Published at 5th of September 2026 6:53 am

Chapter 2264: Monster Lair Project (1)

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Tang Shaoyang didn’t really know how he should feel about this. On one side, he felt like it was truly a waste of time. Especially when he could not properly test out his sword. It was hard to use his opponent as a training dummy when they would surrender after two hits.

He wanted to end this early, and his opponent seemed to have the same idea. His third and fourth opponents surrendered right away. The fifth might surrender as well.

[Don’t lower your guard. Maybe this is what they aim for, to catch you off guard.] Zara reminded him.

There were no summoned spirits, but he was still in his Bloodline Transformation and Spirit Integration. He didn’t think his opponent could instantly kill him, but it didn’t take any effort for him to be more cautious.

[5th Duel: Tang Shaoyang (Tang Empire) vs Erok (Blood Star)]

Erok showed right away, which was not a surprise considering they were giving up the duel. Just like him, they wanted to end this humiliation quickly. For them, this was a humiliation as they were being watched.

The surprise was the race of his opponent, a Minotaur. Erok was five meters tall, with defined muscles, and the face of a bull. It had a pair of horns that curved upward from the side of its head.

It didn’t wear armor, but a thick and big pauldron covered its shoulder. It was equipped with two battle axes, shorter than the one he had but about the same size. Then it wore a battledress that covered its waist down to half its thigh.

A monster type that joined a faction. He was kinda curious how this Minotaur or the Ogre could reach this point. Did they experience the same Game before? Or were they a monster that regained intelligence to use the System?

Tang Shaoyang was ready with his sword despite his curiosity. The Minotaur had a weapon, meaning it was ready to fight.

"You should never come if you just want to give up like this. It’s annoying that a bug like you is wasting my time. You’d better stay at home and drink your mom’s milk instead of wasting other people’s time."

[Really? Mom’s milk?] Vandir chuckled, hearing his Master’s provocation.

[You need to work on your insult. I don’t think that’s enough to provoke that half-brained bull.] Avyn chimed in.

That was right, Tang Shaoyang tried to provoke his fifth opponent, goading the monster to fight him instead of surrender.

"Doesn’t matter. It works."

Erok was angry, his nostrils blowing up hot steams, eyes turned red.

"Half-brained bull like you should just stay in your pen. There’s no place on the battlefield for the likes of you."

That was the last sentence that Tang Shaoyang could muster before the System finished the countdown. He thought it might work and compel the Minotaur to fight him. But he was bound to be disappointed.

[Erok surrendered!]

[Tang Shaoyang won!]

[Earth defeated Arnain in the War of Worlds!]

The Minotaur was smarter than he thought. His provocation angered the bull, but that was not enough to cloud its judgment to continue the duel.

Tang Shaoyang was teleported back into the waiting room. Moonsong, Zhang Mengyao, and Lu An gave him a strange stare the moment he arrived.

"What is it?" He asked.

"You need to work on your provocation, brother. I can give you a few lessons every weekend if you want to."

"You are an Emperor, and you are being watched by your people and our daughters. You should watch your language."

Both Lu An and Zhang Mengyao answered at the same time. Hearing what Lu An said, she glared at him, and the latter quickly looked away.

"Ah..." He shrugged, "Our daughters are not allowed to watch, so they can’t hear me. I don’t need to watch my language in front of my people, but they must be careful with their words around me, not the other way around."

Zhang Mengyao disagreed with that, but she said nothing further. A discussion like this was meant for a private discussion. While Moonsong was considered a family, his father-in-law was not. It was not good to discuss how an Emperor should behave.

"What are you going to do with Arnain?"

Tang Shaoyang asked the whole world for himself, but he hadn’t discussed what he wanted to do with the new world. Zhang Mengyao knew that Tang Shaoyang had something in mind.

"We will talk after, and don’t worry. The project will not require your attention."

He knew that she wanted to be prepared for whatever he had in mind, but the plan didn’t really need her attention. Zhang Mengyao or Li Shuang didn’t need to get involved in this new world’s project.

*** ***

"Damn those mercs. They can’t even keep their f*cking words!" Loke Ponteus smashed the table into smithereens.

The same as before, Loke Ponteus had the exclusive viewing along with Ebbe Telines and also Andre. Alas, Andre left early again after the second duel. He knew it was pointless to watch after the second battle and leave. Andre said a sentence before leaving.

"Don’t waste my time anymore."

"We can’t really use War of Worlds to test him out. The duel is not enough to corner him, let alone forcing him to use his secrets."

Ebbe Telines let out a sigh, disappointed with the result as well. He truly thought the Ten Stars Accord could force something out of Tang Shaoyang. That was just his wishful thinking.

"We need a better battlefield, a setup in our terms, not his. Isn’t it about that time? Maybe we can try again with that event."

Loke Ponteus turned toward Ebbe Telines after hearing about the event. He had a thoughtful expression and nodded, "That might work."

*** ***

Tang Shaoyang came back to their home and was about to look for his daughters until Zhang Mengyao seated him in Li Shuang’s working room. She was not alone; Li Shuang was with her. The only reason she could pull her here.

Li Shuang was as concerned as Zhang Mengyao when a project was mentioned. If it were anyone else, they might not get this worried, but it was their husband. The Emperor’s project was never a small thing. They wanted to be prepared for it.

"So what’s the project for the new world?"

The gate to the Arnain was formed, a bridge between Earth and Arnain spawned in the heart of the Tang Empire’s territory. The Tarrior was immediately deployed while Zara was working on it, trying to move it inside the Smart Base.

The Supreme Commander and the Prime Minister wanted to know what the project was about before he started it.

"I want to turn Arnain into a monster nest."

Zhang Mengyao frowned and didn’t like what she heard. Li Shuang was confused.

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