Charm Shroom, Kid

"End the war?"

Lei Zhan's voice was trembling.

Are you kidding me?!

What do you think war is?!

What do you think life is?!

Countless heroes have advanced wave upon wave, shedding their blood and sacrificing their lives. Even the Federation's top SS-class heroes perished in the Rift without shaking that black fissure in the slightest.

Now, this mysterious man who suddenly appeared is actually saying he can end this war?

"Mr. Ye, I know you are incredibly powerful and can instantly kill a Category 9 Calamity with a single finger." Lei Zhan took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down, and spoke in an earnest tone.

"But this is truly different. That rift connects to the dimension of the Outer Gods. It cannot be destroyed by sheer force alone. We have tried every method, and all have failed."

"Yes, Mr. Ye," Lin Xi quickly chimed in to persuade him. "It's too dangerous! If something happens to you, Sector 7 will..."

"You've tried every method?" Ye Chuan interrupted them, a faint curve forming at the corner of his mouth.

"No, you've only tried every method within the bounds of your understanding."

"People cannot accomplish things beyond their comprehension. I don't understand your world, and by the same token, you don't understand me."

"You don't understand how I have cultivated every step, step, step of the way to reach where I am now."

He raised his hand and pointed at the black rift in the distance. "Have all the soldiers retreat behind the defense line. I will show you how this war ends."

Lei Zhan looked into Ye Chuan's eyes. They were a pair of eyes calm to the extreme, without the slightest ripple, yet they seemed to harbor boundless power.

He hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth.

He would gamble!

They had already been losing for decades anyway, so what was the harm in gambling one more time? Perhaps they could seize a sliver of a turning point?

Besides, it was just falling back a little. If it really didn't work out, they could always charge back up.

"Alright! I believe you!"

Lei Zhan abruptly picked up his communicator, and soon his voice echoed across the entire battlefield.

"Attention all units! Attention all units! Immediately abandon the front line and retreat completely behind the main defense line! I repeat! Immediately abandon the front line and retreat to the main defense line!"

"What? Retreat to the main defense line?"

"Has Supreme Commander Lei Zhan gone mad? If we retreat, the aberrations will charge straight in!"

"Commander, we can't retreat! Our brothers' bodies are still out there!"

The communicator instantly exploded with noise, as countless voices of doubt and opposition poured in.

"This is an order!" Lei Zhan shouted sternly. "Everyone must retreat to the main defense line! Violators will be dealt with by military law!"

The communicator instantly fell silent.

Although filled with confusion, a soldier's bounden duty is to obey orders.

Flare after flare signaling retreat shot into the sky. The soldiers fighting on the front lines, though bewildered, began to fall back in an orderly manner.

They fought as they retreated, covering their wounded comrades and using their mechas' particle thrusters to rapidly fall back toward the main defense line.

Discovering that the humans were retreating, the aberrations became even more frenzied.

They roared, chasing after them like a black tide. Wherever they passed, the earth was corroded pitch black.

"Hurry! Faster!"

"Those in the back, keep up!"

"Cover the wounded!"

The soldiers ran desperately. The aberrations behind them were getting closer and closer. Some slower soldiers were already pounced upon by the aberrations, letting out shrill, agonizing screams.

Lei Zhan stood on the observation deck, his fists tightly clenched, his palms covered in cold sweat.

He looked at the approaching aberrations, then looked at Ye Chuan, who remained motionless beside him, his heart in his throat.

"Everyone has retreated behind the defense line!" came the excited voice of a staff officer through the communicator.

Lei Zhan whipped his head toward Ye Chuan: "Mr. Ye, everyone has fallen back!"

Ye Chuan nodded.

He didn't speak, just slowly took a step forward, stepping off the observation deck.

Under everyone's shocked gazes, he simply stepped on the air, walking up into the sky step by step.

His pace was very slow. With every step he took, faint ripples spread through the air beneath his feet.

Across the entire battlefield, everyone stopped what they were doing, looking up at the figure slowly walking in the sky.

The charging aberrations also stopped in their tracks, roaring uneasily, as if they sensed some existence that terrified them.

"He... he can actually walk on air?"

"What level of power is this? S-Class?"

"I've never seen anyone like this... Is he a hero or superhuman from that sector? Or a cultivator?"

The soldiers muttered to themselves.

Ye Chuan stopped in midair, looking down at the battlefield below.

He saw the scorched earth, the shattered mechas, and the corpses lying on the ground that hadn't even had time to grow cold.

He tossed an elixir pill into his mouth, then gently raised his right hand.

"Word Spirit, Mass Resurrection."

The voice echoed across the entire battlefield, like a divine oracle from the highest heavens.

The next second, a miracle occurred.

A massive magic array enveloped the scene. Countless fine, golden motes of light slowly rose from the earth—those were the souls of the soldiers that hadn't fully dissipated.

Like fireflies dancing in the sky, they flew toward their respective bodies.

The moment the motes of light merged into the corpses, the originally cold, stiff bodies began to tremble slightly.

Broken bones emitted cracking sounds as they knitted back together!

Shattered flesh began to squirm and heal!

Corroded skin became smooth once more; cloudy eyes regained their luster!

One, two, ten, a hundred...

Thousands upon thousands of soldiers, under everyone's shocked gazes, slowly opened their eyes and sat up from the ground.

Even those whose physical bodies had completely vanished grew white bones and flesh right where they had fallen!

The soldiers who had just mutated into aberrations saw the black pustules on their bodies begin to fade, their twisted limbs returned to normal, and their cloudy eyes became clear once again.

They looked blankly at their own hands, then at the familiar comrades around them, and tears instantly welled up in their eyes.

"I... I'm still alive?"

"I didn't turn into a monster?"

"It's him! The man in the sky saved us!"

No one knew who shouted first, but immediately after, deafening cheers erupted.

"A miracle! This is a miracle!"

Lei Zhan slumped onto the observation deck. Looking at the resurrected soldiers below, looking at the brothers who had originally sacrificed themselves, he trembled with excitement.

This, this was a miracle!

Mass resurrection?!

Ye Chuan had resurrected countless people in one breath. It wasn't that he hadn't done it before—he had resurrected quite a few people back in the Hill Empire—but it was his first time resurrecting so many at once. Even with the spiritual power of the Heavenly Immortal Realm, the consumption was a bit excessive, but fortunately, it was still manageable.

After quickly recovering his spiritual power, he looked down at the aberrations below.

"You come from the Outer Gods?"

"You excel at corruption?"

"Actually, I'm quite good at corruption myself. I wonder if it will have any effect."

Ye Chuan gently snapped his fingers.

Formless cognitive corruption spread out like a tide, instantly covering all the aberrations.

The power of his sister, Ye Yue.

The aberrations that were originally charging madly suddenly stopped their movements.

Their bodies began to tremble violently, their eyes turning bloodshot as agonizing roars tore from their throats.

The very next second, they abruptly spun around and lunged at their own kind.

Razor-sharp claws shredded through the flesh of their companions, and jagged teeth ripped out their throats. Black blood sprayed into the air, staining the earth.

The once disciplined army of mutants instantly descended into a frenzy of mutual slaughter.

"What... what is going on?"

"Why are they fighting each other?"

Hypno-shroom, kid!