Translator: AkazaTL

Proofreader/Editor: JWyck

***

Chapter 310

"I thought this wasn't something you needed to be curious about." I waved my hand boredly and pushed the door open to head back. "If it's just about the video, then I'll be going first."

"Hey, wait!" The younger brother hurriedly called out to me, his expression changing several times. "We've already... already received our punishment. We're sorry. Yesterday was our fault! We shouldn't have casually tested you."

I hadn't expected this guy to be surprisingly straightforward; his apology came even faster than his more rational older brother's. I rarely showed a surprised expression.

Immediately after, the older brother also apologized, then got straight to the point: "As a friend of Brother Mingbai Wang, you won't be disadvantageous to Yafei Kingdom, right?"

"As brothers of Wu Mingbai, you won't be disadvantageous to his friends, right?" This map of Yan Kingdom was too short; I inwardly complained. But on the surface, I showed nothing, borrowing the same sentence structure to counter, the sarcasm fully loaded.

They could be disadvantageous to me, so how could I possibly have a good impression of Yafei Kingdom just because of Wu Mingbai? Forget about me—even Wu Mingbai himself probably didn't have much of a good impression of Yafei Kingdom; at most, it was a negligible bit of longing.

Understanding my implied meaning, the younger brother immediately grew anxious: "So that's why we apologized, right? And from the start, we never really meant to harm you. We knew you could definitely defeat mid-level Nightmare Beasts! If you don't believe us, you can..."

"I know." Before he could finish, I calmly spoke up. "Otherwise, do you think you could have left so easily yesterday?"

I wasn't saying this to strike a pose. If they had truly come for my life, even if these two were princes, I absolutely wouldn't have held back yesterday. Just like how I had intimidated them back then—after all, the evidence proving I'd met them had already been destroyed by them themselves, so wasn't it up to me to do whatever I wanted?

That made sense; the brothers had a moment of realization. They also felt that my attitude toward them might not be as bad as they imagined, and couldn't help continuing the earlier topic: "Then..."

However, I had no intention of giving them a chance to speak. I directly pushed the door open and walked back inside: "Alright, there's nothing that absolutely requires two eight-year-old kids to handle, is there?"

The family recognition banquet soon began. Although it was called a family recognition banquet, after Wu Mingbai made his appearance like a monkey and was observed by the crowd, it turned into a networking event.

No one paid attention to a newly arrived prince, even though he had the potential to become king—but in reality, that possibility was quite small. For most people, the benefits of befriending the new prince weren't as good as connecting with some big shot at the banquet.

That said, there were still many people surrounding Wu Mingbai, leaving him no chance to go find Jiang Tianming and the others. He could only occasionally lift his eyes to look around, hoping someone would come save him from this misery.

Unfortunately, he was clearly mistaken; no one came to rescue him. The "heartless" group sat together in a corner, lined up and eating fruits.

Yafei Kingdom might not be great in other ways, but the food was truly impeccable. Though the flavors were full of exotic flair, they weren't hard to eat, and the novelty made everyone quite satisfied.

"What were those two guys looking for you for earlier? Judging by your expressions... were they coming to apologize?" Zhao Xiaoyu asked while using her fork to spear the sweet-and-sour chicken on her plate, speculating at the same time.

When the three of them returned, my expression was as calm as ever. While those two kids looked somewhat unwilling, they weren't angry, so the conversation must have been relatively peaceful. Considering what Wu Mingbai had said yesterday about complaining to the king, this was the first possibility that came to her mind.

It wasn't a wrong guess; I nodded.

Being so obedient actually made it uninteresting; Zhao Xiaoyu boredly withdrew her gaze and looked at Ai Baozhu again: "I thought you guys would go out and chat with those people?"

She wasn't suited to this kind of occasion, but Ai Baozhu and the others definitely were. There were quite a few big figures from Yafei Kingdom present; even if they weren't from this country, going out to network would be a good choice.

"No need." Ai Baozhu gestured toward Wu Mingbai's direction. "We already have the biggest connection in Yafei Kingdom."

It was a foreign country far away to begin with—distant water couldn't quench a nearby fire—so networking here had minimal use. Plus, with Wu Mingbai as a connection already, networking with others was even less necessary.

Zhao Xiaoyu understood and nodded in agreement: "That makes sense."

"Mingbai's going on stage again." Jiang Tianming looked toward the stage. This was the first time Wu Mingbai had dressed so splendidly; the brown outfit matching his hair color made him look a bit like a knight from a fairy tale—loyal and reliable.

This time on stage was for the closing remarks; to my ears, it just meant the other party would soon step down, no longer acting like a monkey, and everyone could start moving freely.

Good news.

I let out a slight sigh of relief and immediately said to Si Zhaohua beside me: "I'm going to the bathroom. After that, I'll head straight back to the room."

With that, I walked straight out the main door of the banquet hall and into the bathroom, taking out the Dream Bubble to create an illusion of myself leaving the bathroom and returning to the room. Meanwhile, I used an Invisibility Charm and sneaked back into the banquet hall.

I had already carefully studied the staircase at the back door of the banquet hall this morning; it was exclusive to the banquet hall, inaccessible from other places. Going up this staircase should lead to the top floor, while going down led to the basement.

When I hurried back, Wu Mingbai and the king's group had already disappeared, leaving only Weather Butler to host the proceedings. What was somewhat troublesome was that the back door was actually closed. If I directly opened the door, it might attract attention.

From yesterday, I knew that many attack-type or special-type Ability items in the venue couldn't be used; once used, they'd be detected immediately. I thought for a moment, then flung out a Gear wrapped in toilet paper to shatter a distant vase. Taking advantage of the moment everyone looked toward the vase, I quickly pushed the door open and slipped inside.

As for that Gear, it vanished into nothingness after completing its task.

Two directions: upstairs or downstairs. Without hesitation, I headed downstairs. Along the way, aside from a few scattered wall lamps hanging on the walls. There was no light, giving it a somewhat sinister feel.

At the very bottom was an iron door, also closed but not locked; it looked easy to open. I frowned at the door for a few seconds, then first maxed out my luck value before starting to tap on the nearby walls.

Anyone with a bit of thought would realize this door couldn't be the entrance to the guardian god. No barriers along the way—a single staircase leading straight to the guardian god? Only a fool would believe that.

I was certain the door led to a trap. Since I knew that, I naturally had no intention of walking into it and decisively searched elsewhere for clues.

If there was an entrance elsewhere, there must be traces—either on the walls or the floor.

Looking down at my feet, I quickly made a discovery. The last small section of the plush carpet was different from the rest; it looked like it had no footprints.

In other words, the place they finally walked to was here...

I went to that spot and continued tapping the wall, indeed hearing a hollow sound.

Blinking at the blank wall, I thoughtfully raised my head to look at the wall lamp overhead. One minute later, I successfully opened the hidden door and walked inside. It was another staircase; just as I reached the first turn, I faintly heard noises coming from below.

It sounded like the older brother's voice, intermittent and unclear: "No need... no sound... continue..."

After listening for a bit, I understood. It seemed that despite my efforts to be quiet earlier, I had still made noise. The other party was covering for me as per the contract agreement, preventing the king from coming up to check on any unnecessary issues.

Getting any closer might lead to discovery even with invisibility; I stood in place and slowly released my Mental Energy outward. There were eight people below in total—exactly Wu Mingbai's family of eight.

Aside from that, I didn't sense any other energy bodies; it seemed the guardian god hadn't appeared yet.

This was undoubtedly good news. If the guardian god had really appeared, it might have discovered my presence right away. I was only daring to take this risk because of the invisibility.

Since the guardian god hadn't appeared yet, it was the perfect time for me to prepare, lest I get discovered all at once later. I took out the Low Presence item I had prepared long ago, obtained from Wu Jin—it was a special storage of my own Ability.

This thing was quite magical; as a defense-type item, it wouldn't be detected by the machines in the banquet hall.

The king began the summoning ritual; I could feel a continuous stream of energy surging from the surroundings, gathering at one point before transforming into an extremely uncomfortable energy. I was all too familiar with this energy—it was resentment; the guardian god was about to appear.

Sure enough, not long after, an energy body appeared in the room. I timely retracted my Mental Energy and walked down a few more steps to ensure I could fully hear their conversation.

An unfamiliar voice rang out, sounding like the rough male voice from special effects: "This is your first son?"

"It's him, Lord Guardian God. Please grant him your blessing." The king had no intention of small talk and went straight to the point.

The guardian god pondered for a moment, not directly agreeing to the request but first bringing up another matter: "Coming out this time has consumed quite a bit of my energy, and protecting this child will consume even more."

"I'll hold a three-day nationwide lecture tour praising your merits, and all the people must attend." The king answered skillfully, clearly knowing long ago what It wanted.

These words greatly satisfied the guardian god, who immediately agreed to the king's earlier request: "Then I have no issue here. Just like the previous steps, have him drip his blood here."

I wasn't concerned with the subsequent protection steps; I was thinking about the information I'd just obtained. As I had guessed before, this guardian god indeed had needs from the Yafei royal family, which was why It repeatedly helped them.

And what It sought sounded like reputation, gratitude points, incense, or the like—the more people praised It, the better. No wonder they could cooperate; to accumulate reputation long-term in a country, relying on the royal family was the simplest method.

And the Yafei royal family clearly understood the principle of hiding the bow once the birds are gone; they hadn't let the domestic citizens truly treat the guardian god with god-like reverence. That way, once without the royal family's support, within one generation, Gao Di An Zhuo would lose the people's trust.

So now the question arose: if the guardian god needed reputation, how could I satisfy It to get It to answer my questions?

A good method quickly came to mind; the Destiny organization in my hands had always been a useful tool. If I provided some information in the organization about how powerful Gao Di An Zhuo was and found ways for others to see it, I could definitely earn It quite a bit of reputation.

Things could be handled this way, but the degree had to be controlled well. Just like how Yafei Kingdom knew not to satisfy Gao Di An Zhuo too much, I couldn't let Its reputation rise too high either.

After all, the other party was a Nightmare Beast; even if not targeting humans, It might not necessarily be a good thing. The current situation was fine—It could only lord over Yafei Kingdom, helping the people but unable to crown Itself king.

Soon the ritual finished, and the king left with the group. Only after the door was closed again did I come out. Without lifting the invisibility, facing that stone wall, I said in a disguised voice that absolutely couldn't be recognized as my own: "How about a deal?"

Suddenly hearing an unfamiliar voice, the guardian god was startled. A stone face with distinct but extremely ordinary features—nothing memorable—protruded from the stone wall, its mouth opening and closing like in an animation: "Who?"

It didn't immediately call the king back. As a variant of a high-level Nightmare Beast, Gao Di An Zhuo had great confidence in Its own strength. Though It indeed hadn't detected the speaker's presence, that didn't prevent It from believing the other couldn't defeat It—otherwise, why wouldn't this person dare show themselves?

Compared to the negligible worry, curiosity clearly won out. Gao Di An Zhuo hadn't forgotten my words: "What deal?"

I first answered the first question: "I'm someone sent by the Destiny organization. This is an intelligence organization that can..."

"I've heard of this organization." Without waiting for me to continue explaining, the guardian god saved me the trouble.

I hadn't expected the other party to have heard of Destiny. Though I hadn't looked down on the organization, I had only thought Destiny was somewhat famous among human Ability users and had no reputation among Nightmare Beasts—especially for such a special existence as this one.

"I represent the land of Yafei Kingdom. If I wish, nothing here can escape me." The guardian god said flatly, as if It hadn't said anything surprising.

Since the other party knew about the Destiny organization, things were much easier. I concisely answered the second question: "As for the deal, you answer three questions for me, and I'll spread favorable information about you in the organization's intelligence database, while finding ways for others to know that information. This should be what you want, right?"

If It could really make the organization's members all know favorable information about It, Gao Di An Zhuo felt this was indeed a good thing. Especially since the cost was just three questions—in a sense, it was a no-cost, high-profit deal. But It was quite suspicious—not doubting whether I could do it; being able to appear before It so silently was a skill in itself. Moreover, with an Ability contract, there was no worry about the other party reneging.

What truly made Gao Di An Zhuo suspicious was: where in the world did free pies fall from the sky? Such a no-cost, high-profit deal looked like a trap no matter how you saw it.

"Can I know what you want to ask first?"

I didn't hesitate and decisively shook my head: "No can do."

What if Gao Di An Zhuo knew what I wanted to ask and then refused to answer? After all, It was a Nightmare Beast and might not be willing to expose secrets of the Nightmare Beast world. In that case, not only would I not get answers, but I'd also expose my purpose—losing more than I gained.

"...Alright, I agree, but we have to sign an Ability contract." In the end, the temptation of gaining fame was greater. Despite feeling there was a trap, Gao Di An Zhuo still agreed to my deal.

I had long prepared the contract and immediately took it out upon hearing this. Gao Di An Zhuo carefully checked it, confirmed there were no issues, signed It, and the contract emitted a golden light, officially taking effect.

With the cooperative relationship established, Gao Di An Zhuo didn't waste time: "What do you want to ask?"

"First question." I held up one finger. "Why have the earth element Nightmare Beasts in the Nightmare Beast world increased? I know it's because the Nightmare Beast world needs more earth element Nightmare Beasts, so what I'm really asking is why the Nightmare Beast world needs so many earth element Nightmare Beasts."

The words came out like a tongue twister, but they weren't hard to understand. Yet they successfully plunged the guardian god, who had intended to answer, into silence.

After a long silence, It countered: "What do you want to ask this for?"

I crossed my arms: "I think our deal doesn't include me answering your questions?"

Indeed, Gao Di An Zhuo suffered a setback and stopped wasting time: "I can only tell you that the Nightmare Beast world needs more soil, especially the kind floating in the air. And these require more earth element Nightmare Beasts to maintain."

So it seemed my guess was correct; I immediately understood. The Nightmare Beast world had detected that humans were intentionally clearing out Meteorites, and the disappearance of Meteorites would cause the Nightmare Beast world's power to vanish. So for self-preservation, the Nightmare Beast world instinctively birthed more earth element Nightmare Beasts.

Then came the second question: "If all the earth element Nightmare Beasts disappeared, or suffered heavy losses, what impact would that have on the Nightmare Beast world?"

Thinking reversely: the Nightmare Beast world created more earth element Nightmare Beasts for self-preservation, so wouldn't the disappearance of earth element Nightmare Beasts cause some damage to the Nightmare Beast world?

I didn't think the disappearance of earth element Nightmare Beasts could make the Nightmare Beast world vanish; the Nightmare Beast world had a direct connection to Meteorites, but earth element Nightmare Beasts had no relation to those Meteorites—the Meteorites came from outer space, not created by them.

However, not making the Nightmare Beast world disappear didn't mean it couldn't severely damage it. Completely eliminating all Meteorites in one go was too hard; if taking an extra step could yield good results, I didn't mind the trouble.

Each question was harder to answer than the last; if Gao Di An Zhuo were human, It probably would have been sweating profusely by now: "It would lead to... soil deficiency, a decline in the soil element density of the Nightmare Beast world."

It sounded like nothing much, but that pause felt suspicious... I showed a thoughtful gaze. I didn't know if my line of thinking was right; I could only take it one step at a time.

Soil deficiency, but not a single piece of Meteorite shard would be lost. In other words, if the earth element Nightmare Beasts really suffered heavy losses, the Meteorite shards should break free from the soil element's protection and be exposed.

That would certainly make elimination easier, but it seemed a bit like the gains not outweighing the losses.

Could it be that I'd thought wrong somewhere? That making earth element Nightmare Beasts disappear actually provided no benefit to my ultimate goal?

I furrowed my brow, suddenly realizing something. My earlier train of thought was off; the greatest benefit of earth element Nightmare Beasts disappearing was clearly that they couldn't protect the Meteorites in the air anymore.

Originally, with them around—whether creating soil clumps to confuse sight, collecting and hiding Meteorites, or reinforcing them to make them harder to destroy—they could effectively hinder humanity's progress in eliminating Meteorites.

This was also the purpose behind the Nightmare Beast world creating so many earth element Nightmare Beasts. But if they disappeared, other Nightmare Beasts had no suitable means to stop humans. Just relying on killing? Weren't they already killing before? Humans could always gain the upper hand.

Figuring this out, my mind had already extended to how to eliminate these earth element Nightmare Beasts. But solving this problem wasn't something that could be figured out overnight, and I wasn't in a hurry.

"Last question." The fingers I held out had become three. "What do you need reputation for?"

Logically, this kind of question touching on Its core was something Gao Di An Zhuo was unwilling to answer. But compared to the previous two questions, It surprisingly felt this was the easiest to answer: "I need those to enhance my strength, maintain my sanity and form."

As a variant of a Nightmare Beast, Gao Di An Zhuo wasn't a stable product of post-death resentment and naturally couldn't exist stably. Due to the variant nature, absorbing resentment would cause It to lose sanity. Clearly possessing the strength of a high-level Nightmare Beast, Its sanity would degrade to that of a low-level Nightmare Beast.

So Gao Di An Zhuo had researched a brand-new survival method suited only to Itself: living by absorbing reputation. They were all thoughts—resentment was a thought, and the people's remembrance was also a thought.

However, getting a large number of people to worship It was difficult. In eras of underdeveloped information, Gao Di An Zhuo could only have one village worship It, and that barely maintained Its basic physiological needs—forget progress; even using abilities was hard.

Fortunately, later by chance, It met the first king of Yafei Kingdom and signed a pact with him: he provided reputation for It, and It protected Yafei Kingdom.

Hearing the word "sanity," my brow twitched. As a Nightmare Beast, if Gao Di An Zhuo lost Its sanity, It would certainly follow instinct to hunt humans. And Its abilities were related to the earth—didn't this exactly match the future in Feng Lan's prophecy, with Yafei Kingdom's mountains collapsing and earth cracking? I felt I had pretty much understood where this crisis originated from: the Black Flash organization wanted to massively eliminate humans by making Gao Di An Zhuo lose sanity. Compared to high-level Nightmare Beasts with other abilities, Gao Di An Zhuo—this one capable of creating natural disasters—was undoubtedly more suited to eliminating humans.

As for how the Black Flash organization planned to make the guardian god lose sanity, I didn't think about it. That wasn't something I needed to ponder anyway; I'd already done what I came to do, and next, I could fully slack off.

To be honest, if proposing to leave now wasn't too abrupt, I really hoped to return home with Zhao Xiaoyu and the others, continuing my wonderful vacation.

A natural disaster of mountains collapsing and earth cracking... So my next goal in this event was to find a hiding spot that wouldn't be affected. Ideally, this hiding spot would also let me monitor the battlefield at all times, so I could appear promptly if needed.