Chapter 1103: Calm Before the Storm & Mysterious Forest

After thinking it over, Bai Zemin realized that things were not as easy as they seemed to be so he quickly got his head together and did not let his imagination run wild.

While it was true that it would most likely be easier for him to find the door of universal darkness law and universal light law compared to the door of universal space law since he had Shadow-type skills as a base, the reality was that to gain the Manipulation-type skill of any law Bai Zemin would first need to completely open the door to that law.

Furthermore, considering that to evolve Soul Manipulation was required to have different types of Manipulation-type skills evolved up to the Fourth Order... The time needed to accomplish all that would by no means be small.

Bai Zemin had just a little over 5 years before the invaders from The Golden Domain launched their strongest attack ever, one that the Soul Record would have no way of stopping with the support of the strongest soul evolvers today. He was not arrogant enough to think that in that limited amount of time he could learn so many Manipulation-type skills and upgrade them to the Fourth Order while focusing on leveling up and helping his loved ones.

Therefore, even though Bai Zemin knew it wouldn't be a simple task, he still stuck with his initial thought; stealing the Manipulation-type skills from those who already had them.

"Forget it, there's no use thinking about it now." He sighed.

"What are you talking about?" Lilith and Fire Sorrow looked at him perplexed.

"Ah?" Only then did he realize he had just said that out loud. He quickly jumped to his feet and said acting calmly, "I was thinking about the other factions but since there's no point in thinking about that for now I decided to focus on what I have right next to me.

"Invading Russia isn't it?" Lilith nodded as if she already expected him to say those words.

"That''s right." Bai Zemin nodded and said in a serious voice, "It's time to expand. Besides, I also have to avenge all my fallen troops and fulfill the promise I made with Evangeline back then."

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After leaving the Collector's Pocket World along with everyone else, Bai Zemin was still happy after discovering Kali and his little sister Meng Qi's improvements in terms of controlling their two mechas.

Meng Qi was already strong to begin with, but Kali was different. Although the girl's wheelchair was like a mini fortress, she naturally wasn't happy sitting there all day. Now she would not only be able to fight and improve her level but also be able to accompany Bai Zemin to different battlefields instead of staying at home drinking tea or being bored doing nothing.

When Bai Zemin met Wu Yijun the girl advanced with calm steps, and with a happy little smile she hugged him in front of everyone without worrying about her image or her dignity in case she was rejected.

To everyone's surprise, however, Bai Zemin not only did not gently push her away but actually hugged her back.

"You have worked hard... Thank you for everything, and I'm sorry for always throwing the weight of these things on you." Bai Zemin said before he gave a sigh.

Actually, Wu Yijun was not as surprised as the others and happily received his words.

Although it was hard to say that Bai Zemin was in love with her, he certainly did not feel as much rejection as before. Wu Yijun had realized this the night he had accompanied her home before giving her the Collector's Pocket Watch; why else would he be nervous otherwise?

"Even the hardest stone in the world will eventually develop a crack in its armor after the constant insistence of water." Sun Ling smiled in delight as she looked at the happy smile on her girl's exhausted face.

If it were any other man, Sun Ling would definitely not allow her daughter, who was no different from a princess in terms of status, to practically crawl around like a worm for the sake of getting at least a little closer to the man she loved. However, even Sun Ling admitted in her heart that the way Bai Zemin treated her was not bad at all and in fact he had made his intentions clear from the very beginning.

It was her daughter who persisted and insisted despite the difficulties.

Moreover, Bai Zemin was undoubtedly an outstanding young man. Sun Ling had met many men and seen all sorts of people in her life, her own husband Wu Keqian was outstanding in practically everything... but when compared to the young man her daughter had fallen for, there was no room for comparison.

Chen He couldn't help but make a funny face when he heard the words Wu Yijun's mother said... If that was the case then why didn't the stone he had been trying to conquer for a decade show the slightest crack? Were his water (charm) and the strength with which he pushed forward (efforts) not enough at all?

Chen He looked at the stone that he had wanted to conquer during his long crush and the expression on his face grew a little.

Shangguan Bing Xue's face did not show the slightest of emotions as she stared at the hugging duo. However, how could Chen He who had been her friend for as long as he could remember not notice the small flame of jealousy shining in those cold blue eyes? Chen He did not know whether to laugh or cry as the water of others had managed to crack the stone without even trying.

Shangguan Xinyue approached her daughter and whispered softly, "You see? That's why I told you that you should stop being this stubborn. Just accept the fact that you won't be able to have our Little King all to yourself okay? Let mommy help you, and between the two of us we'll surely... Bing Xue, wait a moment and don't draw your sword first. Let's talk."

Chen He looked to his left and noticed that there was someone else with the same hidden bitterness as him. This person should not have such emotions but human beings could not rule over their emotions, so instead of judging her he simply showed her a smile of sympathy.

One day later, Bai Zemin had finally caught up with everything that had happened in his faction and in the world.

The changes in his faction were to be expected since he had been the one to build the path. Still, Bai Zemin was very surprised when he learned that currently over 30% of his troops had mutant mounts.

One needed to know that the Transcendent faction had over 2 million soul evolvers at present so 30% of that number represented around 600 thousand mutant beasts tamed to become mounts; this was no small number!

Although over 200 thousand of those mutant beasts were descendants of the first group of tiger cubs that Bai Zemin saved from starving to death when he took over the Sky Destroyer, being able to tame around 400 thousand mutant beasts in just a few months proved that Bai Zemin's choice to create specialized groups for the task was not wrong.

Over 600.000 tamed mutant beasts meant that over 600.000 soul evolvers had companions to help them in battle! Although over 70% of those 600 thousand mutant beasts were nothing more than beasts below level 25 that were still growing, the other 30% were composed of First Order and above mutant beasts; there were even 9 Third Order mutant beasts that formed blood-based Soul Contracts with some members of the Transcendent faction!

"Since you ordered to prepare the troops to invade Russia I have been paying more attention to their movements. Besides, Evangeline also helped me organize some things." Wu Yijun presented Bai Zemin a small folder and pointed to a large world map on the table, "In the folder I gave you is all this information and more. The red dots are where there are large gatherings of humans, meaning the greatest number of enemies. The yellow dots represent important areas for the Russians such as commercial routes and hunting areas."

In addition to red and yellow, there were also small circles marked with different colors, and there was even a zone marked with a large black circle and a sign of question mark in the center.

Looking at where Bai Zemin's eyes fell, Wu Yijun quickly explained: "The blackish-purple are points that we need to capture at any cost to weaken the enemy and lose the least amount of troops possible. Nuclear launch base, satellite control base, technology development centers, military production factories, laboratories, etc."

Attacking an enemy's territory was not only about proving which fist was stronger but also about playing smart; this was particularly true for the attacking side. A poorly executed attack would end in the wiping out of the army and colossal loss of resources invested for the invasion.

For example, one nuclear missile was enough to annihilate an entire army. Therefore, this was a threat that needed to be cleared as soon as possible.

Bai Zemin thanked Wu Yijun for her hard work and after exchanging a few more words pointed his finger toward the large circle with the question mark in the center, "What is this?"

Discussing this topic, Wu Yijun's face became serious: "About that... It's really strange, no one knows how it started since it was literally out of the blue and if it weren't for our satellite coincidentally focusing on that area we wouldn't have noticed it at all until much later in the future."

It turned out that about 23 days ago, exactly one week after Bai Zemin entered the Collector's Pocket World, a large forest stretching for what seemed to be a few thousand kilometers grew as if by magic near the center of the Russian country.

It was impossible to tell clearly but looking at the photo Wu Yijun had prepared beforehand he could faintly see the huge green and purple vegetation growing in a large patch of land. Unfortunately, a satellite photo was not enough to get much information regarding this forest.

Bai Zemin narrowed his eyes and his pupils sparkled as a name automatically popped into his head.

"... Did you find something?" Wu Yijun asked in a low voice as she realized that he was thinking about something even though it was only for a brief moment.

After watching him silently for so long, Wu Yijun was already familiar with Bai Zemin's mannerisms.

"... I am not sure yet. For now it is nothing more than a theory, but it will help in the meantime." Bai Zemin put the folder away in his storage ring before gently stroking Wu Yijun's hair, "Thank you for everything. Remember you don't need to restrict yourself with anything, whatever you want you can take without asking anything to anyone."

Of course, Wu Yijun understood that he was talking about rewards or treasures therefore she had no wishful thinking. However, she was pleased and happy with the subtle changes he was having for her. She definitely wasn't going to give up, much less now that he was finally starting to notice her and appreciate all her hard work the way she hoped in her heart he would.

She told him what she knew about the rest of Earth, which wasn't much.

Actually, everything had been quiet during this month. Even the European faction no longer seemed to show any great movements nor did they continue to expand northward. On the contrary, they focused heavily on the south and strengthened their forces there to the point where over 70% of their forces seemed to have gathered near the coast.

Things in America seemed to be going better now, and although the losses suffered during the war against the dragons were still making them suffer it was only a matter of time before they recovered and became even more powerful. After all, they had gained countless treasures; the bodies of the dragons were treasures in themselves!

After saying goodbye to Wu Yijun and telling her to get ready for tomorrow, Bai Zemin immediately went to find Shangguan Bing Xue to help him gather a small troop of 20.000 men for tomorrow.

This time he would definitely begin his counterattack against the Russians; and even if god himself appeared in the sky he would not be able to stop him.

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