Chapter 155 The Gap in Strength

They hyped it up so much that I actually thought it was a real particle light spear. It looks much more like a cutting tool pilfered from some imperial production workshop, though its power is certainly impressive.

*Swish.*

Even as Ji Cheng pondered, his hands remained busy. With a press of his thumb on the amber-gold grip, a cool-toned beam of light extended from the emitter, condensing into a one-meter-long lightsaber blade that effortlessly swept across a genetically modified soldier attempting to attack him.

Flesh and metal were severed simultaneously by the blade, accompanied by flashing electrical sparks and splashing blood.

"After getting used to daggers, suddenly using a longer weapon like this feels amazing." Ji Cheng glanced at the corpse by his feet.

Beneath hair matted together with blood, the man's rope-like muscle-bound face was covered in scabs and tumors—whether the result of radiation or some biochemical experiment he had undergone remained a mystery.

The joining of these powerhouses completely reversed the tide of the battlefield once more. With roaring artillery fire and rising smoke, the front lines of the South Port army began advancing forward again.

The live broadcast feed cut back to Ji Cheng.

Because the pseudo-particle light spear in Lei Junming's hand possessed such awe-inspiring might, Ji Cheng couldn't resist cashing in on some of that reflected glory. The camera first focused on him, and then with a cut, shifted to the ruined mechanical fortress blasted by the particle light spear.

Ignorant viewers mistakenly assumed the devastation was caused by Ji Cheng's attack, instantly causing them to gasp in awe and shout cheers of praise.

The fires of war continued to burn.

As the sun sank, the light dimmed, but the fully automated tracking drones were equipped with built-in floodlights. Coupled with the ubiquitous walls of fire, Ji Cheng's figure remained clearly visible.

"Why does it still feel like Black Island's resistance is much weaker than expected?"

As an organization capable of waging war against all city-states across the entire planet, they should not possess merely this level of strength.

"At this rate, without any twists and turns, there's no entertainment value in the broadcast..."

Just as Ji Cheng was contemplating this, a dark shadow suddenly burst out from behind a damaged mechanical fortress and hurtled straight toward him.

This was a female stitched monster resembling a vengeful ghost, whose movement speed made her appear somewhat more formidable than the ones encountered previously.

Her sharp, drooping mouth resembled a bird's beak, one leg had been replaced with the cloven hoof of an elk, and she possessed pale, bloodless skin and long dark hair, looking both terrifying and lethal.

Yet, how could Ji Cheng's current neural reflex speed ever fear such a sneak attack? He took a light, agile step backward, spun, and delivered a diagonal slash.

Inside the "Hunter" aircraft hovering above the battlefield, Chen Qian was diligently providing commentary:

"Everyone, please note that the stitched monster facing Lord Speaker is one of the most powerful secret weapons of the Black Island organization. The powerhouses from all the other city-states don't even dare to engage her..."

Since this was a broadcast originating entirely from within South Port City and other city-states remained none the wiser, Chen Qian followed Ji Cheng's instructions to exaggerate and hype things up as much as possible.

"Long live Lord Speaker!"

"South Port has finally stood up!"

*Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!*

The diagonal slash of Ji Cheng's lightsaber bit into the creature's shoulder socket, but as the blade reached the sternum, he twitched his fingers to reduce the output power, causing the ensuing beam to merely scorch a shallow wound across her outer skin.

While it looked intensely gruesome, it didn't even manage to slice open her abdominal cavity.

"Danger!" Chen Qian exclaimed dramatically upon seeing this.

Ji Cheng had long since informed her that if things went too smoothly, the broadcast effect would be lackluster. They had to manufacture some difficulties and twists; even if they were going to exaggerate, they needed to blow some genuine hurdles out of proportion.

Seeing Ji Cheng adopt an expression as if facing a formidable enemy, she naturally caught on.

"Can't even the light spear in the Speaker's hand cut through this terrifying stitched monster?" a citizen asked in astonishment.

"As expected of a secret weapon, this is getting dangerous now!"

Hu Xian and Hu Ping, staying at home in South Port City, kept their eyes glued to the television set as well. Watching the combat footage flash past and seeing that Ji Cheng failed to slice open the stitched monster's body, they grew tense.

"The boss is so strong, he'll definitely win!" Hu Xian said, his shoulders hunched as if an iron hook were hanging from his neck, his eyes wide open.

...

No matter how much it was hyped, it was ultimately just a stitched monster, and it soon met a tragic end beneath Ji Cheng's hands.

This engagement lasted until nightfall completely enveloped the land, at which point South Port finally sounded the retreat, falling back to the temporary logistics center in the rear.

These newly appeared cyborgs and stitched monsters had taken their toll, resulting in considerable casualties among the troops. At the same time, ammunition needed to be replenished, soldiers required injections of radiation-resistant thiol chelating agents, and the nighttime hours brought the potential threat of wandering mutated beasts crashing the party.

Inside the temporary logistics center.

The ability users, exhausted from a day of bitter fighting, gathered together to conduct a post-battle summary.

"Today, ability users from various city-states suffered heavy casualties; Rift Valley City alone paid the price of five ability users," Ji Cheng said, cupping his fists in salute. "This war was originally initiated by South Port, and I am already deeply grateful that you came to help. We cannot allow our friends to suffer such losses any longer."

"So what? Are you planning to compensate us?" A Tier-2 ability user from Rift Valley City, touched where it hurt, sneered.

South Port currently had no ordinary ability users among its ranks and had suffered zero casualties today, leaving Rift Valley City, which had paid a heavy price, visibly disgruntled.

"That's right. Draw up a list of your losses, and South Port will shoulder every single bit of the material consumption."

"What about those ability users who died?"

"Starting next year, South Port will not send anyone to participate in the Ability User Selection for the next eight years, and all quotas will be reserved for your esteemed city-states. Of course, the resources we are supposed to provide will not fall short by a single fraction." Ji Cheng casually handed out blank checks—who would even care about an ability user selection in the future?

So generous?

Everyone was shocked, and the city-states with closer ties to Ji Cheng even attempted to dissuade him.

The major city-states generally dispatched older ability users to participate in battles, whereas forfeiting the ability user selection meant sacrificing young, fresh blood.

The value of the two was simply not equivalent.

Zhou Zewu, Centipede, Fu Ting, and the others wore equally surprised expressions. However, Ji Cheng had repeatedly proven over this period that he was always right, so for a moment, no one in South Port spoke up.

"It's settled then!"

Next came the tactical statistics. Unsurprisingly, the most brilliant combat record belonged to Ji Cheng himself: destroying 13 mechanical fortresses, eliminating 59 cyborgs, and slaying 22 stitched monsters.

Ranking second was Lei Junming, wielding the particle light spear, with 7 mechanical fortresses destroyed...

Just like that, they fought by day and retreated by night, carrying on the offensive for two consecutive days.

The ability users from the major city-states forged bonds of friendship during this process, gradually growing familiar with one another. Meanwhile, the Tier-2 ability users, who rarely exerted themselves in daily life, slowly gauged the gaps in strength among each other.

Among the Tier-2 ability users, the one universally recognized as standing alone in the top tier was Ji Cheng, the new speaker of the South Port city-state.

Whether it was that elusive, lightning-fast whistle arrow, his formidable close-combat skills, or his physical attributes such as strength and reaction time, everything commanded absolute respect.

In the second tier was an old-school powerhouse from Sand City named Lin Shou, who possessed phenomenal mastery over an energy-beam ray gun, complemented by formidable close-quarters combat prowess.

Tied with him was Lei Junming, wielder of the "pseudo-particle light spear." Originally, Huang Long and Zhou Zewu should have also occupied this tier, but with one injured and the other stationed back in South Port City, neither participated in the frontline deployment.

The third tier boasted a larger crowd, including Centipede, Liu Fangjian, Yuan Feng, Tian Gang, and others.

Following her promotion, Luo Rao displayed astonishing combat talent. Coupled with the weaponry and equipment Ji Cheng had covertly requisitioned from the armory for her, her combat record actually placed her near the top of the third tier.

As for the rest, they fell into the fourth tier.

The live broadcasts continued uninterrupted for two days as well, featuring real-time streaming during the day, followed by pre-recorded segments and tactical analyses by various military experts at night.