"What exactly happened? Tell me everything, in detail!" the Pope’s roaring voice finally broke the silence.
The next moment, he learned the full story from the guard.
All the cardinals had fallen into a trap set by the Dark Association and were lured into the desert, falling into a perilous secret realm.
In the end, only six Earth-level enforcers of the Dark Association emerged from the secret realm, while not a single cardinal from the Temple of Light survived…
"What!"
Upon hearing this news, the Pope’s vision darkened, and he nearly fainted.
He already knew about the death of the Dark Association's Qing Dao, which made accepting this news even more difficult.
The Dark Association had only six Earth-level enforcers left in total.
And he had sent nearly thirty cardinals, yet they failed to kill even one of the enemy. They were utterly useless!
What was most critical was that these cardinals were all loyal fanatics of the Temple of Light. Without them to carry out such missions, future endeavors would be in serious trouble!
For a time, the Pope’s chest heaved violently with anger, rendering him speechless.
"All of you are useless! Your Eminence, don't you have anyone competent in the Outer Hall?"
"The most dangerous area in the Dark Ruins is the desert. Don't they even know this? Didn't they suspect it was a trap?"
"What's most unbearable is that nearly 30 cardinals couldn't kill a single enemy. Even 30 pigs could have trampled to death one Earth-level enforcer!"
While the Pope was rendered speechless by anger, Leon, on the other side, began to roar in fury.
In his eyes, those cardinals were less capable than pigs, and providing them with the Nine Revolutions Golden Elixir was a waste!
"Shut up! Stop shouting at me! Know your place!"
"You might not have done any better than them in this situation!"
Seeing Leon's unrestrained insults, the Pope's face flushed crimson with anger, and he could no longer tolerate it, roaring back.
Though those fanatics were somewhat incompetent, they had at least sacrificed their lives for the Temple of Light, and they did not deserve such insults!
Furthermore, Leon was clearly using this as an indirect attack on him, and he would not indulge it, as he, the Pope, also valued his reputation!
"My apologies, I lost my composure!"
Sensing the Pope's formidable aura and chilling killing intent, Leon immediately became subdued, finally realizing that the Pope was a Heavenly-level expert.
He quickly bowed and apologized, which finally softened the Pope's expression.
The next moment, the Pope glanced at Leon and said, "Go and inform the Inner Hall. The Outer Hall is incapable of handling this matter. To complete the mission, the Inner Hall will need to dispatch high-level experts to cooperate!"
Although he was reluctant to admit it, the Pope had to acknowledge the failure.
He also believed that the Inner Hall would understand his predicament; he had truly done his best.
After all, sending out nearly 30 cardinals at once was already a formidable force.
Yet, they still failed!
This was not solely due to the incompetence of these individuals, but also indicated that their opponents were not to be underestimated.
Since the matter was bound to be reported back to the Inner Hall, he decided to throw the difficult problem back to them and let the Inner Hall send people to resolve it.
This way, the Inner Hall wouldn't be able to criticize without understanding the challenges.
"Alright, I understand."
Upon hearing the Pope's words, Leon inwardly sneered.
But no matter what, the Pope had admitted the Outer Hall's incompetence and provided a response, which was sufficient for him to report back.
After acknowledging, Leon withdrew from the great hall.
"Damn it, why are those people so stupid!"
Only after Leon departed did the Pope roar again.
His expression was terrifyingly grim. Even with the deep foundation of the Temple of Light, such failures were unsustainable!
Crucially, the Inner Hall would now know, and he had utterly lost face…
…
Kyoto, Huaxia.
Upon Ye Cangtian's return to Kyoto, he immediately parted ways with Zi Long and Lan Yue.
He proceeded directly to Grandpa Xu's residence.
After all, this trip had taken nearly a month, and he was eager to see what had transpired in Kyoto.
When he arrived at the family compound, Grandpa Xu was taking his afternoon nap.
Ye Cangtian paid no heed to this, ignoring Secretary Liu's attempts to stop him, and directly barged into Grandpa Xu's secret chamber, waking him up.
"You brat, do you know how immoral it is to disturb an old man's nap!"
Grandpa Xu rubbed his eyes and complained grumpily upon seeing Ye Cangtian.
"Hmph! Grandpa, you have to understand me too!"
"I just returned from the Dark Ruins and came here before going home. I'm in a hurry to see my wife!"
Ye Cangtian snorted and replied somewhat impatiently.
Heh heh.
Grandpa Xu smiled helplessly, too lazy to engage with him further, and directly changed the subject, saying, "Brat, what did you gain from your trip to the Dark Ruins?"
"Nothing much, just helped the Dark Association solve some trouble by cleaning up those cardinals who didn't belong in the Dark Ruins, and picked up a few candies to play with…"
Ye Cangtian replied with a slight smile, in a teasing tone.
"…"
Hearing Ye Cangtian’s words, Grandpa Xu’s mouth twitched.
The troubles in the Dark Ruins had been significant; he had heard some about them.
Therefore, it was far from the easy matter Ye Cangtian described. However, this was the Dark Association’s business, and he was too lazy to pay much attention.
It was the so-called candies that caught his attention.
Thinking this, he inquired, "What are these candies you speak of?"
"Candies are just candies, the kind that make you feel happy when you eat them…"
Ye Cangtian replied with a smile, not truthfully disclosing the matter of the elixirs.
He naturally trusted Grandpa Xu, but if he informed him, he would inevitably have to leave some elixirs behind, and the origin of those elixirs would then attract attention.
If something were to be dug up, his identity as "Po Xiao" would be in trouble.
Therefore, it was better not to disclose it and to hand the elixirs directly to the Hidden Unit, which would then distribute them to the Dragon Unit. While this would be more troublesome, it would avoid any complications.
"Hmph!"
"Brat, you’re being secretive, and you came here just to disturb my sleep!"
Hearing Ye Cangtian's words, Grandpa Xu felt displeased and snorted.
Haha.
Ye Cangtian laughed heartily and said helplessly, "You really are like a child when you get old! Alright, let's get down to business. How has Kyoto been lately?"
Grandpa Xu rolled his eyes at Ye Cangtian and then replied grumpily, "There haven't been any major issues in Kyoto, except that people from the Temple of Light attempted to re-establish an intelligence station. The Dragon Unit is currently clearing them out…"
As he spoke, Grandpa Xu’s expression turned grim. Although Kyoto was currently under control and relatively stable,
the situation with the Hidden Unit was not optimistic. The Temple of Light had dispatched many experts who relentlessly attacked the entrance to the Hidden Unit.
Under the desperate defense of the Hidden Unit, the entrance was finally secured, but the casualties among the Hidden Unit members were extremely heavy, with two Earth-level experts among them perishing.
"What!"
Upon hearing this, Ye Cangtian's eyes widened abruptly.
The last time, he had heard from Grandpa Xu that the Temple of Light had acted against the Hidden Unit and was repelled at the entrance.
He had expected the situation to calm down, which was why he had gone to the Dark Association first. However, he never imagined that the fighting at the Hidden Unit would be so fierce.
After all, the Hidden Unit did not have an abundance of Earth-level experts, and losing two of them was undoubtedly a heavy blow.
Thinking of this, Ye Cangtian glanced at Grandpa Xu and said, "Grandpa, please continue to manage affairs in Kyoto. I can't help you anymore. I need to return to the Hidden Unit immediately; I’ll be leaving tomorrow!"
"Go."
Grandpa Xu did not stop him, as this was entirely within his expectations.
He knew that once Ye Cangtian received this news, he would immediately rush to reinforce the Hidden Unit.
This was for the best; with Ye Cangtian's capabilities and strength, he should be able to resolve the Hidden Unit's troubles.
…