Stronger with More Jobs-Chapter 498 - 246: She Is the Drought Fiend, So Who Is Jiang Wei!?

Chapter 498: Chapter 246: She Is the Drought Fiend, So Who Is Jiang Wei!?

Although the black cities at the bottom of the map can roughly be seen as simplified modern cities,

their distribution and combination, along with that black line across the ice field’s edge, exude a sense of indescribable eeriness and heaviness.

"Master." Wei Banmeng couldn’t help but speak, her voice full of inquiry, "What place’s map is this? The bottom seems to be the distribution of modern city clusters, but the white area above and this line, I’ve never seen such markings."

She voiced the doubt everyone’s been having.

Yan Shouzheng’s gaze fell on that winding black line, and he spoke word by word.

"Arctic Front."

"Front?!"

Wei Banmeng and the others were taken aback.

The battles on the Destiny Ghost’s front lines were fought in cities or the wilds, weren’t they?

Could there be a front line at the Arctic too!?

Yan Shouzheng ignored their shock, pointing his finger at a spot in the black area on the map, near the northwest direction.

"This story began over a hundred years ago."

The old man’s voice was low. "At that time, the Federation had yet to complete its unification, and the world was in chaos. Right in this area, corresponding to the heartland of a major Western country at the time..."

He tapped on the mark.

"A Life Ghost, from the depths of its dimensional domain, somehow pierced through the fabric of space and descended into the real world."

"Upon its arrival, it displayed terrifying devouring instincts and growth potential. It entrenched itself there like the source of a plague, and in a short time, it devoured an entire city of millions!"

"Millions?!"

Chu Kuanglan’s voice changed in tone, filled with unbelievable horror.

The creatures of an entire city, consumed alive by a single monster.

Just imagining that scene is enough to send chills down one’s spine.

"Yes, an entire city."

Yan Shouzheng’s voice was filled with pain. "Millions of lives became its foundation for stepping into the ’Abyssal Level,’ what we refer to as a Tier Three Life Ghost!"

"From that moment, humanity’s war with this monster began."

"The various surviving forces at the time, including some ancient secret legacies, realized its terrifying threat, put aside their prejudices, and invested countless manpower and resources, organizing numerous pursuits."

The old man’s finger traced across the map as if recreating the tragic encirclement routes of that year.

"However, the horror of this Abyssal Level creature far exceeded human understanding at the time."

"It entrenched itself in the north, its power fused with the land, forming an almost indestructible ’Nest Domain.’ Each encirclement exacted a heavy toll, with Grandmasters falling like rain, cities turning to scorched earth... yet it could never be completely killed, not even heavily damaged. It was like a parasite, entrenched in the northwest, devouring everything around it, its power slowly growing..."

"This desperate tug-of-war lasted two to three decades. Until..." Yan Shouzheng paused, his finger pointing to the bottom of the map, near a point marked by a simplified fist symbol.

"Until the Federation completed its preliminary unification, gathering resources and strength. Until that person appeared."

"A middle-aged man, for whom the path of martial arts seemed almost impossible. He only began practicing martial arts at forty, a start that was late by any standard."

Yan Shouzheng’s eyes showed deep admiration, "Yet his talent, his perseverance, his belief, were unmatched through the ages! He was as if born for battle! In just twenty years! Merely twenty years! He shattered barriers countless others couldn’t breach in their entire lifetimes..."

"Reached the Martial Saint Realm!"

"Martial Saint?!"

Once again, Wei Banmeng and the others were shocked.

Within twenty years, from an ordinary man to a Martial Saint?!

This is no less than a myth!

"Yes, a Martial Saint." Yan Shouzheng confirmed, "After reaching the Martial Saint realm, he took upon himself the task of annihilating the Abyssal Life Ghost. He didn’t choose to assault its lair but relied on absolute strength to push forward step by step, like driving out a entrenched beast, fighting for each city and piece of land, forcing that Life Ghost from its thriving Nest Domain, northward step by step!"

On the map, Yan Shouzheng’s finger started from the fist symbol.

He drew a long and arduous path to the north.

"And then..." Yan Shouzheng’s gaze became incredibly bright, "The current Commissioner of the Divine Management Bureau emerged spectacularly! In the end, after paying unimaginable costs, they succeeded in completely banishing the terrifying Abyssal Level creature that had entrenched itself in the northwest and devoured millions, pushing it into..."

The old man’s finger firmly pressed the edge of the vast, cold white area at the top of the map.

Before that winding black line!

"The Arctic Circle!"

"Since then, the Arctic Circle has become the last fortress of that Life Ghost, and also the forefront of the blood and flesh defense line humans exhausted all their efforts to build! That black line..."

Yan Shouzheng’s finger traced along the black Great Wall on the map, "is what we’ve constructed from countless generations’ blood, bones, and steel will, at the edge of the ice field! To imprison that Life Ghost, along with the endless Destiny Ghost Army it later attracted and amassed in the Arctic Circle, within the Extreme North Ice Field! To prevent their southward invasion."

The study was silent.

Only Yan Shouzheng’s voice echoed.

Wei Banmeng, Lu Jiuyuan, and Chu Kuanglan were completely shaken by this cruel and grand truth, their faces pale, their breaths becoming somewhat difficult.

After all, everyone was risking their lives...

Fighting with all their strength to block the Life Ghosts emerging from the spatial fluctuations.

But now, they’re told that in this world, an army of Life Ghosts has already assembled.

Faced with this, anyone would find it hard to accept.

"Can’t we kill it?"

Wei Banmeng’s voice carried an almost imperceptible tremble as he asked the most critical question.

Since the Chief Director and the Martial Saint are both so powerful, why can’t they completely destroy it?

Yan Shouzheng’s face showed even more helplessness, as he shook his head with a bitter smile, a smile filled with resignation and gravity:

"Kill? Do you think we don’t want to kill it? For more than a hundred years, there’s never been a moment when we didn’t want to grind it into dust! If only we could kill it, even if it meant a one-for-one exchange, using the Chief Director’s life to do it, with his character, he wouldn’t even blink an eye."

The old man’s voice suddenly rose, with resolute determination:

"Because if it dies, the Destiny Ghost Army entrenched within the Arctic Circle, losing its strongest core and source, will become a scattered mess! Humanity can then rely on the front lines, advancing step by step, dividing, surrounding, and eradicating them completely..."

"But!" Yan Shouzheng’s tone instantly fell to rock bottom, filled with a sense of powerlessness.

"We can’t kill it, no matter how many attempts we’ve made, no matter the countless sacrifices, we just can’t kill it!"

Chu Kuanglan listened anxiously, asking in a buzzing voice, filled with frustration and disbelief, "What kind of Life Ghost is this? So hard to kill?! Even the Chief Director has no assurance?!"

The last trace of a smile on Yan Shouzheng’s face utterly disappeared.

In its place was a profound solemnity and dread that penetrated to the bone.

His gaze swept over the five young and shocked faces before him, and slowly, word by word, he uttered that name—a name that seemed like a taboo, containing endless calamity and terror:

"Its name..."

"You should all have heard it...."

"Drought Fiend."

"Drought Fiend?!"

Chu Kuanglan repeated in shock, his pupils abruptly contracting.

Lu Jiuyuan clenched his fists tightly.

Wei Banmeng’s face instantly turned deathly pale, clearly recalling some records about this name.

And Jiang Wei, who was sitting quietly beside Fang Qingyu.

The moment she heard the words "Drought Fiend."

Her small body stiffened almost imperceptibly.

The lollipop she had been licking, that hard little plastic stick...

With a light snapping sound.

She unconsciously broke it into two pieces.

Fang Qingyu was even more violently shocked in his heart.

Drought Fiend?!

The terrifying Abyssal Level Life Ghost entrenched at the Arctic Front for a hundred years, devouring millions of lives...

Its name was Drought Fiend?!

Fang Qingyu’s gaze instinctively, and extremely swiftly, swept toward Jiang Wei’s head beside him.

[Reincarnation of the Female Demon]

The ancient, rugged golden title was as clear as a brand.

Female Demon... Drought Fiend...

Only a single character difference!

One is the reincarnation of a god, the other is an apocalyptic Life Ghost that humanity could only drive to the Extreme North Ice Field with all its might?!

Just what kind of connection exists between the two?!

Simultaneously, an absurd, horrifying, yet uncontrollable thought frantically sprouted in his mind.

If the one in the Arctic is the Drought Fiend...

Then the one sitting quietly beside him, suckling a lollipop and bearing the title of the Reincarnation of the Female Demon, this little girl...

Who is she?!