I Have Infinite Skill Points-Chapter 593: Searching for the Source of the Space Gem
Jiang Xinyu pondered for a moment, then suddenly extended her palm. Star Power surged and converged into two streams there. In the blink of an eye, a sphere of water materialized in her hand.
With a flick of her wrist, the sphere of water splashed out. SIZZLE! The liquid extinguished a patch of black flames where it landed.
"Huh? Xinyu, your Star Martial Skill is incredible! It can even extinguish such extreme flames."
"Recently, I’ve gained some insights into the Aurora. By integrating it with Supreme Goodness Like Water, I’ve created this Extreme Cold Life Water. Although it’s liquid, its temperature is incredibly low. I’ve tested it before: a single drop can freeze an entire lake."
As she spoke, Jiang Xinyu summoned the Extreme Cold Life Water again. After several sprinkles, she finally managed to extinguish all the black flames in the room. However, the room had been scorched so thoroughly that not a trace remained—not Ais’s corpse, nor any of the furnishings.
Oddly enough, one wall in the study remained stubbornly intact amidst the black flames. Wang Lan turned and glanced at Xu Xiangwen, who activated his Heavenly Eye and examined it for a long while.
"Strange. The texture and material are no different from the other walls, and there’s no special structure inside... This is just an ordinary wall."
TAP TAP TAP—
The crisp sound of footsteps approached as Yulia’s team of four quickly followed. Seeing Wang Lan’s group already there, they showed no surprise, evidently having anticipated this.
"We’re a step late. Ais has been silenced. Tracking down the Space Stone is going to be more complicated."
"Why are you all staring at this wall? Is there something odd about it?"
"When we arrived earlier, black flames were scorching this place. I don’t know what they were, but they burned everything in the study beyond recognition. Only this wall remained untouched."
"The Hell Monarch’s Hell Demon Flame. This is one of his signature divine abilities. Back in the day, countless Holy Knights perished under this Hell Demon Flame. If even a tiny bit touched them, it could never be removed."
"That powerful?"
"Extremely powerful! Even if you cut off the burning part, the fire poison of the Hell Demon Flame would have already spread throughout the body and would ignite once more."
Saying this, Yulia stepped forward to the wall and extended her hand. Light immediately burst forth from her body.
Suddenly, a circular array appeared on the formerly unremarkable wall. It was filled with complex, deep, and cryptic inscriptions.
"The Hell Monarch’s magic array..."
"The Hell Monarch’s Array... Can it track him?" Hearing Yulia’s words, Wang Lan promptly inquired. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮
"Yes. Because the wall has the Hell Monarch’s Array, the Hell Demon Flame couldn’t burn it. It must have been an Array Ais used to contact the Hell Monarch. The Hell Monarch probably felt Ais was no longer useful, so he killed him to silence him."
"Miss Yulia, how much do you know about the Hell Monarch?" Wang Lan felt that, based on current trends, facing the Hell Monarch was a certainty. Since that was the case, it was best to understand the enemy thoroughly. Gathering intelligence in advance was always beneficial.
"The Hell Monarch came here with the Demon Clan three thousand years ago. According to historical records from God’s Country, he was originally a Sacrificial Priest of the Demon Clan but somehow became a criminal. His power is different from that of other Demon Clan members. He is more proficient in mystical attacks and can refine an entire Different Dimensional Space. He is the lord of that space, and its laws can be altered at his will."
"That powerful? So if he hides in his own space, no one can do anything to him?"
"Not exactly. Our God’s Country has secret methods to restrain him, especially the Holy Grail, which is incredibly powerful. If the Hell Monarch is in New Blue Country, we can request the Pope and the Saintess for support."
BEEP BEEP BEEP—
Suddenly, Wang Lan’s bracelet began to emit a call signal. Wang Lan activated it, and General Dyson’s voice came through: "First Squad, report to headquarters for a meeting immediately."
With no further suspicious evidence to find, Wang Lan didn’t delay. He turned to leave with his three team members. Yulia watched Wang Lan’s retreating figure for a long time before finally sighing, "Let’s go too."
Upon arriving at headquarters, Dyson led Wang Lan into a private room. Inside, a middle-aged Caucasian man sat listlessly, drool trickling from the corner of his mouth.
"Who is he? Has he been Spirit Engraved?"
"He’s Manda, Ais’s nephew and confidant, but we didn’t perform the Spirit Engraving. After confirming Ais was suspicious, we split into two teams to apprehend them. Your team went after Ais, and ours went after Manda. Unfortunately, we were a step too late. Someone else got there before us. By the time we found Manda, he was already like this."
"Did you engage them?"
"We did. They were very strong. Moreover, one of them, knowing escape was impossible, self-detonated their head."
"Self-detonated their head... A Skill Form in the head? Paradise Bird?"
"Most likely."
"Paradise Bird really does get everywhere. The Hell Monarch had planned a coup in New Blue Country, but we uncovered the plot while it was still on paper, so naturally, the coup couldn’t proceed."
"And yet Paradise Bird appears here... I suspect Paradise Bird and the Hell Monarch are connected."
"They must be. If I were planning a coup, I’d definitely try to ally with every power I could. Paradise Bird and the Hell Monarch naturally have common ground for an alliance. I suspect they were conspiring together, but now that it’s exposed, they’ve scattered like birds and beasts."
"But if Paradise Bird was just going to disperse, why go to such lengths to use a Spiritual Engraving on Manda?" Wang Lan asked, his finger tracing the patterns on the table.
What could Paradise Bird want that was in the Hell Monarch’s hands? No, in Ais’s hands?
"That’s possible. My dealings with Paradise Bird aren’t new. I’ve thwarted their attempts to acquire the Time-Space Gemstone twice. They hate me to the bone..."
As he said this, General Dyson froze, his eyes suddenly wide with fear.
Has General Dyson thought of it too? "I just have one question: Senlan Real Estate laid out so many arrays with Space Stones. Where did all those Space Stones come from? If there was large-scale smuggling, even if the New Blue Government missed it, wouldn’t the International Security Council have noticed?"
BANG! Dyson slammed the table and shot to his feet.
"The Hell Monarch has the Time-Space Gemstone! Only with that could he set up such a vast array activated by Space Stones. The Space Stones we recovered alone weighed a hundred tons. Add to that the twenty-four Different Dimensional Spaces previously activated—it’s impossible for so many Space Stones to appear without any warning."
"So, the Hell Monarch must possess a Different Dimensional Space. This space likely contains a Space Stone mine created by the Time-Space Gemstone. The location of this Different Dimensional Space is what Paradise Bird wants to know. Ais was silenced by the Hell Monarch. Paradise Bird, realizing they wouldn’t get what they wanted from Ais, went straight for Manda, who knew the secrets."
"That must be it... That has to be it. Otherwise, why would Paradise Bird treat an ordinary person like Manda that way?"
Realizing this, Dyson suddenly laughed. Yet, as he laughed, his expression grew increasingly grim.
"General Wang Lan, you’ve unraveled the Hell Monarch’s conspiracies layer by layer and dealt him heavy blows time and again. Although the situation seems to be improving, why do I feel that things are actually getting worse, far beyond our expectations?"
"It’s not that things are getting worse; it’s that we were previously ignorant of these terrible realities. Now, at least, even if we die, we’ll know why."
"Can we continue the investigation?" Dyson looked at Wang Lan with a hopeful expression. "We should be able to, right?"
How could they continue at this point? Senlan Real Estate was wiped out, Red Cell eradicated, and the Hell Monarch was nowhere to be found. He had exhausted all his leads. Continue the investigation? Sure, if there were new leads. If you want to keep solving a problem, you need a problem to begin with, right?
Dyson, having asked, realized he was demanding too much. Wang Lan might be impressive, but he wasn’t a god. Even though Dyson had witnessed Wang Lan’s near-miraculous abilities, Wang Lan wasn’t omniscient.
"Wait a minute!" Wang Lan suddenly exclaimed, as if he’d thought of something. The shout startled Dyson, who looked up at Wang Lan’s thoughtful expression, momentarily stunned.
No way! He can’t possibly continue the investigation, can he? Not again—did he find the answer right after I asked? If so, just tell me where the Space Gem is and how to finish off the Hell Monarch already!
At that moment, Dyson himself didn’t understand why these strange thoughts were flooding his mind, as if his brain were filled with a torrent of sarcastic commentary that completely engulfed him.
"Senlan Real Estate’s construction dates should be on record, right?"
"Yes, yes..." Dyson nodded repeatedly.
"All the Space Stones were by the fountain. The construction date of that fountain."
Dyson quickly turned on his computer. "Wang Lan, I have level-seven clearance. Look up anything you want."
Wang Lan took the laptop and plugged in the Xiao Ai USB drive. I can’t trust myself to organize this data; Xiao Ai has to handle it.
Soon, Xiao Ai finished loading. Wang Lan requested a quiet room from Dyson and went to search for clues. Everyone else was busy wrapping things up.
The entire New Blue Country was currently in chaos. It might have seemed like Senlan Real Estate only involved Ais, but as the country’s top enterprise, it wielded enough influence to challenge the national government.
Though Ais was dead, the power base left by the Senlan empire continued to cause turmoil. If not handled well, this could escalate into widespread unrest across the entire New Blue Country. Therefore, the various squads and the International Security Council forces had to quell the disturbances.
Dyson also swiftly reconnected with the higher-ups at the International Security Council. While reporting their victories, he also had to deliver even more alarming intelligence.
A Hell Monarch alone was dreadful, but not necessarily lethal. However, a Hell Monarch with a Time-Space Gemstone was a deadly threat.
The world was already mentally prepared, knowing the Time-Space Gemstone was the key to opening the Portal of the Demon World. They had successfully intercepted it twice. Could they do it a third time? And even if they could, what about a fourth or fifth?
But no matter what, every appearance of a Time-Space Gemstone had to be met with an all-out, life-risking interception. With only twelve Time-Space Gemstones in existence, intercepting even one was a strategic victory.
Information gathered by Xiao Ai flashed before Wang Lan’s eyes. He repeatedly tapped for the next entry. Suddenly, his fingers froze.
Looking at the information before him, Wang Lan’s eyes grew brighter and brighter...
