Chapter 223. Middle East Journey (5) Ye Mo Summoning Card

     Wang Xue charged into the pyramid complex by the Mediterranean coast of Egypt, while Ye Mo remained in Giza. Ji Li ventured into the Meroë pyramid complex in Sudan, and Ye Mo stayed in Giza…

     Wang Xue encountered two other survivor teams in the pyramid group of the Western Desert, while Ye Mo was still in Giza. When Ji Li managed to subdue another boss from a reality dungeon, an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, Ye Mo still remained on the Giza Plateau.  

     By now, over ten hours had passed since she cracked the first reality dungeon, and the two hospitals in Cairo had already regained access to water and electricity.  

     Of course, during this time, Ye Mo had stepped away briefly a few times, responding to calls for help from survivors or agents of the Supernatural Investigation Bureau.  

     Then, guided by the coordinates from her puppet beasts, she crushed a crystal core, teleporting from Cairo to other locations in the Middle East. Sword raised, she began cutting down enemies, unleashing spells one after another.  

     Often, by the time the survivor teams and the few onlookers realized what had happened, one or two minutes after she vanished, the leader of the Supernatural Investigation Bureau’s survivor team would still be clutching the bottles of healing potions she had left behind.

     A rescued local muttered to himself, “Is there a summoners in the Survivor app now?” 

     This single sentence, leaked by an unknown source, quickly spread across the Survivor Forum and then exploded into international news.  

     “So jealous of China.”

     “Jealous +1. This is literally a lifesaving miracle herb! I also want a Chief Survivor summoning card.”

     “Jealous + ID number. Heh, the Chief Survivor is from my country, which basically means—”

     “Hey, upstairs, go wash up and sleep first!”

     “…”

     People also discovered that China’s Supernatural Investigation Bureau didn’t just summon Ye Mo, sometimes Wang Xue and Ji Li, when they were free, would also respond, and their puppet beasts were among their strongest assets.  

     No need to say more, talk any further and it’s just pure envy. Only China could mass-produce spatial keys like wholesale goods.  

     Even with thousands of survivors fighting the black monsters, the creatures continued to emerge endlessly. And at regular intervals, even stronger variants would appear, each wave deadlier than the last targeting the survivors with ruthless precision.  

     Civilian casualties had significantly decreased, but now, survivors themselves began falling in battle. Whenever a survivor died, the black monsters would devour their soul, using the kill as a sacrificial offering to amplify their own power. Sometimes doubling in strength, or even quadrupling or quintupling it.  

     This plunged the remaining survivors into a deadly cycle, where each death only fueled the enemy’s growing threat.  

     Apart from the Chinese teams, most other survivor squads had abandoned solo operations, banding together in groups of dozens or more a necessity that only deepened their envy of the Chinese teams.  

     Who wouldn’t want a Chief Survivor Summoning Card of their own?

     Wang Xue hacked apart a leopard-lion hybrid monster, sprinkling hemostatic powder over a gash on her arm, her first injury. Tapping her phone, she sent a sweet, whiny voice message to the Chinese survivor group chat: “Sister~ I got clawed and I’m bleeding! Wuwuwu, it huuurts!” 

     “Is it serious?”

     “Uh, the wound’s already closed… but my heart is shattered.” She wiped nonexistent tears away before darting off, her sword strikes fiercer than anyone else’s.  

     Ye Mo replied out of habit: “There, there, it doesn’t hurt.”

     Yin Hong and the Supernatural Investigation Bureau agents: “…” They suddenly felt like intruders in this chat. So this is how the top-tier survivors group act in private? Honestly… they kind of wanted someone to pamper them too.

     Wang Xue, now thoroughly satisfied, asked, “Sister Jing, are you still in Giza? Found anything interesting?”

     “Not bad, actually! I think we could adapt the dark arrays from the ancient Egyptian pyramids into China’s underworld system, keep the strengths, discard the flaws. It would give those malevolent spirits a designated place to linger, which is simpler than restraining them with Yin Iron. Plus, it’d require fewer spirit cores, less energy consumption, and fewer underworld guards on duty.”

     “Oh, and the ancient Egyptian priests also had their own shamanic music and dances. I just found over a hundred instruments here. I’ll send them to you later,” Ye Mo rambled on, listing her discoveries. “Also, Ji Li, the myths here are packed with death and sacrificial artifacts and spells. Every priest seems to have had their own unique insights…” 

     Ji Li chimed in, “Mm. I’ve uncovered over a dozen hidden chambers and even a rare Light Priest. Their research on intangible spiritual aspects, especially positive ones like faith, prayer, optimism, and blessings is incredibly profound. Mental abilities and light-based powers can actually complement each other.”  

     “…”

     The Supernatural Investigation Bureau team was, once again, utterly baffled. Here we are fighting for our lives, while they’re on a treasure hunt, are we even doing the same mission?  

     After the envy-inducing chat among Ye Mo’s close-knit group wrapped up, Ye Mo, Ji Li, Wang Xue, Yin Hong, and the others briefly compared the strongest black monsters they’d each encountered so far. The differences in power were already staggering.

     Wang Xue had slain the strongest monsters. Unsurprising, given how fiercely and swiftly she had been cutting through them. Ji Li and Ye Mo followed close behind, though given their strength, even their “slower” pace wasn’t exactly slow.  

     “Tell the other Supernatural Investigation Bureau survivors to slow down their kills. If they go too fast, we might not be able to keep up with rescues,” Ye Mo mused before adding, “Ji Li, you can afford to ease up a little too. Wang Xue, switch places with me.” 

     “Roger that.” ×n  

     With that, Ye Mo and Wang Xue crushed their spatial keys in perfect unison, instantly swapping locations. Wang Xue now stood among the pyramids of Giza, while Ye Mo found herself in Egypt’s Western Desert.  

     Admittedly, the pyramids outside Giza fell short in comparison, not in age or size, but in preservation techniques.  

     Some pyramids didn’t even require entry for Ye Mo to confirm their true arrays had long been shattered. These structures retained only their outer forms, holding historical and cultural value but nothing of use in the study of dark arts.  

     Half an hour later.  

     As expected, Wang Xue had slaughtered more and stronger black monsters in Giza than Ye Mo had in the desert. Meanwhile, some survivors, deterred by Egypt’s dangers and lack of rewards, had flown back to Europe only for the black monsters to follow them.  

     By now, one thing was clear: the moment someone engaged these creatures, they became a beacon for the monsters’ aggression. And it didn’t matter where in Egypt they were. Nowhere was safe.

     As for areas outside of ancient Egypt, it depended on the distance, but the moment a signal was detected, the black monsters would relentlessly pursue their target until it was annihilated.  

     This was why the black monsters from the Middle East had gradually begun appearing in other regions. Africa, Europe, and parts of Asia countries surrounding ancient Egypt.  

     They had a theory about these creatures: they were likely linked to the sacrificial practices of the ancient Egyptians. After all, it wasn’t just mummified humans, they had also enthusiastically mummified animals. And the souls clinging to those monsters weren’t necessarily animalistic either.  

     Wang Xue paused mid-swing: “So we walked right into a reality dungeon’s trap from the start? Sister Jing, should we keep killing or just toy with them?”  

     They couldn’t exactly let the battlefield spread to China nor could they stay in Egypt forever, locked in an endless cycle of slaughter.  

     Ye Mo responded without hesitation: “I’ll purge them.”

     Within ten minutes of her declaration, all Supernatural Investigation Bureau survivors had begun regrouping while maintaining a slower killing pace. The intel was also shared with other survivor teams, including those in the Middle East, leaving them to plan and decide their own next steps.  

     Meanwhile, Ji Li and Wang Xue rendezvoused with Ye Mo in Egypt’s Western Desert. The choice of location was simple it was sparsely populated and the least damaged.  

     There, they exchanged their final intelligence face-to-face.

     It wasn’t just Ji Li and Wang Xue, quite a few other survivors had also gathered in the desert. After toiling for hours with nothing to show for it but mountains of ashes, they now hoped that observing the strong Survivors might help them improve themselves.  

     Ye Mo said, “If the situation turns dangerous, leave immediately. Survival comes first in critical moments, don’t risk getting caught in the crossfire.”

     Ji Li nodded. “Mm. Be careful.”  

     Wang Xue grinned. “Got it! Sister Jing, you’re the best!” 

     The Supernatural Investigation Bureau team outside the desert chimed in: “Stay safe. We’ll be waiting for your return.” 

     After the exchange, Ye Mo deliberately distanced herself from Ji Li and Wang Xue by at least 500 li before nocking an arrow and stepping into the battlefield she had already prepared.  

     From the first one, then two, ten, twenty, fifty, every black monster that appeared within her domain was instantly annihilated, their souls scattered like melons split by a blade. She relied mainly on spells and arrows, striking from a distance.  

     The black monsters had no chance of getting close to her. Even if dozens charged at once, they were still forced to their knees, utterly powerless.

     The Survivor Forum and international news outlets all reported on the incident, with early footage circulating online. Whether or not the spiritual energy resurgence was real, in the age of digital information, there are always some people who are used to sharing for fun, even among survivors, there were daring amateur journalists.  

     The footage of the battle, no, the one-sided slaughter wasn’t particularly thrilling. Compared to the back-and-forth clashes between survivors that resembled scenes from a sci-fi blockbuster, this was far less gripping.  

     Yet, netizens worldwide watched the grainy, sand-obscured video over and over. The woman in the golden mask was Earth’s strongest, after all.  

     Some watched as spectators, some prayed for her, and a few even hurled curses though the majority were well-wishers. After all, if Ye Mo failed, the black monsters would turn their aggression toward the rest of the planet’s inhabitants.  

     At this point, those who were cursing were practically wishing for the end of the world, truly foolish and malicious.

One hour, three hours, ten hours, twenty-four hours… Most survivors could still kill the initial monsters, but later on, charging in would only lead to their own deaths. Some onlookers even lost their lives by not dodging quickly enough.

     Let it be said that spectating wasn’t as simple as it seemed.  

     After another day and night, fewer and fewer survivors remained in the desert. Then, at a certain point, it became clear, the number of black monsters was finally dwindling, nearing zero.  

     Were the black monsters about to be completely wiped out?  

     Was the reality dungeon coming to an end?  

     Perhaps not quite yet.  

     When the last black monster was vanquished, a tiny black dot appeared above Ye Mo’s head. She sidestepped slightly, narrowing her eyes to observe.  

     The dot expanded at a visible pace, gradually morphing into a black ring.  

     Simultaneously, the surrounding desert’s temperature plummeted. Even the scorching sunlight couldn’t stop the bone-chilling cold, sand froze solid, and the few remaining survivors seemed on the verge of turning to ice themselves.