Chapter 845

The quiet valley was filled with great towering trees.

A bright moon hung above, sending rays of luminous moonlight down, which created spots of shadows due to the blockage from the foliage.

Suddenly, the occasional chirps from sparrows halted. In an instant, the valley fell into a deathly state of silence.

A huge spatial rift suddenly appeared and slowly expanded in size. The moment the rift appeared, everything around it, trees, stones, birds, animals and even the air seemingly became greatly affected by a suction force and were all swept into the rift.

And yet, a hand abruptly stretched out from the centre of the massive suction force.

It was a fair and slender hand, yet firm and strong.

The hand hung about on the edge of the spatial rift, as though it was pressing against something tangible there. Then, putting force against its back, a second hand appeared.

The blowing gale, a result of the air being sucked in, was comparable to a typhoon. But Shen did not appear affected by it in the slightest. Rather, the only thing he was fighting against was the gravitational pull from the rift behind him.

After more than half his body had emerged from the rift, a golden light abruptly appeared upon his body. Next, his entire figure flew out like a cannonball before landing on the ground somewhere tens of metres away.

After he landed on the ground, the gravitational pull was no longer capable of affecting him.

He turned around and watched as the rift gradually shrank.

“In the end, you… are still one step ahead of us in getting out.”

Du Wei’s voice rang out from within the rift. There was a hint of helplessness in his voice.

“I won’t be that much faster. Still… it should be enough for me to do what I want to do.” Shen smiled and shook his head. “That you could think of this method and trap me for so long, you are already very incredible.”

“If I can beat you, would I have to resort to using such an underhanded plan?” There was a wry tone in Du Wei’s voice. As the rift grew smaller and smaller, his voice too, grew softer and softer. “I only hope that the kid, Chen Xiaolian… could…”

“Just relax, stay inside and wait for me to completely patch the world template.” Shen waved his hands, as though saying a parting goodbye.

“To not have to personally kill you all. That is also a good thing for me.”

The rift closed and no more sound could be heard.

All that remained was a massive crater with a radius of tens of metres. The soil that had been resting within the area had all disappeared. Farther away, all the trees had been uprooted; some were lying on the ground while the others had simply vanished.

Shen then turned around and pondered for a moment. “I’ve been gone for so long. It’s time I go see my adorable subordinates.”

…

It was a very big conference room, but while there were various luxurious furniture around it, the conference table in the middle of the room was not that big.

The many rows of buildings beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows were not tall. Peering even farther ahead, one could see the Washington Monument. It was the tallest building in the US capital.

Seated around the circular conference table were five men and two women, seven in total. There was a solemn expression on every one of their faces and the atmosphere within the conference room was so heavy that it felt somewhat eerie.

“European branch… how did this change happened?”

After a long time, a black man spoke up. “Terraflame from the African branch and Jiang Long from the China branch died in instance dungeons, but those deaths were not surprising. The European branch, on the other hand… Dimitri actually died? He is the only one among us who was once an Inspector, and also the only [S] class.”

He wore an eyepatch over his left eye and his one eye was fixed upon an old man with white beard and hair. It was none other than the one Chen Xiaolian had met back in Paris, Shamash.

“Dragonhawk, there is no need for you fellows from the North American branch to meddle with the affairs of the European branch.” Shamash lowered his eyelids as he looked down at the steaming cup of coffee placed before him. “You invited us all to Washington. Surely, it is not simply for the sake of looking into the internal changes of our men, right?”

“Naturally.” The one-eyed black man known as Dragonhawk nodded and he gave everyone there a glance. “Ever since leaving Thorned Flower Guild, we have split off into different branches and have done things separately. The North American branch, South American branch, European branch, China branch, African branch, Central Asia branch, Australian branch… although we collectively bear the name Starfall Guild, we have never taken action together before. But now… we have to unite for real.”

“I do not know how things are on your end, but at the very least, in our North American branch, this month, three guilds have announced that they will be breaking away from their position as our peripheral organizations and join Zero City. Moreover, those guys are not exactly weak. Given the situation… I cannot tolerate this any longer! They are absorbing new blood and growing their strength at a rapid pace!”

“That’s all nonsense!” A woman seated on the other end of the conference table harrumphed. She was also black. She wore an ordinary short skirt but her body was completely covered with metal piercings, both big and small.

“Everyone knows we need to unite. But the question is, who should lead? If not for the fact that we could not solve that problem, we would not have ended up in this fragmented state when we left Thorned Flower Guild all the way until now.”

“Now that it’s come to this, are we still going to engage in this meaningless confrontation?” A white man whose body was covered in tattoos sighed. Although he had a very rough and violent appearance, he spoke in a refined manner. “The most important thing for us now is to deal with the revived Zero City. Other matters can be pushed aside for the time being. Besides, this is a temporary alliance. All we need to do is unanimously elect a leader for now. Once this problem is solved, we can continue to maintain our current status quo.”

“Even if we do elect a leader, then what?” Shamash took a sip of the coffee. He spoke as though this matter had nothing to do with him. “I do not want to pour cold water on everyone, but… do not forget, in the many years prior, even back when Guild Leader Shen was in charge, we have never managed to truly deal with Zero City. Even that last time, when Zero City’s entrance became exposed… we originally thought that it had been destroyed. Now, though, it has revived. Meanwhile, Guild Leader Shen ended up disappearing without a trace due to that.”

“Don’t throw the words Guild Leader this, Guild Leader that every time you open your mouth. We have long since left Thorned Flower Guild and he is no longer our Guild Leader.” Dragonhawk harrumphed. “Shamash, just what are you trying to say?”

Shamash did not appear perturbed by Dragonhawk’s complaints. “I just want to say, Zero City can never be completely dealt with, because the foundation of its existence is that space itself! No matter how strong we may be, we cannot completely eradicate them. They will always be able to recover inside that base.”

“When did I say anything about completely eradicating them?” Dragonhawk sneered. “Whether or not Zero City exists has nothing to do with us. That’s something that only Shen cares about. What we want to handle is the matter of Zero City’s extreme rate of expansion. As long as we can make the other Awakened guilds believe that Zero City is not that strong and that those who stand on Zero City’s side will be attacked by us, that’s enough. As for whether or not the guys from Zero City are completely dead or not, what does that have to do with us?”

“I understand.” The black woman suddenly came to the realization. “You are not planning an assault on Zero City. Rather, you want to attack their prestige.”

“Exactly! However, our goal is not just Zero City!” Dragonhawk nodded smugly. “What we need to do is to issue a joint declaration to all the Awakened guilds and tell them that, between Zero City and us, they can only choose one! Those who choose to stand by Zero City, every one of them will become our enemies!

“Be it inside instance dungeons or here in the real world, our seven branches will unite to hunt down everyone from Zero City and those from their peripheral guilds. Soon, every Awakened will know that we are this world’s true rulers! Those peripheral guilds who abandoned us will return while the ones who are watching from the sides will feel how stupid they were and become eager to join us!”

As Dragonhawk spoke, he stood up and waved his hands energetically while a pleased look filled his face. It was as though he could already see the many Awakened ones lowering their heads before him. “When that happens, we no longer need worry about the pursuit and siege from Thorned Flower Guild!”

“Dragonhawk… you seemed to have forgotten something very important.” Shamash did not appear moved by Dragonhawk’s impassioned speech. Rather, his eyelids remained lowered, showing a lack of interest. “The condition for that scenario is for us to possess a strength that allows us to overwhelm the guys from Zero City.”

“Shamash, you have always been so cowardly and fearful of dying!” Dragonhawk laughed wildly. “I have already contacted several guys from the other guilds. Those guys have all encountered those Zero City fellows inside instance dungeons. According to them, the number of men from Zero City is not high, a dying species. The standard of their individual strength is also a far cry from the past. They simply have a high number of technology-type equipment due to having returned to Zero City.”

“Yes.” The tattooed man also nodded. “It’s the same with the information we obtained in Australia. They possess a lot of equipment, but if we are to look at their individual skills and level of strengthening in general, they had, in fact, weakened. More accurately, that siege back then had resulted in them losing a high number of elite members. Furthermore… until now, the only apex powerhouse to appear from their side is Aderick from the Knights of Darkness Guild.”

“Could… could there still be others who have yet to reveal themselves?” The black woman with piercings all over her body hesitated slightly. “Before the battle, Zero City has several [S] class experts.”

“Do you still not understand what they’re trying to do?” Dragonhawk snorted disdainfully. “These fellows appeared suddenly and sent a lot of their guys into other instance dungeons. However, the number of men they sent into each instance dungeon is not particularly high. Judging by the number and frequency, they are clearly trying to quickly establish their prestige. They are impatient, wanting to rebuilt the reputation that they once had. Considering the circumstances, if they have more [S] class guys, is it possible for them to not reveal themselves?”

“That… makes sense.” The black woman pondered for a moment before slowly nodding. “But even so, at present, we do not have a single [S] class member here. Dimitri has died and no one here can confront Aderick. Although it is not impossible for all of us here to kill off an [S] class expert, it is still too difficult. The price we will have to pay for that will surely be very big. I do not know if we can stomach that.”

“Dimitri is dead… so what?” Dragonhawk revealed a faint smile. Slowly, he clenched his fists.

A formidable wave of domineering power swiftly emanated from his fists.