Only I Am A Reader

With the extermination of the final wave of monsters, the Martial Artists belonging to different forces found themselves in an awkward situation. Right next to them were people that they originally fought over resources and rights, but…

Was it worth it fighting them in this situation where every organization desired and deserved a period of slow recovery? Were they not too tired to engage in another fight?

At the same time, doesn't giving up put them in a more vulnerable position? What if the other side didn't choose to give up just like them?

After engaging in a battle between temptation and reasonability, all forces commenced an awkward retreat where each side went their own ways…

While it was far from the ideal situation of going back as one, working things out together so that an outside threat could never be that lethal against actual unity and not the current fake hypocrisy was too much of a fantasy even in a fantasy world.

With the disappearance of the largest threat around, the greed and desire that had been repressed by humanity's survival mechanisms were slowly starting to get back in control. At this point, it was already good enough that they considered the deterrent force that would make this an absolute loss regardless of who would win in the end.

"Let's go back."

Even Zhuge Gun who had been guiding the united front so well could barely say anything as he left with the few loyalists that he had left. In reality, the existence of the Murim Alliance was nothing but a joke. Only something as scary as extinction could momentarily put the people together.

Being the ones who had incurred the least losses, the Heavenly Strength Society made any infighting look silly. The battle of the century was won, but the casualties weren't as light as victory made them seem to be.

The world that witnessed the fearsome hidden strength of the organization that they thought to have become nothing but history might have banded together to crush that potential threat three days ago. However, now they were in this miserable state, every force was too busy worrying about itself.

All they could do was hope that the Society wouldn't reignite their desire for world domination while they were trying to recover and nurture new soldiers…

Sadly, the threat of the Heavenly Strength Society turned out to be the last thing that they needed to be concerned about.

"What do you mean someone broke into the treasury?!"

At the end of their awkward retreat, the Sect Masters and Family Heads that led out their forces to fight the monsters were all met with a very tragic greeting!

The treasuries that had already become half-empty had been looted during their return back to their bases! Decades of hoarding, stealing, and labored mining had disappeared just like that!

It was obvious that no one could truly empty everything that had worth in their coffers without them nothing. However, it was a different story if they just made off with the truly precious objects among the bunch of other resources that paled in comparison…

The ones who slipped in and out knew precisely how to pick the highest value that they could carry out just like how they knew the lefts and rights that they needed to go out without being noticed.

"Really? Out of all times, it had to be now?!"

The situation was quite severe, but it was nothing that a sect or a family possessing centuries of history couldn't deal with. Nonetheless, in their current state, this little turbulence that they could usually handle was like shooting their already wounded heart!

These precious resources were none other than the seeds that would have nurtured a replacement for the casualties and allowed them to be prepared for emergencies within one or two years at max. However, now?

This was a kick that had practically set their recovery back by at least six or five years!

"Figure out who was behind this!"

Although those responsible could clearly understand that this was intentionally timed with their absence, and lack of forces, they couldn't help being surprised about how this was all tied together.

After some investigations, a few threads quickly popped up, even the distraction by news of their victory appeared to have been planned all along. Someone had actually accelerated the relay of the reports… It was as if they already had faith that humanity would be the absolute winner at the very end!

Nothing seemed to make sense at this point. The knowledge to pick, the stealth to sneak in and leave, and finally the brains to put this all together... Anyone clever enough could tell that all the fingers were pointing at the mysterious Heavenly Strength Society.

Everyone was a suspect, but each force knew that their commonplace enemies didn't have what it takes to do something like this. The only ones they knew that had the qualification to do something similar was the Society. In fact, it hadn't been more than a few weeks since they had displayed that very ability to do so…

"Is it really them?"

Perhaps it was just then that they had realized how much they suspected them, but the glove fit too well to the point it didn't feel convincing anymore.

Every time they had suspicions towards the Society starting from pinning the monsters' existence on them and calling them demon worshippers all till a few hours before the commencement of the final wave had been proven wrong.

Most importantly, they didn't choose to eradicate them after they finished eradicating the monsters even though it looked like they had the complete ability to. If their purpose was truly to swallow their forces and riches, that would have been the strongest move that they could have made!

The different leaders found themselves running around themselves that they eventually decided to come together to figure this out. Unbeknownst to them, however, the Heavenly Strength Society had their own trouble to deal with while the rest of the world was at a loss…