This villain is too popular.

Chapter 463 Blood Moon [4000 words]

[Nighttime, Wudou Tiandu Metropolitan Area, Star Energy Core Area]

The entrance to the core area of ​​the Star Energy Zone was heavily guarded, with layers of Star Energy defensive patterns engraved on the walls, and a light blue energy barrier flowing slowly like water.

Caroline raised her hand and released a wisp of golden AI star energy, which condensed into a pass badge in her palm.

This is the highest-level access certificate that Heaven has applied for for her in advance, which can shield her from the detection of the defense system.

"Follow me."

Caroline lowered her voice to give instructions to the team members behind her, and then led everyone into the energy barrier.

Inside the core area, a massive energy converter stands in the center, its silver-white metal shell covered with complex circuitry, and a low, humming sound emanates from within.

The dense stellar energy flowed through the air as if it were a physical substance, forming a pale blue current that could be seen with the naked eye.

Lu Ming was standing below the energy converter, his back to the entrance, carefully opening the encrypted briefcase in his hand.

Caroline gestured for everyone to disperse and hide behind the surrounding equipment, while she activated the AI ​​Star Energy to create a real-time monitoring screen on her retina, clearly recording Lu Ming's actions.

Lu Ming took out a palm-sized black crystal from his briefcase. The crystal's surface was engraved with strange patterns similar to those of the Mother Nest of the Bone Desert, and it emitted a faint abyssal energy.

He went around to the side of the energy converter, found a hidden interface, and slowly embedded the black crystal into it.

As soon as the crystal touched the interface, the surrounding circuitry lit up with a dark red light, which contrasted sharply with the pale blue starlight of the converter itself.

One of the team members whispered into the communicator, "It's an Abyss Energy Guiding Crystal."

"According to the R&D department, this crystal can silently tamper with the operating program of the energy converter, converting stellar energy into abyssal energy, and it is very difficult to detect by conventional methods."

Caroline's eyes darkened slightly, and she did not give any orders to act, but continued to observe.

She knew that since Lu Ming dared to come to the core area alone to make arrangements, he must have support behind him, or rather, this crystal was just the tip of the iceberg of the entire ceremony.

What she's waiting for is for more 'fish' to take the bait.

Sure enough, the communicator rang as soon as Lu Ming finished embedding the crystal.

After answering the call, he said respectfully, "Yes, I have completed the first phase of the setup and guided the crystal to operate normally. I will stay here and await further instructions. Okay, Lord Night Owl."

"Night Owl!"

The team members hidden behind the equipment narrowed their eyes. They didn't expect Lu Ming to directly call the other party Night Owl. Could he be the high-level undercover agent?

Caroline, however, remained vigilant. She noticed that as Lu Ming spoke, his eyes unconsciously glanced upwards at the energy converter, as if he were wary of something.

Just then, a slight noise came from the top of the core area, and a dark figure landed silently like a bat, standing steadily behind Lu Ming.

"The mission was completed well."

The shadowy figure's voice had been specially processed, making it hoarse and deep.

"However, it seems you have brought an uninvited guest."

Lu Ming's expression changed, and he turned around abruptly.

"What? Someone's following me?"

The shadowy figure raised his hand and waved, sending a black streak of star energy hurtling towards the direction where Caroline and the others were hiding.

"Do it!"

Caroline let out a low shout, and the AI ​​star energy around her surged, condensing into a sci-fi-inspired AI metal wall in front of her, just like a Transformer transforming.

The black star energy collided with Caroline's android metal wall, immediately creating ripples of energy that spread outwards.

Taking this opportunity, Caroline's team members immediately rushed out from their hiding places, activating their star energy and surrounding Lu Ming and the shadowy figure.

Seeing this, Lu Ming stopped pretending. His star energy surged, and his hands transformed into two sharp bone blades, slashing towards the nearest team member.

The team member was a Enhancement-type Star Envoy, and immediately activated his Star Energy to harden his body surface, parrying the bone blade.

clang!
A piercing metallic clang rang out, sending the team members staggering backward, a crack appearing in the star energy shield on their arms.

Fortunately, Caroline brought only elites this time.

Furthermore, because Lu Ming himself was the head of the Supervision Department of the Martial Arts Capital Star Envoy Association Branch, these team members were all transferred from other places.

Therefore, even though their individual strength was not as great as Lu Ming, the director of the Supervision Department at the peak of the third level, they could still manage to trap him.

On the other side, Caroline was already locked in combat with the shadowy figure.

The shadowy figure moved with incredible speed, its form flashing like a ghost. A black star energy dagger materialized in its hand, and each attack was aimed precisely at Caroline's vital points.

Although Caroline was quite strong, she was momentarily at a disadvantage when faced with the shadowy figure's swift close-combat attack.

"Your strength is indeed quite good, but your speed is a bit lacking."

The shadowy figure sneered, and the Star Energy Dagger sliced ​​through the air, aiming for Caroline's neck.

Just at this critical moment, a figure emerged from the void and stood in front of Caroline.

boom!
In an instant, the dagger in the shadowy figure's hand seemed to have hit an invisible wall, falling to the ground with a clatter.

He looked up and discovered that the Heavenly Dao had appeared at some point.

He is now capable of briefly resisting subspace storms and rapidly traversing a certain area.

This is a privilege reserved exclusively for those at the Calamity-level.

The appearance of the Heavenly Dao undoubtedly brought great pressure to the shadowy figure.

As a result, Lu Ming, who was not far away, suddenly broke free from the restraints of the others and rushed towards the Heavenly Dao.

Before he could take more than a few steps, an invisible vector force field suddenly descended upon him, firmly fixing him in place.

Seeing this, the team members immediately seized the opportunity and used restraint chains to bind him.

In just one exchange, Lu Ming, the former director of the Inspectorate and a Star Envoy at the peak of the third level, was completely subdued by the Heavenly Dao.

Seeing this, a resolute glint flashed in the shadowy figure's eyes, and he suddenly activated the remaining star energy within his body.

"Want to blow yourself up?"

The lazy voice of the Heavenly Dao suddenly rang out, and the originally formless vector force field suddenly became tangible, transforming into silver-white chains that instantly enveloped the black shadow and firmly suppressed the star energy within his body.

This method of turning the illusory into the real not only surprised the shadowy figure, but also left Caroline somewhat in a daze.

Has the Heavenly Dao already developed vector control to this extent?
Looking at Caroline, who was deep in thought, Tiandao did not rush to remove the mask from the shadowy face, but smiled and said, "Caroline, you set up a good bait, but you almost got yourself caught."

"When did you come?"

Caroline asked.

“I was here when you entered the core area.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Tiandao turned to look at the motionless black figure not far away and said with a smile, "Alright, let me see what this so-called 'Night Owl' is all about."

Just as Tiandao finished speaking, a series of footsteps suddenly came from the entrance of the core area.

Surprisingly, Zhao Kun and Han Wen, who had been marked as suspects by Tiandao and Caroline, also appeared at this moment.

They were accompanied by several Dark Star Envoys dressed in black uniforms.

Seeing this, Caroline knew perfectly well that she and her companions had fallen into a 'trap'.

Surprisingly, apart from the people Caroline brought, both she and Tiandao remained remarkably calm, as if unsurprised by the outcome. Han Wen and the others, however, didn't seem to have much of an opinion on this, merely believing that Tiandao and Caroline were feigning composure.

"Heavenly Dao Master, Caroline, you think you're setting up bait, but little do you know, you yourselves are our prey."

"Lu Ming is just a pawn we deliberately put out to lure you here."

"Oh?"

Tiandao raised an eyebrow and said, "So, all three of you are 'Night Owls'?"

"Yes."

The bound figure in the distance suddenly ripped off the mask from his face, revealing a familiar face—it was Lu Ming, the director of the Supervision Department.

The previously subdued 'Lu Ming' suddenly twisted and transformed into another unfamiliar man in black.

It's obvious that the real Lu Ming isn't here; the one from before was just a substitute they created using abyssal energy.

No wonder their strength is surprisingly weak.

Under the calm gazes of Tiandao and Caroline, the abyssal energy within Nati's body slowly dissipated, and his form collapsed, turning into a pool of black sludge.

Zhao Kun raised his hand and waved, and the members of the Tianyuan Organization behind him attacked Tiandao and the others.

"The defense system of the Star Energy Core Area has been tampered with by us. People from the outside can't get in. You can rest assured and become sacrifices for the opening of the Abyss Passage."

"Tampering with the defense system?"

The Heavenly Dao chuckled, and an invisible vector force field instantly spread out, covering the entire core area of ​​the star energy.

The defensive patterns on the wall, which had been shimmering with a dark red light, instantly turned silver-white under the influence of the vector force field.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Kun and the other two's expressions changed drastically, as if they understood something.

They hadn't expected that the Heavenly Dao's vector control had reached the point where it could directly control other people's star energy techniques from such a great distance.

Is such a star source truly still vector-controlled?
Or has his vector control already undergone three awakenings?
The so-called three awakenings are symbols of natural disasters.

However, they sensed the 'primordial power' emanating from the Heavenly Dao, the kind of power that a calamity-level being could exert with every gesture.

Ignoring the three men's unpleasant expressions, Tiandao said calmly, "Your plan has been under my control from the very beginning."

"The reason I didn't act immediately was to see what kind of trouble you could cause, and to wipe out all your hidden forces in Martial Capital in one fell swoop."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a series of rapid footsteps sounded at the entrance to the core area. Jing Liuli led a large number of members of the Association's Supervision Department in and rushed in, surrounding Zhao Kun and his two companions, as well as the remaining members of the Tianyuan Organization.

"Heavenly Dao, all members of the Heavenly Abyss outside have been eliminated; none have escaped."

Seeing this, Zhao Kun and his two companions realized that things were in trouble.

Fortunately, their plan has been basically completed.

So Lu Ming looked at the Heavenly Dao and said with a gloomy face, "It's no use. The important part of the ceremony is almost complete."

"What you are doing now is just making our perfect plan have a few minor flaws, which has absolutely no impact on the overall situation."

"And once the ritual is successfully initiated, the gate to the abyss will naturally open!"

To this, Heaven smiled and said, "Is that so?"

Shortly after he finished speaking, Anqin appeared at the entrance, surrounded by pale purple Dark Serpent Star Energy.

Upon seeing her appearance, Lu Ming and the other two frowned.

"Well, you should be able to sense the locations of those altars now, right?"

Anqin nodded.

"I can sense the general direction, and once I get close enough, I can pinpoint the exact location of the altar."

Upon hearing An Qin's words, Lu Ming and the other two felt a sense of foreboding.

Their greatest confidence at this moment lies in the fact that the ceremony has already been arranged.

Moreover, it is difficult for ordinary people to locate the positions of several ritual altars.

But when Anqin appeared, everything changed.

As a former member of the Tianyuan Organization, Anqin herself has a keen sense of the abyss's aura.

With her leading the way, it's only a matter of time before we find those altars.

Having figured this out, Lu Ming and the others exchanged glances and made their decisions.

They originally thought that as long as they dealt with the troublesome guys like the Heavenly Dao Master of Fate and delayed until the start of the Star Energy Festival, they could achieve their goal.

Then everything will be settled.

But now it seems they overestimated their own abilities and underestimated the power of the Heavenly Dao.

Although this person has not yet awakened their true nature and entered the realm of natural disasters.

However, his terrifying talent makes him even more powerful than ordinary natural disasters.

Even more outrageous is that the Heavenly Dao possesses mental and physical abilities completely inconsistent with its age.

To say that he is the second Ennet would not be an exaggeration at all.

Once the Heavenly Dao is allowed to grow, it will inevitably become the strongest being of the next generation after Ennet steps down.

With this in mind, Lu Ming and the other two immediately made a decision.

Although the current ceremony lacks sufficient offerings.

Forcing the ritual to begin will greatly reduce its power.

But if this can be used to exchange for one of the Star Envoy Association's future strongest members, then this deal doesn't seem like a bad one.

Boom!

To Caroline's surprise, a violent tremor suddenly occurred in Martial Arts Capital.

The entire floating city began to shake.

Such a situation has never occurred in the nearly 100 years since the founding of Wudou Tiandu.

It should be noted that the seven floating cities were aerial fortresses built by several major nations of the old era at the beginning of the Star Origin Era, with the combined power of the entire world.

Many of the technologies used were outdated, but they have been continuously improved by successive generations.

The seven floating cities today can no longer be regarded as ordinary cities, but rather as the ultimate product of the high integration of old-era technology and star energy technology.

The conditions required to influence this ultimate fortress must be extremely demanding.

"Heavenly Dao, can you sense it?"

Caroline looked at the Heavenly Dao, a rare serious expression on her face.

Tiandao nodded in response, then looked up at the sky above Martial Arts City, which was beginning to turn dark red.

A blood moon appeared silently in the sky above Martial Capital, a truly eerie sight.

(End of this chapter)