Jiang Ran and Gwen swaggered over from a distance. At first, the demon apostles were just a little confused, but when they saw the face clearly, they all took two steps back!

Previously, one of their three chief apostles sent them several photos, saying that these were absolute masters whose strength was no less than his own. He told everyone to be respectful when they saw these people, and to stay far away if they were not confident, and never to provoke them!

But now they've come all the way to our lair!

Finally, one of the demon apostles swallowed hard and mustered his courage to ask, "Sir... are you here to pay a visit to our Grand Apostle? What... what is going on here?"

"You could interpret it that way. What, aren't you going to invite us in for a seat?"

"Then...please come with me, gentlemen, I will immediately inform the Grand Apostle!"

In fact, their authority was far from sufficient to allow unidentified individuals to enter the headquarters. However, since the Grand Apostle had said that these two were absolutely not to be provoked, he was genuinely afraid of upsetting them and causing them to kill him in a fit of rage. The Grand Apostle would not offend them for the sake of a nobody like him!

Two people with strength comparable to the Grand Apostle—goodness, that means they must be at least near-god level! As for the other two, although the Grand Apostle didn't explicitly say so, the fact that a Demon Apostle at the level of a Demon King died at their hands suggests that their strength is definitely not low either!

"please!"

Weps finally breathed a sigh of relief and followed Jiang Ran triumphantly into the headquarters of the Demon Apostles. Gwen even put her hands on her hips and gave a haughty snort, which scared the Demon Apostles who were nearby half to death. They almost thought she was going to make a move.

So, you ask Jiang Ran if he's afraid of going so deep behind enemy lines? Why should he be afraid? There's absolutely no reason for him to be afraid!

The Demon Apostle Headquarters only has three [Near Gods], and Dejov still has four talent opportunities left unused. These three chief apostles are not important characters in the plot and are not protected by the rules, so while a bunch of minions might be troublesome for Dejov, these three are completely countered!

As for the remaining minions? Jiang Ran probably wouldn't even need to lift a finger; Gwen could take care of them all by herself. At the [Near God] level, it's already very difficult to be defeated by someone of a higher level, even if the opponent has a numerical advantage.

Unless they bring in an army of [Deceptive Kings], they might be able to kill a [Near God] head-on. However, Jiang Ran still believes that even so, the [Near God] would have no problem escaping.

Even if there are hidden experts at the Demon Apostle headquarters, Jiang Ran can simply join in the attack, or Dejov can just use his ability once more. Moreover, Jiang Ran doesn't believe that the Demon Apostle side would be foolish enough to spend such a huge price just to create an enemy for himself.

"Sir, I apologize for keeping you waiting."

Less than a minute later, three adult men entered the reception room one after another, and the one who greeted them was the chief apostle who had met them on the street.

"Sir, why didn't you remind me in advance that you were coming here as a guest? We could have entertained you."

"What are you saying? I don't have your contact information, so there's no way I can remind you—"

"Haha, that was definitely my fault, sir. You're so funny."

On the surface, the two sides were having a friendly conversation, but in reality, they were constantly observing each other. Jiang Ran's side had ample combat power, so they were naturally not flustered, while the Demon Apostles' side was also not flustered. They believed that they had one more [Near God] than the other side, and they also had the home-field advantage.

“If I may be so bold as to ask a question,” the Grand Apostle began, “Sir, how did you find our headquarters? This is very important to us.”

“A special method, don’t worry, it comes at a high price, and it will absolutely not be leaked to the three committee members.” Jiang Ran smiled. “If we become friends, I don’t think I’ll need this method anymore.”

“Of course, sir,” the Grand Apostle replied with a smile. “Your strength proves your credibility. It is very impolite to ask a strong person for advice repeatedly. We are happy to be your friend.”

"Interested in joining us and working together to revive the Demon Lord? This is a crucial time, and your participation will undoubtedly give us wings!"

Jiang Ran shook his head. This was not unexpected for the three chief apostles. If the other party had agreed so easily, they would have suspected that there was a problem.

“I am happy to be your friend, but that does not mean I agree with your actions. I am curious to know why you three insist on resurrecting the Demon Lord you speak of, who seems to be a being capable of destroying the world.”

“Oh—sir, you are a gentleman, at least you did not curse directly, but asked us questions.” One of the chief apostles began to explain, “Having power is not a fault, but excessive power will inevitably arouse the fear of the weak.”

"Those self-righteous people always claim that the Demon Lord will destroy the world, but since we are sitting here talking calmly, it proves that the Demon Lord has not done so, right?"

"They are simply afraid of this power! They are stubborn conservatives! We need a truly strong and decisive leader to drive the wheels of time, but unfortunately there are always people who want to be obstacles in the way."

“Sounds pretty good.” Jiang Ran shook his finger playfully. “So you call him the Demon Lord, while others call him the Demon. I have a question: if that’s the case, why not just call him ‘God Lord’ or some other name? You could also change your names to ‘God’s Apostle,’ haha, at least that would sound better.”

"We don't need anyone's approval. 'Demon' is demon! It's not a synonym for evil, but a symbol of freedom!"

Jiang Ran was speechless. He felt like the people sitting in front of him weren't three chief apostles, but three chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) patients!

Clearly, these three guys haven't grasped the true essence of pyramid schemes.

“Sir, you seem to have collected seals before. Could you tell us who you gave them to? This is very important to us.”

"Um?"

Jiang Ran astutely noticed something: these demonic apostles seemed unaware of the referee's existence! This was quite interesting!

If the judges are also collecting seals, and the highest levels of the Demon Apostles are unaware of his existence, then there are only two possibilities.

Either the referee is on the demon's side, but he doesn't want to directly intervene in the plot, so he will give the seals to the demon apostles in another way after they have been collected.

Or perhaps he has another purpose!