322: Save me a seat!

However, this did give him an opportunity.

Although it was now confirmed that Lin Yu didn't have the heaven-defying background or hidden depths they had imagined, under Boss Qin's instructions, he still had to treat this assignment with caution.

He had been struggling with what to do, but looking at it now, wasn't there a perfect opportunity tomorrow?

"Ha..."

A low, raspy, uncontrollable laugh rolled out of Zhong Huai's throat.

"Hahahaha..."

The laughter grew louder and more unrestrained, echoing across the empty tarmac.

On the other end of the phone, Wen Yan's scalp tingled as he listened.

Is this senior... insane?

"Wen Yan."

The laughter stopped abruptly.

Zhong Huai's voice rang out once more.

This time, there wasn't a hint of laziness or mockery in his tone.

Only a cold, unquestionable... command remained.

"Save one more seat."

Wen Yan was stunned.

"What?"

"Tomorrow's duel." Zhong Huai's speaking speed wasn't fast, but every word felt like a hammer striking steel. "Save a seat for me too."

"I'm going there personally."

Wen Yan's brain completely short-circuited.

What... what kind of development is this?

Didn't they agree that he should just go to "fill a slot" and "put on a show"?

Didn't they agree that the Boss didn't expect to find anyone at all?

Why is it that now, even you, the hands-off manager, are going to personally step onto the field?

Could it be?

"Minister Zhong... if... if you want this credit, I'll just give it to you?"

"...You idiot! What are you thinking... do I look like I'm lacking that little bit of reward?"

Zhong Huai sighed, deciding he would never joke with a bookworm again.

"Senior... this..."

"Shut up."

Zhong Huai cut him off rudely.

"Do as I say."

"Tell the people at the 'Organization' that 'Fangs' wants two of the best observation seats."

After saying that.

With a "beep," the communication was hung up directly...

Insect Dwelling, Simulated Training Ground.

The humid air was filled with a scent of metal mixed with sweat.

Lin Yao's movements suddenly stopped.

The surging torrent of mana slowly calmed around her, finally returning to silence.

Sweat dripped from the tips of her hair, hitting the cold alloy floor with a soft patter.

She turned around, her bright eyes locking directly onto the figure leaning against the wall at the edge of the training ground.

"Brother."

Her voice carried a hint of a young girl's characteristic crispness, along with an irrepressible excitement.

"Tomorrow, I'll definitely beat you until you're rolling on the ground!"

The Little Girl issued her battle declaration, waving her fair, tender fist to show her determination.

She didn't know that this long-awaited duel with her brother had already been secretly turned into a stage for three people by him.

But she didn't care; she could fight them all!

However, following arrangements didn't mean she wasn't thinking about "overthrowing the superior."

Lin Yu stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the cold wall. In response to his sister's grand words, he only let out a very soft, ambiguous syllable.

"Heh."

He was also confident.

Lin Yao huffed, quite dissatisfied with her brother's perfunctory attitude, but the long period of cultivation had also left her somewhat exhausted.

She walked to the nearby rest area, picked up a towel to wipe her sweat, then sat down and habitually swiped open her phone screen.

In the next second.

Her movements froze.

"Holy crap!"

An exclamation echoed through the empty training ground.

Lin Yao suddenly sprang up from her chair, bringing her phone screen close to her eyes as if she wanted to dive into it.

"What... what the hell is this?!"

On the screen were various video compilations of the lightning storm that had swept across the globe.

From East Xia to West Grand, from North Union to South Land.

Countless footages filmed from different angles and locations pointed toward the same fact.

A world-ending feast of thunder that covered the entire Blue Planet.

Pure white lightning, like chains of divine punishment, wove the sky of the entire planet into a giant net.

That apocalyptic sense of oppression made one's heart palpitate even through a screen.

"This is fake, right? Which movie company's promotional video is this? The special effects are too realistic!"

Lin Yao's first reaction was disbelief.

She clicked her tongue while quickly scrolling through the screen, browsing the comments and related news below.

However, the more she looked, the less relaxed her expression became, replaced by a gradually deepening solemnity.

Official announcements, expert interpretations, emergency responses from various militaries... all the information was telling her an absurd fact.

This wasn't special effects.

This was real.

"Caused... by one person?"

Lin Yao murmured to herself as she saw a highly upvoted analysis post.

The poster spoke with certainty, comparing various energy fluctuation models to deduce that this terrifying celestial phenomenon had only one source.

It was an unimaginably powerful individual undergoing some kind of breakthrough or releasing a Forbidden Curse-level skill.

"They're bragging..."

Lin Yao instinctively retorted.

As a Mythical-grade profession holder, she knew better than anyone just how ridiculous it would be to achieve something like this.

This was no longer a simple question of the amount of energy.

This was the deepest level of interference with the underlying laws of the world!

If she went all out, she might be able to make a single block covered in dark clouds and lightning.

But compared to covering the entire globe, the difference wasn't even that of a firefly to the bright moon.

They were simply things from two different dimensions.

"These laymen online only know how to make a fuss."

The Little Girl curled her lip and, with the superiority of an insider, began to criticize using her professional knowledge.

"First of all, energy dissipation is an unsolvable problem. To have a skill effect cover the globe, how massive would the initial energy have to be? Before it could even spread, the energy core itself would have collapsed into a black hole."

"Secondly, there's law synchronization. The Blue Planet is so large, and the law environments in different places have subtle differences. To use one kind of power to simultaneously leverage the lightning elements of the entire world and have them respond in sync... that fundamentally violates the basics of professional theory!"

"So, it's absolutely impossible for this to be..."

Lin Yao's words suddenly got stuck halfway.

A thought uncontrollably surfaced in her mind.

What if?

What if there really was someone powerful enough to ignore energy dissipation and forcibly synchronize global laws?

Just what kind of terrifying existence would that person be?

At the thought of this, Lin Yao only felt a chill run up her spine.

She didn't dare think about it any further.

She stared blankly at the world-destroying lightning on the screen for a long time before finally swallowing hard.

She began to use herself as a unit of measurement in her mind to estimate the strength of that "mastermind."