An old man turned around. His withered frame was wrapped in tattered deep-blue battle armor, his skin dry as old bark and stretched tightly over his bones. Deep furrows covered his face, and two ghostly blue crystals sat embedded in his eye sockets, glowing faintly.
"Are you a god from the Douluo God Realm?"
The old man's voice was hoarse, like two sheets of sandpaper grinding together, laden with the sluggishness of a thousand years.
Lan Jinghe stood where she was with her arms folded. Her red-and-black Thorn Demon Armor glimmered faintly, while dark water mist swirled around her feet. She glanced at the old man and said blandly, "The Douluo God Realm has already perished."
"Perished?"
The old man froze for a moment, then broke into a hehehe laugh. It was dry and unpleasant, like a broken bellows wheezing. His hunched body trembled with laughter, and the ghostly blue crystals in his eye sockets shone dazzlingly, filled with undisguised glee.
"Good! Excellent!"
"Back then, they defeated my king, seized our homeland, and exiled our entire race to this damned place to guard the frontier!"
"Now their God Realm is gone too? Retribution! This is fucking retribution!"
The more the old man laughed, the more excited he became. His shriveled finger pointed toward the sky, and his armor creaked and clattered all over.
Lan Jinghe narrowed her eyes. Her fingertips turned slightly as the water pressure around her quietly rose.
She was assessing the old relic's strength.
He was not a god, yet his bearing was no different from one.
No wonder he dared negotiate terms with her.
He had some confidence.
"Once you've laughed enough, get to the point."
Lan Jinghe cut off his laughter, her tone cold as ice.
The old man chuckled. He straightened his hunched body