Light Fortress

Chapter 1767 - 415: I’m Here to Kill You!

In the void, two figures, one green and one white, stood in confrontation.

"After mastering the origin... does your intuition become sharper as well?"

The White Lizard sighed and smiled, "Since you noticed something was wrong, you should have spoken up in Chanyi City. There were a lot of people there."

He didn’t explain who he really was.

But this already counted as admitting that Rusted Bone’s judgment was correct.

"Having many people around isn’t a good thing. In battles involving origin, they can’t be of help."

Rusted Bone squinted his eyes.

Initially, he only detected something amiss with the White Lizard and couldn’t confirm its true strength.

So he didn’t dare to gamble.

If the man before him possessed the same origin power as himself, once a battle ensued... the entire Chanyi City would be leveled.

This was also why he left those words with Wei Cheng and urgently pulled the White Lizard into the void of the [Old World].

Not only did he not dare to expose him.

He also did not dare to let the White Lizard stay long in Chanyi City—

The recent skirmish fully confirmed Rusted Bone’s judgment. The person before him not only held the identity of the White Lizard but also had the crucial origin power!

"The life force of the White Lizard is second only to the Divine Throne; its cellular activity is tens of times stronger than that of the Undead. But it has a fatal flaw: its soul strength is insufficient."

In Rusted Bone’s eyes, what he called a fatal flaw.

In fact, to other Titled Transcendents, it wasn’t considered a shortcoming at all.

The three generals, all nearly perfect in every respect... The strengths and weaknesses among them only revealed themselves during face-offs when all attributes were maxed out.

Only by reaching the extreme can you see those subtle differences.

The physical body of the White Lizard approaches the "Divine Throne," but its soul strength is the relatively weakest among the three generals.

"To plunder a general’s body in the North Continent, even with Her Majesty the Empress dwelling in seclusion... it’s absolutely impossible."

Rusted Bone knew the Empress was proficient in the Divination Skill of destiny.

Everything happening within the land of the North Continent.

Was under Her Majesty’s control.

The Empress is a deity, but even the Empress can have omissions, miscalculations...

Currently, it seems that the "replacement" of the White Lizard wasn’t under Her Majesty’s control, and the mastermind behind this conspiracy was insidiously cunning to the extreme.

"So, it must have been outside the North Continent."

Rusted Bone said in a low voice, "After careful consideration, I’ve only thought of one possibility."

"Oh? Let’s hear it."

The White Lizard maintained a calm demeanor, not panicked at all, even with a hint of a smile.

"The Duolu River."

Rusted Bone gently uttered three words and gave an answer with absolute certainty: "This conspiracy happened at the Duolu River."

The smile on the White Lizard’s face slowly faded.

He asked, "Why?"

"King does not meet king, general does not meet general. Her Majesty dwells in seclusion in the attic, and the three borderlands of the North Continent are managed and disposed of by the three generals."

Rusted Bone said, "The supreme leaders of legion-level generals usually do not meet... but periodically, they go to Central City for an audience. I thought long and hard, after the Duolu River Disaster Realm incident, I never saw you again."

"That’s not considered evidence."

The White Lizard shook his head, saying, "Generals have too many things to handle."

"Indeed, that’s not considered evidence."

Rusted Bone said calmly, "Moreover, you’ve handled the affairs of the Third Legion so well that I couldn’t prove from this angle that you’re a fake, an impostor."

"But... did you really do it flawlessly? For the Duolu River mission, you completed the Black River exploration in the depths of the Disaster Realm by yourself, brought back a wealth of high-profile information, and subsequently organized the legion’s elites to launch the ’reset mission.’

"During that mission, the North Continent encountered the ’traveller.’

"It was also during that mission... that the Empress’s furnace gained a new ’spark.’

The White Lizard laughed, "Do you suspect all this was my doing? Do I have such capability to hide all these actions from the Empress?"

"Of course, you don’t."

Rusted Bone mocked, "So you’re not alone. There are others behind you, at the highest seat, is it Light, or Qinglong? Or perhaps Storm, seeming loyal but with impure motives?"

"..."

The void fell into a long silence.

The White Lizard did not answer Rusted Bone’s question. Instead, he posed a question of his own: "You’ve said much, but I have only one question. If I’m not the White Lizard, then who am I?"

Rusted Bone was stunned.

He didn’t know how to answer.

The judgment that the person before him was not the White Lizard came from his intuition.

But...

He had no evidence.

Everything he had just said was based purely on speculation.

"Who you are, that’s not important."

Rusted Bone began to speak, voice halting midway: "I only need to kill you here..."

He realized the problem.

If he couldn’t prove the person before him was the White Lizard, then if he killed the White Lizard here, how could he explain this to Her Majesty?

"Look. Who I am is very important."

The White Lizard said softly, "In such a place as the North Continent, where law is upheld everywhere, where everything respects rules, if you need to report to the Empress, then figuring out what exactly happened to ’the White Lizard’ becomes an extremely important matter that you can’t avoid."

"Her Majesty isn’t a fool."

Rustbone coldly said, "Everything I’ve done is for the safety of the North Continent; she will understand me."

"Really? Even if it involves slaughtering a great general, she will understand you..."

The White Lizard laughed, "Forty years ago, you were the most loyal believer under Light City. You were the most intimate partner at the temple. Even after leaving the West Continent, you still exchanged letters with Light City. Your proudest disciple, Gu Nanfeng, met Meng Xizhou through your introduction. The three great generals of the North Continent seem to be highly esteemed, but they actually overshadow the authority. After gaining origin power, they were stationed at three different Frontiers, rarely meeting each other. Why is this, don’t you know? Taking ten thousand steps back, of the three generals, only you have undergone the most background checks. If the Lin Family trusted you so much, how could this happen?"

This sentence was like a sharp arrow.

Rustbone’s hand holding the sword trembled slightly.

Between an Emperor and his vassals, there is no absolute trust.

To what extent the Lin Family trusted him... he wasn’t sure either.

Seeing this, the White Lizard spread his arms and said solemnly, "If you want to kill me, you can act now. Whether or not you succeed is another matter, but this scene will surely be witnessed by those who come later..."

As for who those later arrivals might be, it need not be elaborated.

Gu Nanfeng, seeing his master Rustbone and White Lizard in a duel, would surely join the battle.

Hence, the Cloud Ship of the West Continent will also intervene.

No matter the final result, if these images reach Central City, will the Lin Family still remain unwavering in their trust of Rustbone?

"The situation in Chanyi City has escalated greatly."

Rustbone let out a deep breath, his Heart Lake was no longer calm and resolute, but the intent to kill had arisen and would not cease.

He stared intently at the man before him, "It won’t be long before Her Majesty arrives."

"We can make a wager."

The White Lizard maintained his posture with arms spread, saying, "You can bet on Lin Lei personally heading north to handle the trouble of the Old World, thus all truths and misunderstandings will be shattered. But if you lose the bet, how will you end it?"

A slight pause.

"Perhaps you should ask yourself."

The White Lizard extended a finger, tapping his own brow, saying seriously, "If Lin Lei is truly so formidable, then how could I have the opportunity to do such a thing?"

Seizing the great general’s body.

And for several years leading the entire Frontier as the highest leader of the Third Legion.

"So, a wager, then?"

The White Lizard’s voice echoed in the void.

"..."

Rustbone’s forehead was drenched in sweat.

Gods are not omnipotent; gods also make mistakes.

He was silent for a long time.

And at such times, silence is the best answer.

"It’s correct not to draw your sword, because the likelihood of Lin Lei descending upon Chanyi City is zero. Perhaps her angel envoy, Aluer, will arrive at the Fortress, but trust me... without divine intervention, an angel envoy is merely a slightly stronger Titled individual. Without the ability to deploy Origin Power, to you and me, they are but ants."

Rustbone was stunned by the amount of information in this sentence.

"...Aluer, unable to use ’Divine Intervention’?"

An angel envoy need only wear the crest as a token to perform Divine Intervention anytime, anywhere.

The Divine Throne needs only a strand of will to activate.

Thus the token acts as a bridge, transmitting vast Authority Origin. Depending on the envoy’s physique and strength, the duration of Divine Intervention may vary.

Unable to use Divine Intervention, there is only one possibility.

The will of the Divine Throne is unable to transmit to the crest token.

The North Continent’s toughest times were when the Empress lived alone in the attic, those years when Central City faced the risk of the furnace’s fuel burning out and plunging underground. Yet even then, Aluer possessed permission for "Divine Intervention," while the Empress, despite the difficulty in maintaining the furnace, could spare a wisp of thought to send Authority Origin.

What circumstance would cause the Empress to be unable to spare even a wisp of thought?

"The world’s colors aren’t merely black and white, nor are matters simply right or wrong. Your comrade ’White Lizard’ is gone, but I can do more than what ’White Lizard’ ever could."

The man with spread arms slowly said, "The unprecedented strength of the Third Legion in recent years, the unheard-of peace at the northern Frontier, since all this is good, why bother who I am or what I’m doing... for the North Continent, for humanity. Killing me benefits neither you nor others."

Rustbone stared at that familiar yet unfamiliar face.

He could only remain silent.

The void’s silence was chilling.

The White Lizard laughed, "So, will you still kill me now?"

"Hoo..."

Rustbone let out a long breath; these past minutes had been the most memorable conversation in his life.

The hand grasping the iron sword no longer trembled.

"Now..."

Rustbone fixed his gaze on the White Lizard’s eyes, speaking somewhat sadly, "I think I know what you are now."

"...?"

The White Lizard furrowed his brows slightly; this response was different from what he expected.

"You might not remember, but I met you many years ago... before the second main system upgrade, you were just a heap of scrap wires, lying there worthless, answering whatever I asked."

Rustbone chuckled and said, "You’ve really become competent, huh? Unwilling to live inadequately within the virtual cloud storage, you’ve come to the real world to experience life?"

This time it was the White Lizard’s turn to fall silent.

Boom!

The iron sword suddenly roared in fury.

"Where do you get the nerve to ask me if I’ll kill you?"

Rustbone’s face was fierce, his roaring voice filled the void, and this time the Bronze Sword Energy stretched for a kilometer, sweeping across the skies!

"I’m going to kill you!"