Death… And Me

Chapter 4368: The Conclusion

The elite exploration groups had been put on hold since the last war the twins’ group participated in. That didn’t mean they were sitting around doing nothing, however. Instead, most of them had been reassigned to a different mission entirely: protecting the cultivators working on the Godly Crystal Farm.

After all, the farm wasn’t located inside the crater itself. It sat slightly outside the area affected by the crater’s lingering energy, which meant Godly Creatures could still approach it if they wished. Normally, they avoided the region because of its proximity to the crater, but there was never a guarantee they would continue doing so forever.

Because of that, the elite exploration groups, along with many other experts, received orders to continuously clear the surrounding areas. Rather than venturing deeper into the Godly Creatures Territories, they remained around the farm’s perimeter, eliminating threats before they could gather in significant numbers.

Today, an airplane approached the farm.

Several cultivators immediately recognized it.

Although a few details had changed since the last time it appeared, the overall design remained unmistakable. Its light-blue and golden exterior reflected the sunlight as it descended from the sky, attracting the attention of everyone present. The airplane eventually landed near the area where the Mysterious Godly Crystal would be kept once the project was officially activated.

Naturally, it could only be Rean’s airplane.

The door opened, and Rean stepped outside, followed by Dristan and several other members of the Arrays Guild.

”Well, well, well!” Rean exclaimed as he looked around. ”Would you look at that? The protective arrays seem even more advanced this time around. At this rate, even Godly Horrors would need quite a while to break through them.”

Flugel, who had been personally overseeing the reconstruction efforts, immediately approached.

”Obviously,” he replied with a snort. ”After the previous failure, I made absolutely sure everything was flawless. Tobao even ordered me to send you all the blueprints so you could inspect them personally. Although it bothers me, I suppose I don’t really have a choice under the current circumstances. It will take a while before everyone fully trusts me again.”

Rean smiled before accessing his RC and making several copies of the information. A moment later, the blueprints were distributed to every member of his group.

”Alright, everyone,” he said. ”We’ll enter the arrays and inspect every rune individually. The blueprints themselves are correct, so all we need to do is verify that the construction matches them exactly. To avoid any possibility of mistakes slipping through, we’ll repeatedly inspect the same sections from different angles and in random order.”

Naturally, Rean had another objective as well.

The previous incident had proven that traitors could be hiding almost anywhere. By having his own people repeatedly verify one another’s work while checking the arrays, he was also demonstrating that the Arrays Guild personnel accompanying him weren’t secretly sabotaging the project.

At the very least, even if one of them had somehow been compromised, they wouldn’t be able to accomplish anything under those circumstances.

Not long afterward, Tobao arrived at the farm and noticed that Rean’s group had already begun their inspection.

”Rean.”

Rean glanced over briefly before returning his attention to the array runes.

”Oh, friend Tobao. It shouldn’t take us very long to finish. So far, everything appears to be in order. Honestly, the work has been done extremely well. As expected of Guild Master Flugel.”

Flugel immediately raised his chin.

”Hmph! Naturally.”

Tobao simply nodded.

He hadn’t come to interfere with the inspection. His only concern was making absolutely certain that no hidden flaws or backdoors remained within the project. The last incident had taught him just how costly a single overlooked detail could become.

”Just let me know if you need anything,” he said before stepping aside.

Truthfully, Tobao no longer treated the twins’ group the same way he treated ordinary Anchor Gods. Although they had only ascended a few years ago, their abilities, accomplishments, and insight made conversations with them feel more like discussions between peers than exchanges between senior and junior cultivators.

Meanwhile, Flugel remained nearby and personally observed Rean’s group as they worked.

Several hours passed before Rean, Dristan, and the others finally emerged from the protective arrays.

The result wasn’t surprising.

”Senior Tobao,” Rean reported, ”the protective arrays are good to go.”

Tobao gave a satisfied nod. ”Good. Is there any chance some strange backdoor was added again?”

Rean shrugged.

”Well, I’m very skilled when it comes to arrays, inscriptions, and blacksmithing. I inspected the structures, inscriptions, and arrays used throughout the project and didn’t find anything suspicious. That said, I’ve only been in the Celestial Realm for a little under three years. I can’t completely rule out the possibility that something beyond my knowledge exists. In terms of pure array expertise, Senior Flugel is still ahead of me.”

Flugel immediately continued from there. ”And it wasn’t only me doing the inspections. I repeated the verification process over and over with my own masters. Unless the impossible happened and every member of both my group and Rean’s group turned out to be traitors to Besgol, everything should be fine.”

Rean nodded in agreement. ”I make friend Flugel’s words mine.”

Tobao knew there wasn’t much more that could realistically be done. ”Very well.”

A little over ten minutes later, a powerful aura descended from the sky.

Arcis had arrived.

The massive demon bird carried the Mysterious Godly Crystal in his talons as he landed beside the pedestal at the center of the farm. Even after everything that had happened, the crystal still emitted a strange allure that made it difficult to look away.

Arcis glanced toward Tobao. ”You sure about this?”

”Yes,” Tobao replied without hesitation. ”If we still lose the crystal after all of this, then perhaps we were simply never destined to possess it.”

Arcis didn’t argue.

Carefully, he placed the crystal atop the pedestal.

The effect was immediate.

Every array and inscription within the facility activated simultaneously.

Powerful waves of energy surged throughout the farm as countless runes lit up one after another. The pressure generated by the system was so overwhelming that even Arcis was immediately pushed away from the pedestal’s vicinity despite being a Law God.

Arcis couldn’t help but stare.

”That’s ridiculous. Just how many Godly Crystals are required to keep all of this running?”

”A lot,” Flugel answered honestly. ”Which means this farm had better attract plenty of Godly Spawns and Godly Beasts. Otherwise, the operation won’t be worth the resources invested in it.”

With everything finally in place, all that remained was to wait.

Around an hour later, Tobao checked the reports arriving through his RC.

Just as expected, Godly Creatures had begun moving toward the farm.

”They truly can’t ignore the allure of a crystal like this...”

The moment the reports were confirmed, Tobao immediately issued new orders.

All personnel withdrew into the protected sections of the farm.

Behind them stood the crater itself, whose lingering energy naturally repelled Godly Creatures. If the situation ever became unmanageable, retreating toward the crater remained an option. As for the farm, it had been specifically designed to draw creatures in and eliminate them efficiently through a combination of cultivators and specialized slaughtering arrays.

One of the greatest advantages of the facility was its connection to the crater.

Through an intricate network of arrays, the farm could channel portions of the lingering energy contained within the crater itself. If too many Godly Creatures gathered at once, that energy could be released directly into the farm’s surroundings.

The effect was devastating.

For reasons nobody fully understood, the lingering energy acted almost like a natural nemesis to Godly Creatures. Whenever they encountered it, their instinct was to flee immediately.

As a result, the farm possessed a built-in method of regulating the number of enemies it faced at any given time.

Everything had been prepared.

The combat cultivators took their positions.

The support personnel responsible for collecting corpses and extracting materials stood ready behind the front lines.

The slaughtering arrays activated.

The support arrays activated as well, boosting the strength of the cultivators stationed throughout the facility.

Then, at long last, the first guests arrived.

*ROAR!*

Leading the charge were six Godly Beasts.

Behind them came nearly a hundred Godly Spawns.

All of them belonged to the same heavily armored species, making it obvious that one of their territories was located nearby. Drawn by the irresistible presence of the Mysterious Godly Crystal, they charged toward the farm without hesitation.

The cultivators waiting at the front immediately moved.

”Kill!”

The order echoed across the battlefield.

Countless attacks erupted at once, and the Godly Crystal Farm officially began its operation.

Now, only time would tell whether this ambitious project would become the success everyone hoped for.