Chapters [201-202]

Chapter 201. Dead Young Duke

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After the pain eased, Lu Ze breathed a sigh of relief. The fatigue from the war and the [Pocket Hunting Dimension] swept over. He immediately felt extremely tired and powerless.

He looked at the [Wind and Lightning Crystal Balls] in the space in his head. He pondered for a moment until he finally decided to cultivate tomorrow.

He needed a good rest first.

He should be in his beauty sleep now, but he was still pulled into the [Pocket Hunting Dimension] and then encountered three Aperture Opening State beasts that devoured [God Art Shards] at once.

In the past few days, he had only encountered one.

Why did so many suddenly appear together?

Lu Ze didn't get why and chose to give up thinking.

He didn't know much about the [Pocket Hunting Dimension] anyways. Instead of thinking about it, he might as well cultivate.

As for now, he would sleep first. He was going to sleep for a day and night!

Lu Ze closed his eyes, and his consciousness soon faded.

After some time, he heard a desperate knocking on the door. Then, a voice could be heard.

"Ze, are you here? Ze, are you here? Have you gotten up? We need to assemble!"

Lu Ze's consciousness slowly recovered. He realized it was Ye Mu's voice.

What?

What happened to a night of good satisfying sleep?

He looked outside. It was already very bright, but because he was too tired. He didn't feel he got enough sleep.

He felt like he was about to explode when Ye Mu woke him up.

Wasn't the war over?

What's the assembly for then?

Are we going to war again? It shouldn't be that quick. The blade demons didn't even have a base left.

The knocking sound persisted. Lu Ze's mouth twitched. He sleepily got up and stretched. His bones cracked instantly, making him feel satisfied.

He glanced at the door and walked over grunting. "Ye Mu, you bastard, if you don't give me an explanation, I'll let you taste what it's like to fly in the air."

If this guy didn't knock on the door, he could probably sleep for an entire day and night.

He opened the door and found that Ye Mu, Xavier, and Ian were waiting for him at the door. They were all wearing military uniforms.

Their injuries had disappeared, and they looked very awake and in good form.

Ye Mu saw Lu Ze's annoyed face and said awkwardly, "Something happened, Teacher Nangong sent us to tell you to join the assembly."

Lu Ze frowned. "What is it? Did the blade demons come again?"

Their smiles slowly faded. Ye Mu shook his head. "No."

Then, he said, "We're going to send off the dead warriors."

Ian explained, "The casualty list came out. Tens of thousands died this time and even a higher number of soldiers were injured. The injured can be cured but not the dead."

Lu Ze fell silent and nodded.

Then, Ye Mu said, "The memorial of soldiers will be presided by the troops they belong to. Right now, the heavily injured soldiers hadn't recovered yet. It would take a few days. We don't need to worry about this. Today, it's mainly for the death of a brigadier general and six colonels."

Lu Ze became dazed. "That many died?"

Colonels had powers that had reached an Aperture Opening State while brigadier generals had to be Mortal Evolution States.

A large number of Mortal Evolution and Aperture Opening States died?

Indeed, unless one was invincible on the battlefield, life was fragile.

Anyone could die, including him.

Ye Mu smiled bitterly. "More are heavily injured."

Even though Nangong Jing was extremely strong among those who reached Mortal Evolution State and was even near Planetary State, she still was heavily injured.

The opposition also had powerful beings.

Lu Ze nodded. "Do we go now?"

"Immediately, we just came back from treatment and took a shower. We'll go when the girls are ready. By the way, change into a military uniform.

Lu Ze nodded and got changed. When he came out, he saw that Ye Mu and the others were chatting on the couch.

Lu Ze sat down and asked curiously, "You guys healed that fast?"

They didn't have [Regeneration God Art], so how did they heal so fast?

Ye Mu showed a smile. "Major General Louisa's [Light God Art] had amazing healing effects. I feel I'm filled with power!"

Lu Ze became dazed. 'So Major General Louisa had [Light God Art]?'

No wonder she felt so amicable.

She seemed to have a much better temper than that alcoholic.

Lu Ze's mouth twitched. "I think you're filled with lust."

Who didn't know what this guy was thinking?

Ye Mu's smile stiffened. "Ze, how can you frame me like that? Am I that sort of person? Ask Xavier and Ian, am I that sort of person??"

Ye Mu looked behind and saw Xavier laugh and nod. "Yes."

Ian blushed and looked away.

Ye Mu: "…"

The atmosphere became silent.

At this moment, someone knocked on the door. Ye Mu quickly got up. "They must be ready, let's go."

They walked out and saw that Lin Ling and the rest were in military uniforms, waiting for them.

The four girls looked quite handsome, including Jessica who looked the girliest.

Lu Ze looked at the short-haired Lin Ling and had to admit she was most suitable for these military uniforms.

They gathered and headed to a huge church of the base.

Every main base of a planet would have this sort of church. Every high level that died in the war would be burned here, and their ashes will be sent to their family.

At this moment, there were already quite some people in the church, including the four young dukes and the high-level officers that participated in the war. All of them wore military uniforms, and the atmosphere in here was quite serious.

Seeing Lu Ze and the others enter, Nangong Jing waved at them. Lu Ze and his group headed over.

Nangong Jing patted Lu Ze and said, "It seems you recovered quite well? Had a good sleep?"

Lu Ze's mouth twitched, but he couldn't really tell her about the [Pocket Hunting Dimension] and being woken up today, so he nodded. "It's alright."

Nangong Jing nodded. "Good, don't sleep during the ceremony."

Lu Ze scratched his head. "I won't."

Ye Mu sighed. "I didn't think even a Mortal Evolution State would die in battle."

Although he knew that those who were Mortal Evolution States were still mortals, it was still a huge shock to him.

Nangong Jing said, "Even young dukes can die, Planetary, Star State, and even eight human saints have died in the past. Who cannot die?"

Lin Kuang said, "Yesterday, a young duke died."

"Yesterday??"

Lin Kuang's words shocked Lu Ze and the others.

A young duke died in battle yesterday??

Louisa flicked her golden hair. "Mhm, Lucian, the Thousand Shadow Young Duke, died in Geka system. The news should come out today or tomorrow."

The death of a young duke was huge news in the federation.

"Geka system battlefield… isn't that the main battlefield between humans and blade demons?"

If the spirit metal mine on the 25th planet was a super small scale, then the one on Geka system was a huge scale. New mines were constantly being discovered in that system.

The battle yesterday was merely a child's play compared to Geka system.

There, even Planetary States could die.

While they were deep in shock, all the higher authorities arrived. Lu Ze and the others stopped thinking.

This was too far-fetched for them. With their level of power, they were far from the level of going to Geka system battlefield.

Old Derry came to the front. There was an incineration chamber there with seven black coffins.

Old Derry said some eulogy before everyone saluted and played a cosmic soul resting tune. Their bodies would be burned as the tune was played. The ashes would be boxed, and then, it would be over.

Subsequently, there would be people taking it and sending it to their families. Their families would receive death benefits from the federation.

At the end of the ceremony, people left one after another.

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Chapter 202. The Corner of Federal Times

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Due to the spirit metal mine on the 25th planet, these high-level military officers need to be stationed on this planet until the new reinforcements can replace them.

Nangong Jing and the others needed to stay here too to prevent an attack from the blade demons.

Old Derry even sent a special squad to the black scaled beast hive to confirm if that was the only place with spirit metal.

If there were more, then it would be huge.

This special squad consisted of several seniors from the Federal University and prodigy barrack.

Precisely because of this, Wang Wenze and the rest didn't attend the funeral.

After the funeral, the high-level officials began discussing arrangements. Lu Ze and the others were new recruits, so they had no right to participate. Subsequently, they returned to their dorms.

…

As soon as they got back, Ye Mu suddenly screamed out. "The news is out!"

Everyone looked over curiously. "What news?"

"Instructor Lin just explained it before, isn't it? Thousand Shadow Young Duke Lucian died on Geka system battlefield? The news is about him."

Everyone was immediately interested. Lu Ze said, "Open the projector, and let's see."

Ye Mu nodded and opened the projector on his phone.

Immediately, a virtual screen appeared in the air. It showed the main page of the Federal Times. One of the top few headlines was marked red. It was about the death of Thousand Shadow Young Duke.

Clicking in, Lu Ze and the others read the report.

He was ambushed in a reconnaissance mission. Multiple blade demons of his own level surrounded and ambushed him. He wasn't able to escape, but he killed one before he died.

There was no clip of the battle as the mission involved penetrating deep into the enemy base. No battlefield journalist would be following.

There was also some information about Thousand Shadow Young Duke, including stories of his youth, his merits, as well as those who were close to him.

This was like Wikipedia back in the Earth era.

Everyone gasped.

Thousand Shadow Young Duke opened 360 main apertures at the age of 24. When he first started opening the secondary apertures, he reached the Peak Stage of Aperture Opening State and had Mortal Evolution State power.

Then, he performed exceptionally in a war and was appointed as a young duke. Because he has [Shadow God Art], he was called "Thousand Shadow Young Duke."

He was only 30 years old this year. He had opened 800 Apertures and broke through to Mortal Evolution State. His power was very strong.

Although he wasn't ranked very high among young dukes and couldn't compare with Nangong Jing, he was still very strong.

After all, Nangong Jing and Qiuyue Hesha were called the twin prodigies of the human race. They were very strong, even among the young dukes.

Tianyuan Qianhua sighed. "I didn't expect even such a prodigy would die."

Just from cultivation speed, it was godly speed to be able to open 70 Apertures a year at the Peak of Aperture Opening State. At least, she wasn't confident she could do this.

Even Lu Ze became dazed and thought this guy's growth diary was like a hack.

Were bosses all this strong?

At this moment, Ye Mu suddenly said, "I discovered that the partner of Thousand Shadow Young Duke is also a young duke."

Everyone: "…"

If this guy really became a young duke, he would be a lewd young duke.

Ye Mu saw that everyone looked strangely at him and immediately became unhappy. "Why are you all looking at me like that? I'm serious, look."

Ye Mu pointed at the relevant information concerning close relationships. The partner was a gentle, beautiful, and black-haired girl. Her name was called Chu Yunxin. She was a young duke too.

Lu Ze and the others glanced and nodded. They weren't too interested, but they ended up sighing because this young duke must be going through a tough time.

At this moment, Lin Ling who was browsing the news said, "Ze, this report seems to be about you!"

She pointed at a title at the bottom right corner. The title made Lu Ze's face look strange.

"Shocking! An eighteen-year-old 2nd lieutenant did this on the battlefield! Is this twisted humanity or a loss of morals?"

Shock factor! It had been two thousand years and this still existed!

Terrifying!

Lin Ling's eyes rolled and she joked, "Ze, just what did you do on the battlefield?"

Lu Ze rolled his eyes as well. "It might not necessarily be me."

Then, he clicked in.

The start was a clip with Lu Ze controlling a flaming tornado.

The report explained the war on the 25th planet, and it was all about what Lu Ze did, including how he captured a blade demon prodigy and discovered the spirit metal mine. Even his outstanding performance on the battlefield was included.

The writer said that his final attack was even approaching the Mortal Evolution State.

This immediately shocked quite a lot of people.

He was just 18 years old, and he had this much fun the first time he went to a battlefield?

Wasn't this absurd?

Although the report said that the military reward had not been decided yet, audiences could guess Lu Ze's rank would clearly rise!

After all, his contribution to the war was too great.

The comments were full of disbelief.

"Is this person really 18 years old? Such talent is the best even among young duke."

"Not necessarily the very top. His real power isn't this strong. He used everything to his advantage to achieve this effect. But, his talent is definitely higher than most young dukes."

"By the way… does anyone know how 2nd Lieutenant Lu Ze got the habit of planting blade demons upside down?"

"I want to know more why this guy can eat that happily on the battlefield?!"

"Do you think 2nd Lieutenant Lu Ze will be appointed as a young duke?"

"This little brother is really handsome!"

Lu Ze's eyes lit up. This comment won his heart the most.

This comment was liked more than tens of thousands of times. It was listed at the top. Clearly, his handsomeness was deeply ingrained in people's hearts.

Lu Ze scratched his head. "Finally, I can't hide how handsome I am now. I'm embarrassed."

Ye Mu, on the other hand, was a bit envious. "Ze's achievements reached the front page of Federal Times."

Of course, he was more envious that people were complimenting Lu Ze's looks. However, Ye Mu didn't want to say that.

Everyone else nodded.

Federal Times was the biggest media in the federation. Although it was in one obscure corner of the front page, one could tell that Lu Ze was noticed by the high-level officials of the federation.

Xavier spoke, "Lu Ze, you're viral now!"

Lin Ling's eyes flashed. Lu Ze was now famous in the entire federation, not just in a small place in the Telun system.

If he kept this progress speed, he would definitely become a young duke.

At the end of the report, Lu Ze's biography was also included.

There was a clip below which confused everyone.

Tianyuan Qianhua opened it. "What is this?"

Lu Ze was confused too. He didn't have any other clips?

The video played. It was in a barren ground filled with stone pillars. Lu Ze was looking happily at a yellow vine, showing the smile of a foodie.

Then, the barren earth monkey smashed the vine apart, and Lu Ze's face instantly became lifeless. Then, he started to beat the barren earth monkey up.

Lu Ze: "…"

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