Since the route had been determined…


  The next step was coming up with a specific strategy.

  How should they delay the expansion and preparation of the advanced orcs until the first shot was fired on the western front?

  “Wait until our wounds heal a little and then go back to Dragon City to get reinforcements?”


  Meng Chao immediately rejected this idea.

  There were two reasons.

  One, it was too slow.

  Although he felt muddle-headed and confused as he drifted down Raging Tiger River…


  He could still sense that he had drifted for at least ten days and half a month, all the way from the super waterfall, Guillotine, to the middle of Picturesque Orchid Lake.

  To return to Dragon City from there, the road was not only rugged, but along the way, they would meet many Turan clans.

  Right then, all the major clans were recruiting troops, or in other words, capturing strong men and pulling cannon fodder.

  He was alone, and his appearance was so eye-catching. He also did not know much about the local customs of the Turan civilization.

  Even if he could escape the Bloody Skull Arena, Black-corner City, and the Blood Hoof Clan’s territory, he would be captured by other clans and sent to another arena, or be incorporated into the cannon fodder army.

  If he went out at night and hid in disguise, he might be able to avoid the eyes and ears of the slave-catchers.

  However, he would not be able to travel more than twenty to thirty miles a day.

  When he returned to Dragon City, he would sort out a myriad of things in Dragon City and convince the higher-ups to act according to his plan. Then, he would return to Picturesque Orchid Lake as Dragon City’s special envoy.

  It was likely that the Turan civilization’s army had already gathered into a surging tide and rushed toward the eternal land of Holy Light in the north.

  “Time… Time is key.

  “I remember that when Dragon City came into contact with the outside world in my previous life, the Chaos camp and the Holy Light camp were already in full swing.

  “Based on this calculation, it is very likely that it will be less than a year and a half before the spark of the war between the two worlds is ignited.

  “Such a short time is not enough for me to go to Dragon City for a round trip.”


  Besides, Dragon City still had “Lu Siya.”


  Meng Chao felt a dull pain when he thought of the last time he fought with that woman who had transformed into a wild banshee and grown thousands of tentacles.

  It was not that he was afraid of “Lu Siya.”


  What a joke. He was a tough man who had returned from the apocalypse, and he was unyielding.

  How could he be afraid of “Lu Siya”?

  You have no idea how much he wanted to regroup and fight “Lu Siya” for another 300 rounds!

  The problem was the people other than “Lu Siya.”


  When the monster mastermind was complacent, it had once been honest with Meng Chao. Even if it was expelled from Lu Siya’s body, it would be useless.

  That was because there was far more than one fragment of Mother 1.

  During the entire Monster War, many of Dragon City’s most powerful people had been eroded by mysterious forces. In the depths of their hearts, the seed of evil had been planted by Mother 1.

  Meng Chao thought over and over again and felt that the credibility of these words was quite high.

  From the memories of his previous life, even if the Monster War was won, Dragon City still had a lot of taboo forces and dark forces.

  For example, the organization hidden behind the cross eyes.

  In his previous life, this organization had captured his little sister, Bai Jiacao. After an inhuman modulation, his little sister’s temperament had changed greatly, and she had become the nightmare of the entire Other World continent, the Dark Witch whom everyone feared.

  Regardless of whether the organization represented by the X-shaped Eye was inextricably linked to the monster civilization or not.

  At the very least, it’s an evil organization that’s willing to push the boundaries of humanity in order to get maximum power.

  Meng Chao did not know how many similar organizations lurk in the shadows behind the towering, brilliant, gleaming skyscrapers on the surface of Dragon City.

  In a way…


  Although Dragon City’s civilization destroyed the monster civilization’s mother…


  The evil will of the monster civilization was still lingering in the poor streets and alleys of Dragon City.

  Countless monsters in human skin and humans who were even more evil than the monsters were giving orders and leading Dragon City to the end of the world.

  It was easy to suppress “Lu Siya.”


  Well, it was not that easy.

  However, it was a hundred times more difficult to find all these “monsters in human skin.”


  “It was not easy for me to escape from the monster mastermind. How could I return to the trap with such wounds all over my body?

  “Even if the other party did not destroy my body, they would have used more sophisticated and insidious methods to control my mind and kill my will, so that I would not have the chance to make my own voice or let everyone misunderstand my voice.

  “Even if the other party really agrees and acts according to my plan, allowing the war between worlds to break out from the western front, so that they will be in a more advantageous strategic position than in my previous life and enjoy the war dividend.

  “This war dividend will not fall into the pockets of the ordinary citizens of Dragon City. It will not be used for the development of Dragon City and the welfare of the people. It will only fall into the pockets of very few powerhouses—of course, those powerhouses who are inextricably linked to Mother 1.

  “In the end, even if Dragon City can escape destruction, it will become Monster Civilization 2.0.

  “That is just another form of the apocalypse. It is definitely not the tomorrow that I want to see!

  “In the end, I am still too weak. I lack the capital to compete with these guys.

  “Not to mention, I am overexerting myself now.

  “Even if I charge to the peak of Heaven Realm in one go, it is still far from enough to dominate the fate of Dragon City!

  “Strength, I have to get even stronger!

  “Totem…”


  Meng Chao touched the word “totem” that he had deeply engraved a few days ago.

  This was the unique cultivation system of the Turan civilization.

  In his previous life’s memories, it was no less than the technology of the Dragon City civilization and the magic of the Holy Light civilization.

  However, in his previous life, his strength had been too weak, and it was very difficult for him to cultivate Dragon City’s own spirit martial arts.

  How could he have the opportunity to study the methods of using other civilizations’ spirit power?

  Plus, the people who were locked in the depths of the dungeon with him were the lowest-class rat people in Turan society.

  It was said that the rat people had cowardly and unclean blood flowing in their bodies. Normally, they were not even qualified to touch metal.

  In the glorious era, when war was about to break out, only then could these cannon fodders be barely stuffed with rusty scrap metal.

  Totems were the sacred objects of the Turan civilization. It was impossible for them to be tarnished by the rat people.

  Therefore, when the rat people were chatting, they did not know much about the power of totems.

  Meng Chao had eavesdropped for a few days, but he did not get much useful information.

  He could only put a series of question marks after the word “totem” and slowly map it out.

  On the same level as “totem,” there were also some broken and disorganized runes.

  They were all ideas that Meng Chao thought were worth studying and following up on.

  “Create chaos in the Blood Skull Arena and seize the totems and resources that are rich in spirit energy.

  “Find out the conflicts between the five major clans, as well as the relationship between the five major clans and the small and medium-sized clans. Then, find the gaps that can be exploited.

  “Like the possibility of ‘earth-friendly factions’ appearing within the Turan civilization…”


  At the end, there was a line of the smallest characters, but the characters were engraved with the most effort and the deepest imprint.

  There were only four words.

  “Assassinate the Turan King?”


  Meng Chao’s fingertips caressed these four words for a long time.

  He did not cross them or erase them.

  Closing his eyes, his mind raced. Combining the vast amount of information from his past life and present life, he deduced the entire process of the war between worlds over and over in his mind, along with the key point of Dragon City’s defeat.

  In the end, Meng Chao erased the question mark behind the four words.

  After sorting out his thoughts, Meng Chao immediately took action.

  In the next few hours, he made every second count to help the rat youth increase his strength.

  Although it was impossible to turn a stone into gold and make Leaf become a first-class expert in an instant…


  The rat youth’s outstanding physical quality still made Meng Chao click his tongue in wonder.

  “Your muscles, bones, and cell activity are simply invincible!”


  Through Leaf, Meng Chao, who had studied the physiological structure and cell characteristics of the advanced orcs, confirmed once again that the high-level orcs, or all the carbon-based intelligent creatures living in the Other World, did not evolve naturally. Instead, they were the products of gene modulation.

  This was because the body of the young rat obviously lacked muscle growth hormone.

  For naturally evolved creatures, having too much muscle was not a good thing.

  While crazily increasing explosive power and short-term combat strength, it would also increase the energy consumption to an extreme degree, which would reduce the chances of survival in the wilderness.

  The winners of the battle of evolution over hundreds of millions of years were few and far between.

  Only through gene modulation and the knockout of the muscle growth inhibition gene at the embryonic stage could one create Leaf, who had not received professional training and was still in the growth stage, and could even be called “skinny” among his peers. Nevertheless, he still had bulging muscles and sharp edges.

  “If the Earthlings are like a multi-functional base vehicle that integrates scientific research, construction, and battle, then the high-level orcs are obviously the main battle tanks and siege cannons specially developed for war.”


  Of course, among all the rat people, Leaf was a very special existence.

  Through the murals in the training cave, he had unknowingly accumulated spirit energy that was as dense as a one-star superhuman in the Spirit Tattoo Realm in Dragon City.

  This was an outstanding, talented, and rare martial arts genius.

  Meng Chao vaguely saw thirty to fifty percent of his elegance in him.

  In addition, the young man was quite fastidious and knew how to split the fried mandrake fruit equally with him.

  That was the reason why Meng Chao was willing to invest in him.

  “After my stimulation, your vitality magnetic field has been fully awakened. Now, your strength should be more than five times that of the past. In the next period of time, your strength will increase slightly.”


  Meng Chao looked straight into the young man’s eyes and changed the topic. “However, absolute strength is not the most important thing if you want to survive in this damn place.

  “The most important thing is how to precisely deliver your absolute strength to the most fatal point of the enemy!”


  Chapter 927 - The Path of an Assassin, From Beginner to Master

  As Meng Chao spoke, his finger suddenly stabbed Leaf slightly below his Adam’s apple like a dagger.

  Leaf felt a bolt of lightning enter his throat. It was so painful that his tears were frozen in her eyes, but he could not make a single sound. It was as if lightning had torn a hole in his throat. His strength and voice flowed through the hole completely.

  However, Meng Chao had no intention of stopping.

  His fingers moved around the vital parts of the rat teenager’s body like lightning.

  From his eyes to his temples…


  From his carotid artery to his heart…


  From his liver region to his legs.

  He let Leaf experience once again what it felt like to live a life worse than death.

  However, he used a special method to keep Leaf’s mind absolutely clear and not lose consciousness due to the severe pain.

  If Leaf had some idea of modern medical concepts, he would definitely feel as if he had undergone a large-scale surgery without anesthetic!

  As he stabbed, Meng Chao explained to Leaf at a leisurely pace. The structure of the human body, the distribution of vital points, how to cut into it to be the most effective. While ensuring the maximum lethality, it could instantly release all the power of the target, including the power of moaning, and so on, it was a compulsory course for ghost assassins.

  In Leaf’s eyes, Meng Chao was an out-and-out reaper—the reaper of life!

  In the past three days, the youth had seen many powerhouses from the Blood Hoof Clan.

  Including the broken-horned Minotaur warrior, they were all existences with bloody hands, and they killed as if they were numb.

  However, he had never seen or even heard of someone like Meng Chao, who could turn killing into an absolutely accurate technique, or even an art.

  “Lord Reaper, what exactly did you do in the past…”


  The more he looked at Meng Chao’s bottomless black eyes, the more he felt a chill run down his spine.

  Pain was pain, but Meng Chao’s teaching method was very effective.

  It was the teaching method that the black skeleton instructor in his previous life had personally instilled into Meng Chao, leaving a deep impression on him.

  The excruciating pain was enough for an assassin who had just entered the training camp to imprint all the general knowledge about vital points into his bones.

  In a battle, he could perform it without thinking and by using his nerves.

  “Now you know how to kill people. Although you can’t deal with an expert like the broken-horned Minotaur warrior, it’s enough to deal with these red-eyed rat people.”


  Taking advantage of the lightning-like pain that was still lingering around Leaf, Meng Chao continued to add, “However, there are a few things that I hope you can remember.

  “First, I won’t pretend to tell you not to kill people. Living in such a haunted time and place, killing people is indeed one of the effective ways to solve problems.

  “But I don’t want you to rely entirely on killing people to solve problems, and I don’t want you to fall in love with the feeling of killing people.

  “The feeling of killing people will become addictive and form a path of dependence, causing you to unknowingly lose the ability to solve problems with methods other than killing people.

  “The world is so big. One day, you will meet someone you can’t kill.

  “When that time comes, you, who have been completely controlled by the desire to kill, will be finished!”


  Leaf did not really understand Meng Chao’s words.

  However, under the stimulation of the excruciating pain, he still nodded desperately.

  “Second, assassins are not berserkers. In fact, achieving the greatest effect with the least amount of killing is the highest realm that we are pursuing.”


  Meng Chao went on to say, “Take the current situation as an example. Right now, you are almost certain that you can deal with three to five strong rat people.

  “However, there are more than three to five muscular rat people in this cell. There are a total of 82 of them.

  “Thirty-seven of them have eaten at least one fried mandrake fruit in the past day. They have been recuperating for a long time, but they still have their basic combat ability. Stimulated by hunger and the desire to survive, their instantaneous explosive power might be several times stronger than usual.

  “Among these people, there are another five experts. In the past day, they have eaten an average of six fried mandrake fruits. Their fighting strength is shocking.

  “You can’t defeat everyone in one go. You have to make a choice. Tell me, the next round of food delivery is about to begin. What are you going to do?”


  Leaf’s thoughts raced as he blurted out, “Thank you for the reminder, Reaper. I will avoid the five strongest red-eyed rat people and start with the sixth.”


  “Wrong.”


  Meng Chao said, “If it’s just one round of snatching, it’s indeed the right choice to start with the sixth strongest red-eyed rat subject in this prison cell. After all, the sixth ranked guy has only eaten two fried mandrake fruits in the past day. There’s a big gap between his strength and the top five.

  “It’s impossible for the top five to snatch all the fried mandrake fruits and replace the sixth position. It can indeed fill your stomach temporarily.

  “But it’s impossible for us to get the ten fried mandrake fruits that we need in one round.

  “We still have to stay here for a long time. There will be several rounds of snatching.

  “Even if you can kill the red-eyed rat person who is ranked sixth, you can’t guarantee that the top five won’t be interested in you and harbor malicious intentions. They won’t let you off before you show them enough power to deter them.

  “Of course, I believe that you will be able to deal with those guys ultimately.

  “But you will definitely have to expend a lot of effort and energy.

  “If you want to become stronger, you must learn to plan your route of action and target appropriately, saving every precious drop of energy.

  “Therefore, the correct answer is not the sixth, but first. You should kill the strongest red-eyed rat person in this cell!”


  “What?”


  Leaf was shocked.

  “Do you know the difference between first and sixth?” Meng Chao smiled faintly.

  The youth pondered for a long time.

  He still shook his head in confusion.

  “If you kill the sixth and the first feels threatened, they will think of ways to kill you. But as long as you kill the first, I guarantee that the second to the sixth will stay far away from you. They won’t even dare to look at you.”


  Meng Chao said, “Also, the sixth knows his own strength very well. He is highly vigilant against his competitors and might not be so easy to deal with.

  “In contrast, the strongest red-eyed rat person in this cell has already snatched eleven fried mandrake fruits in the past day.

  “He thinks highly of himself and doesn’t spare anyone else a single glance. All he thinks about is leaving this place to participate in the real competition. Why would he be on guard against a wailing coward like you?”


  Shedding tears in public was Leaf’s dark history.

  The youth lowered his head, his face turning red.

  However, he had to admit that Lord Reaper’s words made a lot of sense.

  “One more thing, you have to consider the reactions of the others.”


  Meng Chao analyzed the situation meticulously, “Let’s say that you’ve killed the sixth. As a result, the first orders everyone to swarm over and tear you into pieces. Threatened by his martial prowess or tempted by the oily chips, how many people do you think will dare to disobey him?

  “However, this guy has stolen too much food in the past day and cut off too many people’s chances of survival. Everyone’s eyes are looking at him strangely. Even the second to fifth are angry, but they don’t dare to speak up.

  “As the saying goes, the strong will always be on top. Now, the first has become too strong, and he threatens the survival of everyone in this prison.

  “If nothing goes wrong, he will definitely be able to get more food in the next round of food delivery than he did in the previous round.

  “If he steals a few more fried mandrake fruits, it will mean that a few red-eyed rat people will starve to death.

  “In fact, you are not the only one who wants to kill him. All the red-eyed rat people have the intention to kill No. 1. However, the prison cell is so small that everyone’s eyes are wide open and their ears are perked up. There is really no chance for anyone other than the first to join forces.

  “Nevertheless, I believe that as long as you strike fast and ruthlessly enough to decide the outcome in an instant, the other red-eyed rat people will definitely stand on your side and help you deal with the first together.”


  Leaf was dumbfounded when he heard that. He did not expect that the seemingly chaotic food fight that relied solely on strength and luck would hide so many tricks up its sleeve.

  Moreover, Lord Reaper looked like he had done nothing and had just been quietly hiding in a corner.

  However, he had observed the number of people in this cell, the strong and the weak, the amount of resources that the strong had snatched, and the mentality of the strong and the weak. He had analyzed everything clearly!

  He could not help but look at the tallest, strongest, and most proud red-eyed rat person in the crowd.

  This guy probably had the bloodline of some Turan and wild boar people.

  His body was covered in a thick and hard mane, and two big fangs raised his lips. His arms were thicker than Leaf’s thighs, and he alone occupied the space of three rat people as if no one else was around.

  The crisscrossing scars on his face and body revealed his rich combat experience.

  After eating the fried mandrake fruit, his big oily face was filled with arrogance. “I shouldn’t be here. I should be standing in the real arena!” he bluntly said.

  Compared with that arrogant guy with a strong back and a strong waist…


  Meng Chao, who was covered in wounds, looked even more miserable.

  But Leaf knew better.

  The moment the Reaper’s gaze swept over him.

  The so-called No.1 was already a dead man.

  “Don’t look at him directly.”


  Meng Chao reminded, “Move your body forward by 27.5 cm, uh, one-third of an arm’s distance, and turn your head to the lower left… just ever so slightly. Adjust your right angle, and you can clearly see him through the reflection on the surface of the sewage.

  “No, there’s nothing good about his appearance. I want you to observe the scars on his body.

  “‘Scars are the medals of warriors’—I know that the Turan people have a tradition of exposing scars to others. It seems that the more scars there are, the more severe the injury, and the more glorious it is.

  “I have to say that such a tradition is really stupid.

  “Scars contain a very rich amount of information, including the habitual use of hands, combat habits, the condition of internal injuries, the location of fatal weaknesses… and so on.

  “Believe me, as long as you learn to read scars and corpses…


  “You will be able to see through everyone’s weaknesses.”