"Priest Zhong Ye, you were looking for me?"
Following the instructions in the message, Nana entered Priest Zhong Ye's room alone.
She wore a long face, looking utterly listless.
Looking up, she saw Li Ban—who was supposedly missing—standing perfectly fine beside Priest Zhong Ye.
A pleasant surprise instantly lit up her face, and she opened her mouth to speak.
Li Ban pressed an index finger to his lips. "Shh."
Nana hurriedly covered her mouth with both hands, afraid she might cry out if she was a second too late.
"Nana, give me the notes. I'm leaving this place right away."
"Ah, Priest Ban, have you run into some trouble?"
"No." Li Ban took the notes Nana handed over and flipped through them. "But there's something I need to do right now, so I'll be leaving the Alliance temporarily. Don't tell outsiders anything else—just say I left on business. It's best to keep them guessing."
Priest Zhong Ye understood that Li Ban wanted to create a smokescreen so no one could figure out his whereabouts or whether he was still around. He pulled the confused Nana over and nodded.
"Alright. Whatever it is you need to do, go ahead and do it without worry."
He then pointed to a small wooden box on the table. "Take this with you as well. Just in case... you can use it to replenish yourself."
Li Ban shook his head. "I still have some."
Without wasting another second, he vanished right in front of them.
Looking at the suddenly empty room, Nana stepped forward, a sense of loss washing over her.
"Nana," Priest Zhong Ye called out to her. Seeing her turn around with the disappointment still evident on her face, he said softly, "You two are from different worlds."
Nana pursed her lips. "I know, Lord Priest. I didn't have any other thoughts."
She just occasionally recalled the sight of Li Ban when she had first found him out in the wilderness.
Unfortunately, everything had changed the moment he opened his eyes.
Du An flew rapidly through the air ahead.
Behind him, the ugly Black Robe pursuing him had lost his mocking expression, replaced by sheer disbelief.
"How is this Cloud Hidden Priest... so strong? Shouldn't his spiritual rhinoceros have been drained a long time ago?"
Because he had been constantly hounding Du An, denying him any chance to enter the nearby minor worlds, the Black Robe had assumed his target's spiritual rhinoceros was on the verge of running dry.
After all, shifting through the inter-realm crevices consumed a massive amount of spiritual rhinoceros.
Yet, the man showed absolutely no signs of exhaustion.
Thinking back to how Du An had suddenly burst with power to escape his grasp—not only moving at blistering speeds but sustaining them effortlessly—the Black Robe found it utterly incomprehensible.
"That Spirit Awakening Priest from before managed to escape my Starlight Domain, and now this Cloud Hidden Priest is just as formidable. Since when did these White Robes, who don't even dare to snatch Wizard Embryo Fragments, become so strong?"
Just as he decided to abandon the war of attrition and accelerate to intercept Du An, a massive swarm of Silver Fragments suddenly materialized in front of him.
These fragments shot rapidly toward him like meteorites in the starry void.
"Hmph!" The Black Robe sneered coldly and unfurled his Starlight Domain. The surrounding Silver Fragments instantly froze in mid-air. He was just about to throw a taunt at Du An when his brow twitched, and he immediately turned and sped away.
Behind the myriad Silver Fragments, the figure of another white-robed priest emerged.
He was stern and unsmiling, his gaze cold. He simply watched the direction the Black Robe had fled without giving chase.
Du An, panting slightly, flew to the white-robed priest's side. "Priest Jun, should we pursue him?"
He wasn't in the habit of letting his enemies go.
However, Priest Jun shook his head. "That Black Robe is named Tou Wu. He hides on the fringes of collapsing worlds all year round and is extremely skilled at evasion. If we can't completely surround him, neither of us can catch up to him with our speed."
Du An frowned inwardly. It was a pity that the one who responded to his signal this time was only a Star Glow Priest. If it had been a Dark Moon Priest like Zhu Yao, they could have attempted a long-range hunt.
That way, by luring out a Black Robe, he could have earned some merit.
Now he owed Priest Jun a favor, and since the other man refused to risk pursuing the enemy, Du An had no other choice.
If he kept flying like this, his spiritual rhinoceros wouldn't be able to hold out much longer anyway.
Du An's Wizard Embryo Fragment originally possessed the aptitude to elevate him straight to a 6th Tier Star Glow Priest. Had his soul not been suppressed, he wouldn't have needed to slowly climb his way up from the 5th Tier.
He sighed silently before regaining his calm. Turning to Priest Jun, he cupped his fists in a salute. "Thank you for your assistance, Priest Jun."
Priest Jun shook his head. "I didn't do much. As for you, you've been in the Shattered Realm for so long—it's time you headed back."
This time, Du An truly frowned. He had just found traces of the Leader and Chen Dong; how could he return now?
"My apologies, Priest Jun. I still have matters to attend to. I cannot return to the Wizard World for the time being."
Priest Jun's expression soured. "No. The Unreturning Place has seen frequent Corpse Worm outbreaks lately, and we are in dire need of manpower. You're a new priest; it is only right that you contribute more to the Myriad Ancient Pagoda. Besides, look at your Realm-Breaking Stone—"
Du An glanced down. The Realm-Breaking Stone was perfectly intact, but the light emanating from it had grown exceedingly dim.
He had just used the Realm-Breaking Stone to fly through the inter-realm crevices for a long time, and communicating across space with a nearby priest had drained a massive amount of its energy. It was clear the stone wouldn't last much longer.
Although Du An still had a spare Realm-Breaking Stone, the Myriad Ancient Pagoda's strict warning to its priests was that the moment they lacked a backup stone, they must rush back to the Wizard World immediately.
Getting trapped in the inter-realm crevices was no laughing matter.
Du An thought helplessly, The Leader is probably already in hiding by now. However, even though he has a Realm-Breaking Stone, he remains in the Trash Realm—he must have a necessary reason for staying there. I'm already a long way from the Trash Realm. I'll just wait until I get a fresh Realm-Breaking Stone before I go look for him again.
He gave a nod. "Let's leave, then."
After leaving the Northern Base, Li Ban rode off on the motorcycle belonging to Priest Huangzhi's contact.
The base had finally noticed the anomaly and was plunged into chaos.
However, with Priest Zhong Ye present, his fully recovered body would surely allow him to quickly assimilate Priest Huangzhi's squad.
With that, they would have firmly established their foothold in the Northern Base.
Li Ban's next destination was—Trash City.
If there was anywhere with a more advanced reader than the Northern Base, it was only Trash City.
—
Li Ban's initial concern was that all the machines in Trash City were connected to the Main Brain.
Once he used a reader to scan Gu Yi's suicide note, the Main Brain would instantly know its contents.
However, after learning how to operate the tech from Nana for a few days, he discovered that he could physically disconnect a machine from the network, preventing the Main Brain from reading its data.
Li Ban wasn't very familiar with the technology of the Trash Realm, so even after learning, he had Nana write down a guide he could use for reference at any time.
He changed into a fresh set of clothes, then rode his motorcycle toward Trash City.
Finding a few hidden bases wasn't easy, but finding Trash City was incredibly simple.
Trash City sat dead in the center of the Trash Realm without the slightest concealment. As soon as one got remotely close to the central region, patrolling mecha soldiers and Mechanical Dogs were visible everywhere.
Whenever it was time for their shift rotation, they would return to Trash City to recharge their energy and undergo repairs.
Li Ban spent three or four days on the road before finally arriving at the outskirts of Trash City.
Large-scale spatial rifts frequently appeared here, but there were almost always people from Trash City guarding the area to collect useful supplies.
The Ash League, entirely outmatched by Trash City in both numbers and firepower, practically never showed up here.
If they did, it was merely on a rare, occasional foray.
A quick robbery.
They fought fast, ended it fast, and ran the moment they grabbed the loot.
Otherwise, if the local soldiers tagged them with a combat marker, the arriving reinforcements would surround them and wipe them out completely.
Upon reaching this point, Li Ban ditched the motorcycle.
Otherwise, it would be too large and obvious a target.
Not long after ditching the bike, Li Ban happened to see a new spatial rift forming.
He ducked into a nearby pile of scrap metal, pulled out a pair of binoculars he had scavenged from the motorcycle, and observed from afar.
Sure enough, a squad of Trash City soldiers rushed over soon after.
There were fifty or sixty soldiers in total. They didn't wear full-body armor; in fact, most of them only had mechanical prosthetics and localized defensive gear.
Had it not been for the prominent triangular emblem of Trash City marked on their bodies, they could easily be mistaken for an ordinary wandering squad or a group of scavengers.
Hiding in the shadows, Li Ban noticed that while their gear was inferior to the mecha warriors, their movements were swift. Every individual carried out their assigned role—they were clearly well-trained.
The group quickly measured the perimeter of the rift and established a quarantine zone beneath it. Some of them stood with their backs against the zone, guarding the surroundings to prevent any sneak attacks.
Another eight men split into pairs and headed in four different directions to scout the area.
Their movements were exceptionally standardized—it was as if even the length of their strides was identical.
This was different from the synchronized inertia born of long-term training; it carried a prescribed, mechanical rigidity.
It was as if they were human before the operation began, but the moment they went into action, they all morphed into intelligent robots.
Li Ban watched from the sidelines for a while, memorizing everyone's roles and movements, waiting until objects began falling from the rift.
A thunderous rumble shook the ground.
A massive quantity of objects tumbled out of the rift.
Li Ban even spotted a few mangled corpses among the falling debris.
He sensed people approaching nearby, though they were hiding in the shadows just as he was.
The Trash City squad guarding the spatial rift maintained a watertight defense. Even after all the objects had fallen and the swirling dust had slowly settled, no one in the vicinity launched an attack.
'They probably calculated that the success rate of making a move is too low.'
Taking advantage of the lingering commotion before the area completely quieted down, Li Ban silently slipped away.
After traveling for another two hours, he encountered another Trash City squad.
This time, the squad was far more undisciplined.
Ironically, this lax squad was made up of twelve full-body mecha warriors.
Perhaps they relied on their overwhelming firepower and high defense, feeling no need to adhere to battlefield protocols?
Regardless, this was exactly the kind of squad Li Ban liked.
Knowing that Smart Mechas possessed powerful reconnaissance functions, Li Ban remained extremely careful, keeping his distance.
After tailing them for a while, two of the soldiers broke off and ducked behind a pile of garbage.
One of them opened the upper half of his mecha armor, fished out a small cylinder from his inner clothes, glanced left and right, and pressed it against a vein on his left arm.
The vein bulged slightly, as if liquid was being injected into it.
His companion helped keep watch, and the two stood back-to-back.
After taking the shot, the soldier wiped the sweat from his forehead, let out a long sigh of relief, and casually tossed the spent cylinder into the nearby trash pile.
"You need to control your dosage," the soldier behind him said softly. "You can't keep sneaking off to shoot up using the bathroom as an excuse. If the captain finds out, my points will get deducted too, and you can kiss your chances of joining the patrol squad goodbye."
The soldier who had just shot up still had a hazy look in his eyes. "If I eat less, I won't need to use the bathroom, right? This is a new drug. I bought it while gaming just to try it out—who knew the withdrawal symptoms would be this severe? Once we head back, I'm getting rehab surgery. I'm never touching this brand again."
"Have you wasted all the points you earned on this stuff? No wonder you still haven't caught up to your brother's rank."
"Tch, what does it matter if I catch up or not? The Main Brain advised my dad that my brother is better suited to inherit his pharmaceutical factory. The absolute best outcome for my life—is becoming a patrol squad captain."
The drug-using youth revealed a youthful face; he looked no more than eighteen or nineteen years old.
He stared at the massive rift in the distance, his cheek twitching slightly.
The other man had no time to listen to his lamentations. "Hurry up and put your armor back on, we need to head back. If you actually need to use the bathroom later, don't ask me to come with you. I don't want the captain getting suspicious."
The young man curled his lips in displeasure, knowing full well that this so-called companion had only been bought with points.
Ever since the Main Brain deemed him unfit to inherit the pharmaceutical factory, all his old gaming and drinking buddies had vanished.
His entire social circle had dropped a tier.
He certainly didn't think he was unfit to be the heir, but unfortunately, everyone was forced to obey the Main Brain's arrangements.
Furthermore, his father was a beneficiary of the Main Brain's dictates, making him one of its most steadfast supporters.
In fact, almost all the upper echelon of Trash City were beneficiaries, and they resolutely defended all of the Main Brain's authority.
Of course, if anyone dared to rebel, the Main Brain could instantly revoke all their privileges. The chips in their brains would self-destruct in a split second, dealing precise damage to the brainstem to guarantee the native body remained as fresh as possible.
So while the young man complained, that was all he dared to do; he absolutely lacked the courage to step out of line.
Just as he lowered his head, preparing to seal his mecha armor, a figure suddenly appeared in the rearview mirror on his arm.
The appearance was so abrupt that it instantly reminded him of a certain existence that even the upper echelons of Trash City feared.
A priest?!
He reached out and smashed the alarm button, yet he heard no siren, nor did he see any warning beams light up.
Why was his Smart Mecha unresponsive?
Remaining in his fixed posture, he could still see that sudden figure in the mirror.
The man seemed to have one hand pressed against his back, and the other hand pressed against his companion's.
'Neither of our mechas triggered the enemy proximity warning. Did this priest use some sort of spell?'
Running out of time, the young man had no choice but to rely on the most primitive method of warning—shouting.
The moment he opened his mouth, a sudden jolt wracked his brain. He froze in place, unable to produce even half a sound.
Though the companion behind him also had his mecha touched, he was unaffected. He continued to look around, urging the youth to hurry.
The young man lost all perception of his surroundings. Before he could issue a warning, he blacked out.
The companion waited for a minute before pressing again, "Shen 19, hurry up, or the captain will get suspicious. If you're going to be this slow every time, I'm not covering for you again."
A few seconds later—
"Done."
The companion turned around, seeing Shen 19 fully suited up in his mecha armor, though he hadn't noticed when it happened.
Having just used 'Directive Tampering', Li Ban glanced at the foolproof operation guide on the screen and raised the Laser Gun in his hands.
"Let's go."