Chapter 536: Negotiation (Two-in-One)

"The truly strong are often forged in environments just like this."

Weng Lingxiao felt a bit dizzy. Maybe he was coming down with something.

Either he had already fallen prey to Yan Jing's illusions, or reality was turning into something even more absurd.

Was the Great Prison truly nearing its end?

Watching those monsters on the video feed, it felt like the apocalypse really had arrived.

"Where is Yan Jing? I want to see him."

He lifted his eyelids and looked at Cen Ji.

"Commissioner Yan is currently coordinating the battlefield dispatches. Afterward—"

Cen Ji checked Yan Jing's schedule. "He should be interrogating the detained higher-ups."

"Since you are also on the list for interrogation, you should see Commissioner Yan then. The exact time will depend on his arrangements."

"Put me first." Weng Lingxiao undid the top button of his shirt, the bloodshot redness in his eyes fading slightly. "Tell him that's my only request."

"Understood."

Cen Ji nodded and turned to leave.

"Where did these damn things come from?!"

A man with pure white wings grabbed his adjutant by the collar and roared, "Did the previous intelligence mention anything about these?!"

"N-no, My Lord—"

The adjutant trembled in terror, his voice quivering. "They weren't in the information Lady Song provided at all."

"Are you suggesting we blame Lady Song Huien?" The man's gaze was frigid, sharp enough to pierce the adjutant's neck.

"No, no, I wouldn't dare!"

The adjutant quickly denied it.

"Hmph."

The man sneered coldly and released the adjutant's collar. "What do you mean you wouldn't dare? You have to."

"I... I don't quite understand what you mean." The adjutant looked at the man timidly, not grasping the implication.

"I'm saying that later, when we stand before the two lords, you will repeat exactly what you just told me."

The wings behind the adjutant suddenly went limp, and he made to drop to his knees. "My Lord, I was wrong. I was truly wrong."

Subtly accusing a Ninth Tier in open court—the man was clearly planning to use him as a knife.

Whether it ultimately turned out to be Song Huien's fault or not, his own ending wouldn't be pretty.

"Do you think you can escape this time if you don't?"

"..."

The man snorted coldly. "We lost over twenty sky-birds. Even I'm going to get flayed for this. Do you really not know your own fate?"

Hearing the man's words, the adjutant's face drained of color, as if he had already foreseen his ending.

The man patted his shoulder. "I will take good care of your family."

At the top of two white buildings resembling twin towers, a wide hall was carpeted in white silk. Marble steps stretched across the far end of the room. Up the stairs sat three thrones.

All three thrones were white, but the one on the far right was visibly newer than the other two, and its position was slightly off-center, as if it had been added as an extra.

Sitting on the left throne was a short-haired woman in a white robe. Her eyebrows and hair were white, and even her irises were an immaculate white.

The middle throne was occupied by a man who appeared to be in his thirties or forties. He had short black hair, and his well-defined muscles strained against his T-shirt. His features exuded a resolute aura.

A pair of massive wings grew from his back. Even though he deliberately folded them in, a large portion remained exposed outside his body, their pure white feathers radiating a natural sense of divinity.

The woman was Bai Yue, and the man was Bai Chen.

They were siblings, as well as the masters of this Sky Domain.

Naturally, the person sitting beside them was Song Huien.

At this moment, all three of them looked rather displeased.

According to their original plan, a third of the Great Prison should have already been breached by now.

But the result was a crushing defeat.

Let alone breaching the prison, they had lost a full twenty-odd sky-birds—the equivalent of half the Sky Domain's entire inventory.

"Muzhi, what happened?"

The short-haired woman spoke. Her voice was as melodious and beautiful as a nightingale's.

Only, this nightingale did not look very happy right now.

The man standing at the bottom of the steps was the same one who had just spoken with his adjutant.

Jiang Muzhi quickly stepped forward and dropped to one knee. Keeping his head bowed, he said, "My Lords, this military failure is due to my inadequate intelligence gathering and my rash decision to attack, leading to such massive losses. Your subordinate is willing to bear all the blame."

Bai Yue glanced at Bai Chen beside her. Seeing that he wasn't making any moves, she was about to speak when the adjutant behind Jiang Muzhi suddenly stepped out. "My three Lords, this defeat is not Lord Jiang's fault!"

"Why are you stepping out? Get back!"

Jiang Muzhi said coldly.

But the adjutant fell to his knees with a thud, tears and snot streaming down his face. "My three Lords, the battle was originally going smoothly, but the enemy suddenly deployed a creature we had never heard of before. We were caught completely off guard, which led to this disastrous defeat."

"Before deploying, all our preparations were based on the intelligence we gathered in advance—"

"Shut your mouth!"

Jiang Muzhi slapped the adjutant.

Instantly, half of the adjutant's face swelled high, but he endured the immense pain and said, "I must speak! All of our prior preparations were made according to the information Lady Song provided. Lord Jiang personally reviewed everything to ensure nothing would go wrong before we took action."

"We... we truly did not violate any military regulations or slack off in our duties!"

The adjutant was practically wailing. Beside him, even Jiang Muzhi was somewhat shocked by his acting.

Finally, Jiang Muzhi sighed. "My three Lords, I failed to discipline my men properly. I, Jiang Muzhi, am willing to bear all the blame. Please do not hold this child's mistakes against him."

Bai Yue glanced at Bai Chen again. Seeing that he still made no move, she continued, "Everyone except Muzhi is to withdraw."

Soon, Jiang Muzhi was the only one left standing at the bottom of the hall.

He felt somewhat uneasy.

This wasn't quite how he had envisioned things playing out from the start.

"Muzhi, what exactly did the enemy use?"

Bai Yue asked.

"I am not entirely sure either. We deployed all of our combat analysts, but none could find the creature's origins."

Jiang Muzhi braced himself and answered.

"Photos."

At this moment, Bai Chen finally spoke. It was the first thing he'd said since Jiang Muzhi began his report.

"Understood."

Jiang Muzhi immediately pulled up the photos on his device and offered it to Bai Chen with both hands. "My Lord, here are the photos of the thing."

Faced with the photos Jiang Muzhi handed over, Bai Chen didn't even lower his eyes. Instead, he directly passed the device to Song Huien beside him. "Lady Song, do you recognize this?"

Seeing this, Jiang Muzhi felt his scalp tingle.

He knew Bai Chen had seen right through it—the adjutant's performance just now had been arranged by him.

But he also knew that his earlier guess had been right.

Bai Chen was definitely suspicious of Song Huien.

This very scene was Bai Chen subtly holding Song Huien accountable.

Song Huien took the device without hesitation. After looking at it, she smiled and said, "No, I haven't seen it."

"How strange."

Bai Chen remarked coldly. "You worked in the Great Prison for decades. You've only been gone a few days, yet something has appeared that you don't know about?"

"Gulp."

Someone swallowed their saliva.

It wasn't Song Huien; it was Jiang Muzhi.

He knew that if a fight broke out, Bai Chen and Song Huien would certainly come out fine.

But he would definitely die.

Fortunately, none of the three paid any mind to the sound of him swallowing.

Bai Chen shifted his gaze, his eyes currently radiating an indescribable chill as he stared intently at Song Huien.

Song Huien seemed completely oblivious. Still smiling, she handed the device back to Jiang Muzhi. "Warden Mu has never trusted me, and Deputy Warden Weng doesn't get along with me either. It could be the handiwork of either of them, it's hard to say."

"But I think it's far more likely to be that newly arrived human."

"Are you saying that the human Mu Tian summoned has even greater energy than he does?" Whether it was an illusion or not, Jiang Muzhi felt that the wings on Bai Chen's back had spread slightly wider than before.

Jiang Muzhi kind of wanted to run, but his legs felt weak, and he worried that running would only get him killed faster.

Song Huien smiled. "Deputy Warden Weng exchanged one blow with him, then backed down on his own accord, willing to stay in a standard cell not even a dog would stay in. Warden Mu was completely usurped by him. Compared to those two incidents, summoning some creature doesn't seem like much now, does it?"

"Doesn't seem like much?"

The wings behind Bai Chen truly spread out. With just a slight stretch, they completely obscured the throne behind him. He looked at Song Huien, Weird Energy flowing between every feather. "If the enemy has fifty of those things, we would lose at least half our personnel just trying to break through. If they have a hundred, our Sky Domain will be left with a fifth of our Summit experts at best. Everyone beneath that level will be completely annihilated."

"And if they have two hundred—"

A flash of ferocity crossed his face. "He could launch a surprise attack on our Sky Domain tomorrow."

"What you say makes sense, but you didn't consider one point," Song Huien said, her expression tranquil. "Even if the enemy has five hundred, you will not be in trouble, Domain Lord Bai Yue will not be in trouble, and I will not be in trouble."

"As long as the three of us are fine, then the Sky Domain cannot be considered to have lost."

"Bullshit!!!"

Bai Chen finally couldn't hold back. He stood up, the wings behind him extending halfway. "My Sky Domain has thousands of citizens! If they die, our Sky Domain hasn't lost?! What kind of statement is that?!!"

"As long as you and Domain Lord Bai Yue remain, sooner or later, there will be thousands of citizens again." Song Huien spoke, her tone clearly gentle, yet Jiang Muzhi only felt a chill run through him.

"...Get out."

At that moment, Bai Yue stood up and spoke to Song Huien.

Song Huien looked at Bai Yue in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I'm telling you to get out of our Sky Domain."

Bai Yue said coldly.

"Domain Lord Bai, is this your stance as well?" Song Huien looked at Bai Chen with a sneer.

Bai Chen remained silent for a few seconds before answering coldly. "Did you not hear her? My sister told you to get out."

"Good, very good—"

Song Huien laughed in anger. "Domain Lord Bai, I originally thought you would be someone who understood the bigger picture. Now it seems I overestimated you."

"Get out!!!"

Bai Chen's voice rose a few notches.

Song Huien did not linger. She stood up and left the hall with a cold sneer.

Flying in the air, she mocked the Bai siblings in her heart.

Those two fools still hadn't grasped the situation.

Under the current circumstances, she was indispensable.

Neither side would turn down a Ninth Tier joining them at a time like this. And she wasn't just an ordinary Ninth Tier; if she were to duel Bai Yue, she was confident she could defeat her within an hour.

Since she could join this side to attack the Great Prison, she could naturally turn around and join the prison to attack them.

Would Yan Jing refuse her services?

Ridiculous.

It was just that she didn't want to go back right now.

After thinking for a moment, she flew toward the west.

Zhou Mian in Haidu seemed to be a clever person. She could go take a look over there.

"Name."

"...Weng Lingxiao."

"Age."

"...One hundred and four."

"You don't look it."

"..."

"Where are you from?"

Hearing this question, Weng Lingxiao could finally endure it no longer. He stood up and yelled at Yan Jing opposite him, "What exactly are you trying to do?!"

Yan Jing's expression was indifferent. "Weren't you the one who specifically asked to meet with me first?"

"Assaulting an officer, huh?! Are you assaulting an officer?!"

Yan Jing stood up and pointed with his right hand.

"..."

Looking at Yan Jing's behavior, Weng Lingxiao choked on his words for a long time before finally managing to squeeze out a single sentence. "Is there something wrong with your brain?"

"To be honest, I'm actually starting to wonder that myself—"

Yan Jing sat back down in his seat, his expression turning serious. "I think I might actually have a problem."

"I can't quite tell what is reality and what isn't anymore."

"...Have you been to the River of Time?"

To Yan Jing's surprise, Weng Lingxiao suddenly spoke, saying something that left him stunned.

Yan Jing's expression restored its seriousness. "You know about the River of Time?"

"Heh, just as I thought."

Weng Lingxiao chuckled. "In that case, your guess was absolutely right. You really might be sick."

"How so?"

Yan Jing called for someone to pour Weng Lingxiao a cup of tea.

"Let's talk business first. Once we're done, I'll consider telling you."

Weng Lingxiao crossed his arms.

He had finally found this human's weakness.

Anyone who had entered the River of Time was like this—burdened with an obsession they could not dispel.

"Fine."

Yan Jing then had someone take away the tea that had just been poured for Weng Lingxiao, and poured himself a glass of milk instead.

"Motherf—"

The curse reached Weng Lingxiao's parched, burning throat.

Yan Jing's expression was indifferent. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Let me out, and we collaborate."

Weng Lingxiao said, "We split the Great Prison, fifty-fifty."

"Why didn't you think about collaborating with me earlier?"

Yan Jing raised an eyebrow and took a sip of milk.

Weng Lingxiao was straightforward. "But now you've actually proven your worth. I believe the two of us are more than enough to suppress all of them."

"Proven what?"

"Your personal strength, as well as that Lesser Wandering Ghost."

"It's the Invincible Universe-Number-One Yan Jing Self-Developed Edition Lesser Wandering Ghost Mark 1," Yan Jing corrected.

"Whatever, just that thing!" Weng Lingxiao grew so angry his throat felt even drier.

"I have personal strength, and I also have the Invincible Universe-Number-One Lesser Wandering Ghost Mark 1. You have absolutely nothing, yet you want to split things fifty-fifty with me?"

Yan Jing looked at Weng Lingxiao.

"...Thirty-seventy. That is the most I can accept."

Weng Lingxiao said coldly, "You have combat power now, but you lack someone to help you manage things."

"I will be the one to do the managing."

"Compared to Song Huien, my ambitions are much smaller, and I'm not nearly as insane as she is."

"More importantly, I can tell you about the River of Time."

"I'm actually quite tempted by this deal," Yan Jing smiled. "But to be honest, the Great Prison isn't mine to begin with. It belongs to Warden Mu, and the old man isn't dead yet. As for me—I don't like getting my hands on my boss's property."

Weng Lingxiao stared into Yan Jing's eyes, trying to find even the slightest trace of a lie.

He didn't believe there was anyone in this world who didn't covet power, especially when that power was already within arm's reach.

Unfortunately, he saw nothing.

And because he saw nothing, his bargaining chips lost their weight.

What should he do...

After several minutes of silence, Weng Lingxiao finally chose to up the ante. "Mu Tian won't live much longer. He has also entered that River."

"He is dying from his own obsession."

"Just like the vast majority of people who have ever entered that River."