Douluo Jueshi: Picking up Firefly at the Beginning

Sure enough, after sliding down dozens of meters, the elevator was firmly stuck in the passage with a crisp "click" sound.

The seventh-level soul engineer who was knocking on the elevator wall was now facing the contemptuous looks from his colleagues and Xu Guozhong's face that was so angry that it was almost spitting fire. He was suddenly embarrassed and wished he could find a hole to crawl into.

"Your Majesty, I don't think I knocked the wrong way!"

He stammered in defense, with a hint of grievance and panic in his voice.

"Haven't you knocked it wrong yet? I'll deal with you when we get out. Restart quickly!" Xu Guozhong said viciously with his eyes wide open.

After saying that, he hurriedly took out a golden key from his pocket and quickly inserted it into an extremely inconspicuous hole in the wall on the other side.

However, a strange thing happened. Although the golden key was successfully inserted, the soul elevator still did not move, as if it was firmly imprisoned by an invisible force, completely stuck here, with no sign of starting.

At this moment, an eighth-level soul engineer seemed to have suddenly remembered something crucial. His face suddenly changed, and he hurriedly said, "Your Highness, listen, why is there no alarm?"

Xu Guozhong was stunned when he heard this, and thought to himself that something was wrong.

Yes! According to previous settings, if there is a problem with the elevator, the alarm should sound immediately.

This alarm will not only alert the security personnel at Mingde Hall, but the alarm signal will even be transmitted directly to the imperial palace.

This was also the reason why he was so angry after he determined that his subordinates had made a mistake. In his opinion, it was an extremely shameful thing for his own people to make a mistake in the mechanism.

Xu Guozhong was extremely anxious and turned the golden key several times, trying to restore the elevator to normal operation.

But no matter how hard he tried, the elevator still did not respond. At this moment, his face suddenly became even uglier, like the gloomy sky before a storm.

"No, the mechanism has been tampered with. Quick, force a breakthrough!"

Xu Guozhong is indeed a shrewd and calculating man. In a split second, he made an accurate judgment quickly.

He knew in his heart that the warehouse might have really been invaded. Although he was usually confident in the various complex arrangements and powerful soul guide traps in the warehouse, the facts before him now told him mercilessly that the thing he had always worried about the most had finally happened.

"We've seen enough of the excitement. It's time to head back to the hotel. We still have a game to deal with tomorrow."

Meteor clapped his hands, as if to brush away the noise, and called out to his companions.

After saying that, he dismissed Youxiang and Luosha who came to join in the fun, and the group walked towards Mingyue Hotel.

As soon as they entered the hotel, they saw Zhang Lexuan, Beibei and others preparing to leave.

"Are you leaving now? Not participating in tomorrow's game?"

The sound of the meteor was faint, echoing slowly in the empty hotel lobby.

Hearing Liu Xing's words, Bei Bei and the others, who were already nervous because of running into them, instantly stiffened their bodies and tensed their muscles. Everyone entered a state of high alert, as if a fierce battle would break out in the next second and they were ready to take action at any time.

Seeing this, Zhang Lexuan quickly raised her right hand and made a soothing gesture, signaling Beibei and others not to be impulsive.

Then, she turned her beautiful eyes to look at Liu Xing and said calmly, "We have important matters to attend to. We can only give up tomorrow's game. It's a pity that we can't fight you anymore."

Xu Tianzhen and Meng Hongchen, who were standing by, had excitement glimmering in their eyes. They were rubbing their hands together, eager to try, and deep down they really wanted to take the opportunity to keep the Shrek and Tang Sect people.

However, Liu Xing narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze deep and unfathomable, and he responded calmly, "Really? That's a pity indeed."

After saying that, he led the people behind him and walked calmly past Zhang Lexuan and others.

It was not until Liuxing and others walked into the elevator, the elevator door slowly closed, and their figures gradually disappeared in the hotel lobby that Beibei and others felt like a heavy burden had been lifted off their shoulders and breathed a sigh of relief.

Only then did they realize that their backs had been soaked with sweat and their clothes were sticking to their bodies.

Although Liuxing and others are not of high level on the surface, the strongest in the team is only Meng Hongchen, who is at the Soul Sage level.

But even with the presence of Zhang Lexuan, a powerful Soul Douluo who could compete with Titled Douluo, Beibei and the others still did not feel safe at all.

The feeling was very strange, as if if there was any movement here, once action was taken, they would be the ones who would suffer.

In the end, they could only console themselves by attributing this inexplicable uneasiness to the fact that taking action here would most likely attract intervention from the powerful men of the Sun-Moon Empire, thus causing even greater trouble.

"Do you really want to let them go?"

The snow girl's cold voice echoed in the elevator.

"What can we do? That Shrek Academy leader is not someone to be trifled with. You saw it in the palace. She's incredibly strong."

However, Liu Xing's seemingly reasonable and well-founded explanation was met with contemptuous looks from everyone.

Seeing this, Liu Xing felt a little uneasy. He quickly raised his hand to scratch his head and continued, "Okay, okay, this matter actually has nothing to do with us. There's no need to get involved. We don't need to meddle in other people's business. Besides, if someone is really determined to keep them, it's not our turn to take action."

As he said this, he shrugged his shoulders, looking relaxed.

Xu Tianzhen and the others thought about it and realized that this was Mingdu. If the Sun-Moon Empire was determined to keep the people from Shrek Academy and Tang Sect, they would not give them the chance to come back and pack their bags.

At this time, Mingdu was under martial law, and there were patrolling soldiers everywhere, but how could these soldiers possibly discover the Shrek Academy group?

Moreover, this so-called martial law was just a show, and even the soul guide detection devices were not deployed in large numbers.

Obviously, Xu Tianran just wanted to drive all these people with bad intentions out of the city. When the time comes, there will be no more worries and everything will become clear.

With the Sun and Moon Empire letting them off the hook, Zhang Lexuan and the others quickly reunited with the others, then safely left Mingdu and headed to the western suburbs to look for Xuanzi and the others.

At this point, among Shrek Academy and Tang Sect, only Huo Yuhao, who was still in Mingdu participating in the Soul Instructor Competition, had not come out.

After arranging the other people, Xuanzi secretly returned to Mingdu again. He was going to pick up Huo Yuhao and leave.

Inside the Sun-Moon Empire's palace, the cannon muzzles that had previously revealed their cold sharp edges in the night had now all been quietly retracted, like dormant beasts with their fangs retracted.

Throughout the palace, cleaning and restoration work is progressing in an orderly manner.

Servants bustled about, carrying broken bricks and sweeping up debris from the ground. Craftsmen diligently repaired the damaged structure. The clanking sounds intertwined like a melody designed to restore the palace to its former majesty. Xu Tianran still stood in front of the ruins of his study, his posture erect but his fatigue barely concealed.

Zhongli Wu and Jing Hongchen stood quietly on either side of him.

At this time, those evil soul masters had already disappeared without a trace, as if they had never appeared in this palace, and no one knew where they had hidden themselves.

And the unfathomable Dragon Emperor Douluo disappeared early, as if he had merged into the vast night.

At this moment, a guard dressed in light golden clothes ran to Jing Hongchen in a hurry, as fast as the wind.

He bowed slightly, leaned close to Jing Hongchen's ear, and whispered something.

Jing Hongchen nodded calmly, then walked steadily to Xu Tianran's side and said respectfully, "Your Highness, the highest alert has been set up on the east, north, and south sides. All level nine fixed-type soul guide cannons are ready and loaded. If they dare to try to break out from these three directions, they will immediately be subjected to our most intense artillery attack. According to information sent back by our spies, the enemy has split into two groups. One group, led by the Shrek Academy, is heading west. The other group, led by members of the Body Sect, the Heavenly Soul Empire, and the Star Luo Empire, is heading to a viscount's mansion in the east of the city. They have been silent since entering the mansion, seemingly hiding and temporarily keeping their troops in place."

"Lying dormant?" Upon hearing this, Xu Tianran frowned slightly, and his eyes narrowed unconsciously, with a thoughtful look in his eyes.

He pondered for a moment and then said, "Immediately order people to strengthen surveillance of the Viscount's Mansion and force them to move westward as well. I'm afraid their actions aren't just a simple lay-in. If they split up due to a disagreement with Shrek Academy, then their breakout direction is likely not to be in the west. Imperial Master, could you send some of your men over there to help control the situation?"

"Okay." Zhongli Wu responded briefly and forcefully, then turned around and disappeared into the darkness like a ghost.

After just a few breaths, he reappeared, his face gloomy as he spoke, "I've already sent some personnel over. They will work closely with the Empire's Soul Master Corps. Without the help of those from Shrek Academy, they will surely pay a terrible price for their attempt to force their way out."

At this point, a trace of resentment flashed in his eyes, and he gritted his teeth and said, "And those people from Shrek Academy, not a single one can be allowed to escape. I will turn them all into corpse puppets to relieve the hatred in my heart!"

His hatred for Shrek Academy was like a raging fire. The thought of several outstanding young evil soul masters dying in the competition with Shrek Academy made the anger in his heart burn even more fiercely.

Xu Tianran nodded slightly and said calmly, "Don't worry, Imperial Master. Since the Shrek Academy people have already headed west, they must be planning to break out from there. As long as they choose to go west, they will definitely be unable to bypass that place. By then, hmph, none of them will be able to escape."

When Zhongli Wu heard Xu Tianran mention that place, his brows twitched violently, and a barely perceptible look of strangeness flashed across his face.

But he quickly regained his composure, his lips tightly closed, no longer speaking, just standing there quietly, like a silent statue.

Mingdu underground military warehouse.

"Boom--" A deafening and violent roar exploded in the underground warehouse, as if tearing the entire space apart.

In an instant, the soul guide shield on Prince Xu Guozhong's body suddenly bloomed with light, as bright as daylight, and tried its best to resist the shock wave coming from the front.

The shock wave was like a ferocious beast, madly crashing into the soul guide shield. The light on the shield flickered and it seemed that it would break at any time.

The construction of this underground warehouse is as solid as a rock. When the elevator was designed, it was carefully reinforced in order to prevent someone from forcibly breaking out with powerful abilities.

Even though Xu Guozhong was a powerful ninth-level soul engineer, he and his subordinates had to work extremely hard to finally get out from the bottom of the elevator.

However, getting out of the elevator was only the first step. There was another difficult problem before them - getting out of this narrow elevator shaft.

The eight people carefully floated down the elevator shaft.

At this moment, the tightly closed elevator door once again became a huge obstacle in their way forward. This was already the sixth explosion they had carried out. In such a small and cramped space, they did not dare to use soul guides that were too powerful.

Because once they do that, the powerful impact force and energy fluctuations will first cause fatal damage to themselves.

Therefore, they could only helplessly choose relatively weaker soul guides to bombard, and then try to break through with the help of melee soul guides.

In this difficult situation, the role of melee soul guides becomes particularly important.

After some hard work, a hole with a diameter of about half a foot was finally opened with the joint efforts of everyone.

The eight senior soul masters did not dare to slack off at all and exerted all their strength at the same time. After another seven or eight minutes, they finally made a hole that was barely big enough for people to get out.

At this time, Xu Guozhong's face was as black as the bottom of a pot, terribly gloomy, and his heart was full of heartache and anger.

For a long time, he had regarded this warehouse as his own private territory and as his own property.

The cost of repairing the elevator and the shaft alone was an astronomical sum, a figure that surely wouldn't have made him ache. At that moment, he had only one thought in mind: to rip those who had sneaked into the warehouse into pieces, to appease his hatred.

Everyone struggled to get into the corridor. Xu Guozhong saw two subordinates lying on the ground. Their bodies were already cold and stiff, with no sign of life.

Everyone else clearly felt the raging anger that Xu Guozhong was forcibly suppressing in his heart.

Two soul masters immediately came forward and searched the body. Sure enough, they found that the key on the deceased was gone.

The crowd did not dare to delay and walked quickly towards the depths of the corridor. Soon, they arrived at the door leading to the first floor of the warehouse.

Xu Guozhong's face was as gloomy as water. He took out the key from his arms and inserted it into the keyhole impatiently, trying to open the door.

However, what he didn't know was that Huo Yuhao and the others who had sneaked in had already anticipated this, and the mechanism inside the gate had already been cleverly destroyed.

At this moment, no matter how he turned the key, the door remained motionless and showed no response at all.

"Asshole!"

Xu Guozhong's long-suppressed emotions finally erupted like a volcano.

His eyes were wide open with anger, and he punched the door hard, making a dull and heavy sound, as if venting his anger.

However, this door is far more solid than the one on the elevator, and its thickness is so amazing that it can be compared to a sluice gate.

Moreover, the door is made of a special alloy with extremely high strength, even comparable to some rare and precious metals.

"Break the door, break the door for me!"

Xu Guozhong was so angry that he was furious and roared at the top of his lungs.

"Your Majesty, if we attack the gate directly, it might trigger the defensive soul guide system to attack us. This..."

Seeing this, an eighth-level soul master beside him hurried forward to warn him, his face full of worry. (End of this chapter)