81: Chapter 81 The Hunt Begins

Time rewind.

Just as the teleportation array activated, the silence in the cave was suddenly broken.

On the constantly roaring machine, a glaring red light suddenly lit up with a boom.

And as the red light turned on, a harsh screeching sound followed.

Hearing this sound, everyone in the cave stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the blood-red light.

Their faces all broke into sinister smiles, as if they were expecting something.

Deep inside, in that same conference room.

The several figures sitting in the chairs, the moment they saw the image displayed on the crystal screen, immediately sat up straight, their breathing becoming rapid.

At this moment, they all knew clearly in their hearts that they had reached the edge of a precipice; one step forward was the abyss, and one step back was also the abyss.

Just then, a cold voice suddenly rang out.

"We've already come this far, is there any chance for us to turn back? Wake up! Even if we were willing to retreat, think about it yourselves—can you guarantee that your subordinates will never reveal this matter for the rest of their lives?"

Lucius looked around, his tone becoming increasingly cold as he watched those guys with shifty eyes.

"Keeping it a secret for a lifetime is impossible. You all know that in your hearts, even if they were to become dead men!"

"Once the news leaks, not only will we be wiped out, but our Family will also be exterminated by the Academy."

"So, at this point, we really have no way out!!!"

Saying this, Lucius suddenly stood up, slamming his palm forcefully on the table, his voice growing louder.

"Since we'll be beheaded whether we stick our necks out or pull them back, why hesitate and retreat?"

"If you don't dare to issue the order, then I will issue it!"

Saying this, after exchanging a glance with the Round-faced Old Man sitting at the head of the table, Lucius ignored the others present. A ray of light lit up in his hand and then instantly vanished.

The next moment, the image displayed on the crystal screen suddenly changed. The red light dimmed, and the apprentices in black robes began to busy themselves, constantly operating the massive machine.

Seeing this, the people sitting stiffly in the conference room instantly relaxed, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from their shoulders.

At the same time, the Round-faced Old Man spoke with a serious expression: "Everyone, Lucius is right. We have come this far; we have no reason to retreat now."

"And since Lucius has already given the order, let's not just sit here. Let's go out and take a look."

Saying this, the figures of the Round-faced Old Man and Lucius instantly vanished, and when they reappeared, they were already standing in the cave shown on the crystal screen.

Seeing this, the others in the conference room stood up one after another and came to the cave.

"How is the situation now?"

The Round-faced Old Man looked at the constantly roaring machine and asked a black-robed person beside him.

The black-robed person said respectfully: "Because we are close enough to the teleportation array, we were able to sense the spatial fluctuations it triggered the moment it activated and lock onto it."

"And according to the previously prepared program, we just need to wait quietly. When the teleportation array begins to transmit, we will be able to anchor it instantly."

"And simultaneously modify the information in the Magic Array so that they cannot teleport to the Dark Eclipse Wizard Academy."

Hearing this, the Round-faced Old Man did not show any smile on his face; instead, he frowned slightly.

"Is that it? Just unable to teleport to the Academy? What about teleporting to a fixed location as we planned?"

Although the Round-faced Old Man's voice was not loud, this remark made the black-robed person standing beside him break out in a cold sweat.

The black-robed person stuttered: "This..."

The Round-faced Old Man gave a soft snort: "Say whatever it is."

The black-robed person swallowed a mouthful of saliva and said bitterly: "There is no way to do that, because when those Dark Wizards sold us this machine, they didn't provide us with the corresponding technology."

"So we cannot make them teleport to our designated location. We can only prevent them from teleporting directly to the Academy. At most, we can achieve random teleportation, roughly in the forest area around the Academy..."

"Alright, say no more!"

The Round-faced Old Man's expression became gloomy, and he snorted coldly: "Those rats hiding in the sewers are still the same, indecisive in everything they do!"

"They want to disrupt order and expand their own living space, yet they are afraid of causing too much turmoil and being noticed."

Saying this, the Round-faced Old Man waved his hand: "Forget it, I should have expected them to be like this. However, being able to make those students teleport randomly still meets the requirements, it's just a bit more troublesome."

Upon hearing this, the black-robed person nodded hurriedly.

Just then, the space in the cave seemed to be affected by something. The originally calm space suddenly rippled, like a lake surface into which a pebble had been thrown.

The moment this anomaly appeared, everyone present immediately sensed the strangeness.

Seeing this, the Round-faced Old Man narrowed his eyes and spoke again: "Notify those on the perimeter. Tell them the operation has begun!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present held their breath.

Even though they had anticipated it, when the moment truly arrived, a trace of unease still emerged in their hearts, even for Lucius.

However, the black-robed person did not delay for long; he quickly reacted and passed on the Round-faced Old Man's words.

And those lying in ambush in the forest around the Academy, the moment they received the message, all began to act, searching everywhere in the forest for their respective prey.

In the cave, the Round-faced Old Man turned his head to look at the Official Wizards standing beside him.

"Now it's our turn to enter the stage. Relying solely on those lads won't meet our requirements."

The other Official Wizards did not speak, simply nodding in silence.

...

On the other side, the moment the Magic Array fully activated and began the teleportation, Byron only felt his vision go black, and his sight suddenly disappeared.

And this feeling was not unfamiliar to him; after all, he had already experienced it several times.

However, this teleportation had some subtle differences from the one that brought them in last time.

But as for what exactly the difference was, Byron couldn't really say for the moment; he just thought he had misfelt it.

But the next moment, when the teleportation was complete and he opened his eyes to see the surroundings clearly, he was stunned.

At this moment, he had not appeared on the Academy plaza where the teleportation array to enter the Ghost Marrow Crystal Nest Plane was, but instead appeared in a village.

Low thatched cottages were crowded on both sides of a muddy dirt road, and all around were crisscrossing farmlands.

And because of his sudden appearance, the crowd standing around, dressed in coarse linen, were all staring straight at him.

Looking at this scene before him, the corner of Byron's eye couldn't stop twitching, and he had a thousand words he wanted to complain about in his heart.

If it weren't for the fact that the people surrounding him were other students from the Academy, he would have suspected that the Academy wanted them to continue executing another mission right there!