Netherworld Retrograde

Capítulo 904: Chapter 427: Dispute

In the early days of discovering the second layer, the officials had contact with various city-states.

The second layer has five city-states and numerous villages, with each great noble family occupying considerable territory and resources.

Among the natives, there was even an elder of Overlord level, with several Sixth Sense individuals as well.

The so-called nobles were, in fact, families who monopolized the knowledge of spiritual energy in this space, thereby blocking the path for commons and slaves to become spiritual ability users.

Even if someone among the commons or slaves miraculously became a spiritual ability user, without the corresponding knowledge and precautions, they could easily become twisted and turn into sufferers.

An illegal spiritual ability user can bring unimaginable catastrophes. If such a person has sufficiently strong talent, it could even lead to a situation where Void Realm creatures invade the real world. There have been cases in the Giant City where an illegal spiritual ability user summoned a Chaos Demon.

For the common people, the emergence of each sufferer only served to confirm the noble bloodline of the nobles.

See, only the bloodline of the nobles can wield such formidable power, and other fools who steal power only bring disaster.

Thus, the class structure solidified. Even if someone became a spiritual ability user, the best option was to swear loyalty to a noble.

Therefore, initially, the city-states had a very unfriendly attitude towards outsiders.

All the official forces were spiritual ability users, and there was even one Overlord among them.

Some sought to recruit this external strength; others wanted to attack and seize their equipment and knowledge, while others remained wary of the outsiders’ intentions.

Until Captain Yang Chen, with a single punch, killed one of the Overlord-level extraordinary creatures they worshipped, which completely changed their attitude.

Afterward, they became very amicable.

Some of them wanted to leave the second layer and go to the external world and were pleased to cooperate with outsiders (official forces). They even formulated cooperation plans.

These included contacting nearby Giant Cities for population migration and special trade.

Some families, fearful of the unknown external world, as they were local tyrants at Ten Thousand Dragon Lake, having everything they wanted, hesitated to return to the Giant City’s order in the external world.

Though there were differences of opinion, both sides still managed to reach cooperation.

Meanwhile, the Heartless Fruit had quietly spread at that time, with the incitement of deeply hidden Jile believers.

Wars and conflicts between city-states continued to escalate, increasing the spread of the Heartless Fruit.

By the time the official forces reached the third layer and discovered the Heartless Fruit’s existence, everything was already too late, as they were almost all infected.

Some city-states even chose to turn against the officials of the Giant City, possibly due to the Heartless Fruit’s influence or because they were Jile believers from the start.

A power struggle erupted among the great nobles, and the city-states were thrown into turmoil.

At the same time, terrifying sieges began, with Yang Chen and Captain Cang Bai trapped in the lost third layer.

Several Sixth Sense natives, leading a large force, launched a siege against the officials.

However, they underestimated Champion Team One, and underestimated the Giant City Night Patrol!

Even without their captain, they remained the sharpest blade of the Giant City. Teams One and Five joined forces to battle a vast number of enemy troops.

Several Sixth Sense natives were slain, and their family elites were almost wiped out.

Of course, this led to subsequent chaos, where under the temptation of the Heartless Fruit, the conflicts between city-states and between nobles became dramatically intense.

Indeed, some indigenous families seemed to have sensed something was wrong, withdrawing their legions and not participating in the chaos.

But just because they didn’t want to participate, didn’t mean they could avoid it.

Under the manipulation of the Jile Sect, this space was engulfed in warfare.

The successfully breaking-out official forces, due to the presence of the Heartless Fruit, scattered and hid, ready at any time to thwart the city-states’ plans to open passages.

“Some comrades got separated in the chaos, completely losing contact, life and death unknown, possibly captured, possibly killed in battle. Those lurking within the city-states are all looking for their traces,” said Moon Shadow. “And last night, they found the location of some captured individuals.”

“Hence this emergency gathering… is for a rescue mission?” Li Yelai asked.

“Correct. The infiltrators’ strength is insufficient to rescue all of them. Hence, they have sent out a signal,” said Moon Shadow.

At this moment, someone spoke up: “Could it be a trap deliberately disclosed?”

“Possible, but unlikely… If they truly wanted to lure us out, they could openly execute the captives. The infiltrators confirmed the location and target using Taboo Items.”

“However, this seems to be the Jile Sect’s trump card, so we might be facing the Jile’s legion.”

Moon Shadow nodded: “I understand, but we also have cards they don’t know about.”

As he spoke, Moon Shadow took out a wooden box from his pocket.

Inside were nearly a thousand Golden Peas.

For supporting Champion Team One, the officials brought a large number of Imitative Heavenly Soldiers.

Sword Madman’s share was also in Li Yelai’s hands.

Including the ones Moon Shadow carried, the three thousand Imitative Heavenly Soldiers were sufficient to form a terrifying spiritual power army.

The Imitative Heavenly Soldiers were indeed inferior to equivalent tier spiritual ability users, as they only had an interface and, apart from instant teleportation every three seconds and weapon proficiency, had limited offensive ability.

However, in an environment like Ten Thousand Dragon Lake, they remain a force not to be underestimated.

“But… if they have been captured, they may already be twisted,” said a voice from Ye Boshou eerily.

“Does that mean we should give up on them?” another voice from Ye Boshou asked coldly. “They are our comrades, who fought alongside us. Now, being captured, it is our duty to save them. Even if they are twisted, we should still lay them to rest!”