I Have Infinite Skill Points-Chapter 512: Time-Space Gemstone Crisis
Wang Lan and his companion had just met with the Dharma World Honored and immediately came to blows without exchanging much dialogue. Yet now, how could Wang Lan clearly know that the other party was from Paradise Bird? What did this imply? It meant that the people of Jade Country had long known the other party was from Paradise Bird.
The United Nations had an agreement long ago. If someone was from Paradise Bird, whatever they did was unrelated to their home country. You knew this all along and still accused Vine Country? And sent people for negotiations? Wasn’t that just trying to get something for nothing? Wasn’t that setting someone up?
Looking at the infuriated Master Chenghai, Wang Lan smiled nonchalantly. "We didn’t know they were from Paradise Bird before. If that idiot hadn’t said he was Sony’s disciple, how would I have known their identity?"
The expression on Wang Lan’s smiling face seemed detestable to Mage Chenghai, but thinking back on the conversation, that was indeed the only explanation. Hmm, even Vine Country didn’t know that the Dharma World Honored had joined Paradise Bird, so it makes sense that Jade Country wouldn’t have known.
"But now that it’s confirmed that they are from Paradise Bird, you can withdraw your accusations against Vine Country, right?"
"That won’t do!" Wang Lan said, still smiling and shaking his head. "Why should we, when Vine Country has concealed the truth for so many years? They’ve always claimed that the Seven Golden Cicadas have been passed down within Vine Country. If we don’t hold you accountable, who should we?
"And by making such claims, don’t you think you’ve been covering for the identity of the Dharma World Honored all these years? And how many benefits have you deceitfully gained from the international community using the Golden Cicadas as a bargaining chip?
"If we were to settle the accounts, I’m afraid Vine Country wouldn’t be able to bear it, right?"
"You!" Master Chenghai glared at Wang Lan in anger. Wang Lan is right, he thought, helpless. If we accuse Vine Country of covering up a Paradise Bird expert’s identity, that charge would be far more severe than Jade Country’s current accusations.
"Let’s forget it. Now that the truth has been uncovered, can’t we just put this matter to rest?"
"At least our mission is complete. We were only responsible for investigating the truth of the matter. Rest assured, State Preceptor, we will report all of the causes and consequences truthfully to Upper Peak, including the true identity of the Dharma World Honored," Yu Ruoyun said lightly.
Their figures flickered as they moved, heading toward the exit of the Pioneer Space. But all along the way, Wang Lan felt as if he had missed something. The exit of the Pioneer Space was right in front of them, yet Wang Lan suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"What’s wrong?" Yu Ruoyun and Master Chenghai also stopped and asked.
"Something’s not right. I feel like I’ve overlooked something," Wang Lan said, his brows furrowed.
"Of course, something’s not right. That’s just life being unfair," Master Chenghai lamented. "We nations have been managing our Pioneer Spaces with the utmost caution, investing a great deal of manpower and resources, fearing that the slightest mistake could lead to the fall of our nations. But this El Nino incident has nullified decades of our efforts.
"Look at South Summon Kingdom. They did nothing, yet were not affected at all. It turns out there’s also a benefit in being a weak country—being spared by chance because they were seen as worthless? That’s laughable."
"Hmm?" Wang Lan’s expression suddenly changed.
"Master Chenghai, are you trying to incite something against South Summon Kingdom?" Yu Ruoyun asked in a low voice. In the Golden Triangle Area, South Summon Kingdom’s relationship with Jade Country was considered the best. Of course, part of that was because every time South Summon Kingdom was bullied, they would turn to Jade Country for help, which would then reprimand the disobedient parties.
As this continued, the relationship between Jade Country and South Summon Kingdom grew closer, to the point that many citizens of South Summon Kingdom even considered Jade Country their de facto patron state. As mentioned earlier, South Summon Kingdom was dubbed the most shameless nation. They not only didn’t feel ashamed but actually took pride in this.
Naturally, the more obedient and compliant South Summon Kingdom was, the more Jade Country liked it. So when she heard Master Chenghai stirring the pot again, Yu Ruoyun couldn’t help but retort.
However, Wang Lan wasn’t considering the attempt to stir things up, but the factual problem itself.
"Ruoyun, if I remember correctly, the Cloud Sea space is very close to the Different Dimensional Spaces of the other four countries, right?"
"Indeed, very close."
Wang Lan quickly crouched down, drew north-south coordinates on the ground, and then marked the position of the Cloud Sea space. "Ruoyun, can you help me draw the positions of South Summon Kingdom’s space, Vine Country’s space, Titanium Kingdom’s, and Nest Country’s?"
Although she didn’t know what Wang Lan was planning, Yu Ruoyun didn’t hesitate and quickly sketched their respective spaces on the ground.
"The Pioneer Spaces of Vine Country, Titanium Kingdom, and Nest Country are all very small," Yu Ruoyun explained. "Combined, they don’t even make up a tenth of Cloud Sea’s Pioneer Space. And South Summon Kingdom’s space is even smaller.
"Because of this, even if South Summon Kingdom had no Pioneer Space, it’s highly unlikely that any Different Dimensional Space cracks would appear there, as any would be absorbed by the surrounding Pioneer Spaces.
"Therefore, South Summon Kingdom’s management of their Pioneer Space is extremely lax. It doesn’t really matter whether they have it or not. If it comes down to it, they could just close it."
"No, that’s not right!" Wang Lan’s eyes suddenly sparkled as he drew five arrows on the spaces marked on the ground. "The Cloud Sea space—its southern region was devastated by Paradise Bird, with Exotic Beasts having overrun a 500-kilometer stretch of the southern area. Vine Country—nearly its entire Pioneer Space has fallen.
"Nest Country fell from the northwest, half of its Pioneer Space devastated. The situation in Titanium Kingdom is similar to Vine Country’s. Looking at this map, doesn’t it make you think of something?"
"The regions swallowed by these beast tides seem to have all expanded outward from around South Summon Kingdom," Yu Ruoyun suddenly realized, somewhat surprised.
Suddenly, Wang Lan’s and Yu Ruoyun’s expressions changed simultaneously. Master Chenghai, in particular, had indeed spoken his earlier words with the intention of discrediting South Summon Kingdom. After all, South Summon Kingdom is truly detestable, he fumed internally. They act all high and mighty, thinking Jade Country has their back, constantly badmouthing the three neighboring countries for no reason and stirring up trouble at the borders. The problem is, as annoying as they are, you can’t attack them. The moment you even look like you’re going to, they run crying to Jade Country for help. This kind of behavior, acting like a bully with powerful backing, irritates even me, someone who has cultivated Buddhist principles for decades! I never expected my casual remarks would actually give Wang Lan such an important clue. And how on earth did he even think of such an unconventional angle? Yet, the diagram before them clearly illustrated the issue.
"If this beast tide was meticulously planned by Paradise Bird, then was their goal really just to launch a terror attack?" Wang Lan mused. "I’ve faced Paradise Bird several times, and their strategic thinking is far more advanced than we imagine.
"They do not engage in destruction for the sake of destruction. That’s not their style."
Wang Lan pointed to the location directly north of South Summon Kingdom’s Pioneer Space. "This place, to the north, is the very southern defensive line of the Cloud Sea Pioneer Area, which then radiates to Titanium Kingdom, Vine Country, and Nest Country. I suspect there must be something here, something that Paradise Bird is after."
"Let’s go investigate," Yu Ruoyun said immediately.
Master Chenghai hesitated. My strongest desire is to leave immediately, return to Vine Country, and inform the King that Vine Country is no longer responsible for the incident, he thought. However, given the current situation, I have no reason to refuse the investigation. Moreover, Wang Lan’s previous words still feel like a knife at my chest. Vine Country might not have to take responsibility for the calamity in the Cloud Sea space. But if Vine Country was found to be hiding the Dharma World Honored’s identity, that would require a new investigation. If things head that way, the consequences would be more than Vine Country could bear.
Thus, after only a moment’s hesitation, he agreed to join Wang Lan and the others in the investigation.
South Summon Kingdom’s Pioneer Space was inherently small. Because almost all Different Dimensional Spaces that appeared would be sucked into the Cloud Sea Pioneer Space, with the rest absorbed by neighboring countries, South Summon Kingdom’s Pioneer Space was one of the very few completely conquered spaces in the country.
Completely conquered meant that there were either no Exotic Beasts within the entire Pioneer Space region or only a few remained. This was also why South Summon Kingdom’s defense line for its Pioneer Space was so lax.
With no Exotic Beasts, what was there to defend against?
However, due to the El Nino phenomenon this time, many Pioneer Spaces would collide and merge, allowing Exotic Beasts from other spaces to enter South Summon Kingdom’s Pioneer Space. Under these circumstances, not having strict defenses was simply courting death.
Yet in fact, even without defenses, the El Nino phenomenon did not affect South Summon Kingdom’s Pioneer Space. The three of them cautiously avoided South Summon Kingdom’s Star Martial Warriors and traveled 200 kilometers stealthily to reach the northern border of the Pioneer Space.
Hiding among some scattered rocks, Wang Lan gazed at the distant Chaos Mist to the north. "South Summon Kingdom originally had no Chaos Mist, but for it to appear here now means..."
"It means their Pioneer Space has connected with a previously undiscovered area—a new spatial fragment," Yu Ruoyun deduced.
"Let’s go, check it out in the mist," Master Chenghai said, about to stand up when Wang Lan suddenly held him down.
"Wait, look."
A Soul Bead-powered truck slowly emerged from the Chaos Mist, seemingly loaded with heavy cargo. This scene reminded Wang Lan of the Star Martial Warriors they had observed moving goods in and out of the Pioneer Space before entering.
"What’s loaded on the truck?"
"I’ll go take a look," Yu Ruoyun said. As soon as the words left her mouth, a hazy mist enveloped her, and in the blink of an eye, she vanished from Wang Lan’s sight.
Not 3 minutes later, Yu Ruoyun returned to Wang Lan’s side, her expression exceedingly grim. "Space Stones. A truckload of Space Stones."
Master Chenghai said, a hint of schadenfreude in his voice, "I told you there was something fishy about South Summon Kingdom! Who would’ve thought they were actually smuggling Space Stones? With concrete evidence now, Jade Country won’t protect them anymore, right?"
"Large quantities of Space Stones... This is bad!" Wang Lan exclaimed, his and Yu Ruoyun’s faces instantly turning pale.
They both knew that many Different Dimensional Spaces had Space Stones, and some large Different Dimensional Spaces contained vast mines of them.
But if there were so many Space Stones that trucks were needed to transport them, then there was a high probability that Time-Space Gemstones would appear. Paradise Bird had long coveted Time-Space Gemstones, and Demon Clan spies had gone to great lengths to snatch the Time-Space Gemstone from the Kingdom of Ice and Snow.
If Paradise Bird’s goal was the Space Gem, then everything made sense, but the entire world might be in danger.
There was no time for doubt. The three of them rushed into the Chaos Mist. Following the tracks left by the truck, they easily found the Space Stone mine.
Delving into the mine and seeing the mountain-like deposit of pure Space Stone ore, any lingering hope Wang Lan and Yu Ruoyun had was shattered. Wang Lan hurriedly went deeper into the mine and successfully reached the center of the deposit. Finding the center empty, Wang Lan’s heart plummeted.
