Chapter 475: Major Event: The Madman at a Dead End

Just as Izer thought he still had a chance, a sigh intruded unbidden into everyone's ears.

"Did it fail."

Before that voice, whose gender could not be discerned, everyone present felt as insignificant as a speck of dust—even the gathering of seventh-tier powerhouses was no exception.

Afra and Garvin's eyeballs trembled ceaselessly, their faces full of horror, yet their rigid bodies kept them from reacting in the slightest.

The two had already recognized the owner of that voice—an ultimate terror whose very name could not be spoken.

Yet upon hearing that voice, wild joy surfaced on Izer's face, and his voice grew hoarse and warped from extreme agitation: "My lord, I—!"

But before he could finish, another female voice, devoid of discernible emotion, cut him off: "【Perfection】, this time you and 【Truth】 have overstepped."

"As compensation, we need ten standard world shares of life fluid." The female voice was calm and even, yet carried an authority that brooked no defiance. "For you, this should be trivial."

"And let there be no next time."

As the female voice rang out, Afra and Garvin instantly shed their previous rigid state.

Paying no heed to the cold sweat soaking their backs, the two bowed their heads almost instinctively, speaking with utmost deference: "Speaker Shine."

Upon hearing that name, the wild joy that had just risen on Izer's face was snuffed out like embers doused with cold water, leaving only an ashen, deathly pallor.

All he could do now was pray that those two lords would not abandon him.

But unfortunately—

He had no more value.

"Acceptable."

That unremarkable single word instantly extinguished Izer's hope, and then that pressure, which slowed even thought itself, gradually dispersed.

【Perfection】 shifted its gaze away, though before leaving it swept a glance over every creature still capable of movement within the Black Obsidian Starfield.

Had a certain someone among them not interfered with the class-change ritual, the observation subject this time should have succeeded.

Of course, if It wished, It could also have forcibly halted that dissipating trend just now.

But to 【Perfection】, this held no meaning whatsoever.

Unable even to break through its shackles by its own strength, and possessing such enormous flaws to boot—

Perfection?

Heh.

Sensing that the existence behind 【Immortal Evolution】 had departed, Afra and Garvin secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then spoke up to ask: "Speaker Shine, what do you need us to do next?"

"."

No response came—clearly that Speaker had likewise withdrawn its gaze after achieving its own objective.

Realizing this, the two exchanged a glance, then turned their eyes to the two professionals of their own tier standing opposite them.

The reason there were only two was naturally that Hou Jue had already fled the moment Shine appeared.

Unlike the others present, his actions this time were entirely personal, with no backing from Your Majesty behind him.

Though Hou Jue felt that that supreme Emperor was most likely secretly watching his performance, like watching an actor on a stage.

In less than a single minute, the situation had once again returned to a relatively normal state.

Afra looked at the panic-stricken Izer, her youthful face brimming with malice: "Hahaha! Seems like that lord doesn't care much for a small fry like you either."

"."

Faced with this bratty councilor's mockery, the previously arrogant tattooed bald man was momentarily at a loss for a retort.

He knew full well he was now a discarded piece—if he didn't come up with something, he'd likely meet his end here today.

Seeing that Afra and Garvin were about to make their move, Izer immediately shouted: "Help me hold them off! I'll tell you everything—my years of research, including the class information!"

Hearing this, the two seventh-tier powerhouses belonging to 【Immortal Evolution】 and 【Supreme Unity Miracle】 involuntarily paused.

With the chess players successively withdrawing their gazes, the scene had once again devolved into a conflict between the pieces.

And since those two lords had already offered compensation, presumably that Speaker would no longer interfere with what followed.

Of course, the most crucial point was that the conditions Izer offered were tempting enough—otherwise they wouldn't have been interested in continuing to partake.

In that case—

"Deal."

Hearing this, Afra's expression gradually chilled.

A situation that had been a sure thing had suddenly thrown up complications—anyone would be annoyed: "You two small fry! If you're so eager to help him, then stay here together!"

Tough talk is standard equipment for a bratty girl—one against two, she was clearly no match for those two across from her, but fortunately this time Garvin would no longer stand idly by.

The next moment, the two struck out fiercely at Izer in unison.

They saw it clearly—once they dealt with this guy, they wouldn't need to keep tangling with those two same-tier existences across the way.

And Izer was certainly well aware of this; while Avra and Gavin were being held back, he immediately began preparing to advance to the seventh energy level.

If during his earlier advancement to the eighth tier he had planned to pull the entire Black Obsidian Starfield into his Hundred Aspects Avatar, thereby analyzing the creatures within and ultimately completing the transformation into all things, then now he planned to use the creatures he had already obtained to break through.

The gap between the two was clearly worlds apart—Izer didn't know if it would work, but at this point he had no time left to test and err.

'Damned bastard! Don't let me ever get my hands on you!'

As this thought flashed through his mind, a look of utter venomous hatred immediately surfaced on Izer's face.

If not for that inexplicable interference at the critical moment, how could his class-change ritual have possibly failed?!

And just as this alchemy master was fuming over his ruined class-change ritual, Li Ang was standing beside Seth with his head ducked.

He hadn't expected things to develop so thrillingly.

【Perfection】, 【Truth】—

Just from their titles alone, Li Ang could tell these two were at least ninth-tier.

He now understood why his attempt to take the nickname 【Truth】 had failed back then—it was a matter of avoiding a taboo.

Fortunately, those few had only made a brief appearance, not even showing their faces—otherwise Li Ang wouldn't have known how to wrap things up today.

"But didn't that Yizhang Society chairperson already know the 【Immortal Evolution】 and 【Taiyi Miracle】 were planning something?"

Thinking of this, Li Ang couldn't help but murmur to himself—after all, the other's reaction was truly peculiar.

But ten worlds—even if each was only as large as a One-Person World—would still be an incalculable fortune; no wonder that chairperson wanted to set a trap.

Judging by this, the Nation's high command probably didn't value their subordinates as much as he'd imagined, or perhaps those at the pinnacle simply didn't care about the lives of those below.

Including the Supreme Deity behind 【Aio Logistics】.

Thinking of this, Li Ang couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

It seemed the Main Universe was more reliable after all—at least this one still cared about the safety of his gold-tier partner.

Too bad the other lacked the Heavenly Dao powers described in xianxia novels and could only offer indirect aid; otherwise, he'd have ruled this universe with impunity long ago.

Recalling the three chilling gazes that had made him break into a cold sweat, Li Ang shuddered—thankfully, the Main Universe's cover had kept those three from detecting his presence.

He certainly didn't believe 【Dalu Observation】 had fooled these high-level beings; most likely, the Main Universe had played a major role.

"Come to think of it, wasn't one of those gazes familiar? Was it the chairperson?"

Now that he thought about it, Li Ang felt he'd sensed one of those gazes when he returned from the One-Person World to the Main Universe.

Based on identity, it was almost certainly the chairperson.

"So going to 【Aio Logistics】 was definitely the right move—if I'd stayed in the Federation any longer, I'd have been exposed eventually."

Thinking this, Li Ang felt grateful for his choice.

After calming his emotions slightly, he turned to Seth: "Grandfather, let's get out of here fast?"

Li Ang had just planned to finish the job, brush off his clothes, and vanish without a trace—when he saw Seth staring at him with a strange expression.

At that moment, the aged gem dragon gazed at the young man before him, his left cheek still streaked with blood, and a thought surfaced in his mind.

Could those events just now have been done by this kid?

It wasn't unreasonable to think so—after all, until Yize's transformation failed, this young dragon's behavior had been strangely off.

Fear?

Not a trace.

Only the exhilaration after pulling off something wicked—Seth had often seen this emotion in his own kind.

But after a moment of silence, the aged gem dragon ultimately chose to let the matter pass.

The current situation hadn't fully stabilized; this wasn't the right time to discuss such sensitive matters.

Besides, he hadn't missed those three gazes either—indeed, one of them had lingered on him for a moment, right when he'd been trying to contact Bahamut.

With mixed emotions, Seth nodded: "You're right. Let's leave while we still can."

As he spoke, he reshaped into his dragon form, preparing to flee the scene quickly with Li Ang's help.

But due to the effects of Yize's transformation ritual, the position of Morabiss Star had shifted drastically from before; continuing along the previous route was clearly impossible.

Fortunately, with the star map provided by the Inspection Bureau, the old and the young could roughly determine their current location.

Yet just as they prepared to make their escape, a revolting aura suddenly drifted from afar.

Li Ang turned to look—and saw a vast swarm of insects slowly advancing between the stars.

"?"

What the hell did they dump me here?!

Without hesitation, Li Ang unleashed his Reincarnation Eye at full power and piloted Morabiss Star away from the scene.

Within the swarm.

The centipede scratched his head as he watched the writhing insect Empress beneath him: "Why do I feel like you're getting more excited?"

Since he was already connected to this giant insect, he could faintly sense some of its emotions.

But given the precedent of Bailandu, he dared not connect too deeply.

He paid no mind to what the Empress was thinking, instead gazing at the distant, greatly shrunken rift, his face tinged with wistfulness: "Manfred actually failed? That's surprising."

"But was he backed by 【Perfection】? No wonder he was always so arrogant."

As he spoke, the insect-man felt a pang of envy—if only 【Perfection】 would guide him too.

For some reason, perhaps his posture was wrong, he could never achieve full synchronization with this insect Empress; ascending to the Seventh Tier was pure fantasy.

But honestly, he thought it was already impressive that he hadn't been affected at all.

"Wait—really hadn't I been affected?"

Thinking of this, the centipede rubbed his chin and fell into thought.

After a while, he suddenly snapped back to awareness, his expression shifting from lazy to sinister.

"Tch—so I really was affected. Good thing I left a backup."

Recalling his years of experience, the centipede's eyes flickered with lingering dread.

For a Sixth Tier to even attempt touching the Seventh Tier was far too dangerous—he'd been fooled without realizing it, despite having prepared thoroughly before the first connection.

"But that little dragon brat—"

As he pondered whether to obey Manfred's orders and continue chasing the distant kid, he failed to notice the countless pupils of the insect Empress beneath him glowing with chilling light.

The next instant, the centipede rolled his eyes back and fainted.

When he regained consciousness, he found the swarm moving steadily toward a certain direction.

Glancing at the slow-moving High Supply Insect beside him, the centipede scratched his cheek: "I need to improve this template—otherwise, it's dragging me down too much."

As he spoke, he pulled his lower body free from the insect Empress and walked toward a massive transport insect that had been converted into a laboratory.

Behind him, the insect Empress silently watched the only anomaly within the swarm, as if nothing had happened.