Chapter 189: Xue Yang’s Unchanging Response to Myriad Changes

“Mr. Mu, we failed,” Nan Shuyun said.

“I know,” Li Ye said. “I never expected it to succeed from the start. Xue Yang is harvesting fortune, not money. He won’t let his base of support have problems.”

“Why don’t we tell the public the truth about Xue Yang stealing people’s fortune?” Nan Shuyun asked. “That would be much more effective than exposing his food products!”

“Would you believe it?” Li Ye retorted.

“Before I met you, I absolutely wouldn’t have,” Nan Shuyun said after a moment of silence.

“There you have it. The truth about fortune is the ultimate weapon to end the Flat Pan Group. We need to accumulate more power and find more influential people to corroborate our claims.” Li Ye smiled. “What you need to do now is control the Ruins and let everyone who joins the Ruins Alliance experience the benefits of sharing.”

“Nan Shuyun, I’ll be inspecting the various branches periodically to boost their strength. Tell your people that they are strictly forbidden from leaking any information about the Divine Demon Ruins back to the Federation.”

“Yes, Mr. Mu,” Nan Shuyun replied.

The Ruins were dangerous for ordinary adventurers.

To survive in the Ruins, one had to stick together, which required anyone who entered to have a strong sense of community.

Nan Shuyun and her people happened to be skilled managers. With the Ruins blocking all signals, controlling the narrative was as easy as could be.

Besides, Li Ye’s ‘Friendly Fire’ technique genuinely benefited the members of the Ruins Alliance. Furthermore, operating as a large group ensured both their safety and a sufficient supply of Star Beads.

As for those not recruited by the Ruins Alliance, they had no way of learning about the Divine Demon Ruins, let alone sending word back.

Thus, Li Ye kept the news that Xue Yang’s flat pan could steal people’s fortune tightly under wraps within the Ruins.

Li Ye was impatient by nature and preferred swift attacks.

But when facing a true enemy, he was the most patient of all. He would never make a move without absolute certainty of victory.

「In the following days.」

Li Ye traveled between the various branches of the Ruins Alliance, helping members increase their strength and carefully cultivating his own reputation. He didn’t enter the Federation to provoke Xue Yang again.

Under his leadership, the Ruins Alliance grew, its membership swelling.

Every member of the Ruins Alliance eagerly awaited the day the Alliance Leader would inspect their branch, hoping to experience the thrill of being empowered by a Divine Artifact. They looked forward to the day the Alliance Leader would lead them into the Divine Demon Ruins to obtain a Divine Artifact of their own.

No one cared about Xue Yang back in the Federation anymore.

This led to a situation where more and more people entered the Ruins, and fewer and fewer returned.

To investigate, the Federation and the major corporations had no choice but to dispatch more experts into the Ruins, trying to figure out what exactly was happening there.

But no matter how many experts they sent, they were no match for a large, organized group.

Especially a group of experts whose cultivation had been personally enhanced by Li Ye…

They would be defeated and forced to join the Ruins Alliance. Then they would hear the legends of the Divine Demon Ruins, enjoy the Alliance Leader’s patronage, and have their convictions solidified. They became Li Ye’s loyal followers, all waiting for the next time he would bestow his favor.

This had become the inevitable fate for everyone who entered the Ruins, and the members of the Flat Pan Group were no exception.

They wanted to report the situation back, but the Skill Level boost from the Alliance Leader was just too enticing. Besides, the Flat Pan Group members were under heavy surveillance; they couldn’t escape even if they wanted to.

At first, Li Ye would basically make his rounds to all the different groups within a single day, striving to spread the benefits evenly.

But later, the intervals between his visits grew longer and longer, creating the illusion for the alliance members that the Ruins Alliance was constantly expanding.

In reality, Li Ye spent most of his time traveling between the Ruins and the Federation, gathering more intelligence on the Flat Pan Group and capturing more experts to bring into the Ruins.

After his Attributes were boosted once again by his ‘Friendly Fire’ technique, he could now pass through the checkpoints, perfectly avoiding all surveillance.

The surveillance footage only captured a shadow. If you weren’t paying close attention, you wouldn’t even notice someone had passed by…

After the food additive incident, the Federation fell into a strange calm. Even the matter of the Genetic Transformation Liquid was barely discussed anymore.

For most people, life seemed to have returned to normal.

But it wasn’t long before the public realized something was wrong.

Whether they were from the corporations, the Federation, or the various guilds, these people all had families. Their trips into the Ruins were considered business trips.

But even on a business trip, you’d expect to hear from them. For them to go and never return was not normal.

“Has your husband come back yet?”

This simple question suddenly set the entire internet ablaze.

「As the situation escalated.」

People suddenly discovered that those who had entered the Ruins hadn’t been seen for nearly half a month. The longest anyone had been missing was twenty days.

In the past, it was common for explorers to be in the Ruins for one or two months, but a mass disappearance on this scale was abnormal.

Some proactive citizens started compiling numbers on various forums, investigating the disappearances.

They eventually found that in the past half a month, the number of people who entered the Ruins and never returned had exceeded one hundred thousand. Many guilds had vanished entirely, as whole units.

When this number was made public, it immediately caused a huge uproar, and even panic, throughout the Federation.

The public flooded the official websites of the major corporations and the Federation government, demanding they release the truth and send people into the Ruins to rescue their spouses, fathers, and even children.

Public sentiment was furious. They believed something terrible must have happened in the Ruins, and they had a right to know the truth.

The forums were filled with calls for the truth, the streets were packed with protestors, and some people even organized on their own, wanting to enter the Ruins to search for their loved ones themselves.

The Federation had to deploy a large number of soldiers to maintain order and stop ordinary people from trying to enter the Ruins, to prevent any accidents.

After all, due to their limited natural talent, most people were at too low a level. Entering the Ruins would be suicide.

“Mr. Xue, do you really not plan to enter the Ruins and deal with that Demon Qi?” The Federation President finally couldn’t resist contacting Xue Yang. “If this goes on, the Federation will descend into chaos. Even the Star Map Group has a limited supply of Star Beads. Once that supply is cut off, it will inevitably trigger even greater panic…”

“Old Gao, don’t be hasty. This is all that man’s conspiracy,” Xue Yang said. “He just wants to lure me into the Ruins. The moment I go in, I’ll have fallen for his trap. You’ve seen the information I sent you. If I enter the Ruins, can you stop his assassination attempt?”

“It doesn’t matter how many people enter the Ruins. As long as I don’t leave the Federation, any chaos, no matter how great, will eventually die down.”

“After all, the Ruins are not suitable for human survival. A hundred thousand people will drag him down before long. When that happens, he won’t be able to resist coming into the Federation.”

“This is a battle of patience between us. Whoever loses their cool first, loses.”

“What do we do about the current situation?” the President asked. “People in the Federation have no heart for work anymore. Can’t I just reveal the truth?”

“And what would you tell them? That a Demon has taken control of everyone?” Xue Yang sneered. “Or tell them all that my flat pan is a demonic artifact? That I’m from an Otherworld? That would only cause even greater panic…”

“…” The President fell silent.

“Gather the Sect Leaders of the major corporations. It’s time they learned some of the truth,” Xue Yang said. “Old Gao, as long as the major corporations remain stable, nothing will happen.”

“Mr. Xue, are you going to let the major corporations know about the existence of demonic beings?” the President asked, startled.

“Yes.” Xue Yang nodded. “From now on, a stream of Demon Qi will arrive in this world every year. The truth will come out sooner or later. It’s better if we’re the ones to reveal it, so we can keep the initiative. If they don’t listen, or get any funny ideas, we’ll just eliminate them and make the Federation a place where our word is law.”

“Alright, I’ll contact them.”

The Federation President agreed and hung up the phone.

After hanging up, however, his expression turned grim.

He was the first in the Federation to witness the power of demonic beings, and Xue Yang had also shown him how uncontrollable they were.

All this time, he had been demanding that Xue Yang contribute the two demonic artifacts in his possession to the Federation for research, but Xue Yang had always refused.

Xue Yang’s immense power also meant he didn’t dare to seize the demonic artifacts by force.

As the Federation President, he despised such an uncontrollable individual.

He felt like he was nothing but Xue Yang’s puppet.

Now, the killing intent that had suddenly erupted from Xue Yang under pressure from the Time Traveler sent a chill down the President’s spine. If Xue Yang dared to eliminate the Sect Leaders of the major corporations, he would dare to replace him at any moment.

‘Am I supposed to just let Xue Yang control this world?’

The appearance of the Time Traveler had given him hope of counterbalancing Xue Yang. Perhaps this was his chance.

In the President’s mind, Xue Yang had always been a calm and composed person, but during that phone call, he had detected a hint of panic in Xue Yang’s voice.

Xue Yang had spies in the President’s Mansion.

The President did not contact the Sect Leaders of the major corporations by phone. Instead, he used his own secret channels to relay the truth to them, and also told them how to handle the situation.

Only then did he go through his secretary to contact the Sect Leaders of the major corporations, summoning them to the capital for a meeting to discuss how to handle the crisis in the Ruins.

“Yu King’s Tripod, what method is he using to win over a hundred thousand people? Does a musical instrument have that kind of power? Is that Erhu the King of Chiguo’s Jade Pipa?” Xue Yang asked, his face dark as he stared at the flat pan in his hand.

The development of the situation had completely exceeded his expectations.

He had assumed that after thwarting Li Ye’s scheme, his opponent would continue to make moves against the Flat Pan Group.

But he never expected that after holding back for half a month, his opponent would hit him with something this big. He had actually managed to strictly control everyone who entered the Ruins and used it to cause panic in the Federation.

This was simply unbelievable.

Moreover, what he didn’t understand was this: as long as the Flat Pan Group wasn’t targeted, his own power wouldn’t weaken, no matter how chaotic the Federation became.

‘Does he not plan to go to war with me anymore?’

“The King of Chiguo’s pipa doesn’t have this ability. But after being reverted to its origin by the Demon Suppression Tower, all Demon Qi has to start over. What kind of Divine Abilities it develops depends entirely on its wielder. Theoretically, music does have the effect of beguiling people’s minds to some extent…”

The flat pan’s voice echoed in Xue Yang’s mind, laced with a hint of dissatisfaction. “Xue Yang, I don’t know what you’re afraid of. Let’s just charge into the Ruins. So what if he really turns back and destroys the Flat Pan Group? The Demon Qi we’ve accumulated over all these years is more than enough to crush him.”

“This way is safer,” Xue Yang said. “He can stay in this world for a year at most. Even if he doesn’t have a final battle with me, he will leave. Don’t forget, there is another stream of Demon Qi deep within the Ruins. If our foundation is destroyed and that Demon Qi takes advantage of our weakness, what will we use to fight it? Our enemy has never been the Time Traveler, but that stream of Demon Qi that has been growing alongside us for five years!”