Chapter 420

Chapter 420: This Place is Too Deceptive

After a moment, Morris connected the video communication, and a virtual image appeared before everyone.

"What is it now?"

His voice grew increasingly cold and impatient.

If it weren’t for the urgent need to complete the mission and obtain vast resources and treasures from the Federal Parliament, he would have started cursing right away.

Knowing that he had already announced his retreat and yet receiving repeated communications was incredibly inconsiderate of the High-ranking Leaders of the human federation.

"Envoy, I apologize for the repeated interruptions, but it is unavoidable."

Upon hearing Morris’s tone, Lu Qingxian realized he was on the verge of exploding, so he didn’t waste time with pleasantries and quickly got to the point:

“We sent out reconnaissance ships to contact the Tree-Dwelling Tribe leaders and ask which areas have already been searched so we can take over those areas. However, after several hours, we have not found any of the Tree-Dwelling Tribe leaders.”

“Left with no choice, we had to reach out to you, Envoy, to see if there are any special arrangements for the Tree-Dwelling Tribe leaders.”

“Can’t find them?”

Morris was stunned.

What’s going on?

“Yes, at first we just sent out one reconnaissance ship to search. After realizing it couldn’t find them, we sent out more reconnaissance ships and drones, but still, we found nothing.”

Lu Qingxian nodded, “We were worried that sending too many would attract Yi Chen’s attention, so we didn’t dare to search loudly, and could only ask you, Envoy, about the situation.”

“Wait a moment!”

Morris suddenly felt infuriated and humiliated.

His useless subordinates were openly defying his orders and making him look foolish before the High-ranking Leaders of the human federation.

He didn’t even turn off the communicator but directly took out the communication stone to contact one of his level ninety subordinates.

One second, two seconds, three seconds…

Half a minute passed without any response.

Not only the Giants of the human federation, but Morris also felt a vague sense of unease.

He quickly contacted another level ninety subordinate.

Again, no response after half a minute.

The Shadow King took their communication stones and handed them over to the Soul Clan.

If this had been over half a month ago, before the Tree-Dwelling Tribe was wiped out, the Soul Emperor and the Soul Kings would have surely tried to stall Morris using the memories of their hosts.

At least that would have bought them a few days.

Now that all the Tree-Dwelling Tribe had been dealt with, the Soul Clan had no interest in interacting with Morris.

After all, once Morris learned the truth, realizing he had been manipulated by the Soul Clan, he would surely be furious enough to spit blood and harbor immense hatred towards them.

Whether Morris found out a few days earlier or later didn’t make much difference to the Soul Clan; there was no need to provoke him further.

In fact, Yi Chen had also refrained from instructing the Shadow King on how to handle the Soul Clan for that very reason.

When would Morris invite the powerful being from the Tree-Dwelling Tribe, skilled in tracking and searching? That relied on his determination to sell the rights to his territory after the Shadow King had already taken all his belongings, as well as on when that powerful being from the Tree-Dwelling Tribe would be willing to come.

There was no need to delay further, provoking Morris to the point of embarrassment and anger, causing him to resolutely sell everything to hire that skilled tracker.

Seeing that his two level ninety subordinates were unreachable, Morris felt anxious.

He reached out to those who had left Energy Auras behind.

After several minutes, he still found nothing; not a single response came in.

Morris finally confirmed that something must have gone wrong.

The most likely scenario was that the Shadow King had attacked them one by one, silently eliminating them.

"This is impossible!" Morris couldn’t help but roar.

Over three hundred subordinate members of the Tree-Dwelling Tribe ranged from level sixty to level ninety.

Those at level sixty rushed in pairs, while only those above level seventy acted alone.

Moreover, they were not too far from each other.

With the strength of the Shadow King, it should have been impossible to take out someone over level seventy in one hit, leaving them no time to call for help.

Not to mention, there were still two level ninety Tree-Dwelling Tribe members.

These two were even stronger than the Shadow King.

Even if they faced a surprise attack, they could easily repel the Shadow King.

At worst, they might just not have enough speed to catch up with the fleeing Shadow King.

No matter what, it wouldn’t make sense for the Shadow King to kill over three hundred Tree-Dwelling Tribe subordinates without a sound.

But as he thought further, Morris started to feel unsure.

This cursed star cluster city had a terrible match with the Tree-Dwelling Tribe.

Anything bizarre could happen here.

After all, the Shadow King had already exposed his aura in front of him and managed to escape twice.

Once taking away all his belongings and another time leading to the death of Tosman.

"I need to check what’s going on!"

Morris quickly ended the communication and informed the Captain of the Large Battleship to prepare to depart for the star cluster.

Half an hour later, he boarded the Large Battleship.

He accelerated to faster-than-light speed in a single Space Jump.

The Large Battleship directly appeared in the area where Morris had left the star cluster.

Morris turned on his Perception Ability to the maximum and began to advance along the search route.

The Captain of the Large Battleship quickly followed after receiving Marshal Iron Blood’s command.

To sense the energy and auras of his subordinates, Morris’s speed was not fast.

It wasn’t until more than ten minutes later that he reached the area where one subordinate had been killed.

Despite the time that had passed, with his powerful Perception Ability, he could still sense the remaining energy from the Shadow King and the Soul Clan when they defeated the Tree-Dwelling Tribe’s subordinates.

This made him burn with anger, shaking with rage.

“Damn Shadow King, damn Soul Clan!”

He quickly pressed forward.

After about ten more minutes, he found the area where the second Tree-Dwelling Tribe subordinate had been killed.

The results were the same.

Unwilling to give up, Morris continued onward.

The third, fourth, fifth…

After several more, Morris finally stopped.

He realized that all of his Tree-Dwelling Tribe subordinates, including the two level ninety members, had been silently eradicated by the Shadow King and the Soul Clan through special means.

More accurately, they may have been heavily injured, their consciousness erased, and turned into hosts by the Soul Clan.

This outcome nearly drove Morris to the brink of collapse.

What kind of sin had he committed to be sent to this cursed place to carry out a mission?

With the power to destroy star systems and strike down opponents, he hadn’t gained anything worthwhile.

Instead, all his possessions were taken away.

All his subordinates turned into the enemy’s hosts.

It was truly outrageous.

After coming here, all his hard-earned efforts and reputation crumbled into nothing.

Only the theoretical benefits that he might obtain from the Federal Parliament and Yi Chen remained.

Morris felt so miserable he wanted to cry, having not even the strength left to get angry.