[Night, Martial Heaven Capital Urban District, Star Energy Core Zone]
The entrance to the Star Energy Core Zone was heavily guarded. Layer upon layer of star energy defensive runes were etched into the walls, while a pale blue energy barrier flowed slowly across them like liquid.
Caroline raised her hand to release a wisp of golden Mechanical Star Energy, condensing it in her palm into a clearance badge. This was a high-level credential applied for in advance by Tendo, capable of shielding them from the defense system's detection.
"Follow closely," Caroline whispered to the team members behind her before leading them through the energy barrier.
Inside the core zone, a massive energy converter stood in the center. Its silver-white metal casing was covered in complex wiring, and a low, rhythmic hum resonated from within. Dense star energy flowed through the air as if it were tangible, forming pale blue currents visible to the naked eye.
Lu Ming's silhouette was visible directly beneath the energy converter. His back was to the entrance as he carefully opened an encrypted briefcase in his hands.
Caroline signaled the group to disperse and hide behind the surrounding machinery. She then activated her Mechanical Star Energy to construct a real-time monitoring feed on her retinas, clearly recording Lu Ming's movements.
Lu Ming took a palm-sized black crystal from the briefcase. The crystal's surface was carved with eerie patterns similar to those found in the Mother Nest of the Skeleton Desert, emitting a faint trace of Abyss energy. He circled to the side of the energy converter, located a hidden interface, and slowly embedded the black crystal into it.
The moment the crystal touched the interface, the surrounding circuits lit up with a dark red glow, creating a sharp contrast with the converter's natural pale blue star energy.
A team member whispered into the communicator, "It's an Abyss Energy Induction Crystal."
"According to the R&D department, these crystals can silently tamper with the converter's operating program, transforming star energy into Abyss energy. It's extremely difficult to detect with conventional scans."
Caroline's gaze darkened. she did not order an attack but continued to observe. She knew that if Lu Ming dared to set this up alone in the core zone, he had to have backup—or rather, this crystal was just the tip of the iceberg of the entire ritual.
She was waiting for more "fish" to take the bait.
Sure enough, just as Lu Ming finished installing the crystal, his communicator rang.
He picked up and spoke in a respectful tone. "Yes... I have completed the first stage of the layout. The induction crystal is running normally. Understood, I will remain here and wait for further instructions... Yes, Lord Night Owl."
"Night Owl!"
The team members hiding behind the machinery narrowed their eyes. They hadn't expected Lu Ming to address the other party directly as Night Owl. Was he the high-level mole?
Caroline, however, did not let down her guard. She noticed that as Lu Ming spoke, his eyes instinctively flickered toward the top of the energy converter, as if he were wary of something.
At that moment, a slight sound came from the ceiling of the core zone. A dark shadow dropped down silently like a bat, landing steadily behind Lu Ming.
"The mission was well executed," the shadow said. The voice had been electronically processed, sounding raspy and low. "However, it seems you've brought uninvited guests."
Lu Ming's expression changed as he spun around. "What? Someone followed me?"
The shadow waved a hand, and a streak of black star energy lashed out toward the area where Caroline and her team were hiding.
"Action!" Caroline barked.
Her Mechanical Star Energy surged violently. Much like a transforming robot, the energy condensed in front of her into a futuristic, high-tech mechanical wall. The black star energy slammed into Caroline's wall, instantly sparking ripples of energy.
Taking advantage of this opening, the team members behind Caroline charged from their hiding spots, channeling their star energy as they surrounded Lu Ming and the shadow.
Seeing this, Lu Ming dropped his facade. His star energy flared as his hands transformed into two sharp bone blades, slashing toward the nearest team member. That member was an Enhancement-type Star Envoy; he immediately hardened his body with star energy and blocked the blades.
Clang!
The ear-piercing sound of clashing metal rang out. The team member was forced back several steps, a crack appearing on the star energy shield on his arm.
Fortunately, the people Caroline brought this time were elites. Furthermore, because Lu Ming held the position of Director of the Inspectorate at the Martial Heaven Capital Branch of the Star Envoy Association, these team members had been transferred in from other locations to ensure loyalty. Thus, even if their individual strength did not match Lu Ming's—a peak Tier 3 Star Envoy—they were more than capable of pinning him down.
On the other side, Caroline had already engaged the shadow in combat. The shadow was incredibly fast, flickering like a ghost and conjuring daggers of black star energy. Every strike was aimed precisely at Caroline's vitals. Despite her own strength, Caroline found herself on the defensive against such a fierce close-quarters assault.
"Your strength is impressive, but your speed is lacking," the shadow sneered. The star energy dagger cut through the air, lunging for Caroline's throat.
In that split second, a figure stepped out from the void, interposing himself in front of Caroline.
Thump!
In an instant, the dagger in the shadow's hand felt as if it had hit an invisible wall, falling to the ground with a loud clatter.
The shadow looked up to find that Tendo had appeared at some unknown moment. Currently, he was already capable of briefly resisting sub-space storms and performing short-range rapid teleports—a privilege reserved exclusively for Natural Disaster-level powerhouses.
Tendo's appearance undoubtedly put immense pressure on the shadow. So much so that Lu Ming, not far away, suddenly broke free from the others and charged at Tendo.
However, before he could take more than a few steps, an invisible vector force field abruptly descended upon him, pinning him firmly in place. Seeing this, the nearby team members seized the opportunity to rush forward and bind him with restraining chains.
In a single exchange, the former Director of the Inspectorate and peak Tier 3 Star Envoy, Lu Ming, was completely subdued by Tendo.
A look of desperation flashed in the shadow's eyes as he violently channeled his remaining star energy.
"Trying to self-destruct?" Tendo's lazy voice rang out.
The originally formless vector force field suddenly became tangible, turning into silver-white chains that instantly wrapped the shadow tightly, suppressing the star energy within his body. This method of turning the ethereal into the physical caught the shadow completely off guard, and even Caroline was momentarily dazed.
Tendo... has developed Vector Control to this extent?
Looking at the pensive Caroline, Tendo was in no hurry to unmask the shadow. He smiled and said, "Caroline, your bait worked well, but you almost got yourself caught in the trap."
"When did you arrive?" Caroline asked.
"I've been here since the moment you entered the core zone."
With those words, Tendo turned to look at the motionless shadow. He said with a smile, "Now then, let's see what this so-called 'Night Owl' is all about."
As Tendo finished speaking, a flurry of footsteps echoed from the entrance of the core zone. To everyone's surprise, Zhao Kun and Han Wen—whom Tendo and Caroline had previously marked as suspects—appeared. They were accompanied by several Dark Star Envoys dressed in black uniforms.
Seeing this, Caroline realized they had walked into a "trap." However, surprisingly, apart from the team members she had brought, both she and Tendo remained perfectly calm, as if they were not at all surprised by this outcome.
Han Wen and the others, however, didn't think much of it, assuming Tendo and Caroline were merely putting on a front of composure.
"Tendo Simei, Caroline... you thought you were setting bait, but you didn't realize that you yourselves were our prey."
"Lu Ming was just a pawn we intentionally threw out. The goal was simply to lure you here."
"Oh?" Tendo cocked an eyebrow. "Does that mean the three of you are all 'Night Owl'?"
"Exactly."
The bound shadow nearby suddenly ripped off his mask, revealing a familiar face—it was indeed the Inspectorate Director, Lu Ming. Meanwhile, the "Lu Ming" who had been subdued earlier saw his form distort before turning into a different, unfamiliar man in black.
Clearly, the real Lu Ming had not been the one caught; the previous one was merely a double modified with Abyss energy. No wonder his strength had been... unexpectedly weak.
Under the calm gazes of Tendo and Caroline, the Abyss energy within the double's body slowly dissipated, and his form collapsed into a puddle of black sludge.
Zhao Kun waved his hand, and the members of the Abyssal Heavens Organization behind him lunged toward Tendo's group.
"The defense system of the Star Energy Core Zone has already been tampered with by us. No one from the outside can get in. You can rest easy knowing you will become the sacrifices to open the Abyss Passage."
"Tampering with the defense system?" Tendo scoffed.
The invisible vector force field instantly expanded, covering the entire Star Energy Core Zone. The defensive runes on the walls, which had been flickering with a dark red light, instantly turned silver-white under the influence of the force field.
Seeing this, the expressions of Zhao Kun and his two companions changed drastically. They seemed to realize something. They hadn't expected Tendo's Vector Control to reach the level where he could directly control someone else's star energy technique from such a distance.
Is this Star Source... truly still Vector Control? Or has his Vector Control already undergone its Third Awakening?
The so-called Third Awakening was the symbol of a Natural Disaster. Yet, they did not feel that "Source Power" inherent in every action of a Natural Disaster-level powerhouse.
Ignoring their grim expressions, Tendo said flatly, "Your plan has been within my grasp from the very beginning."
"The reason I didn't act immediately was to see what kind of waves you could actually kick up, and to wipe out all your hidden forces in Martial Heaven Capital in one fell swoop."
As soon as he finished speaking, a dense sound of footsteps came from the entrance. Jing Liuli rushed in with a large contingent of Inspectorate members, completely surrounding Zhao Kun's trio and the remaining Abyssal Heavens members.
"Tendo, the Abyssal Heavens members outside have been completely purged. None escaped."
Zhao Kun and his allies knew they were in trouble. Fortunately, their plan... was also largely complete.
Thus, Lu Ming looked at Tendo and said with a dark expression, "It's useless. The vital parts of the ritual are already finished."
"What you are doing now is merely adding a few flaws to our perfect plan. It won't affect the grand scheme. Once the ritual begins smoothly, the gates to the Abyss... will open naturally!"
To this, Tendo laughed. "Is that so?"
Shortly after he spoke, An Qin's figure appeared at the entrance, her body surrounded by the pale purple star energy of the Dark Spirit Snake. Seeing her, Lu Ming's trio frowned.
"Well? You should be able to sense the locations of those altars, right?" Tendo asked.
An Qin nodded. "I can sense the general direction. As long as I get within a certain distance, I can precisely lock onto the corresponding altar."
Upon hearing An Qin's words, a sense of foreboding rose in the hearts of Lu Ming and his companions. Their greatest confidence lay in the fact that the ritual layout was finished and that ordinary people would find it nearly impossible to locate the various ritual altars. But with An Qin here, everything changed. As a former member of the Abyssal Heavens Organization, An Qin possessed a keen sensitivity to the aura of the Abyss. With her leading the way, finding those altars was only a matter of time.
Realizing this, Lu Ming and the others exchanged glances and came to a decision. Originally, they thought they just needed to deal with meddlers like Tendo Simei and stall until the start of the Star Energy Festival. Then, everything would be set in stone. But now it seemed they had overestimated their own methods and underestimated Tendo's strength.
Although this person had not yet awakened his Source or stepped into the Natural Disaster rank, his terrifying talent made his current strength more fearsome than an average Natural Disaster. Even more exaggeratedly, Tendo possessed a level of mental acuity and strategic depth that was completely at odds with his age. Calling him a second Enite was not an exaggeration at all. Once Tendo grew up, he would inevitably become the next supreme powerhouse to suppress an entire generation after Enite stepped down.
Thinking of this, Lu Ming's trio made their move. Although the current ritual lacked sufficient sacrifices and a forced activation would greatly reduce its power, if they could use it to take down the future strongest member of the Star Envoy Association... the trade seemed worth it.
Boom!
To Caroline's surprise, a violent tremor suddenly rocked Martial Heaven Capital. The entire floating city began to shake. Such a situation had never occurred in the century since the city's creation. One had to understand that the Seven Floating Cities were aerial fortresses built by several major nations of the old era using the entire world's resources at the dawn of the Star Source Era. While much of the technology was old, it had been constantly reinforced by subsequent generations. Today, the Seven Floating Cities could not be viewed as ordinary cities; they were the ultimate products of a high-level integration of old-era technology and star energy technology.
To affect such an ultimate fortress, the conditions required had to be incredibly demanding.
"Tendo, do you feel that?" Caroline looked at Tendo, showing a rare serious expression.
Tendo nodded and looked up at the sky of Martial Heaven Capital, which was beginning to turn a dark red. A blood moon had silently appeared in the sky, eerie and ominous.
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A new Demon Slayer fanfic has been uploaded! Don't forget to check it out—it's really good and I think you'll love it.