374: Chapter 374 Let me ask you a question first.

"Everyone is so strong, you're so strong, Brother is so strong too..."

"I can't even beat anyone."

Zhao Tianyang opened his mouth, unsure of how to respond for a moment.

Say she was strong? That would be lying through his teeth; she had just been rubbed into the ground by the Boss.

Say she was weak? That would be like stabbing her in the heart.

The honest Shura War God felt a lack of words for the umpteenth time.

"Your strength isn't great... but you're great at naming things!"

In that instant, Zhao Tianyang seemed to see the demeanor of a Shura on Lin Yao's face.

However, after glaring at Zhao Tianyang a couple of times, the Little Girl seemed to have figured it out herself.

She suddenly raised her head and wiped her face hard, as if to wipe away all the grievances and unwillingness.

"Forget it!"

The young girl's voice was crisp and loud.

"Anyway, since I'm idle, I might as well go have some fun!"

She was giving herself a way out and also cheering herself up.

There are so many people in the League...

There must be at least two people weaker than me.

Right...

Probably...

There can't be none...

Wuwuwu, should I let Zhao Tianyang go up first to set an example for me?

Having thought this through, Lin Yao's mood visibly improved.

She walked up to Lin Yu, tilted her small face up, and snorted.

"I'm going to play with Zhao Tianyang, you... you're on your own!"

After saying that, without waiting for Lin Yu's reply, she turned and left, pulling Zhao Tianyang along with her.

Zhao Tianyang cast an inquiring look at Lin Yu.

Lin Yu nodded slightly.

Receiving permission, Zhao Tianyang gave an honest smile and followed Lin Yao's steps.

One after the other, the two quickly disappeared into the depths of the giant grass thicket, which was comparable to a prehistoric rainforest.

Wen Yan watched the two figures, one tall and one short, gradually swallowed by the ten-meter-high foxtail grass, finally disappearing from sight.

He wasn't a fool.

He could also see that Zhao Tianyang and Lin Yao weren't fools either.

Both Lin Yao and Zhao Tianyang realized they were deliberately creating space for him and Lin Yu to talk privately.

That girl Lin Yao might seem a bit willful at times, but she had a good sense of propriety in major matters. If she stayed, she might hear things she shouldn't or interfere with important judgments.

As for Zhao Tianyang, all his actions followed Lin Yu's will. A single nod from Lin Yu was enough.

Wen Yan withdrew his gaze.

Around them, the top Researchers from various departments were still lying haphazardly on the ground, unconscious.

In this prehistoric jungle, mutated from the Duel Arena, only he and Lin Yu remained.

A deathly silence.

The sweet fragrance of plants in the air now carried a suffocating sense of pressure.

Wen Yan looked at Lin Yu before him, his emotions complicated to the extreme.

Wasn't he Epic Rank?

Indeed, the internal files of Fangs stated it clearly in black and white. Lin Yu, Epic Rank Professionals [Myriad Card Creator].

But why?

Why could he fight back and forth with two Mythical-level Professional?

No.

Wen Yan's thoughts began to scramble; he realized his perception had a fundamental error.

It wasn't just a back-and-forth, nor was it just two Mythic Rank.

Lin Yao's Forbidden Spell had summoned endless versions of herself from different timelines. That was countless Lin Yaos, equivalent to countless Mythic Rank.

And Zhao Tianyang, likewise, was countless.

And... countless Epic Rank just like Lin Yu.

Fighting against an army composed of countless Mythic Rank and Epic Rank, how could he have survived?

Not only did he survive, but he also won.

Won?

Wen Yan felt his brain, like an overloaded server, let out a scream of being overwhelmed.

No, no, no, that's not even the most critical part.

Wen Yan suddenly had a realization.

A more terrifying question, one that overturned his entire worldview, surfaced in his mind.

Energy.

The astronomical amount of energy required to complete Lin Yao's [Forbidden Gate].

He and the group of Researchers lying on the ground had used the top equipment of the Organization to perform the most precise calculations.

The conclusion was: impossible.

That level and total amount of energy had already exceeded the scope of what current human technology could understand.

Let alone a single Duel Arena, even if the entire energy core of the Organization were drained, it would likely be a drop in the bucket.

But Lin Yu had somehow done it.

Where did he get such massive, pure, and terrifying energy to fill that bottomless pit?

These thoughts were like sharp knives, stabbing the solid worldview Wen Yan had built over decades until it was full of holes.

He looked at the young man before him.

From his perspective, Lin Yu was just a youth in his early twenties, much younger than himself.

On that face, there was still a hint of lingering childishness.

Yet it was the owner of this face who had just performed something that could be called a "miracle."

Wen Yan's Adam's apple bobbed; he felt his mouth and throat go dry.

He wanted to say something but found he couldn't even organize a complete sentence.

A long, long time passed.

So long that Wen Yan thought he would turn into a statue standing in this bizarre jungle.

Only then did he finally squeeze a few words out from between his teeth.

"Student... Lin Yu, is it?"

His voice was as dry as sandpaper rubbing together.

"You really are..."

Wen Yan twitched his stiff face, revealing a smile that looked worse than crying.

"You really gave me a huge surprise."

Lin Yu watched him quietly, without speaking.

That calmness, that sense of it being natural, made the stormy waves in Wen Yan's heart surge even more violently.

Wen Yan took a deep breath; the rich life energy flowing into his lungs didn't make him feel comfortable, but instead made his heart beat faster.

He simply stopped beating around the bush.

"That spell, you..."

Wen Yan's voice carried a hint of a tremor he hadn't even noticed.

"How on earth did you do it?"

Lin Yu finally moved.

Instead of answering Wen Yan's question, he raised his hand and pointed lightly at a giant mushroom three stories high not far away.

Buzz.

A slight vibration.

Under Wen Yan's horrified gaze, that giant "White-Scaled Parasol" began to wither and decay rapidly at a visible rate.

In just a few seconds, it changed from a vibrant giant plant into a pile of gray-black powder.

And the majestic life force contained within it, enough to instantly burst an ordinary person, turned into a streak of emerald light, merged into Lin Yu's fingertips, and disappeared.

After doing all this, Lin Yu slowly lowered his hand.

He looked at Wen Yan and finally spoke.

"Rather than that, Officer Wen, is it... didn't you and Officer Zhong Huai come here on a mission? Why do you have the leisure to watch us kids fight?"