Chapter 1146: Another Banquet Invitation
After the conversation with Hong Tianqi, Sun Xiaowu asked, "Captain, do you really not want to unite the third realm?"
Li Feng commented, "With our captain's skill, he should be able to do it."
Zhang Lie steepled his fingers. "Even if I wanted to, I need the strength to do so. As long as the king of chaos remains in the third realm, it would be an impossible feat."
Sun Mengmeng replied, "I think it's worth a try. Is it possible to evade the king of chaos while uniting the realm?"
Zhang Lie contemplated the others' words for a moment. "I suppose it is. I'll have the warlords continue launching invasions against the various worlds."
They hadn't finished acquiring all the map fragments scattered throughout the realm, and gaining control over more worlds would speed up the rate of acquisition.
"I seem to hear my name being mentioned."
They had just chatted for a few moments upon returning to the draconian world when the space behind them split apart like layers of an onion, twenty-four layers in all. Nightdemon walked out from behind those layers.
Nightdemon said, "I noticed that none of you were within the three thousand worlds, so I came over in search of you."
Sun Mengmeng frowned. "What are you up to now, king of chaos?"
The members of Team Zenith were all clearly wary of the stranger in their midst. Nightdemon raised his hands. "There's no need to be on your guard. None of you responded to my summons, so I specially made my way over to find all of you. My night banquet's about to begin."
Sun Xiaowu snorted. "What are you planning now?"
Yang Ze frowned. "To take advantage of us again?"
Sun Mengmeng was nervous. "Or do you have some other scheme up your sleeve?"
Li Feng spoke for them all. "What ulterior motive do you have?"
The members of Team Zenith were all in alignment regarding their feelings toward the king of chaos.
Nightdemon spoke, "Don't treat me like the bad guy. I'm just here to check if you're willing to attend."
Sun Xiaowu frowned. "Do you really think us that easy to bully?"
Yang Ze thundered, "We still haven't settled our score with you over what happened during the fight against the king of keys."
Sun Mengmeng criticized, "To think you'd have the audacity to come over and invite us to your banquet!"
"I did nothing wrong during that fight."
The king of chaos indeed hadn't done anything wrong; he simply approached them without revealing his true intentions, and there was little beyond that that the members of Team Zenith could criticize.
Nightdemon shrugged. "In the end, none of you suffered any losses."
The members of Team Zenith didn't know what to say to that. They wanted to claim that the king of chaos had taken advantage of Zhang Lie and the others, but all he had done was given them information. Zhang Lie and the others had used that information to seek out the king of keys, but the king of chaos had never forced them into anything.
Nightdemon asked, "Indeed, wasn't it only because of my help that all of you were able to find the king of keys at all?"
None of the hunters had any clues where to find the king of keys. If Nightdemon hadn't helped, the king of keys would likely have taken the Zongming world before Team Zenith could react.
Even if he hadn't, the fight between Zhang Lie and the king of keys was so intense that even an errant shockwave could have caused devastating impact.
Nightdemon's volunteered information was what had prevented the Zongming world from suffering immense losses.
"In the end, I also helped all of you find that special beast as an apology."
Zhang Lie frowned. "You're inviting us to the world of primordial chaos again?"
Nightdemon nodded. "That's right. I'm confirming your invitation to the banquet."
Zhang Lie proclaimed, "I'll attend."
Sun Mengmeng was visibly alarmed. "Zhang Lie, you can't! Who knows what this fellow's planning."
Sun Xiaowu warned urgently, "This might be a trap."
Yang Ze shook his head. "Regardless of how I view him, this fellow has to be up to no good."
Nightdemon shrugged. "Really, is there a reason for all this doubt? If I truly wanted to strike at you, I would have no need to host a trap disguised as a banquet, or anything of the sort. I could simply attack you directly."
Nightdemon's words were infused with absolute confidence.
Zhang Lie continued, "I have wanted to see what the world of primordial chaos looks like."
Nightdemon smiled. "I won't disappoint you."
Sun Mengmeng whispered, "Captain, what are you planning? Why have you suddenly accepted the invitation?"
Zhang Lie retorted, "Didn't all of you want to unite the three thousand worlds? How can you do that if you're afraid of the king of chaos?"
Sun Mengmeng whispered back, "Even so, isn't this a bit too rash? We're heading straight into his home territory! What could we hope to accomplish?"
Zhang Lie replied, "Considering how much the king of chaos values his banquets, if it's truly as Nightdemon describes, we should be able to get a sense of the strength he wields by attending."
Yang Ze thought for a moment. "Captain, you want to identify the number of forces that the king of chaos can bring to bear?"
"Allegedly, the king of chaos' clones can form a troop composed entirely of combatants on the level of superior kings, each with the ability to destroy a superior world. I do want to witness them for myself."
Nightdemon smiled. "I won't disappoint you."
Nightdemon was even more interested in Zhang Lie for his audacity and boldness. It was precisely because of these characteristics that he was able to free the third realm from millennia of boring dullness, as though Zhang Lie had been destined to change everything.
Nightdemon turned to the rest of Team Zenith. "And how about all of you?"
"We'll follow our captain, of course," Sun Mengmeng replied.
Sun Xiaowu added, "If our captain's heading over, we have to join him."
Although he didn't know what he'd be able to accomplish there, he would at least be able to help out if there were a need.
Zhang Hanxiang ran over. "Hong Xi and I want to attend too! Don't leave us behind!"
Zhang Lie glanced at her curiously. "Why are you here?"
Zhang Hanxiang replied, "Nightdemon told us that, once we were all gathered, he'd take us to the banquet."
Nightdemon smiled. "I'm very interested in your sister's constitution and your student's abilities. I'd be very pleased to host them."
Sun Mengmeng warned, "Hanxiang, be careful. This will be a tremendously dangerous affair, and none of us know what could happen."
Nightdemon frowned. "It's only a banquet, a festive gathering, an ordinary banquet!"
Sun Xiaowu added, "Hanxiang, did you hear that? The king of chaos is saying so himself—this banquet will be dangerous!"
Nightdemon frowned. "I said that it was an ordinary banquet!"
Sun Xiaowu rolled his eyes. "How ordinary could a banquet hosted by the strongest king among the three thousand worlds be? You keep emphasizing that it's ordinary, which means it has to be sinister and dangerous!"
Nightdemon shook his head with a rueful chuckle. "That logic is certainly—well, I'm not even sure how to argue against it."
Zhang Hanxiang retorted, "I'm not a child anymore! Even if it's dangerous, I'm not a carefully cultivated flower in a greenhouse, and I've participated in my fair share of battles in the third realm."
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