A Fight After All

"Leave this place." "No one is welcome here." After a moment of silence, the Emerald Dragon transmitted its voice to Yu Xian and the others. "Depart at once." "Otherwise... no mercy!" The ratman warned as well, red light gleaming from its lowered eyes. When the two issued their warnings, Zhang Shou and the others tensed, while Niman smiled, radiating a perilous fragrance. Although Zhang Shou and the others weren't individually as strong as the dragon or the ratman, the issue was their numbers. If a true fight broke out, it wouldn't be two-on-one or three-on-one—it would be four-on-one. The Emerald Dragon and the ratman genuinely risked being beaten to death. "No mercy?" "Hey Dragon, how about we team up and finish off this rat?" Yu Xian asked with a chuckle, glancing at the ratman before making the proposal to the Emerald Dragon. The Emerald Dragon, however, didn't buy it. In a frigid voice, it said, "I believe... even an enemy is more reliable than a stranger." "Are you out of your mind? Look at the corpses all around you! Both of you want nothing more than to see each other dead. We're offering to help you kill that stinking rat, and you want to team up with it instead? You even think it's reliable?" Zhang Shou couldn't resist mocking. The Emerald Dragon said nothing. Instead, it moved slightly closer to the ratman, forming a united front for mutual offense and defense. "Forget it. Let's go," Niman suggested. Both of these Mighty Ones were far too vigilant. Perhaps they had suffered painful experiences in the past, or maybe they had heard of bad tales. Either way, to them, any unfamiliar Mighty One was a potential enemy, even more dangerous than a mortal foe. "All right, let's just leave," Yu Xian agreed with a nod, seeing that neither of them would budge. While they had nothing to fear, there was truly no need to start an unprovoked war. Battles between Mighty Ones were still fraught with danger; after all, they had no idea what trump cards the other side held. Unless they could instantly obliterate both of them, a certain level of risk remained. Having decided to leave, the Aska slowly backed away. Both the Emerald Dragon and the ratman kept their eyes fixed on the vessel, never lowering their guard. The Aska shifted direction and gradually sailed off into the distance. The Emerald Dragon and the ratman remained motionless. Only after a very, very long time did the two suddenly draw apart. "Adulam, hand over the ruler in your hand," the Emerald Dragon growled, glaring at the ratman with hatred. The ratman sneered. "Come take it if you have the ability. Flapping your lips won't get you what you want." As it spoke, it showed off a broken triangular ruler in its hand. The ruler was incomplete; a part of it was held by the dragon. In truth, both sides wanted the other's piece, which was why this war had started in the first place. However, both the ratman and the dragon now turned their gazes to the broken triangular ruler. It was emitting a faint golden light, which stretched all the way in the direction Yu Xian and his group had departed. Both the ratman and the dragon knew that this triangular ruler could sense the presence of other divine artifacts. In fact, there was a trick to prevent others from sensing one's own artifact: breaking the ruler using a special method. Doing so prevented anyone holding another ruler from detecting it. Of course, every gain had its trade-off. The sensing range of a broken ruler diminished accordingly, allowing detection only at very close range. "Just as expected, those bastards harbor ill intentions," the dragon said gravely, looking at the light on the triangular ruler. With a savage grin, the ratman said, "Why don't we strike first? They've already set their sights on us, and they definitely won't let the divine artifact in our hands slip away." "Then we kill them. Just as well... if there are two divine artifacts, we can have one each!" After some thought, the dragon agreed. *** Aboard the Aska. Yu Xian and the others sat together. "Dammit, they're out of their minds. Did they really need to be that wary of us?" Zhang Shou was still annoyed. Clearly, Mighty Ones could easily perceive good and evil in others, and could even determine how much slaughter someone had committed by reading their aura. Yet that dragon and ratman simply refused to trust them. The absurdity was that the dragon and ratman themselves possessed outrageously heavy auras of slaughter. The bloodshed they had caused far exceeded that of anyone present on the ship. It was only because Yu Xian had few desires nowadays; otherwise, he would have captured the two and cast them into the Everlasting Silence Prison Tower long ago. Niman analyzed, "They might have had bad experiences before. Besides, barging into someone's battlefield unannounced really wasn't very polite." "I'd actually like to test them out and see how strong they are," Gong Qian said with a smile. In a clash between Mighty Ones, numerous factors came into play; raw numerical stats could hardly reflect the gap in strength between the two sides. For instance, if someone had no heart for battle, no matter how high their combat prowess, they might still lose to an adversary burning with fighting spirit, even if that opponent was far weaker on paper. This was mainly because Mighty Ones and ordinary living creatures were entirely different species. Though Yu Xian and his companions still looked human on the outside, they had ceased to be human long ago. They were entities of laws, soul, energy, and concepts draped in human skin—semi-idealistic beings. At the simplest level, they were like someone permanently constipated: they ate, but never defecated. They could contain infinite energy, drawing a ceaseless supply from various laws and concepts, and binding that energy through the power of laws so that it was confined within individual atoms. Whenever they wished, they could unleash terrifying energy to obliterate everything around them. Yet equally, whenever they wished, their attacks could inflict zero collateral damage on the outside world, striking solely at their intended target. This was a remarkably idealistic phenomenon. Of course, if they were pushed to sheer fury, they wouldn't think so carefully, and the surrounding worlds would likely suffer catastrophe. While everyone was still discussing the dragon and the ratman, Yu Xian was the first to sense movement behind them. He rose and walked to the ship's railing, saying with a smile, "If you really want to fight, the chance is here." "What's going on?" Zhang Shou asked, standing up immediately. Looking at the multicolored Tree Universe behind them, Yu Xian smiled faintly. "Trouble's coming. The dragon and that rat are in all likelihood heading for us. As for why... that's not clear yet." The group rose one after another. Little Nora asked in confusion, "Weren't they enemies?" "Given enough benefit, enemies can always form a temporary alliance. But what kind of profit could they have seen in us?" Niman chuckled. Gong Qian said with a grin, "Doesn't matter. It's a good chance for a fight anyway. I haven't fought any Mighty Ones outside our group yet." "Then let's fight." Nora pulled out a blood-colored oiled paper umbrella, while her other hand materialized the gun World. Though her base combat power might not measure up to the dragon or the ratman, with her current loadout, once she opened fire with everything she had, either the dragon or the ratman could very well be killed in a single shot.