Chapter 1154: A Deal

Wang Zhong was neither an indecisive nor soft-hearted person. As long as the matter did not concern Earth, he would not have cared much about it. Though he might feel pity towards this level-4 civilization, he would not go against the orders of the Star Alliance to seek vengeance for them.

The main worry was because he could feel a dangerous aura in the depths of the sea in this Ocean Empire Planet. Also, although this old man looked panicked, he was not scared at all and even held a hint of disdain in his eyes. Furthermore, to have chosen the Machinery race to investigate the matter and not other departments showed that there was something wrong about it.

If this was the case, he would have to be more cautious with his actions. If he attracted the trouble of a dangerous being by brainlessly carrying out this order from the Internal Gates, he could very well lose his life here.

While Wang Zhong was contemplating the matter in his mind, Gelawentu who was beside him started to voice his thoughts, “Master Wang Zhong, Ocean Empire Planet’s crime has already been established by the Internal Gates. It is of no doubt that they had betrayed the Star Alliance, making them heinous criminals. To ask for the Machinery race to investigate is just their plan to delay for time. Please do not be fooled, Master Wang Zhong. On top of that, it is not worth all the trouble just for a measly level-4 civilization. Please lay down your judgment now, Master.”

“A measly level-4 civilization? Even so, it still consists of hundreds of billions of living beings,” Wang Zhong said while glancing expressionlessly at him. He was clear on the terms set by the Star Alliance and Heavenly Gates, as well as his role in this Celestial Honors Assignment. It also served as a form of assessment, and he would be monitored throughout the course of the mission. He would then be evaluated at the end by the Internal Gates on his loyalty, character, strength, and many other aspects.

Thus, in this mission, his level of authority was pretty high and he was also free to make most decisions himself. With his level of authority, he was fully qualified to request a re-investigation and did not have to be directed around by his assistant. “Captain Gelawentu, you seem to have forgotten your role and position. I am the judge for this matter, not you. You are just required to follow my orders.”

“Alright.” Gelawentu nodded his head. “May I know your final decision, Master?”

Wang Zhong looked at the Ocean Empire Planet beneath him.

“Sea Emperor, are you really sure you did not kill the Star Alliance’s Messenger?” Wang Zhong asked.

“Absolutely not! Master, please help to relay the same message to the Star Alliance — that Ocean Empire Planet will open its entirety to the investigation by the Machinery race!” voiced the Sea Emperor sincerely. His tone had already become calm and even carried a peculiar tinge.

“Okay,” Wang Zhong’s voice sounded in the air, “I will leave two subordinates to monitor Ocean Empire Planet and then return to the Star Alliance to request the Machinery race to investigate this matter again. If you are wrongfully accused, I will definitely investigate the matter till the truth is found and return you your innocence.”

“Thank you, Master!” His heart had already sunk when he heard Wang Zhong’s declaration of their crime earlier. He knew that someone was slandering and framing him, but was that important? Once the Star Alliance used such a trick, it was obvious they just wanted to make one disappear, no matter what. The real truth would not be important at all. It must be because someone in the Star Alliance had taken a fancy to the vast wealth of Ocean Empire Planet.

One must know that the Ocean Empire Planet was also known as a super tyrant civilization whose wealth could measure up to half that of the Illusion Race. The resources in the ocean were extremely rich and filled with all kinds of rare treasures.

Also, Ocean Empire Planet was not short of alchemists. Although there were few who had reached a high level, they had many level-8 or level-9 alchemists and were also once a relatively large, low-leveled medicine supply market in the divine territory.

“Thank you for saving the Ocean Empire civilization, Master Wang Zhong! The entirety of Ocean Empire Planet will be forever grateful to you!”

“Please wait!” Gelawentu suddenly interrupted; his voice was no longer as soft and courteous as before, but much colder. “Master Wang Zhong, you seem to be a little unaware of the situation.”

“Oh?” Wang Zhong raised his brows slightly.

“The order from Internal Gates was to immediately settle the matter. Is Master trying to disobey orders?”

“According to the rules of the Inner Gates, for all Celestial Honors Assignments, the leader has all the power to decide.” Wang Zhong looked at him coldly. If the previous opposition from this guy was still considered part of his job, the current objection and change in Gelawentu’s attitude made Wang Zhong feel something was fishy. “I’m also a member of the law enforcement squad, and I’m more knowledgeable about the Star Alliance’s law than you. Furthermore, can Ocean Empire Planet even run away?”

“Hehe, if it’s just a small matter, then Master certainly has the right to decide. But when dealing with a civilization that has already betrayed the Star Alliance, what doubts can there be, Master?” Gelawentu laughed. “Ocean Empire Planet has already been deemed as traitors by the Star Alliance. Why is Master still helping them now and buying time for them? Unless Master is colluding with them?

“Is it because of Ocean Empire Planet’s wealth? Or perhaps you have taken bribes from them?”

The Yihe brothers beside Gelawentu voiced out one by one. “Hehe, I heard that when Master entered the Celestial Honors Class, you already had wealth exceeding what a person from a level-4 civilization that had just joined the Star Alliance should have.”

“Collaborating with traitors, corruption and betrayal of the Star Alliance. According to the laws of the Star Alliance, these are crimes that warrant killing without question!” Just as Yiheluo’s emotionless voice finished, and without any warning, the Solid Core powerhouses surrounded Wang Zhong and looked ready to unleash their powers at him.

“Do not force our hand, Master Wang Zhong,” Gelawentu said with a smile. “Colluding with a civilization that is inevitably going to fall for the sake of some wealth is unwise, for you and for your bright future. Let me give you a sincere warning. It’s still not too late to change your mind!”

The Ocean Empire’s citizens looked confused at the Star Alliance Messengers’ internal conflict.

“Forcing your hand? Are you all planning to first kill me before finishing the task we were given?” Wang Zhong asked with a smile while looking at the five people behind him.

“We do not dare.” Seemingly realizing that his tone was too heavy just now, Gelawentu stepped back slightly and bowed. “I just wanted to remind Master not to do anything to destroy your own future…”

“I don’t need you to worry about my future,” Wang Zhong said lightly. “Either you carry out my orders, or you will have to duel it out with me, Captain Gelawentu. Which do you choose?”

The few Solid Core powerhouses became silent and looked at each other. After a long time, Gelawentu said in a gentler tone, “Since Master is adamant about his decision, it is natural to follow Master’s arrangements.”

“Very good.” Wang Zhong did not even bother looking at him and directly commanded, “Sea Emperor, I will leave one person to stay here to monitor your family. Before the Machinery race arrives, no one is allowed to leave Ocean Empire Planet. Do you have any objections?”

“Master, please rest assured! Since Master is helping us, everyone in Ocean Empire Planet will follow your arrangements. We will never dare to have any objections! The Messenger that will be staying in Ocean Empire Planet will naturally be a prestigious guest of my Ocean Empire civilization! We will treat him with the utmost respect!” Despite being a godlike existence in Ocean Empire Planet, the Sea Emperor understood that in front of Wang Zhong, he could only be subservient. After joining the Star Alliance for two eras, the Ocean Empire civilization had already become used to it. A king of a low-level civilization was nothing much in the Star Alliance.

Wang Zhong nodded his head and looked to the people behind Gelawentu. But before Wang Zhong could open his mouth again, Gelawentu had already voiced out, “Yiheqian, you shall follow the master’s orders and stay in Ocean Empire Planet.”

The youngest looking of the four Blood Demons nodded his head in acknowledgment.

Wang Zhong glanced at Gelawentu, only to see him smile and say, “Master, please do not blame me for making the decision myself. The other three have to follow me to other missions once we are back from this one. Please do not make things difficult for me, Master.”

“Hehe…” Old Wang smiled meaningfully, and said lightly, “Contact the great elder. We will return to Heavenly Gates now!”

“Understood.”

“We shall respectfully send you off, Messengers! We shall respectfully send you off, Master!” Sea Ocean King and the seven Void Core experts knelt down and said solemnly.

Gelawentu then waved his hand, and after a short flash of light, an independent space appeared right before them.

It was of course impossible to contact the great elder who was on duty at the dimensional gates through space. Those who entered and exited the dimensional gates would often set a coordinate reference as a token. When activated, the great elder would naturally sense it and open the dimensional gates. This kind of coordinate reference token could be set on any personal item. Those more cautious would set it in their own independent space. After all, the energy fluctuated greatly when wormhole transmission took place.

With these fluctuations, if the gate was opened in a normal boundary world, it would highly likely be as dangerous as the case of Inca City on Earth where a black hole had formed. Destroying a city would be the least of the damage to the world. In severe cases, destroying a planet directly was just an easy matter.

Gelawentu’s fragment world was given by the Fire Demon race for this particular mission. It was impossible for a person who had yet to even form his Gold Core to have the qualifications to have a fragment world of this level…

“Master, please follow me.”

This was the first time that Wang Zhong had stepped into an independent space like this after he came to the Land. It felt a bit like his own fragment world. There was a floating and independent continent surrounded by enclosed barriers, but the area was much larger, with a radius of around twenty kilometers. The stability of the space was also quite good.

Of course, unlike his own fragment world, there was no abundant spiritual influence here, making the entire space seem lifeless. Although it could accommodate the entry of living beings, it was not suitable for living at all. Even Wang Zhong, who could be classified as a monster with super adaptability, would feel oppressed and frustrated if he stayed in the space for too long. Needless to say, it also did not have the magical effect of nurturing elixir ingredients like Wang Zhong’s fragment world.

But…

The dimensional gates were not activated. Wang Zhong did not even feel the energy fluctuation of a wormhole transmission. After they entered, the independent space was closed, and he could not even sense the Ocean Empire Planet outside.

Gelawentu stood in front of Wang Zhong while the trio of Yihes stood in a fan-shaped formation behind Wang Zhong, faintly encircling him.

“Captain Gelawentu.”

Wang Zhong had long felt something fishy about the situation. The sharp difference in attitude displayed by Gelawentu and others — respectfulness inside the Heavenly Gates to the rebuttals on Ocean Empire Planet — definitely indicated a problem with them.

Expressionless and without a hint of panic, Wang Zhong looked at Gelawentu who was standing in front of him. “What is the meaning of this? Surrounding me instead of contacting the great elder to open the gate?”

“I always felt that to have come from a boundary world, you would be a smart person. Can you still not understand the situation now?” Gelawentu slowly turned around. “But to remain calm even in such circumstances, I can’t help but admire you. It is no wonder you managed to raise yourself, despite being from a boundary world. Not only do you have great fighting capabilities, your psychological qualities are also not bad.”

“Is this because of the Blood Demon Race?”

“Do you think that is important now?” Gelawentu sneered. The act they had put up was finished. This independent space isolated everything from the outside. Even the doomed Ocean Empire Planet beings would not be able to see what was happening in here. And there was definitely no need to waste any more time on a Void Core. “Do it!”

A spark ignited in Yiheluo and the others’ eyes: “Go die!”

To deal with a Void Core with the combined efforts of three Solid Core powerhouses, the other party was obviously not intending to give Wang Zhong any chances.

Three greenish-blue rays of light shot out from the bodies of the trio towards Wang Zhong at an extremely fast speed, without making the slightest bit of sound. At the same time, the auras of the three Solid Core powerhouses descended on him.

The biggest difference between a Void Core and Solid Core was not only in the amount of their spiritual power but also in the quality of their spiritual power.

The auras of the three Solid Core Blood Demons suppressed him from all directions at the same time, as if the surrounding gravity and spiritual pressure had been increased. This kind of pressure was real, and not just an illusory one. In just an instant, the surrounding spiritual pressure surged by at least ten times, and ordinary Void Cores would have difficulty even moving in this situation.

Wang Zhong’s movements seemed to be restricted in an instant, becoming slow and stiff. But even so, he was a genius who had been accepted into the Celestial Honors Class.

Yiheluo could only feel that Wang Zhong made a weird movement the same time he launched the attack. Although it was only by a hair’s length, Wang Zhong still managed to avoid his killing move.

A gleam of excitement and sharp light flashed in Yiheluo’s eyes. When the greenish-blue ray of light hit Wang Zhong, he felt a great sense of satisfaction. The feeling of penetrating flesh and blood and the smell of blood were always some of the favorite feelings of the Blood Demon Race, not to mention that the target was a student of the Celestial Honors Class.

One must know that if it were a normal student of the Celestial Honors Class, there would be no chance of winning at all. Even Wang Zhong, who entered the Celestial Honors Class with a Void Core, was no exception. Although his potential was indeed incredible, his current combat strength… After all, he was just a Void Core. It was actually sufficient for the Blood Demon Race to have sent out just three of its own tribesmen, but to play it safe, they had even let Captain Gelawentu of the Fire Demon Race join the action.

After merely passing by Wang Zhong by ten meters or so, the ray of light managed to turn around and returned back to Yiheluo’s hands as a green shortsword. It was incredible that the shortsword managed to turn and return when it was traveling at such a high speed. The duo beside Yiheluo also had the same result, their attacks missing Wang Zhong.

For a Void Core to have such speed and reaction time, Wang Zhong was certainly remarkable.

Suddenly, Wang Zhong shouted loudly, “Please wait!”

“If you have anything to say, you can talk to the dead.” Gelawentu’s eyes held no hesitation, and neither did the three Blood Demons. They once again attacked without stopping.

Wang Zhong then transmitted his voice using spiritual powers to the ears of the trio. “Do you want to know why I can refine perfect pills time and time again? Do you want to know the secret of how I can attract the elemental spirits?”

“Stop!”

The three Blood Demons who were rushing toward Wang Zhong mid-air stopped immediately, and their three artifacts stopped inches away from Wang Zhong.

The one that gave the command to stop was Gelawentu. His eyes had started to shine with an erratic light. Obviously, he had taken an interest in Wang Zhong’s words.

The rise of Wang Zhong could be said to be a miracle in everyone’s eyes. In the eyes of higher-ups like the Heavenly Shell Superintendent, they were happy to see the rise of such a genius and would even lend a hand to aid and teach that genius. Every genius had their own secret, and a powerhouse who really put the interests of the Heavenly Gates first would never dig deep into such secrets because doing so would highly likely force such a genius to the opposing side. And that was the right mindset for the true powerhouses and higher-ups.

For people such as Gelawentu, their main goal was to improve their own strength, and they would make use of all the resources and information they could find to make themselves become stronger.

If it was under normal circumstances, they would not have even dared to dig into the secret of a Master in the Celestial Honors Class. Offending a Master of the Heavenly Gates was equivalent to offending the entire Heavenly Gates.

But now, the situation was different. The order was to kill Wang Zhong no matter what.

The attacks just now were just to probe Wang Zhong, and they had already caused Wang Zhong to surrender. Although he was a strong Void Core, this was not much of a concern. Wang Zhong was already a dead man in Gelawentu’s eyes. Why not maximize his value? Why not take advantage of the situation while executing the orders from above?

Wang Zhong came from a low-level civilization but still managed to rise so rapidly. It was very likely he had accidentally obtained the inheritance or treasure of some powerhouse in the Land. If such a thing could fall into his own hands…

“Master Wang Zhong…” Gelawentu slowly laughed. “Do you intend to use this information in exchange for your own life?”

“Hehe, I’m not that naive.” Wang Zhong clutched the injuries on his shoulders, which seemed to have only wounded him to a limited extent.

It was known from the start that Wang Zhong was very flexible and agile. And to be able to avoid the killing moves of Solid Core powerhouses, he was indeed extraordinary.

“Then I’m relieved.” Gelawentu laughed. If Wang Zhong was so naive, he would definitely agree verbally to it before killing him. However, it was obvious that the other party was not so stupid. “Then what is Master Wang Zhong intending to exchange for this information?”

“I want to know why things became like this before I die.” Wang Zhong smiled, not caring about his injuries. “I only want to ask a few questions.”

Gelawentu looked at him expressionlessly.

Was he trying to delay them to recover from his injuries? Was he trying to send a rescue signal to those outside? Or was he trying to use a special artifact that required some preparation time?

Various possibilities flashed through Gelawentu’s mind in an instant, but they were quickly eliminated one by one.

This was in an independent space under his control. The entire space itself was a level-5 domain artifact, one borrowed from the Fire Demon Race purely for this mission. It was under his complete control, and everything in the space was within his perception range.

Even the most advanced communication equipment of the Mechanical Race would not be able to penetrate this independent space. If Wang Zhong wanted to pass information out, it would just be a waste of effort.

As for recovering from his injuries or preparing a special artifact, Gelawentu felt that there was no need to worry. If he wanted to recover, he could just do so as there would not be any risk to himself.

And if Wang Zhong were to activate a special artifact, he would know it instantly. After all, this was his space. What could Wang Zhong even do?

In just a matter of seconds, Gelawentu managed to make his decision. “Sure, things can be discussed. Even though you are my enemy, but I still respect how you rose to the stage you are at today, Master.”

Even if something unexpected were to occur or if Wang Zhong was just tricking him into talking, the cost would be just some time. Such a small cost to find out the secret behind Wang Zhong’s rise in strength was entirely worth it.

“If you have any questions, you can ask now, Master. But it is only limited to a total of three questions. If you have any more questions, they will have to wait till after you tell me your secret.”