"The World of Spirits. I just heard the three of you mention the World of Spirits! Please forgive my impudence! May I ask if the three of you are really priests from the World of Spirits?!" Tie Zhu asked eagerly, and the other warriors also looked at Haoyun and his companions with hopeful eyes.
"Yes, we are priests from the World of Spirits," Dao Lao replied before Haoyun and Dream Jia could speak. Haoyun noticed that considering the uncertain situation on Eternal Longing Star, Dao Lao deliberately concealed his true identity and the true purpose of their journey while admitting their identity.
"Oh! Really?! You are truly priests from the World of Spirits?! Oh my goodness! Comrades! We are finally saved!" Captain Tie Zhu didn't think too much. Upon hearing Dao Lao's affirmative answer, he immediately waved his clenched fist and shouted loudly to the six warriors behind him.
"I knew they couldn't be bad guys! Otherwise, how could those Mastan people attack them? And how could they help us successfully invade Eternal Star?" Tie Zhu exclaimed excitedly, and the other warriors cheered along. The atmosphere became extremely lively, almost as if these soldiers had just won a glorious victory in battle.
Just teleported into this black hole and immediately under attack. Now, they suddenly became the saviors in the eyes of this group of humanoid deer warriors. Things were happening one after another, and faced with a plethora of information, Haoyun and his companions were utterly confused.
As Eternal Longing Star had long been destroyed along with the Helios Star System in that battle, and now, their system was suppressed by the chaotic energy of the black hole, unable to provide more useful information. Therefore, Haoyun and his companions, who knew nothing about Eternal Longing Star, could only look at the deer people celebrating with puzzled expressions, unable to make sense of it all.
"Ahem, then may I ask, who are you—uh, who are you?" Haoyun interrupted the boisterous celebration of the deer people cautiously. In fact, Haoyun and his companions had already identified these deer people as the natives of Eternal Longing Star. However, for safety reasons, he deliberately did not disclose this information and instead wanted to confirm his guess from their response, while also discerning the authenticity of the deer people's words.
"Reporting to the three priests, we are the indigenous people of this planet, the Eternal Longing Star people. How about you? Don't you know?" Captain Tie Zhu replied, instantly becoming more cautious and skeptical in his tone. The warriors behind him immediately stopped cheering and looked at Haoyun and his companions with vigilance and doubt.
"Haha! Please don't misunderstand! This guy is a newly recruited priest from the World of Spirits, so his knowledge of the World of Spirits is very limited," Dao Lao quickly explained upon seeing the situation. Then, he briefly recounted how they discovered this place and why they knew so little about the situation here, while also producing their work permits to prove their identities. As natives of Eternal Longing Star who had fought alongside the military of the World of Spirits, they had naturally seen the work permits of priests and knew how to distinguish their authenticity. Therefore, after receiving Dao Lao's explanation, these warriors completely dispelled their doubts.
"Then may I ask, are there only three of you who came?" After confirming Haoyun and his companions' identity as priests, Tie Zhu asked with a careful and persistent tone.
"Yes," Dao Lao scratched his head and replied. He looked embarrassed at the moment because, judging from the hopeful expressions of the warriors just now, they must have thought that after Haoyun and his companions, a large number of troops from the World of Spirits would come to support them. However, the reality was that only these three priests had come, which might disappoint them to some extent.
Seeing this, Dream Jia quickly summoned a holographic display out of thin air and, after authorizing these warriors to view the information on the screen, briefly introduced them to the subsequent situation of the divine war. She also explained again why only the three of them entered here, using the excuse of avoiding pursuit of Elina, and reiterated the reasons why they were important for entering the black hole. Of course, to boost the morale of these soldiers, Dream Jia also emphasized the fact that divine troops were stationed outside the black hole all year round. She also stated that as long as the World of Spirits could grasp the true situation inside the black hole, they would naturally find a way to send divine troops to reinforce Eternal Longing Star. It was precisely because of this that Haoyun and his companions' entry into the black hole this time was significant.
"Now that the three priests have successfully entered here, why don't you immediately contact the divine troops outside and let them come in and help?" Captain Tie Zhu asked again, puzzled.
"Ah! We also want to! If only things were that simple!" Haoyun sighed helplessly and spread his hands in response. Then, he explained the difficulties he encountered at the moment and showed all the red error messages on his communication system, which had failed to send or had been continuously showing "sending" but had actually lost responsiveness due to unknown malfunctions.
"Alas! Just as Her Royal Highness said. In that case, we have to continue waiting patiently! However, I wonder how long we have to endure the remaining influence of the Mold Energy!" Tie Zhu sighed helplessly as he looked at the satisfied red error messages displayed by Haoyun.
"How much residual influence of the Mold Energy is there here?" Dao Lao asked with a furrowed brow upon hearing about the Mold Energy.
Tie Zhu pointed outside the cave and said wearily, "A lot, there's still a lot. As you can see, the current situation on Eternal Longing Star, everything is due to the influence of the Mold Energy. At the same time, with the help of the Mold Energy, the strength of those Mastan people is continuously growing. Now, they have not only completely occupied Eternal Longing Star but also made it difficult for Muxing Star to withstand their attacks. If we don't wait for the reinforcements of the divine troops from the World of Spirits, I'm afraid that in a few more years, the entire Eternal Longing Star will fall completely into the hands of the Mastan people!"
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Normally, priests from the World of Spirits would not easily touch upon the topic of Mold Energy when interacting with creatures from the lower realms. However, these people from Eternal Longing Star were different. Not only did they know about the existence of Mold Energy, but they had also participated in wars against Mold Energy as part of the lower realm coalition forces of the World of Spirits. Therefore, when conversing with these people from Eternal Longing Star, Dao Lao didn't need to beat around the bush. He could directly discuss matters related to Mold Energy with them.
"How much Mold Energy fusion remains on Eternal Longing Star?" Dao Lao asked Captain Tie Zhu.
"It's Eternal Star. Eternal Longing Star is a binary star system composed of Eternal Star and Longing Star. Longing Star still belongs to us, the people of Eternal Longing Star, while Eternal Star has completely fallen under the control of the Mastan people. The good news is that these Mastan people are just small fries protected by Mold Energy. But the bad news is that because Eternal Star is controlled by the Mastan people, we don't know how many Mold Energy fusion entities exist here. However, judging from our years of combat experience, there are definitely not many Mold Energy fusion entities still alive here. Otherwise, with the strength of us Eternal Longing Star people, they would have been wiped out long ago!" Captain Tie Zhu corrected Dao Lao's statement and replied.
"The Mastan people? Are they the little grass people riding strange birds just now?" Haoyun asked.
"Yes." Captain Tie Zhu confirmed while removing his heavy helmet, which even replicated the shape of antlers perfectly, and checking the situation outside.
It was only at this moment that Haoyun and his companions truly saw the true face of Captain Tie Zhu. What surprised them was that this deer person had a very human-like handsome face. However, apart from the human-like face, his sturdy antlers, exceptionally thick fur, and exaggerated eyebrows all indicated that he was a creature completely different from humans.
Captain Tie Zhu lightly scratched the scar above his left temple and continued, "Those evil demons are the Mastan people. Since they obtained the assistance of Mold Energy, they have become almost unstoppable locusts, invading like a virus and continuously weakening the strength of the coalition forces of the World of Spirits. It wasn't until the World of Spirits and the then-king of Eternal Longing Star jointly designed a trap to lure all the main forces of the Mastan people into Eternal Longing Star that the terrifying expansion capability gave the coalition forces of the World of Spirits a chance to turn the tide. Unfortunately, not even the Great Explosion of the Helios Star System could eradicate them. And now, we can only resist with all our might and hope for miracles to eliminate them all, to prevent these evil pests from escaping and continuing to bring catastrophic disasters to the outside world."
After listening to Captain Tie Zhu's explanation, Haoyun and his companions roughly understood the situation on Eternal Longing Star and had even more respect for the people of Eternal Longing Star. They didn't expect that despite the extremely dangerous situation they were in, the people of Eternal Longing Star not only did not give up, but also attacked the troops resisting Mold Energy even when they did not receive reinforcements from the divine troops of the World of Spirits. Although Captain Tie Zhu and his companions were disappointed that they did not receive large-scale support from the divine troops after seeing Haoyun and his companions, they obviously did not have any complaints. Instead, they were worried about the future situation while feeling ashamed and guilty for not being able to defeat the Mastan people as scheduled.
"It seems that our World of Spirits obviously ignored the fact that you are still alive due to the accuracy of the intelligence, and thus completely abandoned you here. Moreover, even if the World of Spirits knows that you are still alive, with the current capabilities of the World of Spirits, I'm afraid they can't provide you with much support. Don't you really resent us?" Dream Jia asked uncertainly.
Although Captain Tie Zhu stated that the people of Eternal Longing Star had been fighting against the enemy according to the combat requirements of the World of Spirits, Dream Jia felt very relieved about this and admired their brave spirit of continuing to fight bravely even after the disappearance of the divine troops of the World of Spirits. However, she still felt a little guilty as she asked. Implicitly, even if the people of Eternal Longing Star had thoughts or even actions of betraying the World of Spirits after so many things happened, she could still understand them.
Captain Tie Zhu naturally understood what Dream Jia wanted to express, so he immediately replied in a louder voice with a flushed face, "How is that possible! We have grown up as a race under the protection of the World of Spirits, and our lives are always blessed by the World of Spirits! If the World of Spirits ceases to exist, our world will also be doomed to destruction. Look at the situation in the Helios Star System. If it weren't for the divine troops of the World of Spirits fighting Mold Energy to the death again, residents of other star systems would sooner or later suffer catastrophic blows from Mold Energy! Sacrificing the individual for the greater good! As the designated wartime logistics base of the World of Spirits, we naturally adhere to the promises made to the World of Spirits, and no matter what happens, we must inherit the legacy left by the World of Spirits, resolutely fight against the remnants of Mold Energy, even if it means facing an endless cycle of reincarnation!"
As Captain Tie Zhu declared passionately, Haoyun's respect for him became solemn. Dream Jia and Dao Lao, as immortals who had experienced that divine war, understood the terrifying nature of that conflict. Therefore, when they saw a lower realm race firmly standing with the World of Spirits, unafraid of powerful enemies and prepared to face mutual destruction with the enemy at any moment, they couldn't help but admire their courage. Thus, after hearing Captain Tie Zhu's statement, Dream Jia and Dao Lao both straightened their backs without hesitation, then bowed deeply to the seven warriors before them, showing their respect.
The previously excited Captain Tie Zhu, upon seeing the other party bowing to him, suddenly felt somewhat bewildered, his face which was flushed just a moment ago now showing confusion. The other six warriors who were originally relaxed also quickly straightened up upon seeing this. However, since they had never expected priests to bow to them, they were at a loss for whether to return the gesture or to approach and assist the two priests, leaving them all dumbfounded for a moment.
"Thank you for your selfless dedication to the World of Spirits. Here, on behalf of the World of Spirits, we express our gratitude to the people of Eternal Longing Star. At the same time, we sincerely hope that you can understand the temporary inability of the World of Spirits to send military support. However, please rest assured, although there are only three of us here, we will use practical actions to prove to everyone that the World of Spirits has never intended to abandon you. We will do our utmost to help you eradicate those Mastan people, help you reclaim your homeland, and ultimately win this war!" Dream Jia said firmly.