296: Killing three birds with one stone

It obscured the distant starlight.

That was the Myriad Devouring Mother Empress’s legion; she had actually tracked them here.

Three factions formed a deadly triangle in this confined airspace.

Each vertex was filled with enough power and hatred to destroy the other two.

The air solidified.

Immediately after, a will filled with malice and madness exploded in everyone's minds:

“A betrayer, a thief.”

“Very well, today, I will devour all of you at once!”

Before she finished speaking, dark red creepers began to expand, and countless bio-warships swarmed in, covering the sky and earth.

“Damn it! It’s a trap!”

Star Lord reacted instantly.

Arbiter’s appearance was too coincidental, and the Mother Empress’s pursuit was unnaturally precise.

This was by no means accidental.

They had all been plotted against, used as pawns, placed on a meticulously arranged chessboard.

Tens of thousands of kilometers away from this chaotic battlefield, in the shadow of an asteroid belt, the bridge of the flagship Ice Phoenix was quiet.

Su Lei, Li Xue凝, and the three members of the Relic Hunter Caron’s team stood in the center of the bridge, observing the impending three-way melee through an ancient detector capable of distorting light and Karma.

On the detector’s screen, three massive energy masses representing different factions were rapidly approaching in a destructive manner.

“A good show, isn't it?”

Caron’s brass coin danced on his fingertips: “Anonymously send Arbiter’s coordinates to the Star Lord, who is eager to replenish his strength.”

“Then reveal the Star Lord’s location to the Myriad Devouring Mother Empress, who is eager for revenge.”

“Let these three factions have a dog-eat-dog fight on this stage we carefully selected.”

He tsk-tsked twice: “What a simple and effective strategy.”

“The simplest strategies are often the most effective, and the dirtiest. I like it.”

Su Lei ignored his flattery, his gaze fixed on the chaotic battlefield.

He knew very well that the melee before him was just the beginning, merely the opening move of a grand game.

None of these three factions—be it the Star Lord, Arbiter, or the Mother Empress—were fools.

They would soon awaken from their anger and confusion, realizing they were merely pawns being used.

When they extricated themselves from the melee and temporarily suppressed their mutual hatred, their unvented fury would inevitably converge on the one true mastermind.

Himself.

“They will unite.”

Li Xue凝 stood beside Su Lei; she could foresee what a terrifying force it would be once these three factions temporarily reconciled.

“Indeed.”

Su Lei nodded: “Even cornered beasts fight, let alone three ravenous beasts.”

“Therefore, we cannot give them this opportunity; we cannot allow them time to breathe and think.”

He turned his head and looked at Caron beside him.

“Are you sure that thing is directly beneath this battlefield?”

Caron put away his coin, becoming serious.

“I guarantee it on the honor of our Relic Hunter Grave Robber team.”

He said in a deep voice: “According to the highest-classified document we deciphered from the deepest encrypted database of the Hibernation Center.”

“Directly beneath this cluster of crystal islands, in that seemingly empty Void Realm, hides another core facility of the Kindling.”

“A place that even the ship’s builders feared and felt uneasy about.”

“They called it the God Gene Bank.”

Above the crystal island cluster, the three-way melee erupted instantly.

Torrents of energy and waves of flesh collided violently in this airspace, with deadly explosive flames.

However, this melee lasted less than half an hour before it mysteriously came to an abrupt halt.

The three fleets disengaged simultaneously, retreating backward to a safe distance, forming an even more dangerous standoff.

They all realized they had been used as pawns.

“It seems we’ve all been played.”

The Star Lord’s will echoed in the Void Realm.

“There’s a fellow hiding in the shadows who wants to watch us tear each other apart and then reap the benefits.”

The Mother Empress’s venomous voice followed immediately.

Arbiter said nothing, but all the energy cores of the Purifier Legion’s warships under his command uniformly turned their direction, pointing to the same coordinates.

That was the area where Su Lei’s Federal Fleet might be hidden.

Brief hatred was temporarily suppressed in the face of a common enemy.

A fragile temporary Alliance formed in silence.

They prepared to join forces and first eliminate the annoying disruptor.

Just as these three factions were about to reach a consensus, a sudden change occurred.

The entire inner world of the Kindling vibrated violently.

Immediately after, a brilliant golden light pillar shot up from the City of Oblivion in the world’s center, piercing through the shattered sky.

At the top of that golden light pillar, a magnificent crown slowly emerged.

Upon the crown, countless gems were embedded, each representing a supreme Law.

The crown of the era.

It had actively revealed itself.

The Observer’s will swept through every corner of this world.

“The game enters its second phase.”

“The crown will no longer be fixed; it will wander randomly across the chessboard.”

“Each descent will be a trial.”

“Chase it, obtain it, or be eliminated in the pursuit.”

With the announcement, the crown of the era, suspended in the sky, flashed with light and instantly vanished.

The next second, millions of kilometers away from the crystal island cluster, on a floating continent composed of massive mechanical wreckage, the golden light pillar once again shot skyward.

The crown had teleported.

This change instantly disrupted everyone’s plans.

The three factions, who had just been preparing to join forces, almost simultaneously abandoned each other, transforming into three streams of different colored light, rushing at full speed towards the new coordinates where the crown appeared.

The rage of revenge was insignificant in the face of the temptation to seize the supreme Divine Artifact.

“It seems the Observer also found this game a bit dull.”

On the bridge of the flagship Ice Phoenix, Caron whistled as he watched the golden light pillar disappear and reappear.

“It is actively accelerating the game’s progress, forcing all players into more direct confrontations.”

“Interesting, it’s getting more and more interesting.”

“What about the God Gene Bank?”

Li Xue凝 looked at Su Lei.

The appearance of the crown was undoubtedly a huge variable.

“No rush.”

Su Lei remained calm.

“Let them fight over it first.”

“The more a Treasure Trove seems within reach, the more deadly traps it often hides.”

“This bait thrown by the Observer is too tempting, unnaturally so.”

“We will continue with our plan.”

He was not swayed by the crown’s appearance, still keeping his target focused on the area beneath the crystal island cluster.

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