The appearance of an old man surnamed Jiang made the atmosphere in the lab a little strange.
Lin Duo couldn't believe that Mr. Gu Nan would actually do such a thing. Lin Ke, on the other hand, was shocked by Gu Nan's connection to her younger sister. Only Big Brother scratched his head, entirely ignorant of what had just transpired.
Gu Nan still couldn't recall who this person was.
When Jiang Tian and Jiang Xue, the two police officers, entered the lab back then, he didn't know their names, so naturally he wouldn't have been able to guess Ghost Tree's identity.
However, this didn't stop him from attacking. A sword of shadow instantly pierced Ghost Tree's heart.
But Ghost Tree was immovable, a smile forming on his elderly face.
Gu Nan's sword seemed to be completely harmless to him, and the illusory ancient tree behind him slowly solidified until it turned tangible, standing in front of everyone.
This was a genuine peak Tier 3 Heroic Spirit summoner. In Star Realm terms, he was already on par with the Dao Lords.
People like him had already broken through the limits of Heroic Spirit summoners. His Heroic Spirit and his true body were constantly in a semi-fused state, so the Heroic Spirit could fight independently or attack through Ghost Tree himself.
One of the few Dao Lords in the Morningstar Plane actually appeared in front of Gu Nan at this moment.
"Dao Lord level?" Gu Nan frowned slightly. His Heroic Spirit form only inherited a portion of his original body's power, so killing a Dao Lord wouldn't be an easy matter.
With a wave of his right hand, longswords rained down on the ancient tree, with all fifteen consecutive swords stabbing the same spot.
The swords stabbed a big hole in the ancient tree, but the hole quickly healed before Gu Nan could make his next move.
"It's useless," Ghost Tree said expressionlessly, his eyes devoid of any emotion. "I extracted the vitality of tens of thousands of people. How can you possibly kill me?"
Gu Nan just looked at him coldly. If the enemy was already in an invincible position yet still insisted on chattering nonstop, then there was only one possibility—this enemy didn't have the ability to kill him. At least, not yet.
'He's stalling.'
Gu Nan saw through this and smiled slightly. He stood in place motionlessly, but his body gradually darkened.
Although with Gu Nan's methods, he can always kill the monsters he wants to kill, there's still the matter of a cost-benefit ratio.
'It takes effort and time to kill the other party, and there's no benefit to be gained. But even if I don't kill him, I won't lose anything. So why would I kill him?'
Gu Nan never felt that he was addicted to killing. He simply wanted to complete the mission.
Ghost Tree's expression changed slightly when he saw Gu Nan leaving, and he couldn't maintain his confident look any longer. The ancient tree behind him suddenly spread out all its branches, emitting a scarlet brilliance.
Everyone present felt their heart turn cold, and something seemed to be flowing slowly from their bodies into the ancient tree.
Ghost Tree's expression was still gloomy. He could clearly sense the linked life forces of everyone here except Gu Nan.
Gu Nan's body continued to darken, but a red light started to glow underneath his feet. This was Ghost Tree's Heroic Spirit domain.
Unfortunately, before the red light completely surrounded him, Gu Nan had already turned into a black shadow that then shattered, as if it had never been there in the first place.
"Damn it…" Ghost Tree couldn't help cursing when he saw the other party escape when his domain was only one step away from surrounding Gu Nan.
His Heroic Spirit had excellent attack and defense, but its pursuit abilities weren't sufficient. What he feared the most was if the other side didn't thirst for battle and simply ran away.
So he tried to stall with words from the very beginning, but he didn't expect that Gu Nan was still able to escape.
...
Gu Zhaoyue stood next to Gu Nan's shadow doppelganger, watching the fruit glow a brilliant blue. The majestic energy coming from it made even him want to hide.
"Is this fruit from that tree? No wonder it can attract moon thralls…"
When Gu Zhaoyue sensed the faint aura of the moon thralls around him and connected that with the giant tree he saw before, he could guess the gist of the situation immediately.
Five tall moon thralls stared at them curiously with different expressions, making Gu Zhaoyue's heart feel strange.
He didn't know what Gu Nan was doing. For a long time, he couldn't even understand Gu Nan's actions.
Loyalty for no reason and no cause didn't exist in this world. Gu Zhaoyue was an ambitious person, or more accurately, an ambitious Heroic Spirit. He was simply fond of power and authority.
When Gu Nan could be his backing and provide him with power, Gu Nan would naturally have his loyalty, but it was different now.
Gu Nan wanted to destroy everything he held dear.
Gu Zhaoyue clenched both of his fists and hesitated.
His rationality told him that even if he destroyed this fruit, Gu Nan still wouldn't let him and his camp off, but… 'Don't tell me I have to just watch everything play out like this?'
"Grandpa Gu, what are you doing here?" A child's voice came from the side.
Gu Zhaoyue suddenly turned his head and saw a five or six-year-old girl standing in the underbrush next door, hugging a small white dog in her arms.
The little white dog looked at Gu Zhaoyue and barked twice.
Gu Zhaoyue stared at them in a daze. He didn't actually know this little girl. She just felt vaguely familiar. But he knew that in this little girl's eyes, he might as well be the savior of the world.
He raised his head to look at the blue fruit, his gaze gradually becoming determined.
...
"Lord Ghost Tree, the moon thralls are still gathering outside. The source of power they're after isn't far away from here. Do you think this is the work of that person?" Beholder walked up to Ghost Tree and whispered.
Ghost Tree's eyes lit up and he blurted out, "It's most definitely him! Several camps have already been breached by moon thralls today, all of which were the result of a large number of moon thralls gathering around those camps. That Gu Nan must've done something!"
The people on the other side of the room, including Lin Duo, also heard the news. Lin Duo asked in confusion, "Sister, why are moon thralls gathering outside?"
Lin Ke's face was pale. Before she could reply, the moon spirit beside her murmured, "It's the power of the moon fruit… He actually used the moon fruit here!"
As an eyewitness to the situation in West City, Lin Duo also understood what Gu Nan had done after an explanation from the moon spirit, and the fear in her heart grew deeper and deeper.
"Mr. Gu Nan, how… could he…"
She lost track of how many times she tried to use her own Heroic Spirit contract to contact Gu Nan, but her calls were like pebbles sinking into the ocean, eliciting no response.
"We must stop him!" The sun spirit that rarely spoke took the initiative to speak up right now. "If the power of all seven moon fruits are fused together, then the true king of the moon thralls will be born. When that happens, the moon thrall calamity will never end."
Lin Duo was taken aback to hear Little Ming say so many words at once, but she understood the meaning behind his words.
It boiled down to two words: "Stop him!"
Ghost Tree and Beholder's figures had already disappeared, and Lin Duo and the others also prepared to catch up.
"Wait, I'll go too!" Tian Tian said from the side. The Lin sisters had no reason to stop her and immediately agreed.
But nobody expected Big Brother to stand out at this moment and grab Tian Tian with one hand.
"Hey, what are you doing?! Let me go, let me… Huh?"
Tian Tian struggled, but she immediately discovered that Big Brother simply placed her on his shoulder, then flashed everyone a simple and honest smile.