"Study hard and be a decent person."
James heard a strange voice in his ear, and the face before him gradually blurred. Who was he? Did he know him? What did that sentence mean?
James's mind was a whirlwind of questions, tangled and without a clear thread.
Soon, a sharp alarm interrupted James's thoughts.
"Beep—Beep—"
The urgent, rhythmic siren blared. At the first sound, Kaelum and the others' faces changed dramatically.
"Highest-level emergency response!"
They had heard this alarm several times during drills. When the [Highest-Level Emergency] alarm sounded, it meant one thing: the abyssal demons had once again set foot on Earth's soil!
All the senior students immediately sprang into action. Kaelum rushed to Mike's side, shielding him and growling,
"Mike, stay alert!"
He tossed Mike a teleportation scroll. "Tear this open, and you'll be transported thousands of miles away. Use it if you need to. Don't worry about me; I have plenty of these."
As he spoke, he kept a vigilant eye on their surroundings, ready for anything.
Anderson grabbed Cain like a chick, his left arm forming a protective stone armor around Cain.
Elena's mech appeared at her feet, and she quickly tossed Jessica into the cockpit. The mech entered pre-ignition mode, ready to launch Jessica to safety at Elena's command.
Similar scenes played out in every corner of the training hall. James looked around in confusion, not understanding what was happening.
What was going on?
"The highest-level emergency alarm means the enemy is close."
An instructor gathered the new students, activating a Teleportation Array while explaining, "You'll be transported to a safe place soon. Stay calm and orderly!"
"Instructor, why are the seniors reacting so strongly?"
Someone voiced the question on James's mind. The seniors' reactions to the alarm were surprisingly uniform, doing their best to protect their juniors.
"This is part of their training and the life-and-death contract they signed for this training."
The instructor glanced outside, his expression serious. "When the highest-level alarm sounds, they must protect their assigned juniors. Anyone here could be Thor. Even if most aren't, the strong have a duty to protect the weak, don't they?"
As he spoke, the instructor looked out of the training hall. The instructors were also busy, activating the Teleportation Array as quickly as possible. The summer camp had contingency plans for various scenarios, including emergency evacuations. No one had expected the day would come when these plans would be put into action!
The alarm continued, and Mike stood behind Kaelum, his face expressionless. No one knew about the Fourth Demon God or Michael except him.
Supreme Being Apollo and Shadow Nine had left, heading straight for the abyssal battlefield.
Mike knew that wherever he was, that place would become the center of the battlefield.
Swish—
A white light flashed, and Mike and the others were transported to a safe house. The facilities here could withstand an ordinary Battle Lord, making it generally safe. As long as Mike didn't stay here.
Standing in a corner, Mike took out a Decoy Doll. The doll looked very much like Mike but had a blank expression, leaning against the wall as if asleep.
The real Mike tore open a prepared teleportation scroll, leaving the safe house unnoticed.
Mike and Shadow Nine had agreed that Mike would go to the battlefield. If he hid in the rear, the Abyssal Plane might bypass the Forest of Truth and invade Earth through other channels, putting humanity at a disadvantage.
Mike needed to be in the Forest of Truth, moving across the battlefield. But the question was, under what identity?
Lone Wolf? The Lone Wolves of Wolf's Den had to join the corps to qualify for the battlefield. Mike acting alone as a Lone Wolf would be too conspicuous.
Disguising himself to join the corps? Too complicated and unsafe.
Finally, Shadow Nine provided a perfect solution.
"Disguise yourself as a member of Guardian Shadow!"
"With your Nightmare's Breeze, you can do it. I'll place you in a Guardian Shadow combat squad as the deputy leader. No problem, right?"
That's what Shadow Nine had told Mike. When Mike reached the rendezvous point, he found the so-called combat squad had only two people: the leader and the deputy leader.
A purple shadow had clearly been waiting for some time. Wrapped in Nightmare's Breeze, Mike looked like a shadow.
The purple shadow asked coldly, "Battle General level, Shadow 8008?"
"Yes."
Mike showed the corresponding token, which matched the other person's token. The voice from the purple shadow was old and raspy.
"I've been waiting for you."
Mike looked at the purple shadow. Through the Eye of Truth, he saw a beautiful face with sharp short hair and piercing eyes. She had several annotations:
[Shadow Seven, Violet, Lv.985]
[26 years old, virgin, never dated, female, interested in men, imaginary rival: Thor....]
[Skills: Wind's Reach, Wind Shadow Kill.....]
Mike: ???
Is something wrong here? Shadow Seven was actually a 26-year-old beauty?
Shadow Seven spoke again, continuing to build her mysterious, seasoned warrior persona.
"Now that you're here, let's fight to our heart's content. It's been too long since I've had a good battle!"
Oh my supreme being, she's clearly a very young girl, yet she insists on using a raspy voice. It's really awful.