Chapter 197: Threat

Everyone successfully reached the Crown Layer.

Though the surface area here was about the same as the Trugan Layer, there were significantly more guards.

Even with their Yi Neng and Mimicry Devices, it would not be easy to pass, so they had no choice but to let Yun Che go through alone while the others waited here.

Yun Che silently activated his Yi Neng, and the shadow beneath him immediately became active, extending several Shadow Tentacles to grip his shoulders and dyeing his body black, causing him to completely disappear into the shadows.

“I’m going!”

Yun Che’s voice drifted out from the empty space where nothing could be seen.

Yun Ruoxi and the others nodded.

Although Genbeier had seen them use their Yi Neng and Mimicry Devices without concealment along the way, he was still shocked this time and murmured to himself, “he is a devil who stole the God of Shadows’ power.”

“Actually, you don’t necessarily have to link us with Devils; this is our own power,” Yun Ruoxi thought for a moment and spoke up to persuade him.

“Your own… power?” Genbeier looked up blankly.

“That’s right, just as Tree God Weapons are the power belonging to the Green Elves, this is the power belonging to Humans,” Yun Ruoxi said.

“Hu… mans…?” Genbeier uttered the word awkwardly, yet he found it difficult to understand its meaning and slowly fell into silence.

Seeing this, Yun Ruoxi did not disturb him either, crossing her arms and silently waiting for Yun Che to return.

Waiting is boring and makes one feel as if time has slowed down.

If the environment one is in is rather dangerous, that feeling becomes even more intense.

Just like they were now.

Even though they had only waited for less than twenty minutes, Kaos started to get a little anxious, wondering if something had gone wrong on Yun Che’s end and wanting to take the initiative to charge in and save him.

In the end, he was still persuaded to stay by Zi Jiu.

However, Kaos’s premonition didn’t seem to be wrong.

After another twenty minutes passed, there was still no sign of Yun Che.

If it was just investigating for information, it shouldn’t have taken this long; they had to start considering the possibility that Yun Che had encountered difficulties.

“Let’s go take a look!” Kaos asked.

“If we go together, the target will be too large.”

“There are many Tree God Guards in this City; if they are all attracted over, it won’t be easy to handle.”

“It’s better to just let me go alone,” Yun Ruoxi spoke up.

She revealed a faint smile.

“My Yi Neng allows Invisibility. If I am alone, it will be stealthy enough to sneak inside.”

Zi Jiu thought for a moment; she instinctively did not want to let the somewhat peculiar Yun Ruoxi out of her sight.

But this was indeed the best way.

So she still nodded.

“Xiao Xi, you go. Be absolutely careful and return immediately once you find Yun Che.”

“Understood.”

Yun Ruoxi agreed readily and left just as readily.

Her figure flashed and instantly disappeared from everyone’s sight, flying invisibly toward the mansion of that Aristocrat.

As an Aristocrat who held the vast majority of the wealth and power in this City, the other party’s mansion was quite spectacular, actually occupying the entire crown of a giant tree to build a palace.

The palace had a full ten floors from top to bottom and was incredibly massive, with many commoners with greenish skin acting as servants and guards inside.

But none of them could detect Yun Ruoxi’s existence.

Yun Ruoxi flew all the way from the first floor to the sixth floor, finally finding the unconscious Yun Che in a banquet hall.

On a ten-meter oval long table polished from a single piece of wood.

A Green Elf, who should be the Aristocrat, sat at the head.

He wore clothes woven from golden leaves, his skin was a glowing green, and two guards holding wooden swords stood behind him.

Several Trainees who had not performed any Mimicry were also sitting nearby.

Yun Che was lying on the ground nearby, his limbs bound by vines and his lips turned purple.

「It’s rare for Lao Che to make a move once, and he already overturned the car」

「This Lao Che is just weak」

「How can an Aristocrat still dress so poorly」

The plot of the Final Examination had already deviated beyond recognition by now; the Main Cast had never even come here in the original plot.

For a moment, Yun Ruoxi was also unsure of these people’s backgrounds.

So she suppressed her impatience and peeked through the window for a while.

Only then did she realize that the several Trainees at the table were the “Devils” who had sought him out, according to the drunkard.

They were very confident in their own strength.

So they had come directly to the door, wanting to use the Aristocrat’s network to go to the King City and have an audience with the King.

As for Yun Che, who had come to investigate, he most likely happened to stumble upon the scene of their conversation.

Then, whether it was due to insufficient strength or being too careless, he had been captured by them.

“In that case, it seems I can only cause a big scene.”

The corners of Yun Ruoxi’s mouth curled up slightly as she deactivated her Invisibility and pushed the door open to walk in at the moment the exchange on the opposite side was gradually becoming heated.

“Mr. Guan Kelai, you have also seen our sincerity.”

Jiguang, Number 0001 from a Battle Camp on Pandora-33, smiled.

“In two months, the entire planet will face a catastrophe. As long as you take us to see His Majesty the King, we will preserve your life, wealth, and status when the heavens change two months from now.”

“You say this is your sincerity?” Guan Kelai pointed at the unconscious Yun Che lying on the floor.

“But how can I be sure that he isn’t one of your own people that you arranged to come here?”

“Moreover…” He smiled and leaned against his chair.

“If you want to make me betray His Majesty the King with doomsday rhetoric that doesn’t have a shred of evidence, you are being far too idealistic.”

Faced with the doubts and distrust of the Aristocrat before him, Jiguang’s attitude remained very polite.

He stood up and smiled: “If you don’t believe us, we can send him back right now and let you witness our true strength.”

“Are you threatening me?” Guan Kelai narrowed his eyes and slowly raised his right hand.

The guards behind him drew their wooden swords, and the blades lit up with a green light.

They were all Tree God Guards.

“It is not so.” Jiguang slowly shook his head.

“I am saying that our existence itself is the evidence that doomsday is approaching.”

He looked at his teammate beside him and said in the Empire language: “Eliminate him. Let that stubborn old man see what real high technology looks like.”

“Understood.” His teammate stood up, grabbed Yun Che’s right wrist, and began to rotate the mechanical button on the Wristwatch.

Jiguang’s plan was very simple.

He felt that rather than searching for the Star Core like looking for a needle in a haystack, it would be better to find a way to borrow strength.

For example, borrowing the strength of the Battle Camp, and borrowing the strength of the Green Elves!

By directly hoisting the banner of the Battle Camp, they could divide the high-level Green Elves from within and turn them into planet-traitors who would tell him the location of the Star Core.

This was the truly good way.

But he didn’t expect the first Aristocrat he found to be so stubborn, looking like someone who wouldn’t turn back until hitting the wall.

Fortunately, he even less expected to actually encounter a Trainee from another Battle Camp at this time, allowing him to directly summon a Landing Pod to verify his words and save some effort.

Jiguang’s teammate rotated it a dozen times in a row, successfully unlocking Yun Che’s distress button.