Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 3014: Chapter 3015: Blue Gorilla

After Lucia left, Angel stood on the spot thinking for a moment, then turned around and headed toward the entrance of the Starlit District.

He planned to visit Bilun Tree Court.

Angel was somewhat curious about the attack on Bilun Tree Court. However, this curiosity wasn’t enough to prompt him to get involved.

The main reason he was going to Bilun Tree Court was to look for Kaier.

Kaier had not returned to the Starlit District yet, and since he was just an apprentice, even being slightly affected by the incident at Bilun Tree Court could result in disaster.

However, if Kaier had already reunited with Dox and the others, there was no need to worry too much. Moreover, Angel believed that given Kaier’s cautious nature, it was unlikely he would encounter any trouble.

But after all, he wasn’t a Prophet Wizard, so just in case, Angel decided to go see for himself.

Walking toward the entrance, Angel discreetly perked up his ears, listening to the conversations around him.

Due to external disturbances, many Transcendents aware of the Starlit District had fled here, which was why there was chaos at the entrance.

These Transcendents, after taking a breath of relief, chatted with close friends about the external situation.

From their frightened expressions, it was clear that the attack on Bilun Tree Court was no small matter.

"I was just checking out the price of a potion at Bilun Tree Court, comparing it with outside products, and I ran into the attack, really unlucky." Said a petite girl wearing a black robe with red edges, muttering to her companion in front of a nearby potion shop. "I ran so fast that I accidentally left my broom outside, hope no one picks it up."

"My luck was better than yours. I took a task from the Task Hall, and when I came to the logistics support department for supply resources, I found chaos outside and immediately hid back." A plump witch in a similar uniform and spectacles showed a look of relief.

The entrance to Starlit District No.13 was behind the building of the Birlos logistics support department, in this regard, this plump witch indeed had better luck than the petite witch.

"By the way, I only cared about running away alone. Do you know the situation of the attack outside?" The plump witch asked the petite witch.

The petite witch shook her head: "I’m not sure about the specific situation, but I heard that the guild area has been mostly destroyed. When I ran back, I saw a shadow as gigantic as a hill heading in the direction of the Council Hall."

"Council Hall? That’s one of the six main buildings. Is the attacker planning to wage war against the Birlos family?"

The six main buildings of the Birlos family openly represent six official institutions, namely: Council Hall, Task Hall, Logistics Support Department, Chamber of Commerce, Guard Squad Building, Signal Tower.

These major institutions are only the ones with heavy publicly known functions, there are many others not listed, such as Transmission Hall, Mediation Court, Clan Assembly Tree... etc.

The "destroyed guild area" mentioned by the petite witch is not an official institution, but rather a street with a community nature. Its attack might not affect the Birlos family too much.

But if the Council Hall is attacked, it’s a direct slap to the Birlos family’s face, which would have serious consequences.

Next, the two witches continued to discuss various unsounded speculations and fear-driven bonding emotions, which Angel didn’t continue to listen to.

Walking further ahead, Angel heard more information from passing by people.

The incident the petite witch "heard about" turned out to be true. The attacker destroyed several major guilds in the guild area, including Shark Star Pureblood Society, Alchemy Bureau, Magical Creatures Symposium... These were not official organizations, nor backed by Witcher Organizations, belonging to private guilds, but involved many members and had significant influence in Bilun Tree Court.

And now, the bases of these guilds were destroyed by a giant gorilla.

Although from the words of the passers-by Angel couldn’t identify the species of this gigantic gorilla, it was surely the mountain-like shadow the petite witch mentioned earlier.

The incident the petite witch "heard about" was true, but the sight she witnessed and the speculation she made did not happen.

Though the giant gorilla headed toward the Council Hall, it didn’t go there but to the Duelling Ground.

The Council Hall is next to the Duelling Ground, which is not a building but a large zone, with rentable Magic Experimentation Fields, gambling Colosseum, and a dedicated Duelling Ground, and there’s also a Sky Tower affiliated building over there, just in name, without the actual Sky Tower.

Most of the buildings in the Duelling Ground are civilian places. Unknown gorilla wreaking havoc there, while a slap in the face to Birlos family, hasn’t reached the unforgivable extent.

Angel secretly speculated whether the attacker feared the Birlos family? Otherwise, they would certainly anger them completely by targeting the six main buildings only, rather than the guild area first and then the Duelling Ground.

Yet, if truly fearing the Birlos family’s force, why attack Bilun Tree Court then? It’s conflicting.

Perhaps, the attacker has some ulterior motives?

Angel pondered and continued forward; soon, he reached the entrance to the Starlit District.

He didn’t leave immediately but stood silently in a corner.

Because more people gathered where he was standing, from their expressions and emotions, they mostly had returned from outside.

Upon returning to safety, after a breath of relief, their desire to share their stories also rose.

Some who fled the disaster naturally gathered together to recount their encounters. Of course, some unfriendly individuals were exchanging insults here.

Although it was very noisy here, the information was more complete.

"You don’t know, under the terrifying pressure of that gorilla, I couldn’t even run fast and almost got stomped to mush by that hairy beast’s foot. Heaven bless, I was lucky enough to meet the kind Mr. Aex, or I’d be a goner today." Said a man in a monk’s attire not far from Angel, talking to his nun companion.

"You met Mr. Aex too?" A middle-aged apprentice, fresh from outside, paused and asked after hearing the monk’s words.

"Yes, Mr. Aex pulled me out from the crushing pressure, or I couldn’t have escaped." The monk didn’t know the middle-aged apprentice but replied anyway.

"Same here, I was in the treehouse, completely oblivious to what happened outside, heard voices and went to the window to check, before I saw anything, Mr. Aex kicked me away, I was furious, then a moment later, that terrifying blue gorilla crushed the treehouse I lived in." The middle-aged apprentice sighed long: "If not for Mr. Aex, I doubt I’d survive."

"Mr. Aex is really a good person."

The middle-aged apprentice’s sentiment wasn’t only met with the monk’s response, several Transcendents around them also agreed with trembling hearts.

Apparently, not just these two were helped by "Mr. Aex", many people received his aid to varying extents.

However, Angel was completely clueless about who this Mr. Aex was.

Angel didn’t bother with Aex’s matter, merely assumed him to be a kind-hearted person who emerged in times of disaster, and continued listening to other conversations for any new intel.

Speaking of which, this middle-aged apprentice provided information: the gorilla is blue.

Before, Angel’s idea of the hill-sized gorilla was vague, but now, with a blue giant gorilla, some figures started to form in his mind.

"Who is the attacker exactly? Just that gorilla? I don’t think the gorilla appears to be intelligent, so someone must be controlling it behind the scenes, right?" Someone asked nearby.

"That’s unknown, but surely someone’s controlling it."

Everyone started talking.

Their words left Angel a bit puzzled, because previously Buru had clearly told Lucia that the attacker was from the Starry District.

Do these people seem unaware? But why does Buru know?

Or perhaps Buru also figured out the attacker behind the scenes through that gorilla? Has Buru seen that gorilla?

While Angel was secretly speculating, the crowd’s guesses kept drifting farther away.

Some said it was the Birlos Family’s enemies seeking revenge; others said it was King Gumman’s purge operation; some even suggested the gorilla had simply gotten lost and wandered into the Bilun Tree Court?

There were many rumors, but most were unreliable.

At this moment, a man wearing a crumpled trench coat emerged from a nearby shop with a sign reading "Lost Property Office". He was very handsome, but his back was badly hunched, and he had a significant amount of stubble on his chin, with heavy dark circles under his eyes, as if he had been in despair for countless days and nights.

After leaving the shop, he leaned on the door frame, took out a pipe, and listened to the increasingly far-fetched speculations while smoking.

"Why do you think the attacker must be an enemy of the Birlos Family? I don’t think so," the man said.

Everyone looked over. Some sneered after seeing who spoke: "Oh, what’s Sherlock’s brilliant insight this time? A new conspiracy theory or just another case of paranoia?"

The man, referred to as Sherlock, spoke with an air of mystery: "I’m not speaking of conspiracy theories. Think carefully, did the blue gorilla you mentioned go out of its way to destroy any official buildings of the Birlos Family?"

Someone said, "No, but that doesn’t mean anything."

Sherlock: "Why doesn’t it mean anything? Are the Birlos Family’s official buildings sturdier than those in the guild district? Frankly, many buildings in the guild district are newly built, especially the Alchemy Bureau, which uses the latest defense technology from Sky Mechanical City. Their sturdiness far surpasses those of Birlos Family’s long-unrepaired structures."

"If the attacker were truly an enemy of the Birlos Family, their primary target would surely be the official buildings, not these newly constructed ones."

Although some people had objections to Sherlock, what he said did make sense.

Someone stood up and asked, "Then what do you think the reason is?"

The crowd looked at Sherlock, as did Angel. Some of Angel’s guesses were similar to Sherlock’s, but ultimately, Angel was just a passerby in Bilun Tree Court, while this Sherlock seemed to have been there for a long time and might know something.

Having captured the attention of most, Sherlock slowly exhaled a smoke ring and then said slowly: "I think... this is a setup."

"A setup? What kind of setup?"

Sherlock squinted his eyes: "A setup by the Birlos Family to cleanse Bilun Tree Court and find the Starry District!"

Sherlock’s statement took everyone by surprise.

If what he said were true, wouldn’t the Starry District be unsafe as well?

"Why do you say that? What’s your evidence?"

Sherlock: "I have no evidence, but you can think carefully about the oddities of this situation."

"Oddities?" The man in the religious robe mumbled to himself and then suddenly said, "Indeed, there are oddities."

Sherlock’s words did not attract much attention, but the man in the religious robe seemed to have some prestige, and everyone looked at him in confusion.

The man in the religious robe said softly, "First, Sherlock was right; the attacker did not target the Birlos Family’s official agencies, and the places they attacked were all areas where the Birlos Family’s control was weaker. Isn’t this clearly showing they don’t want to confront the Birlos Family?"

"But if they don’t want to contend with the Birlos Family, why attack Bilun Tree Court?" The man in the robe said grimly: "My guess is that it’s to force us into the Starry District. This is Bilun Tree Court trying to find the entrance to the Starry District!"

At this, the crowd erupted into a clamor.

Then the man in the religious robe said something that plunged the air into silence.

"There’s also the most crucial point you may not have noticed. Where are the Birlos Family’s people? Did you see any Birlos Family members appear? Where did the Birlos Family’s wizards go?"

The man in the robe merely pointed this out, and everyone started to think carefully.

Yes, when they fled, all they saw were members of the Guard Squad, but these guards were like them—apprentices, not a single Official Wizard among them.

Logically speaking, the Birlos Family is rooted in Bilun Tree Court, with their headquarters also located there, and wizards gather in this place. How could they possibly remain unaware of any upheaval at Bilun Tree Court?

If a powerful magical creature really attacked, the Birlos Family would certainly have sensed it first and started finding ways to resolve it.

Otherwise, where would the prestige of Bilun Tree Court be? Where would the Birlos Family’s credibility stand?

Losing credibility is not just a matter of losing face; it could very likely lead other Transcendents to lose confidence in Bilun Tree Court and dare not come here, resulting in significant losses.

Under these circumstances, unless the intruder is so powerful that the Birlos Family cannot possibly resist, they would surely stand out.

Is the intruder powerful? Yes.

But the gorilla is not so formidable as to be undefeatable.

How could the Birlos Family shy away from a fight?

Since they are not avoiding confrontation, there must be significant reasons for the Birlos Family’s strong members not appearing on the battlefield.

At this moment, under the narrative of Sherlock and the man in the religious robe, everyone thought of the only possible explanation—

The Birlos Family and the attackers were actually on the same side!

Only this would make the whole situation make sense.

And the reason the Birlos Family did this could very well be as Sherlock speculated—to find the Starry District through their escape route!

Their expressions changed dramatically.

"We became pawns... they’re using us to find the Starry District!"

"Damn it!"

"The Birlos Family is too sinister!"

The entrance was filled with indignation, but as everyone was filled with righteous fury, Angel simply walked out with a face full of speechlessness...