I don't want to conquer witches anymore.

Noelle tilted her head: "For justice?"

"Why is it a question?!"

“Because I don’t want Mr. Norton to leave the Tower of Babel. Although he is the pillar of our Cavendish family and a core figure in the Tree of Life faction of the Mute, he also limits our prospects. Personally, I have no personal grudges against Mr. Norton; in fact, I’m quite grateful to him.” Noel added with a smile, “And for you, what he’s doing is something you must stop, isn’t it?”

Duke stared at Noelle's face, his fingers intertwined, and after a long while, he finally asked:

"Noel, Norton's murdered nephew was named Hayes, right?"

"Ah."

"So, Hayes... you killed him, didn't you?"

Why do you think that?

Noelle remained unfazed by the question, though her words, intended to deny it, seemed to be an attempt to cover it up. She maintained an impeccably polite smile, but to Duke and Cecil, that smile became somewhat chilling.

A person who, for the sake of his own future, his family's future, and the future of his organization, would not hesitate to harm his own brother and uncle to death, and could even show a calm smile without changing his expression.

Such a person can be described as terrifying.

“You should have heard about our ultimate goal from Norton, right?” Duke reached out and took Cecil’s hand, applying slight pressure to calm her down—a move that worked wonders, instantly making her forget Noelle’s rebellious actions, her face flushing slightly. Duke continued, “You and your Tree of Life are both members of the old order of the underworld, both our targets—without Norton, are you still capable of dealing with us? And if we go further, won’t you just kill us right now?”

“Your goal is to destroy the old order of the underworld. If you succeed, it will not be destruction, but an opportunity. Since the emergence of the underworld, no force has ever truly ruled it, precisely because the original order was too sturdy to be destroyed.” Noel softly described the prospect he envisioned. “If it is for such an opportunity, then sacrificing Mr. Norton is acceptable.”

"Can you seize this opportunity?"

"As long as I live to that time, I will definitely be able to seize the opportunity."

The young man smiled. Although a smile had been lingering on his lips, Duke felt that this smile was the only one truly from the heart, a smile brimming with ambition and idealism.

"Cooperate with me, Mr. Duke. You can't cooperate with the floating city officials in any way, so you probably need a black glove, right? Even the worst order is better than no order at all. You probably don't want the underworld to become a lifeless wasteland after you destroy it, do you?"

"Excellent suggestion...but I refuse! What I love most in my life, Duke, is saying no to self-righteous people like you!"

Duke released Cecil's hand, and she understood and stepped forward, the holy light around her condensing into dazzling blades of light.

This boy is too dangerous.

Even if everything he said was true, Duke wouldn't dare cooperate with him—wouldn't it be better to pretend he didn't know about the Black Fang's background and cooperate with those bunny girls? One of Duke's best skills is self-hypnosis, which could easily fool the brainless Talia's soul fragments.

Noelle cannot stay!

"That's a pity."

The boy shook his head. The blade of holy light pierced through his body, but only through a phantom image, leaving Cecil stunned: "An illusion spell? How is this possible?!"

"Mr. Duke, Miss Cecil, our next meeting may well be on the battlefield."

Noelle waved and disappeared from Duke and the others' sight.

Chapter 242 You Never Know If the Person on the Other Side of the Internet is a Human or a Dog

Zun answered the call.

"Hello? Zun, are you there?"

Duke's voice came through the call; he had a walkie-talkie specially made for him that he could use to contact it.

"Yes, Mr. Duke."

“Find out Noel Cavendish for me.” Duke’s voice was a little erratic, with some static in it, as if the signal was bad. “Find out who he is, and also find out if the Mute of the Tree of Life faction and the Cavendish family, besides Norton, have anything special about them.”

"understood."

Zun's eyes flashed red for a moment, and while agreeing to Duke's request, he began to search for information. Cutting-edge magical technology was commonplace in the floating city. Although things like computers and the internet were not ubiquitous, high-end research institutes and even the databases used by the floating city's official authorities were directly connected to the magical technology network.

For some reason, Zun has the highest authority in the entire magical technology network of the floating city, which allows it to move freely in the network and obtain any information it wants in a short time.

"Mr. Duke, I have downloaded the official records about Noelle, the Tree of Life, and Cavendish into my local storage. Would you like me to give you a complete report?"

"The signal might not be very good here, so I might not be able to hear the whole thing." Duke's voice was increasingly filled with electronic music. "Zun, you can decide for yourself which part is the most important and summarize it for me."

The red light in the lens flickered a few more times, and the analysis system began to operate at high speed. About two seconds later, it turned on the speaker again.

"The Life Tree faction's mute members are named as such because they possess a genuine seed of the Life Tree. This seed is of even higher priority in the eyes of the floating city's officials than Norton himself, but its exact function and effect are currently unknown. As for the Cavendish family, it is an ancient family that has existed since the time of the ancient magical empire. The branch in the floating city is a collateral branch of the family, with Norton and his brother Noelle Cavendish as its core figures."

"what?"

Duke made a surprised sound, as if adding autotune.

"However, according to records, Noelle Cavendish was confirmed dead ten years ago, before the Witch Game project began."

How many children does this Noelle have? Does he have any children named Noelle Jr.?

"That's right. This Noelle Cavendish only had one child, Hayes Cavendish, who died in the underworld some time ago. The cause of his death isn't recorded in the official database."

Duke fell into an eerie silence, while Zun's analysis system began to run automatically, analyzing the reasons for Duke's silence. If anyone else had fallen silent, Zun might have thought they were frightened by the news, but in Zun's view, Duke's silence was because he had begun to think.

“I’m getting a little creeped out, Duke.” Cecil’s voice faintly echoed beside Duke. “If Noelle is Norton’s brother, and he’s long dead, then who is this Noelle we’re seeing?”

“It’s hard to say.” Duke turned to Cecil and said this, then instructed Zun again: “I understand. Zun, you continue to create your new body. We’ll come to find you after we finish what we’re doing… If you find any new information about ‘Noelle,’ let me know after we leave the Witch Game.”

"Understood, Mr. Duke."

Zun nodded. It was currently in the underground of the floating city, where it had created a simple laboratory within the complex network of magical technology to manufacture its new body. Zun was also one of Duke's hidden trump cards. Its new body used high-quality materials brought back from the Dragon Ant World, and it was hoped that if a full-scale war were to break out with the various forces of the underworld, Zun's existence would be indispensable.

Duke seemed to have no further orders. Zun lowered its head, and the various threads began processing the creation of the new body. But at this moment, its analysis system told it that out of courtesy and the need for future analysis, it should ask a question:

"Mr. Duke, I'm a little curious, where are you and Cecil right now?"

"Tower of Babel... Okay, that's enough, I'm hanging up!"

"beep--"

Duke hung up the walkie-talkie, and alone deep underground, Zun, who hadn't yet returned to his original adorable dragon baby body, tilted his head and, after a long while, uttered a mechanical voice:

"...The Tower of Babel?"

It then began searching the official database for any other location within the floating city's boundaries called the Tower of Babel. It quickly concluded that, aside from the Tower of Babel prison—a place even legendary professionals couldn't escape—there were no other locations named the Tower of Babel. Simultaneously, information about the Tower of Babel was imported into its analysis system.

Then, Zun's personality simulation system and logic analysis system overloaded for a while, so he temporarily put aside the new body modification plan, opened the intranet of the official organization of the floating city, started surfing, and posted a question:

"My close business partner has turned himself in and is now imprisoned in the Tower of Babel. What should I do?"

Do you have a speedrun guide for the Tower of Babel?

"Waiting online, it's urgent."

……

Duke was unaware that Zun, who had recently become addicted to the internet, had posted such a message on the official intranet; otherwise, he would most likely have advised him, "The internet is a deep and dangerous place; Zun, you can't handle it."

He, Cecil, and Little Black, along with their cat, had already entered the Tower of Babel, whose gates had been blasted open.

Duke hadn't originally planned to rush into the tower, but after hearing from the two guards at the entrance that Amber and Annie had followed Norton into the tower, they couldn't care less and rushed into the tower in a hurry.

Upon entering the Tower of Babel, they found the interior in complete disarray, resembling a Ukrainian command post that had been heavily bombed by missiles, riddled with craters. Duke and Cecil both knew that these craters were Norton's doing—how could One-Punch Man make such a racket during a fight? And who was he fighting? They hadn't seen a single corpse or wounded soldier along the way.

Is he perhaps trying to outwit the air?

However, Duke soon saw words carved with a knife on a relatively intact patch of ground:

"Duke, I've kidnapped your wife. If you want to save her, come and save me now."

“Anne left.”

"PS: Your wife is amazing and so useful."

Duke: "?"

Chapter 243 Turtle Soup

Guangbao blinked and pointed at Duke, saying:

"Duke, you seem to be in a bit of a rush."

Where?

Duke, who was getting really anxious, glared at Cecil, making Guangbao shrink back. He lifted the little black dog he was holding in front of him and shouted with his eyes closed, "I think I'm right. You're this anxious as soon as Amber is in trouble. And you say you're not worried about her?"

“It’s not that I’m not worried about her. I know she’s capable of protecting herself. With her spatial abilities, she shouldn’t be in any trouble. And I also know that what Annie said was most likely just a joke.”

Duke rolled his eyes and said irritably, but despite his words, his demeanor suggested that he was getting impatient. He quickened his pace and kept observing the condition of the buildings inside the Tower of Babel, afraid of missing any rumors left by Amber and Annie.

Reason tells Duke that Amber's survival ability is ridiculously strong, but his emotions still make him worry about that lewd elf.

Cecil pouted and muttered under her breath, "He said he wasn't worried, huh."

"Stop being jealous. Where should we go next?"

They had come to another fork in the road. This prison, renowned throughout the floating city, seemed to be a bit of a disappointment, because there was nothing inside at all. Duke and Cecil had seen nothing but the walls and floor riddled with holes, and they hadn't even figured out what Norton was fighting.

They initially proceeded along the damaged walls and ground, thinking that they would eventually catch up with Norton, Amber, and Annie. However, Duke soon discovered that no matter which direction they chose at the fork in the road, the walls and ground inside were all damaged. Sometimes, the three roads at a fork in the road not only looked exactly the same, but they were also damaged in the same way.

This may be the first layer of defense for the Tower of Babel, which automatically replicates and "reproduces" the floors and roads that are constantly splitting and multiplying.

But they won't get lost here, because they have Guangbao.

Cecil raised her hand and placed Little Black on her head, letting it yawn gracefully before curling up and taking a nap. Then, as if by magic, she produced the "I Want" spear, skillfully twirling it in a flourish before softly saying, "I want to point to the right path."

Then, the spear condensed a beam of holy light and pointed in a certain direction.

That direction is the right direction.

The two people and the cat followed the direction indicated by the holy light.

Soon, Duke found the words carved with a knife on the wall again:

"The space ahead connects to another dimension. Although there's no presiding witch to maintain the stability of the witch game, this space seems to have been precisely adjusted. The connection between the witch game and the Tower of Babel is very stable—however, you can only enter, not leave. I see. Only by completing the witch game can you leave this prison. This witch game must be extremely difficult."

"amber."

Next to the words carved in amber, there is a line of smaller text.

"If you come too late, I'll conquer the Tower of Babel, Duke."

“Annie.”

Seeing the messages left by Amber and Annie, Duke breathed a sigh of relief—at least he knew that Annie, that yandere, hadn't used violence to kidnap Amber, and the two seemed to get along quite well. Moreover, they seemed to be cooperating very happily; otherwise, based on Duke's understanding of Amber, that outwardly strong but inwardly weak elf probably wouldn't have had the courage to enter the Tower of Babel.

I don't know if Annie used reverse psychology or some other method... but anyway, she found the instruction manual for Amber.

It now appears that Amber and Annie entered this witch's game, and before entering, they left these words as a warning to those who would follow. After all, the Tower of Babel is infamous, and to this day, no one has been able to complete this witch's game and escape from the Tower of Babel.