Xiangzi looked at him, truly unsure of whether he or the other person was the bigger fool. Shaking his head, he turned around and started walking back.

The Papalarians shouted and bawled behind him. With one leading and the other following, they moved through the underground darkness towards the way out. Perhaps, many years later, no one else would set foot in this place again.

But people would not forget that one day in that particular year, everything that had happened here.

And in the deeper darkness below that place—

A pair of eyes was opening, revealing a pair of narrow, slit pupils in total darkness, set between grey-white scales. They looked around, exuding an eerie calm the moment they regained awareness.

Tainaric felt something licking his face, and he reached out to block the other creature, recognizing his intimate companion—his mount, Blood Fang, though he had no idea how it had managed to make its way underground and find him.

However, in the jungles of the Far South, there was always a mysterious connection between the lizard and its master. The War Gecko clan had long regarded this as a given.

"You've saved me once again, Blood Fang," Tainaric hissed.

He rose from the ground and listened to the noisy voices of Parker and Xiangzi above. He could already distinguish the two men but had no intention of making himself known. He simply crouched down and gently patted his companion's head.

Tainaric silently watched into the dark and gloomy mists of the Abyss, as if he could still see the sacrificial altar and obelisk far below. He murmured to himself, "Perhaps I have already understood the meaning of Prophet Er Ata. Let's go, Blood Fang, let's go home."

"Everything here is over, and I think I'm ready to take the trials of the Dragon Blood Clan."

Blood Fang uttered a deep sound, as if responding to his words.

Tainaric nodded, "Yes, we will return, to the world of humans—only by then, everything will have changed."

"My human brother, may the moon and the stars be with you. Upon the Shining Sea, we shall fight side by side once again."

He stood up straight.

He took one last look down at the Abyss.

...

At the Stargate Port, inside the Emergency Operations Center.

Ambassador Liao rubbed his forehead. Lifting his head, he gazed at the halo left by the sunlight on the edge of the azure planet outside the window—the ancient home of humanity, which had been reproducing this scene day after day for billions of years.

It was the dawn of a new day in the Eastern Hemisphere.

From dawn to dusk, the blue ocean was painted, dotted with islands and a piece of land that was both ancient and brand new. His gaze lingered there for a long time, every person harbors special feelings for their homeland.

It was where people came from, and perhaps where they would return in the end.

The spiritual homecoming of the Chosen was the hall on the other side of that glass window—located next to the ring-shaped Stargate. Westerners liked to call it Valhalla, or the Golden Palace.

But these people did not believe in ghosts or gods; they only answered to their true hearts.

Ambassador Liao watched for a while before turning back, considering it a brief rest. He looked at the materials in his hand again before asking, "Is it true?"

The others nodded.

"Yes, Mr. Ambassador, we have temporarily lost contact with them—and besides the communication ID being off the grid, among all the Starlight device IDs underground at the time, we actually didn't find Mr. Xiaya either."

"Then why didn't you tell me at the time?"

The group exchanged glances.

"We did report it at that time, Mr. Ambassador, but because it was not the highest priority, it was delayed and suppressed by the information analysis section due to the urgent situation."

Ambassador Liao paced back and forth with the documents in hand.

Then he turned back and asked, "What news from Silver Weslan, Blood Oath Alliance, Rain Listener, Jiefulite Red Cloak Team?"

"Silver Weslan also encountered them during the trials and only had a transactional relationship with them. The Princess of Silver Weslan also claimed that she didn't know much about them."

"The Rain Listeners don't have much more information than we do, as they have a cooperative relationship and only know that the other party is a skilled Alchemist, a Combat Artisan. The Blood Oath Alliance knows even less; they basically haven't interacted much with Mr. Xiaya. From the interrogation results, it seems that they did not lie."

"As for the Jiefulite Red Cloak Team..."

The group seemed somewhat embarrassed.

Ambassador Liao sighed, clearly understanding what was going on. The Jiefulite Red Cloak Team, unlike the Blood Oath Alliance, was not a direct handler of the Lizardman plan. They only used the relationship of the Blood Oath Alliance.

Although everyone knew exactly what was going on, according to the rules of the Super Competitive League, such evasion was acceptable. Of course, punishment was inevitable. At the very least, they would be banned from participating in various competitions for a year, which was a significant blow to a rising team like the Jiefulite Red Cloak Team.

There were also some officials who resigned and received punishments, but these didn't concern the military. The Super Competitive League always used commercial activity as an excuse to strictly prevent the military from intervening in more areas. There were some things they just had to negotiate in a more circuitous way.

This is how the punishment of the Jiefulite Red Cloak Team was carried out. Moreover, considering the backing of BBK, after all, the Red Cloak Team was just a branch of BBK in the First World. It might affect their progress in joining the top ten Guilds, but overall it wouldn't shake their status too much.

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