Chapter 4419: No Time

Truth be told, all the Godly Apex Crystals had already been delivered to their correct locations long before any of this happened. Other than Tobao and Arcis, however, no one knew that. The two Law Gods had personally hidden those crystals in inconspicuous locations, places so ordinary that no one would ever think to search there. Every branch that would host one of the competitions already had its prize waiting in secret.

Everything else was merely bait.

Leaving that aside, the two Law Gods patiently waited for their trap to take effect. They had carefully calculated the distances between every country they visited and the destinations assigned to each convoy. Their goal was simple: make all the groups arrive at roughly the same time. If someone truly intended to steal a Godly Apex Crystal, they would be forced to make a move without knowing which convoy was real.

Eventually, the silence broke.

Arcis suddenly received an urgent communication through his RC.

-Se-Senior Arcis, we are under atta... Gahhhh!!!-

The transmission ended abruptly, followed by complete silence.

Arcis’ expression immediately turned solemn. Without wasting even a second, he contacted Tobao through their RC.

’Los Huke Country.’

Tobao immediately understood what that meant.

-Alright. I’m the closest to the Godly Subjugation Guild there. I’ll head to the branch immediately. You go to the convoy’s location and see if there’s anyone left to save. I doubt you’ll arrive in time, but there isn’t much more we can do.-

’Very well.’

The communication ended as quickly as it had begun. Arcis didn’t hesitate in the slightest before rushing toward the nearest Teleport Array. Even if he already expected the worst, he still had to verify the situation himself.

Tobao removed his attention from the RC and immediately placed several Godly Beast Crystals into the slots of the Teleport Array beneath his feet. The Array activated at once, consuming every crystal before the surrounding space distorted.

A flash of silver light engulfed the platform.

The next instant, Tobao disappeared.

His vision blurred only briefly. By the time it returned to normal, he was already standing inside the Arrays Guild Branch of Los Huke Country.

The only Array Master on duty nearly jumped out of his skin.

He had absolutely not expected someone to appear through the Teleport Array, much less someone like Tobao. "Se-Senior Tobao!"

Instead of answering immediately, Tobao calmly raised a finger to his lips. "Shhh..." Only then did he ask, "What’s your name?"

"S-Sabo, sir!" the Array Master answered almost instinctively.

Tobao gave a small nod before retrieving a plain mask from his Spatial Ring and placing it over his face. "Sabo, you didn’t see me here. Do we understand each other?"

The Array Master froze. "B-But... the logs of the Teleport Array..."

"Yes," Tobao interrupted calmly. "The array will naturally record my arrival. That cannot be avoided. However, recording it and informing everyone immediately are two different things."

He looked directly into Sabo’s eyes. "I only need one day. Can you keep my arrival a secret for that long?"

Sabo swallowed nervously.

Although he had no idea what was happening, he could tell something extremely important was taking place. "Y-Yes! This Arrays Master will comply!"

He hurriedly pointed toward a nearby corridor. "Please use the second door on the right. It leads outside through a side passage. It’ll allow senior to leave without attracting anyone’s attention. Fortunately, Teleport Arrays are very rarely used due to their cost, so this branch is almost always empty."

Tobao was satisfied with that answer. "Very good."

Without wasting another second, he headed exactly where Sabo indicated.

Tobao quietly left the Arrays Guild without drawing anyone’s attention.

As the main branch of Los Huke Country, people constantly entered and left the building. A masked cultivator wasn’t particularly noteworthy as long as he didn’t release his aura or deliberately reveal his identity.

While making his way toward the Godly Subjugation Guild, Tobao casually waved his sleeve.

Something big silently flew out of his Spatial Ring and shot high into the sky before disappearing from sight. None of the pedestrians below noticed anything unusual.

At the same time, Tobao continued moving through the city at high speed.

Thanks to the authority his position granted him over the Guild’s defensive arrays, entering the Godly Subjugation Guild unnoticed was an easy task. Without alerting anyone, he went straight toward the office belonging to the Branch Guild Master.

From the moment Arcis had contacted him until Tobao reached that office, less than two minutes had passed.

At times like these, every second mattered.

Soon enough, he found exactly what he was looking for.

The Branch Guild Master, a Late Stage Aura God named Curvato, was hurriedly organizing documents, valuables, and personal belongings before throwing everything into his Spatial Ring.

Tobao remained completely still.

He made no attempt to interfere.

Instead, he simply observed.

The difference between their cultivations was so enormous that Curvato had absolutely no chance of detecting Tobao’s Celestial Sense.

’Exactly like Roan predicted...’

Those words naturally surfaced in Tobao’s mind.

He couldn’t help recalling the discussion they had aboard Rean’s airplane before everything had been set into motion. At the time, Roan had spoken with complete certainty. Tobao hadn’t been entirely convinced then.

Now...

Everything was unfolding exactly as Roan had said it would.

Curvato quickly finished packing his office before rushing outside.

Only after he had left did Tobao quietly retrace his own steps and exit the branch as well, never once allowing Curvato to leave the range of his Celestial Sense.

As expected, Curvato headed straight for the launching pads.

Moments later, one of the Guild’s airplanes soared into the sky.

Once he reached a safe altitude, Curvato repeatedly looked around, making sure nobody had followed him.

Little did he know...

Someone was indeed following him.

Tobao maintained a considerable distance while remaining well within the limits of his own Celestial Sense.

Normally, pursuing someone over such a long distance through flight alone would have been ridiculously expensive, even for a Law God. Flying continuously consumed an absurd amount of Godly Energy. Even Tobao couldn’t afford to keep it up indefinitely.

Fortunately, he didn’t need to.

Instead of flying under his own power, Tobao was using a very particular airplane.

One that just so happened to include... a coffee machine.

That was precisely the object Tobao had secretly released into the sky moments after arriving in Los Huke Country.

Naturally, it was Rean’s airplane.

Although Tobao no longer remembered anything related to the Godly Pressure disguise arrays, Rean had left the airplane’s light-bending arrays active before lending it to him. As far as Tobao knew, the aircraft merely possessed an incredible camouflage ability that rendered it invisible to the naked eye.

That alone was already more than enough.

Curvato’s Celestial Sense simply couldn’t reach as far as Tobao’s. As long as Tobao kept a sufficient distance, Curvato had absolutely no chance of detecting either him or the invisible airplane.

It was the perfect tool for following someone without being noticed.

Curvato eventually crossed the borders of the Besgol Region altogether.

Not long after that, he even deactivated his RC, completely disconnecting himself from the Besgol Network so nobody could trace his location through it.

The airplane continued flying for quite some time before finally descending toward a small estate hidden among a remote mountain range.

No cultivators permanently lived there, which meant the place attracted almost no Godly Creatures. Even so, several defensive arrays had been erected around the estate, enough to buy its occupants precious time should anyone unexpectedly discover it.

High above, Tobao quietly watched every single movement below.

He neither approached nor acted rashly.

Patience remained the key.

At that very moment, Arcis contacted him once more. -As expected, I was too late. They’re all dead.-

Tobao slowly closed his eyes. He had already expected such an outcome. Still... Knowing it beforehand didn’t make hearing it any easier. ’I’ll personally make sure their sacrifices are honored. If any of them have families behind, the Region will provide proper compensation and support.’

Arcis wasn’t surprised by that answer. -Good.-

After a brief pause, Tobao asked another question. ’What about the box?’

-Gone. Or, more accurately, it wasn’t with them to start with. The convoy was transporting something completely different. Also... I couldn’t find the Zone God’s corpse anywhere.-

Tobao wasn’t surprised in the slightest.

In fact, that report only confirmed Roan’s deductions once again.

’Everything is proceeding exactly according to the plan,’ Tobao answered calmly. ’Whoever truly wants that box won’t be satisfied with sending subordinates forever. Eventually, they’ll have to make an appearance personally. Besides, even if these small fries wanted to, trying to escape through a Teleport Formation wouldn’t work. The container rejects every form of spatial transfer. There would be no easy way for them to steal it and disappear.’

-Understood. I’ll make my way toward your location, although it’ll still take me some time to arrive.-

Before Tobao could answer, his attention suddenly shifted.

Something...

No.

Someone...

was rapidly approaching the hidden estate from another direction.

Without taking his eyes off the newcomer, he calmly replied,

’I don’t think you’ll make it here before the next act begins. Keep your RC connected.’

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