Zhou Huai's words were not merely an excuse cooked up on the spot to refuse Zhao Qingcang.

He truly believed this, and this speculation was by no means groundless.

"Marshal, Elder Chen." Zhou Huai stepped forward, his gaze piercing as he looked around at everyone. "In fact, before this, I obtained an extremely crucial piece of intelligence that happens to confirm my suspicion."

"What intelligence?" Zhao Qingcang assumed an attentive expression.

He was completely convinced by Zhou Huai now.

Without him, he wouldn't even have had the chance to be resurrected.

Zhou Huai said in a deep voice, "Back on the battlefield of Tokyo City, before I killed the Sword Saint of Sakura Country, Wada Hirayama, he revealed a very important piece of intelligence to me before he died."

"He told me that after the exploration of the Caslantis Archipelago ruins ended back then, the one who truly killed Principal Lin Zhu wasn't him. Instead, it was a mysterious person named Mr. Duan from the Dawnbreaker Guild!"

When these words were spoken, a dead silence fell over the surroundings.

Chen Huaishu and Wei Liao widened their eyes in shock.

Zhao Qingcang turned his head and cast a seeking look toward Lin Zhu for verification.

Lin Zhu knitted her dark brows, recalling her memories prior to her death.

A moment later, she spoke with lingering fear, "Zhou Huai is right."

"Back then, I indeed did not die at the hands of Wada Hirayama."

"Instead, while carrying the Pendulum of Life and escaping the pursuit of Wada Hirayama and the Kimchi Country experts, I encountered a powerful force."

Though Lin Zhu's voice was calm, anyone could hear the underlying tremor in her tone. "The opponent's strength was far superior to mine. I didn't even... get to see what he looked like before I completely lost consciousness and died by his hand."

Who was Lin Zhu?

She was the former Vice Principal of Great Xia's highest institution of higher learning, a top SS-Rank Expert!

How terrifyingly powerful must someone be to leave her with no room to fight back, instantly killing her before she could even see the enemy's face?

"If the mysterious person who killed Principal Lin in an instant back then was indeed Mr. Duan from the Dawnbreaker Guild..."

"Then his class rank must be at least SSS-Rank or higher!"

At this moment, everyone's heart sank.

Another SSS-Rank?

All along, a fixed consensus had formed among the high-level officials of nations worldwide: in this world, apart from that supreme, terrifying existence in the Freedom Federation known as the 'True God on Earth', there was no second SSS-Rank at all!

Yet now, right under the nose of Great Xia, the notorious Dawnbreaker Guild hiding in the dark corners actually harbored a peerless SSS-Rank Expert?!

"The foundation of this Dawnbreaker Guild... is far deeper and more terrifying than anyone expected!" Chen Huaishu muttered to himself.

Zhao Qingcang didn't speak; he just bit his lip, his brows furrowed tightly.

He had already realized the gravity of the problem.

"What on earth does this Dawnbreaker Guild want to do?"

"They clearly used the absolute strength of that SSS-Rank Expert to snatch the Pendulum of Life from Lin Zhu. Why didn't they keep it for themselves to use? Why hand the pendulum over to Kujo Koji of Sakura Country instead?"

Facing Marshal Zhao's question, Zhou Huai quickly took over the conversation, "Marshal, this is also a question I have been pondering."

"However, after personally using the Pendulum of Life this time and experiencing the rule of devouring life energy firsthand, I finally have some clue."

Zhou Huai pointed at the pendulum, his gaze intimidating. "Just as I said earlier, this thing is a collector. That Mr. Duan needs the Pendulum of Life to obtain more life energy!"

"Think about it. If Mr. Duan hadn't given the pendulum to Kujo Koji back then, and it had instead been brought back to Great Xia by Principal Lin, what would have happened?"

Zhou Huai answered his own question in a firm tone, "If our Great Xia's high-level leaders learned about the terrifying side effect of the Pendulum of Life, they would never use it to resurrect a top expert. Instead, they would permanently seal it away."

"In that case, Mr. Duan's plan to collect life energy would be completely ruined."

Zhou Huai sneered, "That's why he stepped in personally to snatch the pendulum, and then intentionally placed this tempting Divine Artifact into Kujo Koji's hands."

"Because Kujo Koji is an inhumane lunatic with wildly inflated ambitions. To resurrect that legendary SSS-Rank ancestor of the Kujo Family, let alone hundreds of thousands, even the lives of tens of millions of ordinary people are worthless in his eyes!"

"This Mr. Duan is killing with a borrowed knife! He's using Kujo Koji's hands to help them complete this horrific, massive sacrifice!"

Hearing this, a chill ran down everyone's spines.

What a vicious plot! What terrifying endurance!

To achieve his goal, he actually treated millions of living beings of a country as disposable pawns on a chessboard!

"Moreover, I have direct evidence to corroborate this point."

Zhou Huai continued, the scene in the ancient ruins inside the Ise Grand Shrine floating in his mind. "Earlier, when Kujo Koji initiated the sacrificial ritual in Tokyo City to forcibly drain the life force of the entire city's civilians, I led my Avatars to break into the ancient ruins inside the Ise Grand Shrine."

"There, we encountered two SS-Rank Professionals from the Dawnbreaker Guild who desperately tried to stop us. They risked their lives to delay us, intending to protect Kujo Naruya's resurrection ritual from being disrupted."

"However, after Kujo Naruya was successfully resurrected, those two Dawnbreaker Guild fellows didn't stay behind to join forces with the newly awakened Kujo Naruya to besiege us. Instead, they left the ruins without hesitation!"

"This point is the best proof!"

"The Dawnbreaker Guild—or rather, that Mr. Duan—didn't care at all who Kujo Koji wanted to resurrect."

"From start to finish, what they wanted was only one thing: to ensure the sacrificial ritual ran smoothly and to acquire that unimaginably vast life energy through Kujo Koji's hands!"

The cold wind howled.

The more Chen Huaishu listened, the more numb his scalp felt, and his mind was a tangled mess. He couldn't help stepping forward and asking urgently, "But... Zhou Huai, what on earth is the purpose of the Dawnbreaker Guild—or that unfathomably powerful Mr. Duan—going to such great lengths to collect such a massive amount of life energy?!"

Everyone turned their heads at once, their eyes converging on Zhou Huai. Subconsciously, they wanted to seek a final answer from this young man who could always see through any plot.

Yet this time, looking at everyone's expectant gazes, Zhou Huai only gave a helpless, bitter laugh.

"Elder Chen, you overestimate me." Zhou Huai shook his head. "Regarding this question, I currently know very little about the Dawnbreaker Guild's true background, so I can't give a definitive answer at all."

However, he narrowed his eyes, his gaze murky and unpredictable.

"Although I have no proof, I have a feeling."

"The ultimate purpose hidden behind all this... is very likely related to those Ancient Awakened Ones who have been appearing across various places recently."