Chapter 2310: Target acquired
"Everything we do, we do for the future of the human race," said the man seriously as he looked at the four others in the small room with him. "We are taking on great risk, and are offending many powerful figures. It is likely that we will be hunted down, and even killed. But if our mission is successful, the whole of humanity will benefit. There is no better cause for which we may lay down our lives."
The man’s words were not mere rhetoric. He genuinely believed them, and so did the others. They knew that the actions they were about to carry out weren’t exactly moral, or even fair. But for the sake of humanity’s future, the suffering of a few was a small price to pay. Not to mention, the target of their actions today should feel honored!
Every second of every day, trillions of beings died across the universe, but their deaths brought nothing of value to the universe, or even their lives. For their target to be able to affect the course of history, even if it was only by a small extent, was a great honor.
Whether the target wanted that honor or not was no longer up to him.
"Our window will be small," the man continued to speak. Up until this moment, none of them knew the plan. It was safer that way. However, since their mission was mere minutes away from happening, they had been informed, so that they could prepare themselves. They only needed to act as instructed - everything else had been taken care of.
"We have news that the Dream tavern in the Dream realm will soon close operations. While it still operates, it is under the joint protection of the Henali and the Humanoid Alliance. Our operation will take place in the exact last minute of the tavern’s operations, right before the respective Dao Lords retreat from their given posts.
"It is said that the Innkeeper is absent from the Midnight Inn, which is what has given rise to the possibility for our operation to succeed. If he were present, it would be impossible to fool or distract him. The two Dao Lords, however, will be distracted by someone else for exactly one minute.
"During that time, we will locate the target, capture him, and bring him out of the Dream tavern. As soon as that is done, our mission will be complete. We no longer need to concern ourselves with what will happen afterwards."
The four stood up, their expressions grave as they did. The future of humanity rested on their shoulders. It was a grave responsibility, and an unbearable burden. Still, they had to carry it out.
"We stand in the shadows, unknown, unrecognised, and seek no glory," the five of them recited together, as if it were some kind of mantra. "For the sacrifices of the past, for the prosperity of the future, we act to bring light to the darkness, to bring hope to the hopeless, to restore what has been lost."
With unquestionable belief and certainty in their hearts that what they did was correct, the five of them crushed the tokens they had been given. A protective shield wrapped around their bodies, containing the power of an unknown Dao Lord.
This shield would prevent them from being detected by the existing two Dao Lords protecting the Inn, and even keep them from being sensed by the Security team in the Midnight Inn. They had already been tested before, which is why the one orchestrating their actions from the shadows knew they would work.
The five of them entered the Dream tavern separately, and perfectly blended in with the guests of the tavern, raising no suspicions. The staff informed them that the tavern was about to shut down, and that they would not be able to return to the Dream realm once it did. If they wanted to go back, they had limited time to do so.
They were already aware of that, but thanked the staff for letting them know, and expressed that they were intending on going back.
Afterwards, they all spread out across the tavern. Naturally, they would not be able to sense the location of the Dao Lords, but that wasn’t their mission anyway. They only located other Celestial Immortals within their vicinity, and how close they were to the target.
They searched for security or other personnel who might interfere. Once all their reconnaissance was done, they quietly got into position and waited for the signal to start.
Time passed by quickly, and just as there was only a single minute left for the Dream tavern to shut down, a Mirage covered the entire tavern, transporting all the guests within.
A Mirage was a place created from the thoughts of a Dao Lord, and it could protect those below the Dao realm from being exposed to the aura of Dao while Dao Lords wreaked havoc.
Everyone was alarmed, confused, or perhaps even unaware. Yet before anyone - even the Inn staff could react - the five Celestials acted. They were at the peak of the Celestial realm, and had been stuck there for ages. The chances of them ever reaching the Dao realm was nonexistent.
However, among Immortals, they still could not be challenged easily. One of them acted to isolate Little Blue so that he would not be harmed. At the same time, Z was separated from his mount.
Three other Celestials acted in unison, chaining his entire body before he could even act, restricting his spirit energy and locking his tenet, making it go dormant. The last Celestial grabbed Z and placed him within a spatial prison that had been specially prepared to transport the target.
"The inheritor of the Human King Zarek’s legacy has been captured," the Celestial said out loud before crushing another token. It did not teleport him out - rather it wrapped him in another powerful shield created from the powers of a Dao Lord.
Then, his body directly tore out of the space of the Mirage, and then the Dream tavern, entering the Dream realm. What happened after that, not even the Celestial Immortal himself knew.
The entire action, from start to finish, took only one second. What the other fifty nine seconds of their mission were reserved for, the Celestial Immortals neither knew, nor cared.
The remaining four Celestial Immortals began their own escape.
One of the requirements of the mission was to ensure that no guests or workers of the Inn were harmed, to avoid provoking the Innkeeper excessively. He had merely lost a single Immortal worker. For a Dao Lord, such a thing was not a big deal.
Sure, this immortal was a little special due to his connection to the ancient human king Zarek, but it was within manageable levels. The situation would not escalate beyond that, and the Innkeeper could be compensated in other ways.
Lex, who was focused on his ring, remained entirely unaware of all of this. After all, he himself was isolated from such news, while Jack had already left the Inn. At the same time, this could be considered a failure of two massive organisations, which is why even they would do their best to suppress the news and handle the matter quietly.
To begin with, most did not even realize what had happened beyond the sudden appearance of the Mirage. Thus, whether Lex would learn of this any time soon... was entirely uncertain.
