Su Mo had subconsciously thought that the death of the Demon Domain Exchange’s shopkeeper, which the city guards caused for unconscionable reasons, would arouse public anger and cause civil unrest in Freedom City.

However, the reality had shown Su Mo that the merchants chose to stay silent as if it had never happened.

Everyone guessed that these business owners and their subordinates were afraid to take any action against them due to the powerful force of the city guards.

However, looking at the crystal clear box and the combination of the templates…

The doubt and questions he had about everything quickly connected in Su Mo’s mind.

‘The invasion of the Light Empire was too strange. The defending city guards were like fools and were easily deceived by the enemy.

‘It’s impossible that there are no collaborators in Freedom City!

‘However, to be collaborators with hostile forces and also create such an opportunity… Counting the possibilities, there are only… ten exchanges in the city.

‘This is bad. If this crystal box is their capital, they left it here as a backup plan in the case of failure. Then, if things don’t work out, they’ll return to retrieve it and bump into me…

‘Oh no, I need to get out of here!’

In the moment of a few deep breaths, Su Mo instantly analyzed the city’s current situation.

First of all, recently the top ten exchanges had shown great kindness and began to help some subordinate exchanges to repair their houses and clean up their stores, which seemed to be the final preparations before winter.

However, if one thought about it carefully, it just happened to create conditions for the people of the Light Empire to dig underground tunnels!

The underground of the Fire Exchange might have become a gateway for the cyborgs to invade the city if it was not for the city guards who thought that the top ten exchanges were trying to recruit it into their alliance and forcibly pressured them.

Secondly, these greedy businessmen definitely did not intend to destroy Freedom City and become lonely souls without a clan.

They deliberately lured the cyborgs of the Light Empire into the city for a chance to negotiate with the city guards and redistribute their interests.

Once the negotiation was successful, they would have a corresponding means to end this farce of bringing enemies into their territory.

However, once the negotiation failed…

The loot he found was the capital that the top ten exchanges had hidden to develop elsewhere!

Su Mo organized his thoughts and felt troubled as he looked at the box that exuded crystalline lights.

Fortunately, the sudden shouting from Dyson downstairs made him come back to his senses, and he was able to formulate a new plan immediately.

‘D*mn! It was taken by a cyborg anyway, so what does it have to do with me?!

‘There are a few people to take the fall for me downstairs. I won’t use these templates in Freedom City, and they also don’t have the guts to come and search the basin!

‘What’s more, if they fail to negotiate, they’ll be panic-stricken dogs who’ll have no time or ability to try and trace it!’

Compared to the large pile of imported goods collected previously, the value of the templates in the box was no less inferior.

Although the lowest grade was a Level 4 mark, to use the template would require the user to have a higher level mark.

Compared to a mark, a template was harder to acquire!

Su Mo did not dare to take away the whole box and instead emptied his waist pocket to quickly exchange the templates.

After returning the box to its original place, Su Mo did not search the other rooms. He followed his original route and quickly descended to the first floor.

“Brother Su, we’ve made a fortune!

“These materials can be sold for a sky-high price back in the city, and they can make up for a pair, or even two pairs of Level 5 parts!”

Like Su Mo, who had found hundreds of high-end templates upstairs, Dyson had also found a sack of high-end materials on the first floor.

Even though the bag was covered with a black cloth, there was still a misty black light emanating from it, which looked quite extraordinary.

“Hurry up, let’s go. I suspect that the people here are extraordinary and if they found out, we’ll be in trouble!”

Dyson had the urge to say something after seeing that Su Mo had returned empty-handed. Still, after seeing the latter’s serious expression, he could imagine a hundred enemies surrounding the door.

In an instant, he reacted quickly and tugged up the bag on his shoulders, leaping out of the room with Su Mo.

Whoosh!

Su Mo picked up a torch and threw it through the door.

As soon as the pine oil touched the floor, the flames fanned out and gradually spread out to the sides.

Knowing the importance of destroying the corpse and the traces, the other three were not idle, and they threw torches in different areas, which once again promoted a wave of fire.

“Let’s go. There’s only four of us left, and it won’t be enough to continue the hunt…”

In terms of harvest, without considering the materials acquired at the previous exchanges, the bag on Dyson’s back was worth several people’s work for half a lifetime!

Surprisingly, looking at the teammates who seemed to be wailing in the sea of fire, several of them stood there silently with deep fear reflected in their eyes.

“No, let’s go separately. The four of us will be a huge target, and it will be difficult for us if we get caught together!

“As for my things, I’ll leave them with Dyson for the time being. When the time comes for us to go back home, I’ll look for you!”

Su Mo pointed in the direction of the screams that had grown closer to them, and he lifted up his red-stained scarf.

The secretion of adrenaline temporarily blocked the body’s perception of pain.

However, it did not mean that their combat strength would magically return to its peak.

They would be fine to fight a few cyborgs if their bodies had completely cooled down and could use their Level 4 combat power.

However, the wound on Su Mo’s thigh seriously affected his flexibility and his ability to exert strength.

In terms of strength, it was fine to fight against an ordinary Level 4 alone, but if he encountered a Level 5, Su Mo would definitely pay a heavy price and might even have to fight for his life!

“Okay, Brother Su! I will protect your share with my life!

“Come to Aaron’s Tavern to find me if we are all alive by then!”

They were very quick on their decision and, seeing the Su Mo had taken the lead in nodding and flying toward the west.

The toolbearer, the assaulter, and Dyson chose a different direction and disappeared quickly into the streets.

…

Su Mo did not dare to return directly to the Fire Exchange.

Along the way, he changed direction seven or eight times in a row. After confirming that there was no one following him, he cautiously walked to the side road of the Fire Exchange.

The time was four o’clock in the morning.

With the heavy snow in the sky, most of the fire in Freedom City had been extinguished, leaving only the scorching smell of wood and snow coming into contact.

In the direction of the inner city, the shouting had also gradually decreased, and it seemed that both sides had reached their limits.

‘It’s so cold. No wonder the cyborgs chose to attack in this weather.

‘The temperature of minus fifteen degrees may be a constraint for the Demon clan, but for the cyborgs, it is a weapon to help them dissipate heat and prolong the usage time of their parts.’

The blood loss and fading adrenaline took away whatever body temperature Su Mo had left.

Despite being bandaged by the toolbearer, Su Mo was still shivering uncontrollably as he walked back.

He gritted his teeth and persisted until he saw the remote street where the back door was located.

Su Mo shuddered, and the dwarf craftsman template was swapped in again.

It was different from the demon souls who had no physical body. As long as they swap in a different template, their injuries would be recovered in an instant.

However, the injuries on the demigod’s body were transferred to the dwarf’s body and because of its size, they were even more intimidating.

‘Woohoo!

‘Luckily, I made it back!’

In the snow, the crippled dwarf had difficulty keeping his balance.

Su Mo slipped to the ground every few steps because he was unable to keep his balance.

After walking a hundred meters with difficulty, as his feet became unstable and slipped to the ground again, Su Mo simply turned around and lay flat to recover his exhausted physical strength.

‘These newly arrived foreign races relied on their previous history and took advantage of it in the early stage.

‘When I return this winter, I must develop some old generation weapons suitable for ordinary humans to fight with.

‘If we can find some new people to join the basin, the number of citizens would increase to about 3000 or 5000.

‘When that time comes, we’ll decide the winner!’

The game limited medium-sized machine tools, and the usage fee was as high as 50,000 points.

Meanwhile, small machine tools could not be produced again because of the cancellation of manufacturing functions.

There was no hotbed for the production of guns and ammunition, and after returning to the era of cold weapon warfare, Su Mo had ten times and a hundred times the desire for a powerful weapon and the number of people.

However, his dreams were just wishful thinking.

Seeing the snow was about to cover his entire body and feeling his body temperature drop lower, Su Mo reluctantly got up and continued moving forward.

But, this time, something different happened.

Before taking a few steps, a wave of air rushed toward him, and his small dwarf body was instantly thrown out like a balloon.

Whoosh!

Boom!

The loud noise that followed after the airwave was like a subwoofer blasting next to one’s eardrum at maximum volume. It was enough to make a person collapse.

After such a terrifying sudden attack, Su Mo maintained his last trace of consciousness as he turned around to the source of the loud noise.

“What the f*ck… was…?”

Before Su Mo could finish speaking, the second airwave struck again.

The surrounding building started to collapse, and this time, Su Mo could not withstand it and fainted.

Fortunately, the shockwave had caused some collapse in the roads.

With the impact of the third wave, the second exit of the basement in the Fire Exchange was completely exposed on the ground.

After more than half an hour, with the absence of the sudden shockwaves, the outside gradually fell into a cold silence in the winter.

At this moment, a creaking sound came from the basement door.

Then, with the force of the people inside, the snow outside the door was slowly pushed away, revealing the darkness below.

There was no hurry to go out. The people inside were highly cautious, and it was not until three or five minutes later that the first lizard popped his head out.

He first looked around at the situation, and just like Su Mo, he observed the fire for a while before taking the first step outside cautiously.

The next moment, he saw a familiar obstacle on the left side of his vision that seemed to be a familiar “object”.

A loud shout could be heard throughout the block.

“Sh*t! Why is the boss lying at the door?!

“Get over here! The boss has fainted!”

…

‘Do not underestimate any opponent.

‘Do not underestimate any race either.

‘Always remember that if you get hurt, you will die!’

This was the motto that Su Mo had lived by since the first day whenhe saw the kobold in the wasteland.

Ever since then, he would only use 80% of his strength and reserve the remaining 20% even in critical situations.

However, this time Su Mo agreed that arrogance was not a choice by human will but wa “birthed” silently, and its “growth” was even harder to detect.

In fact, history had recorded many people who were defeated and killed because of their arrogance.

Overlord Xiang Yu created mythical victories in both the Ju Lu and Pengcheng battles, but his defeat was a legacy for the ages.

Master warrior, Guan Yu got through multiple obstacles and slew countless enemies. He flooded the Seven Armies and shook Huaxia, but he was defeated at Maicheng.

Cao Cao’s Battle of Chibi, and the Battle of Waterloo… there were countless examples.

To say that they were merely arrogant and killed themselves was inaccurate.

Constant victories and strategizing did make people lose themselves in the gains and build up such great self-confidence.

Su Mo looked at the dark ceiling and could feel the pain all over his body as if it was falling apart.

He felt lucky that he was still…

Alive!

“Your meal will be ready soon! I’ll have it brought over to you!”

There was a rustling sound as the basement door opened, and Hao Qiang poked his head inside.

With the limited underground ventilation and materials, the meal was not easy for them to prepare.

Two people stood on guard, and another two searched for materials while two more people cooked the meals.

It took at least half an hour to produce a small pot of gooey paste.

Su Mo did not want to waste their good intentions, so he struggled to put on a smile, leaned against the wall, and started eating the food.

“Hao Qiang, what time is it?”

“It’s seven o’clock, and it will be dawn soon!”

“How is the situation outside?”

“The cyborgs who invaded the city should have retreated. There are city guards on the main road to maintain order, but there are many injured people just like you, Shelter Le… Boss. Even if they changed their templates, their injuries wouldn’t heal.”

“Life One has gone to investigate the news. There is news saying that it is a special poison made by cyborgs. They smeared it on their weapons, and even if you swapped your template, the injury won’t heal and you can only use primitive methods to recuperate.”

Turner had renamed the cyborg butler that they had bought, for the convenience of management, with the name “Life”, which represented “new life”.

According to their different abilities and responsibilities, the rest of the subordinates were also named from one to seven.

“They can’t heal from their injuries?”

“Yes, there is a lot of commotion outside and most of them are clamoring for warehouses to provide food to tide them over during these difficulties.

“Looking at the situation, I’m afraid that order in the city might not be restored by afternoon!”

Hao Qiang sighed and squatted beside Su Mo.

He thought that only humans and foreign races would fight to the death for the survival of their territory.

However, he had just witnessed the slaughter between cyborgs and the Demon clan, as well as the tragic situation in the city after the war.

He suddenly fully understood the true meaning of the war and the situation that the basin was about to face.

“That… dragon, is it still out there?

Su Mo finished the last sip of food and placed the bowl down with a worried expression.

Hao Qiang was stunned but shook his head silently.

“The giant dragon that appeared last night was a Level 8 flame dragon, and it was most likely the trump card of the Demon clan. I heard from them that the flame dragon did not really break into a battle, but only snorted flames three times and then disappeared after a moment.

“I’m guessing that the flame dragon was afraid to cause irreparable damage to Freedom City if they could not hold back in a battle, so it stopped. Of course, it’s also possible that they reached some kind of agreement with the cyborgs of the Light Empire.

“Anyway, in the end, many cyborgs put down their weapons and retreated. I would say that both sides sustained heavy damage!”

Hao Qiang’s expression was not surprised, since he did not see the giant dragon towering and covering the skies with his own eyes.

After listening to Hao Qiang’s description of the situation of how just three snorts of flame had almost destroyed most of the city, Su Mo nodded, slightly traumatized when he recalled the image engraved in his memories.

In the last moments, before he lost consciousnes, he saw the giant dragon covered in flames and that was at least 300 meters long. The scene was too wild to forget.

It was different from seeing a seemingly transparent deity dangling in the sky.

The giant dragon had instilled terror in everyone that was present!

Moreover, the deities were restricted when they attacked. However, the giant dragon gave off the feeling that it could do whatever it pleased.

For an ordinary person, the threat of nuclear missiles was far less than an assault rifle in general.

“Okay, I see. Don’t worry about my injury!

“You guys go out first and let me rest for a while!”

Lying down again on the bed and watching Hao Qiang turn back to leave, Su Mo withdrew his gaze and returned to his thoughts.

Unlike the mental shock, the physical injury he sustained was not that severe after entering a safe environment.

He only had to wait until the transformation chances were refreshed at 8 o’clock, and then he could have access to psychic water for a quick recovery.

Moreover, there were members from the Demon Clan outside to cover for him. It would not be a big issue even if someone found out he was injured later.

However, the biggest problem at hand was not the injury but the basin’s future!

‘It’s time for hibernation! I can’t wait any longer and have to return to the basin as soon as possible!

‘We need to take advantage of the winter to make drastic developments. Once spring begins, a large-scale war like this is bound to happen several more times!

‘When the time comes, we might really get beaten to the ground if we’re not prepared!’