"The official statement is that Endu civilians were accidentally killed in the conflict, but, equally matched rebels? Ha, they are pretty good at hiding the truth."
Veronia looked at the information she had uncovered and said with a peculiar smile. When they didn’t suspect anything, everything seemed normal, but as soon as suspicion arose, those things became extraordinarily dubious.
Spreading his hands, Фэн Юань said helplessly,
"It’s normal; dirty dealings like these happen everywhere. Quine just happened to catch our attention. Let’s handle this here and prepare to make a trip to the Netherworld. If they’ve really tampered with the Netherworld, it’s not like we have no recourse."
Фэн Юань stroked his chin and looked around, saying that Emperor Savidi hadn’t immediately withdrawn this Dream Domain, as there was no certainty of any hidden tricks within. Retracting it directly might cause trouble for the Dream Domain. After some thought, he turned to Агунас and Фэн Юань and appealed,
"Could you do me a favor and thoroughly clean this Dream Domain?"
"Uh, are you worried about traps? That works. Veronia, why don’t you use the World of Mirrors to forcibly disrupt this area?"
Touching his forehead with his index finger, Фэн Юань looked at Veronia, who put down Anernia with a helpless look and said,
"Oh, you really do know how to boss people around, huh~ But, well, it does seem like I’m the most suitable for this task."
As she spoke, Veronia waved her hand, causing the surrounding space to become unusual. The Страна грез Amusement Park and the wasteland interwove continuously, and finally, the Страна грез Amusement Park shattered like glass. Seeing the pure white mist, Агунас asked,
"Do these need to be checked?"
"Of course, they do. Otherwise, if any weird contaminants mixed in, it would be troublesome. By the way, Anernia, can you still sense the Nightmare Force?"
"There isn’t any here anymore, why?"
On hearing Фэн Юань’s inquiry, Anernia wagged her little tail in confusion, not quite understanding what Фэн Юань meant. Агунас seemed to have an idea and said,
"Do you mean there’s a problem here?"
"Not really, but since the Nightmare Force is bait, wouldn’t they put more of it to ensure foolproof success?"
Anernia’s eyes lit up as her little eyes scanned the surroundings. Although she couldn’t get to the chunk of Nightmare Force in the sky, it didn’t mean she couldn’t covertly find other undiscovered Nightmare Forces. As for whether they were contaminated, she was confident she could handle those pollutants.
Unfortunately, her tiny eye expressions were detected by Emperor Savidi, who thoroughly understood Anernia. A metallic arm extended from his back and directly grabbed the small black leopard, hoisting it into the air as it struggled continuously in the massive metal palm. Anernia kept cursing, but Emperor Savidi was utterly uninterested.
Letting her run underground unchecked, who knows what might happen? Even a Божественный зверь could be seriously injured by contaminants like these if not careful. He dared not let Anernia fool around with such things.
Ignoring the displeased cursing of Anernia, Emperor Savidi’s gaze swept over the space surrounded by white mist. By this time, the Defense Corps had arrived as well, and on seeing Emperor Savidi in the sky, they all got their Beasts ready for combat. Veronia twirled her parasol and said,
"It seems there’s a bit of a misunderstanding here."
As she spoke, she approached the people. Compared to the Special Duty Team, not everyone in the Defense Corps recognized Veronia’s human form. However, her dress was particularly distinctive, not to mention there were soldiers on the scene who knew Veronia. Seeing her appear, they put down their weapons in puzzlement and asked,
"You are..."
"Veronia~ I believe you should know my true identity. Alright, we’ll handle this place. If you want to investigate, please wait outside. After we send the Dream Domain back, you can conduct your investigation."
Giving a glance at the soldiers, Veronia said and turned to walk towards Фэн Юань and the others. Just before stepping into the white fog, she raised her right hand and waved it, a golden Energy Barrier blocking them from advancing.
Despite recognizing Veronia’s identity, they obviously couldn’t agree to just stand by and wait. However, the barrier set by Veronia wasn’t easy to break. Even if they tried hard to attack, they still couldn’t breach the barrier’s restriction.
"Not letting them come in?"
At the side, Wu Xue looked at Фэн Юань with some confusion and asked. She didn’t expect the Defense Corps would be barred outside. Dou Yanlan looked at Wu Xue and asked suspiciously,
"Do they have a way to deal with troubles even difficult for Божественный зверьs? If not, letting them in would only add more trouble, right?"
"Uh... with them watching, it might not be easy to make mistakes, right..."
Thinking it over, Wu Xue said uncertainly, subconsciously believing such troublesome matters should be left to the authorities, completely forgetting an important matter: whether they indeed had the capability to solve the problem.
"Well, she wasn’t the one who strategized when with the team, so..."
At this, a student on the side said awkwardly. Wu Xue’s behavior did seem somewhat unfitting for her senior status, but there was no choice; the other party’s capabilities were just like that. The teacher had thought the team had remarkable prowess and mistakenly assumed she herself had the capability to lead.
After all, it was just patrolling, and there wasn’t much need for extensive judgment. Finding a problem and calling others was sufficient. But this ran counter to how Фэн Юань and his team operated.
Фэн Юань and his team didn’t see the need to always call in others for post-hoc handling, especially when most of the issues they dealt with were very troublesome matters involving figures of the Божественный зверь level. Even if they called in the Defense Corps, it wouldn’t necessarily be any use. As for witnesses?
Testimonies from Божественный зверьs were no less credible than theirs, sometimes even more so. That’s why Фэн Юань rarely considered specifically bringing people in as witnesses.
"It seems like it’s all clear now, but these peculiar devices really. If it weren’t for suspicion towards Quine, seeing these things, I wouldn’t be able to link them to Quine at all."
Holding the exquisite device that looked almost like an art piece, Фэн Юань said helplessly. Without any doubt about Quine, it would have been difficult linking it with the technically inept Quine upon seeing such a contraption.
After all, in their public imagery, Quine appeared to be impacted by the Endu massacre, with technological development far lacking behind other nations. Moreover, sheltered by mountains, they seemed more like a nation peripheral to the Divine Land Region countries. This tech-laden device—at first glance, the unknowing would likely suspect it was related to Xingchan.
After inventory confirmation ensuring no issues, Emperor Savidi returned this Dream Domain, dragged into the real world, back into the Dream Domain. Watching the restored wasteland, Фэн Юань glanced at Агунас and asked,
"Did you notify Long Boduo?"
"It said it will arrive shortly, but really, is it that simple?"
Swishing his tail nervously, Агунас expressed some unease. The other party even calculated the clues left behind here—there’s no reason to ignore a huge loophole like the Netherworld. Except for the relationship between Emperor Savidi and Anernia, everything else had been deftly handled, just like the device Фэн Юань found.
Without suspicion in our minds, it’s hard associating it with Quine’s clunky devices, yet its craftsmanship and expression were more reminiscent of Xingchan’s style. Unfortunately, when doubts arose, things hidden within were uncovered by them.
Though beautifully crafted, unlike the harmonious natural feel of Xingchan, these devices appear somewhat rigid. After all, they were deliberately emulating Xingchan’s craftsmanship, making genuine Xingchan-like qualities unattainable. This could only be discovered through painstaking observation, and this discovery silenced Wu Xue and the others.
Though they led, Фэн Юань and Dou Yanlan’s activities made them think of themselves as the ones holding back, to the extent that Wu Xue planned to ask the teacher to transfer the captain’s position to Фэн Юань upon returning.
"These things do indeed seem suspicious; however, we don’t have an appropriate channel to hand them over. Wait a minute, Фэн Юань, can you still reach Captain Yang?"
"It’s possible, but I have to make a trip to the Netherworld later. If we leave the items with you..."
"I’ll be responsible for protecting them. The journey to the Netherworld probably won’t be easy, and they surely can’t go with you."
Veronia glanced at Фэн Юань and smiled, suggesting, while Фэн Юань considered it and nodded without objection to Veronia’s proposal.

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