Chapter 345

Pantaluonie had to admit.

He was indeed convinced by Luo De's silver tongue.

He would not admit that his earlier idea was wrong.

He simply calmly said: "I will have my own way to practice justice; as for what method, that's not for you to decide."

"That's natural."

Luo De chuckled: "We should still be considered friends, right? You shouldn't be angry because of what I just said, right?"

Pantaluonie glanced at him, then gave a tsundere cold snort: "No, I said before I admire you and am willing to be friends; that still counts."

"Then that's good."

Luo De laughed even happier: "I have something I'd like to ask you to help with; as a friend, I don't know if it's okay?"

Just as he had imagined.

Pantaluonie is indeed a stubborn person.

But also a person with extremely strong self-assertion.

When Luo De's incessant chatter provoked him, he was indeed quite angry.

But as long as he is persuaded.

Let him realize that what Luo De said is actually not a big problem, just that his own view comes from a different angle.

Then Pantaluonie would have no hostility toward Luo De, and would even be willing to continue being friends with Luo De as he just said.

On the other side.

Upon hearing Luo De's words, Pantaluonie stared at him fiercely, and after a while squeezed out a word from his mouth: "Speak."

"Do you know there is a slice of Duotuolei in this city?"

Luo De did not rush to state his request, but instead asked him a question.

"I know."

Pantaluonie spoke in an icy tone.

Actually, Pantaluonie's impression of this colleague Duotuolei is not very good.

The reason is.

Or it's a matter of ideology.

Because Pantaluonie feels Duotuolei is far too crazy compared to him.

And for the sake of his own ideology.

Duotuolei's actions have nothing to do with justice, and he even openly breaks agreed-upon contracts, with reasons that are so readily available.

"What does a contract set by another slice have to do with me?"

He hails from a merchant nation.

Pantaluonie, who has always greatly valued contracts and absolute justice since childhood, naturally finds it hard to tolerate such behavior.

Another.

It is that the slices of Duotuolei vary in temperament; some are truly overly reckless and impolite, making them extremely troublesome to deal with.

Moreover, Pantaluonie is not his match, so sometimes he can only swallow his anger in silence.

This is also precisely based on such and such reasons.

He usually tries to expedite the approval of Duotuolei's funding requests, so that the fellow's slices won't come running to bother him.

However.

His annoyance with Duotuolei is his own matter.

No matter how annoying that fellow is, he is ultimately a colleague who swore allegiance to Her Majesty the Empress together.

This does not mean he would help Luo De, an outsider, to launch a heavy-handed attack against his own colleague.

Even if Luo De is his friend.

No way! Consequently, Pantaluonie's tone is extremely icy, and his attitude toward Luo De is as perfunctory as possible.

However, when Luo De stated his request.

Pantaluonie was momentarily stunned.

"I would like you to help promote the existence of that slice."

"Um, just promote him as erudite, a retired scholar of the Academy's Wonderful Discourse Faction, specializing in ancient relics knowledge, mild and easygoing, willing to speak on any topic—that will do."

Luo De's words made Pantaluonie frown involuntarily.

He simply couldn't understand.

What on earth does Luo De want to do? Logically speaking.

Luo De should have a grudge against Duotuolei, right?

So the request he made.

If it were something like killing that slice or blocking its resource channels, Pantaluonie could understand, but promoting him as an excellent scholar leaves him a bit baffled.

What benefit does this have for Luo De?

Furthermore, doing this.

It would be equivalent to sending those who come to study into Duotuolei's hands as hostages, which would hardly make Luo De's handling of him any easier.

But this thought only flashed for a moment.

Pantaluonie then understood.

What nonsense about sending hostages.

Luo De is actually pulling that slice out from behind the scenes onto the tabletop.

Originally, Zandike was lurking in the dark, engaging in a power struggle with the Dendro Archon.

There is an advantage to acting covertly.

The Dendro Archon needs to keep a constant watch on him, to prevent him from overreaching and causing the Academy unbearable damage.

But now Luo De has made this move.

This amounts to binding Zan Dike under the Academy's banner, while forcing him to step into the open and become a visible line.

In that case,

Many of Zan Dike's plans would not be able to proceed.

Unless he now turns against Luo De.

But that would be too great a loss for Dottore, and the slice currently in the Lidugu testing grounds would not agree to him doing that.

Unlike Pantaruonie, who is obsessed with the mortal world, and the other executives,

Dottore has always wanted to create a god.

In order to prove he has the ability to create a god, and to prove he also possesses the capability of truth not inferior to this world.

So he would allow his plans to be sabotaged ahead of time.

This is also why Zan Dike, despite holding the advantage, still hides his head and shows his face, even having to take the whole city as a charm for survival, and dare not openly carry out his infiltration plan within the city.

If he were to be brought onto the stage,

Then this slice would surely be angered to the point of good or ill.

"Hmph, you're quite clever."

After figuring it out, Pantaruonie narrowed his eyes and said lightly,

"Thanks for the praise."

Luo De laughed heartily, paying no heed to his words.

Thus the two reached an agreement.

Killing Dottore is not an option.

But giving him some trouble, Pantaruonie is still willing.

After all, that guy is truly annoying, has once spoken disrespectfully to me, and even a slight punishment within my ability still feels quite satisfying.

As for saying that we ruined Dottore's plans,

What's that? It's not the first time the executives have screwed each other over.

He, Pantaruonie, has done this kind of thing to other executives he doesn't like.

Now a little slice more or less—what's the difference?

If it's due to be screwed over, just do it; no need to hesitate.

After reaching an agreement with Pantaruonie,

Luo De decisively gave up his tour guide job, went with a bright smile to the Jingshengong, and delivered this good news to Nadixa.

For the first time.

When Luo De arrived at the Jingshengong, Nadixa was not in a working state but was sitting on a swing, gazing into the distance of Sumeru.

"Sitting so high, aren't you cold?"

Luo De stepped lightly, floated before Nadixa, and chuckled.

Nadixa's swing is atop the Jingshengong's roof, several meters above the opposite side; through the palace's glass roof she can take in most of the rainforest region at a glance. However, upon seeing the dull yellow sand‑blocking wall, a gloom inevitably appears between her brows.

Seeing Nadixa not responding to him,

Luo De followed her gaze and quickly realized what she was looking at.

"Do you want to tear down those annoying things?"

Luo De's eyes lit up, and he conjured it out of thin air.

Similar to Nadixa's swing, verdant elemental energy condensed in mid‑air, forming a rattan chair for Luo De so he could sit beside her in the air.

Remove the sand‑blocking wall.

This is the lifelong hope of the desert folk who live near the rainforest.

Especially Dixiya.

She has said this more than once.

This time.

Nadixa finally came to her senses, sighed, and said, "I do want to, but it's still a bit too early."

"Actually, it's not that early either."

Luo De pursed his lips and said, "The desert side now feels the strongest sense of belonging to the rainforest in centuries; if we keep separating them like this, Dottore's slice will always have a chance to sway those desert people."

Having said that,

Luo De paused, blinked, and asked, "How did you suddenly think of this?"

Luo De still knows Nadixa quite well.

Therefore he is quite clear.

Although Nadixa has always harbored the idea of removing the sand‑blocking wall, she has always been very hesitant, unwilling to act while the two peoples stand opposed.

There's no way around it.

Because the sand‑blocking wall exists.

The rainforest and desert regions form a barrier, and the extremists on both sides can only pass through A Ru Cun and Kawanyi.

Under these circumstances,

As long as the protective forces and order in A Ru Cun and Kawanyi remain sound, neither side's extremists can cause large‑scale chaos, and control becomes easier.

When the Great Merciful Tree King fell and the Academy decided to erect the wall, that was exactly the idea they held.

Nadixa's hesitation lies precisely here.

Although the rainforest and desert now, under the influence of Hope City, have shown the most harmonious situation in several hundred years.

But under the deception of Duotuolei's slices.

In A Ru Cun, the most important pass of the rainforest and desert, even more extreme groups have already appeared.

Nadixa fears that after dismantling the sand-defense wall, these groups will no longer be controlled, deliberately stir up trouble, and cause the plan for the two tribes' integration to completely fail.

So.

In the situation where the desert has not seen any major change.

Why did Nadixa suddenly come up with this idea, could it be?

Indeed.

Luo De's idea has been confirmed.

Then Nadixa said: "The Great Merciful Tree King and they have found that Duotuolei hidden in the ruins."

"How is it?!!"

Luo De's eyes lit up, and he looked at Nadixa full of anticipation.

That Duotuolei in the desert is responsible for producing the slices of the Evil Eye, and is also the best evidence now to prove the False God.

As long as we kill him and obtain the evidence.

Even without needing to produce more False God's Eyes with true thunder and lightning, Luo De's plan to impersonate the Red King can be completed ahead of schedule.

"They have already killed that slice."

Nadixa hesitated for a moment, then said the best outcome for the present.

"Really!"

Upon hearing this, Luo De was overjoyed, jumped up, and said with delight: "This is a good thing, a great thing!"

However, after the cheering.

He then noticed that Nadixa's complexion was off.

"What's wrong?"

"Could there still be an accident?"

Luo De's expression changed, and he asked in a deep voice.

"The Great Merciful Tree King is injured."

"The injury is not light."

"She is now unable to construct any more Void Nodes, and is on her way back to Xu Mi Cheng."

Nadixa's words struck Luo De's mind like a thunderbolt from a clear sky.

He stared at Nadixa in disbelief and said: "How is that possible! It's just a slice, isn't it? With Lei Dianying present, how could a single slice of Duotuolei possibly injure her so severely?"

Luo De simply could not believe it no matter what.

The Great Merciful Tree King, who carries the single-minded dream, could actually be injured to this extent.

Even saying.

In his plan.

The Great Merciful Tree King with the single-minded dream should not suffer any harm at all.

After all, Lei Dianying is a martial god at peak condition; on Yashiori Island, her puppets could slice a piece with one strike, so how could even the Great Merciful Tree King not be protected this time?

"Because it's not just a slice."

Facing Luo De's frantic questioning, Nadixa sighed: "It's six."

"Ha——!"

Luo De stood frozen, then exclaimed in disbelief: "Six, six?"

"Yes."

Moreover, each is of Archon-level strength, each holding an artifact of the Ice God, able to briefly draw on the Ice God's power to form an offensive.

Baerzebu is indeed strong.

But the Great Merciful Tree King's body cannot withstand too much of her power; under siege, she suffered a backlash from Baerzebu's authority, sustaining a serious injury.

Nadixa then related the detailed process in a leisurely manner.

The body can't take it! Authority backlash? These two reasons are indeed what Luo De hadn't considered.

Most importantly, he indeed knew the Great Merciful Tree King's body was frail, not comparable to other Archons, but he hadn't expected that after rebirth, the Great Merciful Tree King's body had become so frail that even Lei Dianying's authority could not be withstood.

"The six slices of Duotuolei have already been wiped out by them."

"The evidence from that Evil Eye factory has also been taken back by them."

"They should be able to return here in a few days."

Nadixa's eyes welled up with tears as she said: "Her injury requires the power of the World Tree to recover."

"Sigh——"

Luo De also sighed, wanting to comfort her but not knowing what to say.

For Nadixa.

The Great Merciful Tree King and she are of one entity, can be called sisters or mother-daughter, their relationship extremely close.

Now seeing the Great Merciful Tree King severely wounded, it is naturally hard to bear the sorrow in her heart.

It's no wonder she suddenly had the idea to dismantle the sand-defense wall.

After the Great Merciful Tree King and Lei Dianying carried out this purge.

Although the Void Nodes were not established, the desert's strongest internal threat has basically been eliminated; then, as long as Luo De relies on the evidence of the False God's Eye and the power brought by the False God's stature, the desert people theoretically would no longer be able to drift apart from the rainforest region and the Dendro Archon.

This is precisely the best time to dismantle the sand-defense wall.

"Let's wait for them to return."

We decided together.

Luo De rubbed Nadixa's head, gently comforting her.

Hmm.

Nadixa wiped away the tears at the corner of her eyes, nodded, then looked again toward the sand-defense wall and said: 'In the news they sent back, there is still one more item.'

Duo Tuolei's slices have spies planted among both the desert people and the rainforest people here.

When you become a god.

Those will then obstruct you in every way; by then you must be careful in your response, and never let yourself be fooled by their textual traps.

(End of chapter)