Ch. 3131..3440
Chapter 3431 Gloria Is Alarmed
In actuality, Solocus could not resist feeling thankful to the unknown force. If not for it, how’s it possible for me to unify the Ecclesiastic Order within such a short span?
“Yeah! Since Levi Garrison claims he’d let the Top Ten off, I’m sure he’s being truthful!”
“To him, the four cornerstone divine tools are just something worthless!”
The other elders echoed.
Everyone suddenly had a grasp of the situation. Evidently, the Ecclesiastic Order was exploited by the others to annihilate Levi.
“But who could be this unknown force?”
“Based on our observation, this unknown force knows well about the Ecclesiastic Order, the Cetus, Levi Garrison, and Yartran. But I can’t seem to relate it to any forces in my mind!”
The elders asked in bafflement among themselves. They racked their brains, trying to identify the mysterious force.
As for Solocus, this mysterious force had indirectly given him a hand, turning his secret plan toward success.
However, he vowed to dig the force up, fearing they would fall victim to the latter’s heinousness.
“But how’s it possible that we’ve never sensed anything awry when the mysterious force is manipulating everyone? How did they manage to pull that off?”
“Even if it’s someone among us, I bet there’ll be traces left behind, isn’t it?”
Perplexed, the elders started raising doubts again.
Heaving a sigh, Solocus uttered resignedly, “Who knows, it could be a lowly small fry easily overlooked by anyone?”
“Investigate the matter at once! We must leave no stones unturned to dig this force up!”
“I have a feeling it must be someone from the Ecclesiastic Order. They could be scheming on the next step now!”
“We must keep it under wrap and assign the elites to investigate the matter discreetly!”
The elders started urging Solocus to take prompt action.
Shortly after, he instructed elites to be assigned to infiltrate the Ecclesiastic Order and investigate the matter.
Surprisingly, Gloria managed to get first-hand information about their secret mission.
“Huh? Even the Ecclesiastic Order is suspicious of me now! Oh my! I’m in trouble!” Prevailed by a sense of crisis, she was a bundle of nerves.
No doubt, she possessed unrivaled combat prowess and was not the slightest bit intimidated by anyone from the Ecclesiastic Order.
Nonetheless, she foresaw a lot of her schemes would be affected when all the others started having a sense of vigilance and tracking down the so-called mysterious force. D*mn it! How am I supposed to eliminate all these obstacles? What on earth has happened? Oh my! I shouldn’t have acted impulsively!
It never crossed her mind that Levi was coincidentally back earlier than planned when the Ecclesiastic Order was about to launch an attack on North Pavilion. She had to admit that she had put herself in a tight spot by shooting herself in the foot due to her impulsiveness.
Since the plan had turned out a failure, all the others started sensing something amiss and feeling suspicious of the whole thing.
After all, it had indirectly drawn unintentional attention from everyone when Levi’s whereabouts were exposed. Undeniably, she had overlooked the point.
By right, it was impossible for Levi’s whereabouts to be exposed under any circumstances. Intimidated by the former’s formidability at the moment, everyone dared not even go near him, let alone well-informed about his whereabouts.
Since it was relatively impossible, it might lead her to become a prime suspect at any moment.
Consequently, even the Ecclesiastic Order had presumed there should be a third unknown force. Not to mention, they were well aware of what transpired to the Top Ten.
Gloria almost burst a blood vessel. She could not help but despise herself for making such a grievous mistake recklessly.
Only then did she realize that she had miscalculated Levi’s timing.
Initially, she thought the estimated time was more than enough for North Pavilion to be wiped out. Nevertheless, it was still too late.
After all, Levi had already set off for Yartran long ago when she looked for Floyd to ask tactfully about the former’s whereabouts. She smacked her head subconsciously at the thought.
“Oh, right! Levi Garrison!” she gasped intuitively as something overwhelming came to her mind.
He bumped into the elites of the Ecclesiastic Order when he was back in North Pavilion, didn’t he? If so, he had surely discovered that a certain someone had exposed his whereabouts earlier! He has been suspecting there’s another mysterious force long ago and is tracking it down.
Now that his whereabouts are exposed, he’ll suspect his people for sure. Unequivocally, only his own people know about that. Hmm! Will he think that Floyd has something to do with it? If he’s suspicious of Floyd, sooner or later, I’ll be exposed! Oh my! All my effort will go down the drain then! Gloria was like a cat on hot bricks, but there was nothing she could do.
Chapter 3432 Floyd Is On Pins And Needles
If I take the risk to remind Floyd now, I tend to put myself in deep water, right? There was nothing Gloria could do to turn back time. She could only keep her fingers crossed that Levi would not find out Floyd was the one leaking information to her.
Gloria hid somewhere right after much contemplation. She started working on the preparation for a backup plan in case Levi found out she was the mastermind behind everything.
On pins and needles, Gloria broke out in cold sweat. She was all tensed up about the tragic fate that might befall her.
In the meantime, Levi was back in the base.
“Boss! Master! You’re back!” everyone greeted him in unison.
“Gather everyone now!” he instructed grimly.
“Huh? What’s wrong?” someone asked apprehensively.
Even though everyone’s curiosity was piqued, they still assembled as instructed by Levi. Soon, everyone gathered right in front of the latter.
Looking intently at them, Levi stated solemnly, “I have the utmost trust in all of you, just like how you trust me!”
Hearing that, everyone sensed something amiss. Levi had never mentioned anything like that before.
Needless to say, Floyd’s heart skipped a beat instantaneously.
“Boss, of course! We’re well aware of that!” Azure Dragon responded earnestly.
“Boss, did anything happen? Please tell us now!” the others urged him anxiously.
The next second, Levi cut to the chase. “Someone had leaked the news about my trip to Yartran. The moment the Ecclesiastic Order knew about it, they set off to eradicate North Pavilion!”
His words sent everyone into a tizzy.
“How’s that possible? Boss, we’re the only ones who knew about your whereabouts all the while!”
“How could the news be spread within such a short span?”
“Could it be one of us had leaked it?”
Some of them squealed in bafflement.
A heated discussion broke out, and everyone started making wild guesses. Nonetheless, every single one of them was relatively trustworthy. They were sure as h*ll none of them would betray Levi and expose his whereabouts.
Huh? Expose his whereabouts? There was a drastic change in Floyd’s countenance.
Realization dawned on him that he could have exposed his master’s whereabouts in a way. But I didn’t tell anyone else other than Gloria. Since she’s already my woman, she’s considered one of our people! Hence, she couldn’t be the one exposing it!
On the other hand, Levi continued to reassure them, “I’m pretty sure nobody among us had exposed it wittingly!”
Everyone felt touched; their eyes glittered with sparkles. Undeniably, they had the utmost trust in Levi, just like how he trusted them.
“However, I have a hunch someone among us had leaked it unintentionally. Inevitably, we still cross paths with the Ecclesiastic Order and others in the outer world. Thus, anyone might have exposed it accidentally! Not to mention, the base is encircled by spies hiding not far away from us. Hence, there’s still a possibility it was exposed inadvertently. Can all of you try to recall if you’d liaised with any outsiders when I was not around earlier?” Levi uttered somberly.
Therefore, they started to recall by all means.
Floyd felt a surge of anxiousness from within him, but he was convinced that Gloria could not be the culprit. She’s considered one of us now! To me, she’s as important as Master! No way! It couldn’t be her!
Deep down, Floyd was overcome by another wave of uneasiness. He foresaw Gloria would be in deep water if he mentioned her name. She’s innocent! I can’t let her take the fall!
Zoey suggested, “How about getting everyone who’d stepped out of the base recently to step forward? It’s more precise to filter this way.”
“Huh?” Floyd’s anxiousness intensified. Undeniably, he had stepped out of the base earlier, and many among them were aware of that.
Shortly after, everyone who had stepped out of the base recently stepped forward.
Preoccupied with a sense of guilt, Floyd had no choice but to step forward as well. He knew it would only escalate the situation if he tended to act suspiciously.
Zoey cut the crap. “Tell us whom you’d met after stepping out of the base and the content of your conversations with them. Try to provide as many details as possible!”
Chapter 3433 Who Have You Met
All the others described willingly what they had done and who they had met while away from the base in detail.
On the contrary, Floyd was becoming more anxious as time went by.
Nevertheless, he got a grip of himself and pretended to be pondering something. No way! I can’t let them sense anything! Floyd Irving, you must stay nonchalant as ever, by hook or by crook!
At the same time, it was as though all the others’ eyes were on him. He kept his head down while deep in thought.
Moments later, all the other twenty persons stepping forward had provided the relevant details as requested, except Floyd.
Based on their descriptions, it could be concluded that they did not reveal the information to anyone else. There was even concrete evidence to prove that they were being truthful.
Since none of them had anything to do with the exposure of Levi’s whereabouts, Floyd was the only one left. In other words, he should be the one exposing the latter’s whereabouts.
At that moment, everyone had their eyes on Floyd. No words could describe how tensed Floyd was at that very moment. Must I reveal Gloria’s name? No way! I shouldn’t expose her now! Once I mention her name, Master and the others will surely draw speculation that she’s the culprit!
Floyd made up his mind that he would not reveal Gloria’s name, despite being in a dilemma.
Wait a minute! Something is not right! Look at the current situation! Oh no! I’ll be doomed! All of a sudden, Floyd could not help wailing inwardly when something occurred to him.
All the others had explained in detail with valid reasons and traceable information. Thus, none of them had the possibility of revealing Levi’s whereabouts.
So does it mean I’m the only one suspicious? Of course, I won’t betray Master by exposing his whereabouts to anyone! I’d only told Gloria about it earlier! Could it be her? A petrifying idea flashed across his mind.
Hmm! Gloria’s the only outsider who knew about this. Thus, there’s a high possibility for her to expose it to others! Huh? At the thought, cold sweat broke out from every pore of his body. No way! How can I be suspicious of Gloria? Floyd Irving, you sc*mbag! How could you suspect her even after she willingly gave herself to you? Anyone else could have exposed the information, but Gloria will never do so! She couldn’t be the one! It will never happen! How could you suspect her? Have you gone nuts? Didn’t you swear that you won’t be suspicious of her anymore? How’s it possible that she’d done that?
At the moment, he reverenced Gloria as though she was a deity descending from heaven. Thus, he should not have any doubt about her. To him, he must never hurt her feelings by doing so.
Subsequently, he talked himself into putting any doubts about Gloria out of his mind. It’s impossible! She’s my woman! How could she be the one?
“Floyd?” Levi’s authoritative voice sounded abruptly, breaking his reverie.
Astounded, he responded instinctively, “Ah! Master!”
Right that instant, everyone kept their eyes glued to Floyd. Apparently, he was the only potential suspect left.
Levi was convinced that the others could not be the ones exposing his whereabouts. Among those who had stepped out of the base earlier, Floyd was the only one with whom he had not questioned anything. Who could it be if he’s not the one?
“Floyd, spit it out! Who had you met after stepping out of the base? Think carefully so you won’t leave out anyone. Don’t forget to explain what you had done too. Tell me everything!” Levi demanded.
First, Floyd elucidated his purpose of stepping out of the base. He was mainly probing into the Ecclesiastic Order’s current activities. He even roughly mentioned what Gloria had notified him earlier. Everything sounded fine, and Levi did not sense anything suspicious.
“Then who did you mainly meet?” Levi questioned further.
“Hmm… I’ve met…” Floyd enunciated the names of a few friends he used to know from the Ecclesiastic Order. In fact, many others knew them too.
Even Azure Dragon and the others used to be closely acquainted with them earlier too.
Gazing at Floyd, Levi asked sternly, “That’s all? Is there anyone else?”
He could not fathom why his gut instinct told him something was amiss. It seemed Floyd had left something out.
Meanwhile, Floyd talked himself into being extra mindful. I must be extra careful so as not to give myself away! If not, the others would see through me soon!
At the sight of Levi looking intently at him, Floyd mustered up his courage and replied resolutely, “Nobody else!”
“If that’s the case, I don’t think anyone among us had leaked the information!” Zoey commented matter-of-factly.
However, Levi still stared at Floyd with his penetrative gaze.
Chapter 3434 Floyd Is Lying
That stare pierced right through Floyd and he felt as if his entire soul was being bared.
He began to break out in cold sweat from his fear and panic.
Is he suspecting me of something?
More importantly, Floyd certainly had some skeletons in his closet!
“Floyd, if you don’t mind me asking, do you have any outside sources from which you get your information? It’s just that you always managed to get some of the most crucial information about the Ecclesiastic Order, including the Bonemaster’s name list. I just wanted to know where you get that from,” Levi asked.
Floyd felt his fingertips begin to freeze up in fear.
His heartbeat was so loud that he could hear his blood rushing in his ears.
Levi never asked because he had always assumed that Floyd was simply talented in this aspect.
But now that such things were happening, he couldn’t help but wonder if Floyd was being used.
That’s why he wanted to know how Floyd was getting his information from people in the Ecclesiastic Order.
What do I do? What do I do? All of this information is from Gloria! If they continue investigating, she’ll get in trouble!
In fact, this is probably going to be super easy to find out. As long as Levi is involved, nothing will escape his hands! If they find out that it’s Gloria, things will get even worse!
If they found out it was Gloria who had been giving Floyd information, then all of them would begin treating her like the enemy.
What do I do? Do I expose that it was her? Should I expose the both of us? If I tell them about our relationship, I might be able to dodge a bullet for now, but Master will definitely start looking deeper into it. If that happens, everyone’s going to think Gloria is using me.
Floyd was stuck in his panicked thoughts, coming up with all the worst possible scenarios.
He wanted nothing more than for everyone to accept Gloria as part of the family.
However, that would never happen with the current state between them and the Ecclesiastic Order.
What should I do?
“So? What happened?”
The longer he stayed silent, the more everyone began to stare at him.
There’s definitely something wrong with him.
“Wait! I remember!” Floyd suddenly announced loudly.
“I met some members of the Ecclesiastic Order when I went out one day. I couldn’t hold myself back from bragging to them!”
Everyone looked at him in confusion. “What?”
“A lot of them recognized me when I tried to get information from them. They even said we were in danger, but they wouldn’t say how. They also said Yartran was a difficult opponent and that death was certainly in our near future. After that, I began to brag about how you were invincible and that we weren’t afraid of them! That we would get rid of the Ecclesiastic Order and Yartran in the same breath!
“At first they didn’t believe me, but then I accidentally blurted out that you were going to destroy Yartran. Those friends of mine wouldn’t have said anything, so it must have been overheard by someone else!”
Even Floyd himself was taken aback by how quickly he had reacted.
His excuse wasn’t completely foolproof, and the rest of them would certainly still suspect him.
However, most importantly, he had managed to place their suspicions back on him.
They might suspect him, but since even he had admitted that it was his fault, it wasn’t much use.
Floyd was marveling at his own random excuse.
They could suspect him, but it wasn’t bad enough for their suspicions to be useful.
After all, he had already admitted it!
“I’m sorry! It’s all my fault that your plans got leaked!” Floyd said apologetically.
“I shouldn’t have been so arrogant. I never cared much about the Ecclesiastic Order anyway and I always ended up saying too much because it wasn’t like we had anything to be afraid of,” Floyd continued.
“It’s alright! At least now we know what happened,” Levi replied.
Even though Floyd had been acting weirdly recently, Levi still wouldn’t suspect him.
He wouldn’t suspect anyone whom he trusted enough to have around him in the first place.
Levi knew none of them would betray him, and he believed that wholeheartedly.
That’s why he didn’t think too much of it.
His first guess had been something around those lines, anyway.
Chapter 3435 What Do You Mean By A Dead End
To be fair, it was also thanks to Gloria’s intelligence.
If she hadn’t ‘given’ herself to Floyd, he wouldn’t have wrung his brains out trying to come up with a plan to protect her.
Even if he had to suffer all the blame, he certainly wouldn’t have allowed Gloria to be dragged in.
After all, she was the most important person to him, even more than Levi.
If Gloria hadn’t wholeheartedly given herself to Floyd, he might have been able to think more calmly and might even have suspected her or exposed her.
Even Gloria herself hadn’t imagined that dating Floyd would bring such benefits.
Before this, Floyd had still leaned more toward Levi’s side.
Even now, he was beginning to suspect Gloria.
If this had happened earlier, he would probably have said it out loud and might even have gone to investigate himself.
“Everyone should be more careful from now on. In the case that the enemy attacks when I’m not around, you guys really have to take care of yourselves. The best thing to do would be to hide in the underground bunker. That’s our wild card, so you guys shouldn’t tell anyone about it,” Levi reminded seriously.
The moment he said that, Floyd felt his heart drop into his stomach.
He had already told Gloria about it a long time ago.
Luckily enough, Gloria was one of their own, so it didn’t matter.
I should probably deal with all this quickly so that Gloria can meet Master and the others soon, Floyd thought to himself.
He did have one question in mind, though. Who leaked Master’s plans out? It can’t have been Gloria!
That was something he was definitely sure of.
Just like how Levi trusted him wholeheartedly, Floyd trusted Gloria the same.
Suspecting her wasn’t even an option.
“Next, I’ll need you all to minimize contact with the Ecclesiastic Order. After all, they’re about to attack us,” Levi continued.
He arrived at North Pavilion once more after leaving the base.
Their investigation team had already gotten him the information he was looking for.
“Okay. Show me what you’ve found.”
Levi set out again right after returning to North Pavilion.
“Huh? They’re all dead!”
The whole team was in shock when they found their first informant.
Everyone who had anything to do with them had also been killed, and whoever did it made sure to leave no survivors.
Soon enough, they found their second informant in the same condition.
Everyone who had any relations to them were dead.
The third, fourth, and all the other concurrent ones had suffered the same fate.
Everyone they were looking for had been killed, and so were everybody that those people had any connections with.
There were simply no clues left for them.
“We came too late. Now we’re at a dead-end!” Those from the North Pavilion lamented.
Levi chuckled. “What do you mean by a dead end?”
“Huh?”
The rest of them all looked at him in confusion.
What does he mean?
“From the looks of it, they only just finished killing this batch of people. They haven’t even gotten rid of the bodies yet! They only managed to beat us by a little bit,” Levi said.
The other people of the North Pavilion couldn’t help but say, “So you mean the killers are right around us? They can’t have been so fast otherwise, right?”
“Exactly! It has to be the Ecclesiastic Order. Only they are close enough to finish the job this quickly and get away before we arrived. More importantly, they actually know these people,” Levi pointed out.
Every single circumstance was pointing toward the Ecclesiastic Order.
Levi continued, “Think about all of the crime scenes and string them together. Based on that, which unit of the Ecclesiastic Order is the nearest?”
The North Pavilion team immediately began searching.
Soon enough, they had an answer. “Based on the location wherein these people got murdered, the nearest unit of the Ecclesiastic Order can only be the West Pavilion. Even though most of the Ecclesiastic Order are gathered, those in the West Pavilion are still there. Only the elites of the West Pavilion could have been fast enough to kill all these people. It would have been very hard for anywhere else to pull off this feat.”
Chapter 3436 It Has To Be The West Pavilion
“Still, we can’t forget that possibility. If the others simply took a risk, it isn’t impossible that they could have done it,” the other North Pavilion members mused.
Levi chuckled.
After his multi-faceted observations, he had deduced that the people who had done this must have been members from all around the Ecclesiastic Order.
They must have had to have enough information from all sides before they could have controlled the situation as they had.
However, whoever had done this must have been extremely careful and wouldn’t have barged into things blindly, much less taken such a risk.
That’s why he was sure that the murderers must have been from the West Pavilion.
The person in charge behind the scenes must have been from the West Pavilion as well.
Without another word, Levi arrived silently at the West Pavilion.
He wanted to see exactly who in West Pavilion was the culprit.
Weirdly enough, however, the West Pavilion was perfectly normal.
Even after half a day’s worth of searching, he couldn’t find anything.
“Something is definitely up.”
The West Pavilion was the nearest place they could have gone after killing all these people, so it was only common sense that those murderers come here to hide.
But things shouldn’t have been so peaceful. How could they have left absolutely zero clues?
That was where things were starting to go wrong.
After all, it had only been a matter of time before Levi came after them. They shouldn’t have been able to get rid of the evidence so soon.
All that only meant one thing: that these people originally belonged to the West Pavilion.
The brains of the operation had to be here as well to ensure that nothing was found when Levi came to investigate.
If they had simply run here all willy-nilly just to hide, he definitely would have found something.
Of course, there was another possibility.
Only one person had been behind every single one of those murders, and had singlehandedly murdered more than hundreds of people.
This person has to be extremely skilled in order to kill so many people so quickly!
That would also explain why the murderer in question would have been faster than Levi.
It also proved to be easier to hide if the murderer was alone.
Apart from that, the people who had been murdered weren’t weak either.
If the Ecclesiastic Order had sent out a lot of people after those informants, the fight that ensued would have been sure to leave a scene behind.
From what Levi had observed, those people had been killed instantly. There were no signs of any proper scuffle or fight.
Now, he had finally come to the conclusion that only one person had killed all of those people.
When Levi returned, he warned the others, “Keep a close eye on the West Pavilion. I will need all of you to investigate them. Go undercover and find out who was most likely to have done all this and give me a name list.”
Some people from the North Pavilion chuckled.
“We just heard that the Holy Guild suddenly laid down an order for all of the groups to return to their base and wait for orders. No one was allowed to leave, but word got out that those from the West Pavilion still did. We’re still finding out the exact names. The decision was very rushed and caught everybody by surprise. Even the Holy Guild will have to investigate now that so many people were killed.”
Levi himself chuckled at the news.
“Haha! I bet whoever was behind this never imagined that they would expose themselves to this extent all of a sudden!”
He really had to thank whoever leaked his plans. Now, they had a bunch of clues on hand.
By revealing his plans, it caused the enemy to make mistake after mistake and leave behind many clues as a result.
By now, Levi was almost one hundred percent sure that it was the West Pavilion behind all this.
It must have been some elite from the West Pavilion.
In order to kill so many people before Levi got there, the elite had to be extremely talented, which meant he had to be within the top ranks of the West Pavilion.
They were most likely of the same level as the Three Sages.
Just like that, Levi had a rough idea of the culprit.
Despite that, he was afraid that there might be some extremely skilled nobodies who were simply staying hidden.
They could have been extremely powerful, but Levi wouldn’t have known of their existence.
However, if they could find out who had left the West Pavilion within this time period, they had more hope.
“What do we do with these corpses?” someone from the North Pavilion asked.
“I’m assuming that the Holy Guild is already aware of these culprits. Now that they’ve exposed themselves, we should just send these to the Holy Guild so that they can investigate. I don’t want to give the people behind this anywhere to run,” Levi replied.
As of that moment, Gloria was in the West Pavilion.
She was the one who had killed all of those people.
“Phew! They nearly found me. Levi really is quick on his feet!”
Chapter 3437 The Exact Same Excuse
Things just kept coming up for her to worry about.
She didn’t even know if Floyd had exposed them yet. Either way, those whom they had been in contact with from Yartran had already been targeted.
Even though she had done her best to foresee what might happen and had originally arranged for those people to be killed, Levi was still too fast for her overall plan to succeed.
There wasn’t anything else she could do but personally go after and kill all of those people.
If she had allowed the original plan to move forward, Levi would definitely have caught them in the act.
Just like that, her plan was foiled.
If she hadn’t been as skilled as she was, Levi would have caught her red-handed.
She continued hiding in West Pavilion and she had a feeling that Levi had definitely come to look for her.
Luckily enough, those six people and whoever else she needed to kill were all close to West Pavilion. She was also lucky that she was familiar with the place, or else she would have been found out.
“What? How are the Holy Guild so fast? Are they already looking through the name lists?” Gloria said, panicked.
She hadn’t imagined that the Holy Guild would be so fast as well.
If her name appeared in that name list, she might end up being part of the investigation.
That’s why she had to make sure her name would never be enlisted.
It came as an easy task for her, seeing as West Pavilion was in the palm of her very hand.
All she needed to do was get some of them to make up an alibi for her and become eyewitnesses that she had been in West Pavilion the whole time.
Gloria quickly arranged for all of that to happen while she herself focused on escaping.
She panted loudly, completely worn out.
Who would have guessed that one small mistake would have brought on such a huge change of plans?
She had almost blown her cover.
“I wonder how Floyd is doing?”
Coincidentally, she received news from Floyd.
Gloria had already said that she wanted to meet Floyd, and they had come up with their own special means of communication.
Floyd told Gloria everything that had happened and she broke out in cold sweat just thinking about it.
I almost exposed everything! Wait, but doesn’t that mean that even Floyd suspects me now?
Apart from those who Levi trusted, only she knew about his plans.
“Relax, Gloria. You have nothing to do with this. I’ll get to the bottom of it and find out who exactly leaked his plans,” Floyd said.
Gloria thought about it and came clean. “To tell you the truth, Floyd, I was the one who leaked them.”
“What are you talking about?” Floyd said in surprise.
“I wanted to protect Master! That’s why I leaked it. Someone told me about the plans to kill Master and all of you. Both the Ecclesiastic Order and Yartran were coming after you. But I refuted by saying that Master wouldn’t be afraid, and that he was already planning to get rid of those from Yartran. I’m sorry! This is all my fault.”
Floyd frowned in recognition. That sounds like what I said! But now Gloria is saying the exact same thing.
He believed her without a second thought.
Besides, it was a solid reason.
He was also in firm belief that Gloria wasn’t someone with ill intentions.
Floyd immediately consoled her. “Oh, I see! Don’t worry, Gloria. Just be a little more careful next time. It didn’t end up hurting us anyway.”
Gloria had Floyd wrapped around her finger.
As long as she ‘admitted’ to it, Floyd wouldn’t suspect her. If he didn’t suspect her, then he wouldn’t do any investigating of his own.
“Floyd, things are going to get really dangerous after this. The Ecclesiastic Order is almost completely unified and I’m afraid they would start assassinating others. I’ll be on all ears. Let’s communicate at least once a day, and I’ll tell you whatever is happening on my side.”
“Got it!” Floyd replied enthusiastically.
Back at the Holy Guild, they had already come up with a realization after investigating the corpses.
They began searching far and wide.
Solocus smirked after hearing the results. “It has to be someone from the inside! We have to find this person as soon as possible. They’re most likely also behind the time that shadow guards kidnapped the Three Sages. Some of you will go contact the shadow guards and see who they’ve been in cahoots with recently.”
Chapter 3438 Three Days Until The Devourer Spiritual Bone Is Complete
Things were beginning to look extremely dangerous for Gloria.
Both Levi and the Holy Guild were looking into the case, which meant her means of escape were getting slimmer and slimmer.
She had to use Floyd even more carefully now.
The most she could do was get information out of him. She could no longer get him to do anything important, or else Levi would find out.
After Levi’s most recent plans got exposed, he would definitely become more cautious.
He would certainly begin paying close attention to those around him, too.
The number one thing that Gloria had to do was improve her skillset. Only then could she truly protect herself.
She had to complete the devourer spiritual bone as soon as possible.
She didn’t have any way to aggravate things between Levi and the Ecclesiastic Order any more, since both sides already knew about her plan.
If she were to actually put it into action, she wouldn’t fool anyone. Worst comes to worst, she would only expose herself.
Another bad thing would be that Levi and the Ecclesiastic Order would both stop their fight and begin investigating her with full force.
By then, no one would be distracting Levi, which meant that she would really be in deep trouble.
What about the Cetus clan? If they were here, they would be able to distract Levi.
But after they had disappeared, she couldn’t find even a trace that they had ever existed.
After getting through the Holy Guild’s investigations, Gloria immediately returned to the Corpse Pit.
She wanted to see how the Bone Grandmaster was doing.
The Top Ten were practically on their last leg and were breathing heavily.
They were but empty shells as of that moment. Their souls had already been taken away.
When Gloria appeared, they hadn’t reacted at all or shown any trace of human emotion.
That was just happened when one’s heart died.
They didn’t care about anything anymore.
There was a saying that someone could die long before their lives truly ended.
This must have been the case.
After all, they couldn’t even bat an eyelash when Gloria, who had once been their greatest fear, was in front of them.
As of now, though, Gloria was no longer their greatest fear.
They didn’t even feel fear anymore.
Gloria wasn’t interested in looking at them anyway.
However, Sonja and the others could clearly see that she was worried.
Gloria hadn’t been like this in a long time, and her change in attitude must have meant that something happened.
The most obvious thing that might have happened was that Levi had discovered her.
At the very least, he must have had an idea that she existed.
“Haha! Levi’s right on your tail, isn’t he? You look so worried! Stop trying to run! He’ll find you eventually,” Sonja chuckled.
Her words pierced through Gloria like a knife.
She wasn’t simply worried about Levi now that the Holy Guild was added to the mix.
She was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Slap!
Gloria rained down a series of slaps across Sonja’s face.
“B*tch! Wh*re! Slut!”
Along with the slaps, Gloria continuously hurled insults at Sonja in an attempt to get rid of her frustration.
Sonja was bleeding profusely, but her smile remained bright. “That’s all you can do, isn’t it? The more you hit me, the more scared you are! Let me guess how far Levi and the others have gotten. You’ve probably exposed yourself one way or another, right? Even the Ecclesiastic Order must have gotten a whiff of whatever you’re doing!”
Sonja’s words were like adding fuel to Gloria’s burning rage.
More importantly, she was right.
All Gloria could do was say coldly, “So what? Once I succeed, none of them will be able to hold a candle to me. Just wait for it. I will succeed before Levi finds out it’s me!”
Gloria stopped paying attention to Sonja and the others and approached the Bone Grandmaster to see how things were going.
“Three days! It’ll be done in three days. It would have taken a few months originally, but luckily enough, this kid’s spiritual bone is already a devourer. It’s much faster with that base,” the Bone Grandmaster said.
“Very well!” Gloria exclaimed excitedly.
She thought she would have to wait for another fortnight at least, but now she only had to wait for three days.
To her, time was more precious than gold right now.
She might blow her cover at any moment.
As long as she had her full potential before she was exposed, then she had nothing to be afraid of.
She didn’t even have to be on the same level as Levi now.
Chapter 3439 Someone Is Controlling The Cetus Clan
After all, she already had the skill. Once she had the actual power, even if she couldn’t defeat Levi, she could still manage to get away.
Then she could slowly work on making herself stronger once she got away.
The Bone Grandmaster chuckled. “Another good thing is that you won’t have to waste any time getting used to the devourer spiritual bone. After all, the only way to get used to it is simply to devour!”
Gloria’s eyes lit up at those words.
That sounds too good to be true!
Most of the time, one had to really take time to get used to a spiritual bone.
After all, it was from an external source.
The time varied from individual to individual, and some people managed to get used to it in a few days, while others never got used to it even across a few years.
Still, Gloria hadn’t expected that the devourer spiritual bone would be this efficient.
Devour to get used to it? That’s exactly what I want!
That meant she wouldn’t have to waste any time getting used to it.
God must be on my side! Hahaha! Gloria laughed maniacally.
Even though some things had begun to go wrong on her side, she was still succeeding overall.
Lose the battle, win the war, as they say.
“You must get ready soon. We will start transferring the spiritual bone in three days!” the Bone Grandmaster said.
Gloria left the Corpse Pit and begun her preparations.
Transferring the spiritual bone might be a long process, so she had to take care of everything else first.
If her identity got exposed while she was getting the bone transferred, things would be ruined for her.
When she returned to West Pavilion, she got wind of the Holy Guild beginning their thorough investigations.
They were doing a huge sweep across the grid and were determined not to leave anything out.
Gloria couldn’t help but chuckle at another thought.
There was something else that could come of this.
Both Levi and the Holy Guild assumed that the culprit was a huge force behind the Ecclesiastic Order.
They had also assumed that it was made up of many people, when in actual fact she was the only mastermind behind everything.
Her ‘helpers’ were simply men that had fallen under her charm.
None of them knew exactly what she had been doing. After all, they didn’t know what her plan was.
All they thought was that they had helped Gloria with a small, insignificant task.
Her trail was swept clean, and she had taken care of anyone else who might have been a clue.
Now that Levi and the Holy Guild were looking into the Ecclesiastic Order, they were definitely looking for more than one person.
On the contrary, that would only serve to distract them and split their attention elsewhere.
That helped Gloria to relax a bit.
“You guys will never see it coming! How many people do you even expect? It’s just me, myself, and I!” she snickered coldly.
Despite that, she still had to distract Levi.
The best distraction would be the Cetus clan.
She had already sent people to look for them.
If they were found, then she would inform Levi.
To him, getting revenge for the Azure Dragon would definitely rank first above everything.
Sadly, the people she sent after them returned with no findings.
It was as if the Cetus clan had disappeared into thin air.
Even the almighty Gerton couldn’t find anything about the Cetus clan.
“Why hasn’t there been any news about the Cetus clan? That’s not like them at all!” Gloria muttered to herself. “No matter how strong Levi gets, it’s not their style to back down so easily, much less disappear. That’s literally the last thing they would do. They wouldn’t be so easily defeated, which is why they’ve been against the Ecclesiastic Order for so long. Why would they be afraid of Levi if that was the case?”
Gloria frowned in confusion.
She just couldn’t figure out why exactly had they disappeared.
“Why do I feel like someone’s controlling them?” she mused out loud.
She was taken aback by her own guess.
How could it be? They didn’t even care about the Ecclesiastic Order at their peak!
Well, I suppose that was back then, before the unification. Who would be able to control them in their current state?
Gloria still prayed that she would find them eventually.
Chapter 3440 Kirin Asks About Gloria
There was another force that could control Levi—the Esoteric Guild. However, it was too late now. She would have to come up with a last-minute plan.
It would be useless to deal with Levi by intensifying the conflict on both sides. He would not fall for it anymore.
Hmm? The Esoteric Guild?
Gloria’s eyes lit up. She was so excited that she was on the verge of tears.
Who said that the Esoteric Guild cannot control Levi? It’s true that I don’t have any plans, nor can I resort to some old-fashioned tricks to create a grudge between them and Levi. But I can make the Esoteric Guild act as the scapegoat!
Now, Levi and the Holy Guild were trying to find a force that could control the entire situation. The Esoteric Guild is the perfect scapegoat!
According to my knowledge, neither of them is familiar with the Esoteric Guild—even Levi doesn’t know anything.
If the Esoteric Guild is given the blame, they can’t prove their innocence either. Even if Levi and the Holy Guild eventually finds out that the Esoteric Guild didn’t do it and is merely a scapegoat, it would take some time. That’ll give me more time, then! If I can grab the opportunity and make them fight with each other, it’ll be even better!
“Hahaha!” Gloria burst out laughing.
The scapegoat has appeared!
She immediately started thinking about how to place the blame on the Esoteric Guild. This was not a difficult feat for her. Furthermore, she had more than enough evidence to do that.
For example, she had the four cornerstone divine tools, the corpses of the Three Sages of North Pavilion, and the Top Ten.
With all these evidence, it was easy for her to point the finger of blame at the Esoteric Guild.
Regardless of whether it was true or not, all that mattered was that the attention had been diverted.
First, she would start with the Three Sages’ corpses.
She could not reveal all the evidence at once—she needed to guide the others slowly.
Soon, Gloria came up with a plan. After contacting Floyd, she started taking action.
After knowing that the Ecclesiastic Order had no plans of attacking them after unifying, Floyd heaved a sigh of relief.
He also bumped into Azure Dragon and the other four who were recuperating.
When Floyd saw the five of them, he felt guilty.
There were only two things that were bothering him. The first was Gloria, and the second was the injuries of Azure Dragon and the rest.
Floyd could not help but sigh.
Azure Dragon and the others quickly consoled him, “Don’t be like this, Floyd! We have recovered already.”
“Oh, right! Your abilities are increasing a lot recently! Looks like you’ve been training hard every day,” praised Phoenix.
Floyd clenched his fists.
Increasing a lot? It’s far from enough! I’ve still got a long way to go before I reach my goal. Not only do I have to surpass Gloria, but I also have to protect her. There’s still a lot of catching up to do.
“I’m too slow! I’m far from being powerful enough to help Master even if I want to.” Floyd sighed again.
“Take it slow! You’re already very exceptional.” Azure Dragon and the rest laughed.
Floyd consoled them too, “You’re recovering quickly too. Soon, you’ll return to where you once was.”
“Yeah! Let’s work hard together. We mustn’t become Boss’ burden. We must help him!”
Meanwhile, Kirin looked at Floyd curiously and asked, “Oh, right! How’s it going with that girl?”
When she said that, the atmosphere became tense.
Floyd was stunned.
Oh right! Although no one else knows about me and Gloria, Azure Dragon and the rest knows! In fact, they even mentioned it to Master. He probably haven’t thought about it yet.
When Azure Dragon and the rest were at the Heavenly Base, they were very close and often spent the day with each other.
Hence, they knew that he was pursuing Gloria. In fact, some of them had seen how she looked like.
When recalling their memories, Floyd was afraid that Gloria would appear. This gave him a huge shock.
“Huh? Well…” He felt troubled now.
How should I answer that?