Chapter 775: Great Terror (III)

“Cough cough cough...” Stunned, Li Hao spat out a mouthful of blood. Panther’s jaw was still clamped around his arm. The dog shook, as if having seen something terrifying.

“Obey the order and go to the field!” the little tree transmitted to Li Hao. “None of us may be making it out otherwise!”

Li Hao’s expression shifted drastically! He didn’t dare say anything and swiftly looked at his companions. When he saw that Sky Sword seemed ready to strike back, he quickly called out, “Go to the field!”

Sky Sword’s eyes widened. Passively waiting for death was not their style, but since Li Hao had said so... He looked back at the school grounds. Although he felt that going back was to wait for death, he nodded.

A heavy expression hung on Hong Yitang’s face; Hou Xiaochen’s eyes darted around. As reluctant as the four humans and one dog were, a puppet sending Li Hao flying had shocked them all. There was more than one puppet at the gates—there were many!

If all of them could move and were this ferocious, then the quartet was dead without a doubt. There was no question about it since they’d just fought a massive battle and the little tree was even yet to recover from that.

“Thirty more seconds!” came the voice.

Dismayed, Li Hao and the others sprinted for the field. They arrived in the blink of an eye, stopping to see a Black Armor hovering over the grass. There was a tiny cat head imprinted on its armor, lending it a slightly comical air. The cat head was filled in with color, making the sight even more ludicrous.

The little tree however, shook from shock. “Be careful... this place... might have something to do with the Imperial Majesty!”

It recognized the symbol! But this was impossible! What was the Imperial Majesty’s icon doing here? It hated being mentioned as that caused a loss of sleep and appetite. Thus, it lost its temper whenever anyone mentioned it. This was its head emblazoned on the armor; to see it was to think of the Imperial Majesty. Thinking of this august personage was itself a form of harassment and most irritating to that preeminent existence.

One had to know, not even the guards of the imperial palace wore such a laughable icon on their equipment. For some reason, there was a Black Armor here of unknown strength that wore the Imperial Majesty’s form on its armor! The little tree was stunned beyond belief. This place must have something to do with the great one! It was very agitated, but also quite apprehensive.

“Ten!” boomed the Black Armor in a resonating voice.

“Nine!”

“......”

Figures darted out of the surroundings and reached the field at a terrifying pace. Unaccountably shocked, Qian Wanhao immediately reached the designated spot. He evaded Li Hao’s quartet and looked around fearfully. What was this place?

They’d wanted to ignore the Black Armor, but overpowering puppets had appeared in the buildings to expel them. They’d been thrown out just like Li Hao and the rest had been. This place seemed to be in the habit of giving people a chance. Once Qian Wanhao was sent flying by a puppet, he had no choice but to do as the Black Armor commanded!

He knew that certain rules were in effect at some ruins. Explorers might truly die if they didn’t respect them!

Once Qian Wanhao arrived, so did the lord of Buddha Mountain. The three ministers threw themselves to safety in a bedraggled fashion, as did the panicked trio from the City of Supernaturals.

“One! Time is up!” announced the Black Armor. The dark holes of its eyes seemed to be trained on Li Hao’s group. Hearts skipped a beat to be the focus of its attention. “There is no waiting beyond the allotted time!

“Tardiness is to be punished by execution!” The Black Armor was emotionless and merciless. “Evenround Martial University does not need deserters!”

Deserters!

As Li Hao and the rest mulled over its words, wails and shrieks suddenly echoed around the school grounds. Whether it was the school gates or inside the buildings, numerous puppets in armor appeared out of nowhere.

Dozens of people scurried out of their hiding places. Amid shocked glances from Li Hao and the rest, blades appeared in the puppets’ hands!

“NO!!”

Crunch!

A series of sounds echoed as dozens of heads hit the ground! Qian Wanhao’s side was terrified out of their wits! Some of these people had gone into hiding before the battle, some had run off with them moments ago and hadn’t had time to reach the athletic field. And yet, all of them were plucked out of concealment and executed in the blink of an eye!

The Black Armor on the field was quite composed, as if this was nothing out of the ordinary. Dark pits regarded those assembled on the grass. “You have engaged in unwarranted fighting and destruction of school property. Every centimeter of school grounds was not easy to come by and should be reflected upon gratefully. There is a dueling ring on school grounds, yet you still decided to ruin school property. The fines to be paid will be increased tenfold!

“Construction of the university campus was a difficult endeavor. Your actions more than warrant punishment!”

A voice appeared in Li Hao’s ears. “Your fine is one million cultivation energy stones!”

Li Hao’s heart spasmed. A fine? The hell??

“Wartime regulations are currently in effect,” the Black Armor’s voice sounded in his ears again. “Debts can be offset by defeating puppets. A sum of one hundred thousand will be waived for each puppet defeated. If a puppet remains undefeated, then the attempt is judged to be a failure and the fine doubled! If the fine is unable to be cleared, then the offender will be sent to the vanguard on the battlefield!”

Li Hao’s quartet jerked with surprise. Hong Yitang and the others shared what numbers they’d received. “I’m supposed to pay one million!”

“Me too!”

“I’m a bit less at five hundred thousand.”

“I’m... two million!” came the little tree’s fearful voice.

Hou Xiaochen’s number was a bit smaller, the others were all one million at the very least. That was five and a half million energy stones!

Cultivation energy stones?

Li Hao’s jaw dropped. He knew what they were—the kind used by the army. That meant to say... five and a half million mysterious power stones of the kind used in the ancient civilization!

Puppets? What puppets?

He knew in the next moment. The puppets that’d killed people materialized behind the Black Armor, thirty in total.

Color drained from the faces of Qian Wanhao’s side and the man forced down his shock. “If I may ask... the honored one...”

“Those who do not preface their speech with a call of ‘report’ are without decorum! Your fine is increased by one hundred thousand!”

Qian Wanhao’s eyes widened and he didn’t dare speak again. Li Hao and his three looked at the other side—their faces flickered rapidly through a variety of different expressions.

What was going on here? Why was there suddenly a Black Armor? Was there an army of Black Armors around? The defenders of a martial university? But since when were Black Armors so strong?

Although no one could sense the soldier’s strength, it was plain to see that it was terrifying. A fine... what if they didn’t have the money to pay it off? The vanguard on the battlefield? How was there such a thing after so many years?

Wait, didn’t that mean the school could send people out?

“Do you choose to pay the fine or challenge the puppets?” asked the Black Armor as the crowd grappled with their thoughts. “According to the fine amounts, one million is the equivalent of ten puppets. A successful challenge will wipe the ledgers and win you rewards!”

Rewards!

What kind of rewards? However, they’d also heard that the fines would double if they failed! Of course, defeating one puppet counted as a success, which would lower their fine by one hundred thousand. Li Hao thought swiftly, what should they do?

Pay up?

No way!

His side needed to pay fifty-five million modern mysterious power stones! Although he didn’t know how much Panther had taken from the little pond in the back, it’d bankrupt him to pay the fine!

But was he supposed to challenge the puppets if he didn’t want to pay? The little tree had said before that there was a great terror here. Li Hao looked ahead at his enemies. He was in a conundrum, as were the others. Did they have the funds to spare for the fine?

Qian Wanhao’s side looked at each other with sour expressions. Each faction had already taken out millions of stones to collect one hundred million for the bait. They’d also consumed a great deal of resources to dramatically increase their strength in a short period of time. Who would carry such a large sum of stones on them?

“Report!” Being a veteran minister, Qian Wanhao managed to keep his composure in this uncertain situation.

“Speak!” The Black Armor looked at him.

“Sir, what if... we don’t have the funds to pay the fine...”

“Are you deaf? Then you’ll be sent to the battlefield!”

“Report!” Qian Wanhao hurriedly followed up. “Sir, the vanguard no longer exists. Then... will we be allowed to depart and collect enough funds to pay the fine?”

If they could, then screw the fine! Perhaps they’d actually be safer with this guy escorting them from the ruins. The plant spirits were all dead, as was Orange Moon. His group was frantic about what might happen next, so perhaps this development was all for the good.

“The vanguard is no more?” The Black Armor sank into thought and said softly after a while, “Then we’ll execute all offenders!”

“......”

Since the chance to redeem themselves no longer existed, what else should befall the offenders other than execution?

The response appalled the crowd. So that was it? Their heads would be chopped off? Why did everything suddenly seem so surreal and ludicrous?

“Hurry and make your choice! Do you choose to pay the fine or challenge the puppets?”

Li Hao’s quartet looked at the young man. What should they do? Even the lightest fined Hou Xiaochen had a figure of five hundred thousand energy stones, which was five million modern stones! That was no small figure. Not to mention, would it strengthen the Black Armor if they paid it?