Chapter 263

The branches and vines chasing Lu Mian retracted instantly, and after one more javelin-like trunk fell, there was no further movement.

Lu Mian exhaled, raised his body while running, and looked toward the heights.

He happened to see Su Shanna Ma Disi being burned to ashes along with the plant sphere surrounding her, and saw a tree trunk—not one of the newly grown ones—snap due to the burning and fall not far away.

Killed it! Lu Mian truly set his mind at ease; no longer struggling to hold on, he fell to the ground with the momentum.

The crimson flames burning him extinguished, revealing his charred body that was barely recognizable as human.

Lu Mian struggled to sit up, his back against the wall of the Golden Rooster Hotel, which still had many vines and branches remaining. Like a vagrant abandoned by the world, he watched with a hint of mockery as the "Shadow Tree" suddenly sank another section, sinking deeper and deeper.

He also saw those vines and branches all retract into the main trunk, and saw the people who had been suspended lose their restraints and fall to the ground with a thud from high or low positions.

Among the dozen or so people whose life essence had been drained first, three or four had been suspended nearly three meters in the air. They were already extremely weak, and after such a heavy fall, they all lost more than half their lives and fainted on the spot; perhaps they could still be saved, perhaps not.

The hundreds of people who had been suspended at lower positions or had not yet had too much life essence drained had more or less suffered some fall injuries, but none affected their lives, or even their ability to scramble up in a hurry and flee in panic toward the edge of the wilderness.

Gabriel's face was pale, and his hands and feet were scraped. His first reaction was not to flee, but to stoop down and pick up the *Light Chaser* script scattered all over the ground; that pair of eloping lovers, who had been suspended together, cursed each other for being a burden while helping each other, as their legs were slightly inconvenienced from the fall, and followed the crowd, swarming toward the distance; the underground bar owner, Paval Nisen, was relatively uninjured aside from being quite weak, and he hugged the draft he had just drawn and started running...

Lu Mian, charred all over, sat by the street, his back against the Golden Rooster Hotel, which was very close to the "Shadow Tree." With the back of his head leaning against the wall, he watched quietly with a slight smile as those peddlers, pedestrians, and cheap apartment tenants escaped vigorously toward the edges of the wilderness.

…………

Inside the "Shadow Tree," "Lady Moon" saw that this battle had already involved multiple angels and saints, and that her side was struggling more and more under the successive reinforcements of the two major churches and the Eighth Bureau, so a desire to retreat suddenly arose in her heart.

If this continues, the two major churches might even request a divine descent in different ways! "Lady Moon" quickly made up her mind.

Having already been deprived of several abilities and trapped in various "prohibitions," she pressed against the bulge on her abdomen while opening her mouth.

An extremely shrill shriek erupted within this different-dimensional space, and the "Shadow Tree," which still had nearly two meters of its main trunk on the ground, changed instantly.

Located on different branches and bark, within the past scenes wrapped in thin mist, those human figures formed by different desires who were already completely dead all came back to life, except for Emperor Luo Saier.

Among them were many demigods, who walked out of their respective "histories" with numb, indifferent expressions and cold, gloomy auras.

"Resurrection"!

"Lady Moon," with the help of the "Divine Fetus" in her belly and the uniqueness of the "Shadow Tree," allowed the latter to temporarily resurrect the desires accumulated over a thousand years into their original forms.

Although this could not last long and the strength of the resurrected would be significantly inferior to before, within just a few seconds, the addition of a large number of demigods helping to fight could still effectively influence the situation and bring about extreme chaos.

It was precisely because she relied on the "Divine Fetus" to provide help at critical moments that "Lady Moon" dared to follow into this place and participate in this chaotic battle; otherwise, she, who had only promised to provide cover and interception, would have abandoned the people of the "Bliss Society" earlier and left this block on her own.

Silently, those resurrected phantoms dissolved rapidly under the scorching sunlight, while "Lady Moon" seized this opportunity to retract the part of the Other Shore World that was not yet too badly damaged, merged with it, and vanished from the spot.

…………

Market Avenue, inside that yellowish four-story building where the Congressman was located.

The mixed-race Imre did not immediately question the assassin, Jenna, but instead had two Seventh Bureau agents first help Jenna with simple disinfection and bandaging to initially stop the bleeding, putting on a posture of not letting the criminal die from severe injuries so that more clues could be asked. Meanwhile, Valentine, Antoine, and the remaining agents observed and questioned the other people participating in the banquet one by one, including members of Hugo Atuwa's team like Cassandra and Luo Ne.

Rumble!

There was another tremor from underground. People near the windows saw that corners of Sijie, Nightingale Street, and White Coat Street were each exposed, occasionally flashing with light, while many clergy members wearing white robes with gold trim and carrying various machines approached the surroundings.

This caused the interrogations by Imre, Valentine, and the others to slow down. After a while, Angouleme de Francois, wearing a coat with gold buttons, walked into the banquet hall with that gray-white humanoid mechanical creation, several other team members, and a large number of police officers.

After listening to Imre's report, he looked around, glanced at Jianna, and then said to Travis Everett:

"Take everyone who attended the banquet to the headquarters and question them separately.

"Leave that assassin here; we are responsible for the investigation. Hmm... members of the Congressman's team should also stay; there are some situations that need to be understood."

Everett did not raise any objections and organized the police officers to take the people, who were both panicked and looking for excitement, away from the yellowish building where the Congressman's office was located.

Once the hall became empty, Angouleme instructed the two Seventh Bureau agents standing beside Jianna:

"Take the assassin to the lounge. Don't let her hear our exchange, lest she use it to conceal part of the truth."

Watching Jianna being escorted into the lounge facing the rear street, Angouleme walked to the front of Cassandra, Luo Ne, and the others, and said in a deep voice:

"Several of you, there are some situations that must be understood."

Having said this, a smile appeared on his face:

"By the way, the Congressman has already passed away. According to the law, he immediately loses his corresponding parliamentary seat.

"That is to say, you are no longer members of the Congressman's team and no longer enjoy the necessary immunity.

"Therefore, let us complete the notarization before we communicate."

Hearing Angouleme's words, the expressions of Cassandra and the others changed simultaneously.

Inside the lounge, Jenna, whose mind had been calm since assassinating Hugo Atuwa, heard intense movement coming from the direction of the hall.

The two Seventh Bureau agents guarding her with guns had one of them split off and run toward the door to see what was happening.

Jianna, who discovered that only one security guard remained by her side, felt her heart jump, and she suddenly had an idea.

Her expression changed abruptly, and she looked behind the guard with a face full of surprise and fear.

Although that agent had undergone strict training, it was precisely because of this that he understood some things that ordinary people did not. Today, an abnormal case had occurred in the Sijie area, the Congressman had been tragically assassinated, and now, a battle suspected of involving supernatural powers had appeared in the hall. How could this not make him worry that the lounge would also be affected, and not worry about something popping up behind his back?

He subconsciously wanted to turn around, but just as he turned halfway, he became vigilant.

But for Jianna, this was already enough.

Already handcuffed, she clasped her hands into a fist and smashed it fiercely toward the agent's shoulder and neck, knocking him directly to the ground and causing his pistol to slip out of his control.

Not waiting for the agent at the door to react, Jianna pressed her hands on the windowsill, jumped up directly, broke through the glass, and landed like a feather in the alley behind.

Immediately after, she endured the pain caused by the gunshot wound, hid in the shadows of a corner, and quickly escaped from that yellowish building.

…………

"Lady Moon" changed directions continuously, and after using several abilities, finally walked out of the "Other Shore World."

At this time, she had already fled to the Erato District in the northwest of Trier, where in front of her was a magnificent building with several spires and a lot of gold paint.

"Lady Moon" cautiously confirmed the situation around her again and breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.

If it weren't for the fact that the evil tree drilling deeper into that Fourth Era Trier was beneficial to the "Great Mother," she actually wouldn't have wanted to participate in the "Bliss Society" operation, nor did she want to expose herself because of it. One must know that those who control desires are often also controlled by desires, and the possibility of failure is not low.

The next second, "Lady Moon" entered the main off-white building from the side.

A few hundred meters away, a golden retriever was squatting quietly beside a woman wearing a green long dress.

They watched "Lady Moon's" every move silently, watched that magnificent building with numerous spires silently, and their expressions were somewhat solemn.

That was the Sacred Heart Monastery; that was the Sacred Heart Monastery of the "Eternal Blazing Sun" Church.

…………

In the wilderness that was beginning to collapse but did not affect the buildings of Sijie, Nightingale Street, and White Coat Street, Lu Mian saw that the "Shadow Tree" had almost completely retracted into the ground, and he mocked Termiboros in his mouth:

"I'm not that unfortunate after all; I actually succeeded."

Just as he finished speaking, Franca, who had regained her sobriety and reason, ran over and hissed:

"Is this role-playing a charred corpse?"

As she spoke, she took out the healing potion obtained from the Poison Sting Gang, intending to feed Lu Mian half a bottle first.

Lu Mian's injuries were actually not as severe as they looked. To most low-to-mid-sequence Beyonders, the burns would be fatal, but to a "Pyromaniac," they at most counted as the kind that required lying down for a month or two. As for the injuries from fractures, explosions, and impacts, none were things that would immediately take a "Hunter's" life. He only needed to wait until tomorrow, and he would naturally recover.

Considering that after the wilderness completely disappeared, he might have to face the pursuit of official Beyonders, Lu Mian did not try to be brave and gulped down half a bottle.

Soon, he felt his body recovering rapidly.

At this time, the wilderness was about to collapse completely, each street had returned to its original position, and many people had already rushed in.

Franca observed the environment and said with a fast speaking rate:

"Can you move? We must leave this place immediately."

"Okay." Lu Mian stood up.

He then stepped sideways twice, intending to pick up the short tree trunk that had been burned off the "Shadow Tree" before leaving.

Just as Lu Mian grasped the trunk, his peripheral vision suddenly swept across something:

In the depression left after the "Shadow Tree" sank back into the ground, a blurry, transparent creature flashed and disappeared.

Lu Mian's pupils dilated suddenly, as if he couldn't believe the scene he saw, and he wanted to see it more clearly.

That was a lizard-like, transparent, blurry figure!

That was exactly the same as the "little sprite" he saw in his dream!

That was the kind of monster that crawled out of Aurora's mouth!

(End of chapter)