A luxurious suite in a hotel at night.
The room was brightly lit.
Nancy sat on the sofa, her face flushed, her head bowed, not daring to look at the red-robed man opposite her.
This man was none other than Bedra, the captain of the Bright Hall in this operation.
"Nancy, you've disappointed me too much!"
"As a pride of the Bright Hall, the most likely successor to a Cardinal, how could you disobey orders and act on your own!"
"If this harms our plan, can you take responsibility?"
Bedra roared at Nancy in anger.
Nancy was exceptionally talented and was the future of the Bright Hall. The high-ranking officials of the Bright Hall had great hopes for her.
Some even believed that once Nancy grew up, she could end the current tripartite era and usher in a new chapter where the Bright Hall dominated the world.
But today, Nancy's impetuousness deeply disappointed Bedra. How could the future of the Bright Hall be entrusted to such a reckless person as Nancy?
Let alone those unrealistic futures, even the current mission, given Nancy's temperament, would be difficult to complete!
"Lord Bedra, Nancy knows she was wrong and asks for punishment."
Facing the furious Bedra, Nancy had nothing to say and could only ask for punishment.
After all, she had lost to Ye Cangtian, tarnishing the reputation of the Bright Hall. Only by being punished would she feel better.
"Hmph! Let's skip the punishment. I hope you remember this lesson!"
"You must remember that being competitive is a good thing, but it depends on the occasion. Otherwise, it will become your greatest weakness!"
Seeing Nancy readily admit her mistake, Bedra's expression softened slightly, and he let out a light hum.
The matter was not too bad. For now, it had not caused any consequences.
Besides, Nancy was a pride of the Bright Hall. Even if she made a mistake, it was not his place to punish her.
Thinking this, Bedra changed the subject and said, "Now, tell me, what is Ye Cangtian's true strength?"
In his opinion, since the matter had already happened, it was best to glean some useful information from it.
"Ye Cangtian is very strong, but he shouldn't have reached the Earth-level realm!"
Listening to Bedra's question, Nancy was silent for a moment. She recalled the entire process of their previous battle before speaking.
The previous battle was not long, and Ye Cangtian had been suppressing his aura throughout the entire process, so she could not determine his true combat power.
She could only vaguely judge his speed.
Although that speed made her sigh with admiration, it was not unattainable. She believed that as long as she continued to work hard, she would be able to reach that speed before long.
Hmm?
Hearing Nancy's words, Bedra frowned. He believed Nancy was not lying.
But this was clearly not Ye Cangtian's full strength!
Considering Nancy's rapid progress, she still couldn't force out Ye Cangtian's full power. He truly felt that Ye Cangtian's talent was terrifying.
If given time, Ye Cangtian would likely become the Bright Hall's greatest enemy.
Alas, this was perhaps the way of the world – there's always someone better!
Sighing in his heart, Bedra's expression turned serious and he said, "Nancy, did you question him? Did he kill Badak?"
"This..."
Mentioning Badak, Nancy's pretty face flushed, and she lowered her head in shame.
When she saw Ye Cangtian, she only wanted to have a fair fight and didn't think about Badak's matter at all.
After being defeated, Ye Cangtian didn't linger and turned to leave, giving her no chance to confront him.
Now that Bedra was asking, she felt too embarrassed to answer.
"You're really something!"
Seeing Nancy's reaction, Bedra understood everything. He suppressed the anger in his heart, got up, and returned to his room.
Watching Bedra's retreating back, Nancy breathed a sigh of relief and quietly left the suite.
...
Several days passed.
Ye Cangtian was quite troubled.
Since the appearance of the Lightning Mercenary Group, more and more mercenary groups had appeared in the past two days.
They were not strong, but they were like flies, always circling around him.
Some were lingering around, scouting the situation, some directly chose assassination, and some even held sniper rifles, preparing to snipe him from afar on higher floors.
Various methods, endless, made him extremely annoyed.
Fortunately, he had the support of Gu Qin, Gu Yue, and the Dragon Group; otherwise, it would have been impossible to hide from Tang Xinwan.
However, even so, Tang Xinwan gradually became suspicious of Ye Cangtian's absent-mindedness and his constant apprehension.
Ring!
Just as Ye Cangtian was finally free and preparing to rest for a while, his phone rang. Looking at the number, Ye Cangtian immediately pressed the answer button.
The other party was none other than Rose from the Grim Reaper Mercenary Group.
In the past two days, only weak forces had come to harass him.
In Ye Cangtian's opinion, them trying to deal with him was a joke, and their forceful approach was akin to seeking death.
Therefore, he had specifically asked Rose to investigate and see what kind of benefits were driving them to disregard their lives.
Now that Rose was calling, it was likely that there were some clues.
"I've investigated."
"Those weak forces, not knowing their place and meddling in this matter, are doing so because of the Bright Hall's promise..."
As expected, Rose brought Ye Cangtian the answer he wanted.
It was all the Bright Hall's doing!
The Bright Hall promised that any force that participated in the action to kill Ye Cangtian, whether successful or not, would receive the Bright Hall's support afterward.
Of course, the extent of the support would depend on each force's contribution and losses.
It was known that in the eyes of those forces, the Bright Hall's support was an excellent opportunity for them to rise.
Just like the Caesar Mercenary Group and the Tam Mercenary Group.
Originally, these two mercenary groups were of average strength, but after receiving the support of the Dark Association and the Bright Hall, they had soared to become the top three in the mercenary alliance.
And these weak mercenary groups, who were usually bullied, naturally harbored suppressed anger and longed for a turnaround.
Therefore, each of them went all out.
"Do these mercenary group leaders have any brains!"
"The Bright Hall has always been treacherous and cunning, and they've broken their promises more than once. Can you believe this?"
Listening to Rose's investigation results, Ye Cangtian muttered speechlessly.
"Boss, the Bright Hall is insidious and cunning in front of us, but in front of most people, they disguise themselves very well, still appearing benevolent and merciful!"
"Moreover, I heard that the Bright Hall has spared no expense this time. They have paid a certain amount of spirit stones to each interested force in advance, and this is just a deposit..."
Listening to Ye Cangtian's complaint, Rose quickly replied.
In his opinion, the Bright Hall's determination was great, and this time it didn't seem like there were any tricks.
"This..."
Hearing Rose's words, Ye Cangtian frowned.
The Bright Hall using spirit stones as a bargaining chip was something he had not expected.
It was known that spirit stones were not easily obtainable in the world, while money was the common currency. Many forces could only dream of spirit stones.
Especially for small forces, their access to spirit stones was very limited. One way was to exchange them with money at a value far exceeding that of spirit stones.
Another way was to adventure in various ruins, but the price they paid was unimaginable, while the gains were meager.
In such a situation, the Bright Hall directly using spirit stones as a chip was definitely hitting the soft spot of these forces.
After all, killing Ye Cangtian was probably not as dangerous as venturing into ruins, so those forces naturally went all out.
Thinking of this, Ye Cangtian asked suspiciously, "That's not right. If they went all out, why didn't many people come?"
Ye Cangtian was curious about this. Up to today, he had seen at least four or five forces, but the number of people acting in each force was not many, only about twenty.
These people could not be considered to have gone all out.
"Boss, you are in China!"
"China is a forbidden zone for mercenaries. Without paying a high price or having sufficient restraints, how could they infiltrate?"
Rose said exasperatedly.
"You have a point there."
Hearing Rose's words, Ye Cangtian felt as if he had been enlightened and instantly understood.
However, even so, the number of people from various forces was too few, too few to be normal.
"Continue the investigation. I want more detailed and accurate information."
"At the same time, set fire to their backyard!"
Ye Cangtian pondered for a moment and said.
Since these forces were scrambling to get involved, he would not be blamed for taking advantage of the opportunity. He did not believe that with fires in their backyards, these forces could stay in China for long!
"Leave it to me!"
Rose immediately understood Ye Cangtian's intention, then responded and hung up the phone.