Chapter 3271
This was a place that did not exist on the lower floor.
Philip also saw many different places but as he did not know what those were for, he did not enter.
Panther was afraid of any accidents. After all, what happened just now was scary enough so he did not want more trouble.
With that thought in mind, Panther stepped in front of Philip. He faced the hotel front desk and showed the information displayed on his communicator.
He said, “Give me a rest cabin.”
Although this place was called a hotel, the room was called a rest cabin.
Philip only realized that when Panther mentioned it.
With Panther’s identification, they successfully checked into the rest cabin of the hotel. Although beds were also available here, most were places to replenish energy for armor or weapons.
There were many devices operated by voice or a virtual panel. This hi-tech atmosphere was not seen in the ancestral land.
Philip also discovered at this time that some traces of the missing civilization portion of the ancestral land could be seen here. The two of them took a break and Panther could not help his curiosity.
He asked Philip, “When did you come to the middle floor?”
Philip glanced at him and said lightly, “Why don‘t you answer my question first? Is the identity on your communicator fake?”
Philip’s question was pretty direct.
He wanted to know how to obtain such an identity. If it was forged, he wanted to get one too. After all, he could then freely enter and exit the middle floor or upper floor.
However, Panther snickered and said, “Of course, it’s not fake. This is a special pass.”
Philip was startled. He had never heard of this thing. However, he could not be blamed either, because since he came here, the only people he came into contact with were Leopard, Iris, and Emily.
Cougar could also be considered as one.
Philip did not find out anything special from them at all, much less see anything special.
“How can I get a special pass then?” Philip was very curious about this now.
Panther looked at him and teased, “You can even kill Mr. Cusack. Don’t you know how to get a special pass?”
Philip shook his head firmly.
Panther sighed and said, “Well then, let me bring you for a combat level evaluation tomorrow. If you can reach level A+ and above, you can get a special pass.”
‘A combat level evaluation?’ Philip was taken aback.
It was his first time hearing this. Based on Panther’s simple explanation, it should not be too complicated.
With that thought in mind, Philip got ready to see if he could take down the combat level evaluation tomorrow. However, he had no idea what this evaluation involved.
Panther did not tell him either that this combat level evaluation required him to enter a special place.
Chapter 3272
Before they fell asleep, there was a knock on the rest cabin door. The knock sounded unhurried and courteous.
Panther immediately stood on alert. Although he entered the middle floor normally, Philip did not, so he could be regarded as a smuggled immigrant.
Philip also sat upright. Although he did not know who the visitor was, it should be related to the previous incident. After all, looking at Panther’s expression, it was obviously not someone he knew.
Philip was all the more unknown on the middle floor so this result was easy to judge. However, they were now stuck in this rest cabin, almost impossible to up and leave.
Philip said to Panther, “Open the door. I think they’re here for the incident earlier.”
Panther stared at Philip grimly without speaking. However, he knew how troublesome this matter was. If Philip’s identity was found out, he would be implicated too.
“If I didn’t speak later, don’t say a word either. Don’t let the cat out of the bag.”
Panther glanced at Philip worriedly before he got up, walked over, and opened the rest cabin door.
Several people stood outside the door wearing simple armor of the same style, obviously belonging to the same place.
Seeing the door open, they asked Panther very respectfully, “May I know if the person who took care of Mr. Cusack is staying here?”
They asked without beating around the bush.
Panther frowned. He had prepared many excuses and had even thought of how to explain Philip’s background. He never expected that these people would directly ask him if the person who took care of Mr. Cusack was here.
It was simply beyond his expectation.
He could not help but glance back at Philip and nod subconsciously. This unconscious action also answered those people’s question.
Philip got up and approached them. Those people smiled when they saw Philip.
“Hello, we’re from the Draco Corps, and we would like to ask you to come with us and tell us about the Square Cage in detail. Is it convenient for you now?”
These people from the Draco Corps spoke very politely, which Philip did not expect. Moreover, they were completely different from the guards before.
The guards just now were so arrogant and domineering, but these people were really polite by contrast.
This was the rule of this world. The tougher the fist, the more respect one would earn. However, just as Philip was about to speak, he found Panther winking at him.
The words almost left Panther’s mouth, telling Philip not to go with them.
Nonetheless, they were stuck between a rock and a hard place, so Panther said, “Can we do this? We’re a little tired today. Can we go to the Draco Corps tomorrow instead?”
Panther was anxious and interrupted.
The guards looked at him.
One of the Draco Corps narrowed his eyes at Panther and said, “It seems that this gentleman is inconvenient.”
Seeing that Panther had made a blunder, Philip snorted coldly, “Whatever. Since you want me to go, let’s go, but don’t waste too much of my time.”
After Philip finished speaking, he walked out first.
Chapter 3273
This was the only way out. Panther’s delay tactic was a failure, so Philip had to take the initiative.
Joy spread over the faces of the Draco Corps, and they followed Philip out. Panther followed them out of the rest cabin anxiously too.
Panther walked next to Philip and was about to say something when Philip stopped Panther with his eyes. They already made a blunder, anything they said would only arouse more suspicions. So Philip stopped Panther from talking.
Soon, they followed people of the Draco Corps and came to a place similar to a technological fortress.
From a distance, they saw a golden dragon soaring into the sky. However, it was not a golden dragon but a customized light effect, presumably the logo of the Draco Corps.
After following them through a long corridor, Philip finally saw the main lead.
The captain of the Draco Corps.
He was sitting upright on a chair, his face dark without any expression.
Seeing Philip and Panther walking in, he just glanced at them indifferently. His eyes were full of oppression, which made Panther pause visibly.
However Philip was unaffected. He looked at ease.
Seeing this scene, the captain of the Draco Corps immediately looked at Philip curiously. But, the sense of oppression in this glance was much stronger than the last.
Philip suddenly had a feeling that the captain’s strength should be at the peak of six stars, and he also had the aura of a kingship holder, which was equivalent to a king in the sixth zone in his original world.
At the same level, a kingship holder was invincible. However, Philip’s strength was eight stars in this world, a half-step to the other shore, so that glance did not affect Philip in any way.
On the contrary, Philip met his glance and his aura surged, immediately dispelling the captain’s pressure.
The captain suddenly stood up and said with a laugh, “Very well, as expected of the person who can deal with Mr. Cusack. You have a few tricks indeed.”
Panther did not know what happened at all but glanced at Philip blankly.
Philip ignored him.
He asked the captain coldly, “Why did you bring me here?”
The members of the Draco Corps said to Philip, “Although you took care of Mr. Cusack, you have to respect our captain. After all, this is our territory.”
They were not very polite when saying this. After all, Philip’s tone was not friendly.
Philip abruptly looked back at them and said, “I’m talking to your head captain. Who are you to interrupt?”
Philip’s tone was not only unfriendly but also filled with sternness in his words and expression.
Some people were like this, acting tough against a timid opponent, and acting weak against a tough opponent. Obviously, these people from the Draco Corps were like this, so there was no need to show mercy.
Chapter 3274
“That’s enough. He’s our invited guest after all, so don’t worry about such red tapes.”
The captain of the Draco Corps attracted Philip’s attention. He was around after all, so he would never allow someone to bully his team members in front of him.
He simply chose a more tactful way to resolve it.
Philip knew that this was their territory, so he could not carry things too far, only to remind them. The intimidation just now was enough.
Panther was shocked. He had heard some things about the Draco Corps. They were the core guards in charge of the whole middle floor, maintaining safety here.
Although a little lacking compared to some big families or big forces on the middle floor, their strength should not be underestimated. Especially their head captain, he could be considered invincible among the six-star powerhouses of the same level.
Coupled with his strong attributes, Panther heard that he had even defeated a seven-star powerhouse before.
“Head captain, let’s get straight to the point. Why am I here?”
The head captain chuckled and said, “It’s nothing special. I just want you to identify these people.”
The head captain waved his hand, and someone brought several people over.
They had chains strapped on their bodies and combination locks with bombs on their hands and feet.
“We captured these people from the Square Cage. They should be Mr. Cusack’s confidantes. Do you know them?” the head captain asked aloud.
When those few people saw Philip, they shouted before he could speak, “It’s all because of you! Otherwise, we wouldn’t be in this state. Philip Clarke, you’d better pray that you won’t meet us again, or we won’t let you off!”
Philip did not speak. It was not for him to identify these criminals at all, but the other way around. He immediately understood the head captain’s intention.
This was clearly to confirm the fact that Philip had killed Mr. Cusack, but Philip had no idea what his purpose was.
Panther stood beside Philip quietly but his heart was in turmoil. Thinking of his earlier disrespect to Philip, he felt a little uneasy.
It never occurred to him that Philip could beat Mr. Cusack and even kill him.
How strong could Philip be exactly?
He did not know that Philip had entered the Square Cage back then. Not only did he kill Mr. Cusack, but he also took down countless of his subordinates, killing Mr. Cusack under siege.
Panther swore that after this, he would never show any disrespect to Philip again.
The head captain said, “So it’s true that Mr. Philip killed Mr. Cusack…”
Philip glanced at the head captain coldly and said mildly, “If that’s the reason you asked me here, I think we can leave now.”
He knew that the head captain would not get him here just to confirm whether he killed Mr. Cusack.
Philip turned to leave.
Chapter 3275
“Wait a minute!” the head captain exclaimed.
“For a lower floor person like you to come to the middle floor, anyone here has the right to kill you on the spot…”
Philip stood still and turned his head back abruptly.
Sure enough, the head captain already knew about it, but after careful thought, since they were able to catch these people, and Mr. Cusack knew Philip’s identity at that time, it was easy to find out about it during interrogation.
“Then let’s stop wasting time and just tell me what you want,” Philip said lightly.
Philip was ready to fight. The captain of the Draco Corps signaled with his eyes and his team members got ready to fight too.
“Okay, since you’re so forthright, I won’t beat around the bush anymore. As long as you hand over the item belonging to Mr. Cusack, not only will I let you go, but I can also take you for the combat evaluation.”
Philip frowned upon hearing that. He had no idea what Mr. Cusack had. After killing him, Philip passed out.
Under normal circumstances, this situation should not happen with Philip’s strength.
However, maybe it was due to some differences in the attributes of the Starfall Continent and the ancestral land that resulted in this. Thus, he did not know what he got after killing Mr. Cusack. He did not even know if Mr. Cusack possessed something.
Philip was silent as if he did not know anything about this matter.
Seeing this, the head captain of the Draco Corps shouted sternly, “Young man, think over it carefully. If you don’t hand over that thing, I won’t let you walk out of here at all.”
He was confident in himself and the Draco Corps. In his territory, even Mr. Cusack would find it impossible to escape.
Hearing that, Panther with an ashen face asked Philip in a low voice, “What did you take from them? Hurry up and give it to them. Don’t invite more trouble.”
Philip just glanced at Panther coldly.
He thought at first that Panther was a man with a strong backbone. However, he turned out to be so unpromising.
Philip narrowed his eyes at the captain and asked, “To be honest, I have no clue what you’re talking about. Can you tell me what you’re looking for?”
Hearing Philip’s question, the captain snorted coldly, “Stop playing dumb. Isn’t the key to the Square Cage in your hand?”
‘A key?’ Hearing what the captain said, Philip was even more puzzled.
He never laid eyes on a key at all. If he did see one, he would at least have some impression.
The head captain was ready to attack Philip at this point.
“Philip, since you prefer the hard way out, don’t blame me for doing this!”
With that said, his men charged at Philip. The head captain also glowed with a pale golden light.
Chapter 3276
Philip was not to be outdone.
Red flame elements erupted from his body, and the temperature was scorching hot. Even Panther dodged unconsciously beside Philip.
Panther had heard of Philip’s domineering strength, including the fact that he killed Mr. Cusack, but he never witnessed it. Seeing this today made him flustered.
Everyone in the Draco Corps surrounded Philip at this time. Although they were nowhere as strong as the head captain, they could still pose some obstacles to Philip.
The head captain glowed with six rays of light, and combined with the pale golden light, he seemed like a god.
“I’ll give you another chance. Hand over the key and I’ll spare your life!”
However, Philip simply threw a punch without another glance at him.
“Cut the crap and fight if you want!”
Things had gone south by now, so fighting was inevitable. In that case, he should take the first strike. After all, time waited for no one. Besides, Philip was much stronger than the head captain.
Seeing this, the head captain bellowed and charged at Philip.
As for the punch that Philip threw just now, it was blocked by the golden light on his body. The golden light vaguely formed a dragon shape, seemingly roaring in silence!
The huge dragon’s mouth opened and closed as if wanting to devour Philip!
In a flash, the two exchanged dozens of blows, and the colliding fists made muffled noises. The air current swept everyone out.
They were simply not strong enough to be involved in this fight, and even the air current created by the two of them consumed the energy in their armor rapidly. If they did not move away, they would end up no better than the armor.
The members of the Draco Corps felt sore about this and took out ion cannons. These weapons were targeted at people five stars and above. However, they could not keep up with their speed and could hardly aim at Philip.
Panther took advantage of this opportunity to hide. He had a special ability too, but it was useless in a fight of this level. He was now blended with the surrounding environment, making it impossible for others to find him.
For safety’s sake, he was also far away from the fight zone.
The fight was still going on, and the head captain’s defense was extremely strong because of the golden light on his body. However, as Philip was stronger than him in reality, he got more aggressive as the fight went on.
Every attack made the golden light on the head captain waver slightly. It seemed that even the light could not resist Philip’s fire element attack.
The two clashed again and the head captain exerted his full strength. The golden light on his body faded, and a dragon formed on his arm.
It was a golden dragon.
This punch was called Soaring Dragon!
Philip was not to be outdone either. His hand turned into a chimera claw and clashed with the captain’s attack.
There was a loud bang, followed by silence.
The captain slumped on the floor. He knew he was defeated thoroughly. Even though he used the strongest attack he had, it did not cause any harm to Philip.
Chapter 3277
Philip stood there in good shape. Except for some ripped clothes on his arm, he was not injured at all.
At this time, the head captain saw the golden mark of White Marsh on Philip’s arm. He immediately turned pale with shock.
Philip was unconcerned as he glanced at the head captain and said coldly, “I’ve already told you that I didn’t see that thing you mentioned. If you insist on bothering me, I won’t show any mercy.”
After saying this, Philip was about to leave, and Panther came out of hiding too. However, seeing Philip now, he looked a little timid. He dared not even speak loudly to Philip.
Seeing the two of them leaving, the members of the Draco Corps crowded around the captain.
“Head Captain, are you alright?”
The head captain shook his head and stood up, his expression a little weird.
He kept muttering to himself, “It can’t be… The members of the nine royal families should be on the upper floor. Besides, their territories have been clearly defined by the top. And among the nine royal families, the White Marsh is the most mysterious, so how could their symbol appear here?”
When the members of the Draco Corps heard the head captain’s mumbling, they asked, “Boss, what are you talking about? What royal family?”
Hearing that question, the head captain simply shook his head.
He struggled to get up and said, “Go and check when the passage to the upper floor will open.”
He had another plan in mind. This was the territory of the ancient dragon royal family. Now that a member of the White Marsh royal family had infiltrated inside, he had to report this matter no matter what.
No matter what the final outcome was, he would be rewarded.
“Boss, I’m done checking. The passage to the upper floor will be opened in a day and a half.”
Hearing that, the head captain returned to his room and projected his communicator onto the virtual screen.
After turning on the virtual screen, he was ready to report the matter to the people at the top.
At this time, one of his confidantes asked, “Boss, did you discover something?”
The head captain narrowed his eyes and said with a chuckle, “Of course. Let me take this opportunity to tell you about the upper floor.”
Then, he told his subordinate all about the nine royal families on the upper floor.
The nine royal families were the ancient dragon, the fire phoenix, the chimera, the black turtle, White Marsh, the green ox, the flying snake, the white tiger, and Beelzebub.
They were the supreme rulers of this world. They divided the space on the upper floor into nine areas, and each royal family controlled one area.
Their current location belonged to the ancient dragon.
“If the people above find out that someone from the White Marsh royal family has infiltrated the ancient dragon’s territory, what do you think they’ll do?”
A smile appeared on his face. He could already see himself entering the upper floor.
This was the best reward for him. For this, even being beaten up by Philip was worth it.
Chapter 3278
Philip did not care about his fight with the head captain at all. After all, this was the middle floor, and he had not seen the real strength and powerhouses of this world yet.
Philip and Panther quickly returned to their rest cabin.
Philip believed that after a fight with the captain of the Draco Corps, no one would dare to mess with him again.
Panther hesitated to speak. Philip ignored him. Panther had been this way ever since they returned.
Panther always had this lukewarm attitude since Philip first met him, but at that time, he was under the impression that Cougar had sent Philip to the middle floor to learn from him. However, looking at it now, that was not the case at all because Philip was even stronger than Cougar. Thus the change in his attitude.
Philip suddenly asked, “Do you know anything about the key in Mr. Cusack’s hand?”
Philip wanted to take this opportunity to find out from Panther if Cougar had taken the key. However, Panther shook his head resolutely.
“Although I’ve heard about the middle floor and Mr. Cusack, I don’t know about any key.”
Philip stared at Panther while he was talking, trying to read something from his expression. However, he was clearly not lying.
Philip nodded and sat cross-legged on the bed.
“Can I ask what level of strength you are?” Panther finally asked the question he most wanted to ask.
As a lower-floor citizen, although Panther had seen people from the middle floor and upper floor, he had never seen their battles, so he had no idea what a fight would look like when their strength exceeded seven stars.
When he saw Philip now, although he was a little apprehensive, there was a faint hint of excitement too. After all, Philip defeated the head captain of the Draco Corps without a scratch.
How could Panther not be curious about such a powerful being?
However, Philip ignored him and kept his eyes closed.
If he did not know Philip’s background, Panther would definitely think that Philip was too pretentious, but now, he only took for granted Philip’s superior demeanor.
Before he knew it, Panther fell asleep.
After a while through the night, he was woken up by Philip.
When he opened his sleepy eyes, he saw Philip standing beside him.
Philip asked, “That combat level evaluation you mentioned earlier, where is it held?”
Panther still seemed a little sleepy, but he stood up anyway.
“Are you sure you want to go for the evaluation now?”
Due to yesterday’s incident, Panther was afraid of inviting trouble if they caused another commotion again. However, Philip’s thinking was very simple.
If he passed the evaluation, he would get a special pass, so his identity would not matter anymore. Thus, Philip made his request to Panther.
Panther did not even have time to put on his armor and left it in the rest cabin instead.
Chapter 3279
“I’m a little hungry now. Can you let me eat first?” Panther complained on the way.
He could not compare with Philip.
Philip did not really need food to replenish his energy. After all, the elements absorbed during practice were sometimes far stronger than solid food. Of course, some special treasures were another matter, but Panther could not do that.
Philip said lightly, “When my combat evaluation is over, we’ll eat our fill!”
Philip did not want to rely on anyone else anymore. After all, not everyone was sincere about helping him.
It was just like Cougar back then. Although Philip should not have doubted him, what the head captain of the Draco Corps said still rang in his ears.
Who got hold of Mr. Cusack’s key?
If not for this incident, Cougar would still be a good person in Philip’s mind. However, he had passed out at that time, and the words of the head captain of the Draco Corps were pretty convincing.
Before that, Philip also tried to find out from Panther the function of the key.
It was rumored that Mr. Cusack had a secret room, which contained all the wealth he had accumulated in his lifetime, including some treasures. If this key really existed and Cougar kept it from Philip, things would be intriguing.
Soon, the two arrived at a place.
It was not as grand as the building of the Draco Corps but looked quite antiquated and classy.
Panther pointed to this place and said softly, “This is the Combat Evaluation Guild. Just go in and sign up!”
He was already weak from hunger.
Looking at the crowd of people before him, Philip frowned. He did not expect to see so many people here.
Why were there so many people evaluating their combat levels?
Seeing Philip’s expression, Panther explained, “This process is to let people enter a virtual battlefield to evaluate their level of strength, which can also determine the level of the special pass. The higher the level, the more authority you have.”
After a pause, Panther added, “But this is the only place doing the evaluation, so it’s always crowded.”
“Why don’t you line up first? I’ll go and eat something,” Panther ended his explanation to avoid more questions from Philip, he wanted to fill his stomach.
Since Philip did not need Panther to line up with him, Philip let him to leave.
Seeing the crowd in front of him, Philip sighed, “How long do I need to line up?”
However, at this moment, a group of people escorting one person approached. When everyone saw this scene, they quickly moved away, not even caring about the queue.
The man who was escorted did not look too old. He looked to be about 20 years old. He had a proud expression on his face and his nose was up in the air.
The people around him kept flattering him. “Young Master, come this way. Don’t get too close to these lowly citizens.”
As soon as these words were spoken, they got closer to Philip.
A person next to the young master raised his foot and was about to kick Philip. “Mongrel, you’re about to block our young master’s way! Are you blind?!”
Chapter 3280
This kick did not land on Philip’s body, and Philip would never allow that to happen either.
With a frown, Philip looked back at the other party before ignoring him.
If he chose to deal with such people, he would be too busy to deal with other things. Nonetheless, Philip still got out of the way to avoid any trouble.
Seeing this scene, the man immediately snorted coldly at Philip and said, “Ignorant mongrel, hurry up and get out of the way. If you delay our young master’s combat evaluation, you’ll pay for it!”
Ignoring his yelling, Philip walked to the front as everyone had moved out of the way.
The people of the middle floor would give way to this so-called young master but not Philip.
Seeing his action, everyone was taken aback. They did not expect Philip to be so bold. This was clearly playing with fire.
The young master immediately ordered the people around him, “Pull him back. A lowly citizen like him isn’t worthy of standing in my way!”
His tone was pretty hostile. He simply could not hear someone else stealing his limelight, especially when he saw Philip’s clothes that were not grand. He did not even have any decent armor. That made him arrogant.
Hearing the young master’s order, those people charged at Philip.
Philip merely turned around and gave them a cold look.
Although a look by someone ordinary was not scary, the result was different from someone with an aura equivalent to an eight-star powerhouse.
However, this aura disappeared in an instant. Philip just wanted to deter them, so he did not use his aura to suppress them too much. Unfortunately, these people were too weak, so they did not understand what made them pause just now.
They watched helplessly as Philip walked inside, and the young master was furious at this sight.
“Hey, go after him! Let’s see who he is exactly!”
He said sternly, and his subordinates rushed into the Combat Evaluation Guild. However, to their surprise, the guild was also crowded inside, and they saw no signs of Philip at all.
The young master looked around and said angrily, “Count that brat lucky. Don’t let me see him again!”
Although this young master was domineering, he dared not be too arrogant in this guild.
“Young Master, should we look for Third Uncle? It’s too easy for that kid if we just let him go like that,” A crony next to the young master said.
“Forget it. We need to focus on business. Besides, this isn’t a place we can mess around.”
The Combat Evaluation Guild was a semi-official place that was established by the people on the upper floor in cooperation with the Whittle family to select talented people with excellent combat skills.
The power of the Whittle family was even stronger than Mr. Cusack on the middle floor. This young master came from a side branch of the Whittle family, so he did not have the guts or ability to cause any trouble here.
With that thought in mind, he left with his people.
The combat level evaluation required a preliminary certification. Just like the test tower on the lower floor, they had to test the level of strength to determine if there were any innate elements.