Chapter 397: Chapter 396: Bait?!

Richard stealthily jumped into the courtyard and entered the main laboratory. From a passage in the corner of the room, he descended into the underground magic laboratory.

In the magic laboratory, there was a wooden chair. Richard sat down, stretched out his body, and tried to concentrate his spirit to begin meditation.

Soon, the familiar sensation of vibration appeared; his body fell into a deep sleep, and his consciousness left his body and flew out.

With a thought, Richard controlled his consciousness and flew upwards, swiftly passing through the thick layer of soil to arrive above ground. He then followed the trail of battle, flying toward the person he had fought earlier.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

The pursuit was ongoing. Four First-level Wizards from White Stone Tower closely chased after the person fleeing ahead, exerting their full strength to continuously cast spells, hoping to hit the target.

Yet, the fleeing person was like an eel covered in slime, slippery and elusive; no matter how they cast spells, they couldn’t land a hit.

“Damn it!”

One of the pursuing wizards clenched his teeth in frustration and made a decision. He turned his head to look at a companion and said, “Gab, the rest of us will continue the chase. You go back to the tower to call for reinforcements, bring stronger ones over. We must catch this damned guy!”

“Should I leave?” The wizard called by name was slightly startled, his voice conveying a hint of worry, “After I leave, will you three be okay? What if…”

“There’s no ‘what if’!” The speaking wizard waved his hand emphatically and declared, “That damned guy up ahead has been running ever since we spotted him, not daring to engage us in combat. That already shows his strength. So, even with just the three of us, there’s no need to worry. The key is, you need to quickly notify people to come. Otherwise, if the target gets too far, escapes White Stone City, we’ll lose our chance!”

“Eh, I understand…”

“Hurry up and go, stop dawdling!” shouted the wizard, waving his hand to conjure an Ice Spear as thick as an arm in front of him. He controlled it to shoot toward the fleeing target, but it narrowly missed, brushing past the body of the escapee. Unable to contain his anger, he exploded with speed, pursuing further, with the other two hastily following suit.

The wizard named Gab hesitated briefly, watching his rapidly departing companions. His eyes flickered. The next moment, without further hesitation, he forcefully turned around and dashed toward the direction of White Stone Tower.

Above him, the air slowly began to stir.

…

The White Stone Tower complex.

Inside the topmost hall of Six-Tusk Tower, a council meeting was in progress.

The number of wizards attending the meeting far exceeded past occasions, it even surpassed the total number of wizards in White Stone Tower. This was because representatives from the rest of the Wizard Organizations on East Sea Island had also arrived to participate and discuss the situation at White Stone Tower.

Of course, these Wizard Organizations were not there out of goodwill–if they could, they would wish for White Stone Tower to collapse so they could swoop in like scavengers to divide and consume the resources held by White Stone Tower, to strengthen themselves.

What had forced the other Wizard Organizations to send help to White Stone Tower was the fact that they, too, had encountered similar situations within their own domains–mysterious organizations attacking and causing disturbances, much to their annoyance.

White Stone Tower was the most severely attacked. To gather more information and prevent the situation from spiraling out of control, other Wizard Organizations had sent representatives, trying to solve or figure out exactly what was going on.

At this moment in the great hall, numerous wizards, some standing, some sitting, crowded the place. Behind a long wooden table on the high platform sat several powerful wizards.

Sitting in the middle of the long table was the representative of White Stone Tower–Haimen Bast.

Haimen remained as before–a man in his forties, dressed in a Black Robe, appearing quite ordinary. Yet, the strong aura he exuded enveloped the entire hall.

Haimen slightly turned his head to glance at other representatives of Wizard Organizations seated on both sides of him, straightened his expression, and tapped the table with a finger, producing a sound like a Copper Bell striking. The noise reverberated throughout the hall, silencing the commotion.

“Cough, cough.” Haimen spoke up, his gaze sweeping over all the wizards present as he said, “I don’t want to repeat what’s superfluous. Here, I will mention the situation as we currently understand it.

After recent investigations and some information hinted at by the enemy, we can almost confirm one thing, and that’s that the people opposing us at White Stone City and our White Stone Tower are likely remnants of the Black Spirit Empire.”

“What!”

The crowd erupted in surprise!

The representatives of other wizard organizations, sitting behind the long table of the high tower, all turned to look at Haimen. Clearly, this was a significant piece of news.

Black Spirit Empire? The remnants of the Black Spirit Empire?

This!

Haimen continued, “I know you are all very surprised, believe me, I am equally surprised. Although none of us have experienced the era of the Black Spirit Empire firsthand, we’ve heard about it–it was extremely harsh, repressive, and dark.

It was an empire ruled by a tyrant where, within its boundaries, beside the small group closest to the Black Spirit King, everyone else–whether ordinary people or wizards–were slaves.

Fortunately, such an empire ultimately fell, which is why we now have the East Coast. Although the current situation on the East Coast cannot be considered wonderful, it is certainly better than the Black Spirit Empire.

However, some people apparently don’t think so. They are constantly endeavoring to transform the East Coast back into what the Black Spirit Empire was, and this is absolutely unacceptable!

You should have seen their actions. What they are like in White Stone City is what they will be like on the entire East Coast. If we cannot stop them at White Stone City, then no one will be able to prevent them from rebuilding the Black Spirit Empire.

Today, I hope everyone in this hall is clear about what we are facing–a force that absolutely must not be allowed to grow, that must be strangled in its cradle. Next, we must cooperate with each other and spare no effort to locate them and wipe them out!”

At this point, Haimen paused, and dead silence filled the room as everyone considered his words seriously.

Just then, the doors of the hall creaked open and wizard Gab quickly ran in, rushing to Haimen’s side and whispering a few words into his ear.

Haimen’s gaze sharpened, and he quickly asked, “Really?”

“Really.”

“They haven’t managed to escape White Stone City yet?”

“They likely have not.”

“Could it be a trap?”

“That… is uncertain, but just Baron and the other two alone would definitely not be able to take them down. It would need someone stronger to act. And if it’s a trap, then it would require even more, stronger people.”

“Alright, I understand.”

“So…” Gab questioned, unsure.

Haimen stood up, looking around at all those present, and slowly said, “Ladies and gentlemen, an enemy member has been discovered. We can’t yet be certain whether the enemy was careless or did this deliberately. However, I believe it’s worth a try. I plan to check it out, and if you’re interested, you are welcome to join me.”

Having said that, Haimen rose from his seat and strode towards the exit.

The crowd was stunned, not expecting Haimen to interrupt the important meeting so capriciously and go to capture someone himself, but others thought deeper: talking more in the meeting was useless, and taking action might clarify how many people would genuinely help.

Thus, Haimen walked out the door, with those who had recovered from their shock hastily following behind him.

As they walked, Haimen suddenly seemed to notice something, abruptly turning his head to glance at the empty air to one side, frowning slightly, and then redirecting his gaze, walking away.