222: discuss

"Everyone."

Kuta stood up, his compound eyes sweeping over every High-ranking Official of the Suradi Continent present—including Saras, whose lava-like carapace still looked grim, and several other beings whose auras were equally formidable.

His voice, like metal scraping against metal, was cold and clear as it echoed through the great hall: "I presume you all know why we have gathered here in such an emergency at this moment."

His gaze fell upon the Attendant behind him, who was still injured and trembling slightly.

"As for the specific reasons, I fear not everyone is fully aware." Kuta turned to the side, revealing the Attendant behind him. "Let him tell you all about his personal experience."

The Attendant took a step forward and immediately felt the pressure of gazes from all directions, which felt almost tangible.

In those gazes, there was scrutiny, confusion, impatience, and even deep anxiety.

He took a deep breath, suppressing the taste of blood in his throat and the churning fear, and with a hoarse yet as clear as possible voice, recounted everything he had encountered in the library.

From that 'Lord Fannojia's' seemingly casual inquiry, "It seems... a bit noisy outside?", to his calm statement, "Is there something happening in Suradi Continent recently? Or is there some festival? Why is it so lively?", and finally, after he replied "I do not know," that sudden, unprovoked, and violent blow!

The Attendant subconsciously touched the cracks in his carapace on his back that had just begun to heal, his voice trembling uncontrollably as he repeated the cold ultimatum word for word:

"...The Lord said, if after half a day, he does not hear what he wants to know..."

"...Then let those outside... those so-called High-ranking Officials of our continent, personally... personally go and explain to him..."

"Why... they disturbed his peace."

"And ruined his mood."

The Attendant's voice trailed off, filled with the breath of someone who had narrowly escaped death and a bone-deep fear. The great hall fell into a dead silence. You could hear a pin drop.

Then, this silence was shattered by a sudden outburst of noise!

"What?!"

"Did he really say that?!"

"Could it be that he knows? Does he want to intervene?!"

"This is bad, if he wants to intervene, who among us can stop him?!"

Saras, whose body was covered in a lava-like carapace, stood up abruptly. Dark red magma light flickered violently on his body, and he slammed his fist onto the heavy stone tabletop in front of him, creating a dull, loud thud!

"Damn it! What exactly does this Fannojia want?!" Saras growled, anger and fear intertwined on his face. "Is he warning us? Or is he... testing us?"

Beside him, a relatively short and stout member of The Strong Ones, surrounded by murky, earth-yellow energy, looked so grim that his face seemed ready to drip water: "Testing? Hmph! I think he is just a hyena that smelled blood! But... does he really not know that Lord Mykail has already..."

"Hush!" Another being, shrouded in shadows and whose specific appearance could not be discerned, made a hoarse, restraining sound. "Watch your words! Regardless of whether he knows or not, his attitude at this moment already indicates... he is very dissatisfied!"

"Dissatisfied? What right does he have to be dissatisfied?!" A sharp voice rang out from a creature in the corner covered in sharp crystal spikes. "We are fighting for the token of pioneering, it's none of his business! By what right does he intervene?!"

"Because his name is Fannojia! Because he also holds a token of pioneering in his hands! Because he is currently on our turf! Because of his incomparably formidable strength!" Saras turned his head abruptly, glaring at the guy who had made the sharp sound, his tone irritable. "What is the use of saying these things now? The key is, half a day! We only have half a day! What are we going to do?!"

"Could it be... that we really have to pause?" Someone spoke hesitantly, their tone filled with unwillingness.

"Pause? Stop now? Then what was all that fighting to the death for before? We are on the verge of a result..."

"Not stop? Do you really want to wait for that evil star to come knocking? By then, let alone the token of pioneering, it will be hard to say if we can even keep our current positions!"

"Could there be some deep meaning behind him doing this... purposely forcing us to stop, so he can..."

"Enough!" Kuta's cold voice rang out again, suppressing all the arguments and speculations.

His compound eyes scanned the various expressions on everyone's faces—anger, fear, greed, unwillingness, suspicion...

"Everyone," Kuta's voice was devoid of any emotion. "It is meaningless to argue about Fannojia's intentions now. Regardless of whether he was truly disturbed or has other motives, the message he gave is very clear—"

"He is unhappy."

"And we only have half a day to appease his 'displeasure'."

Kuta's gaze became sharp, like two invisible, cold scythes scraping across everyone's hearts.

"Are we going to continue arguing endlessly here, waiting for him to come 'inquire' personally, or... temporarily put aside our grudges and stabilize this plague god first?"

Kuta's cold words were like a cold front passing through, causing the boiling clamor in the great hall to suddenly cool down.

Everyone looked at each other; the anger and fear on their faces had not yet faded, but a sense of helplessness forced by reality had been added.

Yes, what is the point of arguing now about whether Fannojia is truly angry, or how much he actually knows?

He has already expressed his dissatisfaction. He has already set a deadline. Half a day. This blade hanging over their heads could fall at any moment.

Just in this suffocating silence, a slightly weary yet exceptionally clear voice rang out.

"Kuta is right."

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice; the speaker was Hivedi, who had been sitting silently in the shadows of the corner. He was thin, his body covered in a smooth, obsidian-like carapace, which, compared to the ferocious or rugged appearance of the other members of The Strong Ones, made him look somewhat... weak.

However, at this moment, his long, narrow eyes, flashing with the light of wisdom, calmly scanned every member of The Strong Ones present.

"We have no choice right now." Hivedi's voice was not loud, but it carried a strange penetrating power, suppressing the remaining noise. "Whether that... Lord Fannojia was truly disturbed, or is using this to beat us, or even... if he has already discerned the changes in the continent..."

He paused, emphasizing his tone: "We all can only, and must, pretend that he knows nothing."

"Pretend that he is merely unhappy because of our recent 'commotion'."

Hivedi's words were like a bucket of cold water, completely waking up those who still held onto wishful thinking or were blinded by anger.

That's right, no matter how much Fannojia knows, they must respond based on the premise that "he does not know." Because once they admit that he might know, it means a showdown. And given the current state of Suradi Continent, none of them can afford the consequences of a showdown.

"Then... Hivedi, what do you mean?" Saras's emotions had calmed down a little, but his tone was still filled with intense unwillingness and irritability. Under his lava-like carapace, energy surged incessantly, clearly showing that his heart was still struggling violently.

"It is very simple." Hivedi lifted his eyelids, his gaze calmly meeting Saras's. "Since it was our 'commotion' that disturbed the distinguished guest's peace, then we should naturally... go and apologize."

"Apologize?!" The sharp voice rang out again; it was the same member of The Strong Ones covered in crystal spikes. He almost jumped up. "Why should we apologize to him?! When Lord Mykail was still here, Fannojia wouldn't have dared to be so presumptuous!"

"Now is not the time when Lord Mykail was still here!" Hivedi's voice suddenly turned sharp, his gaze shooting like a knife at the crystal-spiked member of The Strong Ones. "Now it is us who need him to be 'quiet'! It is us who are worried that he will intervene! It is us... who are at an absolute disadvantage!"

"Instead of waiting for him to come and 'inquire about the crime' in half a day, it is better for us to take the initiative to lower our posture and go 'plead guilty,' at least... we can still grasp a little bit of initiative and show our attitude."

Hivedi's words caused the great hall to fall into silence again. This time, it was a silence filled with humiliation and unwillingness. Bowing their heads to Fannojia? For these High-ranking Officials who usually ran amok in the Suradi Continent, this was nothing short of a great humiliation. But... the situation was stronger than the people. Just as Hivedi said, they had no better choice now.

After a moment, the short and stout member of The Strong Ones surrounded by murky, earth-yellow energy spoke in a muffled voice: "Apologizing... is fine. But... what excuse should we use?"

He looked at Hivedi, then scanned Kuta and Saras: "We can't just tell him directly that we almost tore the continent apart just to snatch the token of pioneering, right? Wouldn't that be equivalent to exposing our own shortcomings?"

This question made the atmosphere that had just settled become tense again. Yes, what about the excuse? They had been fighting earth-shatteringly for the past few days, and the energy fluctuations had almost swept through the entire core area; even a blind person could feel that something was wrong. Can they just find any excuse and fool him? Especially fooling an old fox like Fannojia?

"An excuse..." Saras thought for a moment, then slammed his hand on the table with a loud "bang," making the utensils on the table jump.

"Just say!" Saras's voice rolled like muffled thunder, "It is for the celebration! Celebrating that our Suradi Continent has passed the first... one hundred thousand years since its creation!"

"A one hundred thousand-year celebration?!"

"This... this is too..."

"It sounds... like it might not be impossible?"

Upon hearing this, everyone was stunned at first, and then various complex expressions appeared on their faces. This reason sounded a bit... far-fetched, or even absurd. But thinking about it carefully, it seemed there was no more suitable one. A celebration would naturally be accompanied by large-scale use of energy, various rituals, and even... competitions for entertainment. This could indeed explain the recent "commotion." Although this "one hundred thousand years" milestone was something Saras had just thought of on the spur of the moment...

After some discussion, everyone agreed to use this reason. Then Kuta stood up again, his gaze sweeping over everyone with unquestionable authority: "After this matter, regardless of whether Fannojia is truly displeased because of this, the area around the library must immediately have the highest-level isolation barrier established."

"To ensure... that no more 'sounds' reach that Lord's ears."

Kuta's words put an end to this short argument. Establishing a barrier to completely isolate the inside from the outside was both a way to remedy the situation and a... helpless act of self-imprisonment. But at least, it could temporarily stabilize Fannojia. And buy them... the final time.