Chapter 129: Night of the Blood Moon

Jiang Ying peeled an apple for her big brother, then sat by the hospital bed, tilting her head as she looked at him.

Jiang Lan glanced at the apple, momentarily dazed.

"Big bro, what are you thinking about?"

Jiang Lan snapped out of it and smiled slightly, "I was thinking about our second brother. He said next time he visits me, I should peel an apple for him."

Jiang Ying scrunched up her nose and frowned, "That guy, his skin is the thickest!"

Jiang Lan's smile didn't fade, "That's right. Among the three of us, his skin is the thickest."

At the mention of Jiang Kai, the siblings couldn't help but feel a sense of longing.

Ever since Jiang Kai joined the Destiny's Calling, their family's life had been getting better and better. Jiang Lan's illness was being treated, Jiang Ying had transferred to a new school, far away from the Huang family.

And now, the money in Jiang Ying's account was already enough to buy a villa by Tranquility Lake.

It all felt like a dream, yet it was real.

"That kid is all alone on Ghost Star. It must be tough for him," Jiang Lan murmured.

Jiang Ying also felt bad for her second brother, but given her big brother's condition, it was best not to worry too much. She changed the subject and said, "Big bro, second bro is clever. You don't have to worry about him. Oh, right! Why don't you check out some houses online? Once you're discharged, we can move into our new home."

Jiang Lan smiled slightly, picked up the new phone Jiang Ying had bought him, and opened a website.

"Alright, I'll take a look—", Before he could finish, Jiang Ying suddenly froze.

"What's wrong?", Jiang Ying leaned over, looking at Jiang Lan's phone.

At that moment, Jiang Lan was browsing the "Huaxia News App," and the homepage had several headlines, all related to the Destiny's Calling.

[The number of countries worldwide that have discovered teleportation arrays has risen to 55. Our nation is searching for them within our territories at full capacity. The military has increased the search reward to 2,000 guild points.]

[At the beginning of this month, smugglers from the island nation organized their largest smuggling operation yet, launching a full-scale attack on the newcomer trials in 23 cities of our country. The newcomer trial pass rate has dropped to 6.5%, hitting a historic low.]

[Following the discovery of the powerful combat profession 'Battle Dancer' in Country B of South Freedom Nation and the emergence of the new profession 'Pirate' in several Northern Occident countries, Country Y in Western Occident has now revealed the rare and powerful spiritual combat profession 'Sorcerer.' In the 'Golden Compass Profession Rankings,' Huaxia's Martial Disciples have fallen out of the global top five.]

[The Global Domination Tournament has yet to begin, but public zones have already turned into bloodbaths. The Huaxia military is forming an elite strike team, selecting the strongest talents from the 23-city War God Temple training camps to counter foreign blockades.]

A series of Destiny's Calling-related news reports made Jiang Lan momentarily forget he had been looking for real estate.

"It seems like the competition on Ghost Star is getting fiercer," Jiang Lan said softly, "Every time global competition intensifies, it means the threat from the Beast Gods is growing stronger."

Jiang Ying frowned in confusion, "Big bro, isn't there already enough Nuclear Soil? Why are they still fighting so desperately for it?"

Jiang Lan shook his head, "Enough? Silly girl, do you know how much Nuclear Soil a single Beast Tide consumes? It's often the accumulation of an entire city over several years."

"I read a report the other day. It seems the Beast Gods are getting even stronger, and Nuclear Cannons are becoming less effective against them."

"And high-level energy sources can only be extracted by Transcendents. Or rather, only Transcendents have the power to resist Beast Gods. That's why every country is going all out to increase the strength cap of their players."

"But the means to get stronger won't appear in previously occupied zones. They can only be found in new areas!"

After her big brother's explanation, Jiang Ying nodded with a somewhat understanding expression, "New areas… Like the public zones this time. And public zones are competitive zones, so fierce competition is inevitable."

Jiang Lan looked at his little sister with approval. This girl was smart, she understood things as soon as they were explained.

However, even though this kind of intense competition was still far from Jiang Lan and Jiang Ying's current lives, they could still feel a looming pressure.

If Huaxia were to lose in this competition, it would be bad news for every citizen.

———

Meanwhile, Jiang Kai was leading Hu Yan and Ruan Yu in leveling up on Taiping Mountain Path.

The reason they chose this location was, first, because of a type of pack-hunting beast called the Howling Moon Wolf Demon.

These wolf demons retained most of the features of regular wolves, but they walked upright on two legs and only appeared at night.

The Fire God Squad's target was a Warlord-level Howling Moon Wolf Demon.

A single Warlord-level Howling Moon Wolf Demon was usually accompanied by four or five wolf packs. Each pack was led by an Elite Wolf Demon and consisted of around 20 to 30 ordinary Wolf Demons, making for a total of over a hundred enemies.

This was the second reason they chose these wolf demons, very few teams would dare to provoke a pack of over a hundred Wolf Demons.

And as for a King-level Howling Moon Wolf Demon, no guild had managed to take one down yet. In fact, no guild had even proposed a plan to kill a Wolf King.

Clearly, this was an extremely tough challenge.

At this moment, with an hour or two until nightfall, the Fire God Squad had already locked onto their target and was setting up camp by a creek, 2,000 meters away from the wolf pack.

"Captain Kai, are you sure you can handle so many Wolf Demons?", Hu Yan tossed a few oddly shaped stones on the ground, observing them while asking, "You said back in the secret realm, you only survived because you got some kind of rapid recovery buff. But you don't have that buff now."

Ruan Yu, meanwhile, was using a few thick logs to set up a stable tripod. She then placed her Frost Shield on top, took out some side dishes, arranged three empty bowls neatly, and went to wash rice.

"Hu Yan, hurry up and get the fire going. We need it to cook," Jiang Kai casually flicked a Quenched Chasing Arrow at the firewood, igniting it instantly.

Before answering Hu Yan's question, Jiang Kai said, "It should be fine. My stats have improved a lot. Wolf Demons hit hard, but their defense is weak, and they're not resistant to fire. A first-tier Chasing Arrow can kill them in one shot, shouldn't be a problem."

"Hu Yan, what do the divinations say? Is this trip lucky or dangerous?", Jiang Kai wasn't too convinced by Hu Yan's fortune-telling, but seeing him so focused on his stones that he even forgot to light the fire, he got curious.

Hu Yan looked up, saw Jiang Kai staring at the stones, and answered, "Captain Kai, I wasn't divining our luck for this trip. I was checking my own romantic fate."

Jiang Kai nearly choked on his own breath.

He'd been talking about safety, and this guy was thinking about romance?

"You? Romance?"

"Captain Kai, romance isn't about looks. You're good-looking, but you're still single, aren't you? Besides, I've told you, if I clean up, I'm a certified old-school hottie."

From the creek, Ruan Yu suddenly added, "If Hu Yan cleans up, he's actually ridiculously handsome."

Just as the Fire God Squad finished dinner, an eerie red glow enveloped them.

Jiang Kai looked up, eyes narrowing slightly.

The pale yellow full moon in the sky had turned a deep, blood-red color.

"Blood Moon Night?", Hu Yan's eyes widened in terror, "Captain Kai, we need to run—NOW!"

"What's going on?" Jiang Kai asked in confusion.

"I don't know, but someone is killing the Howling Moon Wolf Demon's King-level BOSS. It's the King-level BOSS that activated Blood Moon Night. All Howling Moon Wolf Demons will transform into human form, and their strength will greatly increase!"

"Huh? Killing a King-level BOSS? There's no such news from the main city," Jiang Kai said in surprise.

During the Fishman Lord battle, the Black Tortoise Guild had to announce their actions in advance and publish the specific time so that others could come to help.

For all King-level battles, guilds are required to announce in advance.

However, this time, they had not received any notification.

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