Sanctuary Paradise

Chapter 860 "The Wise Man" [5.3k words]

As soon as he finished speaking, Mingyu walked through the crowd to a corner. He looked at the burly man with tattoos covering most of his body with black, vein-like lines and the limping middle-aged man, remained silent for a moment, then looked at the sickly-looking woman beside him and said:

"how is the situation?"

"It's terrible. Both this guy and Ghost Fiend are too badly injured. Even though they were kept alive by Evil Madness's Blood Resurrection Technique and my blood pact, it can only delay the outbreak of the curse in their bodies at best."

Dusk, who was the only professional healer present due to her vampire profession, shook her head, sighed softly, and showed a strong sense of exhaustion on her pale face.

"..."

"Heh, what kind of look is that? I was only standing there because I couldn't dodge it. Did you really think I wanted to save you, you sly ghost?"

Upon hearing this, Mingyu remained silent, simply watching the tattooed, muscular man whose maximum lifespan was steadily decreasing. The man, in turn, grinned and chuckled, mocking him with a disdainful tone.

"Say what you want, but you'd better hurry up and recover your strength. My Five Prisons Seal can only delay that guy for a quarter of an hour at most. We must move to a new shelter during this time."

Faced with Ghost Dragon's mockery, Mingyu showed no anger or displeasure. He merely glanced at the other man before speaking with unusual calm. Just as he was about to turn and leave—

"Oh, so what? I'm not planning on leaving anyway."

As soon as he finished speaking, the necromancer, who was about to turn and leave, stopped in his tracks.

"what do you mean."

"Huh? What else could it mean? I'm not interested in hiding anymore, understand now?" Guilong said, waving his hand as if shooing someone away, and said with a look of disgust, "If you want to leave, you gloomy ghost, just get lost. Anyway, I have no interest in continuing to serve you..."

Boom——! !

Before the tattooed burly man could finish speaking, a whooshing sound suddenly rushed past his face. Ming Yu lunged forward, grabbed Gui Long by the throat, dragged him up from the ground, and slammed him heavily against the rock wall. His expression was ashen as he spoke:

"Ghost Dragon, do you really think I wouldn't dare to attack you?!"

"Planning to stay here? There's a limit to stupidity! If you're so eager to die, I can..."

"Heh, isn't it this cunning ghost who's stupid?!" Before Mingyu could finish speaking, Guilong sneered twice, openly mocking him and interrupting Mingyu's words:
"Open your dog eyes and take a good look, you surnamed Ming. Do you really think that these remaining rotten fish and shrimps can act according to your bullshit plan?!"

"Those missing arms, those with broken legs, those about to die... tell me, how long do you plan to keep these guys crawling around like rats? And how long can these guys keep up with your antics?!"

"Do you know why I'm so annoyed by you scumbags? It's because you always think that as long as there's a suitable reason, everyone should act according to your bullshit rationality, and that anyone, whether human or dog, can complete the bullshit plans in your heads."

As Guilong spoke, he pointed to the group of contractors sitting against the wall not far away, completely oblivious to the situation, their faces ashen as if they had resigned themselves to their fate, and mocked them.

Upon hearing this, Mingyu instinctively wanted to retort, but when he saw the contractors not far away, some groaning in pain and others with vacant eyes, he seemed to be choked by something and couldn't say a word.

"Admit it, you surnamed Ming. Whether it's me or those guys, we've long been a burden to you, making it impossible for us to follow your bullshit plans."

"Therefore, no matter what other bullshit plans you have, I only have one thing to say: if you want to get lost, find a rat hole to hide in, and don't even think about dragging me along!"

Guilong sneered, spat, and said disdainfully to the silent Mingyu before him. Just then, Old Man Hantui, who had barely regained consciousness, struggled to his feet, leaning against the wall, and said weakly to Mingyu:
"Well... although I don't quite agree with some of the Ghost Dragon brothers' actions, I have to admit that what he said this time is indeed very reasonable."

"Netherworld, abandon us." Old Man with Cold Legs said, his eyes lowered as he gazed at the silent, cloaked youth before him.

"You should know very well that, given the current situation, forcing us to hide together will only result in the total annihilation of everyone."

"On the contrary, if you and Twilight Melancholy and the others abandon us, it is more likely that you will survive until the rescue arrives."

"..."

Mingyu listened to the old man's story without speaking, while Xie Kuang, who was originally on the other side, limped over, put his hand on the old man's shoulder, and coughed as he said:

"Ahem, although I personally have no interest in kicking the bucket here, I have to admit that Old Man with Cold Legs is right."

“Now, apart from you, Twilight, and Melancholy, the rest of us have been severely affected by the curse that came with that abyssal creature’s attack. And judging from how quickly it found us, this thing might even have a tracking effect.”

“In this situation, Lao Ming, you should understand better than me that continuing to lead everyone will only lead to certain death. Only by leaving us here can we have any hope of surviving until rescue arrives.”

"Besides... to be honest, you've done enough along the way. If it weren't for the methods and plans you prepared, we would probably have been dead in the stronghold by now. To have escaped death twice in a row like this is already a very lucky outcome."

As Xie Kuang spoke, he let out a muffled groan, and streaks of dark blood oozed from his mouth and nose. Upon seeing this, he reached out and wiped it away, clicking his tongue lightly.
"Tsk, this curse is really troublesome. It spreads faster with just a little movement."

"I have only one request." A somewhat chilling voice rang out. The masked youth, who had also awakened, leaned against the rock wall, looked up at the necromancer before him, and spoke in an icy tone:

"If you survive, please tell that guy Black Sword to kill a few more Abyss Clan members, or I will haunt him even in death."

After the masked youth finished speaking, he closed his eyes again, looking like he was calmly waiting for death. Mingyu watched this scene, glanced at Old Cold Leg and Xie Kuang and the others beside him, and remained silent for a while before letting go of his hand, allowing Ghost Dragon to fall to the ground. He then slapped Xie Kuang's hand away, walked silently to the area where the Abyss Suppression was placed, and placed his hand on it.

Om-! !

The next second, dense death energy emerged from beneath the cloaked youth's feet, outlining the prototype of a teleportation array. Xie Kuang and Lao Hantui, who were not far away, breathed a slight sigh of relief as they watched this scene.

"Ahem... Twilight, Melancholy, you two go over there too. Let us old, weak, and disabled folks rest here alone for a while..."

"You can just stay there."

Before Old Man Cold Legs could finish speaking, Ming Yu's icy voice suddenly rang out. He stood before the Abyss Suppression Device, whose top was barely visible from the ground, glanced at Old Man Cold Legs and the others behind him, and said:

"This is not a teleportation array for retreat."

It's not a teleportation array for retreat?!
As the cloaked youth finished speaking, the lame middle-aged man, the blood-haired youth, and the others were taken aback, and then—

[Note: Permission settings are complete. Since the current master control of the Abyss Suppression Device has been transferred to Contractor Twilight, the settings of the former master control holder, Netherworld, have been automatically reset.]

[Note: Due to the failure of the blocked information, the blocked information has now been redistributed to notary offices within the region.]

[Prompt: Element bridging response detected. Switch to bridging mode and respond if/if not (This message was sent 1 hour, 16 minutes, and 38 seconds ago)]

As the Underworld operated, a series of notification sounds rang out in the minds of everyone present, causing many contractors to be startled and subconsciously look in the direction of the Abyss Suppression Device.

"Hey, Underworld Prison, what exactly is this...?"

“An hour ago, just as I was preparing to put the Abyss Curse to sleep, I received an elemental barrier bridging request from another outpost.”

"But I judged that none of you present had the strength to hold the Abyss Suppression Device until the Elemental Barrier was completed, so at that time, I unilaterally blocked this information."

Unilaterally blocking element bridging requests?
Wait, doesn't this mean...?

"You bastard...do you mean you stood up for me and acted like a coward?!"

A furious growl rang out, and the Ghost Dragon, who should have been tormented by the curse to the point of being unable to move, suddenly raised his head and stared intently at the Underworld Prison located in front of the Abyss Suppression Device, gritting his teeth and growling as he questioned.

Not only him, but also many of the top-tier surviving contractors present changed their expressions slightly after Mingyu uttered those words.

Although a little thought reveals that the other party's decision was made to protect them, it's impossible for anyone to have no objections when someone unilaterally chooses a path of survival without their knowledge.

"Ah, yes, after all, there are too many of you who like to act on impulse. If you were allowed to receive this message, I'm afraid quite a few of you would recklessly take the Abyss Suppression Device to your deaths."

"Looking back now, I think I should have been more decisive," Mingyu said calmly, as if he hadn't noticed the stares he was being cast at him.

Om-! !

Intense spatial fluctuations spread out, transforming into a ring of silvery-white ripples that enveloped Ming Yu entirely. Xie Kuang, watching this scene from a short distance away, suddenly changed his expression, as if sensing something. He abruptly looked at the teleportation array beneath Ming Yu's feet and exclaimed:

"Wait a minute, Netherworld Prison, you wouldn't be planning to..."

"It's nothing, I just plan to go back to the base where we used to hide, and I'll use the abyss suppression device there to bridge the elemental gap."

"As for you, you just need to stay here obediently," Mingyu said, glancing indifferently at the crowd behind him.

"If we're lucky, the elemental barrier will be fully formed in half an hour at most. Then we just need to send the news of the Abyss race appearing here to the World Fortress, and the Legion's rescue forces should arrive as quickly as possible."

"However, if the same situation occurs in the other outposts... or if I fail to hold the Abyss Suppression Device, then you will all perish with me."

"After all, judging from what that abyssal race said earlier, and the fact that none of our strongholds in this area have been able to establish an elemental bridge in more than an hour, the elemental barrier connection should have been interrupted here."

"In other words, it's no longer possible to expect others to complete the elemental bridge for us and then mercifully send people to rescue us."

As Mingyu spoke, he glanced at the grayed-out contact list on the branded interface, his eyes slightly lowered, lost in thought. Just then—

"Fuck your mother's eighteen generations of bastards (a vulgar expression)!"

A furious growl exploded, and the tattooed, muscular man, his face contorted in excruciating pain, gasped for breath, staring intently at the Netherworld located within the teleportation array, gritting his teeth as he said:
"Netherworld! You fucking explain to me what you just said?!"

"Guard the Abyss Suppression Device alone? Do you think I'm an idiot?! If you want to play the big shot and go die alone, just say so, and I'll grant your wish right now!"

"Going to your death? Heh, are you talking about yourself?" The slightly sarcastic reply fell, and Mingyu glanced at the furious Ghost Dragon behind him, who was glaring at him, then scoffed disdainfully and said indifferently:
“What I just said was that you are not strong enough to hold back the Abyss Suppression Device, but I never said that I am not strong enough to solve this problem on my own.”

As the buzzing sound signaling the completion of the spatial teleportation array faded, Xie Kuang, who was not far away, suddenly contracted his pupils, as if he had realized something.

"Wait! Underworld Prison, you wouldn't...!!"

Boom——! !

A muffled spatial tremor resounded, and the cloaked necromancer vanished instantly, leaving only the contractors staring blankly at the spatial rift rapidly repairing under the Abyss Suppression Device, their minds echoing the words spoken by the Underworld.

"Tch, screw it! Hey, you surnamed Xie, open a teleportation array for me too! I'm going to take that gloomy ghost with me..."

The tattooed, burly man stared at the spatial rift before him, gritted his teeth, then suddenly looked at the blood-haired youth beside him, grabbed the other's collar, and growled. But before he could finish speaking, the blood-haired youth interrupted him:

“You can’t do it.” Xie Kuang looked up at the tattooed man in front of him, paused briefly, and then said, “The upcoming Netherworld and the battle that will take place there are beyond our control.”

"Huh? Are you kidding me! I'm not so useless that I can't even fight a squishy undead class..."

"Abyss Potion".

"?!!"

The slightly hoarse voice that followed caused everyone present to pause in surprise:
“That guy from the Underworld…exchanged for the Abyss Potion.”

……

'That's incredibly stupid.'

The sound of dripping blood echoed from the cave. In the broken underground space filled with the thick smell of blood, the expressionless necromancer calmly walked out from the spatial rift and stepped on the still-dry bloodstains.

'When did he start enjoying doing such stupid things?'

'Was he influenced by some idiot? Or has he simply been away from that filth for too long?'

He lowered his head, gazing at the corpses scattered across the ground from the previous battle, silently biting his thumb and dripping his blood, thick with the scent of death, onto the ground.

'That's absolutely incredibly stupid.'

'A group of people who emerged from a breeding ground of reincarnation and death actually dared to say something as laughable as offering him a way to live.'

A dense aura of death spread from beneath their feet, and fragmented flesh began to piece together from the soil, transforming into cold hands that emerged from the shattered rocks and pools of blood.

'but……'

"You're not much better off either."

A calm voice, seemingly directed at no one in particular, fell. Amidst the thick aura of death, the cloaked youth walked step by step to the enormous device that was diagonally inserted into the rock, his gaze shifting slightly.

Om-! !

The next second, a dazzling pillar of elemental light shot into the sky, easily breaking through the constraints of the rock layer, like a silver-white spear piercing through the heavens.

If he had worked a little harder back then, and his credit limit had been enough to buy one more Angel Potion, would he have avoided this passive situation?
If they had been better prepared, could they have avoided the breach of their stronghold and escaped this desperate situation of constantly hiding?

Or, if he had been more decisive and used the Abyss Potion immediately when the Abyss Clan appeared, could he have ended the turmoil with fewer casualties and allowed dozens more people to survive?
Beneath the enormous white pillar of light, the necromancer looked up, a multitude of thoughts racing through his mind, but in the end…

"That's really embarrassing."

He's someone who didn't even realize he was being seduced, and who even needed a brute like him to break free of the seduction, but now he's suddenly trying to fix things in his head?

"Well, thinking about it now is pointless, and besides..."

Before the Abyss Suppression Device, Mingyu closed his eyes, clearing his mind of all distractions. The next second—

boom! ! !
A terrifying impact erupted from beneath its feet, and the ground beneath it collapsed with a deafening roar. In its place, a gigantic abyssal creature, biting into the shield formed by death energy, smashed through layers of soil, carrying it and the abyssal suppression device, and hurled it to the ground in one go.

"Roar--!!"

A deafening roar and howl erupted. Under the sky illuminated by elemental light, Mingyu, who had been flung into the air along with the abyss suppression device, looked at the scene before him. He watched as waves of abyssal creatures surged from the billowing dust in the distance. He subconsciously touched his neck and revealed a somewhat morbid smile.

Thinking about it carefully, compared to fighting monsters with human hearts like the Black Sword and the Death Bearers, the scene before me... makes one feel the existence of death more vividly, doesn't it?
Heh, in the end... he was nothing more than a fool in the guise of a wise man.

"In that case, let me see..."

Dense black clouds began to gather, and a gigantic skull of death took shape behind the necromancer.

boom--! !

The next second, the enormous deathly skull crashed down, like a death god devouring life, braving the torrential rain of attacks, and began to bite at the abyssal creatures on the ground.

"Do you even have the right... to take the life of this idiot like me?!"

……

(End of this chapter)