Chapter 553: Backup plan

Chapter 553: Backup plan



Mike couldn't figure out who had taken the materials!

Frustrated and furious, he decided to pin the blame on Maxen.

Maxen: ???

"Isn't this just bullying an honest man?!"

Maxen downed a large gulp of alcohol, his indignation spilling over as he gestured wildly.

Of course, he didn't dare say such things in front of Thor.

But behind Thor's back? Oh, Maxen had plenty to say-and he wasn't shy about it!

At the moment, Maxen was in Wolf's Den, taking a break to drink with Light Nine while venting about Shepherd.

Light Nine was an excellent listener-he rarely spoke, only listened.

Even better, after listening, Light Nine would report everything back to Master Dream.

And Master Dream just so happened to be Maxen's Godfather or so Maxen believed. Poor Maxen still thought Master Dream was Morpheus.

With Maxen's permission, his complaints were relayed verbatim to Mike.

Light Nine didn't embellish anything; he simply told Master Dream that Maxen had been exploited again.

Mike decided that he'd make time to "stand up for Maxen" someday, then glanced at the date. "Today's the last day of the ACT?"

Mike remembered that he had promised Cain he'd show up to support him.

Everyone knew that Mike was a man of his word.

If he said he'd do something, he'd do it.

Since he had nothing else to do at the moment, Mike returned to Florida and found Cain at his testing center.

"Good luck-aim for zero mistakes!" Mike said, patting Cain on the shoulder in

encouragement.

"And if it doesn't work out, we'll just try again next year."

Cain rolled his eyes and laughed. "Up yours!"

Not far behind Mike, a stunning woman was watching the interaction with a very complicated expression.

Sylvanas couldn't believe her eyes-someone dared to talk to Thor like that?

Was he not afraid of death?

The pet pig she was holding snorted twice.

Vladimir (in pig language): "My master is always approachable."

Sylvanas shook her head slightly. She didn't think so.

She was more inclined to believe that Thor's approachable demeanor was just a facade.

Vladimir sneered. "What do you know? You're not even human."

Sylvanas: ...

So this is what you call approachable?

He's only nice to humans, but he exploits other races to the bone!

Sylvanas hadn't been reborn for long, and her combat power was decent. Mike had her follow

him to help her adapt to her new environment.

While waiting outside the testing center for Cain to finish his last exam, Mike yawned.

"Why is this so boring? Can't someone stir up some trouble?"

As if on cue,

Mike received a message from Michael, his gold-star mole in the Abyss.

Michael: "Boss, Shadow Two is causing a huge commotion in the Eighth Abyss. Maybe you should send someone to check it out?"

Mike raised an eyebrow but hadn't replied yet when a second message arrived.

Michael, worried that Mike might not grasp the severity of the situation, added:

"Shadow Two is about to get himself killed."

Mike: ???

Shadow Two is causing that much trouble?!

Not long after Michael's warning, Shadow Four sent a similar message!

It seemed Shadow Two had really stirred up a hornet's nest.

Mike quickly made an excuse to a familiar instructor and left in a hurry.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

After activating several Teleportation Arrays, Mike arrived outside the Forest of Truth within

a minute.

Shadow One and Shadow Four were already waiting for him.

"Fourth Bro!"

"Cut the chatter. What's the situation, and how do we fix it?"

It only took Mike a minute to understand the situation.

"Shadow Two attempted to assassinate the Eighth Demon God but failed. Now the Eighth Demon God is hunting him down and has declared... 'no rest until one of us is dead.""

Mike immediately ignored the last part.

"And the solution?"

Shadow Four's face twisted into a bitter expression.

"With the Demon Gods' overall strength skyrocketing, we don't have the manpower to spare. The only option is to send Shadow One..."

With Calderon and Shadow Nine gone, the human race's top-tier combat power was severely

lacking.

Even without an Ultimate Lord, Demon Gods typically wouldn't go out of their way to kill the human race's top powerhouses.

Take someone like Cedric, for example-his backing was untouchable.

But the problem lay here...

Shadow Two was nominally under Shadow Nine's protection.

But with Shadow Nine absent, and Shadow Two being a member of the demon race, he had no Supreme Being to back him up. Being hunted by a Demon God, he was naturally struggling to

survive.

"Send Shadow One?" Mike turned to Shadow One and asked,

"What are the odds you can save Shadow Two?"

Bad Woman's deep voice trembled as she shouted in despair, "Fourth Bro... he's afraid of dying!"

"Stay calm. We'll survive!" Shadow Two said confidently.

"I left Fourth Bro an IOU!"

Bad Woman:...

Suddenly,

She felt a glimmer of hope! Everyone knew Thor was a bit of a coward.

But Thor was even greedier than he was cowardly!

With an IOU in play, Thor might just risk his life to save them!

Just as Bad Woman began to feel a sliver of optimism, Shadow Two added quietly,

"The IOU... has your name on it. You don't mind, right?"

"Go to hell, you bastard!"

...

While Shadow Two was being chased by Poseidon,

Two figures stood outside the Eighth Abyss.

The first was the Fifth Demon God.

Beside him stood Michael.

Watching Shadow Two run for his life, Michael was sweating bullets.

His forehead glistened as he nervously suggested,

"Leader, maybe we should save him?" Shadow Two's true identity wasn't a secret to Michael.

Shadow Two-son of the Fifth Demon God. Poseidon killing his son right in front of him? That didn't seem right!

"Save him?" The Fifth Demon God sneered, his tone dripping with disdain.

"Why would I save him? This is the perfect opportunity!

Once Poseidon kills my son, I'll kill Poseidon, and then Ares will come kill me..."

He had his plan all figured out.

A triple kill!

Michael forced a smile and tried to reason with him.

"Do you really have the heart to watch your son die?"

As far as persuasion went, Michael's words were well-crafted.

No wonder he had once been the leader of the demon cult-his emotional intelligence was off

the charts, and his words were perfectly chosen.

The Fifth Demon God glanced at him.

"You're an interesting one."

Michael didn't dare breathe too loudly and quickly added,

"Even if I'm interesting, I'm still insignificant."

Being around the Fifth Demon God was a constant danger!

He was a complete madman.

And he had been driven mad by the human race's Supreme Beings.

When Michael had first taken his position, there had been bets in the Fifth Abyss about how

long he would survive.

The boldest guess had been seven days!

But somehow, Michael had survived until now, exceeding everyone's expectations. "You're not insignificant," the Fifth Demon God said, a faint smile playing on his lips.

"You're part of the human race's plan to resurrect Nathan. Do you still think you're insignificant?"

Michael froze, his body stiffening as he forced a smile and shook his head.

"I don't understand what you're talking about."

The plan to resurrect Nathan was monumental. Michael believed that every powerful human would be willing to risk their lives for it.

Even Thor...

With that in mind, Michael couldn't afford to make any mistakes.

"If you want me to save my son, fine.

But I have one condition."

The Fifth Demon God suddenly asked a seemingly unrelated question.

"Rumor has it that Terenas was driven to join the demon cult by a single sentence from his

son. Since you're Terenas's shadow, you must know what that sentence was, right?"

When the Fifth Demon God brought this up, Michael's expression changed.

There was no fear, no tension, none of his usual pretense.

Instead, his face was as calm as a still lake.

"I can't say."

Michael knew very well that if he revealed that sentence, he would face a fate worse than

death.

Even if the Fifth Demon God killed him, Michael would accept it.

"Oh?"

Seeing Michael's reaction, the Fifth Demon God realized this was a perfect opportunity to

court death.

As he prepared to take his next step,

A portal tore open in the sky above the Eighth Abyss.

A mage emerged, staff in hand, shouting angrily, "Poseidon! Stop!"

Fifth Demon God, Michael: ??? Why does that voice sound like a woman's?

Could it be... Thor is actually a woman? Have we all been fooled by Thor this whole time?

Meanwhile, the fleeing Shadow Two shouted at the shadow of the black-robed mage.

His voice was filled with raw emotion, devoid of any pretense.

"Fourth Bro! Hurry up and save me!"