Chapter 135: Twenty Thousand Heroes of China

"What is that?"

"In the Hero System, silver usually represents space. Could it be that Qin Hao has already arrived?"

"It must be the spatial stabilization device. Qin Hao is here; we are saved."

These people hurried toward the gray zone. Upon entering, the psychically evolved individuals immediately sensed something different.

"I can feel it. The spatial elements here are extremely stable, as if we are inside a solid, reinforced room."

"Is this really enough? The area covers a hundred kilometers, but where is Qin Hao?"

"Run! The Earth Demons are closing in!"

The heroes sprinted along the road. At the foot of Mount Hua lay a flat stretch of forest, perfect for establishing a new base. These heroes were primarily from An City—leaders of various bases who had fled in desperation, hoping only that Qin Hao could help them deal with the hunting creatures. Of course, once the twenty-four-hour mark passed, these hunting creatures would cease their pursuit.

Just as terror gripped them, a gray light suddenly filled the area ahead. Though they did not know what the light was, the evolved individuals instinctively sensed danger and halted, eyes widening as they stared at the scene.

Beneath the gray glow, the trees in the distance crumbled, the earth turned into yellow sand, and a three-hundred-meter radius was razed to level ground. Then, a figure walked onto the flat expanse; wherever he stepped, the ground solidified. It was the effect of Earth-elemental power. Qin Hao was sweeping the land, preparing it for the new base.

"Is that... Qin Hao?"

The newly arrived heroes were stunned, their voices trembling as they spoke. It seemed they had not expected Qin Hao’s strength to be so terrifying.

Qin Hao noticed them, too. There were forty in total, every one of them disheveled and gasping for air, followed by hundreds of Earth Demons. These people had been unable to resist and had been fleeing constantly; had it not been for Qin Hao’s regional communication broadcast, they would never have thought to come to Mount Hua.

"Mr. Qin! Mr. Qin, help us!"

Sensing the Earth Demons catching up, they ran even faster, shouting to grab Qin Hao’s attention. Qin Hao, naturally, would not stand by and watch them die. He moved with the speed of a gale, reaching the group and brushing past them. Then, his psychic tentacles extended, gathering the power of the Four Symbols Chaos to sweep across the land.

In an instant, the road was reduced to ash under this force, and the Earth Demons crawling forward were obliterated by the gray energy. The heroes from An City watched, dumbfounded. Qin Hao acted as if he had performed a trivial task, his psychic power sweeping up the fallen star-energy diamonds before he unleashed another burst of Earth-elemental power to level the road.

It took less than three minutes to wipe out all the Earth Demons pursuing the heroes.

"You arrived quickly," Qin Hao said, looking at the group.

"Yes, Mr. Qin, thank you! We are heroes from An City. We only came after hearing your message. Thank you for saving our lives."

Qin Hao waved a hand, unconcerned. "Are there any evolved individuals with Earth or Metal elemental powers? Send two to repair the road; the rest of you, start building the base."

"Yes, yes, we will do it immediately!"

None of them dared to refuse. The Earth and Metal elementalists among them set to work on the road, while two others followed Qin Hao to establish the base on the land he had cleared.

There were about twenty thousand heroes in China, and if the evolved individuals were included, the number was much higher. Qin Hao planned to have the heroes' quarters located at the edge of the spatial stabilization device, with the evolved individuals' area further inward. He also intended to designate specific trap zones, requiring the heroes to gather there to prevent spatial black holes from appearing in residential areas and destroying their buildings.

Qin Hao cleared a one-kilometer flat zone, then used his Earth-elemental power to lay out the boundaries for roads and buildings. He mandated that buildings must have their foundations reinforced by Metal elementalists to prevent burrowing hunting creatures from attacking from below, and structures could not exceed three stories to guard against aerial hunting creatures. As for who built the houses, Qin Hao left that to them—whoever lived in them would build them.

Qin Hao went on to clear other areas. As he worked, more and more heroes arrived at Mount Hua, seeing the gray-lit zone and running toward it in excitement, as if they had finally found a sanctuary.

Three hours later, Zi Hui arrived at the Mount Hua hero base area piloting a liquid metal machine, providing Qin Hao with help in planning. Ten hours later, evolved individuals from all over China had reached Mount Hua, along with large numbers of followers. Two thousand heroes and two hundred thousand evolved individuals formed the new Mount Hua Hero Base.

It was late at night, and in two hours, the Giant Night Civilization would descend. On the open field of the new settlement, Qin Hao stood on high ground, his voice infused with star energy to carry across the expanse. Simultaneously, Zi Hui controlled the Eye of Ten Thousand Sects to broadcast the scene to the two hundred thousand people.

"Welcome, heroes and evolved individuals, to the Mount Hua Hero Base. I am now announcing the rules of this base."

"First: When an invading civilization opens a spatial tunnel, all heroes must proceed to the trap zone and wait for the spatial black hole to open."

"Second: For all hunting creatures killed in the trap zone, thirty percent of the star-energy diamonds will be collected to maintain the spatial stabilization device, infrastructure, technological research, and so on."

"Third: Level 2 heroes may form teams with ten evolved individuals, and Level 3 heroes may form teams with fifty evolved individuals to leave the spatial stabilization zone and hunt invading creatures on their own. Star-energy diamonds obtained this way do not need to be turned in."

"Fourth..."

Qin Hao continued to list the rules—the same ones that had been established by the Kyoto Base before the timeline was reversed. With these rules in place, both heroes and evolved individuals could develop effectively. By combining their strengths to hunt creatures, they could ensure their own safety while acquiring sufficient food and star-energy diamonds. Qin Hao had no intention of letting these heroes cower in the base; he was simply consolidating their power.

As expected, upon hearing his words, many heroes had a moment of realization. However, with less than two hours left until midnight, and with this being the first attack from the Giant Night Civilization since the invasion rules had changed, they had no intention of leaving the base.

Thus, two thousand heroes gathered in the trap zone, waiting for the time to come.

The moon was bright and the stars sparse as the early morning finally arrived. Above them, space seemed to distort. The spatial stabilization device atop Mount Hua emitted a unique silver light. Then, the spatial black hole that was meant to open seemed to encounter resistance; only one successfully formed, and its expansion was sluggish.

In the end, the spatial black hole stopped growing once it reached a diameter of about ten meters.