Chapter 929: The Association’s Dilemma
“What did you say? All four of them are seriously injured and unconscious, and they still have delayed activation identification on them?” The wizard apprentice outside the medical room was so furious upon hearing this news that he felt like he might burst a blood vessel.
“Yes, the situation of the injured is very urgent, please… Ouch! Sir, please don’t dodge the issue…”
“What are you doing?” At that moment, Xing Anlei waved away the private chat interface in front of her and stepped forward to stop the group of wizard apprentices.
“What are we doing? It should be us asking what you witches intend to do! What do you mean by this!”
“What do we mean? We didn’t want the injured to end up like this, do you think we don’t want to get information as soon as possible?” Xing Anlei countered directly, facing several wizard apprentices of similar rank without a hint of being intimidated.
“Who knows if you obtained information ahead of time…”
“The injured have been monitored the entire way by your Wizard Academy, and they fell unconscious one by one after being brought to the medical room. Which of your eyes saw us getting information? Keep causing trouble, and I’ll make it clear to you who’s territory you’re standing in!”
With this threat, the expressions of the wizard apprentices grew more difficult.
They didn’t dare to cause a scene here; this was the medical room!
If things got out of hand, they would definitely suffer consequences.
By then, there might even be a crowd of unknown medical room “friends” showing up, taking advantage of the situation to exploit their comrades.
They had witnessed the Witch’s tactics, and they absolutely believed she could pull it off.
So even if they had no evidence, they had reasonable suspicion that the predicament of the four was a play entirely orchestrated by her… the only injured ones were theirs!
So now they needed to remain calm.
The Witch must have done this for a reason; could it be that she discovered the ruins early on and was just stalling for time?
But… how could that be possible?
Yet reality was indeed as such…
Thus, after calming down, they arrived at two conclusions.
Was this about letting those few guys waste time devouring them?
Either the Witch had obtained the location information in advance, or… she had a way to obtain the location information!
Using a process of elimination, they leaned more towards the latter…
“Hmph… don’t think your schemes can succeed.”
The wizards declared harshly before leaving with a group of wizards, leaving only a few apprentices behind to observe the situation.
They also needed to return to formulate strategies to counter the Witch’s tricks.
If the Witch really got the news, she would definitely come by, and they would just need to send someone to follow her.
There was bound to be a way to deal with these small ploys.
Meanwhile, Tan Jun and the others were at the Ice Crystal Sanctuary.
After receiving “off-site support,” the entire Ice Crystal Sanctuary was covered by a large snow and ice maze.
That’s right; the previous snow and ice disguise spells were merely what Tan Jun had seen. Now that help had been requested, more foolproof methods were naturally required.
After all, they had already leveled up, shouldn’t they have some ambition?
This ultra-large ice and snow maze is a massive composite spell consisting of 32 alchemical items.
It was pieced together using the disassembly techniques from the Great Ice and Snow Throne’s spellbook.
Since I did not master the Real Editing Technique, the 32 “fragments” could not form a complete spellbook.
Moreover, this composite spell also employed spell solidification techniques.
And because it was created temporarily, it could only be used once, with a maximum of three uses, meaning Tan Jun and her team theoretically only had two chances for error.
Fortunately, under careful guidance, they succeeded on their first try.
Thus, a vast ice and snow maze came into existence.
This ice and snow maze had powerful camouflage abilities and could easily blend into an icy environment.
It could also withstand the attacks of excessive consumption spells.
Of course, if this powerful spell was considered a spell, its defense was indeed strong.
But such spells were not commonly circulated within the academy.
Or rather, there had never been any finished spellbooks; only related spell materials existed.
Its main function was to trap enemies. While it certainly couldn’t compare to the space maze in the experiment zone, it would still be easy to trap someone below the extraordinary level.
Even if someone caused large-scale destruction inside, they could expend magic to repair the spells; given that there were two teams with self-generated magic power, maintaining the existence of an ice and snow maze was straightforward.
At the center of the vast area protected by the maze stood a magnificent Ice Crystal Sanctuary!
To say this structure was grand might not fully capture it; its main architectural composition was actually a ritual altar made of ice and snow.
The central main altar was the first to be constructed.
In the end, their king would be born here!
Tan Jun gazed at the massive ice crystal in the center, somewhat entranced; the royal family of the ancient ice remains would be born here…
“Wait… Li, you guys said the king is born here? Don’t you choose those with royal traits from your kin to crown as king?” Tan Jun asked with some curiosity.
“We choose those with royal traits to crown them, and then, accompanied by the power of ice and snow, we offer them to the purest ice crystal. If the ritual is successful, the king will awaken there!”
“This… this is to create a king, not just crowning a king, right?”
“You can understand it that way. The only purpose of our incomplete ancient ice remains is to welcome the king’s return, just like how the foot soldiers sacrifice everything to protect the king’s honor while we, the royal family, welcome the king’s return. This is our destiny and the reason for our existence,” Li explained all this matter-of-factly, as if it were supposed to be this way.
“Then you will also…”
“I will definitely become a part of the king’s power because we believe the king will lead us to even more glorious times!”
At this moment, not only was Tan Jun silent, but the others were as well.
Although Li had not been with them for long, and they had barely spoken a few words, seeing that they would even sacrifice their lives for the king’s awakening moved them.
After all, they were all girls, and in this regard, their empathy was quite strong.
Uncertain if it was just a trick of Tan Jun’s imagination, she felt as though there was something inside that beautifully sculpted massive ice crystal.
But she didn’t dwell on it; after all, the ice crystal embryo that nurtured the king of the ancient ice remains was indeed that special.
Moreover, it was covered in inscriptions and peculiar patterns, far beyond her comprehension.
Just at that moment, while the Ice Crystal Sanctuary was busy being constructed within the ice and snow maze, events were brewing in another world.
To satisfy my tree-planting needs, the Real Protection Association gifted me the rare central park within the city.
After they returned from that negotiation, they promptly sought information regarding the “Sinful Star” and the Wanlian Main Tree.
Once they confirmed how large this tree would grow and its other uses, they had a clearer understanding.
After all, no matter how gigantic a tree is, it requires time to grow; by then, whether they cooperate with this Catastrophe Witch is still up for debate.
But clearly… they had underestimated the situation.
Before the second round of cooperation discussions had been formally settled, they had already sincerely invited me to the place and, under the witness of both sides, planted this Internet Tree.
For they quickly faced the counterattack from the Unframed Group; the previous chaos caused by their scattered disturbances and sabotage truly brought them great trouble, so they wanted to expedite the cooperation process.
Honestly, they weren’t afraid of those subordinates creating disturbances and revenge in the city; they feared a swift decapitation move.
If that happened, they would be finished.
Localized chaos in the city only meant some ordinary people would die, and after some pacifying, they could incite some hatred and guide public opinion. For them, the upper echelon of the Real Protection Association, it was a matter already past.
But they never expected that the Wanlian Main Network Tree they planted would grow visibly in just a few short days!
Suddenly, this became a rare spectacle in the city!
To maintain order, the law enforcement officers could only isolate this area to prevent massive congestion.
Since the Real Protection Association took over the city, law enforcement officers and their agencies had completely become the Association’s law enforcement tools; after all, they were merely doing paid work—who would risk their lives for their masters?
It made no difference who they served; even if the people from the Real Protection Association were expelled from the city of Igthor, the law enforcement officers would still do their jobs.
Loyalty and professional honor had long been abandoned during the continuous evolution of this world.
The upper echelons of the game world didn’t desire the world’s development; they just wanted to hold onto power.
As long as they barely looked at ordinary people, they wouldn’t use a game-oriented model and mindset to dominate a world, a society, a civilization.
This world would not record history. I searched through numerous materials, and stories of history had even become akin to myths.
Ultimately, it became entertainment, morphing into virtual games enjoyed by the bottom-tier people within the All Worlds Terminal.
The names remaining from history gradually became entertainment-based, derivative, or conclusive, serving to satisfy the most primitive desires and needs of the lowest tier…
Thus, they did not understand the importance of history, nor the importance of learning from lessons, resulting in the birth of such a civilization.
One could see how crazy the initial Infinite Group became after grasping the power of a world.
Those who had never experienced the beauty of power gradually went mad.
Ultimately, this kind of power rode the tide of trends and came to the present.
However, no matter what, under the prevailing trends, even pigs could take flight; the current Infinite Group was still the largest power-broker in this world.
Even if it was continuously declining, it could not be shaken by mere small fries.
The city of Igthor now faced tremendous pressure from two sides.
On one hand, there was pressure from the Infinite Group, which did not view the Real Protection Association’s ownership and independence of the city favorably and showed no willingness to negotiate with them.
But birthed from the powerful and terrifying methods of the “Catastrophe Witch,” they could only keep testing and probing with harassment attacks.
On the other hand, other resistance forces were eyeing this!
This was the first independent city above ground!
If nothing unexpected happened, it would become this world’s “lighthouse” for all scattered resistance forces going forward!
Cities in chaotic regions or in rifts below naturally could not be compared to an above-ground city.
Of course, primarily, it was the damages caused by the outsiders from beyond the world.
With the communication prompt from the Great God of Knowledge, a message from Dawn arrived again.
“Is there something going on this time? I haven’t detected anyone invading the city of Igthor.” After connecting to the other party’s communication, I directly inquired.
As the Wanlian Main Network took root in Igthor, the root network was gradually spreading out.
Even with the optimization of the Wanlian Internet Tree and the support of the earth veins in the outer city, it could still span across the entire city within a few days.
I previously knew no one had come because of my Qi Observation Technique results.
The movements of those omen players were tied to the movement of fortune; they could never escape my eyes.
As for the guests from other worlds, they were monitored by the world’s will; even though they couldn’t drive fortune, any major movements would cause abnormal fluctuations in fortune.
Just like me, while I remained in Igthor, it was akin to a massive area of fortune shining over the entire city.
It couldn’t be more evident.
“The situation is like this, Lady Catastrophe Witch. A group of elders within the Association suspects the functionality of your Wanlian Main Network. Their next actions might affect you…”
“Is that so?” I interrupted him somewhat unexpectedly.
As for this Dawn, I admit he is quite capable; after that transaction concluded, he provided me with a wealth of information about this world.
And this time, it was even more interesting.
I hadn’t mentioned the Wanlian Main Network Tree to him.
Yet he was astute enough to report it to me.
“Yes. I’m worried these elder advisers might ruin your layout, Lady Witch…”
“No worries. Since you can make guesses, let them suspect; after all, it’s all just trivial suggestions. Is that the reason you contacted me this time?”
“Of course not; there’s something else. The Association has been in contact with a large number of outsiders from other worlds in recent days. The president, upper echelon, and many elders feel that with just you, Lady Witch, it may not be enough to ensure their safety, and you wouldn’t lower your status to be their personal bodyguard.”
“I’m aware of that.” I nodded. I had naturally understood the outsiders that the Real Protection Association came into contact with through the Qi Observation Technique; since they hadn’t requested help, I couldn’t be bothered.
But I hadn’t expected that so many were merely seeking refuge?
“If they are not at ease, they can hire bodyguards; I can’t stop them from doing that?”
“No, Lady Witch, you may not realize the seriousness of the issue,” Dawn said urgently, quickly explaining.
“Those outsiders coming to the door all unanimously want to expel you, as if they have made some kind of agreement. If the Association is willing, they would become the new guardians of the Association. There are more of them, and many strong individuals claim their strength is not beneath yours.”
