All of this, though, was only Bloodyshirt’s guess. It would be even more problematic if his conjecture was correct. Both the Crystal Spider Corps and Assassin Legion were giant, corps-level entities that were beyond Qianye’s capacity to handle.
From a different perspective, however, there was no need to worry about Cui Yuanhai’s safety now that his arms-building skills had been revealed. No power in their right mind would kill such a master.
Seeing that Bloodyshirt knew no more than this, Qianye could only sigh. All he could do was wait for the right moment to find Cui Yuanhai.
At this point, Bloodyshirt said, “You were talking about a type of creature. Show me, perhaps I’ve seen it before.”
Qianye produced a translucent lobster shell from his backpack and placed it on the table. “Have you seen this before?”
This was a part of the shell Zhuji had removed from the lobster. Qianye had also asked some of the people from the little town back then, but none of the mercenaries and merchants there could recognize it. They hadn’t even heard of it before.
Bloodyshirt’s expression changed drastically upon seeing the lobster shell. His voice was trembling, almost as though he had seen a ghost. “This… the Nightmare Legion!?”
It was yet another name Qianye had never heard of before. Judging from Bloodyshirt’s attitude, however, it would seem this Nightmare Legion wasn’t something the Crystal Spider Corps or the Assassin Legion could match.
After a good while, Bloodyshirt gritted his teeth and picked up the shell to examine it. After inspecting it carefully, he muttered with an ashen expression, “There’s no mistake, this is the armor of the Nightmare Legion… Nightmare Legion.”
Qianye waited quietly for Bloodyshirt to calm down. The latter eventually placed the translucent shell back on the table and said, “Where did you get this? Can you tell me?”
“I got it by chance. What is this Nightmare Legion, though?”
Bloodyshirt collected his thoughts. “The Nightmare Legion is the symbol of calamity, the beginning of all destruction.”
After a long string of prophesy-like words, Bloodyshirt explained everything he knew.
In the neutral lands, there were battles not only between the newcomers like Evernight and the Empire, but there was also a continuous war between the natives and outsiders. Throughout the long history of the neutral lands, the Nightmare Legion had only appeared twice, both times in great battles between the outsiders and natives. Back then, countless fantastic creatures suddenly appeared out of nowhere, many of which people had never seen before. Even the creatures belonging to existing species seemed to have been deformed by an invisible hand; it was inexplicably odd. These entities poured out of the void in vast numbers and swept over the entire battlefield. Even the most elite of corps couldn’t stand their charge and were soon drowned out.
By the time they had left, there was no longer any life left on the battlefield. The armies from either side and the hundreds of thousands of soldiers under their command were reduced to corpses—even their spirits had dispersed entirely.
No one knew how the Nightmare Legion had appeared, and no one understood how they left. The only clues they had left behind in the silent battlefield were these odd pieces of broken armor.
After the legion’s disappearance, an expert proficient in the divination arts exhausted his entire life-force in order to visualize some fragmented scenes from this battle. That was the only reason people discovered the Nightmare Legion’s existence. People named it so because the scene of its battle was nothing short of a nightmare.
The appearance of the Nightmare Legion brought about a calamitous effect on the neutral lands. In both major battles, the natives and the outsiders had gathered their most elite forces and a large number of experts. Yet in the end, they were all destroyed in the tides of the Nightmare Legion.
Despite having arrived here not long ago, Qianye knew that the neutral lands were full of danger everywhere. Every expert was the foundation of a new pioneered land and a shield to the weak civilians. For instance, the small town Qianye had first arrived in wouldn’t be able to survive the rampaging wild beasts and sudden natural disasters without Iron Bear’s champion-level combat strength.
In the neutral lands, a champion signified a new small town, a new cluster of homes.
The two historic appearances of the Nightmare Legion caused a great blow to the outsiders, losing three-quarters of their territory and countless civilians to wild beasts and natural disasters. Countless border areas were abandoned, and the people living there gradually shifted toward the core regions. Without sufficient experts to protect them, the road back to civilization could only be paved with flesh and blood. Out of a hundred people setting out, no more than a handful would arrive at their final destination.
There was no distinction of race on this bloody road. Be it humans, vampires, werewolves, or arachne, everyone was a victim. The werewolves and arachne possessed inherently strong bodies and thus enjoyed a higher chance of survival. But it just so happened that such strong prey were the favorites of wild beasts. Comparatively, the weak humans didn’t quite attract their attention.
Bloodyshirt couldn’t stay calm while recounting the history of the Nightmare Legion. He had to pour himself a glass of strong wine in order to make himself feel better.
“According to you, the last appearance of the Nightmare Legion was a couple hundred years ago? How did you know this is the legion’s armor?” Qianye revealed the doubt in his heart.
Bloodyshirt sighed. “My ancestors were on the battlefield during the second appearance of the Nightmare Legion. There’s a shard of such armor in our ancestral home, a fragment of armor we found on our ancestor’s body.”
After hearing this, Qianye gazed at the translucent shell and fell into contemplation. If the Nightmare Legion was so terrifying, why was that lobster Zhuji had captured so easily captured and killed?
Bloodyshirt regained his wits. “Can you sell me this shell?”
“What use does it have?” As Qianye saw it, there was no big use for it apart from its special composition. It was thin and light, but its defensive power was only ordinary. That was why Qianye hadn’t given the sentient lobster warrior much thought, only treating it as an odd creature.
“The armor itself has no use, but its appearance might signal of a new calamity. I know a senior who’s proficient in divination arts. I plan to show this to him and see what he can foretell.”
Qianye nodded. “If that’s the case, you can have it.” Qianye wanted nothing to do with an object related to a calamity.
Bloodyshirt took out the three black crystals and gave it back to Qianye. “Since that’s the case, the information just now will be on me.”
Qianye didn’t refuse the man’s offer. He simply put away the crystals and left the tavern with Nighteye.
After returning to the hotel, Nighteye asked, “What do we do now?”
“Let’s just stay here. According to Bloodyshirt, the Crystal Spider Corps and the Assassin Legion will soon arrive. If the old man is in their hands, he’ll probably come along as a military engineer. We’ll find a way to save him when the time comes.”
Having no better idea, Nighteye nodded in agreement.
Qianye sighed emotionally. He had escaped to the neutral lands in order to live a quiet life with Nighteye until the end of their lives. Contrary to expectations, however, this place was no paradise—it was crueler, more pragmatic, and adverse.
“There won’t be any problems on Bloodyshirt’s side, will there?” Nighteye was somewhat worried.
“This person isn’t simple at all, but he’s smart. He won’t do what he shouldn’t before confirming our background.”
On the second day, Qianye discovered that the atmosphere in Port City had become tense. There were more patrols than usual in the streets, and the city guards were being mobilized continuously to block off some key street intersections.
A commotion arose outside the window as two truckloads of mercenaries approached. The vehicles were badly damaged, riddled with bullet holes and claw marks. It was already a miracle that they could still move. The soldiers on the car were mostly wounded, and there were a few lying still in the compartment; no one knew whether they were dead or alive.
The vehicles didn’t stop there and kept on driving toward the area of the city lord’s mansion. The guards wanted to stop them at first, but someone on the car took out a token which effectively cleared the way thereafter.
Commotions kicked up wherever this mercenary group passed by. From the surrounding discussions, Qianye learned that this mercenary corps was rather famous. They had hundreds of elite soldiers among their ranks, but now, there were less than thirty in the two trucks combined. Moreover, Qianye could see that there was only one champion among them—one who had just ascended. Their rank-twelve commander was nowhere to be found, either.
From the looks of it, this mercenary corps had been badly defeated.
Before long, some hunters and adventurers charged into Port City, looking as though they were running away from a disaster. All of them were injured in some way. A number of them collapsed entirely after entering the gates and were unable to clamber up again. This was just the beginning—a large number of adventurers and hunters returned to the city in quick succession, all of them drenched in blood.
This scene was unusual. Just as Qianye broke into a slight frown, a sharp alarm finally echoed throughout the entirety of Port City.
It was at this moment that a knock came from the door. “Mr. Zhao? The City Lord invites you to a meeting.”
Startled, Qianye opened the door and saw a lanky man standing outside. His aura was inexplicably sharp, and there were several people behind him.
The tall man’s gaze was like a blade as he sized Qianye up from head to toe. “Mr. Zhao, the City Lord has heard of your extraordinary talents. He likes you very much and hopes you’ll visit the city lord mansion.”
“City Lord Su?”
“Yes. If it’s convenient for Mr. Zhao, please follow me back now. There are countless matters rising up in the city, I’m afraid we can’t wait too long.” The lanky man was somewhat arrogant and his gaze toward Qianye contained a tinge of hostility.
Qianye had heard of the City Lord surnamed Su. Someone capable of remaining independent between the Wolf King, the Spider Emperor, and the Moonlight Demons couldn’t have done it through politics alone—his personal strength must also be extraordinary. Reportedly, his cultivation had already passed the divine champion threshold, and that was what allowed him to hover between the three powers.
Why would this kind of major character suddenly pay attention to the disguised Qianye?
The latter gave it some thought and said, “Fine, I’ll head over now.”