"Especially members of the Elf Royal Family. They must also be examined. Once a member of the Royal Family is parasitized, death is what awaits us," Jiang Chen continued.

Lisa also felt the seriousness of the situation. If the Royal Family is occupied, how can we still fight this war?

Lisa nodded. "You are right. I need to take you back to see the Elf Queen, my mother. There are many of The Guards in the Elf Palace, and I don't know if they've been parasitized."

If they could infiltrate Lisa's personal Guards, they could also infiltrate the Elf Palace. The Elven World and the Xileruo World both belong to the Alliance of All-Gods. However, the Elven World is different; it is not governed by a council but by the Elf Queen alone, making her equivalent to the ruler of a nation. This was because there was a God in the Elven World, but the Elf God did not reside in the Elven World; he was in another dimension of Space. Even with a God, the Elven World still had to obey the Alliance of All-Gods. The Xileruo World also had a God; its people, from different Clans, formed a council and jointly ruled the entire Xileruo World.

Jiang Chen, along with Angelina and seven others, used the Teleportation Array to return to the Elf Palace. The Elf Palace spanned over 10,000 acres. The palace building itself stretched up several kilometers, magnificent and imposing, like a God's Temple standing in the center. Upon entering the main city area, they observed that apart from the Elves, there were also other races around. The number of Elves in the Elven World was not very high, even less so than in the Human World; a single city was guarded by only a few thousand Elf warriors.

Jiang Chen sighed. "Things are more serious than I imagined."

Lisa stopped. "What do you mean?"

"The Parasitic Beasts you mentioned aren't just parasitizing soldiers but are also among the civilians. I've spotted several on our way here."

"What?" Lisa exclaimed, her disbelief growing as she looked at the surrounding crowd. She found it hard to accept that the infestation had spread into the Imperial City.

"You're not lying to me, are you?" Lisa asked skeptically.

Jiang Chen smiled, walked over to a fruit stall, and pointed at the vendor. "He is one of them."

Lisa looked at the fruit vendor skeptically. The vendor, in turn, stared sternly at Jiang Chen, not understanding how this man had discovered them.

Lisa stretched out her right hand, Flames igniting on it as she watched the vendor vigilantly. "Tear off your hair."

The fruit vendor had barely made a move when he was engulfed in Flames, which burned fiercely. The scene immediately caused chaos. A large number of soldiers arrived, and upon spotting Lisa, they called out, "Princess."

Lisa stepped forward. As she looked at the writhing body, a small white worm—a Parasitic Beast—emerged from the vendor's skull.

Lisa turned to the soldiers. "This man was parasitized by a Parasitic Beast. Take care of it."

"Yes, Princess."

Lisa then led Jiang Chen away, heading for the palace.

Inside the Elf Palace, Lisa met the Elf Queen.

Lisa recounted her experience. The Elf Queen frowned deeply. "Your personal Guards have encountered Parasitic Beasts?"

"Yes. We only discovered them thanks to Jiang Chen. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable."

"It seems cutting the skin no longer works; they've already devised countermeasures."

The Elf Queen looked at Jiang Chen. "You are peculiar. You can perceive these Parasitic Beasts. May I ask, how do you know they are Parasitic Beasts?"

"Although they look no different from ordinary people, their aura is distinct, and I can perceive it."

"Their aura is different, you say!" the Elf Queen mused.

"Yes," Jiang Chen affirmed.

"Then how do we identify if they are parasitized by Parasitic Beasts?"

"You can pull out their hair; their hair is alive. Of course, this is currently the best method. If the Parasitic Beasts learn of this, they will surely find a way to counteract it."

The Elf Queen gestured. A cage was brought in, holding an Elf who was also parasitized. On the Queen's command, some of the Elf's hair was pulled out. The hair immediately writhed as if alive.

"It really is," an official exclaimed.

"So the hair can move like that!" another remarked.

"This method works. If there's something unusual about the hair, it means they've been parasitized by Parasitic Beasts and turned into monsters."

A minister stepped forward. "Her Majesty, now that Parasitic Beasts have appeared in the Imperial City, I urge you to issue an immediate order to search for and capture those parasitized by them throughout the city."

"Please, Her Majesty, issue the decree," others chimed in.

The Elf Queen immediately ordered a citywide manhunt. The search began with The Guards, who underwent strict scrutiny. This quickly revealed the presence of Parasitic Beasts. Hundreds were killed, with at least a hundred found within The Guards stationed in the Imperial City, and more scattered throughout the city itself. The Elf Queen truly realized the severity of the situation then. A hundred Parasitic Beasts within the entire contingent of The Guards, and I, the Elf Queen, knew nothing!

Jiang Chen followed Lisa as they left the main hall.

Lisa expressed her gratitude. "Thank you for your help this time. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have discovered so many Parasitic Beasts."

"What is the Spiritual Pearl?" Jiang Chen asked.

"The Spiritual Pearl is what Seals the rift to the Different Worlds. With the Spiritual Pearl gone, the Beasts of different world began to emerge from the rift."

"Didn't you have anyone guarding it?"

"The Guards assigned to watch it were all parasitized."

Jiang Chen fell silent. All the Guards were parasitized? There's something wrong with this! Could it be that the rift itself has a vulnerability?

Lisa asked, "Is there a problem?"

Jiang Chen continued, "When did you find this out? Was it that three days ago the patrolling team discovered the Spiritual Pearl was missing, and they'd placed a fake one there?"

Lisa recounted the events. "Three days ago, an Elf Race team was changing the Guard at the rift when they discovered the Spiritual Pearl was fake. They immediately reported it to the Elf Queen. The Elf Race promptly started an investigation and found that the previous team of Guards had been parasitized. It was from that moment that a large number of Beasts of different world surged from the rift and began to take over cities. These Beasts of different world wreaked havoc, leaving the Elf Race no choice but to dispatch warriors to deal with them. To date, ten towns around the rift have fallen, and the Elf Race was forced to seek reinforcements."

They invaded the Imperial City in just three days. This speed is terrifyingly fast, Jiang Chen thought.

Jiang Chen inquired, "How often do you change the Guard at the rift?"

"Every three days."

"So, it's possible that from the time the previous team of Elf Guards was parasitized until their condition was discovered, a total of six days had elapsed?"

Lisa nodded. "Yes."

Jiang Chen continued, "So, even before the invasion was apparent, many Parasitic Beasts had already entered the Elven World?"

Lisa nodded reluctantly; it was indeed the case. She had considered this point as well. By the time they realized the Spiritual Pearl was missing, three days had already passed, and no one knew how many Parasitic Beasts had infiltrated the Elven World during that time.

"But how could they have been parasitized for no apparent reason?" Jiang Chen asked.

"Our guess is that remnants from the last great war parasitized the Guards to open the pathway, thereby invading our Elven World once again."

"Don't you perform checks during the changing of the Guard?"

"Of course, we do."

"Then that's strange, isn't it?"

"What's so strange about it?" Lisa countered.

"If you perform checks, how could they still have been parasitized? Don't you find that suspicious?"

"We've considered this," Lisa explained. "Further investigation revealed that one Guard, during his watch, secretly took the Spiritual Pearl. This act led to his entire team of soldiers being parasitized. That Guard himself was already parasitized, likely due to an inadequate check, which allowed this situation to occur."

Jiang Chen nodded. Perhaps that was the case. Still, I feel there are doubts, but I can't quite pinpoint what they are, he thought. So, a team of soldiers is inspected before taking over guard duty. But one of the relieving guards performs an inadequate inspection—or is inadequately inspected—because he's already possessed by Parasitic Beasts. He then stealthily takes the Spiritual Pearl, breaks the Seal, and allows the Parasitic Beasts to enter the Elven World. On the surface, there are no obvious flaws in this explanation.

But for the Imperial City to be invaded within just three days, and for the perpetrators to audaciously infiltrate The Guards... Is the Elf Race's defense really so lax? Or is there an insider, a traitor, within the Royal Family itself?

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