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Chapter 1176: Chapter 1176: Old Friends
"The air here is still quite fresh!"
By the shallow banks.
Devlin alighted from the dinghy, clad in black leather boots, stepping onto the soft sandy beach.
Beneath his feet lay the continent where Shadow Gate was located.
Three hundred kilometers from here was the headquarters of Shadow Gate.
He looked at the clean beach, pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, took one out, and placed it between his lips.
The air was mixed with the tang of seawater.
It only required crossing a narrow coast to get here from Middle-river Pier.
Not too far.
Nor was it close.
Devlin took out a lighter, lit the cigarette in his mouth, and turned to look at the Cyber members behind him.
"Brothers, once we get the Divine Dragon Tripod, I might consider giving you back your freedom," he said as he drew on the cigarette, exhaling smoke, "When that time comes, whether you wish to submit to Granny Xihua, return to Thunderpeak Hall to continue serving, or plan to follow me, I will satisfy your wishes."
"Of course, that’s assuming Granny Xihua is still alive by then, and Thunderpeak Hall still exists. But it’s possible that in a short while, both could be gone."
He lazily spoke, with one hand shoved into his pocket and the other holding the cigarette.
No one spoke.
The Cyber members had remained silent from the very beginning.
They dared not speak.
The deaths of their comrades were clear in their memories!
Outside Five-river Province, Devlin had said the same thing.
Yet, in the end, the member who left was directly killed by a hidden weapons box!
"I know you don’t believe me, so we’ll talk about it when the time comes."
Devlin threw the cigarette butt on the ground and crushed it with force.
A footprint remained on the beach with the cigarette butt at its center.
"Let’s go, someone’s here to pick us up."
He stretched, took out a poison egg from his pocket, pulled the pin, and tossed it onto the boat.
"Burning one’s boats... Every time I think of that story, I find it utterly foolish. As a person, how can you not leave yourself a way out?"
Devlin looked at the burning dinghy, a slight curve forming at the corner of his mouth.
"Mr. Devlin, who’s coming to pick us up? We’re still hundreds of kilometers from Shadow Gate. On our two legs, even if they were made of steel, we couldn’t bear it!"
A Cyber member called out.
In front of them lay nothing but the infinite sea and the vast expanse of beach.
No bird was in sight in the sky.
"I said someone’s coming to pick us up," Devlin said as he took a signal hidden weapons box from his waist and fired it into the sky!
A red flare cut through the sky, glaring even in the daylight.
"Wait."
Devlin put the signal hidden weapons box back against his waist and pulled out an electronic display from his pocket.
On it, the red dots began to scatter.
However, some converged together.
"Boss, this trick you’re playing with me seems futile!" he said, tapping the red dots on the screen, each tap bringing up information including name, photograph, and current location.
Long before arriving at Shadow Gate, Devlin had already quietly dispatched Cyber members to infiltrate the area and bought many people over.
Those killed by the Boss of Shadow Gate were only the ones exposed.
There were still unexposed and deeper hidden agents.
Devlin was very clear in his mind; the Boss did not have the resources to investigate each one individually.
That phone call of his had the dual purpose of inducing the Boss to leave with the Divine Dragon Tripod and to intimidate.
Pressure.
Tremendous pressure meant Shadow Gate would not have the time to self-investigate.
As one of the martial world’s leaders, Shadow Gate was well-informed.
The whole world knew the Divine Dragon Tripod was with Shadow Gate, the Boss could not possibly be unaware.
Faced with such an overwhelming force, the Boss had to make a decision.
Forging a bunch of Divine Dragon Tripods and having everyone scatter in various directions was certainly an outcome that Devlin hadn’t anticipated, yet it was still within reason.
"Not bad for the boss I once followed. He’s got some tricks up his sleeve."
He couldn’t help but take out another cigarette again.
"This craving for smoking is getting worse."
After hesitating for a moment, he still placed the cigarette between his lips.
He lit his lighter.
He couldn’t recall since when he had started to love smoking.
Perhaps after Granny Xihua had passed away?
Or when he began to personally strategize this grand game?
Once, Devlin himself was also a chess piece.
A pawn used by others!
But he was not satisfied!
Thus, over hundreds of years, he had become the one playing the game.
From the plot in Medicine King Valley to the appearance of Julius Reed in Gonzalez City,
every move was according to his script.
Although there were many unexpected events, overall, they were still within the plan.
He finished the cigarette.
A convoy appeared on the beach.
"Someone’s actually coming?"
The Cyber members were surprised.
In this desolate place, who could it be?
Although some of their members had come to this continent in advance, they were all embedded within the core members of Shadow Gate, responsible for surveillance.
The person coming here definitely wasn’t one of them.
The convoy drew closer.
Finally, it stopped beside Devlin.
"Old friend, hello there."
The driver greeted Devlin as he lowered the window of the lead vehicle.
"Master Beaumont?"
The Cyber members exclaimed in surprise.
Almost everyone was stunned.
They couldn’t imagine that the help Devlin had called for was Brysen Beaumont?
Could it be that this Mage had also defected?
"Long time no see!" Devlin walked over to the passenger side, pulled open the door, and jumped in.
"What are you looking at! Get in!"
He shouted, and the Cyber members immediately averted their surprised gazes, starting to head to the other vehicles.
"Thanks for the help."
Devlin pulled out a cigarette and handed one to Brysen Beaumont, "Why the sudden decision to join me?"
"There’s no future in following Granny."
Brysen Beaumont took the cigarette, put it in his mouth, then put the car in gear and started to leave the beach.
"A good bird chooses the tree it lodges in." Devlin passed over the lighter and lit the cigarette in Brysen’s mouth.
"To be honest, I’ve always admired you. In Thunderpeak Hall, our collaboration, one in charge of scripture and the other martial affairs, was quite in sync."
After saying that, he also took a cigarette, placed it between his lips, and stuck his head out of the car window.
"Why betray?"
While driving, Brysen Beaumont asked, "Give me a reason. Though we’re old friends, I need to understand why I should join you this time."
The car left the beach and started up a rugged mountain road.
"Who doesn’t want to be the boss?" Devlin leaned against the car window, holding a cigarette, flicking the ash outside, "I want to be the boss, no longer want to work for Granny. The Divine Dragon Tripod is a fine thing, and if I can get it, I’m sure I’ll do even better than Thunderpeak Hall did back in the day."
His tone was very sincere, seemingly having no secrets in his conversation with Brysen Beaumont.
"But as far as I know, your relationship with Granny is more than it seems." Brysen Beaumont turned his head, looking into Devlin’s eyes, "You even have descendants with her. I’m starting to wonder whether you’re under Granny’s orders, testing my loyalty?"
Brysen Beaumont, with the cigarette in his mouth, asked aloud.
