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

On the west coast of Nathan Island, outside the temporary camp where Behemoth's army was stationed.

"Crack!"

After a soft, crisp sound, Lü Liang put the unconscious Behemoth soldier into his pouch.

Immediately afterwards, he deftly placed the light blue memory energy ball he had just taken out on his forehead, letting it disappear into his brow, and then quickly adjusted his appearance and changed his clothes.

"Hurry up, everyone! We need to assemble!"

Henry's familiar voice rang out from outside.

"coming."

Lu Liang calmly responded, then fastened his belt as he walked out of the bushes and joined the group.

After lining up, he tapped the right side of his helmet with his index finger to reactivate the camera on the front of the helmet.

At this moment, assistant Henry was busy distributing weapons to the team members and did not notice that some members of the security team prepared for Ron had been replaced.

"John, this is yours."

Lü Liang reached out and took the "gun" from Henry, glancing down at it briefly.

Despite being called a "gun," this weapon looks more like a "cannon," with a black barrel connected to a bulging chamber, and it doesn't require bullets to fire.

After listening to Heng's explanation of the weapon, Lü Liang couldn't help but raise his eyebrows slightly, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes.

Surprisingly, this is Behemoth's latest weapon. I must say, its attack effect is quite interesting.

However, it seems Ron is getting a little desperate to use a weapon that has only recently been developed and is still in the testing phase.

As soon as Lü Liang thought of Ron, Ron appeared.

Wearing a suit and with his blond hair slicked back, Ron Keller still had that arrogant look on his face.

His gaze swept over the eight members of the security team.

"Significant progress has been made at the royal palace; I'm going to inspect the treasures that belong to Behemoth!"

“You are my security team. You do not need to participate in the battle with the islanders. You are only responsible for protecting my safety.”

At this point, Ron paused, his eyes flashing with anger, and continued through gritted teeth, "And, when you encounter that bastard, grab him!"

"Yes, sir!"

……

Because the soldiers airdropped from the helicopter had already paved the way, Ron's squad advanced relatively smoothly and soon arrived at the royal city.

The area in front of the royal city was shrouded in a gray fog.

Commander Hit was in charge of attacking the royal city. When he saw Ron, this difficult god, his lips twitched, but he quickly adjusted his expression and walked over.

"Reporting, sir, we have captured two of the Nasen Guards who are guarding the royal city, and there is still one resisting."

Ron frowned, his gaze falling on the gray mist, and asked, "Is it Joaquin?"

"Yes, sir, it is indeed 'Heaven' Woukina."

After a pause, Hit continued his report: "Just now, we suffered heavy losses in our efforts to deal with Nathan's 'Angel' Alfonso, but fortunately we have successfully captured the target."

"However, when we were capturing another Nathan's 'precious metal' Garcia, another force intervened and snatched Garcia away at the last minute. We suspect that the other party is the Alchemy Society."

“The Alchemy Society?” Ron’s face immediately turned ashen. “Despicable thieves! How dare they covet Behemoth’s property! I’ll teach that Spencer a lesson he won’t forget!”

Hearing Ron's curses, Gade quickly reminded him through his earpiece:

"Ron, calm down! Now is not the time to focus on the Alchemy Society. Right now, the most important thing for us is the King and the Tree!"

As he spoke, Gade's voice turned serious, and he commanded Hitt:

"Hitt, proceed according to the original plan!"

"Yes!"

Upon hearing this, the commander standing nearby immediately stood up straight and responded.

After saying that, he glanced at Ron somewhat guiltily.

Ron pursed his lips in dissatisfaction, but ultimately did not refute it.

Lu Liang stood to Ron's right, adopting the same protective stance as the other soldiers, but his mind was preoccupied with intelligence related to Warkina.

As the oldest member of Nathan's team, it can be said that Nathan was watched grow up by Joaquin.

Joachim's power is called "Heaven," and it has two forms: "Hell" and "Heaven."

That thick gray fog ahead is "Hell." It is said that anyone who enters it without Joachim Wakina's authorization will have viscous fluid flowing from their mouth and nose, and the more thoughts they have, the heavier the viscous fluid will be.

This slime makes it difficult for people to concentrate, and greatly reduces the effectiveness of using weapons or superpowers.

This ability, which can be described as unpredictable and ever-changing, is extremely troublesome to deal with.

Unfortunately, Behemoth had long coveted Nathan Island and knew the abilities and weaknesses of each Nathan Guard inside and out.

"Attention everyone! Spread out and avoid the fog!"

The commander issued orders loudly and methodically: "Now, drones, enter! Begin infrared scan!"

The thick fog is invisible to the human eye, but it is not difficult for technology.

Lu Liang's "penetrating vision" quietly activated, and the infrared-like effect allowed him to successfully capture the figure of Zhonghua Jinna in the gray fog.

Moreover, he noticed that the sniper rifle's red dot was already aimed at Joaquin.

Sure enough, the next moment, Hitt received a report in his earpiece:
"Report, target engaged!"

"Alright! Fire directly!"

……

The instant the bullet was fired, Joaquin moved, a feat unique to Nathan's island-traveling abilities.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Bullets rained down, and although they failed to hit Joachim, they kept him busy dodging and made it difficult for him to maintain his "hellish" state.

The gray fog in front of the palace is showing signs of dissipating.

Hitt waved his hand, signaling the soldiers to advance.

Seeing that the last line of defense of the palace was about to be breached, Joaquin gritted his teeth and flew directly outside the gray fog, standing in front of the Behemoth soldiers.

She didn't attack directly, but instead stared intently at the soldiers rushing up the steps, her eyes narrowed as if trying to memorize them all.

Upon seeing this, Lü Liang's eyes sharpened. Hua Jinna was planning to pull people into her "heavenly kingdom."

Ron realized what was happening at that moment.

"Quickly! Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!"

Lu Liang followed Ron and retreated quickly, concealing himself behind the others.

At this moment, Hitt was also giving tense commands:

"It's 'Heaven'! Scatter! Avoid her line of sight! Activate your shields! Quickly!"

Shields of light made of a special material unfolded in the air, providing tight protection for Hit and Ron's squad.

Seeing this, Wojnarowski looked regretful, but the die was cast and he had no choice but to proceed.

She could only try to take as many people as possible with her own life.

The "Heavenly Kingdom" domain expanded, and all Behemoth soldiers not blocked by the light shield were drawn into the domain.

Within this realm, Joaquin cannot harm those dragged in; but she can manipulate time within it, making the time in reality and time within the realm infinitely equal, driving those dragged into heaven into madness.

In contrast, when manipulating "Heaven", Joaquina's physical body outside is unable to move.

This was the moment Hitler had been waiting for.

He immediately issued an order to the sniper in the helicopter above: "Fly shooter, long-range sniping!"

……

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Joaquin was struck in three vital areas simultaneously, and her body collapsed limply to the ground, lifeless.

With her death, those who had been drawn into the realm of "heaven" were released.

Unfortunately, they had spent nearly a thousand years inside in despair, and their mental state had long since collapsed.

"Hahahaha! I'm free!"

The soldiers who came out shouted excitedly and began to indiscriminately fire their guns in all directions.

"Fire! These guys are insane!" Hitt shouted.

After a burst of gunfire, half of the Behemoth soldiers who were originally in charge of the attack were gone.

Hitt saluted the fallen corpses, then waved his hand and said, "Keep going!"

By this time, the gray fog that had lingered outside the palace had completely dissipated.

“Mr. Ron, the sacred tree is just ahead.”

Hitt led his men through the way while reporting to Ron.

……

With a gun in his hand, Lü Liang entered the palace with his men.

After walking through a long corridor, the view finally opened up.

An open space appeared ahead.

In the center of the open space stood a tree with a bare trunk. It was neither lush nor tall, but it had a strange attraction that made it hard to look away.

"Is this the Divine Tree..." Hit murmured.

Lu Liang's gaze followed the golden strip of paper on the divine tree and landed on the figure kneeling beneath it.

A white robe, black hair, hands clasped together, and incredibly devout – it was King Nathan.

Hearing the approaching footsteps, King Nathan finally opened his eyes and raised his head.

At this moment, her blue eyes were filled with anger, her usual gentle expression was gone, and her body trembled with rage.

Exhausted, she couldn't stand up and could only glare at Ron.

Lu Liang noticed that her white robe was covered with tiny holes, which must be the price for borrowing power from the divine tree.

Even though she tried her best to transfer power to the Nathan Guards, she couldn't save them.

At this moment, King Nathan's face was distorted with anger, while Ron's face showed a smug smile.

"Your Majesty, don't look at me like that. You are a distinguished guest of Behemoth. Don't worry, we will take the sacred tree you are protecting back with us."

As he spoke, he raised his hand to signal Hit: "Use an anesthetic, but don't hurt her!"

"Yes."

……

Looking at the sleeping King Nathan, Hitt's face also showed excitement.

Successfully capturing King Nathan would be an absolute great achievement.

He gestured to his soldiers to lift King Nathan, and at the same time asked Ron for instructions;
“Mr. Ron, do you think we should arrange for someone to send Wang back to the ship first?” “Okay.”

Upon receiving the response, Hitt immediately made arrangements: "Kerry, you take two teams and escort the King to the palace gate. I will arrange for a helicopter to pick him up there."

"Okay, sir."

Unfortunately, the group was stopped before they even reached the entrance.

The commotion at the entrance immediately drew everyone's attention.

"Oh dear, we were almost late."

A cynical voice rang out, followed by echoes in various languages.

"Tsk tsk, Behemoth's bandits are pretty efficient. I almost missed the fun."

"Thank goodness, I almost didn't get to play!"

"Truth will not side with violence, Amen..."

Hit looked at the group of people warily, his gaze quickly sweeping over the dozens of people who had suddenly appeared, his face gradually darkening.

He recognized many familiar faces. These people were clearly from different supernatural organizations around the world, including many well-known experts in the supernatural world.

What concerned him even more was that although the Nassen Guards outside the palace had been eliminated, he had left soldiers on guard.

However, he received no warning from his men until this group broke in...

Thinking of this, Hitt's face turned even more ashen, and he questioned the man who had spoken first:
"You killed those people who were guarding outside?"

Leading the group was a swordsman with a typical Japanese appearance.

Upon hearing the question, he shrugged and laughed indifferently, "We just wanted to come in and take a look, but someone insisted on blocking our way, so naturally we had to clean it up."

This answer only fueled Hitt's anger.

He gripped the gun tightly, his gaze fixed on the Japanese swordsman.

"Didn't your Fish-Dragon Society agree to only take one Nathan Guard named Mochizuki Satoru? Are you going back on your word?"

"Don't talk nonsense!" the swordsman retorted, his eyes wide. "I'm not a member of the Fish Dragon Society. I just take on jobs from the dark web to earn some extra money."

“And what about you?” Hit’s gaze shifted to a man with strange symbols painted on his face, and he said sarcastically, “Don’t the ‘Children of the Earth’ believe in ‘cultivating the mind and not meddling in external affairs’?”

“The doctrine tells us to ‘return the favor,’ and since I have accepted gifts from others, I naturally have to fulfill their requests.”

This answer left Hitler speechless.

Seeing Behemoth's men suffer a setback, the group of Inhumans became even more excited.

Someone whistled and mocked, "Exactly, they're all supernatural beings, it's not normal for them to take on some side jobs."

“Nathan Island is open to everyone. You Behemoths don’t think you can claim territory by simply peeing like dogs, do you?”

Hearing these people's words, Hitt's face grew even uglier, his brows furrowed so deeply they could almost trap a fly.

These forces are utterly despicable and shameless.

They actually resorted to the "cross-killing" trick.

Each organization secretly spends money on the dark web to hire people to cause trouble on Nathan Island, and in order to clear themselves of suspicion, they tacitly choose to hire Inhumans from other countries.

As a result, these troublesome individuals come from all sorts of countries and organizations, but their origins are impossible to trace.

Growing angrier the more Hit thought about it, he couldn't help but steal a glance at Ron, thinking angrily to himself:
If this director hadn't leaked Behemoth's landing plan at the All-Ton meeting, they wouldn't be in such a passive position now.

……

As luck would have it, Ron looked up and his gaze met Hit's.

Ron immediately flew into a rage: "Hitt, what kind of look is that?!"

“Mr. Ron, you’re mistaken.”

Hitt immediately offered an explanation, while pointing to those in front who were trying to block his way, changing the subject: "Do you think we should launch a direct assault, or..."

"Trash! It's all trash!"

Ron cursed and took two steps forward.

Then, he loosened his tie and started cursing: "You hypocrites!"

"They're all here for the wealth of Nathan Island, yet they pretend they don't care."

“A bunch of cowardly and timid fellows who only dare to hide behind Behemoth and steal the fruits of victory, like rats in the gutter, never able to see the light of day.”

Faced with this outburst of abuse, the person on the other end remained unperturbed, simply picking their ear and saying, "Such a barking dog, I wonder if its bite hurts..."

"you--"

Ron was about to signal for an attack when Gade stopped him through his earpiece.

"Ron, remember our goal: the King and the Tree are the most important."

Ron paused, the rage in his eyes slowly subsiding as he began to assess the situation.

Although he had full confidence in Behemoth's army.

But now, this group is closer to King Nathan, and if they kill him in a moment of panic, it will be a huge loss for Behemoth.

Now, although this group has been provoking us, they haven't made a move yet, which clearly means they have something to ask for.

Thinking of this, a knowing smile appeared on Ron's lips.

As a businessman, his greatest skill is nothing more than the exchange of interests.

Ron's gaze fell on the Japanese swordsman, and he asked, "What exactly do you want?"

"What are we doing? Now that we're on Nathan Island, we naturally want to see the splendor of the Divine Tree."

"As for King Nathan, we have no interest in him. However, to avoid you turning your backs on us, it would be better for her to stay here for now."

……

These words nearly made Ron jump up: "You're still thinking of messing with the Divine Tree?"

"Hmph—" The Japanese swordsman chuckled and pointed to the tree in the center of the open space. "It's not so easy to take the divine tree. If you don't believe me, you can dig it up and you'll see."

The others also feigned curiosity and chuckled:

"Since you're going to dig it up sooner or later anyway, why don't we take a look together?"

Ron walked toward the sacred tree with some skepticism.

At the same time, Gade's voice came through the earpiece:
“Ron, I just received news that someone on the dark web has indeed released information related to the Divine Tree, saying that the true mystery of the Divine Tree lies underground…”

"Therefore, I suggest that the task of excavating the Divine Tree be carried out by the telekinetic ability users in Hit's team."

"Also, I have already sent more people to the palace, so you should avoid any conflict with those people for the time being."

"Okay," Ron replied somewhat impatiently.

Moments later, the excavation of the sacred tree officially began!

Dozens of telekinetic ability users surrounded the divine tree, using their Qi to control the soil on the ground, causing it to detach from the tree's roots.

A brilliant light shone from the ground, and the roots of the divine tree were soon revealed.

"Be careful to distinguish between the soil, rocks, and the tree trunk; be extremely careful not to damage the tree!"

Ron's eyes lit up, and he shouted.

As the excavation progressed, the golden light grew increasingly dazzling, almost illuminating the entire open space.

But not long after, the man leading the excavation suddenly stopped, turned around in astonishment, and shouted, "Mr. Ron, you'd better come and take a look!"

Ron immediately walked forward, and Lü Liang, pretending to protect him, followed him.

At this time, a two-meter-wide hole had been dug out beneath the sacred tree.

Lü Liang soon witnessed a scene that astonished the excavators—

Many human faces were growing on the tangled tree roots!
Moreover, these people had facial expressions; some had their eyes tightly closed and their faces were furrowed, while others had their mouths wide open, as if they were shouting silently.

But most faces showed fear, struggle, and pain, as if they were frightened by this breakthrough of "seeing the light".

The bizarre scene before them completely destroyed the sacred tree's original holy image, replacing it with a chilling sense of terror.

"too crazy!"

The group of strange people who were watching the spectacle also showed expressions of disbelief.

Some people gasped and took a few steps back, seemingly worried about being swallowed up by the horrific sight. Ron even clutched his chest and vomited.

"Fuck! What is this?!"

"So, this is where those who failed at breaking branches ended up." A look of shock appeared on the face of the Japanese swordsman. "No, that's not right. It's not just the branch breakers, but also the kings and guards of all time."

"This...is this what they call returning to the tree?" Ron's eyes were still filled with horror. "What happened to them? Are they dead? Or alive?"

"In this state, it's hard to say whether it's dead or alive..." the swordsman pondered. "However, this should be the secret to the Divine Tree's longevity..."

It took Ron a while to calm down his shock.

The divine tree was far from what they had imagined, but it was undoubtedly still an invaluable treasure.

A glint of greed flashed in Ron's eyes as he shouted to the telekinetic user beside him, "Keep digging! Dig it all out!"

All the telekinetic users acted simultaneously again, clearing away the soil and rocks bit by bit, making the underground pit grow larger and larger.

From three meters wide to five meters wide, from five meters deep to eight meters deep... the digging went deeper and wider, but the root system seemed to have no end.

……

Lu Liang stood behind Ron, his gaze sweeping over the root system.

His return was primarily driven by a desire to see the sacred tree with his own eyes.

Now, he is even more certain that his trip was worthwhile.

Because this place gave him a strange and strong sense of familiarity, and the same sense of mystery as the Twenty-Four Heavenly Valley.

Two seemingly unrelated things actually share some striking similarities.

As a sacred object of Nathan Island, the characteristics of the Divine Tree are quite obvious—it has a long history, possesses a special domain, and can exert a powerful influence within that domain.

All of these characteristics are present in the Twenty-Four Solar Terms Grain.

Both Nathan Island and Valley of the Twenty-Four have existed for over a thousand years.

Nathan Island is the domain of the Divine Tree. The islanders born on Nathan Island are born with extraordinary abilities. King Nathan and Nathan Guards can teleport across the entire island. King Nathan can even transfer the power of the Divine Tree to others.

The Twenty-Four Solar Terms Valley is also a region.

The outer perimeter of this domain is a deadly aura, beyond which lies a valley where living beings can obtain vital energy, and the ultimate core is the place where the final ritual will be held...

Lü Liang thought quickly:

"Moreover... the divine tree can grant the people on the island superpowers, and the ritual can enable those who participate in the ritual to comprehend the Eight Extraordinary Skills. This similarity makes it hard not to pay attention to it."

"Could the location Wugensheng ultimately chose for the ritual be similar to the core of the divine tree?"

"However, since the divine tree possesses subjective consciousness, what about the Twenty-Four Heavenly Valley? Could it contain something similar?"

"If so, is Wugensheng related to this consciousness?" (End of Chapter)