Chapter 268: Chapter268-Generous Friends, Sneaking Out

Shing—!

The saber left its sheath.

A flash of white light swept past, and nearly half of the millions of shield layers surrounding James vanished in the blink of an eye.

Boom!

Boom! Boom!

Mosi swung his saber and hacked wildly at James, every strike so violent that it bordered on madness.

James’s Puppet No. 2 could not even be bothered to move. It simply continued producing new shields, filling in the gaps as quickly as Mosi carved them open.

Daniel stared, dumbfounded.

"Mosi... is an assassin?"

Every time Mosi brought his saber down, cracks ripped through space itself.

This was clearly an insanely powerful, close-combat burst-type warrior. And they were telling him this man was an assassin?

"Of course. A top-class assassin, at that," James replied with a nod.

"The kind of assassin who kills his target in full view of everyone and considers the mission complete?"

Daniel felt as though he was beginning to understand.

"What is wrong with that?" James rubbed his nose. "If an assassin is going to kill someone, is it not better to do it as directly as possible?"

Daniel nodded thoughtfully.

"True enough... Seeing the target and killing them on the spot is certainly simpler than slowly searching for an opportunity."

The corners of his mouth twitched.

Just what kind of absurd paths had these two taken?

The assassins Daniel had imagined were supposed to slip unnoticed to their target’s side, kill them with a single strike, then disappear into the night without ever looking back.

They lurked in the shadows, came and went without a sound, and kept themselves so low-key that they practically became one with the dirt.

Yet now—

Daniel looked at the top-class assassin standing before him, Mosi, the second-ranked expert on the Starlight Rankings.

At this very moment, the man looked exactly like a berserk warrior.

Daniel shook his head.

Just then, Mosi suddenly sheathed his saber and stood there without the slightest expression on his face.

"Done already?"

James’s eyes lit up. He rubbed two fingers together, grinning like a fox that had just successfully stolen a chicken.

"Put it on my tab," Mosi said, spitting out only two words.

The smile on James’s face immediately froze.

"If you dare refuse to pay me back, I swear I will charge straight into Luna_Fox and beat you to death."

Mosi acted as though he had not heard him.

Whoosh—!

Puppet No. 2 turned into a streak of light and flew back into James’s body.

Daniel finally understood.

James was basically a nesting doll.

There was a clone inside a clone, and then another clone inside that clone.

More importantly, any random clone this fellow pulled out could probably pin an ordinary top expert to the ground and grind them into the dirt.

...

Greatflow World.

A group of experts from the Starlight Rankings had gathered together in secret, looking suspiciously furtive.

Hosek glanced around and found that everyone present was a familiar face. Lowering his voice, he said, "I just received news. They are currently arranging the list of participants for the Starlight Tournament!"

"The list of participants? Is there something special about it?"

Several experts looked confused.

"Hahaha..."

Hosek laughed slyly. "The waters involved here are very deep."

"You little bastard, stop keeping us in suspense and spit it out already."

"Exactly. You cannot just bait us like this."

Hosek pressed both hands downward, signaling everyone to calm down, then lowered his voice even further.

"The Starlight Rankings are only something we arranged among ourselves. The official participant list, however, has to be submitted to the organizers. The higher your name appears on that list, the more benefits you will receive."

"Should the strongest not simply be placed first?"

"Right. Can the order actually be changed?"

"Heh, it really can."

Hosek’s eyes lit up as he smiled. "As long as you are willing to pay a certain price, that list can be adjusted. As it happens, the faction behind me has precisely that sort of connection."

"Hiss—I remember now!"

"One of the major families of Gold-Grade Mountain stands behind you! No wonder!"

"But what benefit is there in changing our rankings?"

"Of course there are benefits."

A sharp glint flashed through Hosek’s eyes. "The higher your ranking is, the earlier you get to choose your opponent."

"Think about it. What kind of people are we about to fight?"

"The most terrifying top experts from every major starfield. If your ranking is too low and one of the top-ranked monsters from another starfield sets their eyes on you, then when the time comes, you will not even know where to go to cry."

Everyone nodded, finding his words rather reasonable.

"That is true. If we hold the initiative, we can simply choose the weakest among them. Would that not make our matches much safer?"

"Exactly. Looks like this list really is far more complicated than it appears."

Seeing that they were beginning to believe him, Hosek pressed on while the iron was hot.

"And that is not all. Think about it. If all of us squeeze into the front of the list, would that not serve as a smokescreen? The other starfields would not be able to determine which of us are truly strong and which are not. Would that not increase our chances of victory?"

"If we win, we live. If we lose, we die, my friends!"

Hosek urged them on. "What are you still waiting for? The list is about to be finalized. Once that happens, it will be too late even if you want to change it!"

His explanation made sense, and he also had the backing of his family. The eight or nine experts present were immediately tempted.

Everyone understood very clearly just how dangerous this tournament would be.

Being able to return alive would already count as a blessing.

If paying a small price to raise their positions on the list could improve their odds of survival, then no matter how they calculated it, it would be a worthwhile exchange.

"All right. I would like to give it a try."

"I am also willing to pay the price. So, what do you want?"

"Let me make this clear first. You can change your rankings if you want, but do not compete with me. I want first place!"

"..."

Several minutes later, Hosek watched the experts depart with a thoroughly satisfied smile.

"What a group of generous friends!"

He immediately contacted his family and began altering the order of participants.

Originally, the list had simply been arranged according to the Starlight Rankings. Gold-Grade Mountain did not care about this matter in the slightest.

As far as they were concerned, as long as everyone showed up, that was enough.

And Hosek had found the perfect loophole in that indifference.

"My dear friends, I never lied to any of you."

Hosek chuckled to himself.

The information he had gathered was true: those whose names ranked higher really did gain priority when choosing their opponents!

But if people from Greatflow World could change their rankings, could the other starfields not do the same?

...

Several days later.

Westmoor Manor.

By now, Daniel had become quite familiar with the other two.

At this moment, the three of them were gathered together.

"Lord Faustus, Brother Mosi..."

James looked at the two puppets in his hands and smiled.

"Would sneaking out really be that difficult? Our true bodies may be unable to move, but my puppetry can carry the mind power of both of you outside."

Daniel raised an eyebrow and said indifferently, "Enough nonsense. Get straight to the point and tell us how to do it."

After spending the past few days together, Daniel had more or less figured out James’s personality.

This fellow was quite interesting, but he simply could not control his mouth.

He had no shortage of bizarre and brilliant ideas, but one must never give him the chance to get carried away. The moment he started floating, he would never come back down.

As for Mosi...

He was genuinely a man who treasured words as though they were gold. If he could express himself with one word, he would never waste a second. On top of that, he was born with a face as cold as ice.

"Speak," Mosi said coldly, squeezing out a single word.

James did not mind in the slightest. Smiling cheerfully, he continued, "You two only need to condense a portion of your mind power and attach it to my puppets. After that, Mosi can use his mastery of the Law of Space to take us through the world barrier. Would that not allow us to get out?"

Swish! Swish—!

Daniel and Mosi snatched the two puppets out of James’s hands with astonishing speed.

James could not help muttering inwardly.

Did the two of you really have to be this impatient?

In the blink of an eye, three fresh new substitutes were born: Faustus No. 2, Mosi No. 2, and James No. 2.

"I have a suggestion," James said. "Once we get outside, we split up and search for those Astral Corsairs separately. Whoever subdues the most sages becomes the big brother. Whoever subdues the fewest becomes the little brother."

"No problem," Daniel agreed immediately.

"Fine."

Mosi, surprisingly, even nodded.

"It is up to you, then."

James lifted his chin toward Mosi.

Swish—!

Mosi’s attainments in the Law of Space were extremely profound. Passing through the world barrier was as effortless for him as strolling through an empty courtyard.

Carrying the two puppets with him, he slipped into the void and silently flew out of Greatflow World.

Meanwhile, the true bodies of the three experts remained inside Westmoor Manor.

Their true bodies had never taken so much as half a step outside Greatflow World.

Surely that did not count as breaking the rules, right?

There was absolutely nothing wrong with that.

And taking ten thousand steps back, even if they were discovered, so what?

These three occupied the top three seats on the Starlight Rankings.

At a critical moment like this, if Gold-Grade Mountain truly provoked them into anger, it would never be able to bear the consequences!