The Proof That Peeping Tomes Never End Well

Wormhole Ghost Sparrow imperceptibly glanced at his left arm, which was still spitting sparks, then turned his attention to the Black-haired woman not far away.

Though she still wore that indifferent expression, he could sense the excitement and madness hidden beneath her skin.

Taking a quiet breath, the assassin carefully savored the bloody scent fed back by his neural units. "May I ask your name?"

Though he said this, his grip unconsciously tightened around the short dagger in his hand, which had already developed tiny chips.

"Yachiryu."

Unohana Retsu turned and blocked the dagger thrust at her, coldly watching the man whose body flowed with pale blue blood.

"Unohana Yachiru."

The reason Wormhole Ghost Sparrow had asked Unohana Retsu’s name was mostly to seize the chance for a sneak attack. After all, that was what assassins were supposed to do, wasn’t it?

But he could not deny that a tiny, tiny part of him genuinely wanted to know this opponent’s name.

The assassin knew he would most likely fall here today. Before dying, he only wanted to die knowing the truth.

Clang! Clang!

Barely blocking the Blood Blades slashing at him in succession, Wormhole Ghost Sparrow lightly tapped the ground with his toes and retreated rapidly.

But Unohana Retsu was already getting bored. At first, this neither-human-nor-ghost creature had given her a little novelty, but as the battle dragged on, the other party was nearly unable to hold on.

Her once-excited blood was gradually cooling, and she could not help finding it dull.

Moreover, given Wormhole Ghost Sparrow’s unusual body, she could not even use Kyōten’shō to help him recover.

Not that she would have done so anyway. Lu Su was still waiting for her outside.

She could do that during team-building sparring sessions with Tsugikuni Yoriichi and Zoro, though.

The next moment, Wormhole Ghost Sparrow felt a fierce gust suddenly strike from his side.

When he turned his head, the long blade in the Black-haired woman’s hand had already reached his throat.

At that moment, the image of Unohana Retsu in the assassin’s eyes kept flickering between a bloodthirsty demon and a Black-haired woman.

"My visual nerves… have been interfered with?"

That was Wormhole Ghost Sparrow’s final thought before his consciousness sank into eternal silence.

Watching the headless corpse with sparks constantly flashing from its neck, Unohana Retsu boredly sheathed her blade.

Then the bloody world around them began to collapse, eventually vanishing into the air without a trace.

"Good work, Sister Lie."

Lu Su’s voice came from nearby.

As Unohana Retsu’s holder, he could naturally sense her condition, so he had not been particularly worried earlier.

After collecting the Cybernetic Assassin (Gold) material dropped by Wormhole Ghost Sparrow, Lu Su sighed regretfully.

Since Nano Vajra had taken Excalibur head-on, not even a corpse remained. Naturally, there were no materials to collect either.

Setting aside his emotions for now, the youth carefully surveyed the surroundings, then sent Ulquiorra to notify Ande City’s card-making forces after confirming there were no demons left.

Before long, card makers affiliated with the Ande City Card Master Association entered the Secret Realm one after another.

Yet once they entered, they saw utter devastation around the Secret Realm Entrance, while an entire hill in the distance had been completely erased.

Clearly, a world-shaking battle had taken place not long ago.

Seeing Lu Su, whose armor was only slightly dirty, the low-level card makers present could not help swallowing before immediately getting busy.

Seeing this, Lu Su did not let down his guard.

Not long afterward, Cui Dazhu and the Vice President of the Ande City Card Master Association appeared in the Secret Realm. Cui Dazhu quickly walked up to Lu Su and said with lingering fear, "little brother, thank goodness you’re alright."

Lu Su was taken aback by his words. "What happened?"

Cui Dazhu promptly explained what had happened earlier.

Only then did the youth learn that the other side had dealt with the demons at the entrance long ago. But when they had tried to support him, they had been unable to enter this Secret Realm no matter what they tried.

Lu Su could not help frowning slightly. Combining it with the information he knew, there was no doubt that someone had been pulling strings behind the scenes to make him enter this Secret Realm alone.

It could not possibly have just been bad luck, could it?

Cui Dazhu naturally realized something was wrong as well. "Tch. Let’s figure out a way to quickly deal with the more troublesome demons inside first."

As the Mobile Unit of the Qilu Card Master Association, they naturally did not need to remain in Ande until the Secret Realm was fully suppressed.

Once they dealt with any potentially high-risk demons, Lu Su and Cui Dazhu could return to the Qilu Card Master Association Headquarters. The remaining demons would have to be cleared out by Ande City’s card makers themselves.

Hearing this, Lu Su nodded in agreement. "Perfect. I have a lead, so we might not need to search ourselves."

He was referring to Bai Xiaosheng, whom they had let escape. It was obvious that guy knew a great deal.

I can gather intelligence and deal with a demon at the same time. A win-win!

Naturally, by win-win, he meant he would win twice, not that he and Bai Xiaosheng would both win.

As for the possibility that the demon might refuse to reveal anything.

Simple. Beat him until he talked. Since it did not involve Tun Shi’s information, there was no need to worry about him getting his head blown off.

Cui Dazhu looked at Lu Su in surprise. "Then we’ll set off once the defenses here are more or less completed."

He did not ask where the youth’s intelligence had come from. It was probably discovered by one of his cards.

But Lu Su shook his head. "The target could flee at any time, so we should leave now. The sooner, the better."

He did not know that Bai Xiaosheng had already decided to hide inside his shell, so he worried that the demon might relocate after the deaths of his two companions.

While the two spoke, the Vice President of the Ande City Card Master Association had been silently surveying the environment.

Looking at the enormous scars Thunder Spear and Excalibur had left upon the earth, he could not help feeling secretly shocked.

When he had heard Yi Xian’s description earlier, he had still harbored some doubts.

Mainly because he had never seen Jade Grade cards like these. People often could not imagine things they had never seen, so his suspicions had been reasonable.

Still, out of trust in Yi Xian, the Vice President had believed what he said.

But only after seeing the scene with his own eyes did he truly understand.

As he observed the surroundings, he had also been listening to the conversation beside him. Thus, after hearing Lu Su’s words, he spoke at the right moment. "Go ahead, you two. I’ll handle things here."

Since even the Vice President had no objection, Cui Dazhu naturally had none either.

Lu Su then led Cui Dazhu toward the location Misaka Mikoto had previously detected.

Only then did he understand just how far the tea-haired girl’s "a little far" truly was.

"Say, little brother…"

"How much longer?"

Cui Dazhu asked Lu Su listlessly.

More than half a day had passed since they left the Secret Realm Entrance.

Lu Su smiled awkwardly without answering, instead looking at Misaka Mikoto beside him.

The tea-haired girl silently estimated the distance and soon reached a conclusion. "About another ten minutes."

Upon hearing this, Cui Dazhu instantly perked up.

Before long, the two arrived at an utterly ordinary hill.

"It’s underneath."

Before Lu Su and Cui Dazhu could ask, Misaka Mikoto was already pointing beneath the hill.

The two exchanged a look, then summoned their cards.

Meanwhile, in the underground space, Bai Xiaosheng looked utterly lifeless, still harboring a grudge over Wormhole Ghost Sparrow and Nano Vajra’s deaths.

Just as he considered who he could recruit after the heat died down, the corner of his eye suddenly caught a familiar figure appearing on the screen before him.

"Wait!"

"Why is he here?!"

Bai Xiaosheng froze for a moment, then turned pale with alarm.

"Maybe he’s just passing by."

"Passing by my ass!"

He could not even fool himself with that excuse.

Before he could think of a response, he saw an energy-formed spear flying straight toward his location through the screen.

Boom!

Rustle, rustle.

As a deafening explosion rang out, the underground space began shaking uncontrollably, and fine dust continuously fell from above.

Fortunately, Bai Xiaosheng had considered dust prevention when building the place, so no dust fell into the server arrays.

But this was clearly not the time to worry about such trivial matters. Strands of sunlight were gradually filtering into the underground space through cracks appearing in the rock walls.

Seeing this, Bai Xiaosheng knew he could no longer remain hidden.

Boom!

When the second explosion sounded, the Scholar’s carefully concealed hideout was finally exposed to broad daylight.

Looking at the several figures floating in the air, he forced out a smile uglier than crying. "Everyone, is it still too late for me to surrender?"

The only response he received was Lu Su’s cold voice. "Now, I ask. You answer."

Knowing when to yield was the mark of a wise man. Bai Xiaosheng nodded like a pecking chicken. "Of course. You have come to the right person, too. There is nothing in this world that I do not know."

"I need the exact locations of the strong ones among you."

Hearing that, Bai Xiaosheng could not help scratching his cheek. He had never expected the other party to ask such a simple question.

But just as he was about to answer, a voice interrupted him.

"You don’t need to look for us. We’re all here."

The speakers were not Lu Su’s group, but several figures who had appeared in the sky on the other side at some unknown time.

The figures first smiled politely at the two of them. Then one of them lowered his head and spoke to Bai Xiaosheng in the underground space, word by word. "As for you, Bai Xiaosheng…"

"You finally let us find you."

"Today is the day you die!"

Hearing the killing intent in that figure’s words, Bai Xiaosheng’s face instantly turned deathly pale, and he could not help turning toward Lu Su.

But the youth had no time to care about this peeping tom. He was only staring solemnly at the demons in the distance.

The moment he saw them, he recognized one of them as the Swordsman who had fought Ulquiorra earlier.

Lu Su had wondered why that man had not appeared before. He had not expected him to be waiting here.

At that moment, the swordsman continued, "Bai Xiaosheng, you should understand that no one can save you today, right?"

"If you have anyone to blame, blame yourself for knowing too much."

Yet Bai Xiaosheng suddenly put away the fear on his face and began laughing instead. "Aren’t you afraid I’ll make all your secrets public?"

Hearing that, Lu Su’s eye twitched, and he inwardly complained, What kind of blackmail is this?

He had also roughly understood what was going on. This peeping tom had probably gathered too much dirt on these powerful beings, making every one of them eager to get rid of him.

Of course, it was also possible they were putting on an act.

But contrary to expectation, the Swordsman only revealed an ill-intentioned smile in response to Bai Xiaosheng’s threat. "Don’t worry. You won’t get the chance."

"As for us, we have naturally signed the Mutual Non-Ridicule Treaty."

As he spoke, he took a sphere glowing with pale blue light from the Sword Sheath on his back.

The next moment, an invisible ripple instantly swept across the entire area.

Seeing this, Bai Xiaosheng first stared blankly at the servers that had stopped running around him. Then his expression changed dramatically as he shrieked, "Liu Wenyi!"

"What have you done?!"

Then he gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, fine, fine! I never expected that just to target me, you would go over there and ask for something like this."

"In that case, don’t blame me for turning ruthless."

"Liu Wenyi, you’re a damn mechanophile! The only thing that can stir your desire is your own sword! Being with the Demonic Sect Saintess is just a cover!"

Yet after his utterly humiliating secret was exposed, Liu Wenyi only wore a relieved smile. "Go on. Let me hear what other dirt you have."

"And you, Nan—"

But just as Bai Xiaosheng prepared to expose someone else’s secrets, a pitch-black ominous light suddenly fell from the sky.

The defenseless Bai Xiaosheng and the server arrays in the underground space disappeared from this world forever.

Seeing this, Liu Wenyi’s face instantly turned deep red. "Didn’t we agree that if anyone’s dirt was exposed, everyone else had to wait until he finished before killing him?!"

They had originally agreed to die from embarrassment together, but now he was the only one left dying from embarrassment.

Faced with his accusation, the people beside him silently moved away from him. In particular, the young woman who had seemed very intimate with him earlier swept an icy, disdainful gaze over the Sword Sheath behind the Swordsman.

The light gradually faded from Liu Wenyi’s eyes, and he began laughing like an idiot. "Hehehe…"

Ignoring the Swordsman, who had already turned ash-gray, the young woman looked toward Lu Su and Cui Dazhu. "We have the two of you to thank this time."

"We originally planned to deal with this person after everything was over. We never expected you two to discover his whereabouts."

The demons had originally planned to strike after Lu Su’s group finished fighting Bai Xiaosheng. But after seeing Bai Xiaosheng vanish due to the interference, they changed their minds.

They decided to first see whether Lu Su could find that universally hated guy, then act according to the situation.

The woman continued, "However, we each serve our own masters. A battle between us remains unavoidable."

"Please forgive any offense to come."

As her words fell, the atmosphere instantly became murderous.

At that moment, Cui Dazhu spoke to Lu Su in an almost inaudible voice. "Little brother… should we run first?"

"There are quite a few of them."

But Lu Su’s expression remained calm. Though the appearance of these demons had disrupted his plans somewhat, it was not necessarily a bad thing.

After all, this meant he and Cui Dazhu would not have to search for them one by one.

"It’s fine. I can handle them. Brother Cui, just protect yourself."

Cui Dazhu hesitated upon hearing this, but in the end, he nodded slightly.

He chose to trust the youth’s judgment.