Ch. 2031..2040
The Return of God of War Chapter 2031
As of now, Bruce had no idea what he should do next, and everyone else was stupefied by such a situation too.
Though they were the Lab of Gods, they could only freeze in place as they had never experienced such tremendous losses.
Bruce honestly thought that the arrangements he made were flawless. He had made sure that he didn’t give the perpetrator any chances to steal the stones.
He had arranged for escort teams, ambush teams, and even backup teams.
All necessary arrangements were in place to trap the perpetrators, yet everything Bruce had planned was destroyed in a blink of an eye. No one expected that.
It was horrifying for Bruce. He couldn’t understand how that perpetrator managed to find out about all the arrangements.
It was understandable that the person managed to wipe out the transportation teams and the monitoring stations along the way as they could be easily spotted.
However, Bruce was confused as to how that person managed to locate the eighteen Super Battle Squads, the underwater drones, and the seven islands which functioned as backups.
His second question was on how the attacks could happen simultaneously.
It was terrifying. After all, not many people were capable of organizing such big scale attacks.
Bruce and the Lab of Gods were truly devastated by the attacks.
Not only did they lose the sunstones, but the Lab of Gods had also lost its reputation as well, a second time at that!
There was no doubt that their dignities were seriously hurt after such incidents.
“Sent someone to the scene now! Have someone to investigate!” Bruce shouted with rage.
He was about to go crazy.
The Lab of Gods quickly sent out a few supersonic drones to check out the scenes.
From the drones, everything including the monitoring stations, the islands, and the transportation teams, was destroyed. Not even a strand of hair was left.
It was exactly the same as the first attack.
It seemed that the person had planned everything perfectly. There was no trail left behind at all.
In order to leave no traces behind, the best way was to destroy everything. By damaging the scene, there was no doubt that all evidence would sink into the sea together.
As for the sunstones, they were long gone and out of detection range.
Bruce’s plan ended in total failure.
Besides losing the sunstones, the Lab of Gods had suffered a tremendous loss, and their strength was weakened.
The seven islands and the monitoring stations had used up many of their resources.
With them being destroyed in the blink of an eye, it was truly devastating for the Lab of Gods. Not to mention that they had lost their fighters too.
Most importantly, the Lab of Gods had become a laughing stock.
This was way too humiliating for them.
Meanwhile, Erudia was cheering wildly.
They were happy with the fact that the Lab of Gods had failed to ship the sunstones away.
Sherrie, who was in Goldenport Island, was cheering too.
She was relieved that someone took over Levi’s mission and stopped the Labs of Gods.
Who could be the mastermind behind this? Levi’s subordinates? But I don’t think they have the ability to pull this off.
At the same time, The Cardinal Hall was discussing the possible suspects.
“Is it possible that someone from Erudia orchestrate the attacks?”
Such a speculation was not baseless.
In the first attack, no one believed that someone from Erudia was involved as it would merely make themselves explicit.
However, after the second strike, things were different.
Except for the people of Erudia, no one else would be so eager to stop the Lab of Gods from obtaining the sunstones. So, it would seem logical that someone from Erudia was involved.
“I think it’s the work of Robed Slayer.”
Everyone first thought of Robed Slayer.
After all, he was the one who inherited Levi’s mission. He even created a ruckus in Raysonia. Hence, he ranked first on the list of suspects.
Bruce and the Lab of Gods shared the same suspicion.
“Is it him? The possibility of him orchestrating the two attacks is quite high. After all, he does have the ability to do so,” said Bruce.
Suddenly, someone came looking for him. It was Cyrus’ man.
“Master asked me to inform you that Robed Slayer is not involved in the attacks. We have been keeping an eye on him. He had not left Erudia, so he’s not the mastermind behind all these.”
Instantly, Bruce struck Robed Slayer off his suspect list as he trusted Cyrus’.
Bruce was then confused. “Who would it be? Does Cyrus have any idea?”
The Return of God of War Chapter 2031
The Return of God of War Chapter 2032
“Master has no idea as well. But he did say that the mastermind might not necessarily be from Erudia,” the man informed Bruce.
“What?” Such a remark had surprised Bruce.
“Master said that there’s a lot of terrifying organizations out there, for example, the Sacred Organization or the Kings.”
“The Sacred Organization?” Bruce was alarmed.
He had heard of the mysterious organization before.
The Dark Emperor and the Eighteen Dark Angels under the organization were powerful and capable.
As for the Kings, not many people heard of them. Those who knew about the organization referred to them as the Lab of Gods’ rival.
Same as the Lab of Gods, the Kings’ primary focus was on technology. In Adrune, they were an organization most advanced in technology.
However, the Lab of Gods never viewed the Kings as a threat. For them, the Kings’ technology level was the same as that of Cryptic Stream Corporation. They had no ability to become the Lab of Gods’ rival.
Hence, the lab never considered them as the suspect of the attacks.
Now with the man’s reminder, Bruce realized that there was a possibility that the Kings was involved.
“Okay, I understand! Now we have a direction to direct our investigation to.”
Bruce’s face darkened as he continued, “That person has attacked us twice with such formidable strength. It would only mean that he won’t let us go easily. There will be a third attack!”
Cyrus’ man then pointed Bruce in another new direction. “By the way, Master asked me to inform you that you could start your investigation with the sunstones. Though that person’s attack was swift, he can’t ship all the sunstones far in such a short period.”
After hearing his words, Bruce’s eyes lit up.
“That’s right! The quantity of the sunstones is large! Even if that person managed to ship them out, he can’t ship them far. He must have hidden them nearby!” Bruce shouted excitedly.
“Find them! I want everyone to search for the sunstones!”
Bruce and his men finally relaxed their furrowed brows.
Now that they had a clue and a direction, even though the third attack was inevitable, they had a chance to win.
Despite that, the casualty this time around was too high. Bruce’s heart ached when he thought about it as it was his responsibility.
Bruce swore to set a flawless trap and make sure that person had no chance to steal the sunstones, or else, his reputation in the Lab of Gods would be discredited.
He must turn the tables in the third attack. If he failed again, he might lose his position as well.
“Quick! Start searching for the sunstones! We need to prepare for the next attack too!”
Cyrus’ advice gave Bruce, who was previously lost, a sense of direction and a possible plan instead of standing there with a helpless mind.
At that moment, he was impressed with Cyrus as he could monitor Robed Slayer in the dark, while others couldn’t.
However, the possibility of Levi being alive didn’t cross his mind.
Levi was the mastermind behind the attacks.
As of now, Levi was with Azure Dragon and Phoenix.
“Not bad. I’m impressed. It seems that the training does pay off,” Levi praised them with a smile.
Levi was undoubtfully a powerful man, but he couldn’t destroy everything that was spread across a vast area in one go.
Hence, it was a group mission.
Levi had also planned to use this mission to test Azure Dragon and the others’ ability early on, and the result was satisfying.
They had perfectly completed all instructions given by Levi.
“We have transported the sunstones to the designated place!”
Levi nodded in reply. “Good!”
“Let’s get ready for the third attack! I’m planning for something unexpected.” Levi smiled.
“By the way, did White Tiger and Kirin come back with their investigation?” Levi asked.
All this while, only Azure Dragon, Phoenix, and Black Tortoise were with Levi. The others had been sent to investigate the Lab of Gods.
As of now, there was no doubt that the Lab of Gods had their head buried into investigating the preparator and setting up a better defense. Hence, there would be a loophole.
“For them, everything is progressing smoothly. Their hands are now on the list of Lab of Gods’ ambassadors around the world,” someone replied.
Levi smiled upon hearing that. “Good. Have them continue with the investigation.”
The Return of God of War Chapter 2032
The Return of God of War Chapter 2033
“Where are the Dragon Warriors? Have them to see me now!” Levi ordered.
Soon later, the entire Dragon Warrior team gathered in front of Levi.
Having received Levi’s instructions, they all left to carry out their mission. However, except for them and Levi, no one knew the specifics of their missions.
Phoenix and the others were curious. He then asked Levi, “Boss, what mission have you given them?”
“You all will find out about it soon. For now, it’s a secret.” Levi smiled in reply.
“Boss, won’t it be harder for us to snatch the sunstone? Bruce would use everything he has to protect those stones.”
“That’s right! No one, including Bruce, would be willing to lose for the third time.”
“What should we do this time, boss?”
Everyone was worried.
Levi merely smiled after seeing their worries. “Don’t worry. Just wait and see!”
Ryker and Jefferson, who were in Erudia, were shocked upon receiving the news of Lab of Gods’ defeat. It was rare that someone would manage to defeat Lab of Gods twice. Not to mention that the second attack had caused the lab to suffer a significant loss.
Not only had the Lab of Gods suffered a loss, but even Jefferson and the others’ efforts in mining the sunstones were also in vain after the second attack.
The mining of the sunstone had cost them an astronomical figure, but now everything was gone.
“We will definitely ship the sunstones out next time!”
Jefferson refused to believe that the sunstones would be snatched successfully for the third time.
Jefferson did not have a good night’s sleep for the past few days, and whenever he managed to fall asleep, he would dream of Levi being alive, and he was the one behind the attacks.
“Mr. Wilkins, I think I have an idea who is behind the attacks. Maybe we should tell Mr. Johnston about this,” Jefferson informed.
Ryker was surprised to hear that. “What? Who?”
“I think Levi might be alive, and he is the person who orchestrated the attacks. I’ve been dreaming about him for the past two days, and in my dream, he was the one who snatched the sunstones!”
Jefferson’s voice was firm, and the dreadful feeling inside of him grew as he thought of such a possibility.
Pfft!
Ryker and the Four Heir nearly broke out into laughter after hearing Jefferson’s remark.
Is he for real?
Ryker was infuriated by what Jefferson said at the same time. “Jefferson, are you mad? You fear Levi too much. I can’t believe that a dead man would give you such a trauma!”
“No, I…” Jefferson still wanted to explain himself, but Ryker cut him short.
“Stop talking nonsense! Everyone in the world knows that Levi Garrison is dead! His body was dissolved too! You knew about this. How could you think that he’s alive?”
“I-”
At that moment, Jefferson could not find any words to refute him.
“But I have a strong hunch that Levi was alive! He always appeared in my dreams. I think…”
“Enough! No more about your hunch! I’m pretty sure you will be crazy if you continue to believe that he’s alive. If you don’t want to stay here, I’ll have someone send you home.”
Ryker was beyond furious.
“It’s okay. I’m fine. But, I really think we should tell Mr. Johnston about this.”
Ryker glared at Jefferson and yelled, “Enough! Aren’t you ashamed of yourself? Are you trying to embarrass yourself in front of Mr. Johnston?”
With that, Jefferson didn’t inform Bruce about his hunch.
However, if he did tell Bruce about it, there was a high possibility Bruce would investigate it due to his suspicious nature.
For now, Bruce had totally forgotten about Levi.
After all, no one would connect those attacks to a dead man.
“That’s enough! I want you to monitor the mining process. Mr. Johnston wanted us to mine continuously for five days. First of all, continuous mining over a stretch of five days would give us a considerably large yield. So, stealing them would be hard. Secondly, Mr. Johnston needs five days to set up a perfect trap. We can’t let the same thing happen again!” Ryker informed the others. He had received an order to continue the mining.
Bruce, on the other hand, eagerly wanted to see how the perpetrator managed to foil his plan that he had so meticulously set up over five days and steal the sunstones.
Five days then passed in a blink of an eye.
The Return of God of War Chapter 2033
The Return of God of War Chapter 2034
For the five days, workers digging up sunstones from the six mining sites were buzzing like bees.
They never stopped extracting the precious stones from the ground since they got hold of the areas.
The mining went on and on…
Nine days of intense labor had definitely put a heavy toll on everyone’s body.
Even the warriors in charge of protecting the area were on the verge of collapsing mentally.
They were still doing fine corporeally but losing two batches of unearthed sunstones devastated them.
Everyone was going through immense psychological pressure, yet, none of them took a break. Sleeping wasn’t an option at this point in time.
Like the rest, Ryker and Jefferson kept their eyes wide open to make sure everything was in order.
The men at the sunstone mining sites were bone-weary, and some fainted amid their work.
It was a sight of utter debilitation at all sites.
Jefferson yawned, “Darn it! What’s gotten into me? I’m can barely hang on to my consciousness!”
“Right? I wonder why I’m feeling so drained. Something’s fishy somewhere.”
The Four Heirs felt the same.
“Indeed. Why does everyone look so enervated?” Gabe somehow felt that something was amiss.
It was an indescribable uncanniness as if something sinister was brewing.
“Come on! Do you think we can still bounce around chirpily after all this vigorous labor? It’s beyond our limits.”
“Precisely. We’ve been working our a*s off for nine days straight! It’s a miracle that we’re even alive. I can’t stand it anymore!”
Members of the gang bleated about their exhaustion, and Gabe listened on.
They were right.
Nine days of high-intensity labor was indeed too much.
It was the perfect formula for breakdowns.
“We need to fix this. The amount of work is simply incapacitating! I guess it’s time to use the strength enhancer from the lab!”
Ryker noticed the dire situation that they were in, and the only antidote to it was the special strength enhancer that could boost stamina and mental resilience.
He yawned as he signaled for the sunstones to be loaded onto the truck.
The men loading the stones onto the trucks were literally dragging their feet to get the job done, and they took triple the time to complete a task that would usually take up an hour.
Prostration was apparent.
After all the sunstones were loaded, off went the truck.
Bruce had had everything planned out, including transportation, delivery route, and just in case, a backup team.
Thanks to his previous experience, his planning this time was impeccable.
It took Bruce five days to perfect every single aspect of the groundwork. Compared to the previous planning, the number of warriors this time was multiplied by ten, and so was the amount spent on machinery and resources.
On top of that, he assigned the warriors from the Lab of Gods to look over their nautical route.
There is no way that they could rob us of the sunstones now! Bruce was confident.
Moreover, Fiery Demon and The Dark Sun promised to assist the operation.
They’d either fight off the looters or look for clues for Bruce.
Bruce was all set, and all he had to do now was wait for the mysterious looters to strike.
Not long after, the transportation team got the stones to the port.
Once they had their cargo loaded onto the ships, they departed for Zarain.
Everyone present was on their toes, and their hearts raced in anxiety.
Will that mysterious faction strike again for the third time?
If they did, will they succeed?
After all, they all knew was that Bruce had everything covered.
“Okay. Let’s get things rolling! Attention all teams! Be on high alert and stay contactable. Report to me every three minutes!”
Bruce fired up his plan, and the transportation team set sail.
An hour passed, and there were no signs of danger.
Two hours passed, and they were still safe.
It had been seven hours since they’d left the port, but nothing was amiss.
However, Bruce kept his eyes peeled as they were being mugged around this time previously.
“High alert mates! They’re going to strike soon!”
Time ticked on. Eight hours… nine hours… twelve hours, but there was still no ripple of malice.
“Hmm, something’s not right. Why haven’t they started their looting?”
Bruce grew suspicious as it was way past the expected time.
The Return of God of War Chapter 2034
The Return of God of War Chapter 2035
Why aren’t they here yet?
There wasn’t the slightest ruffle detected throughout the ship, which was unusual.
Their previous looting sprees started around seven to eight hours into the journey, as it was the golden hour for their scheme.
Now it was past that period, and from how fast the ship was cruising, it’d be only a few hours before they’d arrive at the agreed location that was within Zarain’s territory.
In other words, the sunstones would be safe.
“Mr. Johnston, do you think that our opponents are scared? I mean, look at the size of our troops. Anyone would quiver in fear!”
“He’s right! I bet they’ve calculated the risks and concluded that it’s not worth it this time. Maybe that’s why they gave up?”
“That’s very probable. If they were in to rob us, they would’ve struck hours ago!”
Bruce’s men started giving their two cents, and he did share the same sentiments.
“Regardless, we still aren’t out of the woods yet as long as we haven’t set foot in Zarain. Do not let your guards down!” again, he reminded them.
A few seconds later, Fiery Demon reported his situation—there was nothing out of the ordinary.
Meanwhile, Levi was with Phoenix and her men somewhere outside Erudia.
He was chilling and sipping his tea, a behavior that stirred disbelief among his subordinates.
“Boss, are you sure that we stay put? In a few hours, the sunstones will be in Zarain. Are we not going to act now?”
“Precisely, boss. Let’s strike before it’s too late! We’re only left with a four-hour window!”
“We can’t just give up, boss!”
Levi’s men thought that he would come up with some unrivaled plan and didn’t expect him to put his feet up at this very moment.
The sunstones were almost reaching Zarain, and Levi was still bathing in a languor.
What is he waiting for?
His men were like cats on a hot tin roof, and some even started sweating out of distress.
Levi looked up at them and blurted, “Don’t you dare move a finger without my order!”
“But boss—”
“Silence! Obey to boss’s command!” Azure Dragon and Black Tortoise bellowed.
Phoenix added, “Bruce had already set up an impenetrable fortification. Who among you would be able to slip past his defense?”
Silence ensued.
On the other hand, Bruce and his troops were on the qui vive, and no one dared to blink.
Still, no sight of the mysterious looters.
Even Bruce, at one point, felt powerless.
As time trickled away slowly, the sun rose.
Not a single soul of the intruders was seen.
Another six hours passed, and the stones were still sitting securely in the cargo.
The transportation team successfully entered Zarain’s territorial waters and met Bruce and his team of warriors.
Bruce was still trying to shake himself out of disbelief when he saw the unharmed transportation team.
Is this real or am I dreaming?
The sunstones got here without a scratch?
He wasn’t the only person doubting the smooth delivery. Dubiousness loomed over his men too.
This is strange!
It’s like a f*cking reverie!
Those b*stards didn’t spring into action?
No one could wrap their head around what had just happened or lack thereof.
They were expecting a massive war.
Erudia was counting on the mysterious faction to stop the Lab of Gods once again, but to its disappointment, they didn’t turn up.
The Lab of Gods managed to ship the sunstones away.
“It seemed like the Lab of Gods does have what it takes to suppress the mysterious faction!”
“Cowards! They chickened out last minute! The Lab of Gods is indeed powerful! Those cowards gave up the moment they saw what it’s really made of!”
Somehow, Bruce was crestfallen.
He was hoping that they’d attacked so that things would be more interesting.
“Never mind. Take all the sunstones to the training base!” he shouted a command unenthusiastically.
After all the planning and those crooks got cold feet?
The Return of God of War Chapter 2035
The Return of God of War Chapter 2036
They made this too easy for me! How could they back out last minute? They should’ve kept their plans rolling!
Bruce wanted to capture the mysterious faction, once and for all!
He was actually looking forward to clashing head-on with them.
What a shame. They didn’t dare to show themselves in the end. Bruce shook his head in disgruntlement.
“Come on. Let’s have a look at the sunstones.” He went to check the stones that had arrived safe and sound.
“Yes, Mr. Johnston!”
The rest followed.
The load from five days of mining was enormous.
Every corner of the training base was filled with trunks of sunstones.
“Open it up! Don’t forget to put on your protective equipment!” Bruce reminded his men.
All the men present had their protective gear on whereas Bruce wore a uniquely-made armor to protect themselves from possible harm by the sunstones’ energy.
One of the trunks was unlatched and everyone took a few steps back out of caution.
“Hmm?”
Confusion filled the room as none of the men felt blood-curdling energy waves emanating from the container.
The smallest shard of sunstone would release vigorous radiation, and now with a truckload of it, they expected to see people flying and tumbling.
Yet, they didn’t feel a tinge of energy wave.
Something was off.
“What’s going on?”
Bruce went up to the trunk to have a closer look at it.
When he saw what was inside it, rage permeated him wholly, and his face could be seen turning red.
“W-What is this!”
He was on the verge of losing his sanity because what he saw weren’t sunstones at all.
The stones in the trunk were just regular stones!
“Grrrr…”
Bruce’s blood pressure rose in lightning speed, and he almost blacked out from wrath.
Those who saw what went on, too, nearly jumped out of their skins.
“No way…”
The crowd sensed that something ruinous was happening, something apocalyptic.
“Open the other trunks! All the trunks! Check every single one of it!” Bruce howled like a mad dog.
All his men got straight into it, and one by one, the trunks were unlatched.
Rumble!
Rumble!
Stones that tumbled out of their carriage were all regular stones.
All of them!
There was no sight of sunstones in the room!
“It’s not in here!”
“This one? No!”
“Not here either!”
All they could find were non-radiative, energy-vacant regular stones.
Where are the sunstones?
Where did they go?
With every sound of latches released and the dribbling of the stones, hearts sank deeper and deeper.
There was no sunstone.
None!
Where are the sunstones!
“This can’t be happening. Maybe they’re all sunstones!” someone commented.
Crush!
One of the men picked up a stone and easily crushed it in his fist. There was no trace of energy.
Crush! He picked up another one, and the result was identical.
Nope. They weren’t.
“Perhaps we had the trunks mixed up? Or maybe all the energy in the sunstones dissipated during transportation?”
People tried making sense out of the situation they were facing.
“Enough! Stop guessing! It’s them!” Bruce bawled as he shook in rage.
He could go ballistic anytime.
“D*mn it! They stole the sunstones! How could they! They stole the sunstones!”
Bruce wailed and wailed so violently that it looked like he’d lost his mind.
Everyone was stupefied by what they saw.
The mysterious faction didn’t chicken out.
They struck before anyone knew it and had already stealthily pilfered those precious stones before they were even loaded onto the ships.
They succeeded at deceiving the Lab of Gods and the whole world!
Just when the whole world thought that they’d backed out, they had long had the sunstones in their possession.
Everyone was waiting for them to strike, and the Lab of Gods was all set to capture those troublemakers.
Who knew that the sunstones were swapped?
How did that happen?
The Return of God of War Chapter 2036
The Return of God of War Chapter 2037
It was impossible to make a swap in the middle of the trip.
Not only was Bruce meticulous, but he was keeping a close eye on them.
There was no way any loopholes would present itself.
Moreover, the amount after five days of mining was a large one; swapping was simply impossible.
Therefore, the only time possible was when the things were getting loaded at the port…
That was not right either.
Bruce had already assigned a capable transportation team to watch over the items, so nothing could have gone wrong.
How could so many sunstones be swapped in the blink of an eye?
There was only one way left—it was swapped at the mining site.
That meant that the sunstones were not the ones packaged at all; they had always been ordinary stones all along.
As the devices used by the transportation team ensured the isolation of energy fluctuations, no one would know whether they were transporting sunstones or ordinary stones.
Levi had assigned the Dragon Warriors to carry out the task.
Levi had learned everything he could about the six major mining sites.
It was to the point he even knew each and every employee’s sleeping habits.
The Dragon Warriors had long snuck into the area.
After nine days of intense working, the miners were all exhausted.
That was why the Dragon Warriors had successfully snuck in.
That was not all; the Dragon Warriors even tampered with things when they were in there.
Levi almost learned everything from Venom Fiend.
Therefore, it was no trouble for him to come up with a kind of drug that could induce hallucinations and alter others’ state of consciousness.
When the Dragon Warriors were at the six major mining sites, they had used that drug in the form of gas.
Almost immediately, everyone had become more tired, and they began hallucinating.
The drug that Levi created left no traces behind.
Gabe Sears had been right all along; things were unusual.
Everyone was tired, but they thought it was because of the intense work from the past nine days.
Thus, they had taken three hours when loading the sunstones into the transport devices when it should only have been an hour’s job.
Still, they thought it was normal.
Even Ryker and Jefferson thought the same.
Bruce heard nothing about it, so he did not suspect anything at all.
During those three hours, the Dragon Warriors quietly swapped out all of the sunstones.
Then, they destroyed all evidence of them ever being there.
That was why no one knew about it.
That was why Levi did not make any move.
They had never transported the sunstone out from the start.
At that moment, the Dragon Warriors returned. “Boss, we’ve completed the task! We’ve kept the sunstones at a safe place.”
Levi nodded calmly before sipping on his drink.
On the other hand, Phoenix and the rest were dumbfounded.
What’s going on?
The task is completed?
When Levi noticed the confusion on their faces, he chuckled and said, “That’s right. The task is completed. We now have the sunstones at our hands.”
“What? H-How can this be? We haven’t done anything yet!”
The people were losing their minds.
“Let him explain things to you,” Levi replied with a smile.
Soon, Phoenix and the others found out what was going on.
It was then they realized why Levi had been so calm.
He had resolved the issue from the start.
Soon, news of how the third batch of sunstones mined by the Lab of Gods had been stolen again spread across the globe.
People around the world were shocked.
After all, it was the third time.
Furthermore, everything had happened without raising any alarms at all.
Not even Bruce had realized it.
Thus, the incident was dubbed as the greatest humiliation of the Lab of Gods.
On the other hand, the forces in Erudia were overjoyed.
Not a single sunstone had been taken away by the Lab of Gods.
“It looks like this mysterious force is trying to stop the Lab of Gods! We can finally stop worrying about it. In fact, we might even be able to lend a helping hand or two.”
The people of The Cardinal Hall began expressing their delight.
They were glad that someone was doing something about it.
Moreover, it was not like the Lab of Gods could blame Erudia for their misfortunate incident.
The news continued spreading across the world.
The Lab of Gods was humiliated, and Bruce took the brunt of the humiliation.
At that moment, Bruce wondered if it was better for him to jump off a cliff.
“Mr. Johnston, Cyrus is looking for you.”
“Quick, answer the call!”
The Return of God of War Chapter 2038
A hoarse voice came from the other end. “It’s very likely that this batch of sunstone is still in Erudia. It hasn’t been transported out at all. My men are watching The Cardinal Hall and Erudia, but there isn’t anything going on there. That means that the sunstones are still in Erudia. They’ve never been transported at all. You can also do an investigation of your own in Erudia to look for their whereabouts.”
“Huh?”
The moment Bruce heard it, he froze. However, he was quick to come back to his senses.
The entire time, he had been contemplating when the sunstones had been swapped out.
Yet, he never thought that they would have been swapped out when they were in Erudia.
Subconsciously, he had thought of that place as the safest place; he had thought that nothing would go wrong at Erudia.
Moreover, Cyrus suggested that the Sacred Organization could be behind it.
Hence, Bruce began focusing his search on the various forces excluding Erudia’s.
He never once suspected Erudia.
Cyrus’ latest news made him come to his senses right away.
Erudia was definitely the place where the sunstones had been swapped, which meant that the sunstones were surely still in Erudia.
It was impossible for the sunstones to be far from Erudia.
After all, The Cardinal Hall in Erudia was keeping an eye on it.
Once they found out about the sunstones, they would surely make a move to get them.
Nevertheless, Cyrus, who had his men watching The Cardinal hall, had not noticed them making any moves.
In other words, the sunstones were definitely in Erudia.
“All right, I got it. This is the first time we’ve ever officially talked. I hope to be able to meet you more in the future.”
After Bruce ended the call, he instantly assigned Ryker and the others to work on it.
He told them to use everything they could to look for the sunstones in Erudia.
At the same time, he sent some technicians to enter Erudia with their equipment.
What he dared not do was send fighters in, for those men would certainly be noticed and watched by The Cardinal Hall.
In fact, The Cardinal Hall might even drive them out of the place, for they had no reason to be at Erudia.
Despite the frustration he felt about the incident, Bruce was glad that he had Cyrus as a partner.
Cyrus always appeared whenever he needed help, and he helped fill in the gaps that he could not; Cyrus was the perfect support.
“Boss, we’ve just received news that Bruce has sent his men to look for the sunstones in Erudia. I heard from the Dragon Warriors that the third batch of the sunstones are still hidden within Erudia; they haven’t had a chance to transport them out of the country,” Phoenix worriedly said to Levi.
To his surprise, Levi grinned and said, “Leave them be. Let them look for the sunstones.”
“Huh?” Phoenix wondered out loud. “Boss, what if they really find it?”
“So what if they do? Do you really think that they’ll be able to take them out of Erudia? Would I let them do that?” Levi questioned.
“Oh. I see.”
Phoenix finally understood what he meant.
It did not matter where the sunstones were hidden at as long as they were still in Erudia.
Like the unmined sunstones in the six major mining sites, no one could transport the sunstones out of Erudia even if they had found them.
The sunstones would forever belong to Erudia.
That was a fact.
Even if someone found the sunstones, it did not mean that they would be able to take them back to their land and claim them as theirs.
It was simply impossible.
Therefore, the Lab of Gods was only wasting their time and effort.
Instead of looking for the sunstones, it would have been better for them to mine for more instead.
Plus, their effort in searching for the sunstones might be in vain.
After receiving the orders from Bruce, Ryker and the rest began their maniacal search for the stolen sunstones.
They spent tons of both money and time searching for it.
Yet, Levi ignored them.
Instead, he was making plans for his next move.
In the meantime, Bruce dared not mine for more sunstones.
He continued searching for the missing third batch of sunstones while looking out for the mysterious organization.
His efforts were for naught.
He was only wasting his time.
Nevertheless, Bruce did not know that, and he was about to have a mental breakdown.
Luckily, Cyrus had given him some clues to the sunstones’ whereabouts.
It had been such a depressing moment that Bruce even lost the mood to work on his research.
It had been a long while since Bruce had even taken a glance at his experiments.
“Mr. Johnston, good news! Great news! We’ve found the third batch of sunstones!”
The Return of God of War Chapter 2039
Right then, more news traveled into his ears.
The missing third batch of the sunstones had been found in Erudia.
The moment they heard about it, Bruce and the others leaped in joy.
“Where did you find it?” Bruce asked, his eyes bright with delight.
After a moment of hesitation, the man who came bearing good news said, “As it turns out, the sunstones were not transported out at all. They’re still at the mining sites!”
Boom!
The reply was like a bolt from the blue for Bruce.
He had been searching everywhere like a madman, but it turned out that the sunstones never left the mining sites from the start.
Bruce finally understood what it meant by the most dangerous place was the safest.
The mysterious force had only wanted to stop the sunstones from leaving Erudia; they never robbed them at all.
They had swapped out the sunstones with ordinary stones at the mining sites, so what they had transported had been normal stones.
They had been fooled.
Realizing that, Bruce’s eyes turned red as his expression turned as dark as night.
After all those efforts in searching for the sunstones, they turned out to be at the mining site all along. They were never lost; they had always been in the hands of his own men.
They had truly played the entire Lab of Gods like a fiddle.
How humiliating.
It was the greatest humiliation he had ever suffered.
Bruce would rather hit his head against a wall and end his life than convey the message he just heard to the Lab of Gods.
It was the third time, but still, they were fooled.
It would have been better if they had stolen the sunstones away from him, but that was not what happened.
They had merely been tricked.
Smack!
Crack!
In his fury, Bruce threw everything he could lay his hands on.
A subordinate beside him tried to calm him down. “Mr. Johnston, please don’t be mad. Although we’ve been tricked, we’ve still found the sunstones. They’re still with us. Our efforts haven’t gone to waste.”
The others quickly chimed in. “Yes, he’s right. What’s most important is that we still have the sunstones!”
All of a sudden, Bruce snapped his head in their direction and glared at them. “Are you all idiots?”
“Huh?”
They were taken aback by his words.
“The sunstones are with us? How are they with us? Aren’t they still in Erudia? Do you think you can transport them here?”
His bombardment of questions made the others blink in shock.
“If we could, I would have been able to get the sunstones that are at least a hundred years old. Don’t you know that the six major mining sites are in Erudia? Do you think that we can take a single sunstone back? It’s an impossible feat!” Bruce roared.
It was only then they understood what he meant.
Technically, the sunstones were theirs, but whether or not they would physically own the stones was another matter.
With the mysterious force around, they could never take any sunstone out of Erudia.
Although they had found where the missing third batch of the sunstones were, no one could put on a smile on their faces.
Everything was back at square one.
They still could not bring the sunstones back to the Lab of Gods.
Furthermore, even though they had found the sunstones, they could not find any clue about the mysterious force.
Not even Cyrus had found a hint about them.
Now, Bruce only had two options—to transport the third batch he had found or to continue mining for more.
It was a tough question.
Bruce was afraid, and he did not have much courage to transport the sunstones again.
He was scared that the fourth batch would go missing as well.
Indeed, Bruce was terrified.
After all, he knew nothing about the mysterious organization behind the missing sunstones.
Fear was a normal reaction when faced with the unknown.
Thus, Bruce gathered his men to discuss what they should do for their next move.
“Mr. Johnston, why don’t we keep trying? Let’s try to transport the sunstones back again. We’ll do it the same way as we did before, but we’ll increase our security even in Erudia. I refuse to believe that we still can’t take it back this time,” someone suggested.
“That’s right. What happened the last time was because they managed to find a loophole in our transportation process. Now that we’ve found out what we’ve made a mistake on, I’d like to see what other tricks they can pull out of their hat!”
“Hear, hear. As long as we keep tight security all the way, there isn’t anything they can do about us taking the sunstones out of Erudia.”
Everyone made the same suggestion, which was to take the sunstones out of Erudia first.
At that, Bruce sighed and agreed, “All right. We’ll give it a go.”
Just then, someone yelled, “Bad news! Something happened again!”
The Return of God of War Chapter 2040
Bruce and the others stiffened.
“Something else happened?”
We just decided on transporting the sunstones out of Erudia!
We haven’t even done anything yet!
Why are there more troubles now?
Everyone at the meeting turned to look at the one who had yelled a second ago.
“This is horrible news. We’ve just received word that the sunstone mining sites at Adrune, Salinsburgh, and the thirteen islands at Beshya Sea have been looted. All of the sites have been destroyed!”
Boom!
It was shocking news to hear, and when Bruce and the others did, their eyes grew impossibly wide.
He and the Lab of Gods were all too focused on Erudia’s mining sites and the mysterious force, so they had been neglecting everything else.
Bruce had even put Jared’s experiment aside to focus on the missing sunstones.
To their shock, someone had made a move on the other sunstone mining sites while they were preoccupied with the search for the missing sunstones.
In the past few years, the Lab of Gods had been building labs at various spots across the globe.
One of the labs had the goal of researching the use of sunstone’s energy.
Soon, that lab found out that there were many other places in the world that had sunstones.
Thus, they began mining in those places, albeit in secret.
in fact, it was a top-class secret in the Lab of Gods.
No outsiders would have caught wind of it.
What is going on?
Bruce’s heart thumped so loudly that it nearly escaped his body.
Salinsburgh and the other areas were important mining sites for the Lab of Gods.
That was where they got the majority of their sunstones.
Yet, those areas had been so easily destroyed.
How did they find those places?
Thud!
Bruce passed out.
Even the others felt the world around them spinning.
Isn’t this mysterious force too powerful?
Not only did they intervene in the mining of sunstones in Erudia, but they’re also intervening in the mining of sunstones outside of Erudia.
In the beginning, everyone was speculating whether one of the organizations in Erudia was the one to stop the sunstones from leaving Erudia.
Now, it seemed like their aim was not to keep the sunstones in Erudia but to go up against the Lab of Gods.
Before the Lab of Gods could do anything about the destroyed sites, more news traveled into their ears.
“One of the sunstone mining sites at Baykeep has been destroyed!
“The sunstone mining site at Nuthana has been destroyed!”
“The sunstone mining site near an inactive volcano at Raysonia has been destroyed!”
In total, the Lab of Gods had over three hundred sunstone mining sites.
Yet, over thirty of those sites had been destroyed.
They were not concentrated in an area; the affected sites were spread across various continents.
That meant the mysterious force was all over the world.
Their attacks on the sites had been simultaneous.
It had been mind-blowing.
The entire world was astounded, and countless began speculating about how powerful the mysterious force was.
Previously, they thought that while the mysterious force was mighty, they were only capable of pulling small tricks on the Lab of Gods.
No one had expected them to carry out a full-blown attack on the Lab of Gods so abruptly.
To be able to carry out the attacks simultaneously in over thirty sites across the globe meant that the one behind the attacks was an overpowering force.
In other words, they were a threat to the Lab of Gods.
Some were gleeful to hear that, but some were not.
The ones in Erudia were certainly elated, for they now knew someone was capable of stopping Erudia’s sunstones from getting mined and limiting the Lab of Gods’ actions in Erudia.
To Erudia, it was great news.
That was a sentiment shared by the ones who were enemies of the Lab of Gods and the ones who were not associated with Zarain.
On the other hand, the ones who were associated with Zarain and the Lab of Gods were going mad.
It was none other than a disaster to them.
Naturally, Levi was the one behind everything.
He had sent out his old subordinates to carry out the tasks.
in fact, Kirin and the others were on an even more important task.
“I can’t kill you in one go, but I can certainly toy with you until you die,” Levi said with a sneer.
Right then, Phoenix entered with a document in her hands. “Boss, here are the things you wanted to look into.”