CHAPTER 578 NO MOVEMENT (PART ONE)

Darren looked the wrinkled, old man up and down with an intense stare. He was slowly sizing him up.

"What are you looking at? You obviously don't know me. Hand over my stuff now," the old man said

with a smile, his voice soft and yet demanding.

"What stuff are you talking about?"

Darren straightened up, still pinning him down with his stare. In reality, Darren wasn't oblivious to who

was standing in front of him. He knew that this old man was the one who had been guarding the Lotus

Holy Land all this time.

"Don't play dumb with me. I slapped you before. If you do not give it to me immediately, even if you are

strong now, I will slap you again. Give it to me now," the old man said. Even though he was threatening

Darren, it was easy to not get this impression, as he spoke with a calming voice. Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.

In fact, Darren now realized that the old man's threats and demands weren't a sign of confidence, but

rather a cover for his fear of death.

Obviously, he had been informed by his superior that Darren could deliver a Soul Exploding Rune

along with the Killing Elixir.

If he were to use either one of those two objects, it would result in certain death. Just as he was

thinking this, the wind picked up a bit and made his clothes flutter. The breeze carried a sense of

foreboding with it.

"Sir, I won't give you these two things. No one will be happy if you die like this. You can quit putting on

that smile of yours." Darren, despite the harshness of his voice, felt a touch of sadness in his heart. He

truly did not want this to end badly.

"Ha-ha." The old man flashed a wry smile. "Give them to me. No one is afraid around here. I did not

receive any direct orders from the top. This is my own choice."

The truth was, the moment the old man was informed about the current developments, he had decided

to kill himself. He did not have a death wish, but he simply saw no other way to stop the powerful

mutant who was coming.

"There's really no need. I've found a way to stop that mutant," Darren said, easily figuring out the old

man's motives.

"Really?" Despite himself, the old man couldn't help but let hope spark in his heart. His eyes lit up with

surprise. "How?"

"You'll know when the time comes." Darren smiled. He managed to look both reassuring and cheeky at

the same time.

"You brat. Do you want to sacrifice yourself in order to kill that mutant? " The old man frowned, the

flicker of hope fading again. He bit his lip, thinking about the situation, and then finally said, "I am very

old now so it's best if I get to do it. Give me those things right now!"

The old man's tone had changed, carrying a more serious edge to it now.

"Thank you for your kindness, sir. To tell you the truth, I'm afraid of death so I don't think that I could kill

myself. But I am sure that my plan will work better than yours. A sacrifice as significant as one of our

lives is rarely the answer, I imagine.

The mutant is very powerful. We can't stop him even if we make ourselves explode. Just wait and see,

my good sir!"

At this, Darren turned around and flew outside. He started to inspect the area within a radius of a

thousand miles.

"This guy has such a strong aura. Could it be that he has the strength to deal with such a mutant? I

don't think so." However, despite his doubts, the old man couldn't help the myriad of emotions he

suddenly felt. Watching Darren's receding figure, delight made his lips twitch upwards, and not just that,

he even felt a shudder of relief making his shoulders slump slightly. Maybe there was still hope.

Time passed quickly.

It was moving forward, steadily, swiftly. Three months passed, then five months, and then one year had

already gone by.

All Holy Lands were anxiously searching for any sign of mutants, but every one of them was safe and

sound without any disturbance.

At first, Darren was agitated. His nerves were shot and he was so engulfed by nervousness that he

kept relentlessly searching every day. However, gradually, day by day, he began to slowly lose his

vigilance.

The blood-essence mutant simply left no trail. It was as if he had never even existed.

At this point, the calendar had marked two years since everyone had begun to safeguard the Holy

Lands. Many people slowly but surely stopped caring about the so-called crisis. After all, they could not

feel any imminent danger. Thus, they began to gradually focus on having a good and relaxed life again,

with plenty of leisure time.

Darren still went out every few days to do the perimeter check. After all this time had passed, he was

gradually growing a little impatient. He ran his hands through his hair more often without even realizing

he was doing it.

"What if that mutant never shows up?"

The fiend's first ancestor had been suppressed in the forbidden areas for hundreds of thousands of

years now, and it could certainly wait a few more decades. That was no issue for it.

The blood-essence mutant must have been hiding somewhere. Looming in a secret place, waiting

patiently for them to let down their guards before swooping in.

Apparently that mutant was not afraid of any human being except for the young man in black armor.

And so more time passed. Days turned to nights, again, and again, and again. Before they truly

realized it, three years had already passed since the incident. The whole world was now at peace.

For this reason, Darren decided to depart from the Lotus Holy Land one day. He did his usual patrol

and, after finding nothing noteworthy yet again, simply left.

"It's not good to just wait here."

Convinced he wasn't getting anywhere by staying where he was, Darren flew to the Dragon Holy Land

to converse with Scott. He hoped that they could come up with a solution together.