The Ganwu branch of the First Bank of the Universe was located on the Imperial Star of the Ganwu Universe Country.
However, Marquis Wuyu didn't reside there.
Otherwise, Lord Ganwu would have already taken action and captured him long ago.
While Lord Ganwu might be short on resources, he possessed both foresight and formidable strength.
Therefore, luring out the target required careful planning and patience.
Furthermore, it was difficult to say who was truly doing the fishing.
Before Han Jue's arrival, Marquis Wuyu hadn't made any unusual movements. Now that he'd suddenly been exposed, it was possible the alien races were deliberately trying to lure Han Jue into a trap.
The Virtual Universe Company was well aware of this possibility. Otherwise, they wouldn't have assigned King Longyuan to personally protect Han Jue. Besides dispatching Lord Ganwu as additional support, they also had other contingency plans in place.
Shimen Star Region
This was where the Virtual Universe Company's intelligence system had detected Marquis Wuyu's last known location.
Swish!
A towering dragon-man covered in obsidian scales materialized beside Han Jue.
"Junior Master, should we approach directly?" King Longyuan asked in a rumbling voice.
"Yes," Han Jue nodded slightly and retrieved the Ice Wasteland spacecraft from his storage.
The three of them quickly boarded the vessel.
This time, besides King Longyuan, the only person accompanying Han Jue was his guard leader, Ian.
Although Lord Ganwu was among the available backup resources, Han Jue couldn't command him directly. He only knew the Universe Venerable would be monitoring the situation and would intervene against any overwhelming threats.
The spacecraft accelerated, heading toward Marquis Wuyu's coordinates.
Soon,
a massive life-bearing planet with a diameter exceeding a million kilometers appeared before them.
Seen from space, the planet's atmosphere was shrouded in a layer of white mist, and a ring of asteroids orbited its outermost layer. However, this planet had no sun, life existed entirely from geothermal heat emanating from its core.
Lingmen Star.
"Junior Master, how do we lure Marquis Wuyu out?" King Longyuan asked.
Han Jue said calmly, "Well, before I arrived, I had already sent an email to Marquis Wuyu. I expressed my intention to visit him and inquire about an account at the First Bank of the Universe. He invited me here."
The visit was genuine.
The inquiry was also genuine.
Before the Domain Lord-level highest-scoring mission had appeared, Han Jue had actually planned to visit Marquis Wuyu anyway.
The account he was inquiring about belonged to the late Lord of the Ice Wasteland Realm.
Han Jue wanted to investigate who had transferred funds to that account after its owner's death.
He had already ruled out the possibility of automated financial products.
This was likely related to the events leading up to the Lord of the Ice Wasteland Realm's death, and Han Jue was intensely curious about the mystery.
"King Longyuan, you need to disguise yourself a bit," Han Jue instructed.
"No problem." King Longyuan studied Han Jue's appearance for a moment. His nearly ten-meter height instantly shrank to three meters. The obsidian scales on his body faded, and his features shifted to resemble those of an Earthling. Combined with his black robes, he looked somewhat like a villain from a dark fairy tale.
Next,
at Han Jue's signal, Rimuru piloted the Ice Wasteland spacecraft and landed on Lingmen Star in proper formal fashion.
"Your Highness Han Jue, I've been waiting for you for quite some time!"
As the spacecraft touched down, a figure appeared before them.
King Longyuan's eyes locked onto him with intense wariness. The man who had suddenly materialized was Marquis Wuyu himself!
Marquis Wuyu was an expert in spiritual cultivation and soul techniques.
"Marquis Wuyu, I've long heard of your name!" Han Jue said with a pleasant smile.
Marquis Wuyu glanced calmly at the two figures behind Han Jue, assessing their strength. A smile appeared on his face as he addressed Han Jue. "Your Highness Han Jue, I heard you wanted to inquire about information related to a certain account?"
"As an employee of the First Bank of the Universe, I'm obligated to protect client privacy. Even as the president of the Ganwu branch, I cannot access information from five-star accounts. What star rating is the account you're looking for?"
"Four-star," Han Jue replied with a smile.
"Four-star? No problem, then." Marquis Wuyu nodded slightly and, at Han Jue's request, began searching the Ice Wasteland Realm Lord's account records.
King Longyuan and Ian stood warily behind Han Jue, but Marquis Wuyu and Han Jue seemed to be having a perfectly normal conversation. There were no signs of imminent conflict.
Marquis Wuyu quickly produced the results.
"Your Highness, the transfer to that account came from a five-star account, and I cannot access that information," Marquis Wuyu said to Han Jue. "However, that account is also registered within Ganwu Universe Country. If you can enlist the assistance of Lord Ganwu, perhaps there's hope of uncovering the information."
Han Jue frowned slightly.
Who had transferred hundreds of thousands of Hunyuan Units to the Lord of the Ice Wasteland Realm? What had happened to him before his death?
It was truly a vexing mystery.
"We've found everything we came for," Han Jue said, looking at Marquis Wuyu. "Then let's proceed."
"Boom!"
The space around them was instantly sealed!
King Longyuan teleported to Marquis Wuyu's side, divine power erupting to restrain him.
"How is that possible!"
Marquis Wuyu's expression showed genuine shock as he realized his secret technique had failed.
He'd been using a soul enslavement technique on Han Jue since their meeting began. The technique, originating from Zerg cultivation methods, was incredibly potent. He had refined it until he'd barely reached King-level mastery. Even those at the initial stages of Immortal King could be enslaved by it!
However, when applied to Han Jue, the technique vanished like a stone sinking into the depths of the sea, producing no effect whatsoever.
"Nothing is impossible," Han Jue said coldly.
With the precious top-tier soul defense treasure, the Misty Pearl, guarding his consciousness, a mere soul attack from a barely-King-level opponent posed no threat whatsoever.
"Alas,"
a deep sigh echoed through the ears of everyone present.
King Longyuan's expression changed dramatically as he realized he was suddenly unable to move. Horror filled his eyes as he looked toward Han Jue with deep concern.
A crushing aura descended from the sky, threatening to overwhelm everyone below.
"Venerable!" Marquis Wuyu exclaimed in surprise.
A Universe Venerable had taken action!
"Blood Ghost, I never thought the Zerg would dispatch a mid-level Universe Venerable for this operation!"
A deep, resonating voice echoed across the battlefield. King Longyuan, realizing he could move again, quickly retreated to Han Jue's side in a protective stance.
Then, a colossal figure appeared in the sky above them.
Lord Ganwu!
The Blood Ghost Venerable sneered. "Ganwu, do you think my master didn't anticipate your intervention? Do you think I would come unprepared?"
"A melee-class treasure?" Lord Ganwu frowned and launched a devastating punch!
Whoosh!
The wind from his fist stirred up a massive storm across Lingmen Star's surface, shaking the entire planet to its core.
The battle between Universe Venerables had catastrophic consequences!
"Junior Master, we need to retreat!" King Longyuan said urgently.
Lord Ganwu had been intercepted. If the alien races had additional backup plans, their escape would be extremely difficult.
"King Longyuan!"
The next moment, three figures appeared. One of them seemed to be an acquaintance of King Longyuan.
"Spirit Elephant King!" King Longyuan's expression darkened.
Besides the Spirit Elephant King, the other two were also Crowned Immortal Kings!
Three Crowned Kings!
This assassination attempt was even more dangerous than the last time.
Every single Crowned King-level spy lurking near Ganwu Universe Country had apparently been mobilized for this operation!