“Never mind, I was just guessing.” Earth Monkey waved his hand. “Don’t worry about it, let’s go back and eat.”
Human Monkey quickly picked up on something crucial from Earth Monkey’s words and turned to look down the corridor.
If that was where all the “Celestials” rested… did Earth Monkey just sense something?
“How did you know they would ‘lose effect’?” Human Monkey asked. “Did you hear it from someone else?”
“Well…” Earth Monkey seemed to realize he had spoken too much, then quickly changed his tone. “Haven’t you noticed… neither ‘Azure Dragon’ nor ‘Tengu’ can monitor the ‘Train’?”
“That does seem to be the case…” Human Monkey nodded, thinking rapidly. “But that doesn’t make sense. Both Azure Dragon and the Celestials have used ‘Divine Arts’ on the ‘Train’ before, right? That means their powers haven’t failed.”
“Damn it, of course I know that,” Earth Monkey snapped. “I didn’t say ‘all Divine Arts fail.’ I only said the parts related to ‘inspiration’ fail.”
“What…?” Human Monkey frowned slightly beneath his mask. “Then, Teacher… how do you know only ‘inspiration’ fails? Just because they don’t monitor the ‘Train’… maybe their focus is just on the lower levels?”
“Kid… why are you suddenly so talkative today?” Earth Monkey said. “Even so, have you ever thought that ‘below’ is farther away for them? The ‘Train’ is right next to them. If they can monitor below, why not monitor the ‘Train’?”
“That’s true…” Human Monkey muttered, then leaned in slightly and whispered, “Teacher, what does ‘lose effect’ mean? Does it mean the ability can’t be used, or that even if it’s used, they can’t sense others’ ‘Divine Arts’ at all?”
“It’s…” Earth Monkey hesitated. “Damn it, didn’t I tell you not to ask unnecessary questions?”
“Alright… alright… sorry.” Human Monkey nodded, his expression quickly turning somber.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that this information was important, though he couldn’t pinpoint why.
Even if Earth Monkey had “Fragrance” himself, he would never admit it.
So how could he get the full details?
It seemed he had to relay this as soon as possible… but would Zheng Yingxiong even come back tomorrow?
The two passed by an unusually noisy room. Despite the closed door, loud voices spilled out.
It sounded like a gathering of many “Earth-level” members.
“Things have been really weird lately,” Earth Monkey sneered. “The ‘Earth-level’ are even forming cliques now. Are they that bored?”
Human Monkey shook his head silently as the two of them walked past the wooden door, their figures gradually fading into the distance.
Inside the noisy room, a group of “Earth-level” sat in disarray.
Some lounged on sofas, others leaned against walls, and a few wolfed down food at the table.
Despite the strong lineup, no one seemed to respect anyone else.
“Something’s really off…” A black sheep by the table muttered. “Money-Losing Tiger… don’t you find anything strange?”
“Huh?” Earth Tiger grunted. “What’s strange? We’ve always had this many people. Brother Sheep said—”
“Shut the hell up,” the Black Sheep snapped. “That’s not what I’m asking…”
“Then what are you talking about?”
“Brother Sheep is right, it is a bit odd…” Earth Rat chimed in. “Tiger Boss, you’re just too reckless, so maybe you haven’t noticed yet.”
“What the hell is it?” Earth Tiger demanded. “You all feel it? What’s wrong?!”
Earth Rat slowly stood up and addressed the room. “Honestly, leaders, today I even brought a knife.”
He lifted his suit jacket and pulled out a short blade tucked at his waist.
“Holy shit.” Earth Tiger froze. “Traitor, what the hell? You here to stab me?”
“Nah, Boss. You’re too reckless—I don’t want to dirty my blade.” Earth Rat shrugged. “I thought there’d be a bloodbath, but it doesn’t look like it. So I’m taking it out now so I don’t stab myself.”
“What…?”
“Tiger Boss,” Earth Rat continued gravely. “Tell me if my memory’s wrong, but have we been here loudly, openly, and shamelessly ‘plotting rebellion’ for three straight days now?”
“Keep your damn voice down!!” Earth Tiger roared. “If you say it like that, everyone will know we’re rebelling! Are you insane?!”
Earth Tiger’s booming voice echoed through the room, the words “plotting rebellion” lingering in the air. Everyone fell silent.
After three seconds, the Black Sheep turned to the Slacker Dog beside him and whispered, “Can I kill him now? Right now.”
Slacker Dog sighed and patted the Black Sheep’s shoulder. “Calm down… calm down…”
A tall Earth Rabbit, bandages wrapped around him, nodded and added, “Money-Losing Tiger, what they mean is that it’s too safe right now. That’s not normal.”
“Safe…?” Earth Tiger frowned. “Wait, bro, why are you calling me ‘Money-Losing Tiger’ too? We just met!”
“Uh… sorry, force of habit.” Earth Rabbit scratched his head awkwardly.
“Exactly,” Earth Rat agreed. “Tiger Boss, why are you so dense? Three whole days—why haven’t the higher-ups come for us?”
“This…” Earth Tiger’s frown deepened as realization struck.
“We’ve got ‘Azure Dragon’ and ‘Tengu’ here…” Earth Rat pressed. “Why haven’t they made a move? Even if their work is focused below, surely they’d have heard some of our treasonous talk by now?”
Earth Tiger stroked his chin. Though Earth Rat had a point, he didn’t think it was that hard to explain.
“Maybe their ears… grow downward?” Earth Tiger mused. “So they can’t hear sideways, only vertically…”
“You…”
The room fell into stunned silence once more.
The Black Sheep slowly stood up and reached for the knife on the table. “Earth Rat, lend me your blade. I’m killing a tiger.”
“Calm down… calm down…” Slacker Dog hurriedly stood to block him.
“Why kill me? Maybe that’s just how it is!” Earth Tiger blinked. “They can’t hear us on the ‘Train’ because their ears face downward.”
The other “Earth-level” members massaged their temples, feeling the nightly exhaustion creeping in again.
“Easy to test, though,” Earth Tiger said blankly. “Let’s just do an experiment.”
“An experiment?” The Black Sheep’s instincts flared—he knew Money-Losing Tiger too well.
“Wait!!!” The Black Sheep lunged at him, but Money-Losing Tiger was faster.
Before the Black Sheep could cover his mouth, Earth Tiger bellowed at the top of his lungs:
“AZURE DRAGON!! I F*** YOUR UNCLE!!”
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