Chapter 116: Negotiation 1

"We must get them back," the Vaelis shadow said coldly. "Those four went inside that crack." He sneered. "They took this big risk just to enter that place. It must be the entrance."

The Lyris furrowed her brows. "But the realm should be at the southern ring."

"Who said there can only be one entrance?" Blackthorn grumbled.

"Holy Moon! How big can it be if it has entrances in both the gorge and the ring? Maybe it’s even bigger than the Black Sea?" Ironfang said.

"Don’t be foolish. Those broken realms are in another space. They can even be bigger than Monalis itself," Vaelis scoffed.

The Vesper lord’s eyes narrowed. "Then change the plan. No more playing cat and mouse.

Gather every available high-rank squad from all five packs. Bring more Moon’s Tears. Bring master witches. If needed, seal the entire southern ring to the gorge. We are getting it no matter what."

The Blackthorn shadow’s voice was low. "And what about the four of them?"

The Vaelis shadow’s smile was thin and cruel.

"Just kill them. The realm entrance is more important than their lives. As long as we open the way, no one will care how many lives we step on."

The Lyris woman still looked unhappy. "That Levi... Elysian Crown will not stay quiet if we move too openly."

"Then we move quietly," the Vaelis shadow replied. "And when we hold the entrance, even the Elysian Crown leader will have to sit down and negotiate. Profit talks louder than face. What’s one Levi?"

One by one, the others nodded.

The ashen remains of the Moon’s Tears scattered into the night wind.

Below them, the Black Sea continued to glow with that faint, unnatural silver under the moon—still poisonous, still hungry, still waiting for her next prey.

They left to inform pack alpha and gather more people.

.

.

.

Inside the Crack

The tunnel was narrow and damp.

Levi stepped carefully over the broken bones and red bloodstains left behind by Moon’s group.

His monocle glinted once in the dark as he followed the lingering traces of the blood. It shone just enough to illuminate the path.

After a short walk, the bloodstains vanished.

A strange smile spread across Levi’s face.

"Hmm. Interesting. Come out, mate. We have to talk," he muttered.

He was sure Moon had something that could hide them here.

But he was not eager to dig into what it was. What he was after was the alchemist who could refine Stardust Lily pills... and the man who had upturned the sea himself.

Otherworldly matters could wait for the big pack leaders to deal with.

Moon heard Levi’s shout from inside the Lupine Palace.

He sighed heavily.

He still could not decide whether to believe this fellow or not. This one seemed a little troublesome to fool.

He looked at Axe, Ugo, and Nox.

They were almost healed. Their bleeding had stopped long ago thanks to his pills and their wolf blood. They had been generous enough to devour three pills at once for a quick recovery.

Their blood also regenerated faster than Moon’s own.

Moon was in awe at how reproductive a wolf’s blood vessels were. He wondered what they would be like when they could fully evolve into their spirit forms.

He felt a little alarmed.

He had to level up more so he could remain supreme among them. Or else...

He did not want to imagine being suppressed by five rabid wolves in bed. That would kill him.

His thoughts were broken by Levi’s call again.

Moon tsked twice, then asked the brothers, "Can Elysian be trusted?"

Nox shook his head. "Every pack has its own problems, factions, pros and cons. We can’t trust any pack completely. But trusting Levi... can be considered."

"You know him?" Moon raised his brows.

"No. But Axe went to dig around about him."

"Yeah," Axe said. "I asked around. Levi is indeed a weird person. He was born with a healing ability, but he has a weird knack for business. He opened an apothecary in Malong against his father’s wishes and refused to follow the path to become a council leader. Instead, he prefers to collect and gather strange things and trade. But he is a good healer. Even the best among his peers."

Axe recounted what he had found.

"How did he see through our disguise? We didn’t go there with these faces," Moon asked, a little worried.

"Maybe what he said is true. We are just bad at hiding," Ugo chuckled.

"We need to be more cautious," Moon pointed out.

"Let’s go out. I don’t think there’s any use hiding inside now. Just say we had a hiding array if he gets curious."

After saying that, he suddenly remembered his crescent necklace had not worked last time. So he asked in his mind,

’Goddess, why didn’t the necklace respond at that critical moment? Didn’t you say it can pause time?’

[Oh dear. It was my negligence. This ability is breaking the law of heaven. Of course you can’t freeze time infinitely. You had just used it once and tried again. With your novice power, you can only summon it twice a day. And it needs a period of time; it took to burn incense to be used again.]

Moon’s heart sank.

He should have known such an ability could not be used so freely.

Fortunately, he still had one more chance left, and the gap period was already over.

He nodded to himself and proceeded to go out with the others.

The next moment, the team appeared outside.

This place was a little wider than the crack entrance—just enough for a few people to stand without crushing each other.

As they suddenly materialized from the air, the space became crowded.

Levi was leaning against the wall a little farther away with his arms folded.

He looked the group over from head to toe. The more he looked, the more excited he became. His eyes even shone in the dark.

"Great. Great. Great!" he muttered. "You all look like you just came out of a spring pool," he teased, seeing their now glossy, recovered faces.

"What pill is that?" he asked,