Dragon Transformation in the Apocalypse

Chapter 185 A Fight to the Death

Ten minutes later, Zheng Yong, Feng Tian, ​​and others who had arrived earlier reached the special forces team's location, followed by a team of over 300 people composed of level 6 or higher ability users and awakened individuals. After learning the situation from Yang Liu, Feng Tian quickly said, "Nonsense! We have to bring him back. We'll face difficulties together, and dangers together. What kind of leader fights in the front while we watch from behind?" He was about to step forward when Yang Liu stopped him.

After saluting, Yang Liu said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, our special operations team has been ordered to stop you from advancing any further. Moreover, according to the decision of the Provisional Military Commission of China, if there are any disagreements within the Dawn Army, Comrade Li Chenglong's opinion will be used as the standard for judgment. Therefore, please wait here." Feng Tian's eyes widened, seemingly unable to believe it. Zheng Yong said from the side, "General Feng, please calm down. Since Li Chenglong is doing this, he must have his reasons."

Li Chenglong took out a few Flame Fruits and slowly ate them, preparing for the battle to come. The silhouette of the spaceship in the distance became clearer and clearer, and in no time it was in front of Li Chenglong, hovering fifty or sixty meters high. Five Kiel aliens jumped down from it one after another, all staring intently at Li Chenglong with their huge, dark eyes.

Then the five aliens began to communicate, using interstellar language. Through months of study, Li Chenglong could understand most of it. It turned out the five aliens were discussing who should attack first. This actually reassured Li Chenglong somewhat; since they were discussing who should attack first, they weren't attacking together. If they attacked together, he would have no chance of winning.

After a brief discussion, the third of the five aliens stepped forward and contemptuously held up three fingers to Li Chenglong: "Three minutes, just three minutes, and I can defeat you, a weak level 9 human." As he spoke, he drew a large sword more than a meter long from the north and assumed an attack stance.

Li Chenglong summoned the Dragon Emperor Sword, slowly drawing it from its scabbard, which then vanished. The eldest alien, Lagula, raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised, then said, "Hado, be careful." The third, Hado, laughed, "Dealing with an Earth bug is a piece of cake." The second, Jedora, chimed in, "Right, third, hurry up and finish it off. I still need to kill those Earth bugs behind us." The fourth and fifth brothers, Doron and Jax, burst into laughter.

Li Chenglong activated his attack, instantly switching to his psionic form, his body radiating a crimson light. The Dragon Emperor Sword blazed brightly, slashing directly at Hado. Caught off guard, Hado hastily parried with his sword, but a cracking sound rang out, and his longsword shattered into several pieces, falling to the ground. In desperation, he unleashed an energy wave from his left hand, rushing towards Li Chenglong. Li Chenglong vanished in a flash of crimson light, reappearing behind Hado and piercing him through with his sword.

Hado clutched his stomach in astonishment, watching pale green blood gushing from the wound in his abdomen: "How is this possible? There's no reason for this. It's impossible. I could actually die at the hands of an Earth bug. It's impossible..." As he spoke, he knelt on the ground and gradually lost his life.

The other four Kilians were speechless with shock, while Li Chenglong had already retreated more than 50 meters away, standing there with his sword drawn. Although he was trying his best to suppress his breathing, a careful observer could see that Li Chenglong was already panting heavily. Just now, in order to instantly kill his opponent, Li Chenglong released the third level of Dragon-Phoenix Blood in an instant, and also unleashed the most energy-consuming but most powerful Dragon-Phoenix Burning Blood Slash, while simultaneously using spatial teleportation three times. Although the battle only lasted five seconds, he had already consumed a third of his spiritual energy.

"Great! Commander Li took down an alien in an instant!" A dozen or so sensory-type ability users promptly relayed this good news to Zheng Yong and the others. Feng Tian couldn't help but shake his head and say, "I've always thought highly of Li Chenglong, but every time he manages to surprise me. He's truly a guy full of miracles." Yang Liu looked into the distance with some pride, while Zhao Liying beside her was intently sensing the battlefield situation ahead.

Big Brother Lagula frowned, glaring angrily at Hado's corpse on the ground. "Doran and Jax, you two attack together! Avenge Hado!" The two exchanged a glance, each drawing a long sword from their backs, and charged towards Li Chenglong. Li Chenglong had deactivated his psionic form to conserve his energy, but now he had to reactivate it. He activated his psionic form and charged towards the two. Now that they were on guard, a sneak attack was extremely difficult; he had to find another way.

The two Kiel aliens coordinated perfectly. If it weren't for Li Chenglong's psionic form, his level two dragon blood burst, and his gradually improving combat skills over the past year, he would have been defeated long ago by these two level 10 Kiel aliens. Even so, he had already sustained some minor injuries. The other two aliens weren't in much better shape; one had his left arm slashed by Li Chenglong, and the other had his chest slashed. Fortunately, they weren't wearing the sturdy armor of the En aliens, otherwise they would have been much more difficult to deal with.

Li Chenglong fought them for three minutes when he suddenly felt his psionic energy recover. At that moment, a voice came from afar: "Get down!" Li Chenglong used spatial teleportation to escape, only to see a blue light arrow pierce through Duolang's body. Li Chenglong teleported back and, with all his might, severed Duolang's head with a sword strike. Instantly, blue-green blood gushed out like a fountain. He then used the opportunity to teleport to a distant location and reunite with Erica, who had rushed over.

Erica wiped the sweat from her brow: "I received Wang Xiao's contact and immediately used my spatial bracelet to travel over. These are high-ranking soldiers of the Kiel aliens, all level 10, and their combat power is very strong." Li Chenglong ate several Flame Fruits in a row, and then took out the wine brewed from Flame Fruits and drank half a bottle in one go before saying, "Thank you so much just now. If you hadn't restored my spiritual energy, things might have been different." Erica smiled slightly: "I should be thanking you. If you hadn't held me back, I wouldn't have been able to strike so decisively."

After Doron's death, three of the five alien brothers who originally came to Earth remained: the eldest brother, Lagula; the second brother, Jedora; and the youngest brother, Jax. Lagula bent down to look at Doron's headless body, his aura gradually rising. He looked at Erica beside Li Chenglong and said, "Isn't this Erica, the second princess of Planet Meral? Where did you run off to? Turns out you came to this remote planet. Perfect timing, I'll capture you and take you back for the reward."

Erica frowned. "Two of you five have died in just a few minutes. If you fight again, you'll all be wiped out. Get lost, and we might spare your lives." Jedora laughed and said, "We're not easily intimidated. You think you can bluff? Not so easy." Li Chenglong said from the side, "They came on a mission, and we killed two of them. They certainly won't leave so easily." Erica nodded. "Then let's have a good fight with them."

"And me." A female voice rang out, and Yun Lan had already arrived beside them. Before Li Chenglong could speak, Yun Lan interjected, "You don't need to say anything. If we can't defeat them today, we and Dawn City have no future." As she spoke, she summoned the Dragon and Phoenix Spears, and her spiritual energy gradually emanated from her body.

The battle was about to begin. Li Chenglong faced Lagula, Erica faced Jedora, and Yunlan faced Jacks. Although Yunlan was only level 8, with the boost from her Dragon-Phoenix Blood and Dragon-Phoenix Body, she was able to hold her own against Jacks. Erica took out a long sword and engaged Jedora in battle. As an S-rank level 10 Awakened, although she was more of a support type, her combat ability was not low. Compared to these two, Li Chenglong's battle was slightly more difficult. Lagula was the strongest of the five brothers, and Li Chenglong had just suffered some exhaustion. Although he had eaten a lot of Flame Fruits, they only slowly restored his spiritual energy, and it was impossible for him to be fully recovered immediately.

As he fought, Lagula was also shocked. Although he was not one of the top warriors among the Gil aliens, he had never had such a difficult time against opponents of lower rank.

Yunlan was engaged in battle when a sudden ice arrow shot from afar, trapping Jacks. It turned out Li Xue had seized the opportunity and launched the extreme cold ice arrow. Yunlan shouted, "Explosive Dragon and Phoenix Charge!" Energy with dragon and phoenix patterns shot out from the tip of her spear, rushing straight towards her frozen opponent. However, Li Xue was only level 8, and although the attack was successful, it didn't seal Jacks for long. Just as the Explosive Dragon and Phoenix Charge was about to hit him, Jacks broke free of the ice, parried with his sword, and withstood the attack.

He looked at Yun Lan with a mocking expression, then said, "A mere Earthling dares to launch a sneak attack? You're courting death..." Before he could finish speaking, Li Chenglong had already teleported behind him: "Sky-Splitting Dragon-Phoenix Slash!" The sharp sword energy slashed a deep wound on his back. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Yun Lan rushed forward, piercing Jacks' abdomen with her spear. Li Chenglong swung his sword horizontally, severing his opponent's head.

Erica saw that she had killed another one, and with all her might, she pushed her opponent away. The four of them stood together, facing the remaining Lagura and Jedora from afar.

Lagura and Jedora roared in fury as they stared at the corpses of their three brothers. Then, their bodies emitted rays of light and merged together. Erica exclaimed in alarm, "Stop him quickly! This is a special ability of the Gil aliens—fusion! If he succeeds, the enemy's fighting power will be greatly enhanced!"

Upon hearing this, Li Chenglong and Yunlan immediately unleashed their strongest skill, the Dragon-Phoenix Heaven-Shattering Fist, at the merging alien. Li Xue also used Hero's Song and Extreme Cold Ice Arrow, while Erica drew her bow, preparing to deliver a fatal blow. All the skills struck the alien squarely, but after the smoke cleared, Li Chenglong was astonished to find that the alien had already completed its fusion, completely unharmed.

Erica frowned: "We're still a step too late. These two Kiel aliens have already successfully fused. They've even reached level 11." Li Chenglong activated his True Dragon Eye: "Fused Kiel alien form, level 11, constitution 557, strength 592, agility 524, spirit 485." All attributes completely overwhelmed Li Chenglong. Even Erica, an S-rank level 10 awakened being, only had a slightly higher spirit than him.

The fused Kiel alien was at least 3 meters tall, its appearance largely unchanged, exuding a terrifying aura. Without a word, it slashed directly at Li Chenglong. Li Chenglong activated his psionic form, his Dragon-Phoenix Bloodline erupting to level 3, and met the attack with all his might. Erica also activated her psionic form, joining Li Chenglong in the fight. Yun Lan wanted to join the fray, but Li Xue stopped her; the enemy was too strong, and she and her sister-in-law, both level 8 awakened beings, had no chance to fight. To avoid causing trouble for Li Chenglong, the two women quickly retreated to the special forces' location.

As soon as they arrived, Zheng Yong and Feng Tian looked at the two of them with questioning eyes. Yun Lan didn't speak, but Li Xue said, "Things have changed. Although we have killed three aliens, the two strongest ones have now merged together and become level 11. In order not to affect my brother and Miss Erica's battle, we have to step down."

Zhao Liying had already stopped sensing: "No, the energy collision is too intense. I can't sense anything anymore. The only thing I know is that the battle is extremely fierce." Actually, there's no need to sense anything now, because everyone standing here can feel the energy fluctuations in the distance. With each energy collision, the ground trembles.

Both Li Chenglong and Erica were already heavily injured. Although their teamwork was excellent, the Gil alien had reached level 11, with high attack and high health. Although Li Chenglong was a level 9 SS-rank Awakener, he was two levels lower, and the opponent's combat ability was also very high. It was truly remarkable that they had been able to fight this far.

Li Chenglong said while fighting, "Erica, can you sever my connection with Yunlan? I'm not afraid of death, but I'm afraid Yunlan will die because of this." Erica glanced at Li Chenglong: "Don't give up until the very end." Li Chenglong said angrily, "Just tell me if you can do it, hurry up. As a member of the royal family of Meral Star, and knowing about microcomputers, you must have a way." Erica bit her lip: "It's possible, but once you sever your connection, you'll enter a period of weakness, and you'll die." Li Chenglong smiled faintly: "What does it matter if I die? As long as we can defeat him, that's enough. Even if I die, I still have Yunlan, and the thousands upon thousands of brothers and sisters in Dawn City. Hurry up and do it."

Erica nodded and stepped back. "I need a minute." She then took out the pendant from her chest and spoke in the language of Merar. The pendant grew increasingly dazzling over time. Suddenly, two beams of blue light shot out, one into Li Chenglong's body and the other into Yunlan's. Yunlan immediately felt the surging dragon and phoenix blood quiet down, and she could no longer directly sense Li Chenglong's condition.

Li Chenglong coughed up a mouthful of blood, sensing the connection had been severed. He shouted, "Thank you. I have one last favor to ask: take care of my family, and take care of Dawn City." With that, Li Chenglong roared, "Dragon and Phoenix Blood, unleash your full power!"

Instantly, a crimson aura emanated from his body, and countless tiny cracks appeared on his fair skin, from which wisps of blood spurted and transformed into aura. Li Chenglong stared at the enemy before him: "I know I can no longer defeat you, but you will never destroy my Dawn City!" With that, Li Chenglong instantly teleported behind the Kiel alien, embracing him tightly: "Space travel! You and I will fight forever in this other-dimensional space!"

The Kiel alien was in a state of extreme panic, struggling frantically to shake off Li Chenglong, pleading, "No, I surrender! Please, I give up!" Li Chenglong laughed loudly, "Surrender? Too late! I won't let an enemy like you go!" As he spoke, he activated his Dragon Soaring Technique, and together with the alien, they took to the air. Everyone saw a red beam of energy shoot straight into the sky, then emit a dazzling red light and disappear.

Erica collapsed to the ground, tears streaming down her face, pounding her fist on the floor. Yun Lan, Zheng Yong, and the others rushed forward. But apart from Erica, Li Chenglong was nowhere to be seen. Han Xiaoling immediately burst into tears, crying, "No, it can't be, brother! Waaaaah!" Erica slowly stood up and gently placed the dragon ring that Li Chenglong had tossed to her before leaving into Yun Lan's hand. Yun Lan wept uncontrollably and then fainted, and cries of grief filled the air.

Zheng Yong clenched his fists, desperately trying to hold back his tears, and then said, "All soldiers of the Dawn Army, listen to my command! Salute!" More than 10,000 people on the scene saluted in unison, reluctant to leave for a long time. For half a month after the battle, Dawn City was plunged into endless grief. Shangguan Feng of Black Gold City, Sun Tianlong of Qianyun Base, and Gao Shixin of Qingshui Base sent condolences immediately. Xu Qingming and Wei Huasheng even brought their confidants to Dawn City to express their condolences. General Chen Guoqiang was heartbroken after learning about Li Chenglong's situation.

After being carried back, Yunlan remained unconscious for two days before waking up. She cried incessantly afterward, only calming down with the comfort of Qin Fangyu, Shen Menghua, Liu Qingqing, and others. A week later, she entrusted her son to her mother's care and threw herself into her work in Shuguang City.

On April 12, the Dawn City Committee and the People's Representative Committee convened to discuss this matter. The meeting was very dull, and it was finally decided that Yunlan would serve as the acting city lord, the original deputy city lords would remain unchanged, and all other departments would remain unchanged, continuing to perform their duties as before.

The enlarged meeting of the Military Commission held the following day caused quite a stir. According to the regulations of the Provisional Military Commission of China, given Li Chenglong's suspected death, the Dawn Army needed a principal military officer. However, all attendees opposed this, especially Zheng Yong, Feng Tian, ​​Wu Gang, and Zheng Aiguo, whose opposition was particularly strong. Finally, the meeting concluded under Zheng Yong's chairmanship, with the assembly unanimously deciding to temporarily waive the position of army commander, with Deputy Army Commander Yun Lan acting as commander, and all other personnel remaining unchanged.

It's worth mentioning that Erica officially joined Dawn City, becoming a member and now serving as Yunlan's second-in-command. She felt quite guilty towards Yunlan; with her, a level 10, involved, this kind of thing still happened. In the following days, Yunlan led the special forces team in battles of varying scales, cooperating with various combat groups. After much effort, he finally reached level 9, gained his own psionic form, and significantly increased his combat power.