Chapter 86: Mr. Lin Said It Well Indeed

If the elf’s pure intention was a ‘You’re welcome’, or if the Truth Union hadn’t fired their Annihilation Cannon, the matter would just have been a matter of ‘King Candela from the legends reappearing and slaying a ‘god’.

Then, his words could probably be explained as, “No need to thank me for helping you all get rid of this Supreme-rank dream beast.”

But in reality, traces of the clash of aetheric energy still lingered and the devastated battlefield was still heated from the cannon’s blast.

In such a situation, a smiling Candela had said, “You’re welcome,” with a wave of the hand in the direction of the Truth Union.

There was no other explanation besides mocking the Truth Union.

More importantly, the impression most people had on King Candela from the legends wasn’t this ‘frivolous’. And thus, their minds started to come up with thoughts and guesses.

This gesture was probably done under the instructions of his summoner hiding behind the scenes.

And it made them think of an even more terrifying point—

The person behind the scenes hadn’t yet shown his hand, yet the departed spirit he summoned had already left the Truth Union bruised and battered.

Although it looked like a one-off, nobody knew how much effort the person behind the scenes had expended for this summon. After all, since just now, there had only been that one immense aetheric fluctuation.

This meant to say that this was all insignificant to the person behind the scenes.

Andrew’s fists were still tightly clenched from smashing the tabletop. His tightly wound muscles were trembling uncontrollably.

This shaking reminded him that regardless of whether he admitted it or not, a part of his anger was a result of the fear in his heart.

And when this fear reached an extreme level, it turned into fury.

Andrew’s expression became even more downcast when he realized it. He remained this way till the cold mechanical beeps of a notification snapped him out of it.

“Due to the violation of regulations, your authority will be forcibly revoked temporarily and you will be subjected to a review. Please do not move about and stay where you are…”

Andrew’s eyes widened and he suddenly turned around.

The conference room doors were pushed open.A group of Destructive-rank scholars in black mechanical armor suits entered and pointed their guns at Andrew. Executives from other departments rushed over in succession, and the Truth Union’s other Vice-Chairman stepped forth from amongst them.

“Andrew.”

Diamante pushed his glasses up his nose bridge delicately and said, “I guess you ought to know that you’ve made a big mistake and caused the Truth Union to suffer huge losses.”

Andrew eyed this younger and recently-promoted equal. He took a deep breath, put on a usual smile as always, and replied, “It was indeed a strategic lapse on my part. However, there weren’t any mistakes, and my decision-making was according to the sequence of events. My only failure was misgauging the enemy’s strength. And for this, the blame should be placed on…”

He definitely wouldn’t admit that his own shortsightedness and the recent continuous setbacks in the bookstore’s investigation had affected his mentality and were the cause behind this lapse.

Otherwise, he would definitely be more prudent and meticulous as per his usual practice.

Diamante shrugged. “There’s no need for you to tell me all this. Right now, you should be thinking about how to resolve the problems resulting from this incident. Say, for example, the three cannon batteries? And also some other areas which you might need to explain yourself… From what I know, it seems like you have been investigating this S-Rank bookstore rather vigorously and seemed to have quite some hostility towards it.”

“So what about it?” said Andrew with a frown as he started to have a bad feeling. “It was White Wolf that summoned the dream beast this time. What relation does it have to the bookstore?”

Diamante met his gaze and said casually, “Looks like you don’t know it yet. Secret Rite Tower contacted us, verifying that the one who summoned Candela was indeed the bookstore owner.”

Disbelief arose on Andrew’s face as this information struck him like a bolt.

Diamante continued, “Thus, we have reason to suspect that you acted this way due to your own selfish motives. And it was because of you that the friendly bookstore owner would attack us out of self-defense, ultimately leading to tremendous losses for the Truth Union.”

Andrew refuted angrily, “Utter nonsense! I…”

Midway through the explanation, Diamante interrupted, “Like I’ve said, telling me all this is useless.”

Andrew glared at him furiously. Upon seeing the mocking look in Diamante’s eyes, he suddenly understood—

He was jealous of his younger, fellow Vice-Chairman, and it seemed like the other party had the exact same sentiments towards Andrew.

He’s using any excuse he can find to incriminate me?

Moreover, Andrew’s failures this time round had been entirely the result of his own devising.

Andrew looked defeated and suddenly felt helpless. But at this moment, everyone received a new message on their communications devices.

“Machine Loop has suffered an attack…”

There was a glint in Andrew’s eyes as he stopped in his tracks. In just a few seconds, he had processed this message and spoke up calmly, “During a Category One alert status, White-level assessor personnel have to remain at their posts to maintain surveillance and ensure the mechanisms are able to run as per normal… Am I right, Vice-Chairman Diamante?”

———

“It seems like this Boss Lin doesn’t have a good temper, huh…” Winston spoke into his communications device after giving orders for his subordinates to clean up the battlefield.

“You would be pissed too if a barking mad dog suddenly runs into your home, causing a ruckus and trampling all over the grass.”

Joseph’s voice came from behind him.

Winston immediately turned around and saw that familiar old face.

“Does that mean to say that that Supreme-rank dream beast was a mad dog and we are good dogs?” said Winston with a slight grin.

Joseph came over, patted Winston’s shoulder, and said with a wide smile, “Hey, partner. You are thinking too much. You all are just mere fleas.”

Winston took a deep breath, resisting the urge to punch this old comrade’s face before sighing, “But nonetheless, this episode seems to have reached the end of its phase.”

Joseph looked up to the gradually scattering clouds in the sky and said, “But the matter is still far from over.”

Their Intelligence Department had been investigating the source of the Magic Ovum Mirror all this time but hadn’t gotten a single result.

The person or organization that cast this magical object into Norzin was the true, troubling, invisible enemy.

Winston took a closer look at the face of the former Great Radiant Knight by his side. The eyes on that firm and experienced face seemed to be glowing with a sharp, incisive light.

Winston suddenly felt that he was once again gazing at that indomitable sacred flame.

———

Due to the deluge of water as a result of the rain god’s demise, the surrounding area had flooded.

Debris and garbage were swept by the current and headed towards the sewer entrances, once in a while obstructed by buildings at the side.

Splish splash…

A swollen and frighteningly twisted corpse was fished out, revealing the still fervent look of worship on its face.

An old man dressed in a black suit kept away his umbrella and squatted down, his beady snake-like eyes flickering coldly behind the black steel mask. He reached up and pulled up Heris’ corpse. “Guiding him for so long wasn’t in vain. Truly perfect material indeed.”

Scarlet Sect and White Wolf?

When this bunch had resurrected his disciple in an attempt to assassinate him, Wilde had already decided how they would all die.

Mr. Lin said it well indeed. Be firm and ruthless in all matters and never give an opportunity for things to return and haunt me.

After giving the map of Norzin’s sewer layout and teaching Heris the sacrificial method of using life as fuel, Wilde had watched them massacre one another, eventually destroying themselves from the inside as well as providing him with a tremendous amount of material.

Wilde knew that he had definitely lived up to the bookstore owner’s expectations.