A massive crystal ball in a mysterious base clearly displayed the images of several individuals. Just moments earlier, it had shown a scene that had taken place thousands of miles away.
A battle between evolved of the same level had ended with one side completely crushing the other.
This left the few people communicating through the crystal ball in silence.
“What are everyone’s thoughts?”
In front of the crystal ball sat an elderly man with white hair and a beard, his face covered in a fine layer of white fuzz.
Still, no one spoke for a long time.
“This time, the five of us jointly funded the Heavenly Stems and Earth Branches to take action. On the surface, we asked them to kill core members of Cloud Peak, but in reality, it was just a probe of this behemoth.”
The old man looked at the people in the crystal ball; his voice was low. “Now that the results are out, why is no one speaking?”
“This isn’t a successful test, is it, Uncle Bai? The people you hired were a bit weak.”
The old man wasn’t angered. Instead, he raised an eyebrow and looked at the young man. “They attacked the Resistance Zone twice, seizing thirty-two level eight demon crystals. They attacked the Glory Army four times, taking forty-one level-eight demon crystals. They struck the Combined Army, which has been rapidly rising on the national power rankings, just once but directly snatched an eight-star evolution potion. They’ve also targeted at least ten of the top thirty organizations in the country.”
“And yet, they’re still alive and well, still roaming freely in the apocalypse. Nephew, do you think your Watcher Squad could achieve the same?”
“That’s because no one knows it was them! Otherwise, Ji Ruiguang and Mu Han would never let them go!”
The old man shook his head. “Nephew, avoiding detection by the Resistance Zone and the Glory Army is a skill.”
The young man’s flippant demeanor disappeared. He sat up straight and stared at the old man on the screen. “Uncle Bai, their skill lies in hiding and running, not fighting. Look at what happened—an eight-star evolved couldn’t last more than a few moves against Ye Zhongming. Ye didn’t use his bloodline, his job skills, his elemental spirits, his battle beasts, or even break a sweat. What’s the point of such a test? And what did we pay for this nonsense test? We each contributed a seven-star evolution potion, five pieces of blue-grade equipment, and three level eight demon crystals! Even with the support of the Queen above, we’re still poor, okay?”
His voice grew louder toward the end, and the white-haired old man’s face showed clear anger.
But he couldn’t deny that the Heavenly Stems and Earth Branches had indeed failed to achieve their goal.
“Alright, you two have such an age gap. Why do you always end up arguing whenever you meet?” Another man spoke up. He was around forty, with a dignified appearance. Even while talking to his closest confidants, he was smoking a cigar, with a woman visible only from the waist up massaging his shoulders.
The edge of the crystal ball displayed a dazzling white.
“Old Bai, we all serve under Queen Pusut. We were forced to act against Cloud Peak due to the Queen’s orders, but everyone knows how powerful they are. Now, it seems we still underestimated our opponent. So, I believe you, with your reputation for scheming, must have a backup plan, right? Bring it out now so we can better understand Cloud Peak’s strength. Otherwise, a single mistake could cost lives when it’s our turn to act.”
Another elderly man, aside from Old Bai, tapped his metal cane anxiously.
The old man was pragmatic. He couldn’t understand why, with the task of obtaining an item from Cloud Peak being forced upon them by higher-ups, everyone wasn’t brainstorming solutions. How could they possibly force the needed item from Cloud Peak?
“Perhaps we can take a different approach.”
The final participant spoke up. She was a middle-aged woman with a very ordinary appearance. Even now, she looked no different from an average person, even carrying a rustic charm.
But no one would underestimate this woman. Her Half Sky Sanctuary was the strongest among the five factions and had already entered the top twenty in the country rankings.
Even though everyone had hidden their true strength and didn’t care much about country rankings, the fact that her faction had become a major power in the country spoke volumes.
“What approach?”
The anxious old man asked.
“The task only requires us to obtain that item. It doesn’t specify how we should do it.”
The others frowned. The young man said, “Auntie Lan, are you suggesting we steal it? That’s not much different from robbing, is it? Cloud Peak’s defenses are too tight.”
Auntie Lan shook her head. “I’m just proposing an idea. Whether we rob openly, steal secretly, or negotiate directly with Cloud Peak, as long as we get the item, it’s fine.”
“Negotiate with Cloud Peak? They’d just kill us,” the middle-aged man strongly disagreed. “Besides, even if Cloud Peak agreed to talk, what do we have to offer? What do we possess that they would value? Probably only our most prized items, but are you willing to part with those?”
Auntie Lan looked at him with an expression that said, “You’re beyond teaching.” She didn’t want to elaborate, but since the five of them were in this together, cooperation was essential. So she patiently explained, “Tie Nan, you should play around with women less. Maybe then your brain would have room for more ideas, and you wouldn’t be so straightforward and inflexible when considering things.”
The middle-aged woman’s tone turned cold. Tie Nan, though unhappy, held back his retort.
“Negotiating with Cloud Peak doesn’t necessarily mean buying. The bargaining chips don’t have to be money or items from our own stock. Perhaps we can use things or people they care about to exchange. For example, that woman named Liang Chuyin, or that battle beast called Yellow Ball, or even Ye Zhongming himself…”
Auntie Lan smiled. “If the King of Cloud Peak were captured, Xia Lei or Liu Zhenghong would probably hand over that item obediently and maybe even countless other benefits.”
The others didn’t understand, but Auntie Lan, looking at the white-haired old man through the screen, said, “Old Bai, Elder Yang already told you not to hold back. Just bring out your backup plan already.”
Old Bai laughed heartily. “Auntie Lan, you really understand me. Alright, I’ll make my move.”
With that, he pressed a button on the accessory on his wrist, and his smile turned into an inexplicable expression.
He was excited. Perhaps his move would reshape the country scene.