Outsmarted by One's Own Cleverness

The *Aska* and the Sea Clan warship performed consecutive space jumps between broken worlds. At first, everything went smoothly. With the spatial coordinates calculated by the *Aska*, they were spared the time needed to linger and compute, leaping across several broken worlds in the blink of an eye. Yet their good fortune ended right there. After jumping through a few broken worlds, the two warships emerged into a pitch-black realm. In an instant, countless golden characters materialized across the void, locking the entire world down. Well... In truth, only the Sea Clan warship was sealed; if the *Aska* wanted to leave, it could depart at any moment. Everyone emerged from the warships one after another. Because this was not the Abyss, Yu Xian and his companions had no need to don their Abyss Battle Armor, gathering together in the void. "This is bad. I'm afraid we've walked into a trap laid by Abyss demons," Hai Liwei said, his expression grim as he gazed at the distant golden runes. *An entire universe turned into a trap?* Yu Xian was taken aback and hurriedly asked, "You mean this whole universe is a trap set by Abyss demons?" "Yes. And it's likely the work of an entity on the level of a Demon Emperor; otherwise, they could never pull off something on such a grand scale," Hai Liwei nodded. The Abyss demons possessed their own hierarchy: lesser demon, demon, greater demon, demon commander, demon grand commander, demon warlord, demon king, Demon Emperor, demon god, and demon god king. Each rank was subdivided into three tiers: low-rank, mid-rank, and high-rank. For example, Deimos, whom Yu Xian and the others had encountered back then, was a high-rank greater demon—in reality, nothing more than a minor lackey among demons, only stronger than lesser demons and ordinary demons. A demon commander was equivalent to Heaven Rank, while a demon grand commander was on par with Star Rank. Following that progression, a demon warlord corresponded to Li Rank, a demon king to System Rank, and a Demon Emperor was undoubtedly Hegemon Rank. If this universe was indeed a trap—and one personally laid by a Demon Emperor—Yu Xian and his companions were unquestionably in grave danger. Hegemon Rank was an existence that could not be dealt with through mere tricks or tactics; the foe's vast energy was enough to annihilate them in the very first second of an encounter. Yu Xian was already familiar with some general knowledge regarding Abyss demons. Hearing Hai Liwei's words, he asked, "The *Aska* can still leave. What if all the Sea Clan members transfer over to the *Aska* so we can depart immediately?" Although the Sea Clan warship was of immense value, human lives were at stake, and they couldn't afford to care about such material losses right now. "Yeah, that's our only option," Hai Liwei agreed with a nod. He also knew this was no time to fret over property. If they didn't flee now, once the Abyss demon realized prey had arrived at its doorstep, they wouldn't be able to escape even if they wanted to. With an order given, members of the Sea Clan donned breathing apparatuses suited for space, emerging from their warship and making their way toward the *Aska*. Yu Xian and Hai Liwei stood guard. If they spotted any Abyss demons, they would eliminate them swiftly to avoid alerting the Demon Emperor. "Do you think I'm cursed by the god of misfortune?" Hai Liwei asked Yu Xian, holding his greatsword and keeping a vigilant eye in all directions. He was truly depressed. Running into all sorts of bizarre trouble along the way had been bad enough, but who could have expected that on the return trip, they would plunge headfirst into an Abyss demon's trap? It was sheer bad luck. "The spatial coordinates this time were calculated by the *Aska*, so if anyone's unlucky, it's probably me," Yu Xian remarked, glancing at Hai Liwei. To tell the truth, he was genuinely worried that a Demon Emperor might suddenly show up. Given their current situation, facing a Demon Emperor would be perilous indeed. Of course, he had already prepared himself. The moment a Demon Emperor appeared, he would decisively dismiss his avatar. As a cautious sly dog who never took unnecessary risks, knowing that this world was a trap—and one set by a Demon Emperor—there was not a chance in hell Yu Xian would step outside the *Aska* in person. Creating an avatar and casting skills through it was already the utmost goodwill he could offer the Sea Clan. *** *Foolish humans. How utterly amusing.* Sitting in the void, Jessinova watched Yu Xian and the others bracing as if confronting a mortal enemy, excitement spreading across all sixteen of its mouths at once. Abyss demons each had their own twisted tastes. Deimos had preferred sticking strictly to a plan; if anyone disrupted its plans, it would fly into an incandescent rage. Jessinova, on the other hand, loved making fools of other living beings, savoring the looks of terror, disbelief, and despair when they finally discovered the truth. Once, in a certain world, it had played the savior for an entire millennium. When the world was successfully saved and people across the globe were cheering, it revealed its true form, annihilating the planet with a single strike amidst humankind's shock, disbelief, horror, and despair before taking its time to savor the delicacies. Now, it had another splendid idea. Since the humans who blundered into the trap planned to gather onto one of the warships to escape, it would infiltrate that ship. Then, the moment their escape succeeded, it would unveil its true colors. That was bound to be tremendously entertaining. "Oh-kaka-kaka! Jessinova, you're a genius!" The head on the back of Jessinova's neck praised it, and the face on the front, covered in mouths, burst into exaggerated laughter. Then its body gradually took the form of a Sea Clan member. In the next moment, turning translucent, it slipped aboard the Sea Clan warship. Just as a Sea Clan woman finished suiting up and prepared to leave, it appeared behind her, opened its mouth, and cleanly inhaled, silently devouring the woman. The next second, it shifted into the exact likeness of this Sea Clan woman, adjusted its equipment with a smile, and unhurriedly walked out of the locker room. "Lanlan, hurry up! Mingming is already waiting for us outside," called another equipped Sea Clan woman outside. It immediately smiled, quickening its pace to link arms with her, nodding. "Mm, let's hurry." Emerging from the Sea Clan warship and firing the propulsion gear to drift toward the *Aska*, Jessinova glanced at the two companions beside it, its excitement beginning to surge. *Too easy.* Next was boarding the other warship. Once that vessel broke out of this world, it could relish those exquisite expressions on their faces. *Laugh. Laugh to your hearts' content.* Watching the two men ahead chatting and laughing, Jessinova fought to suppress its killing intent. In fact, it loved the sensation of holding back its bloodlust, because only after suppressing it and letting it explode would the pleasure be doubled. The *Aska* drew closer and closer. This warship was indeed peculiar; it possessed an astonishing ability to pierce through space, to the point where even the formation it had laid down to block spatial jumps had no effect on the vessel. Yet that only made things more entertaining. After all, how could the despair of being trapped here compare to the despair of escaping to freedom only to realize they were still in the Abyss? The two Sea Clan men ahead stepped into the *Aska*. The corners of Jessinova's lips curled into a smirk as it followed right behind them into the ship. The moment it entered, it was laughing maniacally inside. *I'm in. Next comes—* *Wait?* Before Jessinova could finish the thought, a fist rapidly enlarged before its eyes. *Death!* In that instant, it felt as though the Death Omen Star was blazing right above its head.