In the grand hall, not only were Yuan Tiexin and Zhutian Luanshi—members of Heart of Demons—surprised and confused, even Youxi Weixiao wore a blank, bewildered expression.
Just moments ago, the attitude of these superpowers, though never stated outright, had radiated a clear refusal to cooperate.
Their sudden shift now was like night and day compared to before...
However, just as Zhutian Luanshi was about to address the major superpowers, a hand suddenly blocked his path, forcing him to close his mouth. He looked at the cold-faced young man who had stopped him, utterly confused.
Because this cold-faced young man was none other than Heart of Demons' Vice President Yan Guang—a figure whom all the major superpowers regarded with deep wariness.
"Let's go."
Yan Guang glanced at Youxi Weixiao, delivered a flat line, then turned and walked out of the Free Inn without any intention of continuing to rally the major superpowers.
"Vice President, are we really just going to let Zero Wing off like this?" Zhutian Luanshi couldn't help but whisper to Yan Guang.
After all that effort to unite so many superpowers, combined with the strength of the Dark World, Zero Wing would be nothing but fish on a cutting board, even with a medium-sized city like Stone Forest City.
Even if some of the superpowers had dropped out, the remaining ones—Star Ring and Illusion Myth's adventurer teams, along with their Heart of Demons—at the very least couldn't just let Zero Wing escape unscathed. They could still force it to shoulder enormous extra expenses and accelerate Stone Forest City's collapse.
"Foolish! Why do you think those superpowers suddenly changed their attitude?" Yan Guang shot a glance at Zhutian Luanshi, who had followed him.
"Could it be that those superpowers received some kind of special news?" Zhutian Luanshi suddenly caught on.
"Those superpowers are all shrewd operators. I'd reckon something happened on the Dark World's side—ordinary news couldn't possibly make them change like this." Yan Guang said with a trace of anger.
"Something happened in the Dark World? How is that possible?" Zhutian Luanshi couldn't believe it.
The Dark World was a place where madmen gathered. Everyone there was powerful, and the weak simply couldn't survive—it was true survival of the fittest, a gathering place for players who craved thrills.
For such a great world to enter the Cold Spring Great Forest, that was not something any force could change. Even Yan Guang, who had opened the gateway, absolutely could not have done it.
"It's not clear yet, and it's possible I'm overthinking it." Yan Guang shook his head—he actually felt it was impossible. "But have someone investigate immediately what actually happened. Otherwise, the major superpowers' attitudes wouldn't have shifted so drastically."
"I'll go contact Elder Nuxin right away!" Zhutian Luanshi nodded.
However, after Yan Guang and the others left, the Free Inn remained in stunned silence. The members of the various forces and free adventuring parties present were still completely dumbfounded.
Because everything had happened far too quickly.
One second it was swords drawn and tension crackling; the next, it was peaceful and harmonious. The superpowers' change in attitude was faster than flipping a page...
They were beginning to wonder if these people really were the leaders of those superpowers.
Could they have been hired actors?!
"Old Yuan, what on earth happened? What's gotten into these superpowers?" Chi Lian, standing nearby, couldn't help but ask Yuan Tiexin as he watched the transformed attitudes.
"This..."
Yuan Tiexin was equally bewildered. As for Chi Lian's questions and curiosity—he desperately wanted to know what had happened too, but if Chi Lian was asking him, who was he supposed to turn to?
Just as Yuan Tiexin was wondering how to respond, he suddenly noticed a message from Zi Qiong in his message bar.
"Could it be that Zero Wing did something?" Yuan Tiexin read the message from Zi Qiong and suddenly had a flash of understanding.
Earlier, because Zero Wing had impulsively decided to head for the Dark World's teleportation portal, he had asked Zi Qiong to follow along and see what Zero Wing was actually planning to do.
Now that Zi Qiong had suddenly sent a message, the only possibility was that Zero Wing had done something that changed the current situation—and that the people from all these major superpowers had received the same news, which was why their attitudes had shifted so dramatically.
"But even if Zero Wing did something, it still shouldn't be enough!" Yuan Tiexin still felt something was off, but he immediately opened the message Zi Qiong had sent.