"Disciple- no, friend William. Thank you for helping me." Gu Dianlong bowed towards William, then again to the four Magical Beasts that were wholly responsible for his freedom. It had been almost fifty years since Gu Dianlong was affected by the first Enslavement Array, and he had worried it would be even longer this time.
He spoke again, "I’m glad that you didn’t forget about this old man. I hope this means you’ve forgiven me for what I did, even if it wasn’t my own decision."
William waved his hand in dismissal, "You helped me before. It’s only fair that I return the favor."
Gu Dianlong nodded and didn’t reject, "What will you do now?"
"I could ask the same of you. Are you going back to your Sect?"
"But of course. Though I’ll have to be wary of being targeted again. You know as much as I do how much negative attention having too much Talent can bring."
William sighed, "I do. Is there really a chance you’ll be attacked again? I’ve already captured most of their leaders. At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if Retribution falls apart."
"There’s still the leader, and I’m not wary of them so much as the other Continents." Gu Dianlong explained.
"You’ve chased off Supreme Left and Unbreakable Right, captured Retributions highest leadership, domesticated the guardian Beasts of the Providence Zone, and absorbed multiple World Cores leading to Beast Tides across the Region.
Even if you say you’re a good person, your actions speak differently from your feelings. If I was from another Continent and I heard about all this, I’d be biding my time until you Ascended. Once I knew you were gone, I wouldn’t hesitate to invade Azures and take over all the territory."
William shook his head, "I never said I was a good person. I might even be a bad person in the eyes of many, but I’m really just trying to enjoy life and increase my strength like everyone else."
Gu Dianlong looked at William in silence, then took a pipe out of his Space Ring and smoked a puff, "The matter still stands, you’re a major deterrent to the other Continents, so don’t even think of Ascending in the next thousand years."
William nodded, though he sincerely hoped it wouldn’t take that long to Ascend, "If I do, I’ll have another solution before then."
"That’s right. Is there a problem?"
"Don’t you want revenge? How could you be so trusting?"
William was confused. "Revenge? For what?"
The Region Leaders: ???
Seeing no one respond, William asked again. "For what?"
Is he just testing us for our honesty? Didn’t he hear everything while in that meeting room? They thought in unison.
The blue-cloaked Region Leader looked at William seriously, "We tried to take advantage of you and labeled you as the criminal solely responsible for the Beast Tides, then even incited the Mayor of Blue Moon City to call the Pillars of Justice for help so you’d kill each other off and we would be the ultimate winner."
The orange-cloaked man added, "We also wanted to use your talents to distract Supreme Left so we could take over the Azures Continent by absorbing the World Cores to reach the peak of the World."
The red-cloaked Region Leader was next, "Once you and the Yu Royal Family were past the point of no return, we would send you to absorb one of the Superior Veins and loosen the Heavens’ hold on the World, then replace the Vein with one of our own to start siphoning the World’s Mana to our own Cultivation, speeding up our growth by many times until we were unstoppable."
William looked at them all blankly, having not expected most of this. Other than knowing that Retribution wanted to use him and hearing Tenebris’ speech about how William was responsible for absorbing the World Cores and starting the Beast Tides, the rest of this plan was completely unfamiliar.
Seeing William’s inaction, the brown-cloaked Region Leader misunderstood and thought of something else to add, "When you were initially inside the Gravitas Ruins, we sent someone inside to keep track of you and take any treasures you earned."
Oh that reminds me of Glen. I wonder how he’s doing?
Inside a jail cell beneath Retribution, a certain young man with disheveled hair sneezed. He had failed to pay his debt to Retribution, but he was too useless to serve any legitimate purpose. Until his day was due to become cannon fodder, this was where Glen would remain.
On a good note, he was given three square meals a day and didn’t have to fight for his life. It was better to think on the bright side.