Ignorance? Fearlessness? Or Sheer Power?!

Old friend? Heh, Du Chen didn't have many old friends, and those who could make Andy furrow his brow were even fewer.

"Which one is it?"

"Is it Brockman?" Andy's voice wavered, "Heh, then again, it could also be Brockman's twin brother, Adams. Their scent is too similar... Master, no matter which one, he seems to be in a dire state, a strong smell of blood permeates him. It looks like he's on the verge of death!"

Andy chuckled, "Master, strike while he's weak, finish him off! How about we avenge Old Man Foye?" He was about to bolt in the direction he'd identified, but Du Chen held him back. "Whether it's Adams or Brockman, is he alone?"

"Just one person... uh, Andy only smells one person!"

"Point the way. We'll go invisibly!"

Ever since they blindly stumbled into Margaret's immediate vicinity, Du Chen's caution had deepened. This time, he steered the Green Cloud slowly, having Andy confirm the scent at regular intervals. Fortunately, the distance wasn't too far. Apart from the unpredictable cave entrances in the Labyrinth of Life, a direct path of about seven or eight hundred meters led them to a wide-open clearing within the labyrinth. However, what first greeted their eyes wasn't an old friend, but...

Heavens! Could it be such a coincidence?! Du Chen froze, hastily urging the Green Cloud to retreat. Only after putting fifty to sixty meters between them did he let out a sigh of relief!

Andy, too, seeing the scene inside the cave, couldn't help but gasp, drooling. "I, Chris Andy, have dreams, I have an appetite... How long would it take Andy to eat such a massive egg?"

In the center of the vast clearing stood a gigantic egg-shaped object, fiery red all over, with a smooth, round shell. In Andy's way of thinking, this thing was merely a red-skinned egg magnified hundreds of times—surely fragrant and incredibly delicious! But in Du Chen's eyes, this object stood seven or eight meters tall with a diameter of several meters... Wasn't this the very fire-elemental beast that Dus described before he was pulverized to dust?!

Could this egg be the fire-elemental ferocious beast that scorched Dus so badly it took him nearly ten days to recover?!

Du Chen's heart instantly leaped into his throat!

Although it looked like an unhatched egg, the fates of many in the Batuk Family proved it possessed autonomous attacking consciousness.

Du Chen remembered Fifth Brother's warning about the fifty-meter safety distance. He held Andy back, coughed lightly, and, gazing at the giant egg, he said with a friendly smile, "Your Excellency, we were forced to flee here in desperation, chased by Margaret..."

The giant egg gave no response.

Du Chen frowned slightly and continued, "I imagine we share a common enemy, do we not? Heh, since we both wish to deal with Margaret, why not join forces?"

The giant egg remained unresponsive!

Du Chen's brow furrowed further. He chuckled, "You see, my Divine Pet and I are both The Master-level cultivators, and my Divine Pet is even Thirteenth-rank. Surely, that's enough to aid you in your struggle against Margaret, isn't it? You..." He spoke over a dozen sentences, switching between several languages, explaining the pros and cons in meticulous detail. Yet, the giant egg seemed utterly oblivious, maintaining its placid state in the center of the clearing.

Du Chen was baffled. He scrutinized the giant egg, wondering, *Could it be that it can't speak at all?!*

"To show my sincerity, I will approach to pay my respects, and I ask Your Excellency to give me a hint!" Du Chen, summoning his courage, slowly maneuvered the Green Cloud to the front of the giant egg and spoke loudly again, but still, the giant egg gave no reaction!

*How strange! This ferocious beast has clearly killed many people, so why is it unresponsive now?*

At this moment, unlike Du Chen's thoughts, Andy was peering furtively at the giant egg, his mind undoubtedly calculating whether fried eggs or boiled eggs tasted better! He whispered, "Master, Andy can sense that this egg has a very good flavor... uh, very powerful energy! Your old friend is behind it! Andy truly can't tell if it's Brockman or Adams!"

Du Chen nodded slightly, cautiously circling around, his eyes constantly darting towards the giant egg. But upon seeing his 'old friend's' appearance, he couldn't help but smirk, feeling much more at ease.

Whether it was Brockman or Adams, he was certainly in a pitiful state. His clothes were tattered, mixed with congealed blood clots, making it almost impossible to discern their original style or color! His injuries were also peculiar: there were no fatal wounds anywhere on his body, but the blood within him seemed to have been subjected to immense pressure, seeping out of every pore. He looked entirely like a crimson blood-man!

Due to massive blood loss, he was unconscious and near death. Yet, his unconscious posture was incredibly bizarre—lying face down, his two hands strenuously pointing towards the giant egg, as if even in death he was saying, *I, I will catch you...*

Du Chen stared at the unconscious man, rubbed his nose, and sneered inwardly. If this was Brockman, then he wouldn't hold back; Old Man Foye's great vengeance would begin with him! If it was Adams... he was an enemy too. When the Merfolk attacked Durkes City back then, Adams wasn't the mastermind, but he was a major accomplice!

Ordinarily, distinguishing Brockman and Adams was easy: first, by their demeanor—one was elegant, the other violent; second, by their scent—Adams had a very strong smell of blood. But today, neither method was viable! The 'old friend' was covered in blood and unconscious, so his scent was certainly overwhelmingly bloody, and where would an unconscious person get a demeanor from anyway?

But Du Chen had one more way to confirm his identity. He grabbed the 'old friend's' hand and glanced at it. "It's Adams!"

There was definitely a difference between a thief's hand and a brigand's hand, a detail Du Chen would never mistake!

*Why is the giant egg unresponsive? Why is Adams here?* Du Chen was utterly perplexed. Before he could ponder it further, his heart suddenly thumped. "Oh no, Margaret is after the fire-elemental beast, and that Old Hags possesses boundless divine powers—Ghost Map, Heavenly Eye... countless Secret Technique. She might arrive any moment. If I've just escaped the tiger's maw, I might immediately be cornered by Margaret again... I must leave quickly!"

Thinking this, Du Chen glanced at the giant egg again. "Your Excellency, Margaret will soon be here. If you don't mind, I can take you and Adams away from here to take refuge?"

He waited for a moment, receiving no response. Du Chen flew a distance away, then used the Precious Lotus Scripture to collect the giant egg and Adams before flying off.

This time, Du Chen flew even further, for over an hour before stopping. Throughout the journey, the giant egg remained docile within the Precious Lotus Scripture, unmoving. Du Chen didn't dare to act rashly with it, but instead began treating Adams with the Water Veil Shield. *Since the ferocious beast won't speak, I'll pry open Adams's mouth first!*

Slowly, Adams opened his eyes within the Precious Lotus Scripture, then his body suddenly trembled. He looked around frantically. Upon seeing the giant egg also present, he seemed to shed a thousand-pound burden, and only then did his gaze return to Du Chen.

"Fr-Francis!?"

Seeing who had saved him, Adams was greatly startled. Then, disregarding his injuries, he flipped over and bowed deeply, "Your Excellency Francis, I, I finally see you again!" He began sobbing uncontrollably, as if he had met a long-lost family member!

Du Chen was taken aback. Strictly speaking, he and Adams were enemies, so why was Adams so familiar with him?

Adams crawled forward, grabbing Du Chen's arm. "Your Excellency, you, you must bear witness for me!"

"Bear witness? Witness what?"

Adams swallowed hard, resentfully saying, "Now the whole damned world suspects I harmed Third Master Constantine! The eight Family Head of Thornwood Valley have jointly issued a kill order, and the entire world is hunting me down! I, I am innocent!"

He then saw Andy, his eyes lighting up. He bowed deeply twice, knocking his head against the ground, and urgently said, "Young Master, you witnessed what happened in the Great Wilderness that day! I, I truly did not harm Third Master! You must believe me!"

Du Chen and Andy exchanged glances. Only now did they recall that incident from who-knew-how-long-ago...

That day, when Constantine acknowledged his family, Liana had cunningly captured the Rebellious Dragon. However, to make the act convincing, Liana had incidentally, and subtly, implicated Adams, blaming everything on him...

*Wait a minute!* Du Chen rubbed his nose, his eyes glinting. He thought, *Only a few people knew Constantine was sent to the Papal Curia after his capture. And after Julie annihilated the Shadow Legion and rescued Constantine, the fact that the Rebellious Dragon became Eighteenth of the Scarlet Army is known only to myself and those from the City of Penance. Constantine should still be trapped in the City of Penance... This means that Constantine's last impression on the outside world is that he was 'betrayed' by Adams in the Great Wilderness and then disappeared!*

*So, in Adams's eyes, I am still that benevolent figure, utterly respectful and reasonable towards Constantine. And Andy... is still the Young Master he dare not disobey!*

*In other words, in front of the straightforward Adams, I, Francis, am a truly good person!*

*Feigning benevolence to extract information was far superior to torture, wasn't it?*

With this thought, the slightly indifferent expression on Du Chen's face vanished. He quickly helped Adams up, anxiously saying, "Quick, get up, Adams, you're still injured. Don't hurt yourself further!" He subtly winked at Andy.

The Snow Wolf immediately stepped forward, showing concern. "Adams, don't worry! I figured it out afterwards—no, Master thoroughly analyzed the situation for me afterwards. Master said that a loyal Adams couldn't possibly harm Third Master, nor did he have any reason to frame him!"

"You, you believe me?" Adams's eyes reddened. It wasn't that he was naturally sentimental or easily fooled; rather, for years he had borne an unjust accusation, enduring unimaginable hardships. Now, finally, someone believed him, and that someone was Young Master Andy... The excitement in his heart was inexpressible!

Adams choked back tears, unable to speak.

At this moment, Andy, feigning concern for Adams, subtly reminded him, "Ah, why are you so severely injured?! Thankfully, thankfully my Master saved your life, otherwise..."

Adams suddenly started, "Your Excellency Francis, thank you for saving my life!" Saying this, he straightforwardly bowed deeply several times, knocking his head. "A great kindness needs no words of thanks. Third Master saved my life back then, and today you've given Adams a new life. From now on, my life belongs to you and Third Master!"

Du Chen rubbed his nose. For some reason, he suddenly remembered the First Human-Demon War, when Brockman, riddled with dozens of short swords and over a hundred wounds, desperately carried Philip to escape...

Adams seemed to remember something and urgently asked, "Benefactor, Young Master, why are you in the Labyrinth of Life? Have you also gotten lost?" He then noticed the blood on Andy's two forepaws and roared fiercely, "Young Master, who dared to injure you?!"

Du Chen gave a bitter smile. "Don't ask. I've offended Margaret, and now she's hunting me... But tell me about yourself first. How did you end up here? And..." He pointed to the giant egg on the Precious Lotus Scripture, which was still unresponsive, "...why are you with this Aberrant Beast?"

Andy also looked distressed. "I was cut by Margaret's sword..."

Adams didn't answer Du Chen's question. Instead, he stared intently at Andy's wound, becoming enraged. "Where is Margaret? Young Master, I will go and eliminate her for you right now!!!"

Du Chen inwardly curled his lips, thinking, *Truly, ignorance breeds a reckless courage!*

Andy also grumbled, "I have a dream... I hope Adams understands who Margaret is, and what her power entails?"

"Young Master, why wouldn't I know who Margaret is?" Seeing that the Young Master didn't believe him, Adams urgently said, "Isn't she just the Water's Embrace Divine Maiden, Marshal of the Skylands, a Fourteenth-rank Battle God?!"

"Ah?!"

*You know all that, and you still dare to threaten to eliminate Margaret?!*

Adams suddenly stood up and fiercely slapped the giant egg beside him. "Margaret may be strong, but with *this* in my possession, even if the Divine Emperor were to revive, I would fear nothing! To dare injure my Young Master... Hmph! Benefactor, tell me Margaret's location, and Adams will stake his life to eliminate her for you!"