Chapter 1515: 115th Chapter: Two Emperors_2
After a brief ceremonial welcome, the two emperors praised each other and spoke of their mutual friendship. They then proceeded directly to the Imperial Palace, where a banquet had already been prepared.
Although the initial invitation had been extended under the guise of a military exchange, there were still certain formalities that had to be observed beforehand.
However, these formalities posed a dilemma for Long Yi.
The banquets of The Forgotten Ones’ race were no different from those of any other species. The focus was still on eating and drinking, but one couldn’t very well eat and drink in armor, could they? Thus, it was customary to wear casual clothes at banquets, which meant appearing in one’s true form as a member of The Forgotten Ones.
And so, the problem arose, for Long Yi and Elsa were not, in fact, among The Forgotten Ones! If they were to remove their armor, it would immediately lead to a fierce battle.
"Your Majesty, we’ll have to decline," Long Yi whispered to the emperor.
"Why? I was looking forward to introducing you to them!" the Golden Emperor asked with a smile.
"I have a feeling that not everything is as simple as it seems. Since arriving on this planet, I’ve detected many energies covertly scanning my Naxi Armor. I strongly suspect someone will take the opportunity to tamper with our armor while we are not paying attention. Therefore, Elsa and I have decided to stay here, just in case," Long Yi stated, his words imbued with a sense of righteousness.
The emperor was clearly also concerned about such matters. After hearing Long Yi out, he only considered it briefly before agreeing.
"To think so far ahead, you are truly the warrior I have seen potential in! Very well, then. We will impose this inconvenience upon you," the emperor said.
"It’s not an inconvenience. In fact, we’re not really the best at handling crowded situations. A quiet place like this suits us better," Elsa said.
The emperor nodded; her words were not without merit. Given their upbringing, they indeed tended to be more solitary individuals.
"Alright, then I’ll leave you to it! But rest assured, soon there will be a time for you to shine brilliantly!"
After the emperor left, the warriors who were parading to battle also took off their armor and, dressed in formal attire, followed the emperor to the banquet. Long Yi could finally relax.
But not long after the emperor’s departure, another unwelcome guest made their way there.
And that unwelcome guest was shockingly a warrior possessed by a Divine Worm!
What puzzled Long Yi was that all of the Divine Worm-infested Forgotten Ones he knew of had a series of extremely strange defense mechanisms. It was precisely because of these mechanisms that Long Yi dared not attack the Golden Emperor directly. However, the warrior before him had no such defenses and appeared nonchalantly before Long Yi.
"Hello, this place is a critical warehouse area of our nation, please do not approach any further," Long Yi and Elsa both stood up and blocked the warrior’s path.
The warrior before them slowly lifted his hand and, in the manner of a tape recorder running out of batteries, said, "It—does—not—mat—ter—I—am—just—look—ing—around—"
Strange!
Something wasn’t right!
This situation was definitely not normal!
The worm’s vibrations on the warrior’s body were exceedingly noticeable, and without any defenses, there was no way he could block his own attack!
To attack or not to attack?
Such an opportunity did not come by often!
Crack!
A beam of golden light pierced into the armor, and in almost an instant, a weak and fragile Divine Worm was greedily crushed and devoured by the Snake game.
"Aha! I can finally speak properly!" a familiar voice emanated from within that armor.
"Belle?" Long Yi asked, surprised and pleased.
The armor slowly raised its hand, and then a crystal entity that was a miniature version of Belle appeared.
"It’s actually you! I didn’t even notice your contract!" Long Yi said in surprise.
"It’s because this isn’t my main body," Belle said, "This is just a temporary Crystal Core I’ve deployed. But I did detect your arrival! So I controlled this guy to bring him to you!"
"You! You controlled the Worm?" Long Yi said, extremely surprised.
"Yes, I controlled the Worm. You won’t believe it, but the energy from the Crystal Poison actually has a huge impact on the activity of the Divine Worm. Once the dosage is large enough, it can completely freeze the consciousness of the Worm!" Belle explained.
"But I remember that Solis had once tried to turn himself into a Crazy Demon! And he succeeded!" Long Yi still remembered that Solis had hidden a super Crazy Demon on a levitating Crystal Demon planet, but in the end, Belle easily shattered its body, and the main body was captured by a greedy snake.
"Yes, but just as humans can’t live without water, yet water can also kill, the same is true for Crystal Poison. It depends on how you use it," Belle said.
So that was it!
Belle had shared her discovery with Long Yi, which amazed him. It turned out that she had influenced the Worm’s thinking by manipulating the chemical changes in the creature’s brain! Could such a thing really be done?
Clearly, it could, because the greedy snake had just crushed a jumping Worm.
"I’ve noticed that these Worms have some very special self-protection measures, and I’m afraid these measures might raise the alarm, so I didn’t dare to directly kill them. Have you discovered anything?" Long Yi asked Belle.
"Yes, I’ve noticed these energy defense systems. In fact, these defense systems are specifically against energy and the very rules themselves. The Worms have become aware of the greedy snake’s existence, so they’ve developed this defense system using knowledge stolen from the Giant. Although it can’t guarantee it will stop the greedy snake, it can allow them to escape before its first attack, so your choice not to rashly attack them was indeed correct," Belle explained.
"So do you have any countermeasures?" Long Yi continued to ask.
"Not at all. But the good news is, I can influence their thinking and make them deactivate their defense system, just as just happened," Belle said.
"But there are simply too many Worms here," Long Yi said with a sigh.
"Yes, the number of people infected by the Worms on this planet, that I know of, exceeds three hundred, and there may be even more that I’m unaware of," Belle said.
"This is really irritating, these worms... Instead of staying put in their nests, they come here to do what?" Long Yi began to scratch his head out of habit, his fingertips making a squeaky noise against his scalp.
Elsa and Belle exchanged a smile. Every time he got agitated, Long Yi would scratch his head; this habit of his just couldn’t be changed.
"Anyway, let’s first get a clear picture of the situation here and strive to eliminate the threat of The Forgotten to this Plane from the source. Then we can consider what to do about those Worms. I’ve got a big guy on my hands right now, and I’m still not sure how to use it properly. Once our plan is in place, I think I’ll really need to do something to permanently solve the problem of the Worms."
This marked the establishment of contact with Belle, and the two agreed on a new way to communicate. What followed was patiently waiting for the banquet to end.
After a while, the Emperor in golden armor appeared. But his posture seemed to suggest he was in a bad mood. He simply asked if there had been any irregularities before leaving. Long Yi asked the Imperial Guard following behind, and a warrior told Long Yi that at the banquet, both Emperors had initially maintained their composure, making mild jokes at each other. But as the banter continued, the atmosphere began to tense. Although they still wore smiles, their tones got increasingly sharp, and the jokes became less joke-like.
Although the two Emperors didn’t have an outright confrontation, it almost seemed no different.
"Looks like there’s bound to be a fierce fight tomorrow," Long Yi said to Elsa as everyone left.
"Whether it’ll be a fierce fight depends on Belle’s talent for performance," Elsa replied.
But then, a problem arose.
That night, all the warriors started exhibiting symptoms of physical discomfort. Some had a fever, some diarrhea, and others felt dizzy.
The accompanying physician diagnosed it as food poisoning.
Obviously, the food at the banquet was not so simple.
"That bastard!" the furious Emperor cursed.
(To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommended votes, monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
