Life Game In Other World
Chapter 1408: Dark Lizard! (Big - , please vote for monthly tickets)

Chapter 1408: Chapter 1408: Dark Lizard! (Big Chapter, please vote for monthly tickets)

Denno City’s Southern Wasteland

The old jeep, stained with bright red blood, trembled as it drove along the vast wilderness road.

A gloomy sky hung overhead, illuminating the twisted and bizarre pitch-black trees on either side of the road. These trees had no branches or leaves, and their limbs intertwined like roots in the sky, forming a black cloud hovering above the ground.

The wind rustled through these towering black clouds, and a sharp, melodic sound echoed deep within the woods, akin to the hiss of some animal or the singing of a young maiden.

A man in a brown T-shirt had his hand on the jeep’s patinaed steering wheel, paying no attention to the sounds from the woods on either side. He puffed on a cigar and glanced at the looming massive city ahead as the vehicle stopped at a crossroads.

A bloodstained signpost, seemingly made of ancient entwined branches, stood at the junction.

The signpost pointed in two directions, one directly ahead of the jeep, marked ’South Gate,’ and one to the jeep’s right front, marked ’East Gate.’

Beneath the signpost was an old stele, with words written in a bright red, blood-like script that read, [Do Not Touch the Sign Post]

The man glanced at the strange signpost and the city looming behind it.

Then he turned around, looking back in the direction he had come from.

At the end of his field of view, the fog-like grey sky covering the entire wasteland seemed to be quickly becoming ’dark,’ spreading in this direction at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The man chuckled softly, withdrew his gaze, glanced once more at the city ahead, turned the steering wheel, and started the vehicle, heading towards the road on the right.

——

Denno City

The evacuating crowds increased, the people outside the window like fleeting shadows.

"Cough—"

He Ao withdrew his gaze, covered his mouth, and coughed once.

This time, his cough was much heavier than before.

"Mr. Paxiu?" The pilot driving in front heard the noise from the back, turned around, glanced at He Ao in the rearview mirror, and asked softly.

"It’s nothing," He Ao glanced at the palm of his hand smeared with purple-glowing blood and replied hoarsely, "Just keep going forward, you can go a bit faster."

Just now, the golden serpent summoned by the South Gate City Defense Army Commander could exert B-level strength in a short time, which was evidently the basis for the commander’s confidence.

Therefore, after He Ao took down the golden serpent in seconds, the opponent’s mentality changed dramatically.

And to eliminate the golden serpent, He Ao used a bit of power, which further exhausted his body.

Of course, the reason He Ao wanted the pilot to speed up wasn’t just his bodily issues; it was also because the South Gate Commander had already issued the order to close the gates.

Although closing the city gates required a certain process and consumed time, the time left for He Ao to exit the city was limited.

He must leave Denno City before the gates were completely closed.

"Okay." The pilot nodded lightly upon hearing He Ao’s words.

He lifted his head, looked at the dense evacuating convoy and crowd in the distance, and the large gate faintly visible behind the crowd, "Mr. Paxiu, hold on tight."

He suddenly floored the gas pedal, driving forward at an even faster speed.

"Cough." In this violent jolt, He Ao coughed lightly again.

In his current physical state, he couldn’t support himself to use ordinary transportation to reach the Slorx Grand Canyon.

He needed to find a much faster ’transport.’

The pilot’s flying skills were good, and his driving speed was also skilled.

As He Ao pondered, the speeding off-road vehicle weaved through the traffic, closing the distance to the towering city gate.

Buzz——

At this moment, He Ao’s wristband vibrated; it was a call from Vigina.

Whoosh——

A massive mecha pierced through the void, gliding over the top of the off-road vehicle.

He Ao answered the call.

"Paxiu, the intelligence officer we sent out has returned," Vigina’s voice quickly echoed in He Ao’s ear, but compared to the previous busyness, this time her voice was filled with some ’puzzlement’ and ’worry.’

Upon hearing this tone, He Ao realized that the situation might change.

Sure enough, Vigina continued almost without a pause, "He said he found no traces of the Kopes Mining mercenary troop operating on the wasteland."

Upon hearing this, He Ao paused slightly and did not respond immediately.

On the other end of the line, Vigina’s voice carried a long perplexity and confusion, "Did the Kopes Mining Mercenary Corps enter the canyon long ago? Or did they bypass our anticipated route? Or did we speculate incorrectly? Is Kailuo not a corporate spy for Kopes Mining? Isn’t he here to secure interests for Kopes Mining?"

As Vigina spoke, everything they had encountered and all the clues from the beginning of the investigation until now flashed rapidly through He Ao’s mind.

Pieces of unrelated, even seemingly odd information connected in his mind, places that previously didn’t link now seemed to have a plausible explanation.

However, realizing all this did not bring him any joy.

"I’m afraid the worst-case scenario has occurred," He Ao glanced at the crowd outside the window, his gaze fully sinking, "Vigina, we need more people, we need to evacuate the crowd faster."

"Huh?" Vigina was stunned.

At that moment, the speeding off-road vehicle braked sharply, the speed noticeably slowing down.

The pilot driving looked ahead, seeing that the roads, whether going or returning, were clogged with dense ’evacuating’ crowds.

Even with excellent driving skills, it was difficult to continue moving forward through this crowded mass.

"Here’s good enough," He Ao, listening to the phone, pushed open the car door quickly and spoke to the pilot driver, "The situation has changed, you head back first."

With that, he got out of the car directly, his figure flashing, disappearing into the dense crowd.

"Okay."

The pilot subconsciously nodded, watched He Ao’s figure disappear into the crowd, then turned around to head back.

Then, driving back, he paused slightly, scratching his head, feeling like something was amiss.

······

Meanwhile, on the other side, He Ao’s figure rapidly navigated through the crowd, his voice brisk over the phone, "Kailuo’s goal may not be the rare earth mine in the Slorx Grand Canyon."

"In that case, he’s not a corporate spy for Kopes Mining?" Vigina was somewhat confused.

"No, our initial assumptions were not wrong," He Ao quickly said, "he is indeed a commercial spy for Kopes Mining,"

As he spoke, he glanced at the increasingly close South Gate of Denno City.

At this moment, the South Gate seemed to have been sealed, and the massive city gates had begun to slowly close.

Meanwhile, within the Jar City outside the gate, vague gigantic ’silhouettes’ could faintly be seen.

Seeing this scene, He Ao slowly spoke, resuming his previous line of thought, "Being a spy for Kopes Mining, even if he helped the group gain control of the rare earth mine, how much benefit could he gain from it?

"Kailuo is already the second-in-command at Kewort Group. Taking over as the CEO of Kewort Group’s Denno branch is just a matter of time. The conditions offered by Kopes Mining may not be better than this position.

"Of course, if Kopes Mining were ’generous’ enough, he could still work for them, but it seems that Kopes Mining hasn’t provided an enticing enough offer."

This was the ’concern’ He Ao had before. Theoretically, if Kopes Mining offered high enough conditions, Kailuo might continue to serve them.

Theoretically, Kailuo ’working’ for Kopes Mining would be the most plausible explanation for his recent actions.

But the truth seems to point to another ’situation,’ that Kailuo is not working for Kopes Mining.

Vigina seemed to understand He Ao’s words, and whispered, "You mean?"

"He could have remained silent, pretending he had no ties to Kopes Mining, working hard to succeed as the CEO of Kewort Group, but he chose to act, even kidnapping the Denno branch CEO," He Ao leaped onto a low building, looking again at the distant South Gate, hoarsely said, "This indicates he is craving a greater benefit."

His figure swiftly shuttled between buildings, "Going to the Slorx Grand Canyon is probably not for the ’mine,’ but for the ’Dark Lizard.’ Even though he can’t control it, he can influence the Dark Lizard to assist in achieving his ’goal,’ which is much easier than seizing a mine."

"His pace may be swifter than we imagined," Vigina realized, "The Dark Lizard’s actions could very well be ahead of schedule. I’ll coordinate more manpower right away to expedite the evacuation."

"Good." He Ao nodded, leaping over the tall buildings.

——

South Gate · Jar City

The plump commander sat inside the spacious mecha cockpit, looking at the officer in the monitor in front of him, "Is everyone here?"

"All here, sir!" the officer immediately replied.

"Good, good," the commander glanced from his scarred, bloody hand to the other screen showing the slowly closing city gate, rubbing his own protruding belly, "Once that bastard comes in, fire together with those on the city wall, don’t save ammunition,"

His voice grew louder, laced with bitter fury, "Burn him to cinders! Obliterate him!"

"Sir," the officer in the monitor glanced at the commander, "do we really have to close the gate? The Dark Lizard they talk about is likely a myth, just fearmongering. Such a massive thing moves, and our radar might not detect it?!"

"What’s this, taking money from the Kewort Group and starting to think for your new master?" The commander gave the officer a cold glare and chuckled bitterly.

"Sir, I am absolutely loyal to you." The officer immediately declared.

"Ha," witnessing this, the commander sneered, "You think I want to close the gate? It’s those cowards in the City Government insisting on closing it, and since I told them it needs closing, it has to be closed, just once,"

He glanced at the closed gate, "Besides, who says that a closed gate can’t be opened?"

"Sir, your wisdom shines!" the officer complimented immediately, then looked around at the somewhat quiet surroundings, puzzledly asking, "However, sir, will that ’Paxiu’ really leave the city through here? We’ve closed the gate."

"That guy specifically asked me for an exit permit," the commander chuckled bitterly, "he must be intending to exit the city. With us closing the gate, it will force him to speed up, trying to leave before the gate closes, which is precisely our chance."

As he spoke, his gaze turned icy, grinding his teeth and saying, "Seeing me close the gate, he must think I’ve succumbed to his threats, making him even more reckless. We’ll take advantage of his negligence to reduce him to scrap instantly."

The officer in the monitor did not question why ’the City Government forced the gate closure’ turned into ’Paxiu’s threat led to closure.’

He only bore a flattering smirk, standing straight and loudly proclaiming, "Sir’s strategy is peerless, foresight unmatched, truly the war god of our era!"

"Stop the bootlicking," the commander sneered, "go and attend to your own tasks."

After finishing, he directly disconnected the call.

He lifted his head, gazing at the steadily closing city gate, a slight smile tugging at his lips.

It’s unclear whether he imagined the scene of Paxiu being torn to pieces, or if the officer’s sycophantic words hit the right note.

——

"The evacuation is proceeding smoothly. Although the City Cabinet hasn’t yielded, the City Police Bureau chief has privately provided manpower assistance, aiding in the evacuation,"

Vigina’s voice echoed on the phone.

"Hmm," He Ao stood atop a towering building, glancing at the desolate streets below. In front of him stood the South Gate of Denno City, "I see, the evacuation is going well."

"However, although the City Government is not cooperating with the evacuation," Vigina continued, "they have activated the equipment to ’expel’ the Dark Lizard. If everything goes well, the Dark Lizard should not cause trouble. Once it calms down, we can move to capture Kailuo."

He Ao lightly leaped from the building, his form gliding through the sky akin to a soaring bird, landing in front of the South Gate, he calmly said, "Let’s hope for smooth sailing."

At this moment, in front of him, the grand and gigantic city gate was mostly closed. The City Defense Army soldiers on both sides closing the gate glanced questioningly at He Ao.

He Ao slowly advanced toward the gate.

The soldiers on either side watched him but did not interfere or stop him, allowing him to pass through the inner gate into Jar City.

In the gray firmament above, the fiery sunset drooped toward the edge of the sky.

"Hahaha, this guy has come in!!!"

In the void, a faintly mad and illusory laughter seemed to echo.

A massive red mecha emerged from the corner of Jar City, and a dense array of Seraphim Mechs floated out, aiming their cannons at He Ao.

He Ao gazed at the red mecha, at the not yet completely closed outer gate behind it, and at the dark twisted wilderness beyond the gate’s gap.

In this instant, his expression suddenly darkened.

"He’s scared, hahahaha!" Intense laughter erupted under the dim sky, "Fire! Kill him!"

On each mecha’s cannon mouth, brilliant radiance gathered.

However, He Ao’s gaze did not linger on the red mecha; instead, he observed the slowly closing city gate behind the mecha.

Cold gusts swept over the earth and sky from behind, and the radiant red mecha suddenly trembled, as if grasped by an immense hand in the wind, then squeezed mightily.

Boom——

Fierce waves of fire intertwined with cold winds, roaring like a storm, whipping through He Ao’s hair and garments, fluttering turbulently in this wind.

The terrifying pressure from the Higher Being, like burning majestic mountains, swiftly spread forth.

This is truly an Angel Tier monster.

He Ao raised his head, gazing at the sky, where purple light filled his eyes.