Age of Evolution

“What’s that noise?”

Lin Zhen listened carefully and faintly heard some collision sounds and the hissing of the Insect Clan, coming from about a thousand kilometers away.

After listening for a while, Lin Zhen suddenly didn’t feel so rushed to leave anymore.

“Chris, check if there’s anything we didn’t notice happening in the Dimensional Universe.”

Soon, Chris replied: “Master, there is indeed something important happening. Tianci is broadcasting a video, showing the Insect Clan warriors forming a flesh-and-blood path by using their own bodies. They have forcibly broken through the Suspended Island and are getting close to our location.”

“Oh, let me see!”

Lin Zhen immediately logged into the forum of the Dimensional Universe, and it was indeed as he had suspected.

An endless number of Insect Clan warriors had formed a corridor of flesh and blood, sacrificing an unknown number of their brethren to open a passage less than a thousand kilometers from him.

“Ha! These insects really have a strong and tenacious willpower, they actually came up with this strategy of using a sea of insects to forcibly break through the Suspended Island. Is it really worth it for them to do this just to kill me? It seems that my life is quite valuable.”

Lin Zhen couldn’t help but gently slap his knee: “If I had known I was so valuable, I would’ve tied myself up and handed myself over to the Insect Clan, in exchange for some tens of billions of Cosmic Crystals, then my avatar wouldn’t have to work so hard.”

Lin Zhen’s avatar was still running the Star Shift store at the Kirin Holy Star, earning quite a lot. In four years, he had accumulated nearly 200 billion in interstellar wealth, still halfway from his goal of 400 billion.

However, the recent period was the peak of his income because the avatar had learned the secret technique of Flash Strike from Yama, the World King!

Flash Strike, as fast as lightning, can launch attacks at sub-light speeds.

Once the avatar learned it, it meant that Lin Zhen’s main body had also learned it, so now Lin Zhen’s hidden strength was quite considerable as well.

When the main body broke through, the avatar followed suit. Now, Lin Zhen’s avatar had a Star Power of more than 4,000. Although the avatar did not have the mutated black hole like Lin Zhen, under the influence of the Black Hole Power, the avatar’s Armorization degree was already very high. When Armorized, it almost turned into the shape of a Galaxy Beast, and one could even see what Xiao Nuan would look like when she grew up upon close inspection.

The avatar’s Innate Devouring had reached a terrifying level, and Late Stages of the Star System were all within its ability to devour.

Although it had not fully transformed into a Kirin yet, it had already reached halfway, so the avatar’s strength was not too far behind the main body’s.

Lin Zhen was now in high spirits, as a Martial Artist, you can have nothing, but you must not lack strength no matter what.

A Martial Artist without strength is worthless, and with great Star Power as backing, Lin Zhen, who newly mastered Time Stop, Spiritual Evil Spirit Cone, Spiritual Power Object Control Law, Spatial Slash, and Flash Strike, undoubtedly had immense strength.

Strength breeds confidence, which is true relaxation.

Watching the situation in the Dimensional Universe, Lin Zhen felt like he was watching a show.

“Oh! The Empire actually sent a rescue team for me? They will arrive within half a month? Let me check the time… they’ve been en route for 13 days, so that means the rescue team should be arriving soon?”

But in Tianci’s video, Lin Zhen did not see any appearance of the rescue team, and the Insect Clan’s troops hadn’t been attacked either.

“Hmph! The Insect Clan will break through these remaining kilometers in at most an hour. If I were to rely on them to save me, my bones would probably disintegrate.”

Lin Zhen cleaned himself up a bit. The four years here had made him look extremely unkempt, with a rough beard and tattered clothes, like a wild man.

He changed into a new set of clothes and used the upgraded middle-grade Artifact, Light Annihilation, to build himself a small house. Then, he conjured a ball of water vapor and took a thoroughly enjoyable shower.

Once he had cleaned himself up, there was still half an hour to spare. In half an hour, the Insect Clan would break through the meteorite belt.

As he was idly waiting for the Insect Clan to arrive, Chris suddenly informed him, “Master, someone is calling you in the Dimensional Universe. It’s John, the captain of the Fire Kirin Empire Royal Guards, and a Star System Level Nine Warrior. He claims to be the one who’s here to save you.”

“Oh! The one who’s here to save me? Hahaha! They really arrived just in time!”

“Since I have nothing else to do, let’s see how Captain John plans to rescue me under the current circumstances. If he can do it, I would actually be impressed.”

Soon Chris connected the call, and the image appeared…

“Uncle John, do you think we, who traveled to the ends of the earth to come to this Chaotic Star River to save the so-called national hero, count as heroes as well?”

A languid young man was leaning back in his chair, speaking to a man who appeared to be in his early thirties.

The man glanced back at him: “Zhang Yang, we’re no heroes, we’re just following orders, trying to save a pitiful person who’s about to die here.”

“Hmph! I can’t stand the way people praise him. If he’s so capable, why is he still trapped here by the Insect Clan? And why do we need to rescue him? If he had the ability, he could get out on his own, but instead, we have to humbly go and ask for help.”

John did not answer Zhang Yang, only furrowing his brow slightly.

“The Insect Clan has responded!”

John’s eyes suddenly lit up, and he immediately connected to the Insect Clan’s communication channel.

He was talking to the Locust Commander, whom he had met through Tianci’s introduction.

As soon as the Locust Commander appeared on the screen, he looked arrogant: “You’re John, right? I know why you’re here, but it’s impossible to save Lin Zhen. He’s seen us sacrifice billions of soldiers, and we’re about to break through the Suspended Island’s passageway. Now you want to take him away? That’s ridiculous! Are the billions of our Insect Clan soldiers supposed to have died in vain? Even the World King cannot do such a thing!”

John immediately put on a smiling face: “Respected Commander, we come with sincerity. You know that our emperor has given us the order to bring Lin Zhen home at all costs. As for your losses, we will certainly compensate you to the greatest extent. Just name your price, and as long as I have the authority, I won’t haggle.”

The Locust Commander’s eyes rolled: “Hmph! You think you can accept my offer? Fine, prepare a trillion Cosmic Crystals; we need to compensate the dead soldiers. Anything less than that is not worth discussing!”

John took a sharp breath, “Commander, that’s impossible. A trillion Cosmic Crystals are absolutely unacceptable. Even a hundred billion would be difficult.”

“Since you’re so insincere, there’s no need for further discussion!”

The Locust Commander immediately cut off the communication.

“Uncle John… didn’t the Emperor give you the authority to offer them 500 billion? I think if you negotiate earnestly, there might be hope to bring Lin Zhen back. After all, these insects are worthless in the Insect Clan Empire. They’re just asking for the sky, can’t we just bargain on the ground?”

John suddenly let out a cold laugh: “Zhang Yang, you’re my nephew, so I won’t hide it from you. It’s true that we need to bring Lin Zhen back, and the Emperor’s will must be carried out, but we can’t ignore the face of the Mechanical World King, can we?”

“Mechanical World King… He’s Ye Hua’s father. You mean…?” Zhang Yang immediately understood something.

“That’s right. The Mechanical World King wants Lin Zhen to not return, so I don’t want these negotiations to succeed. I can only give a hundred billion, but what I’ll bring back is a foolhardy Lin Zhen who will sacrifice himself in the end.”

“What should we do?”

“It’s easy. The video of me talking to the Locust Commander earlier was for everyone else to see. I’ve already secretly transferred a hundred billion Cosmic Crystals to him. All he has to do is to open a passageway for Lin Zhen. I’ll find a way to make Lin Zhen angrily go back and fight the insects to the death. When Lin Zhen dies, it won’t have anything to do with us. We agreed to let him go, but he couldn’t bear it and ruined the big plan by going back… Haha!”

“Uncle! I really admire you for coming up with this plan.”

“Learn from it slowly. You still have a lot to do. Oh… Lin Zhen has entered the Dimensional Universe through my request. I’ll go in and talk to him first, and we’ll discuss it later.”

Inside the Dimensional Universe, John saw Lin Zhen in a room. He didn’t have the wild appearance John had imagined, and it was obvious that he had changed into new clothes.

“This guy, knowing that we’re coming, even went so far as to change clothes, he really doesn’t know what’s coming.”

John chuckled: “Lin Zhen, I’m happy to meet you. I’m John, the captain of the Royal Guard, here to take you home. You’re free now.”

“Really? I appreciate your efforts, Captain John. Can I leave now?”

“Well, for your safety, I’ve had tough negotiations with the Insect Clan. It was not easy to persuade them to leave a passageway open for you so you can leave. You’ll have to follow their instructions soon; lower your head and walk out of there. Their passageway should be opening soon.”

“Is it that simple?” Lin Zhen asked.

“They might have some excessive demands, like hitting you a few times or something, but that’s not important. What’s important is that you’ll definitely come out alive. What’s a little humiliation? A real man can bend or stretch. When you achieve great success in your cultivation, we will take our revenge.”

Lin Zhen stared straight into John’s eyes while speaking through the Dimensional Universe, and the conversation was being broadcast to the other party’s spaceship screen.

Inside the Dimensional Universe, they could fight and brawl.

Seeing the contempt and mockery in John’s eyes, Lin Zhen suddenly sneered, his gaze sharp as a knife. A surge of spiritual power suddenly blasted towards John’s mind, and at the same time, he asked: “So, Sir John, what price did you pay to save me?”

John only felt a darkness before his eyes, completely unaware of what had happened. Instinctively, he said: “Save you? Who cares! I gave the Insect Clan some money to let you out and then sent you down the passageway they provided. They’ll be there to torment you, to play with you until you can’t stand it any longer and attack them first. Then your death will have nothing to do with me. Lin Zhen, you’ve offended Ye Hua; the Mechanical World King wants you dead, and you’re doomed!”

The next second, John’s consciousness returned, but he saw Lin Zhen nodding at him: “Alright, I accept your proposal.”

John just felt a little dizzy, but he didn’t realize what had happened; he even thought that Lin Zhen had agreed and nodded in satisfaction: “That’s good. We’ll be there soon. You should prepare to leave the Suspended Island and exit through the Insect Clan’s passageway. No matter how they treat you, just endure it. Don’t worry, we’ll take you away safely.”

Lin Zhen smiled and nodded: “I believe what’s going to happen next won’t disappoint you.”