Floating City, Command Tower Third Floor, Jimmy's Office
"The Dean just vanished into thin air?"
Jimmy listened to the report from the Wizard outside the Floating City, his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets.
Who was Grand Wizard Galon? The foremost figure beneath the Truth Wizard! Even the Truth Wizard couldn't make Grand Wizard Galon disappear without a trace.
"But that's exactly what happened," the reporting Wizard said. Though his expression was calm, the fear in his heart made his voice tremble slightly.
"I saw the Dean disappear with my own eyes. Many Wizards witnessed it."
"…Alright, you can go for now."
Jimmy rubbed his furrowed brow and waved the Wizard away. He had absolute confidence in Grand Wizard Galon's strength. Even if the Grand Wizard had been ambushed by the World Tree, he believed it was only a temporary confinement.
Right now, rather than worrying about Grand Wizard Galon's safety, they needed to focus on themselves.
With the Grand Wizard's disappearance, the entire Floating City instantly lost its support and plummeted from tens of thousands of meters in the air.
A free fall from such a height inevitably caused damage, no matter how sturdy the Floating City was.
Currently, most of the Floating City's functions were paralyzed. Repairs would require an extensive amount of time.
And most terrifying of all—the Power Furnace had malfunctioned.
After inspection by the logistics Wizards, the Power Furnace's output had significantly decreased. This was a sign that damage control had been activated after the furnace was compromised.
This meant their Floating City was almost certainly incapable of leaving this world unless they repaired the Power Furnace—or opened a portal back to the Wizard World.
Of these two options, the former was nearly impossible. The Power Furnace's blueprints were a top-secret design of the Tower of Truth. Without the blueprints, even a Great Wizard couldn't guarantee a successful repair without issues.
The latter option required them to gather sufficient resources in this world.
But given the current situation, this world was a den of hidden dragons and crouching tigers. Conquering it and collecting enough resources would be anything but easy.
Moreover, with Grand Wizard Galon gone, if they encountered combatants of World Master caliber, they'd have to rely on the White Wizard Legion and numerous Third Circle Wizards to trade lives for victory.
If this world had even two World Masters, their expeditionary force might face total annihilation.
Thinking about their predicament, Jimmy felt like his bald head was about to sprout hair from stress.
"Damn it, this world is downright sinister!"
With a long sigh, he prepared to head to the command center to plan their next moves with the other Wizards. But just as he reached the door, the Crystal Ball on his desk lit up.
Jimmy jolted—this was the Crystal Ball he used exclusively to communicate with Grand Wizard Galon.
"Jimmy, it's Galon. I'm trapped in this… inner world. I can't… break free for now.
What I need you to do… is remove the anchor points the World Tree left in the surface world… and eliminate the offspring it planted… in this realm!"
Grand Wizard Galon's voice came through the Crystal Ball, fragmented and mixed with static, but Jimmy understood the message clearly.
Jimmy hurried to the Crystal Ball: "Yes, Dean, I received it. I'll arrange for someone to uproot the World Tree's sapling immediately."
Upon hearing Jimmy's reply, the Crystal Ball emitted static before dimming completely.
Jimmy pocketed the Crystal Ball and rushed out of the laboratory.
With a clear objective, the next steps became much simpler.
...
In the Inner World, Grand Wizard Galon placed the shattered Communication Crystal Ball into his pocket.
Establishing communication between the Outer and Inner Worlds wasn't something easily accomplished. Though he knew Alchemy, his skills paled in comparison to a true Alchemy Master.
To complete the communication, he'd been forced to overextend the Crystal Ball's lifespan.
"Ah, what carelessness. I never expected to encounter the special rules of dual-layered worlds."
Dual-layered worlds operated under extremely unique rules, divided into Outer and Inner Worlds with different regulations, environments, and resident species.
Most terrifyingly, such worlds often produced twice as many World Masters as normal worlds.
When invaded, these World Masters could utilize this rule to scatter enemies across both layers, then eliminate them using superior numbers.
This particular world had fallen under the World Tree's dominion, enhancing its power beyond sixth-level existence—just one step away from becoming a Great Being.
Shaking his head ruefully, Grand Wizard Galon transformed into a giant and shattered a towering black tree into ash with his bone staff.
Behind him, the dark ashes had already piled into a small mountain.
"Outsider! You cannot kill me!"
The black tree's voice echoed across the battlefield. Dozens of kilometers away from Galon, dark roots erupted from the ground, instantly forming another colossal tree.
"This is my world! Your energy cannot replenish here, while my life is endless!"
Galon regarded the tree with near-pity before teleporting beside it and reducing it to splinters once more.
Whether due to plant-type World Masters' inherent limitations or prolonged isolation dulling its mind, the World Tree's intelligence struck Galon as remarkably feeble.
Beyond its tactical blunders, its fundamental misjudgment of Galon's situation proved its stupidity.
It still believed Galon was trapped and making desperate last stands—not realizing the Grand Wizard was deliberately stalling to facilitate the Plane Expedition.
"Wretched fool. Blessed with such gifts, yet squandering them with such idiocy. Criminal waste."
"When your Outer World saplings are destroyed, we'll see if you can remain this arrogant."
...
Outer World, Command Tower Conference Room
"...That's the situation. The Dean requires us to eliminate the World Tree's saplings in the Outer World."
At the podium, Jimmy faithfully relayed Grand Wizard Galon's instructions to the assembled Third Circle Wizards participating in the Plane Expedition.
"Uprooting the saplings of the World Tree... this is no easy task," a Third Circle Black Wizard mused. "Based on current observations, these saplings possess formidable combat capabilities. A single Third Circle Wizard stands almost no chance of victory—even multiple Third Circle Wizards might not prevail."
"This means rapid decapitation by Third Circle Wizards is nearly impossible. We'll need to deploy the White Wizard Legion to clear them out."
"Indeed, the Legion is necessary," Jimmy agreed. "But the problem now is their movement speed is far too slow."
As he spoke, Jimmy produced a projection crystal ball, casting an image into the air.
The footage showed the White Wizard Legion locked in combat with a flock of enormous flying birds.
"These are one of this world's magical beasts, temporarily named 'Sowing Eagles.' Their strength ranges from first to third tier, and they're highly aggressive. Any creature leaving the dense forest will be attacked by them. Worse, their numbers are absurdly high."
Jimmy tapped the crystal ball, and the three-dimensional image shifted to reveal a sky-obscuring swarm of white birds.
"Their population is nearly uncountable. Though the White Wizard Legion holds the upper hand in battle, even trading one of ours for fifty of theirs would still be a devastating loss. Therefore, the Legion will proceed by land from now on."
"By land?" a Black Wizard questioned. "Wouldn't that be even slower?"
"That brings us to our plan," Jimmy explained. "Headquarters intends to disperse all Third Circle Wizards for reconnaissance and clearing operations. Black Wizards will focus on penetrating the dense forest to locate the World Tree saplings' coordinates, eliminating any threats to the White Wizard Legion along the way. Meanwhile, White Wizards will conduct cleansing operations around the Floating City, removing creatures that could endanger our squads. Any objections to this plan?"
A murmur rose in the meeting room as Wizards discussed the proposal among themselves. Soon, silence returned—no objections were raised. The plan was sound.
"Then it's settled," Jimmy concluded. "Logistics Wizards will distribute specially crafted crystal balls shortly. These will allow headquarters to track your positions, so guard them carefully."
The meeting adjourned, and the Wizards dispersed.
Richard followed the crowd to the logistics department, where he received a unique black crystal ball. Though most of the Floating City's functions remained inoperable, its communication towers were fully functional. These high-powered crystal balls, paired with the towers, enabled headquarters to precisely locate every Wizard in this world.
After collecting his crystal ball, Richard didn't set out immediately. Instead, he returned to the Secret Realm.
"What's happening out there?" Ulysses fluttered down onto Richard's shoulder the moment he entered, concern evident in his voice.
Richard shook his head, his expression grave. "The situation isn't optimistic. This world operates on dual-layer rules—Grand Wizard Galon has been trapped in the inner layer. It might take thirty to fifty years before he can escape."
Moreover, the Floating City is also experiencing issues, leaving us with no retreat options."
"The surface world and the inner world..." Ulysses pondered Richard's words for a moment before speaking. "This is entirely good news for you all.
Among the members of the Divine Civilization, there is a World Tree deity. According to him, the World Tree's realm can only have one World Master—the World Tree itself.
Now that your Great Wizard has trapped the World Tree in the inner world, it means the surface world currently has no World Master.
Without the World Tree as an obstacle, the losses among you lesser Wizards should be significantly reduced."
Richard sighed softly. "Let's hope so."
With that, Richard headed to the Alchemy Workshop.
"Kallion, Sulina, come here. These Fire Lizard equipment pieces need specialized modifications."
Although the command had instructed them to locate the World Tree offshoots and leave the handling to the White Wizard Legion, Richard had no intention of following those orders.
Not only was the World Tree offshoot clearly premium Alchemy Material, but the fact that the World Mushr
oom required it was reason enough for Richard to abandon the idea of letting the White Wizard Legion take care of it.
It was time for the Fire Lizard Battalion to make their move.