Star Odyssey

Chapter 1693: Return

Ten days quickly went by, and Mu En soon arrived at Gaia's Swamp. The first thing that he saw upon arriving was Lu Yin flying past him. The Judicial Commissioner was shocked by this sight, and he immediately went to see the Warden. "Warden of the Gaia's Swamp, what are you doing?"

Lu Yin crashed into the swamp, feeling as though his body was about to collapse. He had experienced the same feeling multiple times now, and he had already become accustomed to it. At the same time, his golden battle force had become more robust, and he felt as though it had sunk into his very bones.

Within the castle, Mu En exclaimed, "Lu Yin's training with you?"

The Warden nodded. "He requested this himself. Judicial Commissioner Mu En, you're here to investigate the prison break, right? Please carry on."

Mu En nodded even as he looked off into the distance. He did not ask any more questions, as he had noticed that Liu Ye and Fei Hua had not intervened. Additionally, Lu Yin himself had requested the training, so there was nothing that Mu En could say.

He did nothing to interfere, and instead, he went to interrogate the guards and prisoners with Lord Piggy.

After just two days, Mu En finished his investigation. He had spoken to everyone within Gaia's Swamp, and he had also examined the available video recordings. However, the recordings were not very useful, as they had all stopped the moment the Warden used his aurelian force.

Lord Piggy provided most of the information that Mu En gathered, as the pig had recounted the incident in great detail, with a particular emphasis on Lu Yin's contributions. From Lord Piggy's account, the pig sounded more like someone from the Great Eastern Alliance rather than an assistant warden.

Lu Yin observed his golden battle force that had become more solid due to his recent training. Still, it was clear that it would take a long time before he reached the level of aurelian force.

"It's certainly not easy, or else somebody else in this universe would have achieved it long ago," the Warden commented while gulping down more wine.

Lu Yin asked, "Senior, why isn't anyone aware that you have aurelian force?"

The Warden smiled. "I reached that level with Progenitor Chen's blood, so what does it matter if others know about it? Since I didn't accomplish it on my own, I'll never be able to teach others how to cultivate battle force. Additionally, it isn't easy for people to even start cultivating battle force."

Lu Yin understood this, as few people in the Astral Combat Academy had managed to successfully comprehend battle force. Even in the Perennial World, how many had managed to reach the level of aurelian force? It was a truly difficult path, and it was not even intended for humans, as battle force was a cultivation method that originated from the giants.

"There is something I'm curious about: how do you recover so quickly, Alliance Leader Lu? Did you use a secret technique? Or some sort of recovery technique?" the Warden asked. He had become a bit closer to Lu Yin over the recent few days, so he did not feel awkward asking such a question.

Lu Yin replied, "It's a skill from the Ku family."

The Warden grew intrigued. "The Seven Courts' Ku family? I heard that their Ku Secret Art allows a person to instantly recover. Did you manage to learn that?"

Lu Yin shrugged. "No, it's not that easy to learn the Ku Secret Art."

Lord Piggy rushed in with Mu En on his back.

Mu En greeted the Warden and then turned to Lu Yin. "Alliance Leader Lu, let's talk for a moment."

Lu Yin nodded. "Sure."

Mu En and Lu Yin stood across from each other outside the castle.

"Thank you, Alliance Leader Lu, for helping to stop the riot that broke out here in Gaia's Swamp. It would have been chaos if all the prisoners had escaped," Mu En said.

Lu Yin replied, "It wasn't a problem."

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Mu En continued, "The Warden must bear most of the responsibility for this riot. He was already aware that someone was planning a prison break, but he still assumed that he would be able to take care of everything by himself. His mistake led to a terrible situation, and he may very well be judged for this matter. As for you, Alliance Leader Lu, you will be rewarded for reporting the planned prison break."

Lu Yin laughed and turned to look out at the swamp. "All of the prisoners and guards here are stuck in this prison, so what's the difference? Even if the Warden is punished, the worst thing that could happen is that he'll have to stay here and be the Warden for longer than expected. You should be more concerned about the escaped prisoners."

Lu Yin grew solemn as he looked at Mu En. "I would like to request that the Chief Justice himself go out to capture the Second Nightking. I don't feel safe with him free."

Mu En shook his head. "The Chief Justice has his own way of handling matters, and we aren't able to interfere. However, I will still deliver your request to the Chief Justice."

"Thank you."

Mu En then asked, "Aren't you able to reach out to the Chief Justice yourself, Alliance Leader Lu?"

While no one knew precisely what kind of relationship existed between Lu Yin and the Chief Justice, it remained a fact that Lu Yin held the Chief Justice's bell, which showed that the two were quite close.

Lu Yin awkwardly answered, "Just like you said, nobody can interfere with the Chief Justice's way of handling things, and that includes me. This is why I can only ask for your help, Judicial Commissioner."

Mu En nodded. "I have something to ask you, Alliance Leader.'

"Please, go ahead."

"Why didn't you help out at the beginning of the riot, Alliance Leader?" Mu En carefully watched Lu Yin's reaction.

Lu Yin turned to face the Judicial Commissioner. "I was about to help, but I was stunned by the Warden's attack."

"What do you mean?" Mu En asked.

Lu Yin sighed. "The Warden used his aurelian force on all of Gaia's Swamp…"

Mu En had already gained quite a thorough understanding of the incident, but he still asked Lu Yin about the matter, as he wanted to see if he could detect anything from Lu Yin's expressions or words.

"Judicial Commissioner, are you suspecting me?" Lu Yin asked.

Mu En smiled. "Of course not, Alliance Leader Lu. You warned the Warden of the riot before it happened, and you also helped out during the chaos. On top of that, your most dangerous enemy, the Second Nightking, was one of the prisoners who escaped."

"I'm glad to hear you acknowledge that, Judicial Commissioner," Lu Yin said.

"I have another question, Alliance Leader Lu: do you know who the old swordsman is?" Mu En asked Lu Yin curiously.

Lu Yin's eyes flickered. "No."

Mu En studied Lu Yin's face for a while before nodding. "It's fine if you don't know, Alliance Leader Lu. As the master of the Outerverse and someone who is trying to enter the Innerverse, you should know that sometimes, you have to resort to unsavory means in order to accomplish your goals."

"I can leave Gaia's Swamp now, correct?" Lu Yin interrupted.

Mu En nodded. "Of course."

Mu En frowned as he watched Lu Yin leave. If Lu Yin had any other identity, he would not have been allowed to leave Gaia's Swamp, regardless of whether or not he was aware of Liu Huang's identity, as the Hall of Honor could not take any risks related to this matter. However, Lu Yin was unique, and he was supported by powerful people like the Interstellar Supreme Court's Chief Justice, the Hall of Honor's overseers, and even Arch-Elder Zen and Highsage Grandmaster.

Lu Yin practically had the support of half of the Fifth Mainland. Nobody had been able to stop him from taking the Great Eastern Alliance into the Innerverse, let alone something as small as leaving Gaia's Swamp.

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Mu En remembered his first time meeting Lu Yin, as well as the time that he had taken Lu Yin from Progenitor Chen's Mausoleum to Mt. Microcosms. This boy had grown exponentially more powerful since then, and it was possible that the youth would change once again before their next meeting!

After Emperor Luo was chained up in Can's former location, Lu Yin officially bade farewell to Liu Ye and Fei Hua.

Liu Ye and Fei Hua had both gotten to know Lu Yin quite well after being with him for so long. Fei Hua even spoke nicely to him before separating. "Alliance Leader Lu, don't worry. We won't reveal your identity."

She was referring to his identity as Lu Xiaoxuan.

Lu Yin smiled. "Thank you."

He looked at Liu Ye and Fei Hua with great reluctance. He rarely released anything after obtaining it, but Liu Ye and Fei Hua were bound to leave him. Even now, he felt sad at the thought of losing his two excellent bodyguards.

However, their replacements were going to be the Second Nightking and Liu Huang.

Those two were even more powerful, but they would not be able to reveal themselves, which was more of a hassle.

Lu Yin had arrived with four people, but he left alone.

Lu Yin left Gaia's Swamp and boarded his spacecraft to make his way back to Blazing Mist Flowzone.

Mu En continued to investigate things in Gaia's Swamp, as he needed to uncover how the sourcebox array that connected the three thousand chains had been bypassed, as well as why some of the guards had helped prisoners escape.

One day after leaving Gaia's Swamp, three more people could be found within Lu Yin's spacecraft. Namely, they were the Second Nightking, Liu Huang, and Shui Chuanxiao.

All three had started to regain their strength, but it was difficult for Shui Chuanxiao and Liu Huang, as they had been poisoned by the death energy. As for the Second Nightking, he had not been overly affected by the death energy due to his short stay, but his injuries from the Chief Justice still made it difficult for him to recover.

Lu Yin kept a close eye on the Second Nightking, and he continuously checked the Sealed Cage Technique to ensure that the Second Nightking could not escape after recuperating.

If any sign of the man no longer being under his control appeared, Lu Yin would kill the Second Nightking without any hesitation.

Lu Yin also regretted not asking Bai Shui to stay with him. It had been difficult for Lu Yin to gain control of the Second Nightking in Gaia's Swamp with the Sealed Cage Technique, and he had only succeeded after heavily injuring the man. In that case, why had Bai Shui been so confident that she would be able to control the Second Nightking with the Sealed Cage Technique?

She would have never jumped into the Celestial Frost Pond without being fully confident. Thus, there had to be some reason behind it. Lu Yin's guess was that the Sealed Cage Technique was far more effective with the Bai family's bloodline.

If that was true, then would the Daynight clan still remain under his control once the Celestial Frost Sect entered the Fifth Mainland? That could be a huge problem!

After leaving Gaia's Swamp, Lu Yin received some news regarding the tactics that the Innerverse's eight great flowzones had employed against the Great Eastern Alliance, such as isolating the regions surrounding Blazing Mist Flowzone and Venom Flowzone, stopping the tributary arks, setting up trade sanctions, and more. Lu Yin was not concerned about any of these details, as he had already dealt with most of the Innerverse's key decision makers. Additionally, the minor flowzones would not be able to stop the Great Eastern Alliance's military in any way.

The thing that Lu Yin was concerned about was the personnel changes among the Hall of Honor's overseers.

Nightking Zheng had been removed, which was not within Lu Yin's expectations.

"This is my fault—I should have paid more attention! There are nine overseer positions: two each for the Innerverse and Cosmic Sea, and the rest for the Neoverse. Nightking Zheng gained his position as an overseer because of the Daynight clan, but after their defeat, they no longer qualified to make decisions for the Innerverse. That's why Nightking Zheng lost his qualification as an overseer," Wang Wen said apologetically. This was not something that he had considered.

Lu Yin answered, "I don't blame you. Nobody can anticipate everything. Besides, it doesn't matter. Even if you had considered it, we wouldn't have been able to change anything. However, I didn't expect Zi Jing to replace Nightking Zheng."

"CyNet built up the network for the entire Fifth Mainland. Even though the company maintains a low profile, they are just as powerful as Shamrock Enterprise, Aurora Enterprises, and the Mavis Bank," Wang Wen solemnly stated.

Lu Yin said, "I know. I was only able to contact you from Mt. Microcosms because I was able to use Zi Jing's gadget."

"What's her personality like?" Wang Wen asked. The Fifth Mainland was too large, and Wang Wen had always focused his attention on the Outerverse, so he did not have a great understanding of the people from the Neoverse, especially since he rarely interacted with any of them.