Chapter 968: Approaching

The endless void outside the Bramble Great Tree.

The Abyssal Demon Dragon silently appeared.

He silently watched the faraway towering great tree and fell into thought.

The Bramble Great Tree isn’t weak.

This is where its main body is, so if I tried to act, it would surely be the onset of a tough battle.

It is a bit troublesome…

It would be much better if this wasn’t its territory since the Bramble Bird Empress needs a bit of time in order to call upon the tree.

The first thing to arrive would only be a projection of the tree, the Bramble Bird Empress would need to continue using her power to call upon it for the tree’s main body to arrive.

At this point, I have a way to make sure that the Bramble Bird Empress would not be able to thoroughly summon the tree’s real body.

Which means…

The best way is to think of a method to lure the Bramble Bird Empress out.

How can I achieve such a thing?

After a bit of thought, the Demon Dragon asked someone behind him: 「 Is everyone here? 」

Behind him, Divinities appeared one after another.

A burning flame lies between their eyebrows, giving off a sense of divine holiness.

But before the Demon Dragon, they were his subordinates.

「 Master, all of us are here, what do we need to do? 」a Divinity asked.

「 As you are the true Divine race, you will need to appear and do it yourselves 」the Demon Dragon spoke as he thought about the plan, 「 In just a few moments, the Empress will appoint a new Duke, at which point you will need to show up to the scene. Remember, do not fight, simply invite her to the Strife Zones, saying that the True God wants to see her 」

「 This way, she would not be able to refuse 」

「 But what if she does refuse? 」

「 All of you are at the strongest level of power for the 900 million World Layers, think of a way to make her understand—— refusal means that the seven Holy Churches will be going to war against the Bramble Bird Kingdom 」

「 Understood 」

The Demon Dragon then encouraged them: 「 Do not worry, as soon as she leaves the great tree’s main body, I will no longer have anything to fear——- I will personally catch her 」

「 As you wish, master 」

「 Wait a moment—-」

The Demon Dragon thought for a bit, then said: 「 The Bramble Bird Empress might have a body double. You will need to make sure that it’s her true self that comes out before you appear and invite her to the Strife Zones for an audience with the True God 」

「 Master, how should we tell if the Empress is real or not? 」the Divinities asked.

The Abyssal Demon Dragon squinted his eyes and slowly explained: 「 The true Bramble Bird Empress has a few abilities, none of which can be replicated by anyone…」

The Demon Dragon patiently explained it all to the Divinities, the Divinities then discussed among themselves and formulated a strategy before they left one by one towards the Bramble Great Tree.

The Abyssal Demon Dragon hid himself within the void of space and fell into contemplation for a while.

Hm, there aren’t any issues.

The Demon Dragon thoroughly disappeared and silently waited for the ceremony to begin.

…

On the other side.

The Bramble Bird Kingdom.

The palace.

As Gu Qing Shan held Laura’s strand of hair and was about to use [Mystery of All Beings Equal], he stopped.

Wait.

I think I forgot something.

Laura is a little girl.

If I turned into her, wouldn’t I turn into a female?

Furthermore, I’d completely take Laura’s form without any difference.

…Regardless of who it is, it’s a bit embarrassing to change genders.

Gu Qing Shan muses a bit, then called out: “Shannu”

The void of space rippled slightly.

A female palace maid with an indifferent expression appeared.

“Gongzi, I’m here”

She then turned to bow slightly to the rest of the people, greeting them.

Everyone greeted her back.

——-they all knew that this sword and its spirit came from Huang Quan.

Not someone to be trifled with.

Gu Qing Shan gave Shannu the strand of hair and told her: “You can take Laura’s appearance”

“Yes”

Shannu received the strand of her, closed her eyes, and silently activated [Mystery of All Beings Equal].

—–Shannu has [Law Breaker], so she’s able to stop any and all probing techniques.

Furthermore, after my previous visit to the giant corpse, [Mystery of All Beings Equal] should have finished evolving.

This way, no one would be able to discover that Shannu was fake.

Shannu slowly turned into Laura, her voice also became immature: “Gongzi, I think that there are still some issues”

“What is it?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

“I’ve never acted like an Empress before, I’m afraid I might make a mistake in my mannerism” Shannu worriedly told him.

Gu Qing Shan smiled and encouraged her: “You’ve been with Laura even more than I have so you should understand her words and actions quite well. All you need to do now is to utilize my other ability”

“What ability?”

“Acting”

Gu Qing Shan turned to Zhang Ying Hao and spoke with wholehearted gratefulness: “I really have to thank you for taking me to that acting course, it had helped me a lot”

Zhang Ying Hao replied casually: “Acting is a basic skill of all hitmen. A top-level hitman can act like anybody else—– this is an art form”

“Good, let’s relieve Laura of her crisis first before we continue with the topic of acting” Gu Qing Shan said.

At this point, Laura had already circled several times around Shannu and praised: “Whoa, you look exactly like me, but your outfit isn’t very suitable. Follow me, I’ll pick out some clothes that will be suitable for a ceremony…”

She pulled Shannu away.

After not too long, two Laura’s appeared between them.

They wore the same Empress outfit, the same jewelry, with the exact same appearance, there wasn’t even the smallest difference between the hair on their eyebrows.

The only way that they could be told apart was the look in their eyes.

One was aloof and indifferent, the other was cute and lively.

Looking at the two Laura, Gu Qing Shan silently thought.

This should be quite enough.

——there’s only one issue left.

From the perspective of the other party, if I’m looking to assassinate a world leader, I will first need to confirm whether or not the leader was the real one or a body double to avoid being duped.

Hmm…

Laura’s 3 abilities…

It’s not that there aren’t any ways to resolve this.

After some thought, Gu Qing Shan carefully informed Shannu what to do.

Everyone else silently listened.

Finally, Gu Qing Shan said: “Ye Fei Li, when the Empress is announcing the appointment, you will come out—— at that time, Zhang Ying Hao and I will disguise as your guards”

“Sure” Ye Fei Li said

“No problem” Zhang Ying Hao also replied.

Gu Qing Shan continued: “Laura, since Zhang Ying Hao and I are still being wanted, do you have uniforms that can obscure the face?”

Laura nodded: “Yes, I’ll provide you with two sets of Great Tree Hidden Guardian armor, this is the official armor for guards at the ceremony, it has a special mask to hide one’s face”

Gu Qing Shan then went on: “Lin, you’ll hide in the shadow to protect Laura—— in case that an enemy actually appeared, pick out the strongest one and kill him right away”

Laura then leaned onto Lin and begged her with a pitiful expression: “Big sis, you gotta help me”

Lin softly stroked Laura’s head and gently told her: “Don’t worry, I’m looking forward to seeing who dares to bully our Laura”

…

At another location.

The border between the Strife Zones and Mystic Zones.

An endless grey shadow was flying in from afar, almost like a boundless nebula.

An Abyssal Behemoth.

With the slightest movement, it flew across countless worlds, moving from one World Layer to the next.

This Abyssal Behemoth was moving along as fast as it could.

Even Black Hound’s humongous body seemed small compared to this gigantic beast.

But Black Hound wasn’t at all afraid.

It raised its scepter towards the Behemoth and chanted a mystical incantation.

As the Abyssal Behemoth arrived in front of it, it shouted in a low voice:

「 I am the servant who follows the will of the God of Death, so long as I’m here, no entity shall pass! 」

The space vortex started to tremble heavily.

The never-ending chaotic winds were avoiding this place.

The faint images of countless worlds suddenly manifested, warped and twisted, as if they couldn’t handle the abrupt descent of some kind of power.

The Abyssal Behemoth couldn’t help but stop and retreat, seemingly wary.

A humanoid figure jumped down from the Abyssal Behemoth’s back.

『 God of Death? 』a female voice.

「 That is a name that’s long since been buried in ash 」a male voice.

『 A rotten name that had long been lost to eternal history, still boasted by its servant 』the female voice continued.

The male and female voice then both chanted like they were reciting some sort of gospel: 「『 Whether it was Knowledge or Spirit, even Life and Death, these deities have long been lost to history, how dare you use their power to stop the wake of [Chaos]~ your soul shall be consumed by me! 」』

Silence.

All of a sudden, an ear-piercing shriek resounded across the entire space vortex:

『「 AAaaaaaa——- 』」

The Soul Shrieker unleashed all of its power at once, triggering the souls of all living beings within the infinite space vortex to fly towards it.

Black Hound stood still without fear, simply pointing its scepter in front of itself.

Against the Soul Shrieker’s endless shriek, immense power radiated from the scepter of death to protect Black Hound.

「 Using your strongest attack right away, monster from the Abyss, you seem to be afraid 」

Black Hound smirked and revealed its razor-sharp teeth.