Seated high above, Slyder arrogantly raised his chin, his cold gaze meeting Chen Ze's.
An invisible whiff of gunpowder spread as their gazes collided.
"Are you preparing to declare war on the Present World?"
Chen Ze straightened his sleeves and spoke offhandedly:
"You don't represent the Present World. Even if your brother came in person, I'd still fight him if he had a problem with it."
Duke or emperor, it didn't matter. Trying to force Ye Buyu to hand over the Thumb Ring was nothing but a pipe dream.
"Great Xia orchestrated the operation at the Withered Glory Theatre. We also launched the war against [Abyssal Erosion], and it was our Great Xia students who discovered this new power.
I understand everyone's urgency, but that is no reason to target us. If anyone else uses the greater good of the Present World as an excuse to oppress us, I will treat it as a provocation."
The entire room fell silent. Not a single person dared voice any mockery at that moment.
Newmanda, the scholars' representative, took out a silk handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead. The old man shot the people behind him a displeased look.
I told you not to provoke Chen Ze. This man doesn't even think anything of the emperor of New Rome. If you keep running your mouths, I'm quitting.
If you're so capable, do it yourselves!
The old man pressed his hands down. "Calm down. We mean no harm. We just want to do something."
Appealing to both emotion and reason, Newmanda looked earnestly at the Hold Up the Heavens Team.
"We have no information about this new phenomenon, so some unease is inevitable. But please believe that, at the very least, the Present World Scholars' Association wants to help. We want to