Chapter 1240 - 988 Okaman Vanguard

A mysterious atmosphere had recently enveloped the Heaven Realm, becoming more apparent since the return of the Celestial Clan’s Emperor. Particularly alarming was the evidence suggesting that the Emperor was frequently in contact with the renowned warlike race of Okaman, seemingly having signed a troubling agreement with them. Consequently, more Okaman have been spotted within the territory of the Celestial Clan, causing unease among the residents. After all, the reputation of the Okamans as war fanatics was not unfounded. Following the great war between the three realms, a peace agreement had been established, with the Celestial Clan aiding the Okaman with technology and funding for better living conditions, in return for the Okaman’s promise not to interfere with the interests of the Celestial Clan.

This decision was dubbed "money and technology for peace," and up until now, there had been peace between the Okaman and the Celestial Clan. Yet now, the Emperor was stirring up the Okaman again?

What were his intentions?

Some rumors suggested that the Emperor’s sole purpose was to confront Princess Elsa, the Emperor’s youngest daughter.

As far-fetched as it sounded, this was the most credible of all the circulating rumors.

Since Elsa’s return from the Human Realm, the Emperor had completely vanished. During his absence, the Celestial Clan, under Elsa’s leadership, had remarkably reclaimed territories lost to the Ghost Spirits—a disgrace that had persisted for thousands of years. Consequently, Elsa had briefly emerged as the most powerful contender for the throne of the Heaven Realm; however, she had shown a clear disinterest in the title. No one knew what she was truly thinking; she simply wasn’t interested. Nonetheless, she remained the subject of much discussion, whether for beating up the First Prince Sajia several times, converting the old Imperial City into an adventurer’s paradise, or her recent project transforming Ghost Spirits into adorable little New Spectral Ghosts—almost every one of her actions drew countless gazes.

And then, the Emperor returned, the Emperor went to negotiate with the Okaman.

The consensus was nearly formed: the Emperor had gone mad.

Could a war truly be unavoidable?

At that moment, Selena lay resting in bed. Since the day she had sent Elsa away, Selena had collapsed. Doctors were unable to diagnose her condition, but Selena was completely unable to harness any power, as if it had vanished all at once.

Only Selena herself knew what had happened.

In her youth, Selena had stolen Elsa’s Celestial Heart, the source of a Celestial Clan member’s power. But all along, the Celestial Heart had never functioned correctly, often acting capriciously. Whenever it refused to obey, Selena would suffer tremendously. Elsa’s return had terrified Selena, knowing that should Elsa reclaim the Celestial Heart, her own powers would plummet, and her status in Heaven Realm would plummet drastically.

Yet Elsa did not do so; soon after her return to the Heaven Realm, she calmed the Celestial Heart herself, allowing it to display formidable strength. At that moment, Selena thought she had witnessed the heart’s true power.

In reality, she had underestimated Elsa’s Celestial Heart.

A few days before Elsa’s journey to the Eye of the Ancestor, she had fully activated the Celestial Heart’s power. The heart fully merged with her body in that instant, unleashing all of its power. And in that moment, her body, unable to bear such a tremendous force, had fainted.

When she awoke in the hospital, her powers were gone. But she wasn’t disheartened at all, for she knew that rather than disappearing, her powers were merely hidden!

It was a level of strength she had never experienced before!

But now, she was anything but happy.

War clouds loomed over the entire Heaven Realm, even though she had always been here. People from her faction had always been secretly relaying information through special channels. She knew full well that war was on the brink of eruption.

It was utterly terrible.

Selena could sense that Elsa had always been trying to avoid war, so despite her merits, Elsa had relinquished her claim to power; despite the strong calls for her to become Empress, she had given up the possibility just as well. To keep out of sight, out of mind, she even chose a desolate area for her experiments.

But this clearly wasn’t what the Emperor wanted.

Father, oh father, are you determined to fulfill the Prophet’s prophecy at all costs?

My sister, what will you do? Will you truly start a war?

Meanwhile, in Ghost Spirits City, Elsa maintained a leisurely attitude despite the war clouds gathering. The city’s business did not slow down but prospered even further, which even Elsa couldn’t understand.

The Arrays secretly inscribed within Ghost Spirits City showed no sign of activation, while some Ghost Spirit girls patrolled any suspicious areas at all times. Of course, it didn’t take long to find some spies. These spies came from various countries and races, not to steal secrets but to understand what exactly had transpired between Elsa and the Celestial Clan Emperor.

Unfortunately, even the people involved might not be clear on the matter.

Since joining Elsa, Suolin had been busily scouting around, and it was unclear exactly what she was searching for. Nim had been curious and asked several times, but Suolin told him very clearly. This kind of thing was related to time travel; if she could have spoken about it, she would have done so long ago. There was no need to wait until now.

Nim, receiving no satisfaction, could only slink away dejectedly.

It happened one night; that very night, Elsa was still researching some problems with the New Spectral Ghosts. Suddenly, Suolin burst in. She pushed open the door to Elsa’s laboratory and came storming in, holding a creature curled up into a ball in one hand.

"Okaman Vanguard?" Elsa recognized what the creature curled into a ball was as soon as she saw it.

The Okaman Vanguard was a very special group within the Okaman clan. In an Okaman society that prized size and strength, there was a group of Okaman people who were small, frail, but exceedingly agile. They had excellent vision and hearing and were also outstanding in their ability to adapt on the spot. They were essentially born scouts. Hence, the Okaman people gathered these individuals and formed the Okaman Vanguard, specifically responsible for gathering intelligence before the Okaman forces launched a major attack. Generally speaking, if one encountered the Okaman Vanguard, it almost always meant that the Okaman army was ready to move.

"Come here," Elsa said, pointing to an empty operating table on the other side. Suolin immediately placed the small, frail Okaman on it, and various restraints secured him firmly in place.

"Heh, heh, heh, heh, you’ll never get any information out of me! I am a trained professional soldier!" the Okaman sneered.

"I know, your Okaman Vanguard would rather die than divulge any information," Elsa said, nodding.

"Since you know that, don’t waste any more time. It’s pointless."

"No, I think you’ve got one thing wrong. Actually, I’ve always been quite interested in the physiological structure of your Okaman people, particularly how you transform your forms, allowing yourselves to become plants and then to reproduce again. Alas, when the relationship between the Celestial Clan and the Okaman was still alright, I wouldn’t dare just randomly capture someone for dissection. But now, since you’ve delivered yourself to my doorstep, I won’t hold back."

With that, Elsa made a gesture to several Ghost Spirit girls who were waiting to be examined. The girls immediately transformed into voluptuous beauties and released energy from various directions, ensuring the Okaman could not escape.

"Elsa! How dare you treat me like this! The great army of the Okaman people will soon march upon your measly little piss-ant city! Everyone, including you, will be devoured by us! Not even bones will be left!" the Okaman roared.

"Yes, that makes it all the more reason for me to hasten my research. After all, such precious research material is hard to find." Without further ado, a scalpel appeared in Elsa’s hand and was slashed down without hesitation.

The Okaman had not expected the blade to actually touch his skin, and the intense pain made him scream out immediately.

"Stop! Stop! I don’t have the ability for every organ to regenerate! That’s a warriors’ ability! I’m just a vanguard, not a warrior!" the Okaman finally gave up any pretense of toughness.

"I don’t believe you. Whether you can or not, I will know as soon as I cut a piece of flesh off you," Elsa said, unmoved.

"Don’t cut my flesh! You can ask me anything you want to know! I know it all!" the Okaman shrieked.

"I don’t think you understand, as I’ve said from the beginning, I’m genuinely not interested in your secrets; I just want to cut you open for research," Ai Lin said calmly, but the knife didn’t come down.

"The Great Elder Council is considering whether to provide military assistance to the Celestial Clan Emperor. Despite the Emperor offering a tempting price, your, Princess Elsa, brilliant military exploits even we Okaman admire, so some Great Elders prefer not to provoke you. However, other Great Elders believe it’s a good opportunity to extract more wealth from the stingy Celestial Clan. If we miss this chance, getting resources from the Celestial Clan next time won’t be so easy," the Okaman rattled off quickly. Clearly, while he was speaking, Elsa had not yet made her move with the scalpel.

"What else?" Elsa pressed.

"Could you please put down the scalpel first, I’m scared..." the tone of the Okaman softened.

"Are you really an Okaman? I’ve heard that Okamans are as fearless as the Undead in war, completely indifferent to death and pain," Elsa said.

"I am a genuine Okaman, exchangeable if fake, but among our Okaman community, there are many branches, just as the wing colors of your people from the Celestial Clan vary. I am but an Okaman Vanguard, a mere scout, I really don’t have much fighting strength."

The Okaman was close to tears; he and a few brothers were honorably assigned to the first wave of reconnaissance missions. Based on his experience, they should have been able to complete the scouting unnoticed and then leave. But how could he have known that as soon as he left the Array, someone grabbed his neck and brought him here? As an Okaman and even as a Vanguard, it was not to say that he had no fighting power at all. In fact, his combat power was far from low. He thought that his Fighting Aura-infused claws could easily tear apart that sneaky attacker, but after one claw strike, his Fighting Aura did not harm the assailant at all, and his claws were even broken!

It was then he realized that he was in trouble. (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)