Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton
Chapter 1522 - 1083: Is it always this arrogant?

Chapter 1522: Chapter 1083: Is it always this arrogant?

When North Corona and the Great Ruler were approaching, Ange had already detected them. In the pitch-black Void, Ange primarily relied on the Ring of Balance to weigh all things, so as long as they caused disturbances to the surrounding environment, Ange could measure their presence.

Upon hearing that both the Great Ruler and North Corona had arrived, Anthony immediately showed a "just as expected" expression: "He wouldn’t dare come here without bringing reinforcements. Lord Nage, according to the plan, it’s your move now."

Daring to brazenly sell grain, Anthony, of course, had long prepared a response plan. North Corona showing up alone, compared to bringing along a heap of allies, required a distinct strategy. Now, given the current situation, it’s enough to let Negris handle it.

Negris wasn’t adept at acting, but Anthony assured him, "No need for ’acting,’ just behave as you usually would."

Recollecting his usual demeanor, Negris confidently strode forward: "Which idiot is calling me? Huh, Great Ruler, what are you doing here?"

Durken couldn’t help but murmur softly, "Is he always this brash?"

Anthony chuckled bitterly, "It’s a bit exaggerated, but upon reflection, it’s not entirely unreasonable. Only he dares boss the Lord around, telling him what to do. Such arrogance seems fitting. I shouldn’t have let him act naturally earlier—I should’ve had him tone it down."

"You two know each other?" North Corona asked in surprise from across the way.

"It’s you? Why have you changed in color? Weren’t you yellow before? What are you doing here?" the Great Ruler asked in shock. Not long ago, a ridiculous thought bubbled up again: Could it really be them?

That suspicion was normal. Following the script, Negris said matter-of-factly, "We’re spreading faith, of course! So, why are you here? Are you here to buy grain too?"

"Buy grain? You’re selling grain here? Where did you get the grain?" the Great Ruler asked, flabbergasted.

"Well, you wanted us to spread faith, right? Wherever there’s faith, there’s our blessing. Famine is the best opportunity to spread faith, and grain is the best blessing," Negris stated matter-of-factly.

The Great Ruler was thoroughly confused, trying to straighten out his thoughts. Just as he was about to say something, he was interrupted by North Corona: "Wait a second, wait—a second—you’re the guy who stole my Undying Divine Fire?! Impossible! Bring the one responsible for robbing me out here."

Negris placed his hands on his hips, sized up North Corona, and mockingly said, "Oh, so it’s you? Couldn’t win the Undying Divine Fire from me, so you ran home to call your guardian, huh?"

"Pfft... Guardian?!" The Great Ruler and North Corona exchanged awkward looks, distancing themselves from each other reproachfully.

North Corona roared furiously: "Are you blind? Who’s the guardian? I am a dignified member of the Celestial Descendant Clan; what qualifications does he have—"

Although North Corona stopped himself in time, there was no need to spell out the rest. Everyone already knew what he was thinking. The Great Ruler’s face darkened but he said nothing.

North Corona laughed nervously, avoiding eye contact. While he truly thought that way—himself being a noble Celestial Descendant, and the Great Ruler nothing more than a servant of the Celestial Descendant Clan—there was no need to voice such thoughts out loud, especially since he currently needed the Great Ruler’s help.

Negris asked skeptically, "Not your guardian? Then why’d you call him over? I was originally thinking of returning the Undying Divine Fire to you out of respect for the Great Ruler. But if he’s not your guardian, then forget it."

"You—you—that was mine—and... Ugh, you’re confusing me! What I meant to say is, I don’t believe you’re the one who robbed me of the Undying Divine Fire. You don’t have the capability for it. Bring forth the real culprit," North Corona fumed, nearly tangled up in Negris’s words.

"Why do you say I’m not? Do you have evidence?" Negris challenged, hands on his hips.

"You lack the necessary strength. Hmph." With that, North Corona snorted and unleashed a black chain.

Prepared in advance, Negris yelled loudly, "Everyone, pitch in! Transformation!"

With his shout, an immense power projected onto his body, causing the scales on his skin to ripple—Dragon God Transformation.

In his transformed state as the Dragon God, Negris reached out, grabbed the black chain firmly, and pulled with fierce strength.

Simultaneously, those responding to his call—like Swift Wind Rabbit, Anthony, silver coin, and others recognized by the Great Ruler as "Gods"—emerged all at once. Strands of divine power formed radiant bands linking them together.

North Corona immediately felt an irresistible force transmitted through the black chain, yanking it away from him in an instant.

Negris twirled the chain around in circles, coiling it onto his hand, and sneered coldly: "Hmph, your strength isn’t all that impressive."

Watching Negris revert from his Dragon God Form to his Giant Dragon Form, North Corona stood dumbfounded. The ability to transform and the knack for borrowing power—could it really have been this guy who battled him for the Undying Divine Fire before?

The unexpected turn of events made North Corona doubt himself.

The Great Ruler was equally stunned: "You can transform?"

Negris explained matter-of-factly, "Of course. I’m a Giant Dragon; naturally, I can do the Dragon God Transformation. But it only lasts for a few seconds—not very practical."

A thought struck North Corona upon hearing that—only a few seconds? No wonder the power had intermittent bursts of enhancement during their battle. Could he have transformed then?

Could it really have been him, relying on transformation and borrowed power from other Gods to snag the Undying Divine Fire from him? If that were the case, perhaps it wasn’t entirely a bad thing...

With this in mind, North Corona’s tone shifted abruptly, questioning harshly, "Where is the Undead City? Are you connected to the Undead City too?"

"Undead City? What Undead City?" Negris asked with puzzled innocence.

During the incident at Undead City, Elarafate had observed from afar, too unclear on the details of who destroyed the World-Ending Strike. Its report to North Corona was ambiguous, and by the time it got a clearer view, Ange had already detected it.

Tempted with a solution for a skill-related bottleneck, Anthony successfully swayed Elarafate, leaving it no time to report back to North Corona. Thus, North Corona remained oblivious to the identities involved in Undead City.

"Not you at Undead City? Then who was it?" The Great Ruler and North Corona exchanged a glance of bewilderment.

Finally, North Corona begrudgingly made a new demand: "Return the Undying Divine Fire to me."

Negris shrugged: "I ate it."

"You!" North Corona snarled.

"What do you mean ’you’? The Undying Divine Fire burned a million tons of my grain. Are you going to compensate for that?" Negris retorted indignantly.

North Corona glared viciously at Negris, then angrily turned his gaze toward the Great Ruler.

The Great Ruler was startled and hastily shook his head: "What do you think you’re doing? I need them to continue spreading faith and occupying ecological niches. Don’t mess things up."

If not for the earlier disparaging comment, the Great Ruler might have tried persuading Negris to return the Undying Divine Fire. But now, all he wanted was to restrain North Corona and make sure he didn’t cause a scene.

Unable to reclaim the Undying Divine Fire and deterred by the Great Ruler’s protection of Negris, North Corona had no choice but to leave alongside the Great Ruler, grumbling inwardly about finding the missing Array.

After watching them leave, Negris flew back, prompting Anthony to give him a thumbs up: "Your use of sowing discord was truly spot-on—absolutely brilliant."

Negris was puzzled: "Sowing discord? What are you talking about?"

"Pfft. Don’t tell me you seriously think the Great Ruler is North Corona’s guardian?"

"Isn’t he?" Negris asked, bewildered.

"..." Anthony was speechless.

"So, what now? I followed your instructions. Will North Corona take the bait?" Negris asked.

Anthony spread his hands: "That depends on whether North Corona wants revenge or not. If you realized the one who stole from you only has a few seconds of enhanced power from transformation, plus assistance from others, but lacks strength to truly match you, would you seek revenge?"

"Of course I would—I’d crush their skull," Negris declared.

"As long as he dares to ditch the Great Ruler and come for revenge alone—Lord, when that happens, capture him as swiftly as possible. I need a Celestial Descendant to interrogate for all their intel," Anthony said, his eyes gleaming.

Ange nodded and continued planting things in the water. Ten days later, Ange suddenly turned toward the direction of the Void and spoke through his soul: "He’s coming, and he’s brought Elarafate."