Under One Person: Dressed as Lü Liang, with vests all over

Who exactly was the one who plucked the golden branch?

King Nathan stared intently at Lü Liang, who was wearing the "Ron Keller" disguise, and asked again.

The others also turned their gazes over, their eyes filled with curiosity.

Only the members of Behemoth's delegation looked confused and helpless. They frantically gestured to Lü Liang, trying to dissuade him from continuing.

Lü Liang, of course, ignored them.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone present, Lü Liang calmly raised his hand and pointed to the tall, blond youth standing to the right of King Nathan, a smirk playing on his lips, and said:
“Isn’t that the man standing right next to the king? Nathan Wesley, am I right?”

Elijah remained silent with a stern face upon hearing this, but the scene erupted in uproar.

Everyone looked surprised and started discussing among themselves.

The person who wanted to kill King Nathan was Nathan's Guard?! How is that possible?!
However, the most surprised by this matter were King Nathan and the other Nathan Guards.

Lu Liang had barely finished speaking, and before Elijah could even offer an explanation, Alfonso, Nathan's guard standing on the other side of King Nathan, couldn't help but shout out:
"This is absolutely impossible! Elijah could never betray us!"

As he spoke, Alfonso turned to Elijah and urged him urgently:

"Elijah, speak up! You have always respected the king the most, you would never break a golden branch, you would never betray him, would you?"

“Who said he betrayed us?” Lü Liang said with his usual arrogant expression and a slightly sarcastic tone, “Perhaps he was only doing it for the king’s own good.”

"What are you talking about?"

Alfonso became even angrier upon hearing this, and he glared angrily at Lü Liang.

“Breaking the golden branch means challenging the king. Once a challenge begins, it can only end with the death of either the challenger or the king. Breaking the golden branch is not for the king's good! Elijah would not do that!”

Upon hearing Alfonso's words, many people in the audience nodded silently.

This is indeed true.

Their gazes turned back to Lü Liang, pondering the deeper purpose behind this "Behemoth executive's" words.

For a moment, the scene fell into silence.

Just then, Garcia, another Nathan Guard standing behind Nathan Guard, spoke up, addressing Alfonso:

"Alfonso, ignore him. This man covets the power of the Divine Tree and is trying to seize Nathan Island. He's just trying to sow discord."

"Yes!" Alfonso nodded vigorously, then glared angrily at Lü Liang: "Your scheme will not succeed!"

"I believe in Elijah; he would never do anything to harm the king!"

“Is that so?” Lü Liang scoffed. “What if I said that Elijah did this not because he wanted to become the new ‘king’?”

His gaze slowly swept over the group of Nathan Guards, and he said with a half-smile:

"As for the sacred tree, is King Nathan a king, or merely nourishment destined for sacrifice...? Don't you Nathan Guards know the answer to this question best?"

Upon hearing this, Alfonso wasn't the only one whose expression changed drastically; the other Nathan guards, including Elijah, also showed expressions of surprise and uncertainty.

The audience also fell into thought.

Seeing that Lü Liang had so casually revealed the secret of the sacred tree, Alfonso angrily took a step forward, glared at Lü Liang, and rebuked him:

"Stop talking nonsense! The Nathan Guards have long ago sworn an oath to the divine tree that our existence is to protect the King. If Elijah harbors any ill will towards the King, the divine tree will surely warn us!"

"Oh? Malice will give a warning? What about affection?"

"Love? What love? What nonsense are you talking about?"

Alfonso's eyes widened, his pupils filled with shock and confusion, and his gaze instinctively turned to Elijah and King Nathan.

……

“Elijah, I need your explanation.”

King Nathan, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke.

Her gaze shifted to Elijah, her dark eyes flashing with complex emotions.

Upon hearing this question, a hint of tenderness and sorrow appeared in Elijah's deep blue eyes.

He didn't argue, but only apologized softly, "I'm sorry, I wanted to help you escape that fate, I couldn't bear to see you like this—"

"Shut up! What nonsense are you spouting!" King Nathan interrupted him angrily, completely losing her composure at this moment.

A struggle flashed in her eyes, but it lasted only a moment. She pursed her lips, resolutely raised her hand and pointed at Elijah, coldly issuing orders to the other Nathan guards:

"Seize this traitor!"

"The sacred tree is not to be desecrated, not by anyone!"

A cold, stern voice echoed in the conference room.

But the next moment, something even more surprising happened.

Without hesitation, Elijah picked up his revolver and fired at the Nathan guards who were closing in on him.

This action extinguished the last shred of hope in the other Nathan guards' hearts.

Nathan Garcia, who was standing behind, immediately underwent a physical change.

His upper body retained his long pink hair and handsome face, but the area below his chest had been transformed into an alloy object.

These shimmering, silvery-white alloy artifacts intertwine into a complex structure, like a giant bird's nest, protecting King Nathan within.

This is the alchemist's ability.

The events unfolding on stage left the various factions below speechless. For a moment, no one spoke or acted. Only the people from Na Du Tong quickly built a defensive line around the perimeter to prevent Elijah from escaping.

Lu Liang noticed that Elijah's ability was the revolver in his hand, from which Qi bullets were continuously fired.

These energy projectiles are not only incredibly powerful, but they also all change direction, making them very difficult to deal with.

……

Just then, Alfonso, his face full of anger, took a step forward.

He looked like a child, but the aura he exuded was stronger than that of the other Nathan Guards.

His gaze was fixed on Elijah, and he slightly raised his hand, gritting his teeth as he said:

"Eliminate! Eliminate them! Eliminate this despicable traitor!"

Before he finished speaking, spots of light appeared out of thin air in front of him, densely suspended in the air.

Where these spots of light reach, a transparent shield forms, and the intense white light above is so bright that people can hardly open their eyes.

All the energy projectiles fired by Elijah were blocked by this light shield.

Moreover, the light spots continued to spread forward, and Elijah's revolver soon came into contact with them.

Then, something astonishing happened.

The moment the tip of the gun came into contact with the light spot, it instantly turned into dust and dissipated into the air.

As the light spot was about to touch Elijah, Alfonso's hand trembled, and he hesitated whether to stop.

Before he could make a decision, Elijah's body suddenly vanished from the spot.

Not only did his figure disappear, but his aura vanished instantly, as if he had never been there at all.

"What's going on? What happened?"

"How did Nathan suddenly disappear? Was he disintegrated?"

"It doesn't seem like it. Could it have run away?"

"How can we run away like this? Even with the ability to become invisible, there's no way our presence could disappear so completely!"

Just as the murmurs arose, Lü Liang, who had been watching the situation on stage closely, suddenly narrowed his eyes.

It's that mysterious person!

He did indeed appear.

Lü Liang immediately turned to look at Wang Ye, whose eyes also flashed with surprise.

The two looked at each other and then nodded at the same time.

The fish has taken the bait; it's time to reel it in. (End of Chapter)