"Heh, it seems you still don't understand the current situation."
"What you say might cause the Red Demon to retaliate against you, but that's for the future. There might be variables, or opportunities for negotiation."
"But if you don't speak, you'll turn into a dried corpse, and no one here can save you!"
Seeing that Mandora bit her lower lip and refused to speak, Ye Cangtian wasn't angry. He lit a cigarette and said slowly.
*Plop!*
The next moment, Mandora knelt directly in front of Ye Cangtian and said, "Sir, I can speak, but I beg you to spare me and not reveal this matter. This young lady doesn't want to die..."
Ye Cangtian nodded and said, "You've made a wise choice."
As he spoke, Ye Cangtian made a gesture of invitation. Mandora hesitated for a moment before finally revealing the Red Demon's demands.
The Red Demon's demands were quite simple: do everything possible to oppose Dawn.
Heavenly Residual Tower was not to provide any support to Dawn, forcing Dawn to face everything alone. If necessary, Heavenly Residual Tower was to kick Dawn while they were down and directly annihilate them.
This act of kicking while down was not to leave any hidden dangers, or the consequences would be borne by them.
Of course, in return, the Red Demon had made a promise to strongly support Heavenly Residual Tower, making it the largest force in the ruins besides the Dark Association.
Huh?
Listening to Mandora's words, Ye Cangtian couldn't help but frown, a look of confusion in his eyes.
"If the Red Demon made such a promise to you, why did Heavenly Residual Tower still come to curry favor with me?"
What Ye Cangtian couldn't figure out was that no matter what benefits he gave to Heavenly Residual Tower, it couldn't reach the height promised by the Red Demon.
And facing such temptation, Heavenly Residual Tower's choice seemed peculiar.
"The tall tree in the forest will be destroyed by the wind!"
Mandora replied.
Becoming the second most powerful force in the ruins was not difficult, and the Red Demon could achieve it.
But if that were the case, it would also threaten the Dark Association, and at that time, Xing Yuan would certainly not allow Heavenly Residual Tower to exist.
Besides, how could a Earth-level expert be so easily annihilated? Once word leaked out, Heavenly Residual Tower would still be destroyed.
Therefore, after careful consideration, Heavenly Residual Tower decided to remain neutral.
Neither offending the Red Demon, nor providing any substantive support to 'Dawn'. At the same time, providing certain benefits to 'Dawn' and maintaining good relations.
Hearing this explanation, Ye Cangtian slowly nodded, deeming it understandable.
After understanding Heavenly Residual Tower's attitude, Ye Cangtian inquired about the situation of various forces within Nether City.
Heavenly Residual Tower didn't know much about this, only that there were at least a dozen or so external forces, large and small, in Nether City.
These forces were currently not causing any disturbances, and as for their specific objectives, Heavenly Residual Tower was still investigating.
Ye Cangtian was not angry as he didn't get any useful information.
He glanced at Mandora and said slowly, "You can go now. Find a room for yourself. For these days, be a quiet maid by my side."
"Yes!"
Upon hearing this, Mandora was overjoyed and quickly responded. She then left the room as if fleeing.
She was truly terrified. Sharing a room with Dawn felt like an ordeal every second.
...
The next morning.
After waking up, Ye Cangtian left the branch alone early.
After a bite of breakfast, he shook off all tails, removed his mask, and went to a teahouse in the north of the city to have tea.
This was the meeting place he had arranged yesterday.
It wasn't until noon that the person he was waiting for appeared in the room.
The other party was a tall, well-built man with an ordinary appearance, looking very honest.
As soon as he entered the room, he cautiously eyed Ye Cangtian for a moment before speaking, "Did you summon me?"
Ye Cangtian nodded and said, "That's right, it was me. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Ye Cangtian of the Hidden Group!"
"You are Ye Cangtian!"
The man's eyes widened suddenly, almost letting out a scream.
Recently, some news had already reached his ears.
It was said that Ye Cangtian and Xiao Feng had not only rescued Shangguan Yanran, who was under house arrest at headquarters, but had also manipulated the forces of the Bright Hall.
The most unbelievable thing was that the other party had actually joined forces with Badak of the Bright Hall to jointly kill the Earth-level expert of the Dark Association – Orange Sea, which was simply legendary!
"Brother, don't be so excited, be careful of exposure."
Ye Cangtian whispered a reminder and continued, "What should I call you?"
"My name is Wei An, and I am the intelligence chief of the Hidden Group in Nether City," the man quickly replied in a low voice and eagerly shook Ye Cangtian's hand.
The look of worship and satisfaction on his face made Ye Cangtian worry that he wouldn't wash his hands for the rest of his life.
Pouring a cup of tea and pushing it towards Wei An, Ye Cangtian's expression turned serious and he said, "Wei An, tell me about the situation in Nether City now."
Wei An nodded. He naturally wouldn't hide anything from someone like Ye Cangtian.
Currently, there were at least over ten external forces in Nether City.
They were scattered in various corners of Nether City and were currently in a dormant state.
This puzzled Wei An. Logically speaking, each force had its own specific style of operation.
But these forces seemed to have agreed beforehand, none of them actively causing trouble.
As for their objectives, Wei An had also gathered some information.
It seemed that near Nether City, a tomb of an ancient powerful expert had been discovered, and they were here for the treasures within.
Hearing this, Ye Cangtian's brows furrowed and he said, "Wei An, this possibility is unlikely!"
After all, these forces had been entrenched in Nether City for some time. If they were here for the tomb, they should have joined forces and entered it long ago. Why wait until now?
"This subordinate also believes they have ulterior motives."
"It's just that they are exceptionally vigilant, and coupled with the shortage of personnel here, my investigation work is very slow."
Listening to Ye Cangtian's words, Wei An gave a helpless wry smile.
Last time, in order to support Xiao Feng's forced entry into the Dark Association headquarters, a lot of people were transferred from him, but they never returned, resulting in a shortage of personnel here.
Therefore, in the current situation, he was unable to control the status of all forces at the first instance.
"There's no hurry with this matter."
"I suggest you contact the intelligence personnel of the Hidden Group in other cities."
"See if they have any clues."
Ye Cangtian expressed understanding for Wei An's difficulties and said.
The situation was still stable for now, with no outbreaks of conflict among the forces. The situation was still under control, and there was still an opportunity for further investigation.
Seeing Wei An respond, Ye Cangtian continued, "By the way, you are familiar with Nether City, what do you think of Heavenly Residual Tower?"
"Very strong!"
"Unbelievably strong!"
When mentioning Heavenly Residual Tower, Wei An's brows furrowed. Heavenly Residual Tower was very powerful and acted ruthlessly.
In the eyes of others, Heavenly Residual Tower seemed to be a newly emerged force in the ruins that had developed and grown.
But the truth was far from it.
According to an old member of the Hidden Group who was lurking here, initially, there was only the Dark Association branch here. Then, one day, a ten-person team appeared out of nowhere.
These ten people were extremely powerful, and they had bribed the head of the branch, after which they recruited soldiers and established Heavenly Residual Tower here.
Later, by chance, while drinking, the old member of the Hidden Group vaguely heard that Heavenly Residual Tower had some connection with the outside world.
However, he did not hear which force they were connected with.
After that, the Hidden Group also attempted to clarify this matter, but Heavenly Residual Tower's strength was not to be underestimated, and the people sent to investigate did not return alive.
To avoid excessive losses, the Hidden Group ultimately chose to let the matter go.
"Connection with the outside world?"
Hearing this, Ye Cangtian's brows furrowed.
He hadn't expected that besides the Hidden Group and the Bright Hall, there were other forces that had invested so heavily in the ruins from the outside world.
Heavenly Residual Tower was indeed not that simple.
It seemed they had considerable ambition!