Life Dungeon Game

Li Cheng stopped and looked back at He Ao, then smiled and said, "I also think it has a lot to do with him, but unfortunately we don't have any witnesses, there are no recording devices around, and no physical evidence has been left. We are not involved either, so we can't draw conclusions based on mere speculation."

"Ah."

He Ao was silent for a moment, then nodded slightly.

The two walked down the stairs and soon reached the first floor. At the entrance of the building, a man with red curly hair, who looked like he belonged to the Tia Empire, was quietly waiting there with some other people.

This is Moonlight's only remaining C-rank in Ruodan, Enko, who is also Moonlight's current leader in Ruodan.

“Dean,” Enke hurriedly greeted Li Cheng as soon as he came out, “What’s the situation inside? Have you found anything?”

Enke is the kind of person Li Cheng described who gets confused when disturbed by pollution. He has low mental stability, so he didn't follow the two into the building.

"Your previous leader was likely controlled by some strange entity, and he also brought with him some powerful B-grade giant serpent,"

Li Cheng said calmly, an invisible majesty emanating from him, "An unknown hero solved that strange thing and quelled a potentially disastrous disaster."

"hero?"

Enko glanced at the twisted flesh and blood scattered throughout the building's interior, which had once been their headquarters.

He initially went into the building despite feeling uncomfortable; all he saw was killing and madness.

More importantly, this incident completely undermined Moonlight's rule in Rhodana.

He doesn't seem to agree with the definition of Li Cheng as a 'hero'.

"Perhaps not for you,"

Li Cheng took off his gloves and looked at the rows of buildings in the distance, "But for..."

For those people in the southern part of this city who can still see the sun today, yes.

Enko looked at his cold expression and lowered his head.

Strictly speaking, he also had that terrifying dream, and he was one of the people who were able to live to see the sun today because of that nameless person last night.

"correct,"

Li Cheng didn't look at Enke. Naturally, he was thinking about different things from different positions. He turned his head to look at He Ao and smiled, "It's almost dinner time. Does Ruodan have any good local food?"

He Ao and Li Cheng had already visited the Royal Palace Museum. The changes there were severe; Ruonati's remains had become twisted and mutated after his death.

The entire building, from the ceiling to the basement, was almost completely destroyed in the battle.

Furthermore, due to the pollution of Johanati, almost everything around it underwent a change in nature. The cement ground took on the properties of flesh and blood, further damaging the scene and making it virtually impossible to reconstruct the traces of the battle.

For Li Cheng, he could only roughly confirm that a battle involving B-rank had also taken place there, with both sides wielding swords, and one side having greater physical strength while the other possessed the ability to move at high speed.

"The barbecue here is delicious."

He Ao laughed.

"it is good,"

Li Cheng nodded, "Then let's go eat barbecue."

The two walked into the sunlit street one after the other.

"Lord Enko, is this how we'll end it..."

Watching the two figures disappear into the distance, a woman in a bodycon skirt walked over, stood beside Enko, and said hesitantly.

"Times have changed,"

Enko glanced around the distorted and eerie interior of the building and sighed, "The era of Moonlight is over."

······

In the old-fashioned barbecue restaurant, He Ao quietly discussed his ideas with Li Cheng while cutting open a piece of barbecue.

Most of it contained what he had previously discussed with Yang De, only now it had taken a step further as events had changed.

After the Verola incident, Moonlight lost a B-rank, and effectively lost the ability to maintain its original power.

Its rule in Ruodan was actually just a matter of inertia; the World Tree, which was so close at hand, would not allow a single nail to get stuck next to its bed.

In this incident of the ruins descending, Moonlight lost four more powerful C-ranks, and the entire Moonlight Ruodan headquarters was also controlled by the strange entity and ultimately destroyed. This level of loss was a devastating blow to Moonlight.

It's highly likely that Moonlight won't be able to hold onto its territory in Ruodan, but they won't give it up easily either. They'll probably have to fight the World Tree for a while longer.

Therefore, He Ao's opinion is that, taking advantage of the opening of the relic passage this time, the research institute should take the lead in completely neutralizing Ruodan.

Ruodan is far from the Central Plains, making support difficult. While the Research Institute's leadership poses less of a threat to Moonlight and the World Tree, it is reasonable for the Research Institute to hold the dominant position overall, given its vast influence.

For Moonlight and the World Tree, Moonlight can ensure that some of its influence remains in the Western Lands, while the World Tree can curb Moonlight's tendency to invade.

The research institute could also have a basic foothold on the other side of the Western Lands.

This is the most balanced outcome for all three parties and also avoids the situation where Ruodan...

The ensuing chaos stemming from the power struggle between the World Tree and the Moonlight.

Of course, Moonlight would not relinquish its power so easily, and the World Tree would not easily give up the opportunity to completely control Ruodan.

Furthermore, neither side would want the research institute to interfere in Ruodan's affairs.

Therefore, at this point, it is necessary to have a research institute representative who can logically persuade the other two sides to step forward and lead this neutralization effort.

However, He Ao originally thought that Liu Zhengyun would come, but he didn't expect Li Cheng to come instead.

However, Li Cheng is clearly more convincing.

However, He Ao could probably guess the reason why Li Cheng came.

"The barbecue here is really delicious. Have you seen Hao Yi?"

Li Cheng cut a piece of grilled meat and put it in his mouth, looking at He Ao, "Can we talk about what happened back then?"

"Yes, at that destroyed World Tree branch, I was investigating the mysterious organization that attacked me before. We just bumped into each other, and he rescued two petty thieves for me,"

While eating his barbecue, He Ao slowly said, "However, I learned some information from those two thieves: Rhodes once went to the World Tree Ruodan branch."

He Ao had already told Yang De about this, and he hadn't lied. He investigated the World Tree branch, broke in, and then met Hao Yi. Hao Yi destroyed the World Tree branch and rescued the two thieves.

At the time, Yang De also believed that the World Tree branch might have been corrupted by some kind of strange entity, which is why He Ao was able to directly mention the word 'strange entity' today.

When the investigation later uncovered Rhodes's affair, Heo did not conceal anything.

“Rhodes is an explorer; finding a branch of the World Tree shouldn’t be difficult for him,”

After a moment's thought, Li Cheng said, "The events at the World Tree branch and the Moonlight headquarters should have something in common. They might both have been corrupted by the same kind of strangeness, and that strangeness should be the same thing that tried to corrupt you that day."

At this point, he sighed, "Hao Yi went to see Dr. Lei Cheng here yesterday. He may have put something on those two thieves that can locate them, and then, through you, he was able to find our medical personnel here."

He Ao blinked, realizing that what he said made sense.

"All our leads end here," Li Cheng said, taking a bite of his grilled meat.

“I have a feeling that Ruodan is facing something far beyond our understanding this time, something even more powerful than angels. These things were originally in the ruins, but as they get closer to the ruins, they have begun to try to influence the main world.”

"We still need to find a way to meet that 'Hao Yi'."

He came here specifically for Hao Yi, who seemed to know a lot of secrets.

"Ah."

He Ao nodded slightly.

After finishing their meal, the two paid the bill and left the barbecue restaurant.

While paying the bill, the barbecue restaurant owner was chatting on his phone. Watching He Ao and his companion leave, he casually sent a message to the restaurant's chat group.

Two people from the Central Plains who looked to be of high status just came into the shop. That's quite unusual.

A member in the group immediately replied: "[It's rare to see people from the Central Plains here.]"

[really

Other group members echoed this sentiment.

-

The elderly man sitting in front of the shop logged out of the chat app.

He put down his phone.

He gazed quietly at the afterglow of the setting sun. Just then, several children carrying schoolbags ran over, calling out, "Grandpa Teren! Grandpa Teren!"

"School's out?"

The old man took some candy from the cupboard by the door and gave it to the children.

"Grandpa Teren, I'd like to hear you tell the story of the two princes."

A little boy quickly unwrapped the plastic wrapper around the candy and popped it into his mouth.

"Last time you mentioned that the Little Prince defeated all the martial arts schools and left Ruodan. And then what? And then what? What about the Big Prince?"

Another child came over and looked at the old man.

"The eldest prince, I watched him grow up," the old man said, gazing at the sky, his cloudy eyes rippling with the passage of time.

"The eldest prince is different from the youngest prince. He is a smart and introverted child. However, the two princes have a good relationship. Unlike the youngest prince, who likes to fight, the eldest prince has always hoped to become a wise and powerful king like his father, who does many good things for people."

"To achieve this goal, he read many books, met many people, and was very strict with himself."

"He must be so tired."

The little girl next to her smacked her lips and said something while sucking on her candy.

"What then?"

The first boy to speak put the candy in his mouth and chewed it with a crunching sound.

"And then," the old man slowly stood up, brushed the dust off his trousers, and turned his gaze away from the glow of the sunset, "and then, the era of the kingdom ended."

He grabbed a handful of candy from the cupboard and handed it to the children around him.

Amidst the sounds of children scrambling for candy, the twilight's rays shone upon the old man's hunched figure and his graying temples.

The setting sun, accompanied by the evening glow, slowly disappeared at the edge of the city.

"Tomorrow will be a sunny day."

-

In the fading light of dusk, Heo's clone disembarked from the Verola and looked at the deep cave before him.