Atop the ridge, the gale cut like a knife, sweeping up the last traces of dust from the vitrified ground.
The world was terrifyingly quiet.
The land, baptized by golden flames, was as smooth as a mirror. It reflected the dusky sky, resembling a massive piece of amber.
Xia Dou and a few team members slumped against their off-road vehicle, gasping heavily for air, yet like drowning victims, they couldn't seem to draw any into their lungs.
Their minds had been completely overwhelmed by the god-like spectacle they had just witnessed, leaving them entirely blank even now.
Bai Yuekui stood at the edge of the cliff, her snow-white hair dancing wildly in the wind, obscuring half of her face.
She stared fixedly at the figure below slowly disengaging his armor, her breathing slightly erratic.
Just as her absolute focus was locked onto him.
The figure on the battlefield below suddenly dissolved into motes of golden light and vanished into thin air.
Bai Yuekui's pupils shrank as an extreme sense of danger assaulted her from behind!
She spun around, but it was already too late.
A lazy voice sounded almost right against her ear, carrying a hint of playful breath.
"So, you are Bai Yuekui?"
Ian had appeared behind her at some unknown moment, standing so close they could almost feel each other's body heat.
Xia Dou, Shanda, and the others looked up in horror, witnessing a scene that nearly scared their souls out of their bodies.
That god-like man was brazenly sizing up their boss.
His gaze was highly aggressive, slowly sliding from Bai Yuekui's aloof, breathtakingly beautiful face down to her slender, toned waist.
Finally, it rested on her long, straight legs, which were wrapped in tactical pants yet still looked incredibly striking.
He nodded in approval.
"Not bad. As expected of Boss Bai, your legs are indeed fair and long."
"You!" Shanda roared, his burly frame instantly erupting with intense Life Source Essence energy.
However, before he could make a single move.
Ian's figure flashed once more.
"Ah!" Xia Dou let out a short, startled cry.
Ian was already standing in front of her. Wearing a warm smile, he reached out and gently pinched her slightly chubby cheek.
It felt soft and bouncy.
"You must be Xia Dou, right? How cute."
"Let her go!"
Sui Xing growled lowly, stepping up alongside Shanda to flank and protect Bai Yuekui.
Their muscles bulged as Life Source Essence surged wildly around them, burning the surrounding air until it distorted.
Two pairs of eyes, filled with extreme vigilance and hostility, locked dead onto Ian.
Yet Ian acted as if he hadn't noticed at all. He released Xia Dou's cheek and raised an eyebrow at Bai Yuekui.
His tone was so frivolous it sounded like flirting. "Your subordinates are quite energetic."
Bai Yuekui remained silent, merely staring at him with her vigilance raised to the absolute limit.
This man was too fast.
So fast that her neural response speed couldn't keep up at all, far surpassing her own formidable reflexes.
If he wanted to kill her, he wouldn't even need a second strike.
"By the way,"
Ian's voice turned flat. "Do your subordinates know that you don't have much time left to live?"
That single sentence slammed into everyone's hearts like an invisible ice hammer.
The air on the ridge instantly froze.
"Boss?"
"How is that possible? What nonsense are you spouting!"
Xia Dou was the first to scream, her small face flushing bright red, whether from anger or anxiety.
Shanda and Sui Xing also shuddered, looking at Bai Yuekui in disbelief.
"Boss, don't listen to his nonsense! He's trying to shake us!"
"That's right! Boss, how could anything be wrong with you!"
Their voices were filled with panic and desperation.
However, all they saw was a fleeting look of complexity on Bai Yuekui's aloof face.
She didn't refute it. Her gaze didn't even waver; she merely looked at Ian in silence.
That silence was the most terrifying answer of all.
Shanda and the others trembled violently, their convictions seemingly collapsing in that very moment.
They instantly realized that what the man said... was true.
"Boss..." Xia Dou's voice choked with sobs, tears welling up in her eyes.
Bai Yuekui finally reacted. She took a deep breath and turned to look at her team.
Her eyes remained calm, but they now held an unconcealable trace of softness.
"Don't worry,"
she said slowly. Her voice wasn't loud, but it was clear enough for everyone to hear.
"As long as I avoid high-intensity battles, I can definitely live long enough to see you all off!"
Rather than offering comfort, those words twisted like a knife in the hearts of every team member.
It turned out that the omnipotent Bai Yuekui they had always followed had long since entered the countdown to her death.
Just as sorrow and despair began to spread.
Ian suddenly reached out, his palm facing upward.
A card engraved with complex, mysterious patterns on its back materialized out of thin air.
It was the very card that had just sealed a Monarch-class Pola Beast.
Right in front of everyone, he abruptly clenched his fingers.
*Crack.*
The card shattered instantly.
In the next second, a visible surge of incredibly pure soul Source Essence gushed out!
The majestic life energy was so dense it made the surrounding air feel viscous.
Ian's figure vanished once again.
Bai Yuekui only felt a light breeze brush past her back.
A warm palm was already pressed against the center of her back.
Immediately after, that overwhelming, pure Source Essence—potent enough to burst any living creature—was forcefully poured into her body by an irresistible power!
"Ugh!"
Bai Yuekui let out a muffled groan, feeling an unprecedented torrent of life frantically washing through her dried and exhausted limbs and bones.
Every cell in her body was cheering, experiencing a rebirth!
Her iconic, snow-white short hair rapidly transformed into a lustrous black, starting from the roots at a visible rate.
In the blink of an eye, a cascading waterfall of black hair draped down her back.
Immersed in this long-lost sensation of her body being completely brimming with power and vitality, she was momentarily dazed.
Meanwhile, Ian had stepped back a few paces at some point, stroking his chin as he observed her with great interest.
He looked at her long black hair, and after a moment, he shook his head as if somewhat dissatisfied.
He snapped his fingers. *Snap.*
Bai Yuekui's black hair, which had just regained its lively color, instantly faded, reverting back to its snow-like pure white.
"Yes, just like that."
Ian nodded in satisfaction, an appreciative smile appearing on his face.
"That's more like it."
"You..."
Shanda and the others had just recovered from the ecstasy of seeing their boss healed, only to be rendered speechless again by this bizarre turn of events.
They instinctively wanted to react, but Bai Yuekui raised a hand to stop them.
She felt the vitality in her body, so abundant it felt like it was overflowing, and then looked at the man before her who could casually reverse life and death.
She knew that any resistance or hostility was completely meaningless.
Right at that moment, a deafening rumble echoed out.
The massive roar shattered the standoff on the ridge.
The colossal airborne fortress, the Lighthouse, had finally touched down completely.
Several incredibly thick landing struts slammed fiercely into the earth, producing an earth-shattering boom that made the entire ground tremble.
Accompanied by the heavy hiss of air pressure, the Lighthouse's main hatch slowly opened.
Countless survivors, filled with the fanaticism and awe of having survived a catastrophe, surged to the hatch.
They looked up toward the distant ridge, their eyes brimming with primal worship as they gazed at the god-like figure bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun.
Marc had already reverted to his human form. Dressed in a brand-new black combat suit, his expression was stern.
He only cast a single glance at the distant ridge before immediately turning around.
With an unquestionable tone, he began issuing commands.
"Engineering team! Survey the terrain immediately and set up basic defensive fortifications!"
"Medical team! Inventory the supplies and establish a temporary aid station!"
"All former Hunter members, fan out with me at the center and establish the first line of defense!"
The people who had just escaped danger showed no signs of chaos. The former Hunters moved swiftly to set up the defense line.
Engineers began operating equipment to build the camp.
Medical personnel sprinted around to treat the wounded.
Everything appeared perfectly orderly.