C9 Choice 5

"Kill them all!"

Gritting his teeth, Lin Yuan ignored the searing pain and the cracking of his burned, blistered hands as he swung the Jungle Blade, relentlessly slaughtering the goblins around him.

With severe injuries and venom coursing through his veins, his only salvation lay in the frenzied killing, draining the life force from the goblins.

Black mist wafted from the bodies of the fallen Goblin Vanguards, seeping into Lin Yuan's body, causing the pus-filled, yellow and bloodied blisters to slowly shrink.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Lin Yuan weaved through the horde of goblins, unstoppable in his assault.

In the middle of the field, a new bonfire crackled to life. More than ten Goblin Commanders sat around the Goblin General, occasionally glancing towards the sand pit amidst the chaos.

The Goblin General calmly ate a piece of roasted meat, seemingly oblivious to the cacophony of battle nearby.

On the outskirts of this inner circle, seven or eight towering Goblin Vanguards sat with their large eyes fixed on the battlefield, their expressions unflinching.

With each strike, the massive Jungle Blade carved blinding arcs through the night. Young Master Soong and his companions watched from the safety of a corner as the once dense enemy ranks thinned.

"Lin Yuan is a force to be reckoned with. He must have killed at least six or seven hundred goblins," Zhang Shicheng remarked, as the ferocity of the battle waned.

"Definitely six or seven hundred. His strength is almost frightening," agreed Lee Xia, swallowing hard before nodding.

"Lin Yuan has knowledge we lack, which is why he's become so powerful," she added.

"If we had known those things earlier, we wouldn't be any less formidable than him," Liu Sanli interjected, his voice tinged with resentment. Young Master Soong chuckled at him:

"Do you think you could handle it? The way he endured the fire earlier, a normal person would have collapsed from the pain—it's far worse than a knife wound."

"To withstand such agony and keep fighting with that kind of resilience, I admit, I'm nowhere near his level."

As Young Master Soong spoke, everyone cast him a curious glance.

Coming from a powerful and influential family, Young Master Soong was known for his pride and domineering presence. As such, his classmates tended to appease him, not wishing to stir up trouble for themselves—everyone, that is, except for the orphan-born Lin Yuan.

During his two years at university, Lin Yuan had always come across as somewhat of a loner. Even the roommates he shared a dorm with only had a lukewarm relationship with him.

Young Master Soong had once requested Lin Yuan's help with a minor task, but Lin Yuan flatly refused, causing Young Master Soong considerable embarrassment. From that point on, he frequently sought to provoke Lin Yuan, taking every opportunity to bully him.

It was therefore quite unexpected for everyone to hear Young Master Soong speak of Lin Yuan as if he were inferior. "What's so surprising about that? One must face reality," he pointed out.

As Lin Yuan was busy dispatching the last of the Goblins, Young Master Soong gestured towards him and spoke earnestly, "The Song family has its insights when it comes to assessing people. Lin Yuan has changed dramatically from who he used to be. He's no longer one of us ordinary folks. We need to give some serious thought to how we're going to interact with him."

"Race: Human; Rank: Dark Iron Eighth Rank."

As the black mist seeped into his body, Lin Yuan felt a slight tremor in his muscles. He had reached the Eighth Rank of Dark Iron.

With a final slash, Lin Yuan took down the last Goblin and turned to survey the field. The scene was peculiar; the Goblin army sat in utter silence, simply watching him, making no move to assist or prevent him from slaying their comrades.

Near the bonfire, a Goblin commander with yellow patches on his face couldn't contain himself and stood up, brandishing the Jungle Blade. The Goblin General quickly gestured to him, "Sit down."

"General?!" he questioned.

"Sit down!" the General insisted.

With a resigned sigh, the commander sat back down.

Another commander glanced between the unmoving Lin Yuan and the Goblin General, unable to keep quiet any longer. "General, we've lost nearly a full thousand-man squad. Was it worth it?"

"He is a seed," the General responded coolly.

The yellow-spotted commander gave a wry smile, "To sacrifice so many of our kin for one seed... General, can it truly be worth it?"

"As long as it allows our race to reclaim its freedom, any sacrifice is worthwhile," the General declared resolutely.

"Don't forget, upon our return to the forest tomorrow, we'll lose our intelligence and become just like them," he reminded.

The commanders looked around at the multitude of ordinary Goblins surrounding them and lapsed into a collective silence.

Puzzled, Lin Yuan shook his head, deciding not to dwell on it. He gripped the Jungle Blade and cautiously made his way into the distance.

After covering a hundred meters or so, Lin Yuan glanced back. The Goblin army remained still, showing no sign of activity.

He turned to observe the bonfire. A dozen high-ranking Goblins sat in silence, their gaze fixed on him. Among them, a Goblin clad in armor caught his eye. Its eyes shimmered with a myriad of thoughts, conspicuously devoid of any malice.

A fleeting sense of strangeness crossed Lin Yuan's mind. Dismissing the thought, he strode toward the dormitory building.

Deep into the night, he packed his belongings. Tomorrow, he would depart the campus to embark on his journey. The days of a warm bed and the comfort of familiar surroundings were behind him.

"Isn't Lin Yuan coming with us?" Li Youqiang peered out the window, puzzled.

"We're not on the same path anymore. His help earlier was to ensure we had the basic skills to survive. From here on out, it's up to us," Young Master Soong replied, shaking his head. He took a sip of water and then heartily snacked on some treats.

Upon the six-person team's return to the main hall, Hu Guangcheng had emerged from the storage room. He showed no signs of distress and had even procured a stash of food and water from somewhere.

"The Goblin squad has rejoined their main force. Let's secure the door and get a good night's rest. It might not be so easy to relax in the days to come," Young Master Soong said, his tone tinged with melancholy. Yang Yang rested gently against his shoulder, and the others nodded in agreement. What changes awaited them tomorrow was anyone's guess. This sudden onset of an apocalyptic world was riddled with enigmas.

Lin Yuan lay in bed, gazing out into the night where the moonlight illuminated the still figures of countless Goblins beside the extinguished bonfire.

A new thought surfaced, one that Lin Yuan, weary from his past life's struggles, had never considered: Did these Goblins also long for their own world?

As dawn's light filtered into the dormitory, Lin Yuan rose, shouldered his backpack, and took one last look at the disheveled room before walking away.

On the playground, the bonfire had been reduced to ashes. The Goblins, now awake from their slumber, began to sort through their collected items, ready to return to the jungle.

The Goblin commander and his assault troops knelt on one knee, gently kissing the back of the general's hand in a solemn farewell. As they prepared to depart, they faced the grim reality of reverting to their barbaric state, uncertain if they would ever lay eyes on their general again.

The Goblin General watched his troops march away in formation, his heart weighed down with sorrow. Despite their newfound intelligence, they were not of royal blood. Once they left, their memories and intellect would be tragically fragmented.

It was impossible to predict when—or if—they would meet again, and how many would still be standing.

Lin Yuan, with the Jungle Blade in hand, stood silently outside the gate. As the first contingent of a thousand soldiers emerged from the campus, he greeted them with a smile and a flourish of his blade.

"Kill!"

One thousand four hundred and forty—that was the exact toll required to ascend to the Ninth Rank. There was no alternative but to engage in a battle to the death.

"Gua Guo!"

The Goblin commander and his attackers brandished their weapons and charged at Lin Yuan in unison.

The forest loomed before them, a threshold beyond which they would devolve into savagery. In this moment, death seemed a merciful release.