The King of Black Fog

Drones, arranged neatly in formation, buzzed as they flew out of the building.

"Donghua, brother, some of my men don't have points, let them go!" Li Changzhou shouted at the departing drones.

It was unclear whether Wang Donghua was still paying attention to this place, and no drone responded to him.

After the drones had left, the soldiers also retreated quickly, but instead of becoming safer, the area became even more dangerous. Heavy weaponry was imminent, ready to completely destroy the place.

Li Changzhou turned his attention to the six players.

Three foreigners, one male and two females;

Two Asians, one male and one female;

And a dog, with a black body and brown limbs, a dachshund.

The two men held shields, standing in front of the women and the dog. The injured dog, with its eyes closed, lay gasping in the arms of one of the foreign women.

The six players were also sizing up the man encumbered with humans and a pet.

They knew very well how dangerous the gunfire and artillery outside were, yet these people had managed to rush in.

"You've heard it," Li Changzhou said bluntly, with no time for pleasantries, "the Zombie Worm will bomb this place soon, give me your points, and I'll take you out."

"Impossible!" the Asian man with the shield rejected his proposal without a second thought.

It was not Xia Yu he spoke, but... not Xia Yu, meaning it didn't matter what language it was.

"Then I'll just wait here to collect your bodies, since I can survive the bombing." Li Changzhou said nonchalantly, his tone suddenly slackening.

"Wait!" the foreign woman holding the dog shouted, "I'll give you the points, please save me and Pizza, it needs treatment!"

"Very well, these two passengers, please buy a ticket," Li Changzhou spread his hands.

"Wait a second—," Just as the Asian man tried to intervene, the foreign woman, already holding the dachshund named Pizza, stepped out of the protective circle of the shields.

Bi had become quite proficient. With a flick of her fingers, she took the Identity Cards of the woman and dog.

Li Changzhou didn't look at the Instinct or Skills, simply took thirty points, and then returned their Identity Cards to them.

"Thank you." The foreign woman nodded at Li Changzhou with a slight sob in her voice, standing behind him.

Snowy Owl twisted its neck, its body facing forward, but its face watching the woman and the dog, preventing any sneak attack—the owl's head could rotate 270 degrees.

"Anyone else?" Li Changzhou asked the remaining people.

The two remaining women, upon seeing how swiftly Li Changzhou returned the Identity Cards, seemed tempted, but were stopped by the two men.

"We have shields!"

"Bombs and bullets won't touch us!"

They told the women.

Yang Qinglan glanced at them, then turned to Bi, saying, "Don't you think their shields look familiar?"

"Hmm?" Bi hadn't been paying attention to the group, vigilant of the bombs that could arrive at any moment, but upon hearing her, she peered around from behind Li Changzhou.

"Hahaha!" She burst into laughter, "It's that turtle's shell!"

The two shields, roughly V-shaped, were precisely the giant turtle shell that Li Changzhou had split in two on Trojan Bridge.

At the time, Li Changzhou had considered taking the turtle shell, but it was too heavy—non-system items couldn't be stored in the backpack, and with the Czar Princess there, they didn't need another shield.

"That garbage split by my mount, and you people still went to pick it up! Let these scoundrels see what a real shield is!"

Bi raised the wooden pot lid in her hand as if lifting her Princess's crown.

The four people, previously a bit disoriented, saw the pot lid and immediately quieted their minds.

The foreign man said, "Just as expected, a scam..."

A loud boom echoed.

The ceiling scattered dust, and spider-web-like cracks crawled across the walls.

"Aaah!!!" the two women opposite screamed shrilly.

The two men closed their shields together, reforming the turtle shell, protecting the four inside.

Amid the violent shaking, Li Changzhou remained motionless, Snowy Owl extended its claws, securing the shoulder of the woman holding the dog, its delicate claws fixing her in place like a mechanical arm.

Bang!

The ground trembled, the dancing house, as if sinking into a quagmire, began to subside.

The turtle shell indeed boasted excellent defense, blocking both the bombardment and the collapse.

"Don't hesitate anymore," Yang Qinglan said.

"Four fewer people all of a sudden, we're closer to 500, and the time is more pressing," Li Changzhou sighed, this time not out of kindness.

He hadn't acted mainly to avoid reducing the number of people; secondarily, he was preventing these people from having any special Instincts or Skills.

He spread his hand, and the Emerald Bee Sword slid from his sleeve into his palm.

Two trails of green light, and four Identity Cards popped from the top part of the turtle shell, exactly like when the turtle had died.

"Let's go!" Li Changzhou sheathed his sword, his now free right hand grabbed the woman's shoulder, and he leaped high, rushing out of the dancing house.

The four Identity Cards, wrapped in telekinesis, swiftly followed.

A loud explosion sounded behind them, and the house took another hit.

The seemingly intact turtle shell on the seventh floor split open amid severe shakes, and so did the people inside.