“We are allies. We must respect each other. If you believe this alliance is unnecessary, then
leave!”
He stood, hands behind his back, nearly shouting at them.
Seeing their stunned expressions, he lowered his voice but kept his tone icy.
“Don’t overestimate your factions. If the Great Chairman or the Director truly believed their factions were invincible, they wouldn’t have sought an alliance with Pin Palace. Let’s be frank—weren’t we all driven from our homes by Cloud Peak? Are we stray dogs now, fighting over scraps?”
Bo Jie and Dr. Ziche glared, but Wen Yan didn’t flinch.
“Don’t like what you’re hearing? Unhappy? Want to kill me? Fine. Let’s fight. But afterward, if you’re beaten so badly even your mothers wouldn’t recognize you, you’d better tuck your tails between your legs and behave!”
Wen Yan’s uncharacteristic outburst took aback Bo Jie and Dr. Ziche.
Bo Jie might be crude, and Dr. Ziche was socially inept, but they both knew—while the Pin Palace was the weakest of the three factions, Wen Yan’s strength was nearly on par with the Great Chairman and the Director. His performance during the level-nine lifeform hunt had been terrifying.
But Bo Jie was different—a pure warrior, battle-hardened, a classic post-apocalyptic evolved who’d clawed her way to eight stars through sheer combat.
She knew she was no match for Wen Yan. His outburst might be insulting, but it didn’t change the facts.
This was the apocalypse. Wen Yan had insulted them, but he was stronger. They had to swallow it—unless they wanted to fight.
“Let’s focus,” Wen Yan said coldly, returning to his seat.
The others sat as well, though their expressions remained defiant.
“A few matters,” Wen Yan began, his anger subsiding now that he’d taken control. “First, the deadline for our initial agreed-upon delivery is approaching. Are both factions prepared?”
“Soul Merchant is ready,” Bo Jie said, picking up her discarded pig leg and resuming her feast.
“We are as well,” Dr. Ziche nodded.
“Second, regarding the division of territory within our tripartite zone, we proposed three plans. Which do you prefer?”
The three factions had each claimed prime locations in the northwest, forming a triangle. The interior was to be shared, with each faction developing its own periphery.
However, due to terrain, resource distribution, and other factors, a simple three-way split wasn’t feasible. Each faction had its own agenda, coveting the richer zones. Wen Yan had proposed several allocation plans, each with pros and cons, for consideration.
“Our Great Chairman prefers the second plan. If you disagree, the third is acceptable—but not the first,” Bo Jie said bluntly, quoting her leader verbatim.
Dr. Ziche frowned. “The third.”
Wen Yan nodded. The third plan disadvantaged Pin Palace the most, but he didn’t argue.
“Third, regarding joint exploration—should we prioritize the Secret Realms or the dungeons?”
All three factions bore grudges against Cloud Peak. After a thorough analysis, they concluded that Ye Zhongming and Cloud Peak’s rapid rise was largely due to their early access to secret realms, which still provided abundant resources.
If Cloud Peak could do it, why couldn’t they?
They’d tried before, but unlike Cloud Peak, they hadn’t encountered an easy secret realm. Now, united and capable of slaying level-nine lifeforms, shouldn’t they be able to conquer a secret realm or one of Earth’s mysterious dungeons?
But to Wen Yan’s surprise, Bo Jie and Dr. Ziche gave the same answer: We’ll discuss it later.
Wen Yan nearly cursed. Now was the perfect opportunity! But he quickly realized—after obtaining resources from the level-nine lifeform, both factions felt empowered enough to explore alone.
He seethed silently. Pin Palace might seem prestigious, ranked among the nation’s top factions, but the northwest’s resources were unevenly distributed. Pin Palace’s reputation rested largely on Wen Yan and his battle beast, “Thousand Year.” Their overall strength lagged behind the other two. Exploring a secret realm alone was too risky.
But if they refused to cooperate, there was little he could do. Suppressing his frustration, he continued.
“Then the fourth matter—”
Before he could finish, Bo Jie suddenly stiffened, spat out a mouthful of chewed bone, and rummaged in her cleavage, pulling out a palm-sized jade tablet.
Wen Yan swallowed his reprimand.
That was a Synchronized Jade—a long-range communication device. A pair of these jades could transmit written messages instantly between them via blood inscription. Higher-grade jades had greater ranges.
Though functionally limited, such tools were invaluable in the apocalypse. Pin Palace didn’t have any, and Bo Jie’s blue-grade jade likely had a range exceeding a thousand kilometers—enough to connect Pin Palace, Soul Merchant, and God Hall.
Bo Jie’s expression shifted drastically as she read the message.
“Sister Bo, what’s wrong?”
Wen Yan knew something major had happened. Nothing else would rattle this brutish woman.
Dr. Ziche also watched Bo Jie intently.
“Near our base… Ye Zhongming, the King of Cloud Peak, has been spotted…” Bo Jie sounded dazed. She couldn’t fathom why their greatest enemy would suddenly appear here.
“How many with him?!” Wen Yan’s expression darkened. If Cloud Peak had mobilized en masse and located Soul Merchant’s camp, they could wipe them out in one strike.
Pin Palace might be next.
This was catastrophic.
“Only… a handful of subordinates. None of his core members. No battle beasts either. The message says Ye Zhongming tried infiltrating our base but was discovered by Vice-Chairman Yang. They’re fighting now!”
Wen Yan and Dr. Ziche didn’t speak, but their eyes gleamed.
“The Great Chairman orders—whether this is a trap or not, we must attempt to kill the King of Cloud Peak. You’re to come with me immediately. Our base will activate the ‘U-shaped Wormhole’ to transport us. Another wormhole will fetch the God Hall’s forces.”
The news was so sudden that even the unflappable Wen Yan hesitated. After half a minute of deliberation, he agreed with the Great Chairman.
Ye Zhongming’s appearance here was bizarre. Even if it were a trap, the worst-case scenario was Cloud Peak launching a full-scale assault, possibly with allies like Beast Villa, the Resistance Zone, or Deacon Water’s forces.
But if all three factions united, they could fight a decisive battle!
With home-field advantage and superior numbers, why fear him?
“Mobilize all our warriors!” Wen Yan barked. Pin Palace sprang into action. Moments later, a black vortex appeared over the lake outside their base, and countless Pavilion soldiers poured into it.
Simultaneously, deep within a mountain base, squads of God Hall warriors—accompanied by bizarre battle beasts and massive cages—marched through another vortex, teleporting over a thousand kilometers away.
The combined forces of Soul Merchant, Pin Palace, and God Hall—mobilized for a single man.