Chapter 739 - Lies
Lies
Above the vast ocean, the night sky was scattered with an abundance of stars. The air was damp with the mist from the sea.
Under the night sky, waves rose and crashed against one another in perfect harmony.
From a blinding light that emerged out of nowhere, came a young man dressed in a white short-sleeved shirt and a loose pair of brown cargo pants.
The temperature above the sea at night was easily in the sub-zero territory, but the youth was seemingly unfazed as he casually hovered above it.
This man was naturally the one who, after several continuous teleportations, eventually made it to his target destination over the Pacific. He was none other than Yang Chen.
Yang Chen finally identified the coordinates given by Makedon, but he didn’t hurry to investigate the scene. Instead, he was carefully observing the sky above him as he gradually zoned out.
Despite the recent maneuvering of his cultivations, there had yet to be any repercussions to his actions. But Yang Chen somehow felt an ominous feeling lurking about as if something unpleasant was bound to happen.
It was the insecurities that came along with his legendary cultivation.
Just like his previous trip from Beijing back to Zhonghai, he could have teleported in an instant, but instead he went with the safe bet to take a flight.
During his previous excursion to the Philippines however, he was hardly affected by the sense of insecurity. But his trip across the globe this time left him in quite a unique circumstance.
Yang Chen hesitated for a moment before he made up his mind to pay Yan Sanniang a visit after the situation was handled with. Could it be a side effect that anyone within the same level would achieve? If it isn’t, then I might have made some mistakes throughout my journey, he thought.
After all, Yang Chen had achieved his current stage of cultivation in the absence of mentorship.
He shook his head in uncertainty as he sighed, eventually deciding to brush it off for now as he turned his gaze back towards sea level, looking for hints that might just save him from a world of trouble.
Even in the dark of night, Yang Chen had a vision no different from that of the day.
Upon this stretch of the ocean were tens of nautical miles covered with sunken American artillery and machinery, most of which were deep on the seabed.
With this kind of destruction, it was safe to assume that there were no survivors in this ordeal. Just the explosion of the destroyer alone would trigger its nuclear core, along with the several nuclear warheads onboard. The chain reaction of that single event was enough to wipe the entire fleet out.
Destruction on this scale was conducted in just within a minute, once again proving the devastating consequences of the unsealed spatial powers, along with a constant reminder of the necessity of self-concealment by the gods.
Yang Chen deduced certain things before moving on to his next location—the position of the destroyer frigates. He ultimately concluded that it was exactly on the American base of Pearl Harbour, and the reason his imposter chose this spot in the middle of the ocean was none other than to brand him as the scapegoat of this incident.
Otherwise, if Pearl Harbour were to be ambushed again, all hell would certainly break loose once more!
After all, it was a frontline military base America had built with the most advanced technologies they could afford. If someone were to destroy it, it was safe to assume that they were going to retaliate!
The main idea of this ambush nonetheless was that there was hardly any commercial ships around this maritime route. It was the perfect spot for a destroyer blockade on these waters, which made it clear to Yang Chen that the imposter was clearly targeting him specifically.
Yang Chen unleashed his spiritual awareness across the ocean, hoping to pick up the slightest hints. After all, every divine space manipulation was conducted under the same formula, albeit with drastically different details. It was a concept similar to an ID card.
Unfortunately, after searching for nearly an hour, no sign of divine power was found.
Could my only option be to pay a visit and explain my alibi? That I was just chilling back home? But how likely is it that they would accept such a half-assed excuse?
Just when Yang Chen was stuck in a dilemma, out of the blue, a familiar aura approached from the east.
A blonde lady in an extravagant black-laced dress appeared. Her bare feet were as white as snow, exposed in the air. Her posture was alluring yet elegant as she walked through a crack in the night sky. Upon meeting Yang Chen, she questioned, “It wasn’t you, was it?”
The surprise guest was Christen who had rushed to the scene. Her outfit would suggest that she came from a gala of sorts, only to abandon it midway along with her missing heels.
Yang Chen felt touched by her effort. Whether or not she was dispatched with orders from her superiors, she chose to believe him without second doubt, which proved that this straight-to-the-tongue beauty was also a reliable one.
“Do you think I’m that lame to stir up this mess even when I have enough problems to deal with just from running among my wife and my lovers? I don’t have the attention span to pick a bone with the American navy, only to break the rules of the Treaty of Gods and have you and Hongmeng to all come at me!” Yang Chen ranted.
Christen gave a sigh of relief before she turned back to all smiles. “Well, that makes sense. You’re not dumb enough to do something like this. Besides, if you were trying to vent you’d never be caught on camera.”
All of a sudden, Christen seemed to have picked up something from Yang Chen’s words as she questioned in shock, “You knew about Hongmeng?”
Yang Chen was puzzled at her question but instantly recalled that excluding the previous Master Pluto, Christen, the siblings of the Cromwell clan, and Ares, they had never once mentioned of the war between Hongmeng and the gods tens of thousands of years ago.
Back when Yan Sanniang was narrating the bloodiest part of their history, he concluded that it must’ve been a painful history for Christen and the rest for them to keep it hidden from the world all these years.
“We have indeed met many decades ago, but our interactions are few and scarce. Besides, the incident was millennia ago. I believe it’s about time you let go of your grudge against them,” Yang Chen said with a smile.
Christen’s facial expressions instantly changed as she sneered, “What do you know? Hades, now that you are one of us, you should support our side of things. Next time you meet anyone from Hongmeng, don’t let them get away easily!
“Those pathetic scumbags. The only thing they are experts in is hiding within the depths of China like a turtle within its shell. If they were half as good as they claim to be, they would come out and fight! If it wasn’t for their despicable scam, Zeus and Athena would’ve laid them to waste!”
Christen was uncharacteristically furious. Her usual elegance was replaced with surging waves of rage and anger.
Meanwhile, Yang Chen was filled with a head-full of questions, as he seemed to be overwhelmed from the sudden change in narration. “What you’re saying is… that a couple of millennia ago, it was Hongmeng that was clearly overwhelmed?”
“Of course not!” Christen frowned as she turned her focus towards Yang Chen. “You seem to know about the incident back then. But what made you think we were on the losing side?”
Yang Chen was terrified as he stared at the look on Christen’s face. She definitely looked like she wasn’t lying. Why would she? But Yan Sanniang’s narration was quite the opposite as she said that the gods were heavily pressured. If not for the generosity of the Hongmeng ancestors, the gods would have never been spared. It would seem that Yan Sanniang had been twisting the truth all this time!
Christen frowned and laughed disdainfully. “Well I guess it seems like that’s the case huh. Did the people from Hongmeng tell you that we lost?”
Yang Chen contemplated before shaking his head. “I don’t really know if my source could be considered a part of Hongmeng. But based on her level of cultivation, having broken through Xiantian Full Cycle, she calls the stage ‘Soul Forming’.”
“Not bad,” Christen stoically replied. “Let me fill in the gaps in her story. It is common knowledge that the surviving members of Hongmeng are only those who have been around for centuries.
“Even though I might not have cultivated the Chinese martial arts, I know that any person from Houtian that could breakthrough Xiantian and then Xiantian Full Cycle, can become a member of Hongmeng. Their stage is called Soul Forming. But there’s only an infinitely minute chance that they get to the next level called ‘Tribulation Passing’.
“I could recall the first time we stepped foot on Earth. At that time, Hongmeng had yet to be established, and there were less than ten people who had made it into the Tribulatino Passing stage. They were the only ones that could put up a fight with Zeus and Athena. The others were hardly considered threats to them!”
“What?!” Yang Chen was astonished. Christen’s narration of the events was completely different from the one he had heard from Yan Sanniang!
According to Christen, the war tens of thousands of years ago was a balanced fight at best. It wasn’t even close to being the one-sided battle that Yan Sanniang had described!
Christen shook her head in dismay. “Hades, the reason I had kept this from you all this while, was to avoid any unnecessary arguments about our dark past. But seeing as though you have been fooled by their lies, I took it upon myself to reveal the truth to you.