Published at 31st of July 2026 7:37 am

Chapter 3056: Enigma

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"They’re really not here?" Elder Shu furrowed his brows, listening to Night Shu’s report.

Night Shu Number Nine nodded: "We used energy penetration to make the surrounding spatial energy extremely chaotic, almost reaching the point of spatial collapse, yet still no pheromone leakage and no clues. We can basically confirm they’ve already left the designated range."

The designated range is the area confined by the Forbidden Formation.

Night Shu Number Nine said Stop and the others have left the confined range, which means they’re truly out of control.

"Impossible... We have multiple layers of blockade, how could they possibly leave?!" Gailuo’s face showed a look of disbelief, but soon, he seemed to think of something: "Maybe they’re hiding in deeper spatial layers. You, have Sea Eagle and Yaji strengthen the chaotic energy and directly cause spatial collapse! By then, they definitely won’t be able to hide!"

Night Shu Number Nine lowered his head, saying: "Master Ulysses doesn’t allow the collapse test."

"Ulysses? Even though she’s also a victim, she rejects the test, does she plan to just let the attackers go?" Gailuo shouted loudly, his words directed at Night Shu Number Nine, but his gaze pierced through the layers of energy to look at Ulysses in the distance.

Ulysses also heard Gailuo’s questioning. She pinched her slightly swollen brow somewhat irritably: "Spatial collapse will damage Paradise Land. If your Birlos Family is willing to fully compensate for Paradise Land’s losses, I can agree to let the nearby space collapse."

"We, of course..." Gailuo was about to say ’agree,’ but he was interrupted by Elder Shu beside him.

"Let’s leave it at that. Collapse won’t help, they’re already gone."

Gailuo turned his head to look at Elder Shu, puzzled: "Why?"

Elder Shu said softly: "The designated range is just one step away from collapse. If they were still here, they would’ve come out long ago. Since they haven’t come out, it means they must have left."

Gailuo still disagreed: "We can’t overlook any possibility."

In Gailuo’s view, at least seeing space collapse could definitively confirm they’ve left.

Elder Shu looked at Gailuo helplessly, shook his head and said nothing, but glanced at Shayina. Shayina also understood Elder Shu’s meaning, sighed slightly in her heart, stepped forward, and whispered in Gailuo’s ear:

"If it were others, we really couldn’t overlook any possibility. But with Stop and the others, their overall strength is extremely strong. With the strength they’ve shown, they can confront us head-on and leave safely."

"In this situation, they wouldn’t risk spatial collapse and total annihilation by hiding in the Forbidden Formation until now."

On the surface, the opponent has already shown three Official Wizards, three Wizard-level Magical Creatures, and almost none of their combat strength has been damaged. On our side, Sea Eagle and Yaji are missing arms and legs, Elder Shu is injured, Xingye Clan Leader is severely wounded... Although our numbers are superior, if we truly engaged in a hard fight, we might not pose much threat to them.

Unless, Black Earl can persuade Dox and another wizard to help.

But even so, it might not be possible to keep them. If Stop lets the Strongman clan fight desperately, they still have a chance to escape.

Thinking about this clearly reveals the situation.

Stop and the others evidently have the strength for a direct confrontation, yet they didn’t use it; which indicates they have another better way to easily leave.

At worst, even if they really hid in the spatial rift, after so many rounds of energy impacts, they surely understand they’re risking exposure to spatial collapse danger.

Everyone knows, spatial collapse results in no survival, would they risk total annihilation betting that Birlos Family wouldn’t dare initiate a spatial collapse?

Daredevils might, but they wouldn’t.

Gailuo also understood Shayina’s reasoning, though he still felt unwilling.

"The women of Elysium Pavilion, they’re all vampires. If Paradise Land were to be ruined, they have various ways to bleed Birlos Family dry. Moreover, Elysium Pure Land has recently encountered some crises, those witches will find every method to replenish from outside. If Birlos Family gets targeted by them, the consequences are hard to imagine." Shayina communicated: "You wouldn’t want to see Birlos Family suffer such heavy losses and have to pay more, right?"

Gailuo also knew some recent rumors about Elysium Pure Land. After pondering carefully for a moment, he nodded and refrained from urging spatial collapse again.

However, Gailuo still didn’t quite understand: "If Stop and the others really left, what method did they use to escape?"

Faced with Gailuo’s inquiry, everyone didn’t know how to answer.

Finally, Gailuo turned his gaze to Black Earl.

Black Earl sensed everyone’s gaze and said calmly: "What, you suspect I opened a back door for them?"

Gailuo quickly shook his head. Although sometimes he was reckless, he wasn’t foolish: "No, not at all."

Shayina also quickly echoed: "We’re just too dull, not knowing how those attackers managed to escape."

Implying, they’re looking to rely on Black Earl to give them guidance.

Black Earl, as the creator of the Forbidden Formation, is indeed expected to give an explanation.

However, Black Earl is currently a bit confused himself.

In a certain way, he’s somewhat in favor of Gailuo’s previous suggestion, letting Paradise Land undergo complete spatial collapse... because he could sense that his arranged Forbidden Formation hadn’t been triggered.

This means either Stop and the others are still hiding within some spatial layer; or they’ve used other means to bypass the Forbidden Formation.

Black Earl personally hopes the answer is the former, not just because it’s easier to find, but there’s another significant reason: if it’s the latter, it might involve some "Out of Discussion" means.

For this reason, Black Earl does hold some support for Gailuo’s proposal.

But Black Earl knows well, the answer often runs counter to his hopes.

Although he doesn’t want to admit it, Black Earl deduced from the various signs on site and his own probing feedback, he can basically confirm Stop and the others have left.

This means they’re likely to possess some "Out of Discussion" means.

Any "Out of Discussion" means is special, mysterious, and hard to fathom... At least, based on Black Earl’s existing information, he cannot deduce what method Stop and the others used to leave.

"I currently can’t provide an answer, need more clues." Black Earl thought for a moment and stated honestly.

Gailuo suddenly thought of something and pointed to the side: "They should be able to provide clues."

The direction Gailuo pointed was precisely where Angel stood.

Black Earl squinted his eyes slightly and looked at Gailuo, "Do you know who he is?"

Gailuo was just about to say, aren’t they acquaintances of the lord? Previously, the Black Earl even asked them to help delay time, so logically, they should know the Black Earl.

However, before Gailuo could speak, Shayina stepped forward first, "Lord Black Earl, what Gailuo means is Lucia. That group of attackers has spent a long time in the Starry District, Lucia must know something."

The direction Gailuo pointed was indeed where Angel and Dox were, but Lucia was also beside Angel at this time. They seemed to know each other and were chatting about something.

Shayina clearly understood that Gailuo was referring to Angel and the others. But from Black Earl’s rhetorical question, "Do you know who he is?" she sensed something was off.

Here, "he" certainly didn’t refer to Red Sword Dox but another unknown wizard.

From Black Earl’s tone, this wizard seemed to have a significant background.

Moreover, not only Lucia but even Black Earl’s descendant, the apprentice named Vay, was beside that wizard... Vay even showed starry eyes towards him.

Such an expression, daring to reveal in front of Black Earl, this ancestor, towards an outsider was enough to indicate that the person’s identity was not simple.

For this reason, Shayina didn’t want Gailuo to offend him; she stood out decisively, altering the meaning of Gailuo’s words.

Gailuo didn’t understand why Shayina altered his remarks, but years of partner understanding prevented him from stepping forward to deny it.

Black Earl also knew Shayina was talking nonsense, but he couldn’t deny that her words were plausible. Lucia indeed stood next to Angel, and Lucia might indeed know the secrets of Stop and the others. If one wanted to get clues about "Out of Discussion" measures, Lucia was indeed a breakthrough point.

Black Earl didn’t expose Shayina’s lie, he said indifferently, "What you say makes some sense, perhaps some clues can be obtained from Lucia."

After speaking, Black Earl directly turned and flew towards Angel.

The binding array here was then handed over to Elder Shu to preside... Anyway, the people had already fled; this binding array was of no use anymore, whether it’s dismantling it or continuing to keep it, let the Birlos Family decide.

...

On the other side, Angel was indeed chatting with Lucia.

Lucia’s appearance here was both unexpected and reasonable for Angel.

Unexpected because Lucia is, after all, the manager of the Starry District, typically should keep out of sight from the prominent families in the local Wizard Market.

But considering Bilun Tree Court’s current disastrous situation and knowing the attackers came from the Starry District, as the nominal manager of the Starry District, he still had to come out to clarify the issue.

After all, this time Bilun Tree Court’s disaster affected not only the Birlos Family, but many witcher organizations’ locations were attacked, so Lucia’s appearance was reasonable.

Upon seeing Angel, Lucia immediately stepped forward and began conversing with him.

In Lucia’s view, Angel is suspected to be an alchemist from the Sky Mechanical City, and now with the Sky Tower Registration Office being destroyed, it directly provoked Sky Mechanical City. Although the direct issue certainly lies with the Birlos Family and not with Lucia, not everyone is reasonable; if someone were to side unfairly, the small problem in the Starry District could escalate.

To minimize the impact on the Starry District, Lucia could only hope Angel could act as a mediator and help speak a few words.

Angel thought about Lucia’s request for a moment and didn’t refuse. Because Lucia wasn’t asking Angel to defend anyone, just hoping for a fair restoration of the truth.

Angel could accomplish this. After all, it’s just delivering a message, which could be done in minutes.

Moreover, Angel agreed to Lucia for another reason.

Since he was to restore the truth, shouldn’t Lucia explain Stop and the others’ information?

Or else, how to prove that Lucia had no relation with them?

Angel coincidentally wanted to know the intelligence of this group, which led him to agree readily to Lucia’s request.

However, compared to Stop and the Sharon Witch, Angel was more concerned with that philosophical "good person" Aex.

By what means did Aex break through his illusion technique?

Faced with Angel’s inquiry, Lucia actually was initially reluctant to answer; but when he found out Angel had little interest in Stop and Sharon the Witch, and was focusing his questions on Aex, Lucia slightly breathed a sigh of relief.

Stop and Sharon the Witch had minimal contact with outsiders in the Starry District, only Lucia grasped some of their basic information. If Angel truly wanted to ask about these two individuals’ intelligence, Lucia could only divulge some insider information.

Aex was different, during his time in the Starry District, he interacted with many people and was very popular. Naturally, this left behind quite a bit of personal information.

This information wasn’t solely known by Lucia, other people in the Starry District, those helped by Aex, all had some insight.

What Angel wanted to know was Aex’s semi-public information of this sort, which Lucia naturally didn’t mind sharing.

Based on the information provided by Lucia, Angel gradually gained some understanding of Aex.

Just as the initial evaluation Angel gave upon first meeting Aex, in others’ eyes, Aex was also regarded as a "good person," a sincere man.

His personal evaluation among the White Wizards in the Starry District was notably positive.

Occasional negative evaluations arose mostly from extreme comments, jealousy, slander, or feelings of injustice by those who felt they hadn’t benefited. These evaluations were of no reference value.

Overall, there was no doubt Aex was a good person.

Yet in the eyes of those in the Starry District, Aex was also filled with mysteries.

For example, Aex’s background was mysterious, without any records in the Southern Domain. Also, while Aex seemed like a Bloodline Wizard, he didn’t admit to it, never mentioning his affiliation when asked; besides, he showed differential treatment towards certain bloodline wizards, signs indicating Aex seemingly didn’t favor Bloodline Wizards...

Of course, there were also some matters regarding his taste and attire, which were discussed by others. But these were not too important.

After listening to the information provided by Lucia, Angel was no closer to understanding Aex’s abilities, only having a bit more insight into Aex’s character.

Angel thought for a moment and decided to ask directly, "During Aex’s time in the Starry District, did he display any special abilities?"

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