John took the jade stone with a sense of unease in his heart and spoke, “Nothing. We just arrived at Dark City. Where’s Sini? Is she still in Forest City?”
Great Bear replied, “She’s here. She’s been in seclusion with Spoorate for a while.”
John said, “Go check on where they’re in seclusion.”
“Kid, you still don’t trust me?” Forest King responded with an annoyed tone. “This is my World-in-Hand. Those two girls are fine, don’t worry.” But even so, he still went to check on the place where the two girls were supposed to be.
“Damn it!” Great Bear’s shocked voice came through the jade stone.
The place where the two girls were in seclusion was completely empty. Sini and Spoorate had mysteriously disappeared, and Great Bear hadn’t noticed a thing.
“What happened?” John immediately asked.
Great Bear’s face darkened as he said, “The two girls are gone.”
“What?” John was furious, feeling a strong urge to curse. He took a deep breath and coldly asked, “Didn’t you say nothing would happen? Who did this?”
Great Bear carefully scanned the area, but there was no trace. Moreover, someone had sneaked into his World-in-Hand and taken the two girls. It was utterly unbelievable; only a ten-star Emperor could pull something like this off.
But would a ten-star Emperor really need to sneak into his World-in-Hand to take the two girls? If they had come for him directly, he wouldn’t have been able to resist at all.
The only possibility was that this person wasn’t particularly strong, but simply had the ability to infiltrate his World-in-Hand.
Perhaps they were still within it.
He frowned and said, “I don’t know. Have you found anything on your side?”
John calmed down, staring at the crystal stone in his hand. He spoke, “If I’m right, the Celestial Vault’s target wasn’t me—it was Sini.”
There was a long silence on Great Bear’s end. After a while, he spoke, “I’ll help you find Sini. Wait for my message.”
With that, he closed the jade stone and gave a command, “Get everyone to seal off Forest City and the surrounding areas. No one is allowed to leave. Anyone with World-in-Hand abilities should be arrested immediately!”
Great Bear was truly furious. He had promised John he would take care of the girls, but now Sini had vanished without a trace.
And Spoorate was gone as well. No matter what, he couldn’t allow anything to happen to them.
Forest City was immediately put on high alert, and all unfamiliar people in the city were being thoroughly checked.
…
John put away the communication jade stone and handed it to Sword Demon.
The two had also overheard the conversation between him and Forest King and now knew that Sini and Spoorate had been captured.
Cand-Dragon spoke up, “Godslayer, what should we do now? Should we head back?”
John shook his head. “It’s too late to rush back now. If Senren’s target is Sini, she’ll likely be captured as well. We’ll rescue Jean and Nature God first.”
The others nodded in agreement.
“Over there, hurry!” Suddenly, an angry shout rang out, and a group of people rushed toward them.
It was the group of burly men from earlier. They had discovered the missing black crystal from the mechanical arm.
The dozen or so men immediately surrounded them.
Sword Demon sneered, drawing his long sword and readying himself for a fight.
These men were only at the seven-star cultivation level, with the strongest being at the peak of seven stars—far from a match for them.
The leader of the burly men looked at John coldly. “Hand over that item!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” John didn’t want to escalate the situation just yet, but since these people were provoking them, he wasn’t afraid.
“Some people just don’t learn until they see the coffin,” the burly man leader said dismissively. With a single command, he charged forward.
“Damn it! I’ve had enough of you guys!” Sword Demon cursed angrily, his blade flashing as he attacked without hesitation.
“Leave one alive,” John reminded, and both he and Cand-Dragon immediately joined the fray.
Cold light flashed, and the powerful force of laws surged. These men were no match for them. In the blink of an eye, the group was slaughtered, leaving only the leader.
Just like the people John had encountered earlier, these men had modified mechanical devices on their bodies, making them not entirely human.
The leader of the group, having lost a leg, collapsed to the ground. His voice trembled as he asked, “Who… are you?”
He sensed something was wrong. The power of laws used by the three wasn’t dark in nature—it didn’t seem like they were from Dark City.
John placed his longsword against the man’s neck, his tone cold. “If you don’t want to die, you’d better answer my questions honestly.”
Gulp!
The man swallowed hard, his expression hidden under the mask, his eyes filled with terror.
John continued, “Where is the Heaven Prison here?”
“The Heaven Prison? So you really are outsiders!” The burly man reacted, feeling the coldness of the longsword against his neck. He quickly added, “There is no Heaven Prison here.”
No Heaven Prison?
John was surprised. He pressed further, “Then where does Senren imprison his enemies?”
The burly man stared at him, his brows furrowed, but he remained silent.
John grew impatient. He pushed the longsword a little deeper, his voice cold. “Answer me.”
The burly man sensed death drawing near and dared not hesitate. “The Tower of Death, but I don’t know the exact location.”
“Really?” John narrowed his eyes, his gaze flickering as the air trembled. He activated his soul skill, Memory Extraction.
A powerful surge of Spiritual power easily invaded the burly man’s soul.
“Hmm?” John frowned. The man’s soul was completely blank—his memories seemed to be absent from his soul.
This was the first time he’d encountered something like this, and he was puzzled.
The burly man, feeling his soul being invaded, panicked. “I’ve told you everything I know! I’m one of Senren’s people! You can’t kill me!”
“Hmph!” John scoffed. His purpose here was precisely to deal with that Senren.
A thought crossed his mind, and the black crystal appeared in his hand.
The burly man’s eyes lit up, fixating on the crystal, greedily swallowing.
John asked, “Where did you get this thing?”
The burly man glanced at him, shook his head, and with a determined expression, coldly replied, “I won’t tell you. If you have the guts, just kill me.”
John didn’t expect this guy to suddenly grow a backbone.
“Kid, stop wasting time with him. This guy’s probably just a lackey. He doesn’t know anything.” Sword Demon was getting impatient.
“A lackey?” The burly man growled angrily, glaring at Sword Demon, then closed his eyes, looking completely indifferent.
“Are you really not afraid of death?” John’s interest was piqued. He swung his longsword, cold light flashing.
Pffft…
With a few dull thuds, the burly man’s arms and remaining leg were severed.
Where his limbs were severed, sparks of electrical light flashed—everything was mechanical, not flesh and blood.
“Ahhh…” The burly man let out a pitiful scream, glaring at John with hatred. A terrifying surge of energy rippled within his body. He gritted his teeth and snarled, “Bastard, Lord Senren will never let you get away with this!”
Vroom!
His body violently trembled, and John felt an ominous aura.
“This is bad, this guy is trying to self-destruct!” Sword Demon warned, quickly retreating.
John and Cand-Dragon also reacted immediately, retreating at full speed.
Boom!
A deafening explosion rang out, followed by a massive tremor. A terrifying wave of energy spread from the man’s body, engulfing everything around him, destroying it with wild force.
The crooked buildings were instantly obliterated, and cries of agony echoed through the air.
Fortunately, John and the others had reacted in time and managed to distance themselves.
Even so, they were still significantly affected by the blast.
“Ugh!” Cand-Dragon crawled out of the rubble, covered in dust and dirt. He grumbled, “What kind of creatures are these? The explosion was even more terrifying than a Black Demon Bomb.”
John was equally puzzled.
It seemed that all the life forms in Dark City were somehow altered. They were neither fully human nor fully monster, creatures somewhere in between, and they didn’t even have memories in their souls.
“Kid, what should we do next?” Sword Demon asked, looking around at the panicked crowd.
The chaos caused by the explosion was considerable, yet no one seemed to take notice of them.
It appeared that such large-scale battles were commonplace in Dark City.
John frowned, observing the disorderly crowd. He speculated that Jean and Nature God were probably being held in the Tower of Death.
But they had no idea where the Tower of Death was located.
He didn’t want to confront Senren head-on just yet. “Let’s gather more information about this place before we make any plans.”
The others nodded in agreement and blended into the frantic crowd without drawing any attention.
…
In the dim, winding sewers of Dark City.
Medusa moved swiftly through the labyrinthine tunnels, slaughtering the occasional Dark Rats and rat-catcher squads that appeared.
“It should be nearby.” He sensed the trail he had left earlier and quickened his pace.
He passed through a dark, foul-smelling tunnel, and ahead, the path suddenly opened up. But a metal net blocked the way.
A tattered snake skin hung on the net.
“Found it!” His eyes brightened, and he quickened his steps.
The snake skin was something he had left behind when he had escaped before, now corroded and shredded by the muck of the sewers and the dark forces that permeated this place. Experience more content on empire
He tore the broken snake skin off the net and began searching carefully.
“Nothing?” His expression darkened, his brows furrowing.
The snake skin was hollow, and the crown he had lost was nowhere to be found.
“Impossible!” He was certain that when he had escaped last time, he had shed the snake skin, and the crown had been left here.
He searched again, more thoroughly this time, but found nothing.
“This is bad… It must have fallen into Senren’s hands.” He collapsed onto the ground in despair.
The crown was incredibly important to him. It was the source of his power. Without it, he couldn’t unleash his full strength, and any hope of breaking through would be lost.
But if Senren had gotten his hands on it, retrieving it would be impossible.
“Humans… I’m sorry.” His eyes flickered with determination as a plan began to form in his mind. He stopped hiding his presence. Powerful waves of Spiritual power began to surge around him. A faint pink mist enveloped him, and his hair began to grow, transforming into small snakes. His features shifted, and he morphed into a female form.
Medusa was not male—he was hermaphroditic, able to switch between male and female forms at will.
Whoosh…
A breeze stirred through the deep underground passage, and a dark, malevolent energy filled the air.