"A safe house that even 'Brain' can't find?"
Upon hearing the words of the Lord of the Upper Realm, Ye Ling's gaze turned playful. "If Mr. Bai truly possessed such a safe house, why would he have been captured?"
"This..."
The Lord of the Upper Realm was momentarily at a loss for words, stammering, "Al-although I've had this question, I've always believed that Mr. Bai allowed himself to be captured deliberately."
"Deliberately captured?"
"Precisely. When Mr. Bai asked me to deliver a message to you, asking you to go to the Void Realm, I had a premonition that Mr. Bai had foreseen what was about to happen. Yet, he still had no intention of leaving, stubbornly waiting until after the incident for 'Brain' to send people to apprehend him."
Hearing the Lord of the Upper Realm's words, Ye Ling fell into thought.
Mr. Bai being captured versus deliberately allowing himself to be captured—though only a few words apart, the circumstances were vastly different!
Seeing Ye Ling lost in thought, the Lord of the Upper Realm quickly added, "My lord, these are merely my own speculations. I can't guarantee their accuracy, so you don't need to dwell on them."
"No, what you've said has actually enlightened me."
Ye Ling recalled his previous encounters with Mr. Bai. "Before, when I interacted with Mr. Bai, I never sensed any affirmation of his identity as one of the Seven Pillars, nor did I feel any reverence towards 'Brain.' This was unlike any of the other Seven Pillars, including Tian Ji."
"It was as if he wasn't part of the Overseers at all."
"Hearing you say that, I seem to recall something else!" The Lord of the Upper Realm's eyes lit up, and he immediately spoke.
"What is it?"
"I was still in prison back then. When Mr. Bai rescued me, he was accompanied by two shadowy figures, one fat and one thin. I couldn't see their faces, only that they were incredibly powerful."
"At first, I assumed Mr. Bai's two followers were special Overseers. However, after I was released, I never saw them again, nor were there any records of them in the Overseers' shared network!"
"Now that I think about it, when those two shadowy figures entered the prison with Mr. Bai, the guards seemed to ignore them entirely. Even one of the Seven Pillars overlooked their presence!"
"Two mysterious shadowy figures, one fat and one thin... the Overseers couldn't detect their presence... things are getting more and more interesting."
Ye Ling murmured, his eyes flashing with brilliance.
Currently, within the Overseer headquarters, the Overseers formed one faction, Tian Ji formed another, he himself formed a third, and now they had to add Mr. Bai, Luo Yun, and the mysterious organization behind them. There was even the Primordial Chaos King who had never appeared...
The Overseer headquarters, which appeared to be heavily guarded on the surface, had, beneath its calm facade, become a battlefield for multiple factions, with undercurrents surging.
After a moment of contemplation, Ye Ling suppressed his thoughts and said to the Lord of the Upper Realm, "Let's go. We'll head to Mr. Bai's safe house first."
The situation was quite complex now, and Ye Ling needed to gather more information.
"Alright! I'll lead the way!"
Under the strict search by a large number of Overseers, the Lord of the Upper Realm had been eager to reach the safe house. Now that Ye Ling had spoken, he couldn't wait to head towards its location.
Under the concealment of Ye Ling's Origin Text, the Lord of the Upper Realm traversed the entire city right under the noses of countless Overseers, arriving at the so-called "safe house" left by Mr. Bai.
"This... is the safe house?"
Ye Ling looked at a spire in front of him that looked identical to the surrounding dark spires and asked the Lord of the Upper Realm.
He examined it from every angle but couldn't discern anything special about this "safe house."
"This is it..." the Lord of the Upper Realm nodded affirmatively. "Mr. Bai said that although this spire appears no different from the other spires in the city on the surface, it actually holds a hidden secret."
Saying this, the Lord of the Upper Realm stepped forward and began searching for something on the black spire.
"What are you looking for? This spire is smooth on the surface, has no entrance, and is solid inside. I don't see any mechanism."
"My lord, please be patient. This is a safe house that even 'Brain' cannot find, so it must be incredibly profound. Normally, you wouldn't be able to distinguish it from other buildings. I know how to open the safe house!"
The Lord of the Upper Realm said as he meticulously examined every part of the black spire's surface with utmost seriousness.
Seeing the Lord of the Upper Realm's professional demeanor, Ye Ling thought it might be due to his own insufficient cultivation. He stopped speaking and watched from the side, observing the surrounding environment.
After all, since the twins and Seventeen couldn't track their location, they had plenty of time.
An incense stick's worth of time passed...
The Lord of the Upper Realm was still fumbling over the "safe house's" surface, his expression extremely earnest.
"Is it that difficult to enter a safe house?" Ye Ling yawned. He was getting bored and began to suspect that the Lord of the Upper Realm might be delusional, fabricating a safe house.
If a safe house was so well-hidden that it took this long to enter... Ye Ling felt it was somewhat a case of diminishing returns.
If not for the Origin Text helping to conceal his aura, the Lord of the Upper Realm, with his speed of entering the safe house, would have been killed hundreds of times by the Overseers by now.
"Almost there, my lord... This is my first time entering this safe house, so I'm a bit unskillful..." Facing Ye Ling's inquiry, the Lord of the Upper Realm gave him an embarrassed smile and then intensified his search on the spire's surface.
In truth, it was his first time here as well, and he hadn't expected to spend so much time.
Ye Ling didn't disturb the Lord of the Upper Realm any further. He observed the surrounding environment again, his attention finally falling on a spire next to the one the Lord of the Upper Realm was examining. He suddenly noticed that a small section of that spire's surface was a slightly lighter shade than the rest.
If Ye Ling hadn't been so bored and meticulously observed every spire around, he wouldn't have noticed that subtle difference.
"Huh?" Ye Ling noticed the anomaly on that spire and walked towards it.
Meanwhile, the Lord of the Upper Realm was still diligently inspecting every part of the 'safe house,' muttering to himself, "How strange... Mr. Bai clearly said the mechanism to open the safe house was on the surface, and that it could be found with careful examination, but why can't I find it?"
*Click!*
Just as the Lord of the Upper Realm was puzzled, a faint "click" sounded next to him. He thought Ye Ling was getting impatient and immediately said to Ye Ling, "My lord, please be patient. After all, this safe house is capable of eluding 'Brain'..."
The Lord of the Upper Realm's words were cut short as he saw the surface of the black spire in front of Ye Ling slightly distort and cave in, with an entrance gradually appearing.
A safe house?
Seeing the entrance appear on Ye Ling's side, the Lord of the Upper Realm's pupils constricted slightly. He then looked at the black spire he had chosen with astonishment, his mind buzzing, and he fell into complete chaos.
I got it wrong!?
This shouldn't be!
The Lord of the Upper Realm looked at the black spire in front of him, his consciousness becoming muddled. According to his memory, the safe house should have been the spire before him, not Ye Ling's.
But now, an entrance to the safe house had appeared on Ye Ling's side, while he still hadn't found the mechanism...
The Lord of the Upper Realm's toes curled inward...
Ye Ling opened an entrance and looked back at the Lord of the Upper Realm, asking, "Were you... looking in the wrong place just now?"
"M-my lord, I..."
Upon hearing Ye Ling's question, the Lord of the Upper Realm stiffly looked at Ye Ling, wishing he could rush into the embrace of the Overseers and have them deal with him.