True Solution of the Sword Dao
Chapter 380 - 356 - Change One

Chapter 380: 356 Chapter Change One

Phosphorus Structure Island, The First Section Island

A black-haired woman, clad in a tight-fitting brown leather armor, stood with one foot on a stone while holding a lit cigarette between her fingers, from which white smoke leisurely wafted out from her nose. Although she wore tight armor that exposed her thighs and arms, much like those seen in video games, every part of her that was bared was knotted with muscles, her skin dark and tough, covered in crisscrossing scars. There was not a hint of femininity to be found sexy.

The woman’s eyes were fixated on the direction of the Second Phosphorus Structure Island, her gaze cold and predatory, puffing on her cigarette breath by breath.

Behind her was a riverside clearing with a makeshift campsite that was neither too large nor too small. Between the white tents, several men dressed in the same brown leather armor huddled around a bonfire, cooking fish. The crackling sound of the fire would occasionally disrupt the silence. The fish, slightly burnt, kept on turning over the fire, steadily dripping fat.

"Boss, how much longer do we have to stay here? It’s almost been a month; when will the special forces from above come to replace us?" complained a man who was rolling a fish atop a stick over the fire.

The man opposite him said nothing, but swept a cautious glance at the black-haired woman standing to the side from the corner of his eye.

Breathing out another ring of smoke, the woman turned. "They should be arriving soon, what’s the rush?"

"Been stuck in this godforsaken place for so long, my anger’s flaring up," the man chuckled twice.

"Anger?" The woman’s face broke into a suggestive smile, "Go fuck your anger!"

Bang!!

The bonfire blasted explosively, fiercely engulfing the man who had just spoken. He screamed in pain, rolling on the ground as red flames spontaneously ignited over his body.

The woman stood in front of what remained of the bonfire, now reduced to mere ashes and wisps of smoke.

"Boss..." Another man stood up nervously, speaking in a low voice.

"Get up; stop faking it," the woman said impatiently, watching the man rolling on the ground. "Head to the Second Section Island immediately; someone has set up anti-detection devices there. Scout out the situation."

The man who had been rolling on the ground looked disheveled, his face flashing with anger for a fleeting moment. After struggling on the ground for quite a while, the fire on his body was completely extinguished, but not without leaving multiple burn wounds. This was his first time witnessing the style of the legendary Bloody Knight Juan. Not being an aggressive power user, he had little defense against a direct attack, possessing only slightly higher resilience than a normal person.

"Alright, I’ll go now," he answered in a low voice.

The burn injuries rapidly began to fade from his skin, and the once charred flesh rapidly returned to its original color at a visibly swift pace. In less than a minute, all the burns on his body had completely healed, and aside from some tattered clothes, he looked the same as before.

"Hmph!" He snorted coldly, then turned and left, his figure quickly disappearing into the woods. "Knight Level, I’ll be there soon. Juan, just you wait!" he silently vowed, clenching his fists tightly.

Previously, he and another man were responsible for separate sections of the Phosphorus Structure Island. However, as the heretics and that unknown powerful being arrived, they were forced to contract their defenses and gather at the First Section Island where Juan was. Today was their first day together, and he hadn’t expected Juan to turn hostile so abruptly. If only his strength matched hers...

**************

The Third Phosphorus Structure Island

Squeak~~

Atop a tall coconut tree, a section of a metal antenna painted grey-black rotated slowly. A cable ran from it directly to a laptop computer below.

In front of the computer, a bald black man sat stroking his chin, deep in thought.

"Our detectors cover the entire Volcanic Lake; if anyone enters, we’re bound to spot them. Nevertheless, it’s impossible to guarantee that no special power users will appear. That unknown force hasn’t made a move for some reason, just biding their time," the black man said gravely.

"Captain, should I take the guys and check it out?" a slender brown-haired woman lounging against the coconut tree behind him said casually.

"No need, Juan is undoubtedly more anxious than I am," the black man shook his head, "Besides, our orders are to stand by and observe, no matter what happens. The treasures of the Earth Dragon Den aren’t easy to snatch. I have a premonition that something big might happen in these next few days."

"Boring," the woman muttered under her breath, saying no more.

***************

The Second Phosphorus Structure Island

Lin Fei led eleven Bat members, standing in the middle part of the sectional island. Facing them were a man and a woman dressed in white military uniforms.

Lin Fei carefully sized up the two individuals who had come forth to greet him.

The man, with his blond hair and blue eyes, had relatively regular features, his brows perennially furrowed, giving off a very serious and rigid demeanor. His name was Ban, which could be a code name or his real name, but that was irrelevant.

The woman appeared to be quite mature, probably around fifty years old, the crow’s feet at the corner of her eyes and the lines on her forehead faintly visible. She looked mature and steady, but her gaze towards Lin Fei was somewhat flickering and doubtful. Her name was Annie, and she had been Ban’s long-time partner.

"Welcome, First Councillor, to your personal visit," Ban said formally, bending in a bow. "We are members of the Bronze Titan troops under Lord Griffin. Have you received the information about the Earth Dragon Den?"

Lin Fei nodded without any unnecessary words. "What’s the situation now?"

"The other two powers have held their forces back. Our appearance has significantly alerted them. Everything else is normal. The anti-detection jammer has been installed completely. With our technology, nobody can be aware of our presence without our knowledge," Ban said confidently.

"Good," Lin Fei nodded. "As I’m sure you’re aware, I’ve descended here for a specific purpose. I won’t elaborate further. Give me a detailed briefing on the Earth Dragon Den."

Ban nodded and gestured invitingly with his hand, leading a group of people who surrounded Lin Fei to a paper map spread out in the middle of the camp.

Annie stepped forward proactively.

"I’m more familiar with this area; I’ll explain the dangers of the Earth Dragon Den," she offered.

Standing in front of the map, she gently flipped the overlay attached to the map, revealing its backside: a clear three-dimensional cross-section appeared before everyone.

This was a conical sectional diagram in color.

"This is the cross-sectional diagram of the Earth Dragon Den," Annie pointed to a red horizontal area at the top and explained, "This is the First Layer–the Earth Fire Ant swarm. Because the Earth Dragon Den we’ve chosen was once possessed by a Fire System Earth Dragon calling himself Baladis, in the outermost layer, there are Earth Fire Ants that have mutated under the influence of his Fire System Aura. This is a common practice for all Fire System Earth Dragons. They are not hard to deal with, but the problem lies in their seemingly endless numbers. We must breach their defenses quickly and cannot afford to be dragged down. Each Earth Fire Ant possesses D-level strength and can inflict close-range heat damage; firearms hardly kill them."

Lin Fei’s brow furrowed slightly. He hadn’t expected the First Layer to be so troublesome.

This Earth Dragon Den’s importance was not just about the ownership of treasures, but also tied to the secrets of false True Force. The last piece of information he got about the green seed pointed to Phosphor Island, here. He didn’t believe that in this small place another unknown and strange location would coincidentally appear. It was very possible that this Earth Dragon Den was also related to the secret of the False True Force seed.

And the biggest problem was that his current strength was merely the power of his descent, naturally not at the Peak B-level approaching A-level, but only at the lower B-level. That is to say, he was not much different from Gabi, the golden bats around him.

Annie continued to explain.

"Then the Second Layer is the Fire Snake Nest, which is estimated to contain tens of thousands of Fire Snakes. These creatures are quite troublesome to deal with. Although they’re inherently fragile, they can disperse poisonous gas and launch long-range venom attacks. Their venom is extremely corrosive and only defensive ability users at the D-level Peak might be able to withstand it. The Third Layer is a vast underground cave that is hard to imagine existing under a small island in the East Pacific Ocean. Such geological structures shouldn’t exist here, yet they do. Our exploration ended there; the last time Lord Monica entered the Third Layer, there was no further news of her. None of our equipment or abilities were able to receive even the slightest signal there. That’s all the general information we know."

Lin Fei quietly observed the cross-sectional map, with the entire Earth Dragon Den shaped like a funnel, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. The top showed three levels marked with different colors, but the bottom had a large blank space unmarked. If it wasn’t for the semi-True Force and that slight premonition in his heart, he wouldn’t have come here to participate in the operation personally.

As he was deep in thought,

Annie looked at him with some confusion again while gently touching the back of Bender’s hand beside her. An invisible wave of mental energy immediately connected between the two.

"What’s wrong, Annie?" asked Ban, without changing his demeanor. He knew Annie was the kind of person who wouldn’t fail to see the bigger picture. Making such a discreet act of telepathy in front of the council member was definitely indicative of a reason.

Sure enough, Annie whispered telepathically, "My Energy Detection Ability tells me that the incarnation of the First Councillor in front of us is only at the level of B-level beginner. Isn’t that strange? Normally, even the weakest A-level powerhouses would have the strength of B-level Peak when they descend."

Ban replied unconcernedly, "As one of the council members, if the First Councillor has concealed his strength, it’s not something you would be able to detect. Don’t think too much about it."

Annie felt somewhat relieved, "Perhaps it’s just my lack of ability," she said, nodding slightly. But there was still a hint of doubt in her mind.

Lin Fei was, of course, unaware of their silent communication. He pondered carefully.

"Since both Lord Griffin and Lady Serpentress have handed over their command to me, I will not be polite. We currently have three B-level powerhouses, including myself: me, Ban, and Gabi. If nothing goes wrong, we should be the strongest force on the island. Since the Earth Dragon Den can kill B-level powerhouses, it is very likely to have a strong defensive system to ensure that the explosive strength of a B-level powerhouse before death does not destroy the entire Phosphorite Island and the Earth Dragon Den. The current issue is that the other two families are biding their time, waiting for us to pave the way, probably expecting one of the parties to act first. However, they didn’t anticipate our sudden arrival. Now we have two choices. The first is to clear the remaining forces on the island, which is difficult. B-level powerhouses aren’t like C or D-levels; without significantly surpassing their strength, it’s very hard to completely kill their leaders. So we reject that option.

The second is to directly enter the Earth Dragon Den for exploration. Regardless of their arrival, if we manage to obtain the treasure before they interfere and control it, we can use the power of the treasure to strengthen ourselves and eliminate them."

"Council Member, can’t we wait like they are and see who loses patience first?" Annie asked, puzzled.

"We have other plans that require our full attention; we can’t afford to be tied down here by a portion of our strength and time. Moreover, the treasure of the Earth Dragon Den must be acquired as quickly as possible, otherwise it’s pointless." What Lin Fei was referring to was the struggle over Elisa’s Gate. The purpose of seizing the treasure from the Earth Dragon Den was to prepare for the battle over Elisa’s Gate. If they were too late, it wouldn’t mean much.

"If that’s the case, then I have no objections," said Annie, no longer speaking. (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets, Monthly Tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)