Memory Alteration
Guided by the white light, Gu Ding and the others were successively absorbed into the exit passage of the ruins and teleported out one after another.
More than an hour passed, and the remaining members of both races had almost all arrived. Night God, guarding outside the ruins, frowned deeply, for he saw that the Human Race Camp outnumbered his own by more than double. Of the thousand Dark Race who went in, less than two hundred survived, while the Human Race Camp had over four hundred survivors.
But as time ticked by, everyone on the other side of the passage was teleported out, and the passage began to shrink. He started to panic. "Wait, don't close the passage yet. My Ye Mei hasn't come out yet."
"Night God, there are no more members of either our race inside. Those who are still alive have been brought out," explained Ha De Luo, the deputy leader of the human race. "When I set up this teleportation array, it automatically recorded the aura of each person who passed through, and then automatically guided them back. There is only one explanation for those who were not guided back: their aura has dissipated."
"You mean to say that my Darkness Clan's Ye Mei is dead inside?" Night God's face immediately darkened.
"That's the only explanation," Ha De Luo nodded.
"How is that possible? Ye Mei is the number one prodigy of our Darkness Clan, her Combat Strength is comparable to a three-star half-step god. Even if she can't defeat a four-star half-step god, she can still escape unscathed!" Night God said, then looked at the younger generation of the Human Race Camp, such as Gu Ding, "You must have sabotaged this. The overall strength of our Darkness Clan members who entered the ruins this time was clearly a notch higher than that of your human race, but now those who have come out of the ruins alive are actually less than half of yours. Ha De Luo, you had this planned all along, didn't you?!"
"Night God, don't make false accusations! The doll named Ye Mei perished, and instead of asking your own people what happened, you're blaming us? Besides, aren't there any beings in this Ancient Ruins that are beyond the level of a four-star half-step god? Furthermore, you have fewer survivors than we do, is that our fault? The entrance locations are randomly assigned; we have no control over them," Ba Er Sa Ze retorted.
Night God's face darkened as he looked at the remaining hundred-odd people. He then realized that, apart from Ye Mei, none of the top ten demigods of the Darkness Clan were left. He then checked the list of demigods and Low-rank God within his clan, and his expression grew even more grim afterward, for Ye Mei and the others had completely disappeared from the Ranking List. "Who has seen Ye Mei in these ruins? Step forward!"
Within the Dark Race, many exchanged uneasy glances.
"Didn't you hear me? Step forward!" Ye Mei shouted when no one moved for a while.
That's why more than ten people stepped forward, trembling with fear.
"Does anyone know what exactly happened to Ye Mei?" Night God's gaze swept over the dozen or so people, trying to discern some clues.
But more than ten people just shook their heads, seemingly unaware of the situation.
"You, come here!" Night God beckoned to one of them.
It was a boy who looked only sixteen or seventeen years old. He walked up to Night God with some trepidation.
Night God placed a hand on the boy's head, and after a long while, having reviewed all of the boy's memories, he frowned slightly. He then crushed the boy's head with a single claw. Then he shouted at the second boy, "You come here too!"
Then, Night God explored the memories of those boys one by one.
"The passage is closed. Your mission at this site is complete. Now I will send you away!" Ba Er Sa Ze said to Gu Ding and the others.
"Did I agree to let you leave?" Night God's voice suddenly came.
"Night God, don't go too far! We want to leave, can you stop us?" Ha De Luo was also getting angry.
"No one is leaving until this matter is fully investigated!" Night God insisted, clearly showing his concern for Ye Mei. "Who is Gu Ding? Step forward!"
Gu Ding raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, thinking to himself, "Could it have been exposed so quickly? That shouldn't be the case. Didn't Boyi say that those who escaped had been dealt with?"
Upon hearing Night God call out Gu Ding's name, Ba Er Sa Ze and Ha De Luo's expressions changed. They naturally knew that Gu Ding was a troublemaker with astonishing strength. If anyone in the ruins could kill Ye Mei, besides Boyi, Gu Ding.
Gu Ding stepped forward and looked at Night God, "I wonder what guidance you have for me, senior?"
"I obtained a piece of information from their memories, and I'd like to confirm with you whether it's true." Night God's expression looked somewhat strange. "I heard that when you were in the ruins, you, with your demigod cultivation, defeated Ye Mei, whose cultivation was suppressed?"
"That's right, that's true." Gu Ding nodded. He knew that lying in front of such an expert would be seen through at a glance, and besides, he wasn't the kind of person who was good at lying.
"If that's the case, then you, having become Low-rank God, should also possibly possess the power to kill Ye Mei..." Night God paused here, then suddenly shouted, "Did you kill Ye Mei?!"
"Senior Night God!" At this moment, a young man's voice rang out from the Human Race Camp. It was Boyi pushing a wheelchair out from the crowd. "I've seen Platinum Skeleton, blood demons, and vengeful spirits with the Combat Strength of five or six-star Half-Step True God in this Ancient Ruins. Not to mention Ye Mei, even a true god could perish here if you're unlucky. Although Gu Ding is powerful, I remember that Ye Mei seems to have Primordial Bloodline. He lost to Gu Ding in a sparring match, and he may not have used his bloodline power. But if it were a life-or-death battle, he would definitely activate his bloodline power to fight. In that situation, the only one in the Human Race Camp who can reliably defeat him is me."
"You're Boyi?!" Night God recognized Boyi at a glance, his eyes fixed on Boyi. "You mean, you killed Ye Mei?"
"I didn't say I did it. I just said that if it really was done by the Human Race Camp, only I have the power to do it," Boyi laughed. "However, do you think I would risk offending you to kill Ye Mei? You should have heard of my methods. If I have a conflict with him, it wouldn't be difficult for me to leave him with a permanent fear of me and make him obedient to me. There's absolutely no need to kill him, is there? I'm way past the age of playing with dead people."
After hearing Boyi's words, Night God narrowed his eyes slightly and re-examined Gu Ding. He also felt that, given the same cultivation level, Gu Ding wouldn't be a match for Ye Mei Enchantress. The reason Ye Mei lost after suppressing her cultivation was probably because she hadn't used her full strength.
"Night God, produce evidence before you speak. Without evidence, that's just framing." Ba Er Sa Ze spoke again, then waved his hand, teleporting Gu Ding into a spaceship not far away.
This time, Night God didn't stop him. He just said sullenly, "I will definitely get to the bottom of this. If I find out that this matter is related to your Human Race Camp, then our two races will go to war!"
"I'll play along to the end!" Ha De Luo coldly uttered these four words.
Watching Night God lead the Dark Race away, Ha De Luo turned to Ba Er Sa Ze, "We also need to find out the truth about this matter, but we can't let it leak out. We also need to take precautions against the Dark Race."
"Don't worry, leave it to me." Ba Er Sa Ze nodded and left with the spaceship.
Inside the spaceship, everyone chatted casually. Many of them had met in the ruins and become friends.
Gu Ding sat to one side with his eyes closed, resting. He was indeed quite exhausted that day, having slain two Platinum Skeleton and Ye Mei... Suddenly, he sensed that Boyi's aura had become much stronger.
He opened his eyes and saw that everyone in the cabin was asleep except for Hake, Boyi and himself.
"What did you do to them?" Gu Ding frowned slightly.
"I plan to erase this part of their memory and then create a false memory in their subconscious, making them believe that I was the one who killed Ye Mei. That way, even if someone on the Human Race Camp leaks information, they won't reveal your involvement. And that Night God guy won't bother you."
Just then, Ba Er Sa Ze's tall figure appeared in the cabin, his gaze falling on Gu Ding. "Did you kill Ye Mei?"
"That's right, I killed him!" Gu Ding readily admitted.
"You little rascal, you've really got a knack for causing trouble." Ba Er Sa Ze hadn't expected Gu Ding to be this powerful. "Do you know that by doing this, you've dragged our Human Race Camp into an extremely awkward situation? Originally, although the Darkness Clan and we had conflicts, they were only small-scale skirmishes. With what you've done, Night God has an excuse to launch a war against us, creating another powerful enemy for us."
"Ye Mei to die! He not only wanted to kill me, but also my companions. Of course, I cannot let him live!" Gu Ding did not think he had done anything wrong.
"Lord Ba Er Sa Ze, may I speak with you in private?" Boyi called Ba Er Sa Ze aside, and the two began to communicate telepathically.
After a long pause, Ba Er Sa Ze nodded. "Then let's do it your way. This is the best solution. I'm sorry to trouble you, but I will try my best to get the Federal Government to cooperate."
After Ba Er Sa Ze disappeared, Boyi glanced at Gu Ding again. "I'll erase the memories of your team members as well. I won't implant any new, Memory Alteration into them. Their memories will gradually return once things calm down."
After Boyi finished speaking, Sea Emperor felt a strange wave of energy emanating from Boyi's body. That wave quickly spread outwards, penetrating the bodies of everyone on the spaceship, except for himself and Hake, who seemed to be unaffected.
After a while, everyone on the spaceship woke up one after another, but the topic of their discussion turned to Boyi killing Ye Mei... (To be continued...)