Chapter 1628: Chapter 696 Meeting of the 2nd Generation Order Successors_2

The two continued walking outside, and the number of corpses along the path increased.

Just looking at this bloodstained battlefield, Mu You could imagine the intensity of this war.

And this was even before the main forces on both sides had formally engaged in battle. Just the initial probing attacks were already so brutal, let alone the decisive battle set for tomorrow.

More importantly, in this era, there wasn’t anything convenient like the Fool’s Game, which meant that the Fool’s Ancestors had to engage directly in close combat against the Divine Devouring Beasts without any parasitic protection. Even if they won, how would they deal with the aftermath?

“During this period, how did you prevent parasitism?” Mu You asked the boy.

“There’s no way to guard against it…”

The boy smiled bitterly, “Information from this period is terribly scarce. All we know is that those with Divine Skin can temporarily immunize against parasitic risks during battles by activating it. But even Divine Skin can’t be activated 24 hours a day; it needs time to rest, during which one has to stay away from crowds to avoid risks.”

“Not to mention, many comrades don’t have Divine Skin at all; these people have no choice but to sacrifice their lives, already prepared to die on the battlefield even before stepping onto it…”

Upon hearing this, Mu You couldn’t help but lament how difficult it was for the Fool’s Ancestors during that period. Going to battle as an ordinary person was like declaring your death in advance, and just thinking about it made him feel despair for them.

Yet, even with such strict enforcement, lasting a day or two was feasible, but over a long period, who could guarantee that no parasite infiltrated their ranks?

This was like a zombie virus; even one survivor could quickly multiply into a large group, growing exponentially… Standing by the river, it’s hard to keep your shoes dry. In such an environment, large-scale parasitic spread was inevitable sooner or later.

Then Mu You suddenly thought of something and asked the boy, “Since your teacher can stop time, why not directly use this to enter the World-Creating Mountain? That way, there wouldn’t need to be a direct confrontation, right?”

“It’s not that simple.” The boy shook his head, “In the enemy’s ranks, there are those who can counteract time-stopping, people who can’t initiate it themselves but can passively react to it. Once the teacher enters the Dead Zone, they will immediately follow.”

“And these people usually guard the World-Creating Mountain entrance to prevent the teacher from sneaking in with time-stopping…”

The boy paused here, “When we came out earlier, these people weren’t nearby. They must have gone to find my teacher and are likely engaged in a battle with him somewhere in the Dead Zone…”

“I see…”

Mu You let out a breath; so, they had just taken advantage of a weak spot in the enemy’s defenses…

Wait…

Suddenly Mu You remembered that the hourglass item was personally crafted by the Dawn City Master; he should be well aware of the exact timeline when this item returned.

So, it might have been the boy’s teacher who deliberately caused a commotion, luring away the time responders guarding the gate, giving the boy a chance to get out; otherwise, they might not have even been able to leave the gate of the World-Creating Mountain.

As they talked, they kept moving forward.

Along the way, living Fool Scouts began to appear more frequently.

After walking tens of thousands of meters further, they finally saw the Fool’s camp.

The main army of the Fools was spread across a dozen interconnected camps; further back were the experts among the Fools, and along the way, they even saw several city lords.

Upon entering the camp of Fools, they immediately felt much safer, knowing that even if the Dead Zone abruptly ceased, they would not be in life-threatening danger at least.

They were idly strolling through the camp when they suddenly noticed, several hundred meters ahead, a figure moving swiftly past.

Mu You and the boy were both taken aback; they hurriedly moved closer, fixing their gaze to see a handsome man draped in a broad cloak, sitting by a stopped-time bonfire, reading a scroll in the firelight.

“Leader?”

The boy was startled, then overjoyed!

This man was the Lord of Dawn City of this era and the recognized leader among the Fools of this time. Though not as personally close as his teacher, he was one of the individuals he admired the most.

“Leader, save me! Please… mm!”

The boy instinctively shouted out, but Mu You quickly covered his mouth after he said just a word.

However, the shout was enough to catch the other’s attention.

The man by the bonfire lifted his head and saw Mu You and the boy; he too was taken aback, hurriedly setting down the scroll and walking quickly towards them.

But before he had taken more than a few steps, he seemed troubled, stopping as if there was an invisible wall blocking his path.

The man helplessly gestured for them to come over from afar.

Mu You hesitated slightly at this moment.

After seeing the other clearly, he immediately sensed the Power of Order from this person and, without the boy needing to remind him, knew this was the Order Representative of this era.

Mu You wasn’t too puzzled as to why the other could move freely within the Dead Zone; after all, he was also an Order Representative and was walking freely in the Dead Zone, wasn’t he? Everyone has their own fate.

What really made Mu You hesitate was the fact that if he engaged in conversation with the man, it would mean revealing many pieces of future information to him.

This information might help the Fool’s Ancestors avoid catastrophic defeat and proactively plan for the future, potentially allowing them to win the war more easily than their descendants.

But this would also mean the future would change.

The people he knew now, including himself, might never be born. Even if he could continue to live until the future once the Dead Zone ended, his family, friends, Lin Xue, Little Ya, Cola, Mian Mian, the Lamp God, his avatars… everyone he knew would be erased from existence, existing only in his memory.

Could he accept such a cost?

Only he and the boy knew about this. If they quietly retreated now, found a place to hide, and pretended they hadn’t come, it might still be possible to avoid altering the future…

As these conflicting ideas clashed in his mind, Mu You suddenly laughed at himself. Since when did he become so hesitant? Besides, the other party had already seen them, and if he could identify the other’s identity, couldn’t the other also recognize him? Retreating now would only be like covering one’s ears while stealing a bell.

With this thought, Mu You decided to boldly proceed, taking the boy and walking towards the man.

“Leader, after all these years, I finally see you again!”

As they approached the man, the boy could no longer contain his emotions, tears rolling down his small face.

“Zuo Qiu, you’ve worked hard, running alone for so many years. You must have suffered a lot, right?” The man smiled at the boy, patting his shoulder to encourage him.

“No, not hard at all; it was my duty…” The boy was overjoyed, an expression of honor flashing across his face.

Recalling the hardships of over a millennium, he couldn’t help but feel emotional. The revival plan had ultimately failed, but fortunately, the backup plan succeeded, allowing him to return to the past and prevent tragedies with his own hands, indirectly reviving everyone. All those years of effort weren’t in vain.

“By the way! Leader, hurry and retreat the troops…”

No time for further thought, Zuo Qiu hurriedly tried to inform the man of the grim future, that this battle couldn’t be fought, or they would be utterly defeated.

But before he could finish, the man’s next words turned him to stone.

“Zuo Qiu, you did well, successfully completing the mission by bringing him to me.”

While the man’s words were directed at the boy, his eyes had already shifted to Mu You, scanning him and sensing his power, nodding in satisfaction.

“Not bad, just as we expected, you’ve indeed awakened the Heavenly Dao… No, I should say, you’ve grown far more impressively than we imagined… Now, I can finally decide to stake our hopes on the future.”