Chapter 232: Better Safe Than Sorry (Thanks to the Alliance Leader of

Boom!

The moment the tremor arrived, it ceased abruptly; the explosion occurred, and the explosion stalled...

In the workshop's underground machine shop, countless fragments hung suspended in mid-air, and then, as if flowing backward, they returned to their original positions.

Restored as before, completely undamaged.

Only a few mercury spiders were crushed by invisible pressure, their residual spirits annihilated and vanished.

Then, an invisible force surged downward, spreading instantly, chasing along the remaining traces, sweeping repeatedly, yet finding nothing.

Only a pile of footprints laid as a decoy.

And a pile of spiders dragging their shoes around...

"Where did you hide them?" Jian Yuan asked expressionlessly.

"Who? I have no idea."

Ji Jue smiled, completely unconcerned: "You are a Grandmaster, you shouldn't speak nonsense, otherwise I'll go to the Vortex and report you for slander... Besides, didn't you just say it?"

He said, "One must always be better safe than sorry."

One must always have a backup plan.

In fact, one must always have a backup for the backup plan.

Under such circumstances, no amount of trouble or tossing and turning is to be feared.

Deus ex machina is indeed omnipotent, but under Jian Yuan's nose, it is nothing more than a petty trick.

A prepared artisan is truly omnipotent, and an artisan who is prepared within their own workshop is even more capable of the impossible. He could not be certain where his plan might show its flaws or encounter leaks.

And he certainly could not let Tong Zhiwu and the others be added to Jian Yuan's material collection because of his own mistakes.

He could only think of more ways.

At this very moment, Jian Yuan's fingers flicked slightly, and instantly, a projection appeared, showing the list of materials and items withdrawn from the underground recycling room over the past two days, along with the records of submitted works.

The moment the two were cross-referenced, numerous gaps and discrepancies appeared under the Grandmaster's eyes.

His fingers tapped the armrest.

He realized it instantly.

After a brief moment of astonishment and bewilderment, he could no longer hold back and clapped his hands in laughter.

He leaned back and forth.

Before this, a few minutes ago, outside the workshop.

In the ruins of the gloomy Quancheng, heavy steel was dragged out from the sewers, and mercury spiders crawled up, tightening screws and dragging welding torches to complete the final steps.

The mercury puppet picked up Lou Yanyue, placed her into a pre-prepared groove, and relayed the creator's words: "Give my regards to Tong Zhiwu, and also, see you in hell!"

Snap!

The cover closed, the welding torch swept across, sealing it tightly.

Then, the puppet took a step back and looked at the launcher in front of it... and even the missile crafted from various scraps and components!

Executing the command—standing with hands on hips, sighing: "I'm so damn awesome!"

Then, the bright red button, full of ritualistic significance, was pressed!

Accompanied by the roar of the explosion coming from the distant workshop.

On the launcher, at the tail of the "bootleg missile," flames suddenly erupted and sprayed, a gale swept through, the roar was vast, and it whistled away, instantly rushing into the night sky!

Like a distant point of starlight suddenly lighting up.

Under the eerie night sky where rainbow light flowed, it flashed and vanished, and then, the tail detached, exploding with a bang. And hidden within the brilliant fireworks, the rocket wreckage, propelled to supersonic speeds by the violent mode of pure fuel augmentation, sped crookedly toward the chosen direction.

Or perhaps, falling...

Running toward freedom.

Boom!

Amidst the shaking ruins, a loud noise roared, and the storm spread.

And Little Niu Ma, who had been waiting in the surrounding shadows for who knows how long, rushed out the moment it fell.

Under the rapid excavation of telekinesis, the broken missile wreckage was soon dug out, and within the leaking buffer mercury, the crystal was locked tight.

After undergoing terrifying acceleration, explosion, supersonic flight, and falling, cracks had already appeared on the crystal.

Lou Feng was the first to pounce on it, using both hands and feet to tear open the twisted iron plate.

His face was pale.

Only when he saw Lou Yanyue coughing and choking after the crystal cracked did a hint of color finally return to his face. He looked as if he were crying and laughing, his lips trembling, but he couldn't speak.

Overwhelmed by the great surprise and shock, he no longer knew what to say.

"You bastard surnamed Ji, thank you!

I thank your ancestors for eight generations..."

But seeing the severe wounds on his aunt's body, his eyes couldn't help but turn red.

Then...

With a howl, he clutched his stomach and rolled to the side.

"What are you crying for? Asking for a beating?"

Lou Yanyue retracted her fist in annoyance, tilted her head slightly, and turned her pitch-black eye sockets toward Tong Shan: "Secretary Tong? Thank you. If you can't stand Xu Chaoxian in the future, you can come find me."

"Just you?" Tong Shan's expression was stern as he repeatedly scanned the fragments.

"That guy..."

Lou Yanyue sighed with a cough: "He's probably in danger now."

Tong Shan didn't speak; he bent down and picked up a remaining piece of iron from the missile, with the inscription on it—【Situation changed, have been targeted, have another plan, don't come looking for me】

Snap!

The iron piece twisted in his anger, collapsed into a ball, and was ground into powder.

"Should we go back for a counterattack?"

Having just escaped danger, Lou Yanyue had no thoughts of seeking comfort. Cracks on her face seeped blood as she gave a hateful smile, "That old thing Jian Yuan can be left to me."

Tong Shan shook his head expressionlessly, glanced at the eerie rainbow light flowing in the sky, and quickly withdrew his gaze.

"Let's go first."

He took off his coat, covered Lou Yanyue with it, and carried her on his back.

They disappeared silently into the darkness.

Never to be seen again.

Inside the workshop, in the long silence, no one dared to speak.

Only Ji Jue stood with his hands bound, staring silently at Jian Yuan.

"Alright, everyone go down," Jian Yuan waved his hand, dismissing the panicked or solemn and gloomy faces, "I'll chat with this young hero."

Immediately, the crowd dispersed in a flurry.

The last few people even grabbed Sun Ci's legs and dragged him away.

Not leaving a single scrap or piece of trash behind.

Ji Jue clicked his tongue in wonder as he watched.

They are artisans after all, their quality is incredibly high!

At this point, he could only think of some nonsense; beyond that, he was powerless.

Looking around, he glanced at the CEO in the corner, then swept his gaze calmly, merely signaling it not to come forward.

"What's wrong?"

Jian Yuan walked in front and asked suddenly: "You don't have that confidence from just now, why are you silent?"

"You are a Grandmaster after all, still so calm even when your toilet has been blown up, I truly admire you."

Ji Jue followed closely behind, scanning everything around him, finding no flaws to exploit, and seemingly no path left for him to escape, so he sighed: "To be honest, I don't even know how I was exposed. I wonder if you could be merciful and enlighten me? So I can at least be a ghost who knows the truth."

Jian Yuan asked without looking back: "Do you think an artisan would mix up the materials at hand?"

Fine, so peers really do wish for the death of their peers, huh?

So it turns out that from the first day I entered the workshop, I was treated as material...

Ji Jue sighed melancholically.

In this day and age, the average quality of artisans is still too low.

"There are over three hundred people in the workshop, and among the two hundred or so apprentices, I know exactly who is useful and who is a piece of trash that can't be helped."

Jian Yuan said slowly: "Even if I were blind, I wouldn't mix up the good jade right under my nose with broken bricks and rubble. Only a fool like Cunling would fail to see the 'present' and tell me that the 'future' is promising."

Ji Jue glanced at him: "So you were hinting at me back then, huh?"

"And him too."

Jian Yuan pushed open the door to his private workshop and sighed: "Unfortunately, he didn't understand, and neither did you."

Ji Jue followed behind, head held high, stepping inside.

Since he was going to die anyway, he might as well die with a sense of arrogance.

He looked around without any restraint, touching this and that, like a country bumpkin who had never seen the world. It was just a pity that, damn it, no matter what object it was, none of them responded to him.

Instead, Jian Yuan beside him glanced at him with his hands behind his back.

With a smile that wasn't quite a smile.

Go ahead and touch, if you can touch one that reacts, I'll take your surname.

Even the deus ex machina had been seen through.

Ji Jue let go with regret, "The Grandmaster seems to appreciate me?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

Jian Yuan laughed: "Daring to play tricks under my nose, daring to sneak into my workshop for someone you didn't even know, neither overestimating your own strength nor being blinded by greed.

Everything is orderly and clear, and you even dared to return under my nose afterward to prepare for the future... Talent, adaptability, and courage, you lack nothing."

Jian Yuan asked back: "Why wouldn't I appreciate that?"

"You've made me admire myself."

Ji Jue laughed loudly.

And then, he couldn't laugh anymore.

An invisible force froze him instantly, lifting him into mid-air, and then, layer by layer, it scanned and searched him, from the tips of his hair to his heels, not letting a single gap go.

From outside to inside, deep into his soul.

"What kind of praise is that? Compared to your own uniqueness, those are not worth mentioning at all."

A monocle appeared in Jian Yuan's hand, and spiritual quality light emerged and intertwined, piercing through all of Ji Jue's secrets:

"Stagnant Rot, White Pavilion, Mad Butcher, Abyss, you should also be a cursed one of the Desolate Ruins... Hmm, you actually have the Tower of the Unborn and the Wolf of the Unborn?

"Of the Sins that have appeared, four have already marked you, and all three of the Sins yet to exist are entangled with your aura. Not to mention the marks left upon you by the nine Supreme Virtues... and Mo, Non-Aggression?"

He clicked his tongue in wonder: "To be able to gather so many messy things in one body, you really are... hey, a gathering of heroes, a bright future indeed."

What the hell?

Ji Jue's heart stalled, and his vision went black.

It felt like he had lived a whole life, only to suddenly discover that he had been walking around naked for so many years, and his butt was covered in certification stamps...

So I'm a stamp collection album!

What is this "Supreme Good's Choice" and "Great Evil's Masterpiece"?

Stagnant Rot and White Pavilion are fine, but when did the Mad Butcher... oh, when I was using a group of corpses to cultivate evil-changing poison, right?

And the Abyss?

Fine, the big rocket tipped by the Evil-Transforming Cult!

Ji Jue barely maintained a calm expression and could only respond: "The Grandmaster is too kind."

After Jian Yuan finished looking, he waved his hand, and Ji Jue fell to the ground, wincing in pain, unable to crawl up for a long time.

The mercury exoskeleton had been stripped away, and his leg was still broken.

Watching him struggle between life and death, Jian Yuan grinned silently, seemingly pleased: "Who is your teacher?"

Ji Jue sneered, "You already know so much, why not take a guess?"

"Does this even need guessing?"

Jian Yuan said: "So many people came from the Association outside, and there are only a few who could teach you.

Duan Mu, that self-abandoning stubborn fool, couldn't teach such a slippery successor; Zhou Zhong, that guy who only knows how to exploit apprentices, wouldn't let such a useful tool run around; Kong Qingyan has some spirit, but that bit of control freakiness can't suppress your rebellious bones...

The others are mediocre, none are worthy of this good material, and none could teach you.

The only one left is one person.

Besides, that technique of yours for destroying alarm sequences is one of a kind."

He said decisively:

"Your teacher is Ye Xian, right?" ===== CHAPTER 233 =====