba asked instinctively.
“I’ll kill him for you,” Jiaoyou laughed.
Ju Wuba's heart skipped a beat. "Kill whom?"
"Of course it's Liu Xiu." This friend's words were surprising.
"Is this helping me?" Ju Wuba gripped his halberd tightly, ready to pounce at any moment.
"Of course, once Liu Xiu dies, that thing hidden in the sky will come down, and that will help you find it, won't it?" After saying that, Jiaoyou started to walk towards the battlefield.
"And then what? Who else are you going to kill?" Ju Wuba blocked Jiaoyou's path.
"If I'm in a good mood, I might help you kill that guy's host. But you two are really disappointing, joining forces with the enemy. Don't you know you're playing with fire? Do you think the benefits promised by the enforcers are so easy to take?"
If I'm not mistaken, the system within you doesn't come from a world controlled by law enforcement, nor is it a servant of the so-called Holy Lord. In the eyes of law enforcement, it's just a wild system.
I guarantee that even if you help the law enforcement kill that guy, the final outcome will only be that you become their appendages, or rather, their slaves.
Or perhaps you are chosen by the doppelganger of a law enforcement officer and become the host of that doppelganger, while the system within you continues to function as a milk-producing cow or sheep.
Of course, I only heard these things from others, you don't have to believe them. That's all I have to say. I hope you won't do anything to disappoint me again, and it would be best if you could cooperate with me to kill Liu Xiu.” This was a startling statement from the friend.
Ju Wuba stood there stunned, not making a move against the friend, letting him walk past him, and relayed those words to Hao Jiu verbatim. The amount of information in those words was simply too much.
"I can sense that my clone can't stop him at all. What should I do?" Xiang Yu's expression turned solemn. He couldn't tell whether this person was a friend or foe, and he seemed to be extremely powerful, definitely not an ordinary person.
Hao Jiu's head was buzzing. Was Jiaoyou really the target host? Was it true that the target was hidden among the swarm of insects in the sky? How did Jiaoyou know that? Who told him about the secrets of the law enforcers? Could there be a fourth system in this plane?
"There's no need for the clone to go and die. Let's go find the Black Steed. If all else fails, we'll just run away and forget about the reward. The System God should understand what happened. By the way, let's also ask the so-called Holy Lord and the Enforcers what's going on. I have powerful backers too. The Enforcers won't be so easy to mess with!" Hao Jiu said through gritted teeth.
"Should we continue to cooperate with Liu Xiu?" Xiang Yu was no longer as relaxed as before. More and more mutated locusts were breaking in. Although he and Liu Xiu had strong defenses, they could not be careless. No one could guarantee that there might be stronger individuals among the mutated locusts.
Xiang Yu originally planned to use the opportunity of his army surrounding and killing Liu Xiu to infiltrate and assassinate him. Perhaps that beast system is thinking the same thing now, so we must be wary.
"Of course we have to cooperate, even if it's like dealing with a tiger for its skin. It's worth the risk to kill the target and complete the mission. I'd rather be deceived by the elven goddess than make friends. At worst, we can just deceive each other."
Hao Jiu had made up his mind to take a gamble and try his luck. As long as he completed the task assigned by the God of the System, the trouble with the enforcers wouldn't be a big deal. Surely the God of the System couldn't just ignore it, could he?
Xiang Yu frowned. "Should we tell them about our friends' plan to assassinate Liu Xiu?"
"Just remind Liu Xiu to be careful when you get to Jiaoyou." Hao Jiu felt that Liu Xiu wouldn't be so easy to kill. If Jiaoyou was really that powerful, there would be no use in reminding him now. "However, we must tell them about the speculation that the Beast System might be in the sky, but we can't say that we heard it from Jiaoyou."
Xiang Yu glanced at Liu Xiu and asked, "You're sweating; are you running out of energy?"
"It's just a bit hot. I've probably killed over a million locusts by now. How about you?" Liu Xiu smiled slightly.
"I only killed about a hundred mutated locusts, which is nothing. However, there are probably millions of locusts in the sky. The host of the Beast System might be hiding deep in that swarm of locusts. You still need to work harder."
As Xiang Yu spoke, he unleashed a sword aura that sliced a mutated locust in two. Success!
Hard work will eventually pay off, it's just that geniuses get their rewards faster and better!
Chapter 288 The Decisive Battle of Kunyang (Twenty-Five)
Ranged sword energy?
Liu Xiu was somewhat surprised. Who exactly was this Wang Xiang? His progress was too fast, or was it because his system was very strong?
"System, are there really millions upon millions of locusts in the sky? How long will it take us to fight them? And will the host of that Beast System really be hiding in the swarm of locusts?"
“There are a lot of locusts, but we don’t need to kill them all. I guess the Beast System is also hiding in the locust cloud, and it will launch a formal attack soon. It knows that if the plane is closed for too long, more law enforcement officers may come to support it.”
The Elf Goddess System abruptly changed its tone, "Xiuer, it may launch a sneak attack at any time. Don't be too obsessed with your defense, and don't be careless, or you will surely die. And if you die, you will be truly dead."
"I understand. If he dares to show himself, I will kill him! Even if it costs me my own life!" Liu Xiu said firmly.
Just then, a figure broke through the meteor storm and stepped into the circle—it was Jiaoyou!
"Liu Xiu, be careful!" Xiang Yu said, and at the same time, he slashed out with a sword aura.
"Stubborn fool." Jiaoyou sneered, his five fingers forming claws as he transformed sword energy and lunged at Liu Xiu.
Xiang Yu, wielding the Overlord's Halberd, blocked Jiao You's path, but Jiao You swung his arm in the air, and a huge claw-like phantom flashed by. The next second, Xiang Yu felt a tremendous force slam into the Overlord's Halberd.
Xiang Yu reacted quickly and tried his best to block, but he was still pushed aside by the immense force. His feet left two deep marks on the ground before he finally stopped his retreat.
Instead of pursuing Xiang Yu, Jiao You continued to attack Liu Xiu, seemingly true to his words, that he had come to kill Liu Xiu.
Liu Xiu broke off a fragment of meteorite from the debris storm and launched it at Jiaoyou. "System! Is this person the target host?"
The elven goddess hesitated slightly, "Regardless of whether it is him or not, this person is extremely powerful, and he's here to kill you!"
"Then let's just say he is!" Liu Xiu stopped the largely ineffective hurricane of rubble.
Just as Xiang Yu was about to rush to Liu Xiu's aid, he was intercepted by a large swarm of mutated locusts that suddenly rushed in.
It turns out that the previous locust attacks were just a feint; the number of mutated locusts was far greater than expected!
Quantitative change leads to qualitative change. The power of a single mutated locust is negligible and cannot stop Xiang Yu in the slightest. However, if there are tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of them, it will be a completely different story.
Click click click...
Xiang Yu swung his Overlord Halberd wildly, simultaneously unleashing his domineering aura to form needle-like armor on his body, killing all the locusts that swarmed towards him.
However, there were simply too many locusts, and they swarmed over one after another, enveloping Xiang Yu in a cocoon in the blink of an eye.
"I've been waiting for you for a long time!" Liu Xiu used his gravity skill to send Jiaoyou flying with a single strike, but Jiaoyou quickly regained his footing and flew back!
"Die, mortal!" Jiaoyou roared, unleashing a giant claw phantom that slammed down on his head.
"Divine Skill: Hell's Journey!" Liu Xiu held the Wado Ichimonji in his right hand, and suddenly a ring-pommel sword appeared in his left. "Divine Skill: Gravity Light!"
At the critical moment, Liu Xiu also unleashed his trump card, managing to simultaneously operate the Hell Journey and summon meteorites!
However, Liu Xiu also bled from all seven orifices immediately after unleashing the skill, clearly indicating that it was a forbidden technique that would harm the enemy a thousand while damaging himself eight hundred.
A hundred times the force of gravity crashed down, instantly crushing countless locusts within its range. The sap and corpses of the insects flowed down the cracked ground, quickly filling the entire sunken circular pit and rising a thick layer above the original ground level.
Jiaoyou was also placed on the edge of hell, his legs buried in a sea of locust corpses, unable to move, only a zhang away from Liu Xiu!
Xiang Yu was also within the attack range of the Hell Tribe. The locusts on his body fell to the ground and were crushed to death by gravity. He immediately defied gravity and walked out of the Hell Tribe's range, then detoured along the edge of the Hell Tribe to support Liu Xiu.
Although he was only safe from the locust swarm within the Hell Tribe's gravity field, Xiang Yu preferred to fight his way through from the outside rather than take a shortcut within the Hell Tribe's territory.
Outside the Hell Journey's range, Liu Xiu was being devoured by thousands upon thousands of mutated locusts, which made a squeaking sound but couldn't bite him in the slightest.
"Ugh ugh ugh ugh!" Liu Xiu's muffled voice came from inside the pile of locusts, and it was impossible to hear what he was saying.
"I'll help you!" Xiang Yu gritted his teeth, using his halberd in his right hand to clear a path, while his Emperor's Sword in his left hand unleashed an energy sword strike.
"You have disappointed me greatly." Although Jiaoyou was unable to move due to being suppressed by Hell Travel, his defense was extremely strong. Xiang Yu's sword energy slash only managed to tear his clothes.
At this moment, without the obstruction of the rubble storm, countless locusts had already filled the vacuum area outside the Hell Traveler's range. And that's not all; Xiang Yu personally witnessed several mutated locusts devouring each other and merging into a super mutated locust several times its size!
But can such a change be an isolated case?
Bang bang bang...
More and more super-mutated locusts fearlessly charged at Xiang Yu. The giant locusts were not just stronger; the sharpness of their pincers and the hardness of their shells had also increased significantly.