Zhongling managed to escape from Qi Suian with his life, but he certainly wasn’t able to keep his three pieces of equipment.

He ultimately fled in a panic, and his actions led to yet another rout.

Seeing this, Qi Suian had no choice but to give up on capturing more "fuel" and directly used the Floating Cannons’ Ghost Energy Storm to carry out a large-scale slaughter.

This decision resulted in the deaths of a great many survivors.

Poor decision-making, absurd actions, and troubles both internal and external—the low- and mid-tier survivors finally rebelled.

But their rebellion came too late. The Cold Energy Monsters drove deep into their territory, and the casualties were horrifying.

The survivors then began to retreat... or more accurately, flee the Ice Continent. Only a small fraction remained, hoping to gamble on one last chance.

And so, the point-based event "Battle for the Ice Continent" came to an end. Because the survivors had failed to protect the Ice Continent, the rewards were forfeit. They received nothing.

It was called a "defensive battle," after all. You only get rewards if you win. Losing meant getting nothing.

Qi Suian, however, looked at the three pieces of equipment in his hands, unable to stop the delighted expression from spreading across his face.

They were a cloth armor with +1 Defense, a shortsword with +1 Attack, and cloth shoes with +1 Movement Speed.

It was a three-piece set, all E-rank. Collecting all three pieces granted an additional effect of +1 Vitality.

They most likely came from the same world.

For Qi Suian, this was extremely useful.

Simple, direct, and standard-issue equipment with no hidden strings attached.

As for converting the bonus, Qi Suian did a quick calculation. The four +1 effects were each roughly equivalent to 10 points of armor value.

’It’s not much, mainly because the quality is low. Since they’re all E-rank, the bonus is bound to be small.’

He put them away, waiting for a free module slot to install them.

When the time came, it would be a significant boost for the Tai Sui God.

’An E-rank effect is limited, but what if it became SSS-rank? I wouldn’t say it could compare to a Divine Artifact, but it would definitely be powerful equipment.’

’The main thing is that this is a three-piece set. Once they’re all installed, the bonus effect would also become SSS-rank. It’s like installing three modules and getting the effect of a fourth one for free.’

Getting one piece wasn’t a big deal, but collecting all three was.

"A pity Zhongling is dead. Otherwise, I might have been able to fleece a few more pieces off him," Qi Suian said regretfully.

He had indeed spared Zhongling’s life. However, due to their various screw-ups, they ended up pushing the lower-tier survivors to rebel. Zhongling had bad luck and was captured to be made an example of.

If his luck had been just a little better, if he’d held on for just one more hour, the Cold Energy Monsters would have arrived, and he wouldn’t have died so quickly and cleanly.

Every extra day a scourge like him lived was another day of harm for the entire survivor faction.

As for the other high-ranking survivors, they had all fled and scattered.

"The other higher-ups should have a few more pieces of equipment. I wasn’t paying close attention before and let them all get away."

"It’ll probably be impossible to find them now."

"But in terms of overall value, they definitely couldn’t compare to these pieces." Qi Suian knew how difficult it was to get any kind of reward from the Doomsday Game.

So, managing to snatch these was already quite an accomplishment.

Besides, he couldn’t get fixated on such minor gains. He wanted more.

Like those ten Venerable-rank Cold Energy Monsters, for instance.

To say nothing of more, as long as he stuffed them all into the Melting Furnace and then topped it off with a few Beast King-rank ones, the Tai Sui God could definitely evolve again.

[Venerable-rank Cold Energy Monster detected leading a large number of Beast King-rank Cold Energy Monsters. They are approaching. Commencing retreat.]

The AI suddenly issued a warning.

Qi Suian glanced over. He didn’t need to think twice to know they were coming for him.

"Great. It seems I’m disliked by everyone."

"That’s to be expected. I’m not from this world, so it’s only natural to be rejected." Qi Suian wasn’t bothered by the fact that everyone, from humans to beasts, wanted him dead.

’How did they find me?’ he wondered. ’Simple. As long as the Cold Energy Monsters capture a single survivor, finding me becomes incredibly easy.’

It was just a shame he wasn’t strong enough. He had no way to deal with the permanent event, "Violator," which constantly broadcast his location.

’If you’re not strong enough, you just have to put up with it. What else can you do?’

He couldn’t beat the game, nor could he find its source. The only way Qi Suian could retaliate was by killing survivors.

The Doomsday Game wanted his life, so he would take the lives of the survivors.

If he couldn’t destroy the Doomsday Game, was he supposed to believe he couldn’t even kill a few survivors?

It was all about picking the softest target.

He couldn’t exactly chew through a tough one.

"AI, with the Tai Sui God’s current Tai Sui Divine Armor Value and modules, what are our chances of victory without using the Floating Cannons?" Qi Suian asked.

[Should your "Protagonist’s Halo" be included in the auxiliary calculations?]

"Obviously not. If I included that, how could we possibly lose?" Qi Suian shot back.

If he really factored it in, victory would be guaranteed, but the primary combatant would shift from the Tai Sui God to Qi Suian himself.

Not only would he wipe out all ten Venerable-rank Cold Energy Monsters, but he’d also be able to kill the vast majority of the Beast King-rank ones.

As for the consequences, Qi Suian couldn’t estimate them at the moment, but he knew it wouldn’t be a walk in the park.

[The probability of victory is ten percent.]

"That low? In other words, in a one-on-one fight, the Tai Sui God already has the combat power of a Venerable?" Qi Suian asked.

[Although your line of thinking does not conform to the calculation model, you are correct. In a one-on-one scenario, the Tai Sui God’s win rate is as high as fifty percent.]

[Compared to survivors, Cold Energy Monsters develop more toward individual might. In terms of overall attributes, the Tai Sui God’s Tai Sui Divine Armor Value is far inferior, but this is compensated for by its modules.]

[Therefore, if you intend to achieve a decisive victory in this one battle, it is unrealistic to rely on the Tai Sui God alone unless you use your Protagonist’s Halo.]

In other words, the enemies were too numerous and too powerful to be beaten, especially since Qi Suian wasn’t allowing the use of the Floating Cannons.

If the Floating Cannons were deployed, there would be nothing to fear. Under the assault of Dark Energy Beams and the Ghost Energy Storm, not a single Venerable would survive, and killing ninety percent of the Beast Kings wouldn’t be a problem.

The only reason any Beast Kings would survive is due to their sheer numbers and the fact that the primary targets would be the Venerables.

Hearing this, Qi Suian nodded.

"Understood. No need to rush off. Let’s test the mettle of these ten Venerable-rank Cold Energy Monsters. We’ll kill them next time."

Qi Suian said softly. Since they had come all this way, he might as well collect some data before leaving.

If not for the sudden arrival of the Cold Energy Monsters, Qi Suian, having nearly finished his business, would have been preparing to explore the area suspected to be the Cold Energy Source—a location he had tortured out of a certain group of people.

Then, he would have begun hunting Beast King-rank Cold Energy Monsters for fuel, waiting until he was sufficiently developed before going after the Venerable-rank ones.

Of course, if they ever split up, Qi Suian would go and pick them off one by one.

"You actually didn’t flee? Don’t tell me you mistake my Cold Beast clan for those cowardly human survivors." A massive, booming voice echoed as a giant, dragon-like arthropod was the first to arrive.

The instant its voice fell, the Tai Sui God unleashed an attack, its Dragon and Tiger Primordial Divine Force combining with the Taiyin Red Blood Dragon. The force coalesced into a long, crimson dragon that shot forward, striking the creature directly.

"Celestial Dragon Venerable, your name has ’dragon’ in it, too. I wonder, how does it compare to *my* dragon?" Qi Suian finished in a cold voice as the attack pierced straight through its body.

The attack was so effective because of the true damage bonus from the Glutton’s "Greedy Feast."

Otherwise, breaking its Defense would not have been so easy.

The Celestial Dragon Venerable hadn’t expected Qi Suian to be so dishonorable, launching a sneak attack before it could even finish speaking.

He’d attacked first and only started talking trash after the fact.

Fortunately, the remaining Venerable-rank Cold Energy Monsters arrived in time to reinforce the Celestial Dragon Venerable, blocking the Tai Sui God’s follow-up attack.

With Beast King-rank Cold Energy Monsters filling in the gaps from the sidelines, the Tai Sui God’s advantage evaporated in an instant.

The Celestial Dragon Venerable’s wounds healed quickly; it had clearly activated some kind of rapid regeneration ability. It then immediately joined the others in surrounding the Tai Sui God.

’Okay, done showing off. We can’t win this...’ Qi Suian assessed the situation. Without using the Floating Cannons or his Protagonist’s Halo, the Tai Sui God was truly outmatched.

Even with the AI’s control, the disparity in numbers and strength was simply too great to be overcome by skill alone.

"Let’s use the heavy firepower," Qi Suian said flatly.

The moment he spoke, the Tai Sui God pulled a miniature nuclear warhead from its Subspace Stable Pocket.

Qi Suian had only said to use heavy firepower; he hadn’t specified which level of weapon. The AI, naturally, chose the most advantageous option based on its calculations.

"Oh no, a nuke!!!" The Celestial Might Venerable recognized it at a glance.

During the recapture of their Cold Beast Ancestral Court, the Celestial Might Venerable had nearly been hit by one. If it hadn’t sensed the danger and retreated in time, merely getting caught in the blast instead of taking a direct hit, it wouldn’t have been just heavily wounded—it would have been killed instantly.

So this Winged Tiger, the Celestial Might Venerable, had a very deep impression of human nukes.

At its shout, all the Cold Energy Monsters retreated at once, instantly creating a massive empty ring around the Tai Sui God.

"Of all the martial arts in the world, this one is the Art of the Nuke!" Qi Suian grinned.

Under the AI’s control, the Tai Sui God launched it without a moment’s hesitation, aiming straight for the Celestial Might Venerable that had just cried out.

’Serves you right for having such a big mouth. The nail that sticks up gets hammered down.’

The Celestial Might Venerable noticed the mini-nuke heading straight for it. The wings on its back flapped so hard they nearly started smoking. It was filled with regret, ’Why couldn’t I have grown a few more pairs of wings?’

THUNK.

The mini-nuke struck its body. In that moment, it had already prepared its last words.

But it quickly realized something was wrong. Why was there no explosion?

Taking a closer look, it nearly burst with rage. This wasn’t a miniature warhead at all; it was just an empty shell.

As for why it had been fooled, it was, of course, because of the nuclear symbol painted on the missile’s casing and Qi Suian’s big announcement.

Qi Suian did indeed possess them, but he would never use one here.

For no other reason than this: every single Cold Energy Monster here was top-grade fuel.

’The survivors have to die, but the Cold Energy Monsters must not be allowed to develop further and follow me to other Doomsday Worlds, threatening my personal safety.’

After he grew stronger, he could continue hunting them for fuel.