Chapter 1205: Good Cop, Bad Cop
"Very long ago, this palace was used to venerate our dragon god. Thereafter, we held meetings here, and the religious rites have long since been moved elsewhere." The draconian sage stood in front of a statue of a giant dragon, for the moment ignoring all word from the outside world.
"Won't you leave, Sage?"
Zhang Lie walked up to his side.
The draconian sage chuckled coldly. "Large though the three thousand worlds may be, where could we run in the face of such an assault?"
Zhang Lie explained, "I can shelter you all in my soulshard."
The draconian sage shook his head. "This world raised me and fed me. I'm not leaving it to die alone."
Multicolored proofs of kingship hung over Zhang Lie and the draconian sage's heads.
The reason Zhang Lie was here was because that was where the genetic hunters and aliens chose to deposit the proofs of kingship they had collected.
The draconian sage sighed. "Where do you think the dragon god is? Has he ever existed? Did he ascend to a higher realm? He's enjoyed our offerings for so long, but now that the third realm's about to be destroyed, is he going to ignore us all?"
Zhang Lie replied, "I'm from China, on Earth."
"I understand."
"We have never believed in the existence of gods... or rather, we used to, but we learned that believing in ourselves was the better approach."
The draconian sage asked, "Aren't you going to leave, either?"
"Jun Jiuxiao and Ye Xianchen, along with the teams they led from the dojo, still haven't returned. I'm a little worried."
The draconian sage asked, "Is there still hope, then?"
"There was always hope."
"Even under such circumstances?"
"Even so," Zhang Lie replied with certainty. A series of rushed footsteps came from outside.
Zhang Lie glanced over to see Jun Jiuxiao, Ye Xianchen, and the members of the Zenith Dojo rush back with wounds all over their bodies. They returned alongside the members of Team Zenith. Jun Jiuxiao and Ye Xianchen were the worst of the lot, dusty and muddy and wounded, but their eyes were bright and sparkling with light.
They returned with a huge chest behind them, which they hurriedly set before Zhang Lie. "As promised, Master."
The chest was filled with proofs of kingship.
Jun Jiuxiao replied, "All the proofs of kingship from the three thousand worlds are located here."
The draconian sage glanced at the treasure in amazement. "How did you manage it so quickly? All the remaining worlds?"
The only remaining holdouts were all stubborn and difficult to take down—and there were hundreds of them.
The draconian sage continued, "Stubborn bastards even experienced troops would choke on... how did you do all this within two days?"
Jun Jiuxiao grinned. "I benefited from everyone's hard work—but not in the way you would expect."
Ye Xianchen explained, "The majority of these proofs of kingship weren't obtained by force."
The draconian sage seemed curious. "Not by force? How, then? Surely the kings didn't just hand them over to you?"
Jun Jiuxiao smiled wryly. "To some extent, they did."
Ye Xianchen continued, "We guessed that the worlds all had their own reasons for not wanting to submit, but we didn't have time to ferret them all out. After all, we only had two days."
Jun Jiuxiao smiled coldly. "We simply had to give them a reason to hand over their proofs of kingship, one that dwarfed their reasons not to."
Ye Xianchen continued, "They would surely be upset to be forced to give up their proofs of kingship from outsiders."
Jun Jiuxiao took his turn. "Some people are like that. They're as stubborn as mules, and refuse to listen. We took advantage of that."
Ye Xianchen continued, "We told those kings that refused to hand over their proofs of kingship that the newly evolved superior worlds and the hunters of the Milky Way were trying to destroy the three thousand worlds, that they're aiming to open a portal between the third realm and the Milky Way."
Jun Jiuxiao said, "We told them that all the issues that have been occurring are due to what they're doing. We would be able to prevent their schemes, but we would need their help and their proofs of kingship to do so."
Ye Xianchen puffed up. "For the good of the third realm, to resolve this calamity, we hope you'll pitch in."
The draconian sage gaped. "They really believed such ludicrous lies?"
Jun Jiuxiao shrugged. "Some people are that dumb, after all. They refuse to believe those who are trying to help them and are perfectly willing to believe those who are not."
Ye Xianchen shrugged. "The fact that they're still stubbornly refusing to give up their proofs of kingship despite their worlds crashing and burning down around them, well, that tells you what kind of people they are."
Jun Jiuxiao continued, "A few of the aliens thanked us after handing over their proofs of kingship, and they even wanted to marry off their daughters to us."
The people who were most struck by Jun Jiuxiao and Ye Xianchen's claims were the members of Team Zenith.
They were working hard to try to save the third realm, a realm that didn't belong to them. Even so, their actions were vilified by the aliens of the realm, and they were viewed with great enmity.
On the other hand, Jun Jiuxiao and Ye Xianchen, who were lying through their teeth, received widespread acclaim and the thanks of the inhabitants of the realm.
The draconian sage asked, "Did no one try to learn more about your plan for using the proofs of kingship to deal with the 'threat'?"
Jun Jiuxiao replied, "Some did ask, but we told them that there could very well be spies among them, and we couldn't discuss the specifics."
Yang Ze couldn't help but laugh. "They all dressed up like aliens; the recalcitrant kings were caught between a rock and a hard place, and they would much rather oppose the foreign invaders and give up their proofs of kingship to a purportedly friendly group."
Jun Jiuxiao and Ye Xianchen grinned deviously.
Over the last two days, they had been chasing away the main invasion force and pretending to be marauders from the three thousand worlds, here to rescue all the besieged worlds.
Sun Xiaowu sighed. "The aliens don't scheme half as much as we do."
Many of the three thousand worlds were insular; unlike the Milky Way, they didn't possess a galaxywide internet and interplanetary transportation, so they were easily sucked in by the ploy.
Zhang Lie waved a hand and beckoned. "Alright, we can't waste any more time. If we want to demonstrate our prowess, we'll have plenty of time for that once the third realm is safe."
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