As one of the most intelligent individuals in this universe, Toad Man's IQ and wisdom are beyond question.
Furthermore, he is a founding member of the Universal Superhero League (USL) and a key figure on its highest council. With the resources at his disposal...as long as Feng Bujue remains in the USL, he will undoubtedly be under Toad Man's surveillance.
Of course...Brother Jue is well aware of this.
The reason he went to the extent of activating [Devil Descent] to maintain his image as a galaxy-level hero in public was because he knew his every move would certainly be reported to Toad Man.
Even if the latter wasn't monitoring him in real time, he'd find a way to obtain video footage or intelligence...opportunities like "temporarily escaping surveillance" on Si Lou Planet were likely rare.
This was an invisible game between Toad Man and Feng Bujue.
The former would never give the latter complete trust, while the latter...was determined to climb to a high position within the USL under such conditions.
............
Shady Highlands, in the northwest jungle.
After advancing intermittently for about twenty minutes, Feng Bujue and his team were still some distance from the central area.
To be honest, at this moment, Brother Jue was sincerely grateful to the "Give Gang" and the "Waste Gang" members; because those guys were engaged in various entanglements in the woodland, the five heroes' speed was always held back...in the past twenty minutes, they'd run into some conflict every few hundred meters. Even if they ignored those matters, they still had to be wary of traps and the like.
Therefore, they had to stop and go like this, and Feng Bujue's physical strength barely remained on the safe line...
"We can faintly hear music already, everyone be careful." After disarming another trap, Flea Man turned his head and reminded his teammates, his expression becoming very solemn (but no one could tell).
"Let me guess..." The next second, Feng Bujue glared with his dead fish eyes and said, "The music is from the Square Dance Stars?"
"That's right, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that large speakers are their tribal totem." Green Meteor replied.
"The purpose of their territorial occupation is precisely to perform collective dances to music with a strong rhythm." Cella Jon chimed in, looking exasperated.
"However..." Gluttonous Banana added, "Rogue Child Stars and Beggar Stars are also races with a strong sense of territory." He explained, "The Beggar Stars are easier to deal with...their combat strength is the lowest among the three races, and they don't necessarily need to occupy open spaces. For Beggar Stars...any place can be developed into territory."
"But...the Rogue Child Stars also like open spaces; their combat strength is comparable to that of the Square Dance Stars, and even surpasses them in terms of endurance and explosive power."
"I don't understand..." Feng Bujue said, "This planet is big, right? The areas we passed through before were flat and empty, but why do they have to compete for that area ahead..."
"Poker Man." At this moment, Flea Man interrupted Feng Bujue and said, turning his head, "I've noticed...there's a lot of common knowledge about cosmology that you don't know."
"That's right." Feng Bujue admitted frankly, "I'm from Earth in a parallel universe, so I wouldn't know."
This information wasn't a secret; he had already revealed it to the members of the highest council, and besides...this was a good "excuse." In many things, Feng Bujue could use the fact that he was a "visitor from a parallel universe" to bluff his way through or shirk responsibility.
"What?" Hearing Brother Jue's words, Green Meteor immediately widened his eyes and exclaimed, "You're actually a hero from a parallel universe?"
"Oh...I see..." Gluttonous Banana murmured, stroking his chin, "I was just saying...you're a bit strange."
"Okay...then there's no helping it, let me explain it to you simply." Flea Man was indeed a very "practical" person. He efficiently and quickly accepted this setting and said to Brother Jue, "The Square Dance Stars and Rogue Child Stars have two common habits. One is 'territorial recognition.' Their strong sense of territory mainly stems from this habit. To put it bluntly...once they determine a suitable activity place, they won't easily change it."
"Oh." Feng Bujue nodded, his eyes squinting.
He really didn't have much to comment on about this explanation; opening his mouth might lead to ridicule.
"The second...is 'time limitation.'" Flea Man continued, "They only operate during the day and must return to their habitat before sunset."
"Let me ask tentatively...where are their habitats?" Feng Bujue asked.
"Heh...that's easy to calculate." Gluttonous Banana said with a smile, "Taking the Rogue Child Stars as an example...the distance from their habitat to their activity site is approximately equal to their average moving speed multiplied by half a universal week."
"There's even a damn formula for this?" Brother Jue exclaimed again.
"Yes." Flea Man replied matter-of-factly, "The formula Gluttonous Banana mentioned also applies to the Square Dance Stars, this is common knowledge." He paused, "Then...I can now answer your previous question, why would they clash here when this planet is so big?"
"Because this highland, which is very suitable for their activities, is located exactly between the habitat of a Square Dance Star and the habitat of a Rogue Child Star, and there are no other similar areas in the surrounding region..." Feng Bujue said, following the other's train of thought, "Is that right?"
"You grasp it quickly." Flea Man continued, "By the way...there are many colonial habitats belonging to these two races on this planet, and there are also areas with situations similar to this one...but this 'Shady Highlands' is considered the most intense conflict zone."
"Hmm..." Feng Bujue added, "Then...the conflict here has caused a lot of casualties?"
He didn't ask "Will people die?" but directly asked "How big are the casualties?" because Green Meteor had already said "people will die" at the USL headquarters; besides, if even people don't die, this [C-Level Crisis] would be a bit too much.
"Of course, it's huge." Cella Jon, who was relatively taciturn, responded in a solemn tone, "If the situation hadn't already spiraled out of control, why would we have been dispatched?"
"Cella Jon is right." Flea Man also said, "The people of these two planets are both powerful and very xenophobic races. They are in the same galaxy and both face the problem of overpopulation. In the past hundred years, both sides have had continuous conflicts over the ownership of colony stars and the territorial issues on public planets; and the governments of both sides, in order to avoid being held accountable under interstellar law, have not actively planned to declare war...over time, the current situation has emerged—'both sides tacitly approve of armed conflicts among the civilians.'"
"So, what exactly are we here to do today?" Feng Bujue asked again, "Since both sides want to solve the problem with their own fists, is it really necessary for us to mediate this fight?"
"You seem to have..." Flea Man's tone changed slightly, "misunderstood something."
"Oh?" Brother Jue used an interjection to signal the other to continue speaking.
"We are not here to resolve the conflicts between the two races." Flea Man said, "We are here to arrest two 'dangerous individuals.'"
............
At the same time, in the central area of the highlands.
On the battlefield, the diminutive Rogue Child Stars and the relatively tall Square Dance Stars were engaged in a fierce battle.
The former's advantages are explosive power, recovery, and agility; while the latter excels in strength, defense, and health.
Some may wonder, why are these aliens with interstellar colonization capabilities still fighting with their bare bodies? Even Earthlings know to use guns and tanks, right?
The reason is actually very simple...
First of all, according to the definition of interstellar law, if one side's military force reaches a certain level in terms of quality and quantity, it will be regarded as an "act of war," and the side that initiates the war will be held responsible. Neither side is willing to take the blame.
Secondly, as mentioned many times in the previous text, the combat strength of these two races is really "high." They can surpass many conventional weapons with just their bodies.
Therefore, there is the scene before them...
"Come on, come on...hurry up and place your bets! There's not much time left, it could start at any moment!"
At this moment, at the edge of the fierce battlefield, a guy who looked like a scarecrow was standing in front of an electronic blackboard, shouting loudly with a megaphone (the music was too loud and the battle cries were deafening, so he had to shout through the megaphone).
"Regretful Boy, one to one point nine! Bucktoothed Aunt, one to one point eight!"
This "scarecrow" was undoubtedly hosting a betting game, and the two sides he mentioned were the two protagonists of this "C-Level Crisis..."
Regretful Boy: A Rogue Child Star, a wanted criminal by the USL; in recent years, he has frequently appeared at the scene of conflicts between Rogue Child Stars and Square Dance Stars, killing people like flies, with a notorious reputation, known as the "Strongest Rogue Child"; in addition to appearing in battles with Square Dance Stars, he also randomly launches destructive actions against some cities and even planets, and his motive seems to be just for "fun."
Bucktoothed Aunt: A Square Dance Star, a wanted criminal by the USL; she frequently appears in the activity areas of some Square Dance Stars, and will start a killing spree whenever her activities are disturbed; she once had the record of eliminating a City Management Star squadron by herself, and has also carried out destruction on the indigenous cities of many planets.
If these two criminals were to be classified by the USL's hero ranking, they would at least be planet-level.
And today, these two have come to Park Planet...
The USL's intelligence department analyzed that if these two fought, there was a considerable chance that it would cause a devastating blow to Park Planet.
Of course...this does not mean that they have the ability to "destroy a planet."
It should be noted here...in a C-Level Crisis, the definition of "destroying a planet" doesn't necessarily mean blowing up the entire planet. Situations such as "illegal rule," "complete destruction of the ecosystem," "elimination of more than 80% of the high-intelligence creatures or 50% of all life forms on the planet's surface," etc., are also within the scope of the crisis.
So, villains like General Quake can also create a C-Level Crisis...
"I'll bet on Regretful Boy! Five hundred Laghas (a type of currency)!"
"I'll bet on Bucktoothed Aunt! Twenty thousand Machimos (also a type of currency)!"
"I'll bet my camel! I'll buy..."
"Get out, we don't accept items and organs here. Go to the Scavenger Stars next door, exchange them for money, and then come back to bet!"
The scene in this "betting area" was also in full swing, and the excitement was no less than that on the battlefield.
Aliens from various planets flocked here to place their bets, waiting to watch this battle of the century.
Among the bettors...the most numerous were the Carrion Stars. They are a "nomadic people" with a large population, but without a fixed home planet; these bird-faced guys are called "battlefield sanitation workers," and basically wherever there are war-like activities, they will be there, and their purpose is self-evident.
However, most planets in the universe are relatively welcoming to them, and the reason...everyone can imagine for themselves.
On the other hand, some of the Beggar Stars also came to place bets, but the overall number was not large; most of the Beggar Stars were more willing to sit on the ground nearby and ask people from other planets for spare change.
The Beggar Stars' need for spare change is the same as the Carrion Stars' need for corpses, no...it should be said that it is even more so, they crave spare change like they crave breathing. This innate desire will weaken as combat power increases. The stronger the Beggar Star, the more they can suppress this desire. It is said that Beggar Stars who have evolved to the pinnacle will even distribute spare change to their peers...Unfortunately, there has been no news of such people in recent decades.
Apart from the above two races, there were also dozens of other miscellaneous aliens. Some were doing business, some were watching the show, and some were just passing by...after all, this is a public planet, and anyone can come. Some people...came especially to witness this battle.
And the one who opened the betting here, the "scarecrow," naturally had a great background.
He himself is a member of the rare (as rare as the Yinhu tribe) race "Sying" in this universe.
"Sying people" are born with a very unique superpower—the ability to store things inside their bodies.
Doesn't sound very powerful?
Let me give an example...the things that a newborn Sying person can store inside their body are at least as many as can be contained in a capped basketball stadium.
Moreover, the "internal space" of the Sying people can be expanded through cultivation...in theory, if a Sying person lives long enough and cultivates diligently enough, they can even fit a planet into their own body...
Today, the Sying person who opened the betting here is named Wu Xumalo, and his ability limit is about 23.7 billion cubic Hulls (the internal space can be deformed), roughly...enough to hold a moon.