The whole nation is trying to survive on the cable car; I'm choosing one of three options at ea

Su Mu looked up at him.

The man's expression was calm, lacking the arrogance of the previous professionals and the deliberate attempt to ingratiate himself; he simply stood there waiting for a reply.

Su Mu stood up, dusted off his hands, said "Let's go," and followed him in that direction.

The guild leaders and survivors who were initially observing all subtly changed their expressions after witnessing that scene.

When they tried to strike up a conversation with those professionals, they weren't even given a second glance.

At that moment, the person approached with a noticeably lowered posture, using the polite form of address and the word "please," and even waited a few seconds before turning around to lead the way.

Someone whispered, "They treat him completely differently than they treat us..."

The person next to him didn't respond, but there was something new in their eyes that they hadn't seen before.

When they looked at Su Mu's back again, their gaze had changed... It was no longer just "this person is very strong," but "this person is so strong that he cannot be provoked."

Su Mu followed the person for about two or three hundred meters, passing through the gaps between several defensive towers, and stopped in front of a relatively intact stone building.

The building's exterior walls were mostly intact, and a corner of the roof had collapsed, but the interior had been cleaned up. Several flat stone slabs were laid on the ground, and a dim oil lamp was lit in the corner.

An old man was sitting on a low stool by the stone wall. He stood up when he saw Su Mu come in.

His movements were slow but steady, like someone who had been standing on the battlefield for a long time; he stood up without any unnecessary swaying. He didn't say any pleasantries, but simply gestured for Su Mu to sit down on another low stool opposite him.

"Please have a seat. I am Elder Li, one of the elders of the Golden Pagoda Organization."

He spoke, his voice not loud, but every word seemed carefully chosen. "The Golden Pagoda Organization is an ancient organization that has existed in this world for thousands of years. As for its specific historical origins, that's a long story; we can discuss it in detail another time."

Su Mu sat down opposite him, not responding immediately, waiting for the other to continue.

Old Li's gaze lingered on Su Mu's face for a moment before he spoke, his pace neither fast nor slow: "You must have seen the strange phenomenon last night. We want to confirm one thing... Did you encounter a ghost dressed in theatrical costume outside the city last night?"

Su Mu's brow twitched slightly, but he quickly regained his composure.

He didn't answer immediately, as if recalling something, then slowly said, "I saw it. The purple flower, and the noise from the sky—everyone on the cable saw it."

He wasn't lying; those were things everyone saw. He didn't mention a word about the details of the kill.

Old Li's gaze remained fixed on his face, as if judging the weight of his words.

"Did you see how that thing died? Or did you notice anything about who was doing anything on the cable at the time?"

Su Mu paused for two seconds, as if he was carefully considering his words.

"I was on the cable car at the time, not very close. I only saw a dark red beam of light rise from below, then vines, and then a loud explosion. I didn't see clearly who did it."

Out of caution, Su Mu didn't say that "who" was himself. Instead, he spoke from another perspective, since he still didn't know what the Golden Pagoda organization was trying to do.

After listening, Old Li asked again, "Were all of this done by the people on the cable car?"

Su Mu did not answer directly, but said, "I don't know, but that strange thing was targeting a cable car."

After listening, Old Li's expression did not change significantly.

He didn't reply immediately, but lowered his gaze, as if he were reorganizing the information in his mind.

Then he nodded, his tone returning to its usual calm: "I understand. Thank you."

Su Mu noticed that although the old man's expression didn't change much, the eyes of the people behind him clearly held a light they hadn't seen before after hearing this conversation...

It was as if they had confirmed something that excited them.

Su Mu silently noted this detail in his mind.

These people clearly didn't come to him just for casual conversation.

What they really care about is "finding the person who killed the demon general," and there's a high probability that there's something in it that's beneficial to them.

He did not press the matter further.

Old Li didn't seem to intend to delve any deeper into this topic.

Su Mu was silent for a moment, then spoke: "May I ask you a question?"

Old Li looked up at him, his gaze scrutinizing him as if he were weighing the value of answering the question.

Su Mu thought for a moment and then asked, "After you teleported to this city, what exactly was going on with those defensive towers and the mechanics of the nighttime ghost attacks?"

Old Li lowered his gaze, as if he were organizing his thoughts. He remained silent for a moment before speaking, his speech slower than before, carrying a calmness only found when recounting some heavy past event.

"Those defensive towers are a small form of assistance from the rules of this world. Our forces survive in the cracks, and whenever ghosts occupy a city, the rules of this world randomly select some people from various forces to descend upon that city for defense."

If we hold our ground, we can return to where we started, or we can choose to stay and occupy the city. If we cannot hold it…

He paused for a moment, then said, "Everyone will perish along with the city."

Su Mu didn't interrupt, waiting for him to finish speaking.

"We were destined to lose this situation..."

Old Li's gaze shifted into the distance, and he did not continue.

Su Mu recalled the enormous hand that reached down from the depths of the sky.

He didn't respond, nor did he press for details about who that "being" was. Old Li didn't continue either. He withdrew his gaze, his tone returning to its previous calm: "After a draw, the defensive tower mechanism will become fixed. Not only are there towers in the regular areas, but there are also corresponding towers in the areas occupied by the strange entities. We must destroy all of their towers and destroy their core... that black spring bubbling with green water, to win. The same applies to those strange entities."

He paused, his gaze lingering on Su Mu's face for a moment, as if weighing something, before adding, "Of course, there are many more details, but knowing too much now won't do you much good."

Su Mu remained silent for a moment.

He had originally wanted to ask where the mythical chimera that was hovering above the battlefield had gone, and why those strange creatures wanted to occupy the city.

But Mr. Li's attitude is already very clear...