A Core Ship From The Start

Chapter 2686: Chapter 1816: Awakening (The Temperature Is Still Below Zero)

The girls present, including Mary, were not experiencing Duanmu Huai’s aura of destruction for the first time. They merely overlooked one point: most of the time they were standing behind Duanmu Huai, not facing him directly.

Mary felt like she had been punched in the chest, unable to catch her breath. The ultimate terror completely seized her body at this moment, her heart pounding so violently it seemed it would jump out of her throat. Lorena and Alicia beside her were not much better off, all struck without the slightest preparation, their entire bodies flying backward and crashing into the wall.

Meanwhile, the black puppet binding Duanmu Huai shattered and exploded, vanishing entirely.

When Mary reopened her eyes, one of them could only see blurry images. She could see Duanmu Huai’s tall figure swaying, as if he were contemplating or hesitating. At the same time, her other golden pupil clearly captured this opportunity — the two orc phantoms previously draping arms around Duanmu Huai also seemed affected by the aura of destruction, stumbling to the sides like drunkards, looking as if they were about to vomit.

This is the only chance!

Mary gritted her teeth and raised her staff. She felt she recovered faster than the others, not sure if it was due to the influence of the golden pupil, or because she had followed Duanmu and seen so many indescribable things that she developed some resistance to fear. Either way, it was a good thing for the moment.

"Do as I say, attack the places I’ve marked!"

Mary said, raising her staff to summon a meteor, then bombarding the two orc phantoms — she wasn’t even sure if this would be effective, but at this point, they had no other options. After all, Mary remembered that she and Duanmu had dealt with similar entities before, and Duanmu had told her that as long as her golden pupil could confirm and observe, lock onto the monster, they could eliminate it.

Now Mary was merely following Duanmu’s instructions, staring hard to keep the two orc phantoms locked within her sight, praying the attack would work.

The meteor streaked across the sky, striking the two orcs (thank heaven their size was so large aiming was unnecessary), and they indeed behaved like drunken people hit with a cudgel, beginning to wobble. This brought Mary some relief, but as she planned to attack again, she found her body almost immobile — Duanmu Huai’s aura of destruction controlled nearly every cell in her body, leaving Mary mentally clear but physically so exhausted she struggled to lift her hand.

However, at this time, a figure darted past her — Alicia appeared completely unaffected by the aura of fear, bending her bow and aiming at Duanmu Huai, then swiftly shooting pink arrows following the direction Mary previously attacked. Although Alicia couldn’t see what was happening near Duanmu Huai like Mary, she obviously didn’t believe Mary had merely misfired the attack.

After all, Mary had said it; where she strikes, they’ll strike!

The pink arrows shot out, Alicia a natural-born archer, and at this distance, she clearly couldn’t miss. Mary widened her eyes, watching the two light arrows shoot toward the orcs, then strike them.

The effect was surprisingly obvious.

If Mary’s magic attack caused the peculiar orcs to pause momentarily, Alicia’s arrows exceeded expectations, hitting their chests. Their expressions exaggeratedly shocked, eyes wide, mouths agape, resembling cartoon characters’ over-the-top reactions Mary had seen in comic books. The two orcs’ massive bodies shuddered and retreated, finally moving away from Duanmu Huai.

"Phew... Damn, my head hurts!"

This familiar complaint jolted Mary back to the present, recognizing the voice as Duanmu Huai’s, and she scrambled to shout loudly, expending all her effort.

"Mr. Duanmu, the two orcs! Behind you!"

Duanmu Huai suddenly gripped his war hammer tightly, turned swiftly, and the next moment smashed backward. Flames of destruction erupted from him once again, consuming everything ahead. With the golden pupil, Mary saw the two orcs swiftly distancing from Duanmu Huai, staring at him with a hint of regretful expression, similar to children seeing friends leave.

Nonetheless, they finally shrugged their shoulders, displaying regret, and vanished into the air. Simultaneously, Duanmu Huai grunted and collapsed to the ground.

"Mr. Duanmu, are you okay!"

Mary barely stood, running to Duanmu Huai’s side, who was holding his head in pain.

"I feel like I’ve been drinking for a whole month, now suffering a hangover. Damn, my head is about to split open. Those annoying WAAAAAGH sounds moved a bit farther..."

The once pleasing roars by his ears transformed into bothersome noise, and the previously mosaic-covered figures now revealed their true faces before Duanmu Huai. Seeing the familiar girls, Duanmu Huai relaxed a little.

"You did well."

Duanmu Huai shook his head, stood up, and looked around.

"Although I don’t know how you did it, you did well. Compared to you, I’m quite embarrassed."

Candidly, Duanmu Huai indeed felt embarrassed.

He wasn’t fooled by the damned perverts or riddle-speaking two-headed birdmen, only to be deceived by a bunch of brain-muscle orcs.

Duanmu Huai suspected if the Evil Gods of Subspace knew about this, they might reevaluate whether he was worth corrupting.

"Are you really okay, Mr. Duanmu?"

"Alright, I admit being with those orcs could be quite enjoyable."

Seeing Mary in front of him somewhat displeased, Duanmu Huai hastily added.

"Of course, you all look much better than the orcs."

".............."

For a moment, the surroundings fell into a deathly silence. Except for Ogis, the other girls stared at Duanmu Huai with somewhat cold eyes, as if he had said something wrong. After a moment, Mary sighed helplessly.

"Of course, I understand your point, Mr. Duanmu... So, what do we do now?"

"I want to first figure out the current situation. Where are we now?"

Duanmu Huai turned his head, shifting the topic. Ogis skillfully climbed onto Duanmu Huai’s shoulder along his arm, returning to her designated seat as usual. As for the incident where Duanmu Huai destroyed her puppet earlier, Ogis seemed completely unconcerned.

"Here’s the report."

Mary squinted her eyes at Duanmu Huai and casually handed over a data board. Although this wasn’t quite like Mary’s usual response, Duanmu Huai also felt he might have said something wrong, so he didn’t ask much and picked up the data board to read.

"Good, everything is proceeding smoothly."

After reading the report, Duanmu Huai understood the situation and nodded appreciatively to Mary.

"Thanks to you."

Duanmu Huai did not misspeak this time; if it weren’t for Mary deciding to leave the Beastman Crown on this planet, the then bewildered Duanmu Huai might have followed the crown’s fluctuations elsewhere. At that time, the situation would have been harder to manage. Now, it seems, although he hadn’t made his plan clear, the girls following him understood his intentions well.

"You’re welcome, it’s what I should do."

Mary maintained her usual indifferent expression. Duanmu Huai felt that he hadn’t said anything wrong earlier, but the displeased looks on the nearby girls’ faces made it clear they weren’t happy. He thought about it and found the issue.

"I said something wrong earlier."

He coughed, continuing to speak.

"You all are not just prettier than the Green Skins, you just are."

".............."

Even Hei Chuan Chi Yin closed her eyes and pressed her forehead, while Lorena said nothing, and Alicia looked at him with a disappointed expression.

"Great Judge, I think you should read more books when you get back to improve your literary skills."

"Well, if there’s time, I will..."

Duanmu Huai muttered while sneaking a glance at Mary. Noticing Duanmu Huai’s gaze, Mary finally shook her head helplessly.

"So, what should we do next, Mr. Duanmu?"

"Continue with the plan."

Duanmu Huai breathed a sigh of relief, deciding to steer the situation toward a familiar direction.

"Since the Orcs have arrived, the Insect Swarm shouldn’t be far off either......"

However, before Duanmu Huai finished speaking, Pado Filis’s voice came through the communicator — she was not hiding in a cave but observing the battlefield environment from outside. Clearly, Pado Filis’s report signified something very important.

"Bugs are descending from the sky; it seems they are fighting with the Orcs!"

"Alright, now we have everything we need."

Duanmu Huai sighed in relief.

"What we need to do now is to wait and then take action when the time is right."

"Before that...."

Duanmu Huai gripped the War Hammer.

"Let’s wipe out the Orcs here first!"