Evolution Begins with Elemental Domination

Chapter 272: Chapter 139: Dark Vision, The Clash of Magic and Technology

“Are you confident about the battle tomorrow?” Gong Jun couldn’t help but ask after thanking him.

“Relax. Over ninety percent,” Su Chen said with complete certainty.

The fates of the Twin Cities were sealed on the very first day of the apocalypse. And that’s not even mentioning the Demon Warlocks in power in Oran City, who had shamelessly designed a system based on execution thresholds.

They ruthlessly plundered essential resources, kept Rune Formulas from the public, and ensured survival supplies were always scarce…

If what the Sect said was true—that the conglomerate leaders were also fanning the flames from behind the scenes, inciting internal strife to harvest lives for their own sacrifices—then these people who sold their souls to Demons were truly beyond saving.

While Ruoruo headed back to the RV to shower, he began calibrating the Magic Guide Pillar, taking the opportunity to give Gong Jun, who was on guard duty, a demonstration.

HUM!

A translucent energy wave spread out like a ripple, silently permeating the entire three-story building.

The barrier released by this Guardian II model Magic Guide Hub Crystal Pillar possessed a building-adaptive property.

The Spiritual Particle fluctuations seeped into the walls, layer by layer interlocking and synchronizing in resonance with the steel rebar frame and the pores in the concrete.

The entire camp building was now enveloped in a flexible barrier field.

“Good, the coverage is just enough.”

Su Chen remarked. Otherwise, he would have had to abandon the third floor and set it up on the second instead.

“This is incredible,” Gong Jun sighed.

With this thing, there was no need to worry about outsiders using some kind of teleportation or blink Technique to get inside.

Even extreme cold and heat would have difficulty penetrating it, making sleep at night far more comfortable.

After setting up this security measure, Su Chen began looking for a new item for his family’s Jade Pendant to devour. The small Jade Lingzhi it had absorbed a short while ago had finished converting, granting him ‘+5 Physique’.

He had no more Heavenly and Earthly Treasures of his own, so he simply fed three Lv6 Dark Element Runes into the creamy white jade. The surge of Elemental Energy instantly dyed it the color of black ink.

‘This is the limit.’

Su Chen had wanted to feed it more, but its appetite was limited; there was a bottleneck on how much the Jade Pendant could absorb at one time.

‘Let’s see what comes of this.’

…

Early the next morning.

Not long after Su Chen woke up.

A message appeared in his Sea of Consciousness.

‘Perception increased. Dynamic Vision tracking ability enhanced. Dark Vision acquired.’

‘+6 Perception.’

Attributes: Power 35 / Physique 59 / Agility 27 / Intelligence 25 / Perception 29

Su Chen blinked, already noticing that his vision in the dark had become clear.

The curtains inside the RV were tightly closed. The cabin was pitch-black, with even outlines being blurry.

But now, he could clearly see all the items on the small table three meters away. The figure of the beauty lying on her side on the pillow also came into view. A strand of her hair rested on her lips, gently rising and falling with her breath.

Her skin glowed with a warm white luster in the lightless room. What was more subtle was that Su Chen could perceive the warmth radiating from her body.

It wasn’t through touch, but by capturing the fluctuations of life through his sight alone.

‘Interesting. I finally have the Dark Vision that many nocturnal monsters possess, and it’s even a bit stronger,’ Su Chen thought to himself. ‘Though it’s not quite powerful enough to be classified as a physical trait.’

But it was enough for him to see in the dark with his naked eye and perceive heat sources and life fluctuations.

During last night’s operation in the forest, he had to rely completely on his Telekinesis-based Perception, his Elemental Resonance, and Ruoruo’s Echo Arrows to scout and expand his field of vision.

The energy cost for all that was significant.

Especially with the versatile nature of the Telekinesis Rune, he had twice taken advantage of its new Mind Transmission trait to drain Ruoruo’s Telekinesis Rune Energy.

In a way, Ruoruo had become his external battery.

‘My body’s Perception really needs a major boost.’

At the very least, it would free up his Telekinesis, allowing him to conserve energy in long, sustained battles.

After getting up.

Su Chen fed all the remaining spare High Level Dark Element Runes to his family’s Jade Pendant. These were all part of the loot dropped by that Four-Star Demon Warlock.

‘I need to work harder to accumulate Runes, or my reserves won’t be able to handle this rate of consumption.’

If it weren’t for the War of the Twin Cities triggered by this world quest, his efficiency at gathering resources wouldn’t be this high.

By the time he stepped out of the RV, most of the people in the camp were already up.

Except for Gong Jun and the chef, Ms. Cheng, who were staying behind to guard the camp, everyone else was preparing to answer the official call to arms and join the battle.

“Morning.”

Pang Peng greeted him, full of energy.

In his brief conversation with him, Su Chen discovered that they hadn’t been idle yesterday. They had cleared out two large areas, sweeping through the swampy, low-lying forest and wiping out the giant hippos, along with the entire river region.

‘I’ll have to find a chance to explore the mountain range on the other side of the river,’ he thought. He hadn’t forgotten the reddish-brown, exposed rock formations the drone had spotted during its initial terrain scan.

The mountain could very well be riddled with elemental ore veins.

As for the Magic Guide Hub Crystal Pillar, after eight hours overnight in a completely dormant state, its energy level had only dropped by 4%.

If it remained unattacked, a conservative estimate was that it could maintain the barrier for at least eight days.

The time was now nine-thirty.

After the group finished breakfast and went about their business, the FM 98.5 Dongfu City broadcast they were monitoring still hadn’t reported any signs of an enemy attack.

It was the calm before the storm.

Amid the roiling undercurrents, the deployment time for Oran City’s Teleportation Gate had not yet arrived.

“Anyone can preemptively deploy it as long as they expend the materials, but its destination depends on areas the individual has previously visited. So theoretically, our eastern sector of the city could also see enemies,” Yan Ziqian said.

This was also why all twelve border town regions of Dongfu City had to be on high alert.

The three border towns in the west and south of the city, which had not yet restored their Teleportation Gate deployment capabilities, had even increased their garrisons to prevent any strategic errors.

If the enemy doesn’t move, I don’t move.

Su Chen was happy to have the leisure time, practicing his spear-throwing and his pistol marksmanship outdoors.

As for bullets, he wasn’t lacking.

Mainly, the primer materials provided by Yan Ziqian were more than abundant. After Gong Jun worked through the night to make casings, they had over fifty 9mm rounds.

He had also helped Su Chen install a red dot sight using spare gun parts, making this M1911 pistol utterly outrageous.

With the red dot on the lens as an aiming mark, and boosted by the Acceleration Rune Array inside the barrel, it was basically point-and-shoot within a hundred meters, completely ignoring factors like bullet drop and air resistance.

‘Instant pro,’ Su Chen thought, very satisfied. It was another way to deal damage.

The pistol was holstered on the left side of his Binder’s Belt.

Ever since the transmigration began, thanks to the Damage Attachment Stream of Runes, guns had become common companions for Spellcasters. The personnel of the combat and defense divisions were each issued a firearm, and after being immersed in this culture for so long, no one found the combination particularly strange.

It was a rather unique take on the fantasy Mage archetype.

Of course.

At 10:21 AM.

A far more bizarre and surreal scene suddenly tore through the tranquility twenty kilometers east of the forest.

First, the air distorted like ripples in water. Two incredibly tall, indigo Teleportation Gates unfolded from thin air without any warning in a grassy clearing, with no high ground to obstruct the view around them.

The next moment.

Along with a wave of spatial ripples, a group of armed personnel wearing tactical exoskeletons stepped out, quickly setting up temporary security and defensive measures around the perimeter.

Immediately after.

One after another, attack helicopters were remotely teleported through the two gates.

Accompanying them were standard tactical cargo containers, neatly packed with high-explosive armor-piercing missiles, various air-to-ground missiles, and an assortment of aerial rockets.

The military forces of Oran City’s four ruling coalition powers were clearly participating in this siege. This particular army unit happened to have an air combat regiment under its command, which could be mobilized for the operation.

Technicians began installing missile launchers on the attack helicopters.

In a short time, the area was heavily protected by Magic Guide Crystal Pillars provided by the Lorentz Conglomerate.

“They said we’d be directly attacking the Rune Core stronghold, but they ended up sending us to the east.” An army colonel looked displeased, but he couldn’t say much. The main thrust of this operation was not directed at the south of Dongfu City.

In other words, the eastern front was definitely a major deployment point for the main force.