Chapter 00078: The Collapse of the Human Corridor Defense Line
# The Collapse of the Human Corridor Defense Line
Chapter 78
Novel: After the Myth
Chapter 78: The Collapse of the Human Corridor Defense Line
Ding Huan arrived at the train station.
He was heading to Kunxin City, from where he planned to enter the Kunlun Mountains in search of ancient Daoist cultivation ruins.
The ancient cypress tree from ten thousand years ago had left him with an uneasy feeling, and he knew he needed to quickly improve his strength.
Besides, if he wanted to leave Earth, he had to find a way to enhance his abilities.
Without spirit stones, simply secluding himself to cultivate would yield minimal progress.
In just a few short months, the train station had become much more desolate.
Nowadays, unless there was something urgent, most people avoided taking the train.
News of train accidents was almost a daily occurrence.
Online ticket purchases were no longer an option, and even the station staff didn’t know which trains would be running on any given day.
Most of the schedules were decided at the last minute.
"To Kunxin City?" the ticket seller asked, looking at Ding Huan with suspicion.
Seeing that Ding Huan genuinely didn’t know, the ticket seller shook her head and said, "Three months ago, Kunxin City was overrun by demonic beasts."
"Then how do I get to Kunxin City now?" Ding Huan asked.
"You can drive there yourself or join a hunting team that’s going after the beasts," the ticket seller replied indifferently.
She knew full well that going to Kunxin City at this time was practically suicidal.
Ding Huan sighed inwardly.
Drive there himself? His strength was still too low.
If he were stronger, he might have been able to fly.
In the legends of immortals and gods, those beings could soar through the skies and traverse the earth.
But how could a fourth-level gene cultivator like him fly? Should he try to fuse with the genes of a flying beast to gain the ability? That seemed far-fetched.
Would he grow wings just by fusing with a flying beast’s genes? Flying without wings defied the laws of physics.
"Flying Sword Technique: When one possesses divine sense, they can nurture their life-bound flying sword, riding the wind and treading upon the sword. There are three challenges to mastering the Flying Sword Technique: the weapon, the method, and the heart. Controlling the sword with the weapon alone is the lowest level, controlling it with the method is intermediate, and controlling it with the heart is the highest level..."
Ding Huan’s eyes widened.
Sure enough, as his cultivation improved, new fragments of Daoist techniques appeared in his mind.
The Flying Sword Technique! After the initial excitement, he shook his head.
It was just a fantasy for now.
He had the technique, but he didn’t have a flying sword.
From the fragmented information on the ancient scroll, he could vaguely sense that a flying sword wasn’t just any ordinary sword.
"Then help me buy a ticket to Puhai," Ding Huan decided.
He would go to Puhai first.
The leader of the Gene Alliance there, Shi Changyi, should have returned by now.
He could ask him if he had managed to obtain any spirit stones.
Besides, Haiyun Mutation Materials still owed him nearly ten million alliance coins.
If he couldn’t find a hunting team heading to the Kunlun Mountains in Puhai, he would buy a car and drive there himself.
Just as Ding Huan received his ticket, a panicked voice came over the loudspeaker: "Breaking news! The Human Corridor Defense Line has been breached by gene beasts! The Human Corridor Defense Line has been breached! Billions of gene beasts are sweeping across from Africa and are expected to reach China in at most half a month..."
The entire station erupted into chaos.
The announcement said the beasts would reach China in half a month, but did that account for the countless beasts already within China’s borders? Ding Huan looked at the panicked crowd and suddenly felt as though he had caused a butterfly effect.
In his previous life, he had never heard of the Human Corridor Defense Line being breached before he left.
"Are you Teacher Ding Huan?" a voice suddenly called out from the side.
Ding Huan turned and saw someone he recognized.
He smiled and said, "Fei Tongtong, long time no see."
Fei Tongtong was someone he had met when he visited Haiyun Mutation Materials in Puhai.
Back then, the female boss, Mu Tingyun, had taken him to the backyard for tea, where he had seen a man and a woman.
The man was named Zhao Quan, and the woman was Fei Tongtong.
Of course, he had been disguised at the time.
Since Fei Tongtong knew his name, it meant Mu Tingyun had recognized him back then.
Mu Tingyun still owed him over nine million.
He planned to collect that debt during this trip to Puhai.
"It really is you, Teacher Ding," Fei Tongtong said, her voice trembling with excitement.
Before Ding Huan could respond, a massive eagle descended from the sky, swooping down on a young boy.
The boy was frozen in fear, staring at the eagle as it dove toward him.
Even more terrifying, a dozen more flying gene beasts followed, one of them a mutated owl that tore off a woman’s arm with a single swipe of its claw.
The owl didn’t even bother to carry the woman away; it simply devoured the arm on the spot.
Furious, Ding Huan flashed forward, covering over a hundred meters in an instant.
Dozens of wind blades shot out from his body.
"Thud! Thud!"
Blood mist exploded in the air as five or six flying beasts were sliced into pieces and fell to the ground.
Ding Huan didn’t stop.
His hands continued to unleash wind blades.
In just a few breaths, all the flying beasts were dead.
At this moment, Ding Huan was certain that the gene beasts of Qianluo Mountain had also gone berserk.
He didn’t know what the strongest gene beast in Qianluo Mountain was, but he did know the one with the noblest bloodline—the Great Desolate Golden Ape, whose blood he had taken and whose treasures he had looted.
Sure enough, chaos erupted on the streets.
People were running out, but the area outside Luohe was completely overrun by beasts, making escape impossible.
"Teacher Ding, I just received news that gene beasts all over the world have suddenly gone berserk. That’s why the Human Corridor Defense Line was breached..."
Fei Tongtong said as she approached Ding Huan.
"Fei Tongtong, you must have something to tell me, but I need to deal with these beasts first. Do me a favor—go to the Luohe Security Bureau and tell them that Luohe will not fall. Ask them to work with the police to maintain order in the city. Also, let them know that I’ve taken care of the Xidao Society. Afterward, you can wait for me at Yujiang University."
With that, Ding Huan left.
He was worried that the police and security bureau might hesitate to act out of fear of the Xidao Society.
Although Ding Huan didn’t know that the Xidao Society specialized in looting cities before beast attacks, he knew they were no good, so he had eliminated them as soon as he finished his business.
As Ding Huan disappeared into the distance, Fei Tongtong called out after him, "I’ll deliver your message and wait for you at Yujiang University!"
...
When Ding Huan arrived at the Luohe defensive wall, the defenses were already in full swing.
An endless tide of gene beasts was charging forward, creating an unprecedented beast wave.
Bullets and artillery shells rained down on the beasts, and laser weapons cut through their ranks.
But the gene beasts seemed fearless, and in no time, the area outside Luohe was littered with corpses.
Seeing that the flying beasts were also being held back outside the city walls, Ding Huan realized that the dozen or so flying beasts he had killed earlier weren’t from Qianluo Mountain—they had come from within the city.
"Get out of here, civilian!" an officer roared at Ding Huan as he approached.
The officer was covered in blood.
Despite the barrage of bullets and artillery, some beasts had managed to breach the wall, and there were beasts inside the city as well.
The laser weapons, while powerful, had significant drawbacks.
They consumed too much energy and were affected by the blood mist in the air, causing the beams to deviate and lose effectiveness at longer ranges.
Luohe, being an inland city in China, didn’t have nuclear reactors to power its laser weapons.
Ding Huan couldn’t help but think of the ray weapons from the Changyi Continent, which didn’t suffer from beam deviation but still had issues with energy dissipation and high consumption.
Seeing that Ding Huan hadn’t left, the officer drew his pistol without hesitation.
At a time like this, any civilian getting in the way was just asking to be shot.
Ding Huan raised his hand and sent out several wind blades, slicing through a few beasts that had climbed onto the wall.
The officer was stunned.
Wasn’t that the legendary invisible wind blade? The invisible wind blade had been making waves recently, and here he was, seeing it in action on the Luohe defensive wall.
Someone in Luohe could actually use such a devastating technique!
"My name is Ding Huan," Ding Huan said, looking at the shocked officer.
"So you’re Teacher Ding! No wonder. I’m Yi Zhenjiang, captain of the seventh squad of the Luohe City Defense Corps," Yi Zhenjiang said excitedly.
Ding Huan was his idol.
While others might not know, as a military man, Yi Zhenjiang was well aware of Ding Huan’s reputation.
Even though the Human Corridor Defense Line had been breached, Ding Huan’s students were legendary figures on that front.
"Captain Yi, I feel like this gene beast wave is unusual. It’s definitely not a normal beast tide. I’m going to Qianluo Mountain to investigate. Until I return, don’t give up," Ding Huan said seriously.
Yi Zhenjiang immediately responded, "Teacher Ding, don’t worry. As long as I’m alive, not a single beast will get past me into the city."
"Good," Ding Huan said, then charged out.
"Teacher Ding, you can leave your bag with me," Yi Zhenjiang called out, but Ding Huan was already deep into the beast horde.
A group of beasts saw someone daring to charge out and immediately pounced.
Ding Huan’s hands moved in unison, and with the aid of his divine sense, the wind blades formed a continuous line.
This technique was useless against strong opponents, but against these beasts, it was like cutting through wheat.
Most of the beasts here were only mutated, with very few being first-level gene beasts.
Under Ding Huan’s wind blades, they had no chance.
From atop the wall, Yi Zhenjiang watched as Ding Huan stepped over the beasts, leaving a trail of fallen creatures in his wake.
A clear path opened up instantly.
Yi Zhenjiang murmured in awe, "Incredible."
"Who’s incredible?" a deep voice asked.
Yi Zhenjiang turned to see several people approaching.
He quickly stood at attention and said, "Regiment Commander."
The man who had arrived was Xing Baisen, the commander of the Luohe City Defense Corps.
His expression was grave, clearly aware that today’s events were anything but ordinary.
(End of Chapter)