Chapter 2288 - 863: The Black Rose Stirred

"Cunlü" raised an eyebrow and gave a sharp smile. "Elder, look—if it’s a kid from a family like ours, and her ability’s only barely passable, her luck not that great... she finally grinds her way up at Planet Academy, then runs into those kinds of bastards this time, what then?"

She sighed a little. "The Alliance chose to give those bastards a bit of breathing room, so they wouldn’t immediately move their brains onto Academy Star.

Back then, I really could understand that.

But... dear, back then I felt like I feared nothing.

Yet now, all the time I..."

"But, Cunlü." The Old Age Striking King calmly cut her off. "If you keep treating your own kid with that attitude—

then half her future’s going to be blocked off by you yourself.

Do you really want to raise a girl who doesn’t dare compete with anyone?

That’s not how our lives are lived.

Right now, like this, you’re screwing over your own child.

As parents, we give her everything we can give. The rest, we watch how they handle it themselves.

Do you maybe need to go to the hospital and get your mental state checked?

Hard Wind..."

"Don’t... I just suddenly got a bit worked up because of this incident..." Cunlü patted her shoulder. "I’ll be fine soon."

The Duchess suddenly wiggled her butt. "It’s dinner time, Cunlü."

"Ah~ then Elder, we’ll head to the perimeter first." The beautiful Female Priest smiled gently, waved, and said goodbye to the Old Age Striking King.

The Old Age Striking King quietly watched Cunlü’s departing back, shook his head helplessly, then grabbed his tablet and silently contacted a few people.

-----------------

The Underground Trio, who had been watching the clock, charged downward together without hesitation when there were three minutes left until midnight.

This time, their main tactic turned into chucking Alchemical Bombs.

Obviously, they were going straight for the Magic Array on the ground.

So those enemies who’d been really unwilling to cooperate before all worked very hard to unite this time.

Probably, some Boss had laid down a steel order for them.

And in their hearts, all those earlier probes from this trio were clearly just laying the groundwork for this current charge.

If they could suppress Snow Cloud Peak and the other two axes, they’d seize enough time again.

There aren’t any external access routes here... you can only come through their Teleportation Array.

And the person who found this place and isn’t affected by this world’s bizarre terrain absolutely isn’t going to proactively help Proud Sky Alliance.

So even though they were thinking it’d be nice to die a couple fewer times, under such heavy rewards they still paid several dozen lives to block the hundred-plus Alchemical Bombs the trio threw.

Alchemical Bombs that can affect a Magic Array this powerful... even though these three are all people with plenty of wealth and capability, nobody believes they still have many left.

At the very least, there’s no way they can do another bombardment like that.

In that case, Snow Cloud Peak has to come up with a new plan.

As long as the Magic Array remains, no matter how good the plan is, it only brings in a few hundred people... what, you think they can’t call more bodies?

It just turns into a war of attrition.

If they can keep Proud Sky Alliance’s Alliance Hierarch Snow Cloud Peak and the quasi–vice Alliance Hierarch Perfect Bald both stuck here, unable to command the overall situation... heh, then victory’s bound to be theirs.

Nobody thinks they can use this kind of tactic to completely defeat a force as powerful as Proud Sky Alliance.

But if they can make the always-glorious Proud Sky Alliance lose face completely, make the Scattered Ones feel that their side has enough strength to stand against it... there’ll definitely be people willing to come closer to their camp.

Heh~ folks who love to flaunt how extraordinary they are—like "once participated in breaking up and wrecking some former top powerhouse"—are never in short supply.

If Proud Sky Alliance thinks this is all the means they’ve got... heh~ then they’re being way too optimistic.

If they truly had no methods that could hurt Proud Sky Alliance itself, why would they be playing this little game?

Especially some people who’ve already bet their futures... this is a wager where if they lose, they have no choice but to leave this game!

To stake such a massive bet, aside from the benefits they’ve already gotten, there must be a big juicy slab of fresh meat dangling right in front of their eyes!

-----------------

Snow Cloud Peak glanced down, and both hands gripping the guide rope couldn’t help but tremble.

He’d been fearless when jumping down, but now while climbing, why does it feel so damn high... and so creepy!

Perfect Bald gave a cold growl from behind him. "Still not moving—what are you waiting for?

I already said, let Magic Sword pull you over!

Otherwise, if you really fall from here, then all our earlier deaths were for nothing!"

Snow Cloud Peak tilted his head. "I’m really not afraid of heights!

I just... don’t have much confidence in myself.

Let me try walking it on my own!

I’ll keep a tight grip on the rope."

Magic Sword, already squatting in the small hole on the opposite side, lifted the guide rope wrapped around his arm... Even though he isn’t that strong, with Snow Cloud Peak still having Featherfall Technique as a buff on him, even if he falls, Magic Sword can haul him straight back up.

Perfect Bald let out a cold laugh. "Heh~ you really dare pin your life on Magic Sword not screwing up?

Quit messing around.

Close your eyes and just charge forward!

In the end, you’re the one most worth trusting."

Snow Cloud Peak’s expression changed; he stopped caring about that faint unease in his heart and stepped onto the rope bridge with textbook-perfect footing.

Perfect Bald curled his lip... he knew it: even if they’re desk officers, as long as they can serve on a battleship, their balance is never going to be bad.

Heh~ even someone like him, who squats on construction sites year-round, wouldn’t dare say he’s better than Snow Cloud Peak.

This guy just kept up the act so long he’s convinced even himself... and this isn’t some ultra-delicate Spell movement; it’s just crossing a rope bridge.

Tsk~

He left an Array Plate behind him, plus some Alchemical Bombs on the top layer of the facing stone pillars... heh~ how could these people think that a Clan Leader of Black Rose wouldn’t have a big enough storage space!

Sure, the money in his wallet is out of his own Control, but in-game cash, that he can still spend!

Who do they look down on~ a bunch of little punks.

They don’t understand the joys of being an adult at all.

Light-footed, he crossed the rope bridge straight to the far side. Watching his tiger buddy deftly unfasten the rope bridge at that end, Perfect Bald pulled the rope bridge into the small cave while waving a hand to summon that huge tiger back into his partner space.

Heh heh~ his tiger, ever since going to Toril once, seems to have gotten stronger.

Especially the paws—they really have gotten a lot more nimble.

Perfect Bald took out the tools from his bag, glanced around at the cave’s material, and cleverly mixed in some ore fragments, perfectly hiding the entrance.

At least, unless you search inch by inch, just looking with your eyes you definitely won’t spot any difference.

Magic Sword’s professional standards are absolutely beyond doubt... the angle where he dug this hole, that skew, is exactly the kind of thing ordinary people would never think of at first glance.

The dial is split into twelve sectors; when there’s no hand pointing out a specific interval, untrained Humans will always easily overlook certain blind spots.

Of course, all of this still needs a little gadget that can guard against Magic guidance.

He gently fused that little sphere into the stone wall at the cave entrance. Perfect Bald nodded in satisfaction, then turned to chase after the two who had already gone quite a ways ahead.

Magic Sword was cooperating with him, and the two had already dug out a 500-meter passage.

Perfect Bald had of course noticed: even though digging the tunnel wasn’t that hard for them... it was all their own handiwork, after all... the sand and gravel under the earth seemed to be slowly growing back in.

If they actually needed this underground passage, that thing would be lethal.

Perfect Bald hadn’t even reached the end yet when he saw Snow Cloud Peak squatting on the ground, scribbling and drawing: "What are you doing, Old Dog?"

"I can’t help with the labor. If I don’t keep myself busy with something else, I’ll feel I’m letting Magic Sword’s hard work go to waste." Snow Cloud Peak raised his head with a smile, then couldn’t help freezing for a moment... a hint of amusement flashed in his eyes, and his expression said, "Knew you’d come."

Perfect Bald’s figure suddenly turned a bit translucent... that was the protective glow from logging off in the wild.

It only lasts two minutes.

But for most people, that’s plenty.

In Interstellar Society, either something big’s gone down, or you’re coming right back.

And once it’s something big, who still cares about a little loss in the game.

Anyone who can come back immediately will absolutely make good use of those two minutes.

Perfect Bald was no exception.

But when he logged back in, he wore the look of someone badly constipated: "Old Dog, how the hell did you figure that brat’s dirtiest move would be to go after people through our clan?"

"Who?" Snow Cloud Peak lazily got to his feet.

"Cunlü and Hard Wind." Perfect Bald sighed.

"Mm... not surprising.

Given Hard Wind’s job, for someone who leans on clan power, it’s definitely the easiest place to strike.

And he has some ties to the art world too.

Actually, you should’ve sensed it yourself by now.

This whole thing is absolutely not just some little spat between students.

There’s someone who wants to make Young Master feel disgusted and miserable, but can’t afford to actually go hard on him... and still wants enough wiggle room to turn around later and graciously accept Young Master’s goodwill.

Heh~

If it were only that kid who doesn’t even know what he’s doing, he’d never be able to handle Zhu Meili."

He patted the cave wall: "That underground karst cave of theirs is definitely not natural.

Yet all around the cave, there isn’t any Array blocking the sand and gravel from self-repairing.

Heh~

And I just happen to know that Zhu Meili’s new lover from Night Butterfly is the Lord of Earth.

A Lord of Earth who is extremely good at controlling land,

that thing—even with this kind of bizarre earth right now—would still show him some courtesy."

"Lu Huayu is being a bit too quiet as well." Perfect Bald nodded. "The spectacle he’s here to watch might not be for just anyone.

The Apocalyptic Boss went all the way to Aesces, but for some reason didn’t come here.

Eh~

How long have I even been at peace?"

"You don’t seem all that worried about Cunlü." Snow Cloud Peak asked curiously.