Death… And Me

Chapter 4369: Tomorrow

For an entire month, Tobao and Arcis took turns overseeing the Godly Crystal Farm. Surprisingly, neither of them was ever forced to intervene personally.

Whenever the number of Godly Creatures became too large, the farm simply drew a tiny portion of the crater’s lingering power. The amount used was so insignificant that it had virtually no impact on the crater itself. Yet, that tiny trace of energy was enough to send the invading Godly Creatures fleeing in panic. Even Godly Predators reacted no differently.

In fact, the effect proved even more useful than many initially expected. The moment the creatures turned around to escape, they completely disregarded their surroundings. The cultivators defending the farm immediately took advantage of that opening, launching attacks at their backs and killing large numbers of them before they could retreat far enough.

Naturally, someone eventually proposed taking advantage of that reaction continuously. The results were simply too efficient to ignore. However, the suggestion was quickly rejected by the higher-ups.

Even if the amount of lingering energy consumed each time was negligible, it still came from the crater’s reserves.

At the moment, countless experts were studying that mysterious energy. Array Masters, Alchemists, Talisman Masters, Puppet Masters, and several other less common occupations were all trying to uncover its secrets. If they could reproduce it somehow, then the strategic value would be immeasurable. They wouldn’t need to rely on the crater anymore and could potentially deploy that same deterrent anywhere throughout Besgol.

Unfortunately, no one had made any meaningful progress.

Until such a breakthrough happened, the crater’s energy remained a precious resource that had to be preserved as carefully as possible. Because of that, the farm only drew upon it when absolutely necessary and always for the shortest time possible.

At one point, Rean was also approached and asked whether he could help investigate a method of reproducing the energy.

His answer was immediate.

”Hum? Reproduce that? Forget it!” he replied without the slightest hesitation. ”That lingering energy isn’t some natural phenomenon. It’s obviously the aftermath of an attack left behind by an absurdly powerful expert. Whoever created it was strong enough to kill the owner of that Mysterious Godly Crystal without leaving him any chance to resist. If you want more of that energy, then your best option is to find whoever launched that attack and ask them nicely to help.”

Those were Rean’s exact words.

He firmly believed that attempting to recreate the energy without first possessing the cultivation level necessary to produce it was a complete waste of time. Of course, he wasn’t arrogant enough to claim absolute certainty. He simply didn’t think that was the correct path and had no intention of investing his own time into it.

If others wanted to continue researching it, that was their choice.

After all, even Rean could be wrong.

After a full month of successful operation, the final imperfections in the farm’s systems had been ironed out.

News spread quickly throughout Besgol.

Before long, the Godly Crystal Farm became one of the hottest destinations in the entire region. Cultivators from every corner of Besgol wanted to participate. The profits were enormous, and more importantly, the risks were far lower than venturing directly into the Godly Creatures Territories.

With everything functioning smoothly, Tobao and Arcis finally stopped personally guarding the facility.

Both of them returned to their normal activities within Besgol. Naturally, they still entered the Godly Creatures Territories from time to time for training, resource gathering, and other personal matters, but they no longer needed to remain stationed at the farm around the clock.

Unfortunately, the farm had one major limitation.

There was only so much space available.

The Besgol Region was home to countless cultivators, and only a limited number could participate in the farm’s operations at any given time. Most applicants simply couldn’t be accommodated.

The crater, however, was a completely different matter.

Its enormous size allowed it to host millions of cultivators simultaneously. Because of that, it gradually became the primary base of operations for experts intending to venture deeper into the northern regions of the Godly Creatures Territories.

---

Two months after the farm’s establishment, the Elite Exploration Groups were finally recalled to Besgol.

At that point, ordinary cultivators could manage the farm without issue, and with all the protective measures in place, nobody believed anyone would successfully steal the crystal anymore.

Then came the third month.

That was when Rean officially released the final blueprints for his airplane.

The various airplane manufacturers throughout Besgol practically fought to obtain the designs, or they would, if it wasn’t all free for everyone in the Arrays Guild Network.

The improvements were simply too significant.

Compared to Rean’s model, existing airplanes suddenly looked outdated. Features such as Godly Pressure Disguise, Light Bending, sound suppression, advanced detection systems, and countless other innovations completely changed the standards of what an airplane could accomplish.

It goes without saying that the partnership between regions also extended to their Array Guilds. Rean’s airplane blueprints were sent to the other regions during their weekly 15-minute communication. His airplane soon would become the biggest hit in those regions, too.

As for Rean himself...

-Wait, what?!- Flugel exclaimed in disbelief. -You’re leaving?!-

Rean nodded as if the answer were obvious.

”Of course I’m leaving. What? Did you really think I was going to spend the rest of my life working on arrays? Sure, I like them, but I’m not that obsessed. The airplane is finished, so now it’s time to actually use it.”

He stretched slightly before continuing.

”The Elite Exploration Group my companions and I joined is finally being deployed again, and naturally, we intend to go.”

In truth, Rean wasn’t wrong.

Now that the farm project had proven successful, the exploration groups had finally been given time to rest and reorganize. Most teams had already received their new assignments.

Rean’s group had been one of the few exceptions.

The reason was simple.

The higher-ups of the Godly Subjugation Guild wanted to keep him alive.

Unfortunately for them, Roan had already grown tired of waiting.

He had personally visited the guild and reviewed several available missions. Unsurprisingly, the ones that caught his attention were among the most dangerous.

Everyone within the guild knew the twins’ group came from the same Great Void and always operated together whenever possible. The moment Roan began showing interest in those missions, it became obvious that Rean would eventually end up participating as well.

Realizing they couldn’t avoid it forever, the guild finally assigned an exploration mission to their elite group.

The group leader wasn’t particularly happy about the situation. Not because of the mission itself. Rather, because she had been repeatedly reminded that her highest priority wasn’t completing the mission. Instead, it was protecting Rean.

The woman felt rather helpless whenever she thought about it. Still, she was being paid extremely well to follow orders.

If anything, keeping Rean alive might actually be easier than some of the missions she usually received.

Later that night, Rean arrived at Roan’s residence.

Celis and Kentucky were already there waiting.

The moment Rean entered, he smiled. ”So, we’re finally going out for real, huh?”

Up until now, they hadn’t truly ventured deep into the Godly Creatures Territories. Everything they had done was relatively close to safe zones and established routes.

This would be different.

Roan immediately used his RC to send everyone the mission details.

”We are,” he confirmed. ”Originally, they wanted us to investigate the ruins in the Konhey Area.”

Rean quickly reviewed the information and frowned. ”It says here the ruins have already been extensively explored. At most, we’d just be checking whether anything changed recently. Aren’t elite exploration groups supposed to explore unknown territory instead?”

”They are,” Roan replied calmly. ”That’s why I had a rather lengthy discussion with Tobao.”

Kentucky immediately laughed. ”A lengthy discussion?”

”It was an argument,” Celis corrected.

Roan ignored both of them. ”Regardless, Tobao used his authority to stop the Godly Subjugation Guild from assigning us meaningless missions. As a result, our destination changed.”

The map hovering before them suddenly zoomed out. Moments later, several dark regions appeared beyond the explored territory. A marked route extended toward one of them.

”We’re heading here,” Roan explained. ”The guild believes that since the Konhey Ruins were discovered in this direction, there may be additional ruins or points of interest hidden farther inside the unexplored areas.”

Only then did Rean’s expression improve. ”Now that looks like a real exploration.” His eyes lit up immediately. ”And it’s the perfect chance to properly test my airplane.”

Then he turned back toward Roan. ”So, when do we meet our new teammates?”

Roan didn’t make him wait. ”First thing tomorrow.”