Chapter 488: Mu En Gives Up
Upon their return to Douluo Two, Mu En and his group made it back home without incident. The moment their feet touched familiar soil, Xuanzi and the others finally relaxed, their unease replaced by uncontrollable excitement.
These leaders of their respective factions had no idea that their theft had already doomed their homeland.
As soon as they arrived, they each returned to their own factions.
Xuanzi, however, stayed with Mu En at Shrek Academy. Once there, he proudly displayed the spoils of their journey, eager to share their "success."
But instead of the praise he expected, Mu En reacted as if he had seen a ghost.
Staring blankly at the floating data clusters in Xuanzi's hands and the vast collection of stolen books surrounding them, Mu En felt his entire world collapse.
Shrek no, all of Douluo Two was doomed!
A city filled with gods, housing a library of priceless knowledge, should have been impenetrable. Yet, these fools, mere Title Douluo, had infiltrated it effortlessly and walked away with its treasures?
Were they dreaming?
This was wrong. This was impossible.
There had to be a trap.
"You! Why didn't you tell me sooner?!"
Mu En grabbed Xuanzi by his filthy collar, his face twisted in fury. The overwhelming pressure of an Ultimate Douluo burst forth uncontrollably, freezing Xuanzi in shock.
What was going on?
Was Mu En too excited?
Xuanzi, dense as ever, still failed to grasp the severity of the situation.
Strength did not equate to intelligence. True wisdom came from experience and proper education something Shrek Academy never provided. Their doctrine was simple: as long as a student had talent and raw power, intelligence and strategy didn't matter.
And this mindset had raised a generation of arrogant fools, warriors with brute strength but no foresight wild beasts who wreaked havoc upon the world.
Xuanzi was their prime example.
He had once led a group of students on a mission, only for several to die due to his gluttony and negligence. And despite possessing immense strength even back then, he still allowed an easily preventable disaster to occur.
One would think that such a failure would teach him a lesson.
But no.
Though he felt a little guilty, it wasn't enough to change him.
Later, when leading Huo Yuhao's team, he nearly repeated the same mistake. If not for Huo Yuhao stepping in, another tragedy would have unfolded.
Such a man had no right to be called a teacher.
Executing him on the spot wouldn't have been an injustice it would have been a mercy.
Now, as Mu En stared at this clueless idiot, he felt nothing but deep regret.
He had known Xuanzi was reckless and incompetent.
Why had he brought him along?
Why hadn't he paid closer attention when he noticed something was off?
If he had noticed earlier, if he had confronted them before leaving White Cloud City, there might have been a chance to fix this.
But now, they were already home. It was too late.
Had fate decreed the downfall of Shrek?
Mu En's vision blurred. His already weakened body, combined with the sheer shock and fury, overwhelmed him. His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed on the spot.
Xuanzi panicked, quickly catching Mu En before calling for a healing soul master.
Fortunately, it was just a stress induced fainting spell. After some treatment, Mu En slowly regained consciousness.
But his expression had changed.
He no longer looked furious.
He looked resigned.
It wasn't that he had accepted the situation he had simply given up.
The moment those books were stolen, their fate was sealed.
There was no fixing this.
All he could do now was pray that the Sea God, Tang San, was powerful enough to protect them.
If not…
Then their continent was as good as conquered.
Shrek Academy would be erased.
After all, if the roles were reversed, and someone had stolen Shrek's confidential knowledge, they would have slaughtered entire bloodlines in retaliation.
To establish fear.
To set an example.
White Cloud City wouldn't just let this slide. And as the masterminds of the crime, Shrek would be the first to be wiped out.
Mu En no longer had any illusions.
The only hope now was that the stolen knowledge was worth the price they would pay.
And that Tang San would not lose.
"...Where are the books?" Mu En didn't waste time blaming Xuanzi. It was pointless now. Instead, he asked the only question that mattered.
"If I can find the secret to godhood, I might still be able to fight back."
"They're all here! We didn't touch a single one!" Xuanzi answered eagerly.
"Take me to them."
Mu En stood up and walked to where the books had been stored.
The stolen texts were messily piled on the floor, while several data clusters floated in the air.
Mu En immediately focused on the glowing data clusters.
Compared to physical books, these were far more valuable, containing vast amounts of knowledge. They had to be highly classified documents.
He reached out with his spiritual power, trying to access them only to be completely blocked.
The data clusters required specialized computers for decryption and were protected by high level security measures.
Of course, if one's spiritual power was strong enough, they could forcibly crack the encryption.
But even as an Ultimate Douluo, Mu En found himself completely helpless against the security barriers. The data streams were impenetrable, like an unbreakable fortress.
If he couldn't crack them, no one on this continent could.
Mu En felt frustration creeping in, but he wasn't surprised.
With White Cloud City's level of technology, it would have been laughable if he had been able to break through so easily.
Fine.
If the data was locked, then at least they had the books.
Turning to the stack, Mu En scanned the titles.
The Essence of Soul Power
The Composition of Soul Rings
300 Days to Build the Perfect Foundation
The Complete History of Douluo (Confidential)
Secrets of the Abyss (Confidential)
Old Soul Hunting vs. New Soul Master Systems
Gods and Gods
The Divine Realm Is Nothing Special
Abyssal Demon Encyclopedia
A Complete Guide to Reaching Godhood at Rank 100
Mu En's eyes locked onto A Complete Guide to Reaching Godhood at Rank 100.
This was it.
The knowledge he had dreamed of.
He wasted no time, summoning the book into his hands and flipping it open
Or at least, trying to.
But no matter how hard he tried, the pages would not budge.
The book was completely sealed.
It was as if the pages had been glued together.
Another security measure.
They had stolen a treasure chest, only to realize they had no key.
(End of Chapter)
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 40 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/cortez10