Although it was a pity that there was nothing left of the dragonkin behind, Bai Zemin didn't really have many options. The creature was simply a monster and in a different sense of the word.
Bai Zemin had really tried everything except sealing the beast, however, if he sealed the dragonkin it wouldn't exactly be killing it. Therefore, he had no choice but to use the only skill he had to put an end to it all.
"Wait, you used that skill to do that?" Lilith looked at Bai Zemin feeling a bit speechless.
Bai Zemin shrugged in response.
It wasn't like he had much of a choice, or did he? To end the life of the dragonkin it was necessary to completely annihilate any trace of its existence or else the creature could regenerate even from the ashes.
Besides, it wasn't as if Bai Zemin really hadn't left behind some part of the dragonkin....
Looking into his spatial storage pearl, Bai Zemin couldn't help but smile slightly. There were over 50 liters of dragonkin blood in there, it was definitely a high-level treasure that needed to be studied carefully now that he didn't have to worry about the beast coming back to life; after all, the records of the dragonkin were properly taken in.
"Mm?" Bai Zemin suddenly looked up at the still chaotic sky and narrowed his eyes as he focused on a fixed point, "That is..."
He extended his hand and made a grasping gesture. In his current condition, Bai Zemin was capable of many things thanks to the fact that his Strength had surpassed some laws of the Earth. It was not difficult for him to do something as "simple" as drawing objects to him using suction force.
In fact, Bai Zemin could even hover in the air if he wanted to. Although it would not exactly be flying, walking was not a problem since by moving the muscles of his body he could generate something similar to invisible air steps under his feet; this was what he did back in Oblon World.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Bai Zemin held on to the skill scroll but did not check the records of the item now and instead put it directly into his storage ring. He had to check the records of the Demigod grade treasure and the skill scroll he obtained after killing Demon Lord Ar'gon as well since even though it had been two months from when he obtained them, Bai Zemin had been unconscious for all that time, and when his eyes opened too many things had happened that didn't even give him a moment of peace.
"H- Hey, that skill scroll-!"
"I'll keep it."
Bai Zemin interrupted Eleanora before she could finish her words.
He turned and looked at her casually, "You guys couldn't kill the dragonkin, I did it. You and I aren't a group or friends, are we?"
Eleanora knew that Bai Zemin was right, but she didn't want to give up easily; not when the skill scroll of such a terrifying monster most likely contained a powerful skill.
"Th- That may be the case, but that monster was on American land!" She said without much conviction.
Bai Zemin looked at her emotionlessly for a few seconds before speaking his true feelings, "Childish and impertinent brat."
"Wh-" Eleanora began to tremble all over and her face turned red with anger and embarrassment. "What did you say?!"
Bai Zemin ignored her and instead looked at Angelo, "So, can we go now? I'll need a helicopter to get back to my country. Oh, and don't forget to raise the space barrier."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Angelo looked at Eleanora not knowing whether to laugh or cry when he saw her looking at Bai Zemin with her eyes wide open as if she wanted to devour him with her gaze. Although he didn't feel good about losing the skill scroll either, life had taught him that on many occasions it was better to move back a square in order to in the future move forward, or else there was a possibility that the game would end sooner than it should.
"I apologize for Eleanora's behavior, Bai Zemin." Angelo shook his head and said with a friendly smile, "Actually, she is quite mature for her age, she is only 19 after all. A lot has happened, this added to her talent and beauty.... You get it."
"Angelo, why would you apologize to him instead of me?" Eleanora looked at him incredulously and gasped in indignation, "I don't need you apologizing in my place to anyone, let alone someone so rude!"
"... This little girl really isn't afraid to play with fire." Lilith looked at Eleanora with a weird expression on her face.
Although Bai Zemin's loss of rationality was about 1/5th of the 100% and he wouldn't just casually become a bloodthirsty butcher, his mental state was far from being stable. If when he could communicate with his faction and were to learn that something worse than what was expected had happened, Eleanora would probably end up dying horribly because of her childish behavior.
Rude? Bai Zemin looked at Eleanora and a glint of disdain crossed his eyes for a second before he moved on to ignore her again. Even the words Angelo had just said made no sense to Bai Zemin, he knew women younger than Eleanora who were way more mature despite having been through some really horrible things ever since the apocalypse broke out.
He turned and walked toward the two girls waiting in the distance.
Angelo quickly shouted from behind, "Hey, Bai Zemin! The barrier was destroyed by your attack before so now you can teleport or communicate with your faction at will!"
Bai Zemin's footsteps stopped when he heard this. He gently rubbed the ring of commander on his right hand and a glint of hesitation flashed in his eyes before he resumed his steps towards Kali and Alisha.
Eleanora's anger slowly began to fade as she saw the slight movement from the other party and finally sighed.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})"Forget it, I'm not bothering with this kid." She muttered before going to look for her claymore that had been sent flying somewhere by the dragonkin during the battle.
"Did I keep you waiting?" Bai Zemin asked as he stood in front of Kali.
She simply shook her head slightly and stayed silent.
Bai Zemin smiled slightly and put Kali back on his back before putting the wheelchair in storage.
Alisha watched his every move carefully. The way she looked at Bai Zemin had completely changed now, after all, he had just completely overwhelmed the most terrifying beast she had ever seen in her life and quite possibly one of the strongest in existence. Weirdly, however, the fear she was beginning to feel for him disappeared as she saw him smiling and caring for the unhealthy-looking girl.
"That little girl is lucky to have you. I'm glad you're taking care of her whatever your relationship with her is. With her physical condition, it would be hard to survive in this world, but with you by her side there should be no problem." She said as Bai Zemin turned to look at her.
Bai Zemin let Kali settle on his back, and as he looked at Alisha, he said calmly, "The lucky one is me for having her next to me."
He wasn't lying, except that Alisha didn't know it.
It was at that moment that the sound of helicopter rotor blades could be heard from the distance along with the engine of what seemed to be hundreds of vehicles.
Bai Zemin raised his head just in time to see two F-35 Lightning II flying over the battlefield, except that these planes could no longer break the sound barrier like they used to before the Earth evolved.
He couldn't help but wonder if his faction had managed to capture some equivalent fighters during this time, and at the thought of this, he again rubbed the ring with which he could communicate with Sky Destroyer.
Bai Zemin tried to suppress the fear he felt and instead asked Alisha a question.
"What do you plan to do now?"
The wind whipped wildly and the noise grew louder as more and more vehicles began to approach.
The helicopter rotor blades caused Alisha to have to use one hand to adjust her hair a bit as she looked in amazement at the huge human army. A glint of hope flashed in her honey-colored eyes as she said in a serious voice, "I will return for my people. Now that the path to society is open, I think it's time for us to leave the forest."
"I see." Bai Zemin nodded without being too surprised, Alisha's choice was only natural after all. After hesitating for a moment, he advised, "Alisha, don't get your hopes up too high. The society you have known already does not exist, we humans now live enclosed within great walls while fighting against the other races."
She looked at him, and for the first time, Bai Zemin saw her smiling.
"I am aware of that, don't worry."
After a slight pause, she added, "Thank you for everything, Bai Zemin. We only met about an hour ago but you have helped my people and me a lot."
Bai Zemin shook his head as if to tell her that there was nothing to thank him for before turning to walk toward the army.
"Good luck in your life, Alisha. I'll ask Angelo to leave some troops behind to wait for you, you just go for your people and don't worry too much."
Alisha looked at his back for a few seconds before thanking him again and finally turning around to rush off into the forest for her people.
* * *
Sitting in a helicopter belonging to the United States of America faction Artemis class, Bai Zemin had no time to think or wonder at the comforts or the high technology of the massive machine.
He was currently flying over the Atlantic Ocean in a northerly direction.
That's right... Bai Zemin was heading home.
Angelo kept his word and did not antagonize Bai Zemin after the battle against the dragonkin was over. In fact, except for a handful of captains, no one treated Bai Zemin in a hostile manner despite the clear wariness with which everyone eyed him.
It had been approximately three hours since the dragonkin was killed, and for two of those three hours, Bai Zemin had been waiting with Kali. This was because Angelo told him that he needed a few hours to organize some things.
As for the reason... Well, neither Angelo nor anyone else in his faction would be willing to give Bai Zemin an Artemis class helicopter, and since this was the only helicopter capable of flying the skies safely, there were not many options.
At that moment Bai Zemin asked Angelo if he was not afraid that he would kill them all after arriving in China, but Angelo for some reason seemed to be quite confident in Bai Zemin's character as his reply managed to surprise Bai Zemin quite a bit.
"I know that our two countries did not get along well during the past years, but I believe that you and I can change that. Even if we can't be friends, being allies doesn't sound so bad, right? Our world is already the way it is and our race is one step short of being annihilated... I think you too know the consequences of attacking us, or even worse, killing us."
Be that as it may, it was certain that Bai Zemin had no intention of being an enemy of the American country. At least not yet, such a thing was pointless considering that Bai Zemin was not even the true lord of his own country.
There were only two people accompanying Angelo since the strongest team naturally could not leave the country and even Angelo would have to return soon. Had it not been for the fact that he felt that this was a good opportunity to learn a bit about the faction that would surely take control of China sooner rather than later, he would never have dared to leave his territory.
Among the people who accompanied him, one of them was Dylan whom Bai Zemin did not know. As for the other person... Angelo had tried to leave the small but curvaceous Eleanora, but she really was unavoidable as she somehow sneaked into the helicopter and was only caught after almost an hour of flight.
Although Bai Zemin was not a politician and would probably never be a good one, as a leader he was aware that engaging in good conversation was necessary. However, his mood was too bad to think of such a thing and his heart trembled with fear every time he caressed the ring of the commander.
Kali was sitting next to him while Angelo, Dylan, and Eleanora were on the opposite couch.
Eleanora had been observing Bai Zemin all this time, trying to read his mind. However, his thoughts were simply total chaos and to her confusion, the fear seemed to be on the same level as the anger and sadness he felt.
Even then, it was hard for Eleanora to think about what could scare a monster like him so much. Therefore, she tried to satiate her curiosity by reading his mind.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity and mainly thanks to Lilith who only with Kali's knowledge had been encouraging him to do it, Bai Zemin took a deep breath and activated the black ring that marked his ownership over the battleship 'Sky Destroyer'.
He thought about what to say even though he actually knew what he had to say. He was incredibly nervous because he would soon find out if besides Zhong De, there was another person important to him who had lost their life.
Honestly, Bai Zemin was terrified... and he didn't care if other people called him a coward for having feelings.
Finally, he said the same thing he said in the forest before meeting Alisha.
"This is Bai Zemin addressing to the Sky Destroyer. I repeat, this is Bai Zemin addressing to the Sky Destroyer."
Not even a second had passed since he established the connection but Bai Zemin could already feel his heart beating like crazy.
* * * * * * *
