The chessboard opposite the two was tense with concentration.
Michael made a difficult move, his voice heavy with implication, "You truly live up to being the master of Dawn, your moves are cunninglyid. It''s like how it took me ages to uncover the spy you nted in my Duke''s Mansion. "
"You wouldn''t be nning to secretly eliminate my son to have Betty take over the reins of the Duke''s Mansion, would you?"
Keh, who was standing nearby, overheard and instantly became alert, almost cursing out loud.
Olivia chuckled lightly as she ced her piece, "My dear inw, you jest. Our family rules forbid such actions. Besides, with my people returning home, I really have no interest in your county lordship."
Seeing Michael''s twitching lips as he faced inevitable defeat on the board, Keh finally breathed a sigh of relief. Olivia then added, "However, I''ve heard that someone has been targeting my Joseph. If things escte, who knows what might happen, right?"
"Father, I have urgent matters to attend to, I''ll take my leave now." Keh''s face darkened as he bowed slightly to Michael and hurried out, his steps quickening. As he left the hall, he summoned a servant, urgently saying, "Where are those useless children of mine? Bring them here, am I not to break their legs?!"
Michael nced at his son and rolled his eyes, then motioned for someone to pour tea. "I''ve heard that over the years, your ckwood family has been preparing, with countless treasures and a grand formation protecting your family estate."
"Thus, if ckwood could secure the aid of the Warren Daoist and the Heavenly Leon Daoist, along with that mysterious person you summoned earlier, and that secret weapon, could you possibly withstand a union of the nine major forces?"
"At Duke''s Mansion, we can provide a mid-stage Competent Psychic."
After speaking, Michael looked visibly agitated. He saw Olivia, still calm and sipping her tea, "Olivia, you must have received the news by now. It''s time to lead your people home to resist. I shall send my great-grandfather with you."
Olivia suddenly smiled, her eyes twinkling like stars and seas, making Michael''s scalp tingle.
"Lord County, you don''t really think that my ckwood family would willingly be your Duke''s Mansion''s de, do you?"
"What do you mean?" Michael narrowed his eyes.
"What I mean is, our families are actually quite well-matched, Lord County," Olivia said with a lightugh. "You treat my ckwood as a pawn, likening us to a chopping knife. But in fact, my ckwood also wishes to try being the chess yer for once."
...
On the road from Williams to ckwood in Cloudview County, Donald led the Williams descendants in a grand procession. They traveled on a massive flying boat, with Williams Donald and all Developing Skill on board!
He held an energy locator, which Stephen had handed over in the cer. Inside this energy, locator red dots moved about.
The energy locator represented all directions of Cloudview County, and the red dots represented ckwood people!
At that moment, he burst intoughter, "Haha! How interesting, how very interesting!"
All the Williams people, hearing Donald''sughter, couldn''t help but smile. They knew well what Donald meant: if they killed the ckwood people, they could seize ckwood''s fortune. What''s this era of ckwood?
From now on, Cloudview County might as well be renamed ''Dragon Cloud County''!
This was a battle for the fate of their ns.
He even saw that all ckwood people seemed to have gotten the news early and were frantically consolidating within Cloudview County. He had no doubt that this was the doing of Dawn''s master, Olivia.
But suddenly, Donald''s smile faded. Among those consolidating ckwood people, a few unusual red dots moved in the opposite direction!
"How dare theye out? Something''s not right. How dare theye out? They should be cowering, scurrying around like rats under the siege of our nine forces, seeking help everywhere!"
Now, he didn''t even know whether he should lead his people back or meet up with other sects.
"Stop the boat!"
Donald''s mind froze as he watched the ckwood n members charging in the opposite direction on the energy locator, seemingly fearless. The other ckwood members had already gathered together early and then vanished chaotically. Red dots were moving closer to his location. In an instant, he was reminded of the terror of the explosion outside the Sky Sect that day.
His thoughts became chaotic. "Impossible, ckwood couldn''t possibly still have such master-crafted devices, or none of us would have escaped that day. Have they gotten wind of our ns and gathered the Competent from Sky Sect and ck Tortoise to pick us off one by one?"
"Or is it that ckwood has some top-tier advanced psychic equipment, or perhaps a mysterious master was already in ce elsewhere?"
"I..."
Donald began to lead his bewildered n members back home. He started sending messages to other forces. It seemed everyone was in the same situation, and then, gradually, he could no longer receive any messages. But the ckwood people''s speed was increasing, getting closer to their mid-tier psychic power flying boat.
Until...
"What is this thing?!!"
Donald stared at the energy locator as the red dots frantically scrambled, bing more numerous. His scalp tingled. "What kind of cursed energy locator is this?!!"
Donald red furiously and crushed the energy locator in his hand. The red dots in the locator were more than millions, covering the entire device, making it glow red. "A fake energy locator?!! n members, head home immediately!"
His words had just fallen when a mocking voice echoed from the sky all around.
"Donald, you surely didn''t think that for these decades, it was my ckwood who was scurrying around like a frightened rat?"
"All this time, it''s been you, Donald, hiding in your home, too scared toe out!"
"You can''t forget that day''s explosion at the Sky Sect, you''re scared."
"I''ve told you before, my ckwood is the sky of this Cloudview County!"
"Today..."
"Let your Williams vanishpletely!"