220: Chapter 220 The Correct Way to Unlock Battle-Damaged Evolution!

The headquarters of the Command Bureau. The command hall. The entire room was deathly silent.

On the projection, that enormous flower bud made of earth and stone stood quietly on the ground.

After a while, the old man spoke, his voice very soft.

"What about the Wicked Beast?"

The staff officer swiped his fingers, pulling up the biological signal monitoring. The screen switched.

The area within the coordinates of Iron Curtain City was pitch black; there were no red dots, no life signal fluctuations related to any Wicked Beast.

Empty. There was nothing. They were all dead.

"Killed them all?"

The leading old man leaned back in his chair, his withered fingers tapping lightly on the armrest.

"That is for the best." His voice was very soft. "This tumor of Iron Curtain City has dragged on for too long."

When it was discovered back then that Iron Curtain City had become a nest for Wicked Beasts, Chu Qingcang made the final decision to let Pang Desheng use his spiritual power to control the Wicked Beasts and garrison Iron Curtain City, using tigers to devour wolves...

The higher-ups tacitly consented. It was under high-pressure circumstances at the time. It was purely a helpless move.

After all, no one wanted to fall out with a top-tier expert of the Eleventh Realm, so the matter of Iron Curtain City dragged on year after year, until now.

Now, Su Ming had cut it all off in one stroke. Clean and crisp.

"Draft personnel from all cities in the Central Plains," the old man's voice was not loud, but it was resonant, "to enter and rebuild Iron Curtain City, and restore the defense line."

"Yes." Just as the staff officer was about to carry out the order, the old man spoke again. "Where is Su Ming now?"

The staff officer swiped his finger, and the real-time tracking screen appeared.

Three thousand red dots were fanned out, advancing toward the Dead Silence Forbidden Zone at an astonishing speed.

"He has entered."

"With three thousand people?"

"Yes."

Another long silence followed. The old man stared at the red dots rapidly advancing through the gray area, his brows furrowing.

The Dead Silence Forbidden Zone... that gray zone lying between the Western Regions and the Central Plains.

It didn't just contain gray fog and low-level exotic beasts. There were also several Seventh Realm exotic beasts. And an old beast at the Peak of the Eighth Realm.

They had occupied the Dead Silence Forbidden Zone for many years, and no one had been able to do anything about them. The reason for this: the cost was too high.

The gray fog had extremely strong corrosive properties against the Physical Body and battle armor; once an army entered for more than two hours, a noticeable decline in combat power would occur.

Endurance and logistical support simply couldn't keep up. This was also the core reason why the Dead Silence Forbidden Zone could not be eradicated for so many years. It wasn't that they couldn't beat them. It was that they couldn't afford the attrition.

Three thousand people... The old man leaned back in his chair. "What is he trying to do?"

Three thousand Martial Artists of the Second or Third Realm, charging into the Dead Silence Forbidden Zone? Even if there were unbelievable augmentation methods, facing the continuous corrosion of the gray fog, as well as several Seventh Realm and one Eighth Realm Peak exotic beast... they still appeared vulnerable.

"How long can they hold out?" The staff officer looked down at the data model. "Based on the corrosion rate of the gray fog... no more than three hours."

The old man was silent for a while. "Keep watching." "Report any abnormalities immediately."

Outside Iron Curtain City. The three, including Xuan Yin, stood in place.

The wind blew from the direction of the Dead Silence Forbidden Zone, gray and hazy; those three thousand streaks of light had long since disappeared at the end of the horizon, and the white trails were slowly dissipating.

Zhou Yan tugged at his waistband. "Are we leaving, or retreating?"

Pei Ling crossed his arms and didn't speak. Xuan Yin was silent for a long while. After a moment, he gritted his teeth. "Follow them." "We'll lend a hand at a critical moment."

Zhou Yan's mouth twitched. Lend a hand? With the condition the three of us are in? The three of us can't even scrape together a pair of underwear, what the hell are we going to help with?

Pei Ling spoke coldly. "Reckless." "If the Dead Silence Forbidden Zone were so easy to deal with, would it still be here today?"

Xuan Yin nodded. No matter how the three thousand were strengthened, the harsh living environment of the Dead Silence Forbidden Zone was right there; the continuous corrosion of the gray fog made it unsuitable for long-term combat. Endurance and logistical support were fatal weaknesses. Moreover, there were Seventh Realm exotic beasts inside, and that old beast at the Peak of the Eighth Realm. This kid... was too impulsive.

Xuan Yin waved his hand. "Let's go." Three figures rose into the air, darting toward the Dead Silence Forbidden Zone.

The Dead Silence Forbidden Zone. Gray fog filled the air. Three thousand Hundred-meter Giants crashed into the gray wall of fog.

The gray fog clung to them. The first breath, no sensation. The second breath, a slight itch. The third breath... "Hiss!"

Leinuo looked down at his forearm. The gray fog seeped into the Prison-Suppressing Rock Armor; the surface of the armor was corroded and cracked, the dark red patterns turning white, as if washed with acid.

"Fuck! This fog bites! It's poisonous!" "Brother Ming, this place isn't right!" "No shit! This place is called the Dead Silence Forbidden Zone, not the Ma Dou Forbidden Zone!"

"It itches! It itches so much I want to scrape it with a knife!" "Feels like being gnawed on by ten thousand ants." "Brothers, calm down, we won't die, what haven't we experienced? It's just corrosion... Hiss! Fuck! It really fucking hurts!"

Ghost Blade bared his teeth. "What kind of shitty place is this, my skin is..." He stopped mid-sentence. He was stunned. He looked down.

The surface of the Rock Armor was indeed cracking, and the gray fog was seeping into the gaps like acid. But... for every layer of Rock Armor the gray fog corroded, new tissue automatically repaired it. The corroded parts of the Rock Armor's surface were regrowing, and the newly grown Rock Armor was a layer thicker than before! The color was deeper, and the patterns were denser!

Although it wasn't as immediate as limb regeneration, it was indeed slowly improving! Battle-Damage Evolution! Triggered passively? The gray fog corroded the Rock Armor, and corrosion itself was a form of damage; entering battle while injured triggered Battle-Damage Evolution...

Ghost Blade's eyes instantly lit up. "Holy shit—!" "Brothers! This gray fog can trigger Battle-Damage Evolution!!"

Three seconds later... the crowd exploded! "Fuck! It's true! The Rock Armor got thicker!" "We can get stronger just by standing still?" "Painful and happy! Hiss—hiss—, my whole body is itching!" Everyone was howling. They were incredibly excited.

A veteran suddenly had a bright idea. He looked up. Opened his mouth. Took a deep breath of the gray fog. Everyone suddenly turned their heads to look at him.

The veteran closed his eyes, smacked his lips, like tasting red wine, lightly tapped his tongue against his upper palate, and savored it carefully. "Hmm..." He opened his eyes. He grinned. "It has a metallic rust taste, a sweet aftertaste with a bit of sourness, the texture is rich in layers, it's just that the kick is a bit strong."

The entire place was deathly silent. Three thousand pairs of eyes stared straight at him. "???" "What the fuck are you doing?!" "Oral consumption?!" "This thing can be consumed orally?!" "Old Li, have you lost your mind?! That's corrosive gray fog! It's not your family's aged tea!"

"Wait! Corrosion..." Everyone paused for a moment. The next instant, the eyes of the three thousand Wilderness Suppression Bureau soldiers lit up. Battle-Damage Evolution! From the inside out? Soaking in gray fog to strengthen the body surface, absorbing gray fog to strengthen the internal organs?

"Gan! You really are a fucking Genius!" "Great Master! I've reached enlightenment again!" "Open your mouths! Inhale hard!"

The scene completely spiraled out of control. Three thousand Hundred-meter Giants all looked up and opened their mouths in unison, gulping down the gray fog. "Hoo—hah—!" "Hiss-hiss—! Spicy! It burns the throat!" "Endure it! This is strengthening! How can it not hurt! This is much more civilized than twisting arms!"

Painful and happy. The gray fog poured into their bodies, corroding the esophagus, stomach lining, and the surface of internal organs... Three breaths later, Battle-Damage Evolution responded. The membrane of the internal organs thickened, and the anti-corrosion ability skyrocketed.

At the edge of the formation. A few soldiers who hadn't taken off their underwear earlier looked at each other. The gray fog seeped in from the gaps in the Rock Armor, but the battle armor was blocking the blessing, and their evolution speed was significantly slower than the others.

Having figured out the cause and effect. A new recruit's eyes immediately became determined. He reached down with his right hand. Gave a hard tug. "Rip!" He decisively tore off his battle armor. Hesitating for even one more second would be disrespectful to his brothers. "Hiss—!" "No one can stop me from evolving!"