The spiritual power possessing the Sanctum warrior was burned away by the Soul Flame. Sorokin's true form, disregarding the fact that he had been exposed, recalled the scene he had witnessed before he collapsed, and an expression of disbelief appeared on his face.
"Dozens of the First Ones, all of them survived to the modern era... Did they fake their deaths like me?!"
Sorokin's mind trembled violently.
How is that possible?!
Some people are clearly dead; their ashes have already been scattered, okay?!
How did they survive their exploration and live in anonymity until now?
Could this actually be the original nursing home for the First Ones?
Or have these people been hiding for so long, brewing some earth-shattering conspiracy?!
Sorokin was in a state of utter confusion, and the more he thought about it, the more terrified he became. He had thought he was a crocodile hiding beneath the surface of the water, but now he realized that the waters of the Explored Universe much deeper than he had imagined!
This organization is so well-hidden; I've never heard of it before. Is it possible that this secret is known to no one else in the universe besides myself?
Just then, Sorokin suddenly snapped to attention and hurriedly gave an order to the corps leader:
"Immediately disperse the troops, split up and retreat at full speed!"
Sorokin's tone became unusually flustered.
He was confident in his own strength and originally thought that this trip would be a piece of cake, with a high success rate in reclaiming the Soul Flame. Even though he had recently tested the waters with three Beyond Grade A opponents, he was only a little more serious and did not think that he could not succeed.
But he didn't expect that there were far more than three Beyond Grade A here; even ten times that wouldn't be enough!
The situation has exceeded expectations; who can withstand this?!
Dozens of Beyond Grade A beings were beyond his ability to handle, and the possession act had triggered the alarm of the Soul Flame, essentially stirring up a hornet's nest. Sorokin immediately lost all desire to act and only wished he could escape this area instantly, as far away as possible.
Just then, the corps leader, looking at the remote observation screen, suddenly exclaimed in surprise.
"Boss, their fleet has moved and is heading our way. Plus, dozens of high-energy reactive objects have suddenly appeared on our radar, all suspected to be Beyond Grade A!"
"Then what are you standing there for? Run!"
Sorokin was filled with shock and rage.
We can find out more about this organization in the future, but if we get caught up now, we might not even have a "future" left!
The mercenary group scattered and fled in different directions. Sorokin's flagship channeled all its energy into the engines, entered overload mode, and sped away at full speed. The starlight outside the window was stretched into luminous threads.
But they hadn't been able to escape for long when the radar suddenly sounded a piercing buzzing alarm!
"Boom!"
The next second, the entire spaceship shook violently, abruptly exiting warp mode and transitioning from extreme motion to extreme stillness. The immense inertia caused all the crew members except Sorokin to tumble to the ground.
Ignoring the cries of pain from the crew members scattered on the ground, Sorokin hurriedly looked out the window.
The surrounding space was filled with magic circles, from which extended translucent arcane tentacles, as if made of glass, tightly bound the entire spaceship and continued to tighten and compress. Inside the cabin, the tearing sound of the metal armor could be clearly heard, and cracks appeared in the alloy walls.
At the same time, a magical portal suddenly opened directly in front of the spaceship, and Baigel emerged with a group of the First Ones.
"Baigel!!"
Sorokin's eyes blazed with fury, his teeth clenched, a mix of old and new grudges surging within him.
That damned magician!
Suddenly, the spaceship was taken over by the virtual mechanic among the First Ones and automatically entered communication mode.
The next moment, the Oathkeeper's projection appeared in the cabin, looking Sorokin up and down, his tone carrying three parts excitement, three parts curiosity, and four parts annoyance.
"So it was you who bypassed the Soul Flame's defenses and possessed one of my subordinates?"
"I don't know what you're talking about? Who are you people?" Sorokin became extremely wary.
"Interesting. You're not going to say you just happened to be passing by, are you?" The Oathkeeper narrowed his eyes.
"Listen to me, I..."
You'll have plenty of time to explain later!
Before Sorokin could finish speaking, dozens of Beyond Grade A soldiers attacked simultaneously, unleashing astonishing energy that hurtled towards the spaceship where Sorokin was located.
Boom!
The spaceship was instantly crushed into molecular dust by the energy torrent. Sorokin was thrown out of the cabin at the last second, feeling the despairing disparity in combat power, and he groaned inwardly.
He had intended to calm the group down with words, but they immediately attacked, leaving him helpless.
Although his physical body was not the foundation of his life, Sorokin did not want to fall into the hands of these people.
"We have no choice but to take action!"
Sorokin gritted his teeth in secret, withdrew most of his soul seeds, and his entire demeanor suddenly changed, exuding a cold Violence aura. An astonishing mental fluctuation erupted from him, causing visible ripples in the surrounding cosmic space, as if a mental storm had been unleashed out of nowhere!
Sensing this fluctuation, the Oathkeeper's gaze sharpened, and he pulled his teammate into the mental chat channel, instructing him:
"Be careful, this guy is very strong, don't let him get you killed."
Don't worry, there are plenty of us!
The crowd laughed and then swarmed forward.
The two sides clashed fiercely, and a fierce battle erupted. However, within seconds, Sorokin found himself at a complete disadvantage.
His combat strength is indeed very strong, and he can hold a place among the Peak Beyond Grade A. However, no matter how strong he is, he has not entered a new level and is still in the Beyond Grade A category.
Dozens of Beyond Grade A beings swarmed forward, and no matter how powerful Sorokin's abilities were, he could only take the beating and was utterly humiliated. Even if an evolved version of the Sorokin came, the outcome would be similar.
Sorokin could only defend himself with difficulty, and soon his mask was shattered, finally revealing his face to everyone.
"This guy is... Sorokin of the Infinite Financial Group?"
The Oathkeeper paused for a moment.
He never expected that this guy who infiltrated the organization was actually a notorious oligarch in the universe.
Isn't this guy notoriously weak? Isn't he at the bottom of the Beyond Grade A? How could he have such strength?
Was Sorokin pretending to be weak and hiding his true strength all along, just being so cowardly?
Just as he was wondering, Baigel suddenly noticed something in Sorokin's combat mode and exclaimed in surprise.
"This extraordinary ability... could you perhaps be the Spirit Emperor?"
"What?"
Everyone was startled and quickly began to observe carefully, discovering all the clues.
Modern people can only analyze Spirit Emperor's abilities from historical records, but they were contemporaries of Spirit Emperor and fought him countless times, so they immediately discovered the clues.
Upon hearing this, Sorokin felt a surge of resentment.
He had been avoiding going all out for fear of being recognized, but he couldn't avoid it after all.
He knew he couldn't hide it from these acquaintances anyway, and since he was already considering abandoning this disguise, thinking he could at least strike up a conversation with them, he decided to stop pretending and said in a deep voice:
"It's me! You bunch of bastards, weren't you supposed to be dead already? Why are you still alive?!"
"It really is you, Lowell Sisock!"
Many of the First Ones looked surprised, and their offensive slowed slightly.
If it were a stranger, they wouldn't have any emotional reaction, but Spirit Emperor was a contemporary of theirs, someone they knew, so everyone was very curious about what was going on with Sorokin.
We didn't revive you, so you're not actually dead, are you?
Baigel's eyes changed slightly as he recalled Black Star's words, which implied that the Spirit Emperor was still alive.
"You faked your death back then?"
Baigel was greatly surprised and astonished:
"I clearly beat you to death, leaving no trace of your life. How did you manage that?"
You dare bring that up again!
Sorokin dodged another magical arrow powerful enough to pierce a planet, his forehead veins bulging as he recalled that memory.
At that time, his physical body had lost its life, and he was indeed on the verge of death. His intense unwillingness to accept this caused his potential to erupt, allowing his superpower to awaken a second time and complete its upgrade. He then comprehended the ability of [Soul Immortality]. Otherwise, he would have died along with his original physical body in the Exploration Era War.
At this moment, the Oathkeeper suddenly realized something and began to doubt his judgment of the mole.
Sorokin doesn't seem to have known about this beforehand. Could it be unrelated to previous leaks of intelligence by the organization?
"I never imagined you were the Spirit Emperor from back then. You've been hiding it well... How did you discover us?"
"I only wanted to retrieve the Soul Flame, and I came here following my senses. I knew nothing about your affairs." Sorokin gritted his teeth. "Stop fighting! Let me go!"
The Oathkeeper recalled what had just happened and was about 60-70% convinced, but still shook his head.
"Whether you knew it before or not, you've stumbled upon our secret today, so don't leave. We're all from the same era, let's have a chat... But that'll have to wait until you're unable to resist. Just surrender obediently; you have no chance of escaping, so why continue to suffer?"
The crowd echoed his sentiments. Most of them did not intend to kill Sorokin immediately. After all, he was an acquaintance from the old era, and their reunion in the modern world was somewhat of a coincidence. They all wanted to find out about Sorokin's experiences over the years.
Bang!
At that moment, Sorokin was punched in the face by Pangon again, flying through the air in a daze, looking utterly disheveled. He forced himself to stay focused, observing the battlefield environment, his heart sinking lower and lower.
Surrounded by dozens of Beyond Grade A beings, he had no ability to break through head-on. In terms of mobility, the magician's teleportation spell completely outclassed him, a psychic, leaving him with no chance of escape.
Is this body I painstakingly cultivated really going to perish here? I clearly intended to use it to deal with Black Star, but I haven't even seen Black Star's face yet!
Although Sorokin was fairly confident that he wouldn't die here thanks to the characteristics of his superpower, he didn't want to risk faking his death if he could escape physically. After all, given his past record of faking his death, these people would definitely be more thorough in their search.
How many years has it been since I've been this humiliated?! My cowardice skills are still lacking. If I had known I would stir up a hornet's nest, why would I have wanted to kill Black Star? Wouldn't it have been better to just retire?
Sorokin was filled with remorse.
"What, still not surrendering?" Baigel snorted. "Don't think that just because we're acquaintances, I won't kill you. If I can kill you once, I can kill you a second time!"
Upon hearing this, Sorokin suddenly had a flash of inspiration and a long-forgotten memory came to mind.
"I remember now! The Sanctum, you are the Sanctum!"
The memories of the exploration history came back to life. Sorokin had heard of the Sanctum before, but he had only scoffed at it and had not joined.
So much time has passed, and the First Ones have all died. He had long assumed that the secret society-like Sanctum Organization had vanished into the annals of history.
When he first discovered dozens of Beyond Grade A beings, Sorokin was too shocked to think about it, busy running away. But just now, in his quest for a way to escape, his mind raced, and he finally remembered the "rumor" circulating among the First Ones explorers.
So...
"The Sanctuary Revival is real?! You succeeded?!"
Sorokin's expression changed drastically, his tone filled with disbelief.
If it's a resurrection, then everything makes sense. I never expected that such an unfounded rumor would actually be true!
When Sorokin guessed the truth, everyone present was shocked.
Spirit Emperor was an insider of the time, so it wasn't impossible for him to guess the truth. However, even though everyone was mentally prepared for this, being suddenly exposed would still be shocking.
Just then, a series of flashes of inspiration struck Sorokin, connecting all the events that had just occurred to him. A plan quickly surfaced in his mind, and a surge of joy welled up inside him, as if he had discovered a luminous exit in the darkest of times, finding the only hope of escape!
The Sanctum is so mysterious, it must be because they don't want to expose the information about the Sanctuary Revival. This is the only leverage we can use. Only by betting that these people won't dare to expose it can things take a turn for the better!
In the blink of an eye, Sorokin didn't hesitate and roared:
"You've been hiding your identities, keeping the secret of the Sanctuary Revival. You must remember my ability to possess outsiders. I may not escape your encirclement today, but before you kill me, I have ample time to control bodies in other star systems and spread the news of the Sanctuary Revival! Stop now if you don't want to leak information, or I'll expose it to all factions immediately!!"
As soon as the words were spoken, everyone's expression changed instantly. They subconsciously slowed their attacks and all looked at the Oathkeeper.
"... Are you threatening us?" The Oathkeeper had a shifty look in his eyes.
"You forced me into this situation. I only want to survive!" Sorokin wiped the blood from his forehead. Although he lacked confidence, he could only put on a tough front and said in a deep voice, "You are the host of the Soul Flame. You can try to stop me, but can you bear the consequences? It's better for only me to know the secret than for the whole universe to know, right?"
The Oathkeeper silently observed Sorokin for a while, and as the atmosphere grew increasingly tense, he suddenly raised his hand, signaling everyone to cease fire, and said in a deep voice:
"Stop it, everyone."
As soon as he finished speaking, the crowd stopped their attack, but they still surrounded Sorokin with unfriendly expressions, preventing him from escaping.
This truly struck at the Oathkeeper's weak spot. He knew the impact the exposure of the Sanctuary Revival would have, and compared to that, Sorokin's life was insignificant in his eyes.
The Oathkeeper was also an expert in the mental realm, but he wasn't 100% certain he could stop Sorokin from using his powers to control the possessed body. Who knew what new methods this guy had developed after living for so long?
Even a cornered dog will jump over a wall. The Oathkeeper felt that things didn't necessarily have to come to that point, and he planned to play it safe and see how things went.