Chapter 1384 - 543: Number 9 and Number 10_2

"Thank you for your assistance."

Then, looking at his soldiers, he said, "We retreat."

As he watched these rebels leave without hesitation, Alka turned his body to look at the members of the Holy Machine Church.

The one who had just spoken to Alka solemnly made a Holy Machine Church gesture to Alka and said a blessing.

"Was this island originally theirs?" Alka asked.

The church member nodded: "Indeed, it was theirs before, but after the oracle came down, we were tasked to temporarily control this place and informed them accordingly.

They soon relinquished it, and later became part of the rebel forces like those people. Now, perhaps under the demon’s enticement, they want to reclaim their former home."

Alka contemplated and nodded, then asked, "Do you have a need to occupy this place?"

"Certainly not, sir. Later, we determined you only wanted the tower and had no interest in the place.

It turns out our actions and strategies at the time lacked consideration."

Upon hearing this, Alka no longer hesitated. He transmitted his voice to the ear of the leader just now and then extracted the entire Tower of Trial in front of everyone, tossing it into the small world.

Seeing this, the member of the Holy Machine Church finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He and his soldiers had been guarding here for a long time, and with the unrest outside, he urgently wanted to rush back to the church. So, after seeing Alka’s settlement, he bid farewell and left, navigating the steel battleship on the seaside.

Meanwhile, the group of rebels stayed in place following Alka’s message.

Watching the departure of the Holy Machine Church members.

Then seeing Alka and his team board the ship to leave.

"This place has always been your home, and it still is."

"Thank you."

The leader said this, watching Alka and his team’s ship sail away.

At this moment, in the small world.

There were already 9 Towers of Trial.

This nearly signified that their collection of 12 Towers of Trial was gradually approaching completion.

"Finally, is the masterpiece of the past about to reappear in the world?" Nafutos murmured, staring at the 9 towers in front of him.

His excitement was palpable.

The memory training ground was still operational at this moment.

Perhaps because of the nine towers, compared to when the functions were enabled, there were three extra towers capable of accommodating more.

Now even if they enter the training ground together, it won’t affect overload.

At this time, Chadite and her companions had just finished training and were resting nearby.

"Compared to this, I’m more concerned about the Mouth of Devour. This time he actually sent a batch of weak rebels to affect us.

Honestly, it’s really strange."

Upon hearing Chadite’s words, Lucilia nodded.

Indeed.

The rebels who narrowly obstructed them could hardly provide any sort of obstruction.

"You can’t think like this, after all, the Mouth of Devour never intended for its exposure, right? He certainly never thought my strength would advance so quickly.

Therefore, he likely plans to hide in the shadows and observe me. As long as power is used, any clues will be visible."

Hearing Alka’s words.

Chadite and the others pondered for a while and nodded.

When they arrived, they happened to see Alka dragging the Mouth of Devour out from the space.

Although they didn’t see the expression, they understood from Alka’s words that the Mouth of Devour must have been very surprised to be discovered.

Implying he might have just attempted to probe, lurking in the shadows for observation.

"Proceed cautiously ahead. From our understanding of the Mouth of Devour, he’s unlikely to give up so easily.

He’s definitely hiding something behind, waiting for us to pass. Especially now, knowing my strength; he’ll either give up or set a truly significant trap."

Alka said.

This was what he was more concerned about.

However, fortunately, the Mouth of Devour slightly exposed himself here, leading Alka and the others to be vigilant.

The issue is Alka and his team are set on collecting all the Towers of Trial, and knowing this gives the Mouth of Devour ample operational scope.

Yet, Alka precisely knows the Towers of Trial in the Endless Sea cannot be moved arbitrarily without permission.

Even the slightest shift, he would be aware.

Talking about this, Alka looked at Chadite and asked.

"How much longer until you reach the Eighth Stage?"

Upon hearing Alka’s question.

Chadite thought briefly: "At the current pace, it will likely take over a year and a half... maybe more than two years."

Chadite provided a somewhat inaccurate estimate, considering the advancement to the Eighth Stage.

In reality, the Eighth Stage is quite a significant milestone.

Reaching that point means their strength reasonably peaks at the level of mortals in the Real World.

Of course, even without Ascension to Divinity, they can still advance to the Ninth Stage.

At that time, the Difficulty becomes less meaningful.

Because reaching the Eighth Stage primarily shifts the goal from meditation to enhancing strength, to acquiring suitable Crown-Level Treasures for their use.