123: Chapter 123 The Foolishest Decision

Several massive Sand Swallowers were wriggling ahead with great effort.

They opened their serrated maws wide, devouring the sand and rock ahead in large gulps.

The Hidden-Armor Ant-men followed closely behind the Sand Swallowers, controlling the direction of their advance.

From time to time, they would discharge a faint current onto the backs of the Sand Swallowers, causing these behemoths to shudder and then dig forward with even more vigor.

Gu Han sat astride the Earth Rampager, checking the statistics on his smart assistant.

Having just eliminated hundreds of thousands of Crystal-armored Scorpions above, it hadn't even counted as a warm-up for the Ant-men, and there hadn't been a single casualty.

That swarm of scorpions was completely fragile; even if the Hidden-Armor Ant-men didn't use electricity to control them, the scorpions were no match for the Ant-men, failing entirely to force out the true combat power of the Ant-man legion.

This resulted in the newly unlocked Transcendental trait, "Dissatisfied with Status Quo," showing no discernible effect so far.

Gu Han stroked his chin, pondering.

"What is the actual use of this trait?"

"Perhaps only by experiencing a truly exhilarating battle can the true effect of the trait be tested."

The soil quality ahead began to change.

The originally loose yellow sand was gradually replaced by hard, dark red rock layers, and the surrounding temperature began to rise sharply.

The Sand Swallowers were finding it increasingly difficult to dig, and their rate of advance slowed significantly.

This indicated that they were penetrating deep into the inner circle of the Wild Sand Realm.

Gu Han perked up and patted the Earth Rampager's head.

This terrain was better suited for the Earth Rampager; it immediately accelerated, bypassed the Sand Swallowers, and rushed to the very front of the formation.

Before long, it bit through a layer of rock wall, and the view ahead suddenly opened up.

There was actually an extremely wide underground cavern here.

The air was filled with a pungent smell of sulfur, and on some of the rock walls, dark red magma was flowing.

Something seemed to be lying on the open ground in the center of the cavern, so Gu Han immediately ordered a halt and sent out the Hidden-Armor Ant-men to scout ahead.

...

Jiangcheng City, Tang Family villa.

Patriarch Tang Ritian sat behind a large mahogany desk, his brows furrowed into a knot.

The white hair at his temples seemed to have increased significantly overnight, and he appeared extremely exhausted.

Tang Si stood in front of the desk, having just hung up his phone, his expression very ugly.

Patriarch Tang Ritian looked up. "How is it?"

Tang Si shook his head.

"Big Brother is truly gone this time." Tang Si lowered his voice. "The hospital has completely sealed off the news. The military dispatched a special task force directly to suppress this catastrophe, and not even a whole corpse was left."

Patriarch Tang Ritian's lips turned pale; he reached out to support his forehead firmly and let out a heavy sigh.

The Tang Family had been going through a troubled autumn recently; the planned deep cooperation with the Duhai Group hadn't even officially begun yet, as Tang Wuying's confidence had been shaken.

The key was that the Divine Source had also fallen into Gu Han's hands, and this Gu Han was completely impervious to reason.

His eldest son had taken a debt collection job a month ago, met with an accident, and remained in a coma.

The outside world thought Tang Da was an idle playboy who ignored family affairs, and the strength he usually displayed to the outside was only that of a Level 6 Demigod.

But only Patriarch Tang Ritian knew the truth in his heart.

Tang Da was the most outstanding genius of the entire Tang Family's current generation, having long since quietly touched the threshold of a Level 9 Demigod.

With just one final step, the Tang Family could have gained a Level 1 God.

At that time, the Tang Family's position in Jiangcheng City would have been even more secure.

Now, everything was ruined.

"Go investigate what kind of background that Jiangcheng Loan King has." Patriarch Tang Ritian suppressed his anger.

Tang Si nodded in agreement, turned, and quickly left the study.

Not long after the door closed, the third son, Tang Shan, walked in.

Compared to Tang Si's heaviness, there was no trace of sadness on Tang Shan's face; instead, it revealed a hint of relief.

"Father!" Tang Shan walked up to the desk. "I have made progress on my end."

Patriarch Tang Ritian frowned, remained silent, and looked at Tang Shan, his thoughts difficult to discern.

"I obtained the one-time Divine Kingdom coordinates of Gu Han through Zhao Kun, that sworn brother of Gu Yanxiao." Tang Shan pressed his hands on the desk. "Now, we just need to wait for Tang Wuying to wake up, and we can directly open a rift to enter his Divine Kingdom and retrieve the Divine Source."

Upon hearing this news, Patriarch Tang Ritian's expression softened slightly.

He leaned back in his chair, sizing up his third son.

"Well done." Patriarch Tang Ritian spoke slowly. "Third, you have quite the methods."

Tang Shan grinned.

Patriarch Tang Ritian changed the subject.

"Your big brother never cared for family affairs anyway, so the final burden of the Tang Family will fall on you." Patriarch Tang Ritian stared intensely at Tang Shan and asked tentatively, "Why did you have to go this far?"

The smile on Tang Shan's face froze instantly.

"Do you know that your big brother was about to step into godhood?" Patriarch Tang Ritian's voice grew deeper. "That was our Tang Family's trump card!"

Tang Shan immediately put on an aggrieved expression.

"Father, I am also very saddened by what happened to Big Brother!" Tang Shan spread his hands. "He has been in a coma for a month, and the news about him turning into a catastrophe came from the military; this really has nothing to do with me."

Patriarch Tang Ritian snorted coldly.

"You are certainly well-informed." Patriarch Tang Ritian stared at him. Besides himself, basically no third person knew of Tang Da's true strength. As a father, how could he not see through Tang Shan's feigned surprise?

Tang Shan rolled his eyes and immediately replied.

"This was all told to me by the fourth; I only found out not long ago myself."

He paused and quickly changed the subject.

"Father, it was mainly that Jiangcheng Loan King who caused trouble, which is why Big Brother ended up like that." Tang Shan argued loudly. "Besides, I am the closest to Big Brother; how could I possibly harm him!"

Patriarch Tang Ritian stared at Tang Shan for a full half minute.

Tang Shan's forehead broke into a light sweat, but he forced himself not to look away.

With Big Brother Tang Da having an accident, how could he let this opportunity slip? For the past month, he had been secretly poisoning him. Now that Tang Da had collapsed into a catastrophe, no one had any evidence, and he could not show weakness now.

"Forget it." Patriarch Tang Ritian finally withdrew his gaze and let out a helpless sigh. He waved his hand, and his entire body seemed to shrink into the chair.

"It's too late to say anything now." Patriarch Tang Ritian then sat up straight again. "Handle Tang Wuying's matter well. This time, when retrieving the Divine Source, do not let any more mishaps occur."

"Rest assured!" Tang Shan immediately straightened his back. "I will prepare a foolproof plan for Tang Wuying, and even more powerful Transcendental Believers will enter together."

"Go." Patriarch Tang Ritian closed his eyes.

After exiting the study, the grievance and respect on Tang Shan's face were swept away.

He tugged at his tie, a cold sneer appearing on his face.

The old man still favored the eldest.

However, it didn't matter; the eldest was already a dead man. The major threat had been removed, and next was to get the son's affairs settled.

I heard that little bastard Gu Han's skill is of the Reproduction type; it would be quite suitable to make him my son's dog.

"Yanran, oh Yanran, I will let you know that rejecting me will be the most foolish decision of your life."

Tang Shan took out his handheld device and dialed a number.

"Did you get it?"

The reply came from the other end of the line: "Yes, the loose ends have also been dealt with; not a single member of the family was left."