Just as Lin Ke finally understood the meaning behind the photo, pondering the details, Gu Nan was sitting in his lab. A dark shadow stood beside him and was slowly reabsorbed into his body.
Shadow Form could be used in many ways. Gu Nan could only use it in battles before, but after his power over shadows reached arcana, the skill could be used for other things.
For example, he could conjure up many shadows and give them different commands, which was precisely what Gu Nan had done—one was permanently stationed by Lin Duo's side, and one was also placed in the research lab.
However, unlike the shadow clones close to him—which felt like an extension of his body and could carry out extremely specific commands—shadow clones far away from the true body could only execute some simple commands.
The one beside Lin Duo received the order to protect Lin Duo from death, while the one in the lab received the order to kill all trespassers.
When Gu Nan reabsorbed the shadow clone into his true body, things that the clone heard and saw became memories Gu Nan could read and browse through.
"A few bugs…" Gu Nan's slightly cold eyes swept across the faces of the intruders but didn't recognize anyone or find anyone of interest.
After being beheaded by the shadow doppelganger, their corpses remained in the laboratory. Gu Zhaoyue had taken them away to investigate.
Moments later, Gu Zhaoyue's figure walked into the center of the lab and came to Gu Nan's side.
"My Lord, I finished investigating. Before the apocalypse, all these people came from an organization called Nighthawk," Gu Zhaoyue wasted no time with extraneous words and just reported directly.
"Nighthawk?"
Gu Zhaoyue nodded, then handed over a document in passing—oral narrations about an entire organization would never be more comprehensive than written words.
Gu Nan skimmed through the document, extracting all the information, and smiled faintly.
"An organization whose mission is to subvert the federal government but dares not to even engage in terrorist attacks?" Gu Nan commented contemptuously.
"Nighthawk" took absolute freedom as its organizational purpose and had always been fighting against the government, but the most striking thing they had done was just kidnapping a top-level rich official, and they even let him go in the end.
If it was Gu Nan, he would dare to say, "Give me thirty players, and I'll steal even the head of state's wife for you."
Casually tossing aside the information about Nighthawk, Gu Nan said to Gu Zhaoyue, "Don't worry about them. Come and see our new comrade in the revolution."
"Big Brother." Gu Nan waved at the back room.
Gu Zhaoyue raised his head in disbelief, then his eyes almost popped out.
He saw a big fellow four or five times the size of an ordinary moon thrall with wings on his back and four arms, striding forward and pounding the floor.
"My Lord, this is… a moon thrall?" If not for the other party's obvious aura, Gu Zhaoyue would hardly dare to believe it.
"This is the king of the moon thralls," Gu Nan corrected, "our king of the moon thralls, Big Brother."
Classmate Big Brother smiled at Gu Zhaoyue in a simple and honest manner, then watched Gu Nan eagerly.
Gu Nan waved his hand, and a giant hand of shadows grabbed a moon thrall from a tube and threw it in front of Big Brother. The latter grabbed the moon thrall and started munching away without saying anything.
This moon thrall was still alive, and when half of its head had been bitten off, it awakened completely and struggled in pain.
Its power naturally couldn't match Big Brother's. No matter how hard it struggled, it couldn't escape the inevitable end.
It took almost three or two seconds for the moon thrall to be swallowed by Big Brother, not leaving a single bone. Only the shrieks that seemed to be still echoing and the blood all over the place could prove that it had ever lived.
Even Gu Zhaoyue, a Heroic Spirit, was shocked by this scene.
Because he clearly sensed that Big Brother's strength increased a little after he ate that moon thrall.
'He can enhance his strength by eating moon thralls?'
'There are hundreds of thousands of moon thralls waiting outside!'
He couldn't help but look at Gu Nan. "My Lord, where did you find a monster like this? That tree…"
"But, it's not enough to just have one Big Brother…" Gu Nan ignored Gu Zhaoyue. After introducing Big Brother, he said, "Give me the addresses of the other two camps."
"My Lord, do you want to…"
Gu Nan didn't speak, but the endless bloodshed that seemed to be hidden in his eyes fully demonstrated what he planned to do.
...
In the Glory Camp, a group of people in military uniforms were having a meeting around the round table. There were men and women, old and young, but they all had one thing in common—they were soldiers!
It was no longer the amateur locusts who used to order around the experts, but real soldiers.
The apocalypse brought an unexpected advantage for the army. That is, those who just leeched off the army but didn't contribute anything could no longer maintain their high positions, and only the truly capable got a higher position.
The eleven people sitting here were all leaders of their respective forces. They were the ones who slaughtered their way out with a bunch of soldiers when headquarters had fallen silent.
But at this time, the eleven soldiers all had expressions as heavy as water.
The news that Zhu Long and Fang Caiyue's teams were completely annihilated in West City finally traveled back.
Although there were no witnesses, the corpses were still lying there, and it was clear at first glance whether they died to moon thralls or human companions.
"Impudent! Too impudent!" An old man slammed the table angrily. "This Gu Zhaoyue is simply overstepping the law!"
"Elder Yan, the most important thing now is how we should deal with the Star & Moon Camp," a young man beside him said with a frown.
In reality, Glory and Hero were all on the same side. Both camps had already chosen to unite, and Zhu Long and Fang Caiyue were their spokespeople.
"No one can doubt Zhu Long and Fang Caiyue's strength. If the Star & Moon Camp can annihilate them all, then no matter whether it was a sneak attack or something else, we can't act rashly."
"Can't act rashly—don't tell me we have to sit here and wait for death?!"
"There are moon thralls in the area, so their main forces can't come here…"
As a result of the eleven-people conference, no one could convince anyone, especially when confronted with a dilemma.
"Don't argue anymore." In the end, the oldest and most prestigious old man spoke, and everyone kept silent.
"Elder He, please choose a countermeasure."
"Elder He, I will listen to you!"
Elder He's eyes looked around the crowd, and he nodded a little. "Instead of arguing here, it's better to… Hmm?"
Before Elder He's voice fell, all of them suddenly felt a light breeze. An additional figure had appeared on one side of the round table.
This person was dressed in a gray suit, expressionless, and holding a blue fruit in his hand.
The eleven soldiers stood up at the same time, and several people shouted, "Who are you?! How did you enter?"
That person's calm eyes swept around the table, but he didn't answer them. He just showed a small smile. "These materials are pretty good. I hope Second Brother won't let me down."
As he spoke, he released the seal in his hand, and the smell of the fruit slowly began to escape.
The people present couldn't understand his words, but as the smell drifted away, everyone could clearly feel the shockwaves traveling through the distance.
Those were the moon thralls' footsteps.