Lin Huang followed the Heaven Alliance's team and passed through the Dimensional Portal. They arrived on an island above the Peaceful Ocean, waiting patiently for the rest to come.
The monsters on the island must have been cleared by the Union Government and the Hunter Association earlier. The crowd had been standing over there for about ten minutes, but not a single monster had appeared.
When it was about 9.30 a.m, all of them had arrived.
The elder demigod then summoned the Emperor's Ship.
The Emperor's Ship was apparently much more expensive than the commercial Emperor's Ship that Lin Huang had boarded at the Victoria Harbour. He knew it just by looking at its appearance alone. A famous designer intricately decorated the patterns on the surface of the ship. However, on the surface of the commercial Emperor's Ship, only the logo of the organization was printed on it. The body of the ship was silver in color. The size of the ship was almost similar to the one for commercial use. However, its weapons had been enhanced, and the number of God Crashers was twice of those on the previous ship. Perhaps the manufacturing cost of the ship would be double or more of that of the former spaceship. If it were to be sold at an auction, its starting bid would perhaps be equivalent to 2.5 demigod relics.
Seeing the Emperor's Ship, not only Lin Huang but the rest of them were looking at it with envy.
After summoning the ship, the elder demigod felt proud of himself as he looked at everyone's expression. He grinned but soon, he maintained a neutral expression and commanded, "Quickly get up onto the ship!"
"Please keep in order." The imperial-level man in the military uniform from the Union Government appeared to keep everyone in line.
About 1,000 of them went on board, and the people sized each other up.
Lin Huang noticed that many of its components were much better than that of the commercial Emperor's Ship. They were of a different standard. The difference was like that between low-cost cars and luxury cars. The former could only be used for transportation whereas the latter was a luxury for people could show off their wealth.
After spending more than ten minutes, the people got into the ship one after another. The elder demigod then said, "We're currently more than 6,000 kilometers away from the ruins. At the cruising speed of my ship, we'll reach there in two hours. You're allowed to do anything you like in these two hours, but please don't create trouble. The first floor of the ship is open to the public. I've prepared some food and drinks for all of you. Since we're going to the ruins right after we arrive, we only serve ordinary sweet beverages which are non-alcoholic. Please bring along your trash as you leave. Otherwise, it'll be troublesome for me when I clean up."
After the instructions, the ship was activated.
"You may leave now. Gather here when we're about to get out of the ship." After Shen Tao finished his words, the Heaven Alliance members left.
The members of the rest of the organizations did their own thing. Some of them stood at the side of the ship, looking out at the scenery. There were groups of people sitting on the deck of the ship, talking to each other. Also, some of the people went to the ship's cabin to look for food.
Lin Huang walked towards the cafeteria located on the first floor as well. Although he had had his breakfast, he did not mind trying some of the excellent food there.
After taking a few steps forward, a few people blocked his way.
The leader was a man with yellow hair that resembled the bottom end of a broom. He was dressed in a green singlet and camouflage pants. He was muscular, and he was on immortal-level rank-9. Without considering his hair, he had a height of more than two meters tall. He looked like an iron pagoda.
"Hey fella, are you the Lin Xie who created a stir in the Genius Union?"
Lin Huang raised his head and took a glance at him. He then fixed his gaze on the rest of them. Other than the muscular man who was an immortal-level rank-9, the rest of them were on immortal-level rank-7 or rank-8. They did not have any apparent characteristics on their bodies. Lin Huang could only confirm that they were Genius Union members. However, he was unsure of which organization they belonged to.
"Why are you looking for me?" After sizing them up, Lin Huang asked without any facial expression. As the people had come up to him, he knew that it was not a good thing. Therefore, there was no need for him to be polite.
"You're just a blue flame…" Right when he was about to utter those words, the man in the singlet noticed the change in Lin Huang's combat strength and immediately said, "How can a purple flame-level be so arrogant? I…"
"Gu Li, the people from the Divine Alliance are shameless. How can an immortal-level rank-9 bully a newbie who's only on purple flame-level?" Somebody interrupted the man. Unexpectedly, the person was Shen Tao.
"Shen Tao, when did I bully him? I'm here to become friends with him as he's Lin Xie who ranks first on the leaderboard. I'm interested to know if he's different from the others." Gu Li, the man in the singlet, chuckled and said to Shen Tao, "However, I've seen him in person now. There's nothing special about him though. He's as weak as a chick. I won't bother to bully him."
"There's only one question that I'd like to ask you. When you were a blue flame-level, which checkpoint of the Stairway Tree were you on?" Lin Huang asked without any expression.
Their facial expressions changed right after they heard what Lin Huang asked. Nobody was willing to answer his question as it was a rhetorical smack in the face.
Lin Huang was on the 55th checkpoint when he was a blue flame-level. He had broken the record on the Stairway Tree. Regardless of how he had managed to achieve that, it remained a fact that he had broken the record.
"Let's go and have some food over there." Seeing that the rest of them were dumbstruck, Lin Huang greeted Shen Tao and walked past Gu Li and the rest.
Their faces looked gloomy, but they did not stop him.
Many people witnessed what had just happened.
To many of the people outside the Genius Union and those who had left the Genius Union, they had no idea who Lin Huang was. Seeing a purple flame-level could be intimidating to an immortal-level rank-9, so they were curious about him.
"Who's the young man in the white t-shirt?" Some of them started asking.
"He's Lin Xie, the supreme genius of the Heaven Alliance. He managed to get to the 55th checkpoint when he was a blue flame-level. He's currently ranked first on the leaderboard," one of them from the Genius Union informed.
As Gu Li from the Divine Alliance attempted to provoke him, soon, Lin Xie's name was on the lips of everyone outside the Genius Union.
Lin Huang did not know the effects brought about by the conflict. He was enjoying the delicious food at the cafeteria on the first floor of the ship.
"What you said has struck Gu Li dumb. I think it's funny, recalling his facial expression as if he was suffering from constipation." Shen Tao laughed although soon, his face turned serious. "However, Gu Li's ability is on par with mine. After entering the ruins, beware of him."
"A barking dog doesn't bite. His stopping me before we enter the ruins is a way to put on airs. He isn't going to threaten me. Since he's an immortal-level rank-9, he won't fight me as it's embarrassing." Lin Huang knew him well. "If he really were to fight me, he won't create trouble for me in public. He'll secretly kill me in the ruins so that no one will suspect him of being the murderer."
"The people from the Divine Alliance aren't dangerous, but the underworld organization is," Lin Huang frowned as he said. He could sense that the gaze of the people from the underworld organization was penetrating through his body. Their abilities were far beyond Shen Tao's. "The people from the underworld organization have no mercy. As long as they are confident that they can do it, they'll probably attack regardless of who the person is."