"Seems like I might have underestimated Humanity Ascension a bit."

If this was the strength of just one of their elite squads, then what was the power of their strongest elite squad?

He doubted this was the strongest squad they had.

With the sheer amount of resources they poured into them, every movement and attack backed by expensive Combat Manuals, it became clear just how terrifying Humanity Ascension truly was.

In his past life, even as a Combat Squad Captain, the only Combat Manual White had ever received from the United Earth Federation was the FlowThai Combat Style, a technique reserved for exceptional soldiers who had devoted at least five years to the UEF.

That was everything.

And seeing this squad use so many Combat Manuals showed that Humanity Ascension had far more resources to spend on its elites.

The longer the battle continued, the more evident the conclusion became.

Despite their higher cultivation stages, the mercenaries were hopelessly outmatched in strength, and they were heavily outnumbered on top of that.

White didn’t find that shocking.

Mercenaries were cultivators who didn’t cultivate under an academy or the military.

They were rogue cultivators who took on missions and survived on the pay they earned from them.

Unlike the students of the Top Academies, like Xtremecyber or Mutantgnomes, who studied under powerful instructors and even after graduation still retained the support of the top academies in the world, most mercenaries grew stronger from their own personal experiences, trials, and errors.

When faced with elite squads from a powerhouse like Humanity Ascension, they simply didn’t stand a chance.

And after about three hours of intense fighting, everything came to a pause all at once.

The three mercenaries were forced back, exhaling roughly in exhaustion with deep wounds and missing body parts, their backs facing the meteor field, while the Destroscension squad all remained standing, still burning with energy and closer to the tower than ever.

Even Leo, the weakest among them, didn’t have a single sign of injury on him, and Old Grey, who had taken on two of them at once, showed zero signs of weakness.

"Seems like in the end, your unorthodox way of cultivation failed you."

Old Grey replied to the mercenaries, who gritted their teeth.

"At least I got my power from taking on missions. You, slaves of Humanity Ascension, survive by being dogs to the upper hierarchy of an organization."

The lanky man retorted.

"You’re lucky we’re not here for your heads..."

Old Grey responded.

"Now, and for the last time... get out of our way!"

He said, and this time, the void darkened into a shade of red as thick killing intent filled the entire area.

The mercenaries immediately froze in both horror and fear as they looked at Old Grey, who was now oozing with terrifying killing intent.

It was clear that if they dared continue the fight, he would attack with the intention to kill.

And with how easily he had dominated both of them

At least one of them would end up dead in his hands.

"Hmph!"

The short mercenary scoffed.

"Suit yourselves..."

He said as all three turned their backs to leave, but all of a sudden

VROOOOOOOOOM!

The void shook as they suddenly turned their eyes toward one of the meteors, and incredibly powerful attacks blasted forth from them toward a particular meteor.

It was none other than the one where White was hiding behind.

"No."

Leo uttered, preparing to rush forward, only for a hand to grab his shoulder.

He turned his head in shock to find Old Grey holding him back.

"He’s with us..."

Leo said, but then Old Grey turned his eyes toward him and said one word.

"No."

____________

With White standing 5,000 meters away, he could easily see the fight ending with the mercenaries leaving.

But how could he possibly miss them eyeing him during the second they were forced to concede?

Their intentions were clearly directed toward him, revealing to White that they would try to make a desperate move to get back at Humanity Ascension for their defeat.

And just as expected, he watched all three suddenly sprint toward him, unleashing powerful attacks.

They were final attacks meant to ensure that they at least brought down one member of Humanity Ascension with them.

And it worked.

A massive black hole cracked open in the space where White stood.

The joint attack of all three at a single point was more powerful than any attack they had unleashed during the fight itself, and smirks appeared on their faces as they turned back toward the Destroscension squad, most of whom had shocked expressions, not expecting such a move at all.

But one of them showed no shock whatsoever.

And that was none other than Old Grey, who merely watched with an expressionless face.

"Just helping you take care of the coward in your group. No need to thank us, Old Grey, haha!"

They laughed, but then

"Coward?"

The word resounded from inside the black hole itself, and all three froze.

Snapping their heads back, they watched as the black hole rapidly grew smaller and smaller until suddenly.

They found him.

The "coward" standing there with one finger raised, the entire black hole slowly being compressed right above his index finger.

"What the..."

Those words weren’t completed before White slowly lowered his finger into the position of a flick.

It took a while to describe, but in reality, all of White’s actions were completed in less than a fraction of a second.

And in half a second,

FLICK!

The black hole launched forward instantly.

It moved fast...too fast.

It didn’t even leave a blur in the air.

It simply pierced through the void in silence, and one of the three mercenaries, the average-looking one, suddenly had a hole appear through his forehead.

But the black hole never stopped moving, and somebody else’s expression quickly changed.

It was none other than Old Grey, who watched the black hole suddenly teleport and appear directly before his chest faster than he could even blink.