Chapter 355: Carboniferous Period 27
Upon hearing this, Sage Bishop glanced at her item and read its contents aloud:
"Once the battle between insects is over, a brand-new, unprecedented Insect King will be born. It will possess all the strengths of the insects with none of their weaknesses. The Insect King will command the four powers of wind, fire, thunder, and lightning.
The Executor is furious about losing his trusted subordinate and is currently investigating the matter.
The Executor has buried a seed under a large tree in the forest, two kilometers west of here."
After hearing the three pieces of information, Perry Yates immediately focused on the last one.
"Let’s go take a look."
Without a moment’s hesitation, Perry Yates led Sage Bishop west.
Once they reached the designated area, Perry Yates had no way of knowing which tree held the seed. So, she simply dug up the soil around every tree until she found what she was looking for beneath one of them.
It was a seed about the size of her head, emanating a faint red glow.
The seed was surprisingly soft to the touch and warm, almost as if it were breathing.
Having fused with many Wood Attribute cards, Perry Yates’s perception of the seed was far more detailed than usual.
She could clearly sense the incredibly rich Life Force contained within the seed, and it was constantly absorbing even more from the air.
Although she suspected it would be fruitless, Perry Yates took out an identification item and snapped a picture of the seed anyway.
[Unknown Item. Cannot be Identified! Unknown Item. Cannot be Identified! Unknown Item. Cannot be Identified!]
’As expected.’
Perry Yates put the seed away. Just as she was about to leave with Sage Bishop, she felt a dangerous aura rapidly approaching.
Almost instinctively, Perry Yates expanded her defensive barrier to its maximum.
This time, however, the barrier failed to block the attack completely.
With the sound of the barrier shattering, Perry Yates was sent flying. The tremendous force slammed her against a tree, snapping it in two on impact.
Thanks to the barrier from her protective suit, she wasn’t seriously injured, but this was the first time her defense had been breached.
When Perry Yates got back on her feet, she looked up to see a man in a black robe.
The man wore a large, bird-beak mask that concealed his face, leaving only his eyes visible. The sight was incredibly bizarre. In his other hand, he held a tight grip on the struggling Sage Bishop.
Seeing this, Perry Yates showed no panic. Instead, she asked calmly, "So you’re the Executor?"
The man in the bird-beak mask slowly nodded. A muffled, yet pleasant, voice emerged from behind it. "Miss Yates, I’ve heard about you for a long time."
"How honored I must be."
Ignoring the sarcasm in Perry Yates’s tone, the Executor continued, "Do you know why we Executors target Croupiers?"
"Because our existence threatens your interests."
’That much had been made clear when she first became a Croupier. Executors despise anyone who challenges or tries to undermine their authority.’
"You’re right, but not entirely. We just don’t like being on equal footing with a bunch of useless trash. However, we are more than willing to welcome capable allies. So, what do you say? Join us. Become a master of this game, just like us."
Perry Yates considered it for a moment, then shook her head. "I think I’ll pass. My mom told me not to play with people who wear strange outfits."
The Executor was speechless. "...You dare mock me!"
Perry Yates just shrugged, her expression defiant.
’From that short conversation, she’d gleaned a crucial clue: Executors and Croupiers were essentially on the same level.’
’If they were all just Croupiers, then who was really superior to whom?’
The Executor shook Sage Bishop. "Even if you won’t think of yourself, you should at least think of your companion."
"Oh, her?" Perry Yates said. "Strictly speaking, she’s not my companion. She’s a client. She pays, I protect."
Perry Yates maintained her indifferent attitude, as if she couldn’t care less if the Executor decided to strangle Sage Bishop right then and there.
"Compared to her, I’m more concerned about my card. My Any Door... you’ve found it useful, I trust? When do you plan on giving it back?"
"Agree to join us, and I will, of course, return the card to you. The Any Door is an extremely useful card, but only an Executor can fully control its power."
’Perry Yates nearly laughed out loud at his shamelessness. If he wanted to steal her card, he should just say so instead of dressing it up in such high-and-mighty language. Did he really take her for some naive child?’
Seeing that Perry Yates was completely unreceptive, the Executor’s patience began to wear thin.
’If I can’t have her, I’ll destroy her.’
The next second, countless black Tentacles erupted from all directions, twisting and coiling toward Perry Yates.
At the same time, Perry Yates made her move.
Countless thorny vines erupted around the Executor. As they grew, golden roses bloomed one after another, filling the air with the scent of sunlight.
Sage Bishop had already told her the Executor’s weakness: this particular one was a Dark Slime, and its greatest fear was sunlight.
They were deep in a forest where sunlight struggled to penetrate. On top of that, the weather was poor; a massive dark cloud had obscured the sun since early morning. This was precisely why the Executor had dared to show himself.
Perry Yates wasn’t trapped by the black Tentacles for long. Golden Sunflowers sprouted all around her, their petals radiating a golden, sun-like light. In a matter of moments, the black Tentacles vanished completely.
Compared to Perry Yates’s easy escape, the Executor was having a much harder time.
Perry Yates had previously used her plants to collect and store a large amount of sunlight. Now, the Executor was trapped inside a cage of rose vines that blazed with that stored, golden light. From a distance, it looked like a sun had fallen to the forest floor.
Horrific screams echoed continuously from within the cage.
The moment the Executor was trapped, Perry Yates had already manipulated a vine to snatch Sage Bishop from his grasp.
’She might have sounded heartless before, but Perry Yates had her professional ethics. She’d been paid, so she had to do the job. Besides, saving her was no trouble at all.’
Sage Bishop collapsed to the ground, gasping for air. After everything that had just happened, her previous convictions were beginning to waver.