A Fish That Slipped Through the Net

Above a ruin in the middle of the Gas Sea

"According to the president, this should be the location of the first Tower of Paradise."

After carefully scanning the ruins below, countless blue-purple light spots began to appear on Old Suo's palm.

"Although the president's description is already very clear, it's still better to confirm some things with your own eyes!"

As Old Suo's hand fell, blue-purple light spots spread across the entire ruins.

A short while later, a building that looked both real and unreal appeared, and some people wearing white masks appeared around the building.

Once the blue-purple virtual world was completed, the white- Masked man began to move and speak.

"Accelerate!"

After Old Suo gave the order, the blue-purple virtual world suddenly started operating much faster.

After a period of uneventful daily life, people with different appearances began to appear in the virtual world. Then, a battle broke out, the white-masked man was defeated, and the towering tower was destroyed, turning into the ruins before our eyes.

However, Old Suo did not stop the operation of the virtual world, but continued to observe the changes within it.

A moment later, a smile appeared on Old Suo's lips, and then he withdrew the blue-purple particles below.

After doing this, Sordil inscribed a circle under his feet. Then, the circle emitted a silvery-white light, carrying him away from the place.

Croba Grand Canyon

After visiting the locations Makarov had mentioned, His Majesty Sordil used Teleportation Array to arrive at the Spider's Nest Valley.

"Those guys should be arriving by now, right?"

Not long after His Majesty the Emperor finished speaking, a sound of rocks sliding down came from the entrance below.

"Heh! That's really slow!"

"Bang!"

After realizing that his prey had taken the bait, Old Suo immediately released a bunch of pink smoke on himself, and then a Rainbow Flying Fish with Old Suo's face appeared in the sky above the canyon.

"Hey! You guys haven't been spotted, have you? (Mask A)"

"Of course not, otherwise would we be standing here talking to you?" (Mask B)

"So you haven't been followed, have you? (Mask A)"

"To avoid being discovered by those guys from the official guilds, we deliberately took a long detour, and only dared to come here after making sure there were no tails around. (Mask D)"

"That's good! That's good! (Mask A)"

"Heh! Buddy, you've been questioning us for ages, so what about you? Were you discovered? Were you being followed?" (Mask C)

"Yes! We're safe now, how about you? (Mask B)"

"Hmph! I lurked in those ruins for three days, making sure everyone was dead before leaving. After escaping safely, I changed hotels more than a dozen times, making sure no one followed me before heading here. On the way here, I deliberately took the wrong turn a few times until I was sure it was safe before I came in, so there's absolutely no problem with me. (Mask A)"

"Hehe! Since everyone's fine, what are we still doing standing here! (Mask C)"

"Heh! You're right! (Mask B)"

After Mask B finished speaking, the group exchanged glances, then laughed and headed into the depths of the canyon.

Deep in the canyon, in front of a cave

"Huh? Why is the defensive barrier here activated? Could it be that they've gone out? (Mask A)"

"Could they have been discovered? (Mask D)"

Upon hearing this, all the masked figures tensed up and silently drew their weapons.

"Buzz!"

Just as everyone was about to make their move, the cave in front of them suddenly shattered, and the next second, a brown tower appeared in front of them.

"Phew! You've finally arrived! I thought you'd already gone to report to the underworld! (Mask E)"

"Pah! You're the one who should be reporting to the underworld!" (Mask D)

"By the way, why did you deploy the defensive barrier?" (Mask B)

"We're afraid someone might accidentally stumble in and reveal our location, which is why we set up the barrier. (Mask E)"

"Heh! I didn't realize you guys were so cautious! (Mask A)"

"Hmph! If we hadn't been careful, we wouldn't be alive now! (Mask E)"

"Hey! Why are you alone? Where are the others? (Mask C)"

"They're all inside! (Mask E)"

"Let's hurry inside, lest we expose this place." (Mask A)

"Okay! (Mask E)"

After speaking, the group followed Mask E into the tower, and the broken cave reappeared the next second.

Looking at the cave in front of him, Sordil scratched his fish head with his wing.

"An alarm-type spatial barrier, this is troublesome!"

Just as Sordil was circling in front of the cave, a monkey with golden fur ran past from below.

"Yeah! There's that trick too!"

After suppressing his smile, Old Suo straightened his body and charged towards the barrier.

"Bang"

"Buzz!"

After being hit, the defensive barrier emitted ripples similar to water, while a certain fish pretended to be injured and spun around in mid-air.

"Pop!"

Shortly after the alarm was sounded, the cave broke open again, and then Mask E, who had come out to pick up people earlier, came out.

"Hey! What's going on outside?"

"It's nothing, just a flying fish!" (Mask E)

"Oh! Then come back soon!"

"Good!"

Just as Mask E was about to return, a huge fist... uh, a dragon claw descended from the sky, and Mask E fainted.

"Hey? Fifth Brother, what are you doing with that flying fish? (Mask F)"

"Hmph! Because of this guy, I made a wasted trip, so I've decided to eat him! (Mask E)"

"Haha! I didn't expect that after all these years, Fifth Brother is still the same! (Mask G)"

"Hehe! Fifth brother, don't blame us for not warning you, this stuff tastes awful! (Mask A)"

"Um... for my own sake, I think I'll pass! (Mask E)"

With that, he tossed the flying fish aside, came into the small circle of people, and began to continue the discussion with them.

"Now that our feint has worked, we need to figure out how to capture the laborers and complete this real paradise. (Mask A)"

"The reason we failed the last few times was because we were too eager for quick success, so this time we can't rush it; we have to take it slowly. (Mask B)"

"Also, the locations where we arrested laborers were too concentrated in the previous times; this time we need to spread them out." (Mask C)

"Perhaps... we don't need to catch them ourselves; we can leave this to the professionals. (Mask D)"

"Hmm! Human traffickers are indeed a good choice, but these guys are the type who won't act until they see results! (Mask E)"

"That's right, this problem needs to be solved, otherwise this path won't work! (Mask F)"

"Haha! Fifth brother, Old Six, how could you forget our signature skill? (Mask G)"

"You mean... (Mask C)?"

"Heh! While we may not be as strong as those guys from the official guilds, dealing with a few human traffickers shouldn't be a problem... right? (Mask G)"

Upon hearing Mask G's words, everyone burst into laughter, and as they laughed, red liquid began to spurt from their mouths.

"Puff!"

"Puff!"

"What... what's going on? (Mask G)"

"Ugh... my chest hurts so much!" (Mask A)

"Me too... huff... and it's getting so hard to breathe!" (Mask B)

Just as everyone was in agony, a sinister laugh echoed through the tower.

"Ha ha"

"Ha ha"

Looking at the extremely smug Mask E, Mask F asked in confusion, "Fifth Brother, what are you going to do?"

"Heh! What can I do? Of course, I'll get rid of you all!"

"Fifth Brother, although we've come up with a plan, you won't be able to complete it without our help! (Mask A)"

"Don't worry about that, I have my own way of handling it!"

"Fifth Brother, you despicable scoundrel, I'll fight you to the death!" (Mask G)

"Whoosh"

"Bang!"

"Thump!"

With a sidestep, Masked Wu dodged the opponent's attack. Immediately afterwards, Mask E struck Mask G in the back with a palm, and the weakened Mask G crashed heavily to the ground.

"Heh! Since you're so ungrateful, I'll just send you on your way!"

After speaking, Mask E condensed a Black Light Orb in his palm and smashed it towards the back of Mask G's head.

"Why is there still no movement? Could it be that those two guys aren't with these guys? (Old Suo's inner monologue)"

"Never mind, now that the show's started, we might as well see it through to the end!" (Old Suo's inner thoughts)

While everyone's attention was drawn to the Black Light Orb, Mask E released a faint pink light from his hidden left hand.

"Bang!"

As expected, Mask G's head turned into a rotten watermelon. Immediately afterwards, Mask E walked towards the nearest Mask D with a wicked grin.

"Fifth brother, you bastard, you'll never... bang!"

The words stopped abruptly, and then Mask D followed in Mask G's footsteps.

After dealing with those two, misfortune struck down on the others one by one. However, to Mask E's disappointment, the fat and thin men he wanted to see never appeared, even after the last person died.

"Bang!"

After a burst of pink smoke, Mask E disappeared, replaced by a silver-haired boy.

"What on earth is going on? Why didn't those two guys show up? Is it possible that the future really can't be changed?"

After giving himself a three-part self-reproach, Old Suo shook his head, then waved his hand, picked up the few 'corpses' on the ground, and left the place via the Teleportation Array.

Not long after Old Suo left, two Masked man, one fat and one thin, passed through the barrier and entered the brown tower.

"Huh? Weren't they supposed to be waiting here? Where are they? (Fatty)"

"Fatty, look over there! (The skinny guy)"

"Bloodstains? Could it be that they were... (fat guy) by someone from a legitimate guild?"

"Damn it! We've been exposed here, we have to get out of here!" (Skinny Man)

"Go? Go where to? (Fatty)"

"Anywhere is safer than here now! Let's go!" (Skinny guy)

"Oh oh!"

After saying this, the two quickly left the place.