Chapter 743: If You Can't Beat Them, Join Them

Chapter 743: If You Can't Beat Them, Join Them

Rango sat upon a small sand dune, before him a crystalline object resembling an ashtray and a single tortoise shell.

The ashtray, crafted from spirit stone, radiated a pleasant warmth; currently, three venomous scorpions were skewered and roasting over it.

Rango drew a small pouch of coarse salt from his pocket, pinched a bit between his fingertips, and sprinkled it evenly, the ensuing sizzle sounding like an enchanting melody.

Ever since "stepping out of the door," he had maintained an immense passion for things regarding food.

The Gatekeeper of Samsara had once mocked him: Rango, you truly grow younger the longer you live.

Indeed, only after "stepping out of the door" did he realize that food could possess such a beautiful, rich dimension beyond mere survival.

Pinching a roasted scorpion with his fingers, he popped it into his mouth, an expression of sheer enjoyment spreading across his face as he chewed.

Having finished one, while waiting for the remaining two to roast, he lowered his gaze to the tortoise shell, upon which three small ladybugs now rested.

At the dead center of the tortoise shell was a white dot, which marked his current location, while the three ladybugs on the shell represented Karen, Demetria, and Daliwenro respectively.

However, the little ladybug representing Demetria had long since turned belly-up, completely motionless.

Rango pinched it up with his fingers and popped it into his mouth; it burst upon entry, carrying a deeply satisfying spiciness that could make up for the monotony of the barbecue.

"Tsk..."

Rango smacked his lips, and while savoring the aftertaste, he looked down again, only to find that the ladybug representing Daliwenro had also turned its belly up; it was dead, he was dead.

"Heh, two dead already."

Far from showing any look of consternation, Rango actually found it quite amusing.

In this observation group composed of the elite youth from various major churches, he was in fact an anomaly, because he himself had absolutely nothing to do with youth.

Often, watching them speak with high spirits about something or other, he would find it rather dull and uninteresting.

The arrogance on these young people smelled somewhat sour to him.

Furthermore, he was not surprised that Karen dared to counterattack and had successfully taken care of two people.

Though he and Karen were not well-acquainted, Karen had left a deep impression on him, because this young man's temperament gave him a very special feeling.

It could not be described concretely with words; this was probably the natural discernment of an "aged" soul, for if a person lived long enough, as long as they didn't muddle through in a daze, they would always have something different about them.

It was like looking up at the sky and knowing roughly whether it was going to rain next.

Moreover, he had read Karen's resume; Rango didn't know if Karen was truly an orphan, but there were indeed no obvious traces of a family existence. How could a young man who had achieved so much and climbed so high in such a short time be a simple character?

"A bunch of self-righteous kids, wanting to use someone's head to boast, well look at that, they just ended up delivering their own heads."

Rango mocked while pinching the insect that represented Daliwenro, but just as he was about to put this insect into his mouth, he suddenly felt a slight vibration at his fingertips, and this insect, which was supposedly "dead," actually came back to life.

"What is going on here?"

Rango released his grip, and the little ladybug dropped back onto the tortoise shell, then it began to crawl toward the white dot in the center of the shell.

Not only was he alive, but he was also heading right toward him?

No matter how clever and experienced Rango was, he would never have imagined that it was because Daliwenro had died and then been resurrected.

He subconsciously assumed that Karen and Daliwenro had utilized some special method to cut off all external perception to conduct a secret talk, so during the secret talk, his perception here showed that Daliwenro was dead.

Now, the secret talk was over, Karen remained in place, and Daliwenro was heading toward him.

Rango sensed a dangerous aura.

"Did the two parties communicate on behalf of their respective churches and finalize some agreements?"

"No, if a communication had been prepared long ago, why would the Order Church's investigation team still be trapped in Machina?"

"An impromptu communication? Karen's status is barely enough, but Daliwenro does not hold any actual position for affairs; he is not responsible for concrete matters, so how could he possibly go do something like negotiations?"

Had it been anyone else, this hypothesis might have been more convincing, because Rango had observed this bald young man from the Life Church; he belonged to that simple and pure type of cultivation school.

However, regardless of the truth, Rango did not choose to stay where he was, but packed up his things and began to avoid Daliwenro.

Over the next period of time, Daliwenro's side was closing the distance, while Rango's side was maintaining distance.

When Daliwenro stopped, Rango stopped as well; because the perception was mutual, this was almost an explicit message: I do not want to see you right now.

"Heh, are all aged souls this cautious?"

Daliwenro remembered Karen telling him that what actually resided within Rango's body was an ancient soul from within the Gate of Samsara.

Since this gentleman was not giving him any opportunity at all, Daliwenro could only choose to abandon this closest target and begin switching to the next one.

Rango had been keeping an eye on the multi-party positioning on the tortoise shell; seeing Daliwenro change direction, he did not take the opportunity to continue pulling away and fleeing, but instead tried to perceive Daliwenro's new target in advance while maintaining a safe distance and getting as close as possible.

At this moment, a girl dressed in a purple divine robe was hanging her head, throwing a tantrum as she looked at her broken wand.

Just a short while ago, she had caught up with that bone dragon and used the spells of the Thunder Church in an attempt to apprehend it; originally, it had taken effect, visibly slowing down the bone dragon's movement speed, and she and the bone dragon had begun a tug-of-war.

Yet who could have known that right then, a cluster of things like white, tender maggots suddenly surfaced upon that bone dragon;

They covered the area where the bone dragon was controlled by the lightning spell, instantly producing an isolating effect, and that bone dragon flicked its tail, breaking free from the restraint with great ease, accelerated, and vanished into the distance in a flash.

Looking at that joyous momentum, the girl felt that the other party had done it on purpose; that bone dragon was deliberately humiliating her, playing with her.

The truth was indeed so, and the girl's feeling was not mistaken, because that was mockery from another little girl.

Little Canna was very angry, because this woman from the Thunder Church actually dared to "touch" her dragon tail.

Sister Purr had educated her that the tail was a place that could not be touched by just anyone.

In Little Canna's understanding, the tail was a place that no one else could touch except Karen, because she often saw Sister Purr intentionally using her tail to entwine Karen's fingers.

In the end, not only did Sofreya fail to keep that bone dragon, but she also caused her most treasured wand to suffer damage; this wand was very important and extremely precious to her, lent to her by her teacher when she learned she was selected by the church to join this observation group.

Once her teacher found out that her wand had been broken by her, she would certainly use it as an excuse to demand that she sleep with her for an entire month.

She was utterly fed up with her teacher; after all, her own orientation was normal, yet because her teacher had been hurt by a man and rejected men, she was forced to cooperate with her current needs.

Just then, Sofreya perceived a familiar aura approaching her; she put away the broken wand and actively moved toward that direction.

Before long, the two sides met, and upon seeing each other, Sofreya watched as the other party plunged headfirst, crashing into the yellow sand.

Sofreya moved to the other's side, and she saw the heavily injured Daliwenro, the wound at his chest position being quite horrifying.

At this moment, Daliwenro's face was pale, his lips parched, and he said to Sofreya in a very weak voice:

"Save... save me..."

One of his hands grabbed the surface of Sofreya's boot, while his other hand tightly clutched that sapling of his.

After finishing this sentence, Daliwenro fell into unconsciousness.

Sofreya's gaze, however, fell upon that sapling.

She knew that this bald young man before her had once received the opportunity to train in the Garden of Life; it was said that he had brought out a leaf of the Tree of Life and nurtured it within his own body.

The original wooden club had now become a slender little sapling for some unknown reason, but it was still extremely precious, an excellent material for crafting wands.

With it, not only could the damaged wand be repaired, but its quality could also be raised by a major level!

Most importantly, unlike the specially supplied cigarettes of her own church—which, although nominally forbidden from being sold externally, were absolute hard currency on the black market;

But a secondary branch of the Tree of Life was something that could be encountered only by luck and not sought, and even high-level figures within the Life Church found it hard to possess one.

Never mind that her wand was broken now; even if it weren't, Sofreya desired this sapling very much.

I cannot fulfill this request.

"You see, if it causes such a misunderstanding, wouldn't that be even worse?"

"So, you've been wronged?"

"There is no need for such civility, really, there is no need." Lango pointed toward the severed head of Demetri hanging at Karen’s waist and asked, "You're angry, aren't you?"

"It could hardly be a collection born of affection."

"Of course, of course," Lango said with a smile. "Please rest assured, I have no desire to fight you. You know my true identity; I am not like them."

"The power of your soul is immense."

"You flatter me, you truly flatter me."

"But I do not fear an advantage in soulful might. Furthermore, I know that this body of yours cannot possibly exert your true strength, and so..."

Karen raised the Sword of Diamans.

Seeing this, Lango’s expression turned solemn. He drew the twin scimitars strapped to his back, holding them across his chest, and said with absolute gravity:

"And so, how about I join you as well?"