Starting from the destruction of the Land of Light

"Unparalleled, Mr. Zhang."

Director Liu took the tea cake from Wang Jingjing and personally brewed tea for Zhang Chen.

"It's all over the world. Even our station sent out reporters to try and get a detailed account of that battle from the public. You could say that everyone witnessed your unparalleled killing spree."

"Do you really need to interview the public to get a detailed account of the battle? Isn't your office the perfect audience area? Just let the reporters do an exclusive interview with you." Zhang Chen leaned back in his chair, his fingers lightly tapping the armrest.

Director Liu pretended not to understand the barb in Zhang Chen's words, and continued working. "Work should be separated from life. As the director of a TV station, my identity is naturally not as down-to-earth as the public's words."

"Mr. Zhang, you don't seem to care about us much. I had Xiao Wang try to contact you for a long time, but we couldn't get through on the phone."

"We've won a battle, so naturally we should celebrate," Zhang Chen said casually, then looked up at Director Liu. "What do you think?"

"Yes, it's time to celebrate."

Director Liu smiled, picked up the teapot, poured a cup of tea, and placed it in front of Zhang Chen.

"I was wondering how you were going to deal with the troublesome Bogaru. After all, his talent is quite troublesome in the universe. I thought you would place your hopes on those two warriors of the Light Clan. But Mr. Zhang, you have brought me one surprise after another."

"No need for formalities. I didn't come to see you to listen to your nonsense." Zhang Chen picked up his teacup, paused, and then put it down. "You said you'd tell me your identities after dealing with Bogaru. Now that Bogaru is dead, you don't need to hide it anymore, right?"

Upon hearing this, Director Liu slowly sat back down in his chair, then stared intently at Zhang Chen and grinned.

"Mr. Zhang is quite straightforward, but you should be able to guess our identities to some extent, since there aren't many beings in this world who can gain power through resentment. Strictly speaking, we should be considered to be on the same side."

Gain power through resentment...

Zhang Chen narrowed his eyes slightly.

Is this equating his delusional Seven with the Balrog warriors of the Kirieloid?

But thinking about it, it makes sense. To some extent, negative energy is indeed one of the sources of power for the Kirieloids. They are spiritual beings from other dimensions, and the strength of their power is closely related to the strength of their emotions.

In their racial system, despair is their greatest source of power, which is why they chose to rule the earth, plunging humanity into despair and continuously drawing upon the power of despair within their emotions.

Despair itself is a form of negative energy, and perhaps that's why they mistakenly believe they are the same kind of beings as them.

It seems this was an unintended consequence.

Zhang Chen toyed with his teacup, watching Director Liu with interest. "Isn't it a bit too early to make judgments now? The Kirieloids, who knows, we might be enemies in the future."

Upon hearing Zhang Chen reveal their identities, Wang Jingjing's expression immediately changed, but Director Liu maintained his smile.

"You do know something," Director Liu said, pouring himself a cup of tea. "But don't worry, we won't be hostile towards you because of this. On the contrary, the information you have will make our future cooperation smoother."

"How interesting. You keep talking about 'cooperation,' but how can you be sure that my goals are aligned with yours? Don't forget, the last guy I cooperated with didn't end up well."

Zhang Chen was now eager to know what the Kirieloids wanted to do, what their position was on this extremely special Earth, and what they had been hiding for so long.

But he knew he couldn't be too hasty. If he wanted to take the initiative in this game, he had to learn to play both sides. His delusion of Seven's identity was his bargaining chip. Zhang Chen could also see that Director Liu, that old fox, was more composed than him. He was like a fisherman, patiently waiting for him to take the bait.

Therefore, Zhang Chen decided to retreat in order to advance.

Upon hearing Zhang Chen's words, Director Liu maintained his usual smile. "I've heard about what happened between you and Bo Jiaru. It wasn't really cooperation at all, at least not in my understanding. Cooperation doesn't mean both sides are acting with the intention of killing each other."

"Oh? So you mean you have a lot of goodwill towards me?"

"Of course."

"It's kind of darkly humorous to hear these words coming from a group of beings who want to rule humanity with fear," Zhang Chen said, pursing his lips, but he still took a sip of tea.

"It seems Mr. Zhang has a great misunderstanding about us." Director Liu chuckled and shook his head, then continued, "Although I don't know where you heard this information from, you must understand that, in terms of time, we are the ones who truly govern Earth."

"Humanity today is merely a remnant of an ancient civilization, while we were beings who ruled the Earth long before the Warriors of Light arrived. If it weren't for the Warriors of Light's intervention, we would have already eliminated the greatest threat to Earth."

"The Warriors of Light you're talking about aren't those guys from the Land of Light, are they?" Zhang Chen slightly raised his eyelids.

"Of course not." Director Liu replied without hesitation. "The Ultra race of the Land of Light can only be considered a 'young race.' They have never experienced true darkness, nor do they know what this universe hides. That is why they will fail."

"But I don't want to talk about this. After all, the Land of Light is history, isn't it?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen merely curled the corners of his lips, without responding to the remark.

Then Director Liu continued, "The Warrior of Light I'm talking about is a guy of unknown origin. Some say he's a ray of light from the universe, others say he comes from Orion. No one knows his origin, but what we do know is that he took away Earth, which should have belonged to us."

"What exactly did he do?" Zhang Chen asked knowingly.

To Zhang Chen's surprise, the smile on Director Liu's face disappeared for the first time when this topic came up.

"No one knows what he did. All my people who remained on Earth disappeared. We lost that history, and that's why I want to work with you."

"Go on."

Director Liu raised his head and looked directly at Zhang Chen. "We possess some clues about an ancient civilization, but unfortunately, we lack sufficient power..."

"So I hope you can help us find the truth about that period of history."

...