Chapter 159: Return to Before

There was another stir around the round table, but it was quickly settled down by the bespectacled man knocking on the table, silencing them before announcing, “That student went missing in New Washington, the Foreign Affairs Department will try to placate the investigation team while Harry’s dragon-eagle knights conduct a large scale search of the area. Spare no effort in finding Lilith and Xiao Lin, but the important one is obviously Lilith. If we really are unable to locate that student from Dawn Academy, we’ll offer some compensation to them. Now, let’s carry on discussing our financial plans...”

Harry let out a cold snort before leaving the great hall in anger. The short man in charge of the Foreign Affairs Department nodded to the rest of them before leaving.

The discussions after that did not have much to do with military or foreign affairs, but Harry’s attitude caused some of those present to look on in scorn.

Outside of the great hall, the short man held his large stomach as he rushed after Harry, panting in exhaustion as he leaned against a large tree for support, shouting, “Captain Harry, don’t you hear me calling for you?”

Harry’s face was still cold. He did not seem to particularly care for the man. “Department Head Johnson, our two departments don’t really have anything to do with each other. I still have things to attend to in my regiment. Speak up if you need anything!”

Johnson smiled and said, “Don’t be in such a rush. Why don’t we get drinks somewhere? We’re from the same year in school after all. We haven’t gotten together in a while.”

Harry was disgusted, “Johnson, ever since we graduated, you’ve lost all sense of being a warrior. Looking at you now, I don’t even think you can wear any armor, or hold a sword! Sorry, my regiment has a rule. We’re not allowed to drink alcohol when not on holiday. I need to follow that rule as well!”

“I admit, I’ve turned into a real government official after we graduated, but it’s true what they said at the conference. We can no longer rely solely on war. We need governance and colonization, not just killing off everyone. You have to admit, proper governance can sometimes be simpler and more effective than brute force.”

Johnson looked at Harry’s increasingly impatient face before stopping himself, waving as he said, “Fine, let’s not talk about that. I didn’t find you to reminisce about the past. Why didn’t you bring up that matter in the conference?”

“What’s the matter?”

“That student, Xiao Lin. He’s someone with the Lightstream Jade. That jade was probably a gift from the dean of Dawn Academy, and he wasn’t even missing for a day before Dawn Academy sent their investigation team after him. Who exactly is Xiao Lin?” Johnson asked curiously.

“I want to know that more than you do!” Harry bellowed.

Johnson laughed out loud. “Harry, we’ve known each other for a while, and I know how you are. You purposely concealed that fact from the city hall so you can investigate it yourself. I don’t believe you haven’t had any results until now. What did you hide from the city hall?”

Harry paused for a moment before walking away with a cold smile.

Johnson wanted to run after him, but he considered his stamina and gave up. He raised his voice a little. “Then let me add on: Lilith and Xiao Lin disappeared at the same time. It’s possible they’re not even in this world right now. That blood moon had never been seen before. Maybe it’s a wormhole of some sort? I asked the instructor for the space-time course, and that is a possibility that exists.”

Harry finally stopped.

Johnson laughed again, continuing, “Dawn Academy’s investigation team has been driving me crazy. I almost resigned out of frustration, but I’ve been investigating the matter even more than you have! Professor Brown’s research team had so many people there, so why were Lilith and Xiao Lin the only ones who went missing?”

Harry finally turned around, his eyes narrowed. “What are you getting to?”

Johnson slowly walked closer, lowering his voice, “Oh! Stop playing dumb! I’m different from those purely administrative officials. Let’s open up our minds and speculate. What could Lilith and Xiao Lin have in common? They’re skills are so different, they aren’t the same age... We don’t even have to talk about their genders and physical attributes. If we eliminate the possibility that it was just a coincidence, then the only possibility is...”

“Enough!” Harry shouted, stopping Johnson’s train of thought. He thought for a moment before saying with a complicated expression, “It’s just speculation. The possibility isn’t even at 1%. In the end, we need to wait for them to come back before verifying it for ourselves.

“Indeed, even I can’t really believe the conclusion I ended up with. I think, other than us two lunatics, no one else would believe it!” Johnson sighed, raising his head as his eye twinkled. “If our guess turns out to be correct, what are you going to do about it?”

Meanwhile, in the Final Land, the tornadoes were all almost merged into one. The dark sky had been completely shattered by the tornadoes and were falling down like raindrops. The ground was full of cracks and was constantly shaking, as if there was an earthquake.

“Ha ha ha! This world will soon return to nothingness! You were the ones who denied my return. Let’s just die here together!” the shadow roared.

Xiao Lin and Lilith were completely exhausted. They had battled the spirit for a long time, but the fight had no meaning to it at all.

The high priest was only left with a fragmented spiritual form. Normal attacks did nothing to him. Lilith could only use her flames to harm him slightly. Xiao Lin was even worse; he could only rely on using the hammer Lilith lent him to cast Holy Light Blessing.

Regardless, the damage was very minimal. They could not help but admit that the century-old high priest was still much stronger than them, even in a spiritual form.

However, Asabanor was at his limit as well. He could not maintain his current form for long, and as time went on, he got weaker and weaker. Otherwise, the high priest would have just attacked them in that form from the start.

The fact that he did not do that led them to believe maintaining this form would cause himself irreversible harm.

Xiao Lin was suffering thanks to his weakness. The high priest’s attacks were mostly focused on him. As a spirit, he had only one mode of attack, which was to attack spiritually. That was why even though Xiao Lin did not look physically harmed, it took everything he had to even remain standing.