Chapter 584 - Director Jia Gui

On the fiftieth floor, the Heaven Stair Association’s outer members had gathered for a meeting. Attendance was mandatory for all directors. After the collapse of the Thirteen Guards, only twelve directors from the production department were in the meeting room. They were also known by another title, the Twelve Gilded, a name tied to money.

The meeting started under the direction of the eldest, MacArthur. “The Divine Civilization has officially waged war against the Heaven Stair Civilization. They have established gates from the first to the fiftieth floor.”

As he spoke, his pipe rested in his mouth. He looked intimidating, and the other eleven directors feigned interest. In reality, they were calculating which resources to steal for themselves today.

The Twelfth Gilded, Director Jia Gui, was also thinking about that until MacArthur addressed him. “Director Jia Gui, you hail from the Divine Civilization. Surely, you should know how we can defeat them.”

All eyes turned toward him. Jia Gui found himself at a loss for words.

“Director MacArthur, you know my history better than anyone,” he said at last. “While I hail from the Divine Civilization, my Core was crushed when I was young. I was subsequently exiled as a cripple. It’s all thanks to the Heaven Stair Civilization that I reached my current position.”

As he spoke, Jia Gui grew agitated, eager to demonstrate his loyalty. “Even if I once belonged to the Divine Civilization, I much prefer the Heaven Stair Civilization, where the air is sweet. This is now my forever home—”

MacArthur cut him off, “Since you love the Heaven Stair Civilization so much, then it's time to contribute. Many invaders from the Divine Civilization have appeared on the fiftieth floor. You will go and exterminate them. With your World powers, I’m sure that it should be easy.”

MacArthur’s tone was imperious, leaving no room for rebuttal.

Jia Gui felt trapped. After all, his strength was inflated, built on a massive consumption of resources rather than real growth. In truth, he had almost no combat experience. He didn’t dare face anyone from the Divine Civilization, individuals who invaded other civilizations on a daily basis.

However, if he didn’t agree to MacArthur’s request, the latter would seize the opportunity to shift the blame onto him and would likely convince the others to strip Jia Gui of his position.

No matter what, Jia Gui was still a director and controlled a large share of resources within his sector. Someone would almost certainly covet his position and do anything to get it.

Left with no alternative, Jia Gui agreed. “I swear that I will complete it.”

The other directors nodded. Their only concern was to continue siphoning the resources for themselves, and they were more than happy to let someone else handle the troublesome work.

After leaving the meeting room and returning to his sector, Jia Gui exploded in rage, smashing a lot of items in his house. “They bully me whether the Thirteen Guards are here or not. If that’s the case, what use are the guards? No, I need to find a way out of this.”

That same day, Jia Gui set out with his loyal men toward the battlefield under the pretense of counterattacking. For the sake of his safety, he instructed his men to station themselves fifty kilometers from the frontline, leaving ample room to retreat and regroup.

Using various abilities, they observed the invaders from the Divine Civilization slaughtering the native life forms of the fiftieth floor.

One of Jia Gui’s men burned with eagerness and wanted to rush out.

Jia Gui quickly pushed him down and snapped, “Are you crazy? Don’t you see that they are killing machines? Do you have a death wish?”

His underling was confused. “But I thought our mission was to go to war with those from the Divine Civilization?”

“War?” Jia Gui scoffed. “Have you lost your mind? They are from the Divine Civilization and our dear friends. Don’t forget your identity. You were once one of them. Your Core was destroyed only because you were ambushed during an invasion. Before that, the Divine Civilization didn’t treat you badly, right?”

“Then what are we supposed to do?” the underling complained. “You know MacArthur. He’s just dumping all the work on us!”

Jia Gui considered this for a moment. “He did ask us to fight, but he never said how. Listen carefully. Fire our attacks upward. Just make it look like we are doing something.”

His underlings all agreed. “Director Jia, you really are amazing. Never thought you would come up with something like this.”

Jia Gui didn’t know whether to cry or laugh. Was this really a compliment?

Still, with the frontline fifty kilometers away from them, they unleashed their attacks straight into the sky.

The invaders noticed the distant surges of energy at once. Brilliant explosions of different elements bloomed overhead like fireworks, dazzling and strangely beautiful.

The display baffled the invaders.

“Hey, I don’t think we’ve invaded that place, right?”

“I don’t know. Is there some kind of a celebration? Look, that’s a firework.”

“Are they looking down on us? Brothers, attack! Crush them within an hour. I want to see who’s looking down on us!”

The battle intensified, but Jia Gui retreated continuously while launching attacks into the sky. He kept maintaining the distance throughout, never allowing the enemy to close in.

The other directors were observing from afar but couldn’t tell what was happening. All they could sense were only violent elemental reverberations and assumed that the battle was fierce. None of them could imagine that Jia Gui hadn’t even encountered a single opponent all day. That illusion held until someone rushed past the frontlines and rushed straight toward him.

Jia Gui felt the opponent’s aura and quickly ordered his underlings to retreat. He intended to continue his guerrilla tactics, but Han Wu was faster.

Jia Gui’s underlings all sensed that Han Wu and his units were only at the Sage rank and got excited.

“Director Jia, look closely! We don’t need to run. I can defeat him myself!” one of them claimed.

Something felt wrong to Jia Gui, but he couldn’t identify it. He warned his underling, “Alright, be careful. Don’t hurt our own people.”

The underling nodded. “Don’t worry, I will go easy.”

He then appeared in front of Han Wu and spoke arrogantly. “Brat, listen carefully. We are from the same civilization, so head back. I will pretend I never saw you.”

Han Wu frowned as he studied the man. He couldn’t sense any Divine Points from him. “We are compatriots?”

“Brat, why are you staring at me? I will teach you to respect your seniors who have been invading outside for years!” He lunged forward, his power stirring the sky.

In the next second, Steely pinned him to the ground, pressing two greatswords against his neck. One careless movement would mean instant death.

Seeing this, Jia Gui quickly approached them. “Wait, don’t kill him! We are from the Divine Civilization. We are compatriots, on the same side!”

Han Wu caught the cunning in Jia Gui’s eyes and felt no trust at all. “Cut him down!”

Steely moved to strike, but Jia Gui pleaded once more, “Wait, don’t cut him! I have proof. I know Li Xiulian. We were classmates. Do you recognize Li Xiulian? He’s a God King now.”

Han Wu was stunned. He recognized the name. It was the Commerce God King’s real name. If so, the two before him could truly be from the Divine Civilization.

“Capture him!” Han Wu couldn’t confirm the truth, so he decided to take them alive. He would have Commerce verify it.