Chapter 1083 - 836: No Place to Escape

The floor above the Emperor’s study is his private reception room, an area of extreme secrecy. Within the entire Imperial family, few are aware of its existence, let alone these individuals from the Ancient Mage Tower who have only recently arrived.

"So, you support my decision to kill them all?" Long Yi picked up the delicate teacup before him and asked the Emperor across from him.

"I wish they were all dead now!" the Emperor said through gritted teeth.

As the ruler of a small nation, he had always advocated for a policy of non-aggression. Because in the games played between the major powers, any action of picking sides could bring about a catastrophe for himself. However, since the arrival of the group from the Ancient Mage Tower, things had changed immediately. Not only did they force his country into opposition against the two largest empires of the current plane, but they also put him against the plane’s mightiest powerhouse—Long Yi.

This left the Emperor feeling uneasy every day.

Compared to these concerns, the thuggish behavior they exhibited within his Empire barely seemed to matter.

Now, with Long Yi’s sudden appearance and the news that he had just killed more than thirty people from the Ancient Mage Tower, the Emperor’s first response was not nervousness, but rather a sigh of relief. Clearly, Long Yi was well aware of who his real enemies were.

"Actually, I have only a few minor questions," said Long Yi, "just how many people are actually standing against me, and how many would dare to offend the Ancient Mage Tower?"

The Emperor thought for a moment and said, "No one wants to stand against you, but no one dares to offend the Ancient Mage Tower either."

Long Yi smiled, "That means, whatever I do, in reality, no one would dare to question me, right?"

The Emperor nodded, "That’s exactly what it means."

Long Yi stood up, thought it over carefully, and then asked, "How many ways are there to leave this planet?"

"Although our country is small, our Teleportation Gates and Spaceport are very well-equipped," the Emperor replied immediately.

Long Yi asked, "How then could all these facilities be rendered inoperative simultaneously in a single day?"

The Emperor also stood up, furrowed his brow in thought for a moment, then said, "Unless I order them to be sabotaged from within..."

"No!" Long Yi interrupted, "It’s Long Yi’s spies who would sabotage them from the inside."

Realizing Long Yi’s intent, the Emperor quickly said, "Please give me half a day, I will make arrangements!"

Then he nodded, glanced down at the meetings below, "Their meeting is just about to conclude, and it seems they have decided to recall everyone back to the Imperial City. I need to hurry my preparations as well. As for Your Imperial Majesty, you should use this time to think of a suitable reason. After all, if the garrison sent by the Ancient Mage Tower to your nation is wiped out, the blame will surely fall upon you."

After Long Yi departed, the Emperor’s eyes shone with excitement. For some reason, he felt elated. Though he dreaded the Ancient Mage Tower, he seemed to fear Long Yi even more. After all, the Ancient Mage Tower seemed very remote, and the conduct of its garrison was contemptible. But Long Yi, from the moment his name appeared in this plane, had never known defeat, and each time he delivered a fatal blow to his enemies. Such a man could not be measured by any common standard.

Orders were issued, and all members of the Ancient Mage Tower were immediately set en route to the Imperial City. They were unclear about what had happened but knew that the order was indisputable.

Until they arrived at the garrison’s camp, they remained unaware of their situation. This camp used to be the location of the Imperial Guard, where over a thousand of them had been stationed. It had almost all of the Empire’s most luxurious training facilities, yet the people from the Ancient Mage Tower had not stayed here for more than half a day and instead had enjoyed the city. Now that they were back, they found it somewhat uncomfortable.

Some joked and shared their experiences in different cities, others boasted about how domineering they were and how many people they had bullied. And then there were those who pulled out large quantities of local specialties, sharing with their friends—of course, none of these things had been paid for.

The warm atmosphere continued until the arrival of the Imperial City’s garrison.

Theoretically, the Imperial City should have had a hundred troops, but at this moment, only a little over sixty were present, and their faces showed intense unease. Some people familiar to them tried to chat, but those soldiers evaded direct answers, which struck everyone as odd.

Soon the thirteen with higher clearance finally arrived in a small airship.

There was no impassioned speech or any formalities; they only had to utter one sentence and the atmosphere on site dropped to freezing.

"Long Yi is here in the Imperial City, and he has already killed thirty-seven people."

The statement wasn’t loud, but it hit everyone in the chest like a heavy blow, leaving them speechless in shock.

"Master, when you say Long Yi, do you mean that Long Yi?" someone asked.

"Yes, the Long Yi I’m referring to is the very same one you’re thinking of in your heads," one of the thirteen confirmed.

All fell silent since Long Yi’s presence meant that the unimaginable had suddenly become their reality!

"Despite Long Yi’s presence here, you need not worry. Because it’s only Long Yi himself, and previously, he only managed to kill our brethren by resorting to very despicable covert assassination tactics. But now we are all here, united, we will not provide Long Yi with any opportunity to exploit!"

The speaker was impassioned, but few below responded. As residents of the Ancient Mage Tower, they were acutely aware of Long Yi’s capabilities. That sort of absolute dominance meant that even the strongest Guardian in the entire Ancient Mage Tower was no match for him, let alone them—a group of low-level residents with insignificant authority. To tell the truth, it was one thing to bully these ordinary ground dwellers, but to truly stand before Long Yi and remain standing was already enough to be considered heroic!

The thirteen individuals also noticed the lack of enthusiasm among those present. They knew that the crowd, which had just been immersed in the joy of bullying others, was now having difficulty adjusting to this sudden turn of events. Thus, they simply assigned some tasks and then left the scene. As soon as they departed, the place immediately erupted into chaos.

"You bunch of bastards! Why didn’t you tell us earlier?"

"This... it was requested to be kept secret by those above."

"Aren’t we good friends? You keep a life-threatening matter like this from me?"

"What are you afraid of? Am I not here too?"

"Damn it! You can’t get away! I’m not stuck here!"

Complaints, accusations, arguments, and even fights broke out.

At this moment, there was no one left to maintain order, for there was only one thought in their minds: we’re doomed!

Not only them, but even the thirteen high-authority individuals were of the same mind at the moment. They had initially thought that sheer numbers might allow them to hold on, but upon these people’s arrival, they realized they had been too optimistic. However, they did have a fallback. They had already arranged for someone to rush to prepare a Teleportation Gate for escape. Even though the Teleportation Gate here couldn’t take them directly back to the Ancient Mage Tower, safety was assured as long as they left this place. They were just small fry; Long Yi would definitely not waste time and effort hunting them down.

But soon, the news arrived that all the Teleportation Gates within the Imperial City had suddenly been destroyed. Repairing the Teleportation Gates would require materials imported from other planets, and that would take at least a month!

Destroying the Teleportation Gates? Who else would it be but Long Yi?

"What about the spaceships?" Everyone pinned their hopes on the spacecraft.

"The spaceships..." The Mage responsible for contacting the spaceships was almost in tears.

"Out with it!"

"All the Spaceports that can dock large spacecraft are malfunctioning, and large ships cannot land. Someone impersonating a spacecraft handler has sent messages to all large spacecraft, forbidding any large craft from approaching the planet. Currently, only the local spaceships in the Spaceports are available."

Thump. Several Mages who had been standing slumped onto their chairs.

"We’re trapped here," someone muttered.

"Or maybe we surrender?" Another person suddenly suggested.

Almost at the same time, everyone’s eyes lit up.

Because nearly all of them had the same thought: as long as you keep your hands behind your back and show no hostility toward Long Yi, he would definitely not attack you.

"No way!" the lead person shouted, "If we surrender now, there will be no place for us in the Ancient Mage Tower. Would you be willing to become laborers at the very bottom level?"

Upon hearing this, everyone shuddered. Life at the very bottom of the Ancient Mage Tower was incredibly hard and monotonous. Their daily lives consisted of eating, sleeping, and working, with almost no time for entertainment or relief. This was why people would go crazy as soon as they lost their leash.

"Or... maybe we could relinquish our identities as residents of the Ancient Mage Tower?" Another person said quietly.

Give up their status as residents of the Ancient Mage Tower? Become a ground dweller?

Frankly, it didn’t seem all that bad.

But is it still possible now?

"Ah, let’s just take it one step at a time!"

As days passed, the heavy atmosphere in the barracks not only failed to disperse with the passage of time, but it also grew more uncontrollable. Fights and internal disputes arose nearly every single day. Gradually, two distinct factions emerged.

One faction was pro-peace, advocating surrender because Long Yi had set a precedent of sparing those with their hands behind their backs. Thus, they decided to surrender immediately upon encountering Long Yi. However, others thought this too shameful, absolutely refusing to surrender just like that; they chose to fight Long Yi, preferring to die rather than to die in disgrace.

Most joined the side favoring surrender, while still, over thirty people decided to fight Long Yi. Each day, both sides argued, trying to draw more people to their cause. But the more they argued, the more entrenched each side’s stance became.

Meanwhile, everyone was guessing the manner in which Long Yi would appear.

Unexpectedly, Long Yi just nonchalantly strolled in.(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to continue reading.)