Chapter 2874: One Minute

It had to be said, Brother Sanxun's visual presence never disappointed.

Even in profile, that radiance was undeniable.

To Fu Qian, the situation over by the shipwreck was clear at a glance.

In the end, Excellency Sha Ming had not forgiven Ibu.

After their earlier chase, things had stayed fairly quiet, making it look at first as though Ibu had managed to slip away or go into hiding.

Yet events proved that Sha Ming knew the man's proud nature all too well.

Even after suffering setback after setback, Ibu had not given up hope of turning the tables.

And his plan for a counterkill was straightforward: find the White Tower Codex.

Clearly, after taking that heavy loss earlier, he had not only sensed that something was wrong across the entire island, but had even locked onto the source of the anomaly.

Ibu soon discovered "Sha Ming's precaution," however—the Codex had actually been hidden away.

Even that failed to deter him. After he waited patiently in the shadows, the source of the Law suddenly burst with an unmistakable light.

Anyone with half a brain could tell that approaching at a moment like that was courting death, yet Ibu still took the gamble and forced his way in. On the surface, it looked like he had succeeded, claiming the White Tower Codex first.

Then the grim truth revealed itself: the reason Sha Ming was in no hurry to snatch it back was that he did not need to.

In the span of a few moments, the Third Follower had not only risen above the sea, but specks of a light-grid were also spreading rapidly outward from it to blanket the entire Archipelago.

Fu Qian had of course seen a spectacle on this scale before; something very similar had played out inside the Volcano crater at West Plain.

Those grids could be understood as the physical manifestation of rules, and seeing how quickly they were thickening, one had to suspect someone was scribbling wildly in the White Tower Codex again.

All in all, it was clear that even with an unknown force meddling in the shadows, Excellency Sha Ming had no intention of easily abandoning what he had spent so long building.

Having ambushed Ibu, he was now preparing to go all out, starting right from inside the remnant dream to format the entire Archipelago in one stroke.

"Should we hurry out?"

Kikuchi's spirits lifted at the sight, and he could not help urging them on.

With such a glorious display and Master holding every advantage, it looked by any measure as though the Rebirth Club's revival was at hand.

"Heh, you think we can just go meet up with that guy under these circumstances? What makes you think he won't dispose of us the same way he's disposing of Ibu?"

Yet Lu Ming, who had just made up his mind a moment ago, suddenly poured cold water on the idea. "Wait a little longer—wait until they start fighting."

...

Sure enough, Elder Lu was rich in jianghu experience.

The methods Sha Ming was using right now clearly strayed far from The Club's usual culture; how could anyone be sure he still cared about the cause of limb grafting?

The fact that he had hidden methods and strength like this so thoroughly until today said plenty about his attitude.

If they actually walked out there now, they would likely be executed in passing right alongside Ibu.

From Fu Qian's perspective, he could even supply an extra reason for them—when Sha Ming had already been forced back into his true form, why had he still used Master's voice earlier, speaking aloud when he knew the whole island might hear him?

He had been hunting down Ibu at the time; by rights, slipping in quietly was the sensible move.

That could only mean that while his two colleagues inside the remnant dream had not known he was back, Sha Ming, on the other hand, had a fair grasp of their situation.

The commotion earlier had most likely been meant for Lu Ming and Kikuchi's ears, designed to lure them out.

With the situation at the Laboratory unclear and Sha Ming unwilling to put himself at risk, it was the most convenient way to confirm how things stood.

Of course, if they had actually been drawn out, it was hard to say how the two Old Men would have ended up. All told, Lu Ming had made a wise choice: instead of dreaming of a reunion with the organization, waiting for the fight to break out over there and slipping away was the best move.

The final conclusion was to keep hunkering down and displaying the composure of the Rebirth Club's older generation.

"Then thank you very much. I'll make it quick."

Empathizing with the Rebirth Club's crisis, Fu Qian seemed to feel the heavy burden settling onto his own shoulders as well.

So much so that he did not stand on ceremony with Patches's generosity, gladly accepting the one minute the other party had offered.

Oh?

Sure enough, Patches showed no displeasure. In fact, His inner thrill-seeker flared up; He glanced around with keen interest, clearly looking forward to seeing which side Fu Qian would strike next.

Snap!

Not keeping Him waiting, Fu Qian turned the very next instant to look toward the shipwreck and snapped his fingers again.

Boom—

Golden flames roared skyward, outshining even the Third Follower nearby, accompanied by Excellency Sha Ming's agonized howl.

Rumble— Right on their heels came a flash of lightning plunging from the heavens.

...

Not bad. Ibu had quick reflexes.

In the blink of an eye, thunder and fire intertwined above the sea, and Fu Qian was quite pleased with the dazzling scene.

The golden flames, naturally, came from the King of the Abandoned Prison.

What he had just done was simple: locking onto Excellency Sha Ming, who was lording over the Archipelago over there, he had detonated the Calamity Eyes upon him.

Because the lock-on had been brief, the eyes had not opened very wide.

Otherwise, the visual spectacle of this Flame of Frenzy would have been even better.

Still, out in the world, a man had to keep his word. Since he had promised Excellency Patches he would make it quick, how could he leave Him waiting?

On top of that, Old Man Ibu's reactions were undeniably sharp. Even after walking into an ambush and being driven to the brink earlier, he had clearly still been watching for an opening.

So even without understanding what had just happened to Sha Ming, he had decisively followed up on the attack.

Of course, a briefly charged Flame of Frenzy, paired with a Demigod Realm combatant's hasty follow-up strike, was still far from enough to strip a Tier 2 transcendent of the strength to fight back.

Even as the Flame of Frenzy burned him and put him through immense agony, Sha Ming was already reacting.

Before Ibu's second bolt of lightning could strike home, specks of strange radiance enveloped Sha Ming, reducing the attack to little more than a display of light and shadow.

Beside him, the light-grid on the Third Follower even spun and swept across the area like a searchlight hunting for the enemy.

Impressive.

Ambushed like that, he not only had no thought of fleeing, he could not even be bothered to finish off Ibu first, choosing instead to immediately hunt for the opponent lurking in the dark.

It was a spirited move without question, and one Fu Qian could completely understand.

For one thing, the Archipelago was the fruit of long preparation and not something he could easily abandon; besides, Old Man Sha Ming clearly still had some confidence in his ability to keep control of the situation.

For another, he probably had a good idea of who the attacker was.

Across the entire Archipelago, aside from Ibu—who had been suppressed the whole way through—the only one capable of trading blows with him was a certain Academy professor who had come from afar.

"Over here."

Admiration in words alone was pale and empty, so in that moment Fu Qian backed it up with action, waving directly toward the shipwreck and even calling out warmly.

Ugh—

And at the exact instant Sha Ming snapped a wary gaze toward him, his body was actually pulled right along with it.