ryethenovel Chapter 212 Breaks through the level cap, reaching level 100.
Chapter 212 Breaks through the level cap, reaching level 100.
The stargate closed behind them. The void shrank to a line and disappeared.
Lu Yan stepped onto the gravel. The wind was strong, whipping sand and dust against his face. He looked up. Ahead lay ruins. Shell casings and shrapnel were scattered among the broken walls, and the air was thick with the smell of gunpowder and burning. The sky was overcast, pressing down on him.
Ten meters away, a military Humvee was leaning against the wall, its windshield shattered. There were six people next to the Humvee.
Zhao Leiguang sat on a collapsed cement slab. Two shields lay at his feet, their surfaces covered in scratches and dents. The man clutched a compressed biscuit bag in his left hand and stuffed biscuit crumbs into his mouth with his right.
Xiao Qianyu leaned against the Hummer door and took a rag to wipe the blood off the halberd. The blood had dried and formed a dark red crust, which she wiped very carefully.
Wen Yue squatted on the hood of the car. The World-Destroying Thunder Crossbow, disassembled into parts, was being reassembled, its components scattered on the ground. The sounds of the parts colliding were crisp and clear.
Lin Chuxue sat on the ground, her face pale and her lips bloodless. Su Yunqing squatted beside her, one hand resting on Lin Chuxue's wrist, the healing aura flashing intermittently.
Shen Xinglin stood there. His lance was stuck in the rubble, and he placed his hands on the shaft, facing Lu Yan.
All of them were injured. Their clothes were torn, their armor was cracked, and some had bandages wrapped around their bodies. They were all still alive.
Lu Yan stood still. Zhao Leiguang spotted him first. Cookie crumbs still clung to his lips, his eyes widened, and he jumped down from the concrete slab, forgetting even to grab his shield.
"team leader!"
The shout startled everyone else.
Xiao Qianyu stopped wiping the halberd, looked up but didn't say anything, and clenched the tattered cloth tightly.
With a click, the parts in Wen Yue's hand clicked into their slots. Without looking up, her assembly speed increased.
Lin Chuxue tugged at Su Yunqing's sleeve. Su Yunqing patted Lin Chuxue's hand and stood up.
Shen Xinglin pulled his lance from the ground, slung it over his shoulder, and took two steps toward them.
Zhao Leiguang rushed up and slapped Lu Yan hard on the shoulder. He didn't hold back, and Lu Yan took half a step back.
"Three days! You were in there for three days! I thought you'd been eaten alive by that damn trial!"
Lu Yan slapped Zhao Leiguang's hand away.
"It wasn't eaten."
"Of course I can see that," Zhao Leiguang grinned, looking you up and down. "Your energy is even better than before you went in. What's going on?"
Lu Yan did not answer.
He walked to the middle of the group, his gaze sweeping over everyone. He stopped. The energy fluctuations in the air were off. The aura emanating from his teammates was different from three days ago.
Zhao Leiguang's shield fluctuations were more than twice as thick, and the previous sense of energy limit was gone. Xiao Qianyu's killing intent subsided somewhat, but its density increased. When Wen Yue finished assembling the Thunderclap Crossbow and stood up, Lu Yan saw that the energy reading on Wen Yue's panel exceeded the upper limit he remembered.
"you…"
"Oh, right." Zhao Leiguang scratched the back of his head. "After we finished that stupid trial, the system popped up a notification."
Zhao Leiguang pulled up the screen and zoomed in on the information for Lu Yan to see.
World rules updated: Level cap removed. The original level cap of 50 has been abolished, and the new level cap is 100.
The experience cap for all Awakened has been removed, allowing them to continue gaining experience and leveling up.
Lu Yan stared at the words. The level 50 cap had shattered. A crack had been torn in the fundamental rules of the world. All Awakened Ones were freed from their restrictions.
"It's not just us," Su Yunqing said. "The Dragon Guard headquarters broadcasted a message across all frequencies, which was received simultaneously by all survivor camps. The rules were updated synchronously worldwide."
Lu Yan's mind raced. Rules don't change without reason. The level 50 cap was a lock imposed by a high-dimensional pseudo-god. Now that lock is broken. Someone has dismantled it. This is not good news.
The sound of propellers grew louder and louder from afar. Three heavy transport helicopters emerged from beneath the clouds, painted in the dark green of the Dragon Guard. The lead helicopter began its descent. The rotors kicked up dust, and gravel crackled as it hit the ground. Zhao Leiguang shielded his face with his hand, raising his shield halfway before lowering it again.
The hatch opened and three people jumped out. The one in the lead was a middle-aged man, wrapped tightly in a military overcoat with two gold stars on his shoulders, his face reddened by the wind. Lu Yan recognized him as Zhou Dingbang, the deputy director of the Longwei Logistics Department. The two behind him were technical officers, each carrying a metal briefcase.
Zhou Dingbang strode over, his military boots crunching on the gravel. He glanced at the ruins of the star gate, then at the members of the first squad, and finally at Lu Yan.
"Lu Yan".
"Minister Zhou."
There was no small talk.
Lu Yan raised his hand and made a gesture in the air. A semi-transparent access panel emerged from his palm, filled with data streams, golden light flowing around the edges. It was the docking key for the Divine Treasury.
A screen full of equipment lists rolled out of the panel. S-grade armor, S-grade weapons, S-grade auxiliary items, and a large number of blueprints and materials that surpassed S-grade. The panel scrolled for thirty seconds without reaching the bottom.
The two technical officers behind Zhou Dingbang stepped forward.
"This is…"
"The Divine Treasury," Lu Yan said. "The Dragon Guard's logistics depot can be directly connected. I've already granted the key access to headquarters, and all equipment blueprints will be transmitted synchronously."
Zhou Dingbang swallowed hard. In twenty years of fighting, he'd seen the blueprints for S-class equipment very few times. The quantity on the list was enough to arm ten full-strength divisions.
Are you sure?
"Sure."
Zhou Dingbang didn't ask any more questions. He turned to the technical officer and said, "Receive."
Two officers opened the briefcase. Inside was a portable data terminal. They pointed the terminal at Lu Yan's access control panel, and data began to flow in. Golden light shone on their faces.
Zhao Leiguang leaned over and glanced at the list.
"Captain...how many sets of divine gear do we need?"
"That's enough." Lu Yan put the panel away.
Zhao Leiguang wanted to say something, but Xiao Qianyu tugged at his sleeve and shut him up.
Lu Yan didn't explain how the treasure vault came about, nor did he mention the trial. He pressed down on Zhao Leiguang's shoulder.
"What happened outside these past three days?" Lu Yan asked Zhou Dingbang.
Zhou Dingbang's expression changed. The excitement he felt while receiving the equipment vanished. He pulled a document from the inside pocket of his military overcoat. It had a kraft paper cover and a red stamp in the upper right corner. Top Secret.
Zhou Dingbang handed the document to Lu Yan.
"Intelligence received early this morning."
Lu Yan took the document and opened the cover. The first page was a summary of the battle report. His gaze skipped over the text and landed on two aerial photographs at the bottom of the page.
First image. A vast, white snowfield. The snow is dotted with black dots; upon closer inspection, they appear to be humanoid monsters. Some have horns, some have extra arms, and some have no face. The monsters march in a long procession from the depths of the northern ice plains southward. A parade of a hundred demons.
Second image. The sea. The deep blue water has been stained dark red. In the very center of the red sea, a white figure floats low in the air. Twelve wings. Below the wings, countless human figures kneel on the sea. A twelve-winged angel.
Lu Yan turned the photo over. On the back was a handwritten note in Zhou Dingbang's handwriting.
The unusual phenomenon lasted for 72 hours on the northern slopes of the Kunlun Mountains in the northern border region.
The main force of the Angel Legion is assembled 200 nautical miles east of Zengmu Reef in the South China Sea.
The two lines move simultaneously, with the timing completely overlapping.
Lu Yan closed the file. The wind picked up, whipping up dust as it swept through the ruins. The helicopter's rotors were still spinning, its red and blue warning lights flashing alternately. Zhao Leiguang leaned closer to look, but Lu Yan stopped him.
"Minister Zhou," Lu Yan handed the documents back, "did these two anomalies begin simultaneously?"
"Accurate to the second," Zhou Dingbang said. "The global monitoring system will issue a synchronized alarm."
Lu Yan put his hands in his pockets. The words of the treasury servant boy swirled in his mind. A grand gift had been prepared for him and his companions. This was the grand gift. Two lines, one in the north and one in the south, were drawn simultaneously. The Night Parade of a Hundred Demons in the North, the Twelve-Winged Angels of the South Sea. Two groups of enemies were attacking at the same time. This was a hunt.
Lu Yan looked up at the sky. The leaden-gray clouds hung low.
"Zhao Leiguang".
"arrive."
"Is the equipment inspection finished?"
"It's over."
"Wen Yue."
"The crossbow is loaded and full of ammunition." Wen Yue cocked the crossbow.
"Shen Xinglin".
"exist."
"How much longer can your gun hold out?"
Shen Xinglin took the lance off his shoulder and held it upright in front of him, glancing at the cracks on the shaft.
"Enough."
Lu Yan nodded. He then turned to Zhou Dingbang.
How far can a transport plane fly?
"Fully fueled, direct flights covering the entire territory."
"Then let's go."
Lu Yan strode towards the helicopter. Zhao Leiguang shouldered his double shields and followed, Xiao Qianyu slung her battle halberd on her back, Wen Yue carried the Thunderclap Crossbow, Lin Chuxue was helped to her feet by Su Yunqing, and Shen Xinglin brought up the rear. The group boarded the helicopter.
Zhou Dingbang stood there without saying a word. He turned and boarded the second helicopter. The door closed. The three transport helicopters took off and flew south.
Red and blue warning lights flashed in the cabin. Lu Yan sat by the window, clutching a copy of a document. He spread two photos on his lap.
The demons of the North, the angels of the South Sea. The words of the treasury servant echoed in his mind. The true enemy had sensed the rebirth. Lu Yan turned the photograph over.
Below that handwritten annotation was a line of smaller text, which Zhou Dingbang added later.
Intelligence agencies intercepted an encrypted communication, which, when decrypted, contained only four characters.
Welcome to the game.