ALL NOVEL Chapter 368: Wolf
Mike went back to his old office in the Department of Supplies building. All the armies that work in the supplies division, including the 73rd Army, share this building.
The building was huge, with over 60 floors. It was well-maintained, exuding confidence in anyone who looked at it, though the rooms and offices inside were ordinary, were nothing unusual or eye-catching.
Sitting on his old chair, he took a deep breath of fresh air. Everything had worked out so well. He had rolled the dice, increased his demonic bloodline mix to an unprecedented level, and become the strongest existence in the world. Now, he had taken back his favorite job. He was clearly on a lucky roll.
"General! You are back!" A major in military uniform came in without knocking, saluted Mike, and looked at him excitedly.
"Mage Painkiller! It has been years since I last saw you! It’s good that you came! Tell me about the recent situation with the army!" Mike ordered.
Painkiller didn’t hesitate, took a deep breath, and started talking. There was no need to hide anything; from today forward, Mike is the commander of the 73rd Army.
"General, after you left, our new commander started demoting the top leadership of the army—all majors and captains—for no reason."
"We banded together and sued her in the military tribunal. The judge heard our case and ruled her actions arbitrary and void."
"General Deep Vision removed her a few days later. After that, they appointed Mage Dream Master as our commander," he said.
"Are you joking? They appointed Dream Master as the general of the 73rd Army?" Mike asked in surprise. Dream Master is one of the strongest humans with a handy set of skills; they wouldn’t put her in such an isolated position without a good reason.
"That’s true, General. We thought it to be strange! She served as our general until yesterday. Yesterday, she left for her new assignment in the 13th Army," said Painkiller.
"The 13th Army, huh? That suits her better, but still, her skills are most suitable for the 66th Army. Anyway, I don’t know the inside story; maybe they have a good reason," Mike shook his head, deciding not to bother with it further.
"Anything else? Did anything important happen other than the change in the presiding general?" Mike asked.
"Everything went as usual. Since you left, our average casualty rate has increased a little, but it has remained historically low overall. We have the deal with Moondemon to thank for it," said Painkiller.
Mike nodded; he shared Painkiller's opinion.
After Moondemon took over the entire flesh business, her influence grew wildly. Even though human civilization didn’t directly attack her, confrontations still happened, causing the deaths of many demons and humans.
Five years ago, human civilization and Moondemon finally negotiated a ten-year truce. Humans agreed to no longer cause problems for her flesh business, while Moondemon agreed to stop attacking human stations and supply lines.
Her attacks on human stations had been getting more frequent, making the cost of defending them skyrocket to over 20% of the military's budget! It became so unsustainable that even the usually tough Military Leadership Commission had no choice but to agree to the truce.
The deal with Moondemon was top secret, with few knowing about it. Even in the 73rd Army, only Mike and Painkiller knew about it. Human civilization considers itself the rightful ruler and defender of all humans, so it would be a significant reputational hit if it got out that they made a deal with demons. They didn’t even inform the president and prime minister about it to prevent it from being leaked.
"Let’s go," Mike said, standing up. Along with Painkiller, he left the building to get an airship. The central station of the 73rd Army was far away; even though they could fly without an airship, it was best to sit and rest.
…
Each of the 100 armies of human civilization has a main station inside the wall and an administrative headquarters. The main station is where the soldiers live and reside, while the administrative headquarters is where the paperwork gets done. The reason for this is simple: to save costs. By consolidating administrative tasks in one place, they reduced bureaucracy and spent far less money on it than they otherwise would have had to.
After a few hours, Mike and Painkiller arrived at the main station. The 73rd Army had 2,330 soldiers; most had 1-3% effective bloodline purity. There were also a few at 4% but none at effective 5% purity.
Those with 5% effective purity are absolute geniuses who would likely not be assigned to a supplying army.
Mike, with his 6% effective purity, became known as the most powerful human. Of course, that was what human civilization thought. In reality, Mike had 120% effective purity, which is even beyond demon kings.
Mike and Painkiller entered the station after landing and exiting the airship. Everyone already knew Mike was coming back, so nobody was surprised.
In general, the military has a relaxed atmosphere. Everyone is a magician; even though they still respect the higher-ranking officers, it’s more of a collegial atmosphere than anything else.
…
"Issue a solo mission to deliver supplies to the station closest to the Moon City," Mike ordered.
"General? A solo mission?" Painkiller looked with confused eyes. He had never heard of a supply mission that could be completed solo.
Most items can be stored in space rings, so transporting items is not an issue. The real problem with entrusting one person to do it is the danger lurking outside the Great Wall. Out there is infested with demons. Most high-blood-purity demons live in demonic cities, but many still lurk in the open. To have a sense of security, a team of at least ten people with magic weapons and formations is the minimum.
Human civilization’s focus is mainly on the area outside the Great Wall. Protecting the city is primarily on the Great Wall, with about 30% of the soldiers defending it. On paper, the share of defensive armies is higher, but defensive armies have much fewer soldiers; the reason is that for years, nearly no strong demons attacked the city; gradually, the four-star generals drained defensive resources and beefed up other armies. 70% of the soldiers are tasked with jobs outside the Great Wall, such as protecting stations, gathering intelligence, offensive armies that destroy demon cities in possible future wars, specialized units, etc.
"The solo mission is for me; I have something to do outside the Great Wall. I cannot take anyone because it may be dangerous!" Mike said.
"This is too reckless even for you, General! I know you are strong, but please, you know better than I do that even you have no chance against a powerful, intelligent demon. Please, General, don’t be so reckless," Painkiller begged.
"I order you to do as I said," Mike said.
"General!" Painkiller still insisted.
"Do as I told, or I’ll demote you!" Mike said.
"Don’t die!" Painkiller said this and left to issue the task as Mike ordered.
…
Looking at the trees, Mike sighed. After his demonic blood mix increased to 120%, the world map opened up to him. Before, even though he was powerful for a human, he still had little chance of winning against most of the intelligent demons. But now, even demon kings are like children in front of him.
"Let’s kill a few demons!" he smiled. His blood mix was already beyond 100%, but he was not entirely satisfied. There were still many demons with Lone Wolf bloodlines lurking outside. If he kills them all, his demonic blood mix may improve further.
After taking a few steps forward, he saw a big city ahead. There were a lot of mud houses on its outer periphery, but as one got closer to its center, it became better and better. The center was like a king's palace—luxurious, entirely out of place with the mud houses around it.
"A classic large-scale demonic city!" Mike nodded with a smile. Demonic cities are usually like this: the mud houses are for keeping the dumb, muddled-blood demons, while the good structures in the middle are for intelligent demons.
"Let’s start!" Mike smiled wickedly, canceled his human disguise spell, and cast his trump card.
"Ultimate Form: Pure Blooded Demon Wolf!" As soon as he cast it, his body changed wildly from a tiny human body to a 35-meter-long, 17-meter-tall terrifying wolf. He shone with intense orange light, so hot that the faraway mud houses began melting.
With his current physique, destroying a large-scale demonic city is a piece of cake. This one city is not his only target; he plans on destroying a few others once he is done with this one.
It’s not that Mike hates demons; he thinks of them without any hint of hatred. The human civilization's brainwashing about demons didn’t work on him. It’s just that killing demons may help make him stronger; that’s why he wants to kill so many of them.
A few demons flew out of the center of the city. Some flew in the opposite direction and ran away, while others shot toward Mike.
"Idiots!" Mike sneered.
Demons and humans are different in many ways, but in Mike's view, the two species are actually similar when it comes to thought processes.
When faced with danger, some people run toward it, and some run away. Demons are the same; those who ran away are the smart ones who may survive, while these idiots who attacked him are the ones destined to be removed from the world by natural selection.
Opening his mouth, Mike shot a few big, shining white-hot mud balls at the demons flying toward him. Their speed was breakneck, at least a hundred times the speed of sound, around 30 kilometers per second!
…
"What was that?" a demon with transparent horns looked in a particular direction.
"What a terrifying aura!" another demon exclaimed.
The intelligent demons flew into the sky and saw an unforgettable scene. It was shaped like a wolf, shining like the sun, so massive that it could be seen from kilometers away.
A few intelligent demons ran away as soon as they saw it. The transparent-horned demon, though, looked at them with contempt and decided to get a closer look at the wolf monster.
After getting closer, he finally started to think of running away. The monster was so powerful that its aura alone nearly made him collapse.
The wolf monster opened its mouth. The transparent-horned demon saw it and cast a "transparent Shield" spell in case the attack arrived before he could take cover.
An intense shine came out of the wolf's mouth.
"A fireball?" the transparent-horned demon had some doubts.
Everything went dark the next moment.
…
Mike nodded; his mudballs hit the targets accurately. The energy transfer was so massive that the demonic city below was destroyed by the shockwaves alone.
Then, he looked at his system interface excitedly...