"Hmm? This fellow..."
The Pluto Mushroom slowly turned, its eyes lighting up as it looked at the bearded general descending from the sky.
The next second.
Puchi!
Dong!
Li Ran landed heavily on the ground.
Behind him, the middle-aged aunt's plump body swayed in place before collapsing weakly.
"Hmph, easily defeated! With such IQ, you still dared to confront this mushroom?!"
Li Ran patted the dust off his body and said disdainfully.
It turned out that the moment Li Ran's palm was about to touch the Pluto Mushroom's head, their consciousnesses had swapped.
The Pluto Mushroom had entered Li Ran's body, and Li Ran's consciousness had entered the aunt's body.
In the end, the attack launched by Li Ran had ultimately ended himself.
"You didn't even think that since it's the opponent's commander, they must have some skill. You attacked rashly without even figuring out the opponent's background..."
"If this were the apocalypse, I would have died ten thousand times already... Oh right, I almost forgot, this world is also an apocalypse... but it's the post-apocalyptic era."
The Pluto Mushroom muttered to itself.
"We succeeded! Our commander has killed the cult leader! We won!"
"General Li is too powerful!"
"We won this battle! We are victorious!"
The five thousand Imperial elites behind them shouted excitedly.
"No, you've misunderstood. The one who died is your General Li Ran. I'm just borrowing his body for a temporary stay!"
The Pluto Mushroom spread its hands and said.
"Wh-what?"
The soldier at the forefront was stunned upon hearing the Pluto Mushroom's words.
In his moment of daze, he was pounced upon and knocked to the ground by a nearby Soul-lost.
"You are very unlucky. I've eaten my fill today, so you have no chance to join my glorious symbiotic consciousness."
"Just try your best to survive, keep it up! No matter what, the energy within your bodies will not be wasted, rest assured!"
The bearded Li Ran struck a somewhat effeminate pose, one hand on his hip and the other covering his mouth lightly.
The Pluto Mushroom had no gender; it simply enjoyed imitating the behaviors of certain consciousnesses within the symbiotic consciousness, nothing more.
"General Li Ran has become a pervert!"
"The cult's dark arts are too terrifying!"
"Retreat! Hurry and retreat!"
In an instant, the Imperial army fell into chaos.
Compared to the army of Soul-lost, the greatest weakness of the human army was that it fought relying on morale.
Once morale plummeted, even the strongest army would crumble.
Although the Soul-lost lacked intelligence and fought without strategy, they excelled in their fearlessness, willing to fight to the last man.
"Alright, my little ones, the counter-attack begins. These Imperial soldiers are very nutritious and delicious. Don't waste them!"
The Pluto Mushroom, in its effeminate manner, waved its hand.
The thousand soldiers behind it instantly turned around and marched in orderly fashion towards the Imperial elites.
Screams, roars, and wails mingled together.
In this encirclement and suppression operation, the Imperial elites lost more than half of their forces, with only over seven hundred managing to escape back to Nanjiang Port.
After this battle, the thousand True God Cult soldiers under the Pluto Mushroom absorbed the energy of five thousand Imperial elites and tens of thousands of Soul-lost, their strength soaring.
On the other side...
Zhang Chen, leading Tang Xueyao and the sisters Miao Qi and Miao Ke, caught up with the royal convoy in just half a day.
It was dusk, and the golden sunset illuminated the vast fields of wheat and woodland, dyeing everything golden.
The royal convoy moved intermittently, not forgetting to plunder girls and food from passing villages.
Thus, their progress was significantly slowed.
In the front was a luxurious and exquisite convoy, followed by several large cages containing women of various types.
Lastly, two hundred elite soldiers provided escort.
"How can the royal family be like bandits, robbing their own citizens?"
Zhang Chen frowned and said.
"This is how this world is. It doesn't matter which country it is; the people at the bottom are equivalent to the property of the royalty and nobles."
"Villages or towns are like their back gardens and private storage rooms; everything inside belongs to them."
"So they come to harvest periodically, not caring whether people live or die. If anyone resists, they are simply killed."
"After all, the strongest people in the entire empire have become lapdogs of the nobles and royalty. This world inherently lacks fairness and justice!"
Miao Ke had long been dissatisfied with the empire, and now that someone asked, she poured out all her inner thoughts.
"Yes, they say the Dark Queen and the ancient era were the most tragic periods, but we haven't experienced them, nor are there specific documents describing how tragic they were."
"But in the current world, I don't feel anything good about it."
"Perhaps it's good for the ruling class of this empire, but for the other common people... it's pure suffering."
Miao Ke looked at the corpses on the ground and sighed softly.
Some of these corpses were disobedient slaves, and others were the parents of girls chased from the villages.
They were all killed by the soldiers.
Along the way, one could see blood and corpses, a truly tragic sight.
"If that's the case... what's the difference from the apocalypse?"
Zhang Chen murmured to himself.
"Apocalypse? What's that? I haven't heard of it."
Miao Ke shook her head, indicating she didn't understand.
"That's Miao Yin. She and many of her cat-eared kin are packed into the cages at the very front!"
Miao Qi spotted Miao Yin and quietly reminded her from the side.
"Whether it's the cat-eared race or humans, they all need to be saved. This world is too rotten, I don't like it!"
"This empire is also a bit annoying. Let's just destroy it!"
Zhang Chen said to the Pluto Mushroom on his arm.
"Understood, Master. We'll set off tomorrow. I ate too much today, *burp*..."
The Pluto Mushroom quickly replied.
Eating consciousness doesn't require a stomach, so it wouldn't actually burp. It was adopting a human-like communication method...
"Wait, new enemies are coming!"
Tang Xueyao reached out and stopped Miao Ke and Miao Qi, who were about to charge forward.
At this moment, a troop of wolf riders galloped from a distance, their figures formidable.
The giant wolves beneath them had fierce eyes, baring their white teeth, and occasionally snapping at the giant wolves beside them.
Such large mouths, if they bit a person, half the body would be gone instantly.
Leading them was a man with white hair and a meticulously groomed beard.
It was Lin Zhenguo, the Prince of Shuangfeng City.
"I am truly honored by the arrival of Your Highness the Crown Prince. This prince has failed to greet you properly. Forgive me, forgive me!"
Lin Zhenguo jumped off the back of his giant wolf and said respectfully.