Chapter 485: Disappearance
Chapter 485: Disappearance
With Jones’s information, Zuo Meng easily cracked the outer divine sealing formation and broke into the core.
“Who are you?”
When he reached the thirtieth underground floor, he finally met another figure blocking his path. The man wore a black Arcane robe. Despite the Arcane decline and interference from tiny particles, strong Arcane energy still pulsed from him. This man clearly wasn’t ordinary—even if not a Grand Arcane Master, he’d surely reached the peak among Arcane Masters.
“Security Chief Lucas.”
Owl Jones, being in the information trade, recognized him instantly.
“Important?”
Zuo Meng couldn’t be bothered to remember names. He’d come to find someone. Once he got what he needed, the Floating City’s fate meant nothing to him.
“Extremely important. Only the Ancient One and First Speaker Baigu outrank him in the council.”
“Good enough.”
Zuo Meng moved immediately to seize Lucas for interrogation.
“Insolence!”
Lucas burned with rage. When had anyone dared treat him this way? As Security Chief, even ordinary citizens showed him respect. Yet this stranger ignored questions and attacked outright!
Dozens of Arcane runes appeared in Lucas’s hands as a pale blue energy shield wrapped around him.
He pointed at one rune.
“Chains.”
The rune blazed brightly. Black chains materialized from emptiness, coiling toward Zuo Meng from every angle.
But Zuo Meng moved faster.
Just as Lucas thought victory certain, a hand pierced through his magic shield and gripped his throat, lifting him like a chick before he could blink.
“???”
Lucas froze, bewildered by his sudden defeat.
A paper-thin mage fighting a battle-hardened warrior face-to-face?
Suicide.
“My questions. Your answers.”
Zuo Meng showed no mercy, having struck full-force. Since he couldn’t gauge how Morning Star level matched Arcane ranks, he’d held nothing back. The result proved satisfying—ordinary Arcane Masters stood no chance in this weakened era. Only Grand Arcane Masters might trouble him.
“Who ARE you?!”
Lucas regained his voice after stunned silence.
“My turn.”
Zuo Meng frowned. This man clearly didn’t grasp his predicament. He squeezed harder. Without Arcane protection, Lucas quickly turned red-faced.
“If not for the weakening…”
Lucas spat out the words bitterly but finally yielded.
Compared to staying alive, nothing else mattered.
“Where’s Baigu?”
Satisfied the man understood his position, Zuo Meng stopped harassing him and carelessly dropped him onto the floor.
“The Speaker vanished half a month ago. Lord Odolan from the academic institutions disappeared around the same time.” Lucas looked puzzled. He’d assumed Zuo Meng came to loot during the crisis, not search for missing persons.
Gone?
Two more Ancient Ones had disappeared.
With all three witnesses to the thousand-year-old Catastrophe missing, the mission hit a dead end.
“Where was he last seen?”
Zuo Meng pressed for details.
“Twenty days back. Lord Baigu seemed… different that day.” Lucas hesitated, groping for words.
“Adrift.”
Adrift?
“Our council laboratory detected Devourer particles that day. I went to discuss solutions with Lord Baigu, hoping to forge new approaches. But he wore this strange expression – like he’d started doubting Arcane itself, indifferent to everything. I thought he was just tired. Nobody imagined…”
Devourer particles – the council and academic institutions’ term for those peculiar microparticles.
“Same thing happened with Lord Odolan at the academic institutions. I checked with their Head Librarian myself.”
The librarian held equivalent rank to Lucas within the academic institutions.
Both leaders had vanished.
Could this connect to the missing Sir Sage Aks? Zuo Meng’s mind flashed to that half-mad figure he’d seen floating in the sky.
“What now?”
Owl Jones cocked his head.
“We’ll investigate below. The academic institutions too.” Zuo Meng decided to handle this personally. Clues might surface.
“I’ll guide you.”
Lucas stood rubbing his neck.
He’d abandoned all pretenses now. Mainly because he sensed no ill intent from Zuo Meng – any Arcane Master could make that basic judgment. With crisis mounting and their few remaining Arcane Masters overwhelmed, he’d originally ventured out seeking reinforcements anyway.
“Truthfully? I hope you find Lord Baigu too.”
Lucas led Zuo Meng and Owl Jones toward the Floating City’s core…
Six hours later.
Zuo Meng and Owl Jones returned groundside, frustration written across their faces.
Lucas hadn’t lied. Baigu and Odolan were gone without trace. Zuo Meng had combed every possible location, yet the system offered no mission prompts. The Floating City’s heart held no answers.
No clues meant no point lingering.
Zuo Meng resolved to return surface-side until the Devourer particle crisis passed. With the entire world in turmoil, Morning Star level security felt inadequate anyway.
“At least the Floating City’s dropped from the Underworld. Saves me some trouble.”
This body belonged to Aige, founding ancestor of the Divine Eagle Empire. After being away so long, checking on things made sense.
With Arcane civilization declining, the world churned with upheaval. Escaping proved impossible – like fish in a cooling pond, nowhere to hide.