Chapter 734: Deceived

In the vast, boundless ocean, under the starry sky, the cool, damp air carries a slight salty tang. The dark, inky sea below, under the faint light, undulates, forming waves upon waves.

Suddenly, a white figure flickers in the air—a young man dressed in a white short-sleeved shirt and brown shorts emerges as if tearing through the black night. Despite the ocean's temperature being below freezing, the man seems completely unaffected by the cold, strolling as if he were merely walking in front of his own house.

This person is none other than Yang Chen, who, after continuous teleportation, has hurriedly arrived at this area in the Pacific Ocean, having found his target.

Upon reaching the coordinates given by Macedonia, Yang Chen didn't rush to observe the situation on the sea but instead looked up at the sky, lost in thought.

He couldn't quite understand why, but lately, even though he had used his powers multiple times without any issues, Yang Chen had a vague feeling that something bad might happen if he recklessly used his abilities. This was a kind of deep-seated, mysterious self-preservation instinct that comes with advanced cultivation.

Just like when he previously flew back to Zhonghai from Yandu, even though teleportation would have been much quicker, he chose to take a flight instead, without any urgent need to use his powers.

The last time he teleported to the Philippines, the sense of unease wasn't particularly strong, but this time, after teleporting halfway across the globe, his brow twitched uncontrollably, and a sense of foreboding enveloped him, like a dense fog that wouldn't disperse, making him feel deeply uncomfortable.

Yang Chen hesitated, wondering if he should consult with Yan Sanniang after this was all over to see if this was a "side effect" of breaking through to the peak of innate perfection. If not, then there might actually be something wrong with his cultivation. After all, he had been self-teaching all along, with no one to tell him whether he was doing things right or wrong.

Shaking his head, Yang Chen exhaled, deciding not to dwell on the headache-inducing problem, and instead scanned the sea, carefully searching for clues.

Even though it was night, Yang Chen's eyes saw as if it were daylight. The surrounding sea area, stretching for dozens of nautical miles, was littered with the shattered remains of the U.S. Navy fleet. The larger parts had sunk to the ocean floor, but many naval personal items and buoyant debris like deck pieces and lifeboats were still floating.

However, from the extent of the destruction, it was clear that there was no chance of survival. The explosions of these warships, especially the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, had also detonated several nuclear warhead missiles. Not only the crew on the ships but even the marine life was decimated by the blast.

This destruction, completed in just one minute, was the terrifying result of unsealing spatial divine power. It once again proved that the self-sealing of the gods was indeed quite necessary.

Yang Chen quickly calculated in his mind: based on this location, the fleet's destination should have been Pearl Harbor in the Sam's country of Hawaii. The impostor chose to strike midway instead of causing havoc at a military base, clearly intending to frame him rather than provoke a large-scale war.

Otherwise, if Pearl Harbor had also been obliterated, the Sam's country people would have completely flipped out. After all, it was their painstakingly rebuilt forward base in the Pacific. If their front door were smashed, how could they remain calm?

Moreover, this sea area typically wouldn't see any commercial ships or cruise liners passing through, which is advantageous for sealing off information after wiping out the fleet. This means the impostor's primary target was him, aiming to incite a worldwide siege against him rather than causing widespread global terror.

Yang Chen extended his spiritual sense, carefully sensing the sea area to see if any remnants of that person's divine power lingered. After all, each main god's spatial divine power operates on the same principles, but the details differ, making them as unique as human fingerprints, difficult to replicate.

Unfortunately, nearly an hour had passed, and no matter how hard Yang Chen searched, he couldn't find a trace of divine power left behind.

Does this mean I'll have to go to the Sam's country and explain to the FBI and CIA? Say that I have an alibi and was at home the whole time? But would they believe me if I said that?

Just as Yang Chen was racking his brains over what to do, a familiar power rapidly approached from the east. A blonde woman in a luxurious black lace dress, with bare, snow-white feet as exquisite as sculpted art, walked out of the void with a seductive yet elegant demeanor. Her gem-like eyes were filled with worry and doubt as she spoke directly to Yang Chen: "It wasn't you, was it?"

The person who arrived was none other than Christine, who had hurried to the scene. Her outfit suggested she had been attending some event, but she had left in the middle and even kicked off her high heels.

A warmth surged in Yang Chen's heart. Christine must have learned through her intelligence channels that something had happened to him, but her first words showed that she chose to believe him, demonstrating that this outspoken beauty was still loyal to him.

"Do you think I'm that bored? Handling the relationship between my wife and lover is already giving me a headache. Where would I find the time to mess with the Sam's country navy? Do you think I've grown tired of living, that I'd break the 'Covenant of the Gods' and invite you and the people from Hongmeng to gang up on me?" Yang Chen said with a bitter smile.

Christine let out a sigh of relief and immediately giggled, "I thought so too. You're not that stupid. Besides, even if you wanted to vent your anger, you wouldn't let a video capture you."

Suddenly, Christine caught another meaning in his words and was shocked. She asked, "You know about 'Hongmeng'?"

Yang Chen was taken aback, then understood. Neither the previous Hades nor Christine, the Cromwell siblings, nor Ares had mentioned the war between the gods and Hongmeng tens of thousands of years ago during their meetings with him.

When Yan Sanniang told him that history, he had thought that Christine and the others might not have mentioned it because it was a painful memory they didn't want to revisit.

"I had some contact with them before, but nothing substantial. After all, it's been tens of thousands of years. What's past is past. There's no need to be so tense," Yang Chen said with a smile.

Christine's expression changed, and she snorted coldly, "What do you know? How can you say it's water under the bridge? Hades, since you've inherited the divine status, you should stand with us. In the future, if you encounter someone from Hongmeng, don't be polite to them! They're a bunch of despicable cowards who only hide in Yanxia, afraid to fight us openly. If it weren't for their treachery tens of thousands of years ago, Zeus and Athena would have wiped them out!"

Christine seemed unusually angry. Her usual noble demeanor became a bit agitated, and her eyes were full of cold light!

Yang Chen, on the other hand, was full of questions. He was dazed for a moment before asking, "You mean, tens of thousands of years ago, the Hongmeng weren't your match?"

"Of course not!" Christine frowned and then realized something, "From what you're saying, it seems like you already know a bit about that time. Did the Hongmeng people tell you that we lost to them?!"

Yang Chen's mind was racing. From Christine's demeanor, it didn't seem like she was lying, and she had no reason to deceive him. But Yan Sanniang had clearly told him that the gods were the defeated side, and it was the compassion of Hongmeng's predecessors that allowed them to develop outside of Yanxia. But now, it seemed that what Yan Sanniang said was not the truth!

Christine frowned deeply and sneered, "So it seems that's the case. Did the Hongmeng people tell you that we lost to them?"

Yang Chen, deep in thought, shook his head and said, "I'm not sure if that person counts as a Hongmeng member. But her martial cultivation has surpassed innate perfection. According to her, it's called 'Nascent Soul.'"

"That's correct," Christine said seriously. "I can explain this part to you. After all, the current Hongmeng members alive today are just recent kids from the past few hundred years. They don't really understand the power of their ancestors from tens of thousands of years ago. Although I don't practice Yanxia's martial arts, I know that after reaching the innate realm, if one breaks through the perfection of the innate stage, they can be considered a Hongmeng member and are known as 'Nascent Soul.' But to go from 'Nascent Soul' to the 'Tribulation Transcendence' stage is incredibly rare.

I remember when we first arrived on Earth, the entire Yanxia—oh, Hongmeng wasn't even established back then—had fewer than ten people who had reached the 'Tribulation Transcendence' stage. Only those people could somewhat contend with our Zeus and Athena, while the other Nascent Soul-level experts, though formidable, stood no chance if Zeus and Athena intervened."

"What?!" Yang Chen was stunned. What Christine said was completely different from what Yan Sanniang had told him!

According to Christine, the war tens of thousands of years ago was at best a stalemate, and it certainly wasn't a one-sided victory for Yanxia's ancestors, as Yan Sanniang had claimed.

Christine shook her head with a wry smile, "Hades, we didn't bring up that history before because it wasn't worth mentioning. It would only cause unnecessary discomfort. But now it seems you've been quite deceived by them. You need to know the truth."

To read the manga version, please click the YouTube link https://youtu.be/GnU613H6xm8