Xiahou Yan walked up to Jiang Kai, looked him over from head to toe, narrowed his eyes, and said, "I might not know why this happened, but after killing the Firelight Beast, we got a piece of loot, and this loot has something to do with you."
Jiang Kai frowned slightly. "What loot."
Xiahou Yan looked back at Hua Tianchen and Wei Ying. Both of them nodded at him, so he took a card from his card pouch and handed it to Jiang Kai.
Jiang Kai picked up the card, and saw that the card showed a red bead.
Xiahou Yan said, "This thing belongs to you. I have no right to appraise it."
Jiang Kai's brow tightened. "How could the loot of the Guardian Lord belong to me?"
Xiahou Yan let out a short snort. "We've never run into this kind of situation before, but this also means that you have some kind of connection with this Guardian Lord who exceeded the standard. I want you to give me an explanation."
Jiang Kai immediately used an appraisal card to appraise the item.
[Fire Tribulation Bead, unknown material]
Jiang Kai's brows drew together. The result from the appraisal card was too vague. From these few words, he couldn't draw any conclusion.
"Jiang Kai, speak! Why was there something that belongs to you inside the Guardian Lord!" the Fire God shouted angrily.
Jiang Kai frowned and looked at Xiahou Yan. He truly had no idea why, and the Fire God being so aggressive made him very unhappy.
Jiang Kai let out a cold snort. "How would I know!"
"Who are you trying to fool? Did you use some unknown method to give this bead to the Guardian Lord?!"
"You really know how to imagine things." Jiang Kai raised his voice too.
Seeing the two of them arguing fiercely, Hua Tianchen quickly rushed over and pulled Xiahou Yan back. "Come on, Xiahou, don't get worked up, talk things through slowly." Speaking as he dragged him out of the room.
After Xiahou Yan left, Wei Ying walked up to Jiang Kai. He patted Jiang Kai's shoulder. "Kid, when are you coming to the War God Hall for testing?"
Jiang Kai looked at Wei Ying in surprise. "Old Wei, you're not here to interrogate me?"
"Interrogate? Interrogate what?" Wei Ying laughed. "The higher-ups just want to ask about the situation. Even though our Huaxia successfully hunted the Guardian Lord this time, the price was terrible. So many people died, especially those War Gods. Not long ago they'd just gone through a mining disaster and barely recovered, and this time they ran into an enhanced Guardian Lord again."
"In this kind of situation, and the Guardian Lord somehow ends up tied to you, of course the higher-ups will ask."
In front of Wei Ying, Jiang Kai's temper cooled quickly.
"Old Wei, that Fire God's words were really awful. What does he mean by saying I gave the Guardian Lord the Fire Tribulation Bead?"
Wei Ying pulled Jiang Kai into a seat. "You already answered him. You don't know about this, and that's enough."
"The only reason we won the hunt this time is that the Fire God's comrade sacrificed himself and created an opening for the Fire God, so they could kill the Guardian Lord in time. At the War God level, dying once carries a heavy punishment. He watched so many comrades die. Of course he would be emotional. Try to understand him."
Jiang Kai imagined the scene at that moment, and his dissatisfaction with the Fire God softened a little.
"The higher-ups mean that since this bead is yours, you should have it. Even though you're not military, Marshal Dong has always admired you," Wei Ying said. "But they aren't giving it to you for nothing."
Jiang Kai listened with a frown.
"You need to find out the connection between it and the Guardian Lord's increase in power. If you can find a solution, even better."
At this point, Wei Ying let out a long sigh. "The meteor skill the Firelight Beast unleashed this time covered twenty-four Huaxia safe zones and caused tens of millions of deaths, directly collapsing the entire defensive line. If other players hadn't sacrificed themselves, a failed hunt would've been the least of our problems. Even our territory might have been taken back!"
"According to the data department, the Guardian Lords other countries are dealing with at this stage should be between level 115 and 118. Based on earlier performance, the Firelight Beast's original strength fits that range. Only its fifth-stage falling meteor ability was far beyond what this level should have."
"If we can't figure this out, we don't dare expand our territory any further."
After listening to Wei Ying's words, Jiang Kai took a deep breath.
The Firelight Beast's fifth stage happened because of him, and this Fire Tribulation Bead had somehow become his item. Finding out the truth really was his responsibility.
"I'll figure it out," Jiang Kai said.
Actually, in Jiang Kai's mind, whether he figured it out or not was one thing, but for the next Guardian Lord, he had to find a countermeasure.
His divine punishment couldn't be something others bore for him.
"All right, back to the earlier question. When are you coming for the test? Once you reach the transcendent fifth stage, you have to pay attention to both reality and Ghost Star."
"Look, I'm about to go report in Huaxia City. You might as well come with me."
Jiang Kai shook his head. "I plan to go to the local War God Hall first. I want to wait for my brother."
Wei Ying nodded thoughtfully. "True enough. Your older brother, honestly, he's been gone as long as he's been on Ghost Star…" Then Wei Ying suddenly laughed. "You're really planning to stay local?"
Jiang Kai nodded.
"Fine. Get yourself ready. I'll have Xiao Hei arrange your test. He'll be available in a few days. Don't run around these days. Once he logs in, I'll have someone inform you to come take the War God test."
Jiang Kai asked in confusion, "Why does Black God have to preside?"
Wei Ying shook his head with a slightly awkward look. "Well, you should prepare yourself. A lot of people in the War God Hall think the same way as the Fire God. They're blaming you for the heavy losses this time."
"Especially those who died in this hunt, who suffered major losses. Now the evidence points to you, and you can't give a satisfactory explanation yet, so I'm afraid they might target you during the test."
"After all, in fifty years on Ghost Star, nowhere in the world has there been any item that recognized an owner before even making contact with the player." As he said this, Wei Ying looked at the card in Jiang Kai's hand, and the meaning couldn't have been clearer.
"Old Wei, what about you? Do you believe that I don't know where this bead came from?" Jiang Kai looked at Wei Ying.
Wei Ying smiled. "Me? Do you even need to ask? I believe you. And not just me. Some people in the upper ranks definitely believe you too. Otherwise, given the situation, you wouldn't be taking the Fire Tribulation Bead away. You'd be staying with it."
Jiang Kai thought for a moment, took a deep breath, and gave a firm nod. "Thanks, Old Wei."
…
For the next few days, Jiang Kai stayed in the new main city, building the new main city together with the members of the Main God Guild.
But at some point, rumors began spreading about Jiang Kai being connected to the Guardian Lord's sudden rise in strength.
Gradually, negative voices rose in the city.
"President, I heard some people say you're the culprit behind this BOSS going berserk…" He Shishi looked at Jiang Kai.
Jiang Kai kept carrying bricks and didn't speak.
He truly had grievances he couldn't voice. He couldn't explain why the Fire Tribulation Bead was bound to him, and at the same time, the Guardian Lord's power increase really was connected to him.
"Jiang Kai, no matter what happened, I believe you'll definitely resolve this, right?" He Shishi suddenly stopped and stared at Jiang Kai seriously.
Just then, a guild member came to Jiang Kai. "President, the military wants you to go to the War God Hall branch. They said the test is ready."
Jiang Kai set down his work, straightened his back, and left with the man.
Before leaving, Jiang Kai paused and said to He Shishi behind him, "You're right. I'll resolve this."
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