"They, they are finally gone."
Marquis Borden's Mansion was a mess.
In the center of the mansion, there was now a huge pit, with countless fragmented building debris scattered around it. Had it not been for the defensive array of the Marquis Mansion, which protected the building and reduced the impact of shock waves among other functions, more than just the central area of the mansion would have turned to ruins by now.
Even so, many of the rune arrays buried underground were also destroyed.
High-end combat power,
lay at the bottom of the pit like dead fish—the Old Marquis.
Additionally, three Transcendents with faint vital signs, their combat powers reduced to less than one-tenth.
The least injured, Marquis Borden, was also disfigured, his forehead still covered in cold sweat.
After the Old Marquis had lost his ability to fight, he initially thought that the mysterious man in the black robe, also caught in the explosion, would be suffering similarly. But upon carefully perceiving, he realized that the man's aura hadn't weakened at all.
The dark combat uniform under the robe was still intact.
Even the sunglasses on his face were unhurt.
Even the black robe, which had been ragged from the impact, repaired itself at a visually detectable speed, returning to its original state in the blink of an eye, without even a top speck of dust or a trace of blood.
Even a black robe used for concealment is a Divine Weapon?!
Surely those sunglasses couldn't be Divine Weapons too?
The firearms in the hands of the man in the black robe, intended for long-range combat, remained completely undamaged in the clash, whereas the Old Marquis's curved saber was left with only half, slowly repairing itself... what level of Divine Weapon was that?!
Marquis Borden initially thought that the black-robed man, who had concealed his face, was sent by other nobles from the Royal Capital.
which noble family could possess such terrifying power!
He even lost the courage to strike, turned around to flee, only to be stopped by that black light screen. Then, he was brutally beaten by the man in the black robe and, left with no choice, Marquis Borden reluctantly disclosed the locations of several hidden treasure vaults in the mansion.
To save his own life.
He didn't have much hope at first, but the two black-robed men who plundered the treasury left straight away.
one of his loyal subordinates who had survived the ordeal, seeing that the fight had settled, cautiously returned to the center of the mansion, "My Lord, what should we do now?"
"Organize treatment for the injured, clean up the building debris, and additionally, tell everyone to keep their mouths shut, not to let word of today's events leak out."
Marquis Borden looked into the distance, feeling the gradually weakening power of the Sky Curtain Barrier, and speculated.
This barrier... was not just to blockade the battlefield.
So much time had passed, yet no one had approached the Marquis Mansion to investigate, which implied that everything that happened within the barrier might be unknown to the outer world!
He also considered reporting this matter to His Majesty, however... the identities of those two mysterious individuals were completely unknown, and their powers were immensely terrifying. Even with the full activation of the Rune Array, which multiplied their strength several times, they were still swept away... and the other mysterious person hardly took any action!
Such power could possibly belong to a powerful figure secretly cultivated by the Royal Family!
Although... the possibility was slim, Marquis Borden did not wish to gamble.
Nor did he want to escalate the situation.
The mighty Marquis Mansion, heavily guarded, had now been invaded by two mysterious individuals, all its Transcendents were injured, and the treasury was nearly cleaned out... if this news spread, it would be a loss of face for him, Marquis Borden.
What if it angered the mysterious people and they broke into the Marquis Mansion again to finish them off?
Marquis Borden felt the mansion was no longer safe. "It seems I should live outside for a while, at least hiding seems safer."
Several hours later, when the Sky Curtain Barrier dissipated, there was calm within Marquis Borden's Mansion, except for... the main gate firmly closed, rejecting any visitors.
in the suburban base of Green Shadow.
"One, two, three, four..."
The branches of the World Tree, both large and small, were lined up in front of him.
If the power of the World Tree branches harvested in Gel City were to be measured as one unit, this batch would exceed fifty.
Plus, other materials and treasures taken from Marquis Borden's Mansion.
The loot from this trip exceeded the revenue of several days in Entertainment City.
And all this had taken merely an hour.
"With the Sealing Barrier in place, it should take some time before the news of the Marquis Mansion being plundered reaches other nobles, but we still need to hasten our actions," he said.
This was also why they hadn't killed those noble Transcendents. On one hand, they were still humans who could be of use against the hidden enemies in the future. More importantly, killing these Transcendents would have thrown their families into chaos, unlike now where, even if the Sealing Barrier were to disappear, those Transcendents were still inside the mansion, along with the confined guards.
Tang Yu counted on his fingers, listing the major nobles within the Royal Capital.
Countless counts and marquises, even three dukes.
These were all treasure troves, bare and ripe for the taking!
In the days that followed, his subordinates, working in pairs, commenced the "World Tree Branch Collection Plan."
Grey Blade and Shay formed one team.
Lorraine and Fani formed another.
Kong also arrived from Green Shadow, teaming up with bamboo rat Li.
The Intelligence Department personnel, who had been deployed across the Royal Capital, started bringing forward the prepared intelligence.
The strength of the nobles, the publicly known number of Transcendents, was roughly accurate.
Even if a noble family had a newly emerged Transcendent not yet revealed publicly, it wouldn't affect the overall situation—it was just one more punch to throw.
They infiltrated noble mansions,
located the treasure vaults,
and then used the Sealing Treasure Pearl to release an aura, swiftly eliminating all the Transcendents within the mansion... This process had become routine for each team of followers.
In just a few days, countless noble mansions had been plundered.
While the surface of the Royal Capital remained calm, beneath it, the waters were turbulent.
Some nobles who frequently attended banquets suddenly noticed that fewer events were being held recently, especially with the heads of major noble families appearing hurried and wearing strained expressions.
Marquis Borden received an invitation to a gathering unlike the usual banquets held by nobles. These Transcendents would not lower themselves to attend human gatherings.
Occasionally, there were private meetings, eligible only for Transcendents.
In their discussions, they could decide the fates of countless individuals.
But Transcendents, with their long lives, had such gatherings infrequently. Receiving the invitation now sparked a thought in his heart.
That very night, Marquis Borden arrived at the venue, a manor located in the outer city.
Upon his arrival, several Transcendents were already present, all members of major noble families. They exchanged pleasantries.
A few minutes later, when everyone expected at the gathering had arrived, Marquis Borden scanned the ten Transcendents representing ten families, all of considerable strength. Most were Senior Transcendents, yet there were also three who were merely at the Transcendent Realm. He distinctly remembered that those three families ranked high among the marquises.
Several Senior Transcendents were present.
Why were ordinary Transcendents attending the meeting? Could they truly represent their families?
(Happy New Year's Eve, wishing everyone a healthy new year, surrounded by family, and may all go smoothly~)