Chapter 1200: Collapse of the Third Realm

Fang Yi called out, "If you don't agree, we'll settle the matter with force. Regardless of what you decide, we need to and will take control of the scaleman world."

The prince's face was scrunched up; it was worse than if he were in tears. "That's... far too domineering."

Zhang Lie shook his head. "Stop bullying him."

Zhang Lie didn't want to take the time to explain, but the situation called for it.

"The third realm is about to be destroyed."

The prince stilled.

Zhang Lie continued, "In the process of the king of chaos' ascension with the halls of chaos, a huge hole was created in the high-dimensional spaces of the realm. The fragmented will of the world is unable to repair the hole quickly enough, so it's been spreading. Soon enough, the high-dimensional spaces of the realm will collapse, directly impacting its integrity."

The prince was stupefied. "Is this a joke, Grandmaster?"

Zhang Lie snapped his fingers angrily. "Bring the scaleman king there."

Yang Ze stepped forward and picked up the prince as though he were a little chick, then headed for the scaleman king. The prince cried out, "Hold it, hold it, what are you doing?"

Yang Ze marshaled his spatial force and opened a portal to the deepest layers of space. After about twenty minutes, the prince, pale-white, stumbled back out and fell paralyzed to the ground. Yang Ze's face was pale as well, whereas the scaleman king seemed unnervingly calm.

"Excellent mental fortitude," Zhang Lie praised.

The scaleman king smiled. "Thank you, Master."

Zhang Lie continued, "The Zongming king's response was much like your brother's."

The scaleman king smiled. "I believe that you must have a solution in mind, Master, or you wouldn't be here right now."

"Trust, is it?" Zhang Lie murmured.

It was easy to say you trusted someone, but far harder to realize that trust in practice.

The scaleman king said, "Yes, Master. I trusted that you wouldn't have asked for the scaleman world for no reason, and I was right. You are trying to save the third realm."

Zhang Lie waved a hand. "No, I'm hardly as kind-hearted as all that."

The scaleman king bowed. "Master, if there's nothing else, I'll need to convene an emergency session of court."

"You aren't going to ask me to stay?" Zhang Lie wondered, with some surprise.

The scaleman king replied, "I do want to ask, Master, but I know you won't agree. I imagine the reason you didn't explain yourself beforehand was because you were in a rush."

𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Zhang Lie rubbed his nose. The main reason, actually, was that he had already explained things twice and didn't want to do it a third time.

The scaleman king continued, "After seeing the state of the high-dimensional spaces with my own eyes, it's clear that the collapse is growing more and more severe with every passing moment. You need the time, Master, and I won't hold you back."

Zhang Lie nodded and bade the scaleman king farewell, then left with the members of Team Zenith atop the multicolored disaster-grade dragon.

Zhang Lie told them, "Next, I'll be heading back to the Milky Way to inform Hong Tianqi of the news and to get assistance from the Milky Way. We don't have much time—I'm going to have all of you mobilize the human hunters and the warlords of the third realm."

The members of Team Zenith nodded.

"We'll gather all the proofs of kingship as quickly as we can."

"In that case, let our conquest begin," Zhang Lie announced.

The multicolored disaster-grade dragon flapped its wings and returned to the draconian world at its fastest speed. The members of Team Zenith went to assemble the human hunters, while Zhang Lie shattered space, teleported to the teleportation apparatus, and returned to the Zenith Dojo.

When they saw Zhang Lie emerge from the teleportation apparatus, the members of the Zenith Dojo were all astounded. The dojo was in an uproar, but Zhang Lie ignored them all. He immediately headed to Zhang Hong's office, who was waiting there for him upon hearing the news.

"You've returned again. Recently, the dojo—"

Zhang Lie held up a hand. "If there's no immediate danger, hold it."

Zhang Hong noticed that something seemed amiss with Zhang Lie's expression.

"What's the matter?"

"The third realm is about to collapse," Zhang Lie replied.

Zhang Hong visibly inhaled. What? What was happening to the third realm? Was Zhang Lie talking about his political base, or the third realm at large? How could something destabilize such an entity as the third realm?

According to the members of the Zenith Dojo who had returned from the third realm, Zhang Lie was so strong that he could even take down the superior kings of antiquity. How would the third realm suddenly have collapsed?

"There's no time to explain. I need to contact Hong Tianqi immediately." Zhang Lie picked up a transceiver and initiated a call with him.

Hong Tianqi's secretary replied. "Is this Mr. Zhang Lie? Authority Hong is currently in the middle of a very urgent meeting, and you may need to wait. He's instructed to be informed whenever you contact him, so he'll likely contact you back the moment he's finished."

"Very well. I'm in a rush, but it's nothing too major—please help me inform Authority Hong that I'll only be staying in the dojo for ten minutes. If he doesn't call me before then, he should prepare a mass grave for all the third-realm hunters in the Milky Way. The destruction of the third realm is no urgent business, isn't it?"

The secretary on the other end of the call was stupefied. A clatter rang out as though countless objects had just fallen off a desk. The secretary replied, "I'll inform Authority Hong immediately. Please don't drop the call."

If it were anyone else, the secretary would have thought this an idle threat, but Hong Tianqi had specifically emphasized Zhang Lie's importance to his secretary. Any calls from Zhang Lie were of the utmost importance; he was the premier VIP bar none.

Zhang Lie had given her a serious warning. If she were to allow him to end the call, that would be the end of her job.

Regardless of the veracity of Zhang Lie's information, the secretary had no choice but to act. She strode directly into Hong Tianqi's meeting room.

While Zhang Lie was waiting for Hong Tianqi to get back to him, Zhang Hong managed to satiate her own curiosity.

"Just what happened in the third realm?"

Zhang Lie thought for a moment. "Someone tried to satisfy his own desires but left huge trouble behind for us to take care of. If we can't resolve the issue, the third realm will collapse."

Dismayed, Zhang Hong was about to keep pressing him for information when Hong Tianqi rushed to the transceiver on the other end. Zhang Lie turned to her. "Zhang Hong, close the door and activate all privacy measures. I don't want anyone to overhear my conversation with Hong Tianqi."

Zhang Hong belatedly realized that the situation truly was as dire as Zhang Lie had reported, but it still didn't feel real. She executed Zhang Lie's orders in this state of mind.

On the other end of the transceiver, Hong Tianqi called out, "You've been terrorizing my secretary the moment you returned?"

"The third realm's about to collapse."