I don't want to conquer witches anymore.

“My point is very simple, Orianna,” Duke spread his hands. “Since everyone has their own agenda, why pretend to be all friendly and harmonious? Let’s keep it simple, get straight to the point, and state our demands, okay?”

"...This is very simple for us. Our Common Heart faction's idea is very simple: to rescue His Excellency Bugatti at all costs."

"Very good, that's a great start for everyone!" Duke clapped his hands and turned his gaze to the next person: "And what about you, Mr. President?"

The president of the Ancient Magic Empire Research Association stroked his beard: "I'm just curious about what's inside the Tower of Babel."

“A simple thirst for knowledge, that’s even better.” Duke nodded. “So you’re also aphasic, right? And you?”

"Lady Talia, we want to rescue the Saint!"

People took turns speaking, and so on.

Under Duke's organization, the atmosphere at the meeting, which was tense at the beginning, quickly calmed down. Representatives from various forces spoke one by one under "Talia's" simple and straightforward organization, which actually made the discussion more meaningful.

While not everyone speaks the truth, at least most large organizations are quite honest; for example, Cheetos is very straightforward.

"Our strategy for nerve drugs is very simple: if there are battles, we can sell more nerve drugs."

Nerve drugs have both stimulant and analgesic effects, but because of their addictive nature, they are mostly sold as pleasure-seeking drugs. However, for those who sell nerve drugs, how they sell the drugs is irrelevant; what matters is the money they make.

Of course, Chido's answer had already fueled Duke and Cecil's anger, especially Guangbao, who couldn't stand such villains who caused people's deaths and ruin. It was easy to imagine that once the war started, the first person to die would be this damned drug dealer.

But when the representative of Black Fang spoke, the tone changed somewhat.

After Duke looked at her, the bunny girl agent representative slowly said, "To be honest, we're here to ask Mr. Norton for something back—he stole a priceless artificial body from us a few days ago, and we can't just let this go."

Duke, who was using a prosthetic body: "...Next."

But at that moment, the continuous booming explosions in the distance suddenly stopped, and everyone was slightly taken aback.

What happened to Norton after he stormed the Tower of Babel? Was he repelled? Was he captured? Or...?

Everyone at the meeting started to get restless, and they were all eager to take advantage of the situation.

However, Noel, who had been relatively inconspicuous from the start, then spoke to Duke: "The reason we, the Aphas of the Tree of Life, are holding this war council is quite simple. Mr. Norton said it's a great gift for you."

Duke was slightly taken aback.

He quickly understood Norton's meaning... He hadn't originally intended to accept such a gift because the risk was too high and the reward insufficient, but Noelle's next words made him change his mind:

"Mr. Norton also said: 'He went to the Tower of Babel to see Saint Megan; silence is golden.'"

These words made Duke's expression change, and he waved his hand dismissively:

"Cecil, make your move!"

"okay!"

Guangbao ripped off his mask and shouted excitedly:

"I think!"

A magnificent spear appeared in her hand.

Chapter 236 Times have changed! Times have changed back!

"I think!"

Cecil's legendary destiny appeared in her hands, but compared to the spear in her hand, the Radiant Witch's distinctive small face and the iconic holy light surrounding her attracted more attention from the attendees.

"Cecil?"

"How is that possible? Wasn't she not in the floating city?"

"Why is the Radiant Witch here?!"

Exclamations of surprise rose and fell.

Although the people present had spent years in the underground world of the floating city, it did not mean that they never went to the surface. On the contrary, each of them had a decent house, a decent job, and decent social relationships in the surface city of the floating city. They were all familiar with the personality of the Radiant Witch and understood how many sins people who had been immersed in the murky waters of the underground world carried.

To put it simply, if everyone attending this meeting were executed, a few innocent people might be mistakenly killed, but if they were executed one after another, the most heinous criminals would definitely be missed.

As everyone knows, Guangbao, the beloved figure of the Floating City, hates bad people like them the most.

Duke silently took a step back, then casually said:

"Leave Noelle, the president of the Ancient Magic Empire Research Society, and the people from Black Fang. The rest are up to you. Oh, you know, that old man over there and that bunny girl over there."

"it is good."

Because Chido was closest to them and was one of the strongest in the entire event, he was the first to be targeted by Cecil. In an instant, holy light condensed into a holy, glowing... uh, tentacle monster, which then stretched out a hand emitting a blinding light and wrapped around Chido's body, along with the bodies of many other attendees.

"Why a tentacle monster?" Duke quipped from the side, "What exactly has Amber been teaching you?"

"Huh? What's wrong with the tentacle monster?" Cecil not only didn't understand what was wrong with the tentacle monster, but even turned around and asked, "Amber said it's the most loving and interesting creature in the world, right?"

"Seriously, you'd better stay away from her in the future. She's a master at ruining people."

"No."

Guangbao answered decisively, then secretly glanced at Duke, adding in his mind:

"If I'm far away from amber, won't I also be far away from you?"

Duke, however, didn't think much of it and assumed that her decisive rejection was due to her friendship with that lewd elf. Little did he know that their friendship was just a superficial one, a fake one where they were fighting over men.

He quickly focused his gaze on what was in front of him.

Qido began to struggle. Although he was a near-legendary professional, he couldn't use his own legendary destiny at all, much like Cecil before him—a subpar near-legendary. But no matter how subpar he was, this guy who had taken drugs and made himself stupid was still a genuine near-legendary Four Symbols Sect martial monk.

After all, this is a floating city for spellcasters, and even warrior monks must be spellcasters among warrior monks. However, Qiduo, this warrior monk of the Four Symbols Sect, is also a guy with great strength who can throw bricks.

"Blessed by Cangshan."

He exhausted the energy within him, causing the magic in the air to resonate. Soon, numerous magical effects appeared on his body. His originally bronze skin gradually petrified, making him impervious to the holy light of the Light Treasure. Then, he roared again:

"Roar--"

The near-legendary monk's Lion's Roar shattered the holy light tentacles binding him, and even shattered the eardrums of those present who were not strong enough. Then, Chido pulled out a handful of potions from his pocket, gulped them down, held his breath, clenched his fist, and threw a punch at Cecil, who was standing close by.

Condensed Qi Steel Fist!

"boom--"

The punch slammed heavily into the shield made of holy light, but it did not shake the shield in the slightest. Cecil, who was standing inside the shield, sighed silently and said softly, "Times have changed, Monk."

Having said that, she gently shook the spear in her hand, using it as a magic staff to cast a spell.

"I want a firecracker."

God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light in the world.

Guangbao said he needed a light cannon, so holy light gathered into a violent force that erupted in the underground world of the floating city.

"Boom—"

The radiance gradually faded, while the Chidor, who had directly withstood the radiance's heavy cannon, slowly collapsed, his body emitting black smoke.

He was indeed the most physically capable monk among all professions, but even so, he couldn't withstand such a sudden burst of power.

After Chido's fall, the witches of the Symbiotic Faction quickly distanced themselves from Cecil. The Symbiotic Faction originated from the original Symbiotic Society, and was originally a witch gathering organization, so it wasn't surprising that it included active floating city witches. As for this near-legendary witch, Cecil didn't recognize her, but had at least heard of her name; Duke had also recalled information about this witch through fragments of Talia's memories.

The Rainbow Witch's signature spells are rainbow-based spells created based on the 9th-circle spell Rainbow Wall. Simply put, every spell she uses has different forms among red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple. This random variation makes her often invincible in magical battles. Sometimes, she throws a spell that looks like a fireball, the incantation is fireball, and the ritual is fireball, but when it actually hits you, you'll find that it's actually a color-changing ball of strong acid.

In addition, the Rainbow Witch's rich experience in magical combat makes her much more difficult to deal with than Chido... However, she is also a quasi-legendary who cannot use the legendary destiny in advance. The only difference between her and a hero is that she has a higher total amount of magic power, a faster casting speed, and stronger spell destructive power.

Therefore, Cecil's choice is quite simple.

If you're good at magic battles, then I'll just avoid magic battles with you, right?

So Guangbao grabbed his spear and charged forward, shouting at the same time:

"The times have changed again, Master!"

Duke withdrew his gaze and stroked his chin.

From this perspective, it seems that there are very few near-legendary beings like Cecil and Geyue who can use legendary destiny ahead of time.

Then, he turned to look at the bunny girl agent and the president of the Ancient Magic Empire Research Association beside him.

Noel vanished the moment Cecil made his move; heaven knows where he went. The two men he had specifically ordered to stay behind, however, wisely did not run away but instead came to him on their own initiative.

"Hello, I'm not actually Talia, my name is Duke."

He introduced himself with a smile.

"So you're the famous Duke." The president stroked his white beard. "What brings you here?"

"It's nothing, I just want to ask you for a favor later."

"Oh, I understand now."

The bunny girl agent standing to the side seemed a little flustered. She pointed towards Cecil and the Rainbow Witch and timidly asked, "Um... Mr. Duke, aren't you going to take care of what's going on over there?"

"Huh? What's there to worry about?" Duke asked, bewildered. "You don't actually think they can beat Cecil, do you?"

Upon hearing this, the bunny girl agent glanced at Cecil, who was wielding a long spear and beating up the Rainbow Witch, and nodded involuntarily.

"You're right."

Chapter 237 Inside the Tower of Babel

The bunny girl agent, representing the Black Fang, rubbed her hands together at the operational meeting.

When Duke and Cecil overturned the table, she was prepared to die for the city and be killed by her own forces as if they were enemies. But to her utter surprise, Duke actually spared her and the president of the Ancient Magic Empire Research Association.

To be honest, this made her feel both relieved and a little strange.

Duke's decision to spare the president wasn't entirely incomprehensible. The Ancient Magic Empire Research Association was a rare, benevolent organization in the underground world of the floating city. If there were any innocent good people at the war council, the president would certainly be one of them. Furthermore, the president, an ancient relic who had lived for over a thousand years, held countless trump cards. If Duke was rational enough, he would absolutely not allow Cecil to fight the president.

But it's a bit strange that Duke specifically mentioned who left behind the Black Fang.

"What are you wondering about? Do I need to remind you of the background of your Black Fang?" Duke saw the bunny girl agent's confusion and said irritably, "Go back and tell your leader that Cecil and I are planning something big."

For Duke, reaching this conclusion wasn't difficult. The shop of the information broker, whose identity he couldn't reveal, was located within the Black Fang's sphere of influence, and based on the information she provided, she definitely had a hidden force in the underworld directly involved in this strategic meeting. Although hampered by the fragments of Talia's soul and unable to cooperate with the floating city's officials, this kind of skirting-the-edge behavior didn't seem to be restricted by Talia.

“Ah? Oh...no problem, Mr. Duke.”

The bunny girl agent paused for a moment, then quickly nodded.

Her thoughts differed slightly from Duke's. The "leader" Duke referred to was actually the information broker, while the Bunny Girl agent's superior was Dorothy. However, this didn't matter; once Dorothy received the information, she would naturally pass it on to Carol.

She happens to be in the underground world.