Everyone Is A Lord: My Talent Is A Little Too Strong Chapter 2744: 1506: Surging Undercurrents (Part 2)

After his words trailed off, a flicker of lingering dread crossed Broy's determined features. Fortunately, the Lord had acted with lightning speed and thwarted the enemy's scheme; if not, he could very well be lying dead at this moment.

"Their motive behind this move is straightforward: to scatter our troops. And they've pulled it off successfully. Creating those fake identities couldn't have been a rushed job; it had to be a key element in their scheme."

Leo Ray drew in a slow, deep breath, his face growing more grave by the second.

I had figured that General Curry turning into a Parasite with the Divine Stone was a dire turn of events, yet it turns out this was merely the surface of the foes' grand plot.

"From the start, I guessed the adversaries aimed to split our forces, but I never dreamed that the city guard troops, or even the 'Corrosion' assault on the Fortress, were all clever deceptions cooked up by the enemy."

As Leo Ray pondered deeply, teams of ruthless city guard soldiers combing the region emerged close to the Warehouse in the dimensional rift, guided by none other than the impostors themselves, solidifying the group's doubts even more.

"Human youth, forget for a moment how those fakes mimicked Crisis and the rest so flawlessly, but there's a massive puzzle here that defies explanation."

Moli clearly spotted the goings-on outside too and dropped her tone on instinct: "The foundation for all this must be their total grip on the Underground Fortress, but how could that happen? When did the foes sneak in and seize control without a sound?"

Moli's remark made the other powerhouses there knit their brows, their faces etched with confusion and bewilderment.

After days of dealings with the former City Lord and various city guard commanders, the group knew full well that the Underground Fortress's defenses were ironclad, even tougher than those in Observation City.

Beyond multiple Tier 4 Legions of Dwarf Elves and additional Tier 3 Legions, Human Clan troops kept up endless patrols via the Teleportation Array from Observation City, while no fewer than two Divine Stone-wielding generals maintained constant vigilance inside. Plus, there were plenty of 'Corrosion'-proof Alchemy Puppets.

In a setup like that, 'Corrosion' might boast impressive powers, but pulling off a silent takeover of the Fortress and swapping out every soldier without detection seemed next to impossible.

"This is indeed a baffling riddle."

Leo Ray cut through the collective musing and declared, "But we can't linger on it now; our urgent task is to link up with the genuine Crisis and the team."

Through the subordinates panel, Leo Ray confirmed that his newest recruits—Crisis, Fanny, Hanel Tree, and Bruno—remained alive, though disruptions blocked any Mind Talk attempts.

Thus, rendezvousing with these allies jumped to the top of the list.

And the vital detail here is that with the Fortress already fallen to the enemy, Observation City has to be their following mark.

To put it bluntly, Observation City hangs in grave danger. Should it crumble too, my entire mission goes down in flames.

Even if I scrape by with my life, that guiding voice surely won't whisk me back to my starting world, and the outcome speaks for itself.

Leo Ray's statement snapped the powerhouses back to sharp focus, prompting vigorous nods all around.

"Sheila, boost Elusa to her peak; we'll deploy Illusion Technique to track down Crisis and the group while scouting the area more thoroughly."

Leo Ray gave a nod to the towering, seasoned Stone Spirit as he commanded.

"Understood, my Lord."

Sheila and Elusa both snapped salutes, and Little Illusion, sidelined lately without a chance to shine, buzzed with anticipation to jump in.

Following repeated surges of power, Little Illusion and the fellow Tier 5 Stone Spirits had climbed higher in might, not quite hitting Tier 6 yet, but leagues ahead of their former selves.

Once all setups were in place, with the warped space settling back to steadiness, Leo Ray and his companions vanished from sight.

Hidden by the disguise's illusion, Leo Ray's crew slipped forward covertly through the Fortress. A quick scan revealed more to the group.

The enemy had seized total command here. Armed city guard soldiers and the impostors roamed freely, joined by swarms of crystalline Parasites strutting about in searches, showing they'd dropped all pretense.

On top of that, a fresh worry creased every brow: the whole Fortress lay under an Absolute Imprisonment Barrier, sealing off any silent escape from the city.

Soon enough, as they crept toward the Fortress City Wall zone where Crisis, Fanny, and the rest had aimed, Leo Ray's party spotted no signs of their missing comrades.

"Human youth, do you think those Parasites have locked them up?"

Moli eyed a band of Tier 6 Parasites brimming with menace as they moved away, then whispered the question to Leo Ray.

Moli's suggestion brought concern to the others' faces.

"Doubtful. The foes wouldn't spare anyone alive, so Crisis and company must have sensed the trap and gone into hiding somewhere."

Leo Ray gave a faint nod, gesturing for Moli and the powerhouses to press on with the hunt.

With that, the group pushed doubts aside and kept probing for hints, staying on high alert.

As the team scoured cautiously, Leo Ray stepped to the side, his brow creasing faintly.

Earlier, crossing the Drill Field's Teleportation Array zone, something profoundly odd had caught his eye.

All the arrays there stayed active, not powered down at all, under tight watch by at least a pair of half-step Tier 7 powerhouses.

This raised a baffling contradiction.

Remember, prior to our jump here via the Teleportation Array, waves of elite Human Clan troops had bolstered the defenses, but no battle scars showed anywhere.

Were the Observation City reinforcements turned into Parasites too? That seems absurd.

And since landing here, our attention locked on battling the fake 'Corrosion' forces, so we skimmed over the Teleportation Arrays. Still, we saw fresh Human Clan soldiers arriving steadily—where did they all vanish to inside the Fortress?

What's more, the old Book ought to have caught wind of trouble in the Fortress by now and dispatched hordes of backup. At minimum, they'd seal the Teleportation Arrays against infiltration. So why do they run smoothly still? Why no moves from Observation City? Has some weird mess unfolded there too?

"Has the old City Lord fallen to parasitization as well?"

Leo Ray's forehead creased deeper, thoughts churning wildly.

If that's the real state of affairs, it's the nightmare outcome, and breaking free looks hopeless.

"Regardless, with the Teleportation Arrays up and running, we'll locate Crisis and the team first, then punch through via the array to head back to Observation City," Leo Ray resolved inwardly, clutching Rolanddel tight, fresh sweat beading on his brow.

No denying it, the mess we're in defies easy grasp and reeks of mystery.

These Parasites, the 'Corrosion' scourge, and the shadowy 'Ruins Returner' masterminding it all had spun a hidden web of doom, turning every move into a razor-edge gamble. One slip, and it's an endless plunge into oblivion.

Deep in Leo Ray's reflections, abrupt clashes of combat rang out from afar.

"My Lord, that's Crisis and the others! They're hanging in there!"

Little Jing's gaze lit up ahead as she alerted Leo Ray.

"No time to waste—let's rush to aid them!"

Moli geared up to dash ahead with zeal, only for Leo Ray to block her with an upheld palm.