CHAPTER 1728: CHAPTER 1729: THE MASTERMIND BEHIND THE SCENES

Closing the panel, Feng Yuan looked at Qi Chen with curiosity and asked,

"Did you call me for a special action?"

He knew very well that Dou Yanlan and the others wouldn’t include him in the combat sequence because, if he really were to act, he alone could dismantle it. Hence, he couldn’t quite grasp why Qi Chen had come to find him.

"Almost. We need to withdraw."

Qi Chen nodded and lowered his voice to say so. Feng Yuan, puzzled, glanced at Qi Chen, thought of something, and released his divine sense. Detecting the anomalies around the hall, he displayed a peculiar smile and said,

"Interesting, so you’ve already found out?"

"You... knew all along?!"

Qi Chen was shocked and looked at Feng Yuan, thinking that he would ask what was going on. Unexpectedly, he seemed to know everything already, and Feng Yuan laughed and shook his head, saying,

"I wouldn’t say I knew. It’s just that I’m somewhat different from you. I can ’see’ the entire facility’s structure, and this layout is so obvious. Even without those three files, I could guess what trial they designed."

"So..."

Left speechless looking at Feng Yuan, Qi Chen didn’t know what to say about him. Should he blame him for not explaining to everyone? Doing so seemed like cheating to him.

"Let’s go, but how do you plan to retrieve Ah Mu and the others?"

Patting Qi Chen’s shoulder, Feng Yuan said, somewhat curious. At this moment, Ah Mu and the others were fending off the mecha’s attack. If they retreated, those guys would surely start searching for everyone, and the War Fog wouldn’t be able to cover them for too long.

Qi Chen didn’t explain. Soon, Ah Mu retreated with the other Beast Tamers. The swift ones among them took over for Ah Mu and continued tangling with the mecha. Feng Yuan noticed their anomaly and said in surprise,

"Oh, I see, but how long can this last?"

"I don’t know, but Dou Yanlan and the others must have thought of a countermeasure."

Qi Chen shook his head, not knowing the purpose of Dou Yanlan and the others’ actions. Along with Qi Chen, he reached the meeting point, where Xiao Ji was already waiting. Seeing Feng Yuan appear, Xiao Ji joyfully rushed over with anticipation, glancing at Feng Yuan. Understanding its meaning, Feng Yuan humorously tapped Xiao Ji’s forehead, praising it.

Liu Ziwen glanced at everyone and quickly counted the numbers, saying to Zhang Cheng,

"Everyone is here, and we can act."

"Go! The rearguard stays last, and everyone else follows!"

Exchanging a look with Dou Yanlan, Zhang Cheng lowered his voice and led the charge into the excavated tunnel. Since Feng Yuan wasn’t among the rearguard, he didn’t stay behind. Though curious about their plan, he didn’t forcefully linger, as looking with his divine sense was enough.

Entering the excavated tunnel, Feng Yuan couldn’t help but marvel at what the academy intended when designing this trial. The previous tunnel’s loopholes were one thing, but apart from forgetting to apply protection on the tunnel, the other rooms were shrouded by special protection, rendering the earth-drilling and hole-digging ultimate moves ineffective.

But reaching here, suddenly the restrictions lifted again, leaving him wondering what traps they intended. But this strategy was useless for Feng Yuan. Just like game map modeling, this area in his divine sense wasn’t limited to the room; even the outside was filled with special decorative devices.

However, for Dou Yanlan and her students, this place was hard to recognize due to the lack of hints. Feng Yuan speculated that Dou Yanlan predicted from those files a route could be dug here, or she wouldn’t have been secretive with Zhang Cheng. It was clear even they were uncertain if this method would succeed.

"This bunch of students is impressive; they actually detected the problem. But I’m curious about the pursuit afterward - can they successfully evade it?"

With everyone leaving the fog, the teachers and staff outside could again view everyone’s location and health data. Seeing them at the reserved outer layer, the staff member remarked with surprise.

He understood the clues in everyone’s hands were scarce, and if they didn’t excel in this area, the mastermind might not appear. But now, these students bypassed the counterpart, or rather, began trying to deviate from the designed route.

Looking at the complete research institute and base map above the linear zone, the staff member was curious whether they could escape from this pursuit. Compared to the low-level linear road zone, the institute above had been set underground. Due to the Data Domain’s peculiarities, more dangerous elements had been added.

"This is..."

"Indeed!"

Following Dou Yanlan through the dug tunnel, everyone looked at this room in surprise. Here, each area everyone passed through had dedicated surveillance footage displayed, allowing them to clearly see the current state of regions they’d been through.

"Warrior Program, Star God Program, the Star God Program to enhance flesh – all these are your preparations for creating superhumans, right?"

Looking at the black-clad man by the window, Dou Yanlan spoke coldly. The man removed his sunglasses, revealing a face identical to the Maomu Academy dean in his youth, sneering and saying,

"Looks like our little white mice have discovered secrets they shouldn’t. Well then..."

With a snap of his fingers, the legendary Kirro Doll descended from above, the Thunder Spirit Cat emerged from the wooden desk, the Blessing Holy Deer rose leisurely, and the Biographic Spirit Bell sounded an ancient bell as it squeezed into this relatively cramped room through Spatial Transfer.

"Yo, they’re pretty bold, using the dean’s face for this. Don’t know if the dean discovers this, will their year-end bonus just disappear?"

Looking at the black-clad man, Feng Yuan couldn’t help but tease. He believed this backstory was undoubtedly crafted by the teachers, but directly using the dean’s face seemed risky. Enjoying the spectacle, Feng Yuan took out his phone and began recording.

Dou Yanlan ignored Feng Yuan, her gaze fixed on the black-clad man. At this moment, those legendary Spirit Beasts pressed in towards the group, Zhang Cheng hesitated and looked at Dou Yanlan, realizing that facing this pile of legendary Spirit Beasts, they couldn’t win!

"Hmph, why don’t you ants obediently follow the future we’ve designed for you? Learning the truth, is it worth sacrificing your future?"

With cold eyes fixed on Dou Yanlan, the black-clad man said coldly, while Dou Yanlan and others threw jars of spirit substance they had prepared earlier. The invisible spirit substance quickly spread, changing the man’s expression as he gave Dou Yanlan a stern look and ordered the legendary Beast Tamers to charge. Feng Yuan rubbed his chin in surprise and said,

"Ah, I see. High concentration spirit substance can suppress Spirit Beasts’ powers, preventing them from unleashing ultimate moves?"

Unfortunately, this restriction didn’t affect their Beast Tamers. Though the power gap was huge, the legendary Spirit Beasts, unable to utilize energy, couldn’t quickly break the barrier the group set down.

"What!"

Just then, Ghost Cat, which had stealthily flanked the black-clad man, successfully killed him with its ultimate move. With his defeat, the legendary Spirit Beasts went berserk, while at this moment, Ah Mu succeeded in smashing the window.

"Run!"

Shouting loudly, Dou Yanlan led the charge towards the opening, Cotton instantly activated War Fog, followed by Xiao Ji’s black mist. Obscured by these ultimate moves, the legendary Spirit Beasts raged, pounding the ground, and advancing towards the memory of the group’s position.

Ah Mu, at the tail of the group, saw the last person leave successfully, ignored the incoming legendary Beast Tamers, and leaped out the window. Amidst the fog’s coverage, the collectively summoned Seistal Stele shattered, and its vast energy even caused ’Spatial Collapse’.

"They actually simulated spatial collapse? Looks like the Data Domain’s effect is better than expected."

Feng Yuan looked back intermittently while running, observing the control room shrouded in white mist with surprise, noting the room was located on the edge above this vast plaza. Fortunately, many of the group’s Beast Tamers had slow-descent or similar abilities, allowing them to quickly reach the ground without injury.

The violent explosion triggered spatial contraction, wiping the room suspended in midair. Feng Yuan thought of something, rubbed his chin, and continued to run with the group.