The Ancient Gods' Whisper-Chapter 844 - 402: The Order of the Hidden’s Hideout (Part 2)
Tang Ling lifted her pale face, weakened by severe injuries, and softly said, "According to the religious traditions of the Ancient God Clan, the highest point of the Ancient God Realm is the domain of the Gods, and none of His people may set foot there. The class hierarchy of the Ancient God Clan is even more stringent than that of the human feudal dynasties. The descent of the Gods is a blessing to His people."
She paused, "A supreme blessing."
Gu Jianlin experienced an identical spiritual vision with her, albeit witnessing more hallucinations.
Because he vaguely saw a majestic black silhouette gazing in the direction of the sea.
His people cheered loudly, their gaze fixed on the same point.
"The arrival of the Qilin Venerable likely wasn’t merely a blessing but a command for His people to act."
Gu Jianlin pointed thoughtfully to the gigantic skeletal remains in the distance and said, "Before this matter was completed, the Candle Dragon Clan had already breached the dimensional gates of the Qilin Immortal Palace, igniting a war."
"The god of the Candle Dragon Clan is naturally that blood-colored Supreme."
He whispered, "A decisive battle was fought here between the Qilin and Candle Dragon Clans, an indisputable fact. What’s peculiar is that I haven’t seen the carcass of a Qilin, not a single one."
The Qilin in discussion here is, of course, not referring to that black Supreme.
It refers to the people of the Qilin Clan.
"Based on the outcome, it can be inferred that the Qilin Clan lost this war."
Tang Ling raised her bloodstained eyelashes and earnestly asked, "Did they choose to retreat?"
"Even in retreat, they shouldn’t have left without a single corpse."
Gu Jianlin shook his head, denying, "Ever since the Qilin Immortal Palace emerged, the tracks of this mystical clan have been sparse. In the entire first layer, not a single member of the Qilin Clan has been encountered."
Even those confronted on Penglai Fairy Island were later proven to be ethereal illusions.
They weren’t real entities.
At that time on Penglai Fairy Island, he had fought dangerously against an Ancestor of the Qilin Clan.
The ultimate result was that he contained it using the Qilin Wedge.
Afterwards, when he checked the Qilin Wedge, the corpse had inexplicably vanished.
"If I guess correctly, the Qilin Clan indeed was at a strategic disadvantage during the decisive battle two to five hundred years ago, relinquishing their territory in the first layer, so what’s left there mostly belongs to the Candle Dragon Clan. Surprisingly, the second layer has the same situation, so where has the Qilin Clan gone?"
Gu Jianlin surveyed the desolate ruins, speaking softly, "The most crucial thing is, who has been here?"
He held fast to a logic.
Anything in the world that cannot be explained is actually due to unknown hidden causes.
This ancient city had been buried for at least two thousand five hundred years.
It was impossible for there to be traces of humans.
"This city was excavated long ago."
Tang Ling squinted her beautiful eyes, walked with her sword under the massive steel frame, and said softly, "Before they left, this group of people reburied the ruins with sand, intending to prevent anyone from seeing these things."
"Cheaters, and quite skilled ones at that."
Gu Jianlin affirmed decisively.
If the Ancient God Realm is likened to an Ancient Tomb, then Cheaters are like Tomb Robbers.
Even before the dimensional gates truly opened, someone had already sneaked in by secret means.
Such a large-scale operation clearly wasn’t executed by ordinary people.
These traces were easy to deduce.
Gu Jianlin was a Side-Writer, and Tang Ling also wielded Mythical Weapons with divination capabilities.
They even managed to deduce the general time when that group had left.
It was approximately fifteen years ago.
Exchanging a glance, they walked in unison towards the research institute on the verge of collapse.
The secrets hidden within this research institute might answer all doubts.
Being Ascenders, they needn’t worry about the danger of a collapsing building; the door of the institute bore the imprints of an incomplete Alchemy Matrix, showing that those who built it intended to set up a Barrier, but left in a hurry and left it unfinished, resulting in many half-completed structures.
Many traces in this ruin showed that those people left in quite a hurry.
Gu Jianlin pushed open the heavy iron door, and dust rushed towards him.
Tang Ling rummaged through her backpack and threw in a burning stick, its crimson flame illuminating the dark research institute.
Parrots circled above them, eyeing cautiously.
With the bright flame, darkness was exposed with nowhere to hide.
This gloomy research institute, astonishingly, resembled a morgue more.
Because on the operating tables lay scarily pristine white bones, all utterly deformed, exhibiting insect or animalistic traits: some had sprouted grotesque limbs, vicious sharp fangs, and cracked jaws.
It was faintly discernible that they were all humans when alive.
Gu Jianlin glanced at these skeletal remains, his face slightly shifting.
He quickly walked around the rows of operating tables, his expression becoming extremely grave.
Because every skull on these operating tables bore a fine crack on the forehead.
Without exception.
Folder scattered around the laboratory desk, covered by thick layers of ash.
Before leaving, the research institute’s owner burnt the majority of documents.
However, in their excessive haste, some incomplete paper materials were left behind.
Even the remaining materials were written in cipher.
Gu Jianlin couldn’t understand a word, but recognized the handwriting on the materials.
It was Dr. Aaron’s handwriting.
Flashes of memory from when he investigated that company in Tokyo came to mind, where You Ying Group’s jurisdiction was rife with so many experimental subjects, yet they hadn’t noticed at all.
He always found this very strange.
Even for an entity as vast as The Order of the Hidden, doing something like this was too risky and easily exposed their flaws.
Therefore, only one answer remained.
"I understand now."
At this moment, he finally traced the thread of truth within the fog, like clearing clouds to see the light.
"Those so-called experimental subjects were indeed created by the Dark World. Their Cheaters were the first to arrive here and commenced research lasting a decade in Dragon Burial Valley."
Gu Jianlin stared at a skull, observing its forehead crack, as he explained, "Didn’t the Order World also investigate that company? I think, You Ying Group’s shock and fury arose not from discovering such experimental subjects but from having their research results stolen!"
"So, You Ying Group didn’t dare make war but sought collaboration with the Ether Association."
He paused, "Under the guise of dealing jointly with the Order of the Hidden, they initiated their plan ahead of time."
The Ether Association’s fury stemmed from their rejecting the existence of this tech within the world.
You Ying Group was enraged because they were beaten to the punch with something they couldn’t accomplish! 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖
Because the Ether Association aimed to create an ultimate monster.
Solely in pursuit of the strongest one.
That person was Tang Ling.
As for You Ying Group, they probably wanted to create an army of experimental subjects to invade this world.
No wonder they could promptly provide multiple reports on experimental subjects.
Because that group had long known what was going on!
"Are you serious?"
Tang Ling looked up in awe because she found that he had taken hold of her hand voluntarily.
No matter how much sword practice she had, her hands remained soft and smooth.
If he wished to touch, she’d, of course, permit it.
The issue was, Gu Jianlin was gripping her hand firmly as if fearing she might fly away.
Gu Jianlin’s mood indeed plunged to the bottom at this moment.
Because he thought of something bone-chilling.
When did Frida’s Schizophrenia first emerge in Order World?
That was long before the Lishan Tiyan Pavilion’s plan began.
The Dark World started seeking out patients with Frida’s Schizophrenia much later, only after their strike against the Lishan Tiyan Pavilion did they discover where their problem lay.
The Ether Association preceded You Ying Group.
And it involved the Order of the Hidden.
Considering these points, he vaguely deduced a chilling conjecture.
·
·
Rhein silently lowered his head, watching the distant explosion rising to the sky.
The intense rumbling threatened to break his eardrums, yet it couldn’t match the shock from what he had just heard.
"Why were Qing and Chi so frenzied back then?"
The Think Tank took a sip of water while still bound to the stone pillar; he remained calm and said, "Because both Qing and Chi were convinced of one thing, that the Order of the Hidden was precisely lurking within the Order World."
