Chapter 498 - Crippled Conqueror
*BANG*
*BANG*
*BANG*
Hundreds of AK-47 shells rained upon Zhou Yu and Sun Ce.
Sun Ce, with the cultivation strength of six wings, managed to deflect all of the bullets as his strength was on par with Li Feihong.
However, Zhou Yu was a lot weaker than Li Feihong and Sun Ce. Even though he reinforced his body with a layer of barrier, the enhanced shells riddled Zhou Yu's body with holes.
*PU*
One of them entered Zhou Yu's brain.
Zhou Yu burned the last image he saw in this life. For a split of a second, he could see the sneer of Li Feihong behind one of the portal.
'Lilim, why haven't you helped us when we need you the most!?'
'Li Feihong!! Otherworlders!! Why do you all exist in this world!!?'
'The heaven is unfair!! I curse you all!!'
His consciousness faded forever.
Sun Ce widened his eyes and screamed, "NOOOOO!!"
*Click*
All ten AK-47s reentered the portals as they ran out of bullets.
Before all portals closed, Sun Ce kicked the ground and dashed toward the nearest blue gate, hoping to catch Li Feihong.
As Sun Ce was about to enter the gate in front of him, he sensed an oppressing killing intent from the gate's other side. His feet stopped, and his wings flapped, launching himself to the sky.
*BOOM*
Something exploded inside the portal, but Sun Ce did not care. He flew away, leaving his sworn brother at the government hall.
The portal faded away. A tongue clicking noise was audible in the hall, but no one was there to hear it.
.
.
.
The moment Zhou Yu's death notification informed Wu Guotai, Sun Quan, and Huang Gai's company, everyone's stomach churned.
This was a nail to the coffin. Without the brain, Zhou Yu, Sun Ce would be helpless against Li Feihong and Lu Bu.
Sun Ce could rely on Lu Meng or Lu Xun, who had inherited Zhou Yu's position in the other timeline. However, Sun Ce was not that close to these men as he treated them as common soldiers, not important key personnel.
Lu Meng and Lu Xun got promoted when Sun Quan was the lord. Thus, their loyalty was with the younger brother!
Sun Quan shook his head, "Pitiful Bofu. You've done this upon yourself."
Wu Guotai glanced at her son. As she knew that Sun Quan had his memory back, she did not treat him like a little boy anymore.
"That's still your elder brother."
"He was. He's our enemy the moment he points his sword against Zhang Tong… Ah, should I call him "Father" now?"
Sun Quan snickered as he sarcastically sneered at his mother, "You see, mother. I've been investigating the events after we had died. I heard that my descendants were so incompetent to the point that our loyal peasants revolted everywhere. What was his name? Sun Hao, right?"
In history, Sun Hao succeeded the throne of the Wu Dynasty in the year 280 after Sun Quan, Sun Liang, and Sun Xiu's reign. Sun Hao was Sun Quan's grandson, but he did not inherit the Sun clan's motto of harmony and peace.
Sun Hao was a tyrant emperor that ruled his people with fear, similar to Dong Zhuo. The Wu Kingdom in his reign often dealt with the uprising of the peasants, which ruined Wu's economy and military power.
The Jin Kingdom, ruled by Sima Zhao at that time, sent his elite generals and conquered Jianye, finishing the three kingdom era for good. After a few skirmishes, Sun Hao ended up tying himself and surrendered to the Jin Empire while his men were still fighting on other frontlines.
Sun Quan in this world learned about Sun Hao's incompetency, and he was not happy about it.
As Sun Quan had been staying in Ye and learning the modern culture and Te Langpu's insight, he had an inspiration for how the Sun Clan could prosper in this world.
Everything depended on Tong, Liu Xie, and Tong's descendants' performance. If their empire was too strong, Sun Quan could play a fool, enjoying his prestige as a prince and ensuring his family's prosperity as long as he could. But if Tong's allies showed signs of weaknesses, Sun Quan would not mind exploiting them and raise his standing in the court, wresting for power and the successor right to the throne.
At present, Sun Quan was coaxing Du Shi and Cai Wenji by using his mother as a mediator, hoping to marry one of their daughters to solidify his status.
As for Tong's favorite daughter, Zhang Min, Sun Quan did not dare to get involved as he knew that Sima Yi and Wei Yan were pursuing her.
"You will create a scandal at this rate. What will people talk behind our back if you marry your step-sister?"
"Hahaha! Cousins marrying each other is a common thing in the noble's community, mother. We're not technically related by blood, so there is no problem with that."
Wu Guotai sighed, "Anyway, I'll visit minister Lu again. I'll ask him to spare our family after they are done with Bofu."
"Sure. Tell my step-mothers that I send them my regards, and I hope to meet their daughters again."
"…"
.
.
.
Sun Ce flew southeast, heading back to Jianye at full speed. He ignored everything as the only thing in his mind was his life.
'WhatcanIdowhatdoIdowhyisthishappeningfuckmylifeIdon'tknowwhattodonextshouldIjustgobacktoJianyebymyselforshouldregroupwithmymenisLiFeihongstillchasingaftermehowcanIfighthimifhecanattackusanywherethisisnotfair!'
Sun Ce's thought was in a mess as he was panicking.
Seven blue gates opened before Sun Ce, and seven souls, carrying AK-47, left the portals. They pointed their gun at Sun Ce.
"DON'T GET COCKY!"
Sun Ce turned toward the nearest soul and launched his body toward it. He gathered his force and created a soul barrier around himself once more.
*BANG*
*BANG*
*BANG*
A hundred of bullets rained upon Sun Ce. As if they were ordinary stones, they could not penetrate into Sun Ce's body. However, flesh wounds, caused by the burning shells, began to appear.
"YAAAHH!!"
Sun Ce drew his sword, gathered his aura, and slashed toward one of Li Feihong's souls.
*Whoosh*
The slash missed.
The soul sneered at Sun Ce as it retreated back into the blue portal behind its back.
Sun Ce had the urge to chase into the portal, but he was afraid of the unknown. He gritted his teeth and continued to flee southeast.
More portals opened. As if they were trying to trap Sun Ce there, they surrounded him. Some of the blue gates appeared in front of Sun Ce, trying to lure him into entering them. Yet, Sun Ce avoided them like plagues.
The more Li Feihong attempted to drag Sun Ce inside his world, the better Sun Ce's flying skill was. Through struggling and fighting for his life, Sun Ce's strength continued to grow.
.
Li Feihong was calmly observing Sun Ce's reaction through his dimension monitors. Before his expression was as if he were a supreme being watching a worthless insect struggling for his life. But now, he doubted that if chasing after Sun Ce was a good move.
Li Feihong glanced at Xu Shu, "I think this bastard is getting stronger. For some reason, he dodges all of my traps."
Xu Shu, the former Liu Bei's strategist, was now working exclusively for Li Feihong in exchange for sparing Ma Chao and Liu Bei's life.
The new adviser shook his head, "It's natural for someone who's fighting for his life to experience a rapid evolution or growth. You are cornering him and awaken his true potential indirectly. I suggest that you should get out there with General Zhang Liao, so you two can defeat him together."
"What is the chance that Zhang Liao will get killed in the process?"
"50-50."
Li Feihong clicked his tongue, "No gambling. I won't risk it."
"Then, Sun Ce will continue to become his majesty's threat. He will be a dangerous factor that can influence Sun Quan and Wu Guotai to rebel."
"…Sun Quan, eh."
Li Feihong groaned as he was aware of Sun Quan's potential. However, he had not learned that Sun Quan possessed dual-cultivation compatibility, which could obtain angel and demon wings.
Had Li Feihong been aware of Sun Quan's true potential, he would have spared no effort to slaughter this entire family bloodline.
"That's impossible. Any woman entering Zhang Tong's bed will become his love-slave. By now, Wu Guotai should have been craving for more night activities with him."
"…"
Believing that the Sun clan would pose no threat to Tong, Li Feihong stopped chasing after Sun Ce. He left his private dimension to fly to Ye, hoping to deliver his prisoners and Lu Lingqi.
As Li Feihong was busy flying back home, Zhang Liao, who remained inside Li Feihong's world, reported the development to others in the clan chat.
Zhang Liao: "Viceroy Li Feihong has killed Zhou Yu. Sun Ce and others have escaped."
Lu Zhi: "That's good enough. Any idea where the others went?"
Zhang Liao: "We overheard their conversation. Sun Ce is heading southeast, so he might be going home. Sun Fang and Ling Tong are moving to Jinyang to assassinate Sir Ding Yuan. I suggest Sir Ding evacuate and hide ASAP."
Ding Yuan: "The hell!? I'm minding my own business here in peace. Why are they going after me!?"
Zhang Liao: "From their conversation we had spied on them, they're trying to isolate General Lu Bu and assassinate him by soul-detonation."
Zhang Liao: "We've also learned that they are planning to gather a suicidal army comprised of commoners who can cultivate souls. Zhou Yu wanted to use them as living bombs."