Pillar of Yita

Fang Hong gaped slightly, finally understanding that there was such a connection between Lonely White Field and R. If it were today, among the Invokers, it would almost be equivalent to a rebirth.

Even in that era, it was very rare.

But history proved that the Lonely White Field’s judgment was not wrong. Without that young man, their team couldn’t have gone as far as they did later on.

However, everything had become nostalgia. Fang Hong glanced at Lonely White Field and suddenly realized the unspoken words of the other party. He had not contacted anyone else before, presumably because of his guilt towards his companions. The so-called change of his community ID was merely an excuse.

”I remember R was a Combat Artisan,” Fang Hong said, having watched almost every match of his, he, of course, understood the composition of that team.

Lonely White Field nodded. ”He was a genius. I always thought he should have achieved more than KUN. I have never seen such a talented Combat Artisan, and he never knew what it meant to give up. That team was supposed to be his first step.”

”But it wasn’t. Where exactly did he go?” Fang Hong couldn’t help but ask again.

Lonely White Field still shook his head.

Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks and took something out of his pocket to give to Fang Hong: ”This is something he sent to me seven years ago before he went to that Adventure Group. It’s a souvenir from when I was a trainee, my trainee Dagger. I thought he returned this item to express his dissatisfaction with the battle at Pegasus Bridge, but today I finally understood his true meaning.”

Fang Hong looked at the rusty dagger, which bore the mark of the seven stars around Stargate Port and a line of small characters:

V.E.M, Lonely White Field.

Both the former and the latter seemed to be a part of history that had been forgotten.

He looked puzzledly at the other party, not understanding why Lonely White Field would give him the dagger, although he was nominally R’s half-student, but the latter never acknowledged this.

Besides, he had only just met Lonely White Field. As for the feelings of adoration, they were stories of the past, and they had only just met today.

But Lonely White Field had no intention of taking back the dagger. Instead, he slowly began another story.

He raised his head and asked, ”You must be curious about the matter between the Rain Listener and the Blood Oath Alliance, right?”

Fang Hong nodded.

He couldn’t really say he was curious, but since he was involved, he naturally wanted to understand the causes and consequences.

”In fact, I have guessed some things about the Rain Listener,” answered Lonely White Field: ”As early as half a year ago, there were signs of division within the club. At that time, a batch of senior members left the club, which caused quite a stir within the Eteliria Rain Listener Guild.”

”But after that, another incident happened which diverted everyone’s attention, and that is the item that the Blood Oath Alliance is currently looking for. It is actually an incomplete map—”

”An incomplete map?” Fang Hong asked back, his mind keenly recalling another term.

Obelisk.

If he remembered correctly, Tianlan had told him about the incomplete map on the Obelisk under the Abyssal Sea. Could it be the same one? If so, was it connected to the Adventure Group that Miss Atira’s brother was a part of?

He frowned slightly,

but listened as Lonely White Field continued: ”Yes, a map, kept in a black box. I saw it two months ago, so I can confirm it. It was transported from the southern regions of the kingdom. I knew about this because our brigade was the escort of this box—”

”Escort? Was it a mission assigned by your Guild?”

Lonely White Field shook his head: ”I’m sure it wasn’t our Guild’s property, for I had seen the clients. They seemed to be from Istania, you know the Desert People, some of them are said to be descendants of Dragon Slayers.”

Fang Hong felt as if pieces and clues were invisibly tied together in his mind. Colin Ishurian’s tumultuous half-year, from the Long Summer War, the Grand Guild’s movements, to his experience in Dolifen—seemed to be connected by a single event working behind the scenes.

Of course, it was still just his speculation. He still had to confirm that the map was the same as the one on the Obelisk. Miss Atira’s brother’s Adventure Group went to Gula near the Abyssal Sea, which was located in the northern region of the Cloud Sea, not in the same direction as Istalia’s Silver Sand Land.

He remained silent, only listening as Lonely White Field continued. The latter seemed unwilling to talk more about the map and only said: ”While we were escorting this box, we got into a conflict with the Blood Oath Alliance. At that time, I thought they had just taken a mission opposite to ours, so I didn’t think much of it. After all, the Guilds in Eteliria often cooperated and competed, especially within the same region, so conflicts were quite common—”

”But no one expected that their goal was actually that map. Consequently, the conflict between the Rain Listener and the Blood Oath Alliance escalated, even to the verge of sparking a war.”

”But just for an escort mission, why go to such extents? Normally, such cases should be handled through negotiations by senior club or Guild members, but what no one expected was, this time the higher-ups were unusually adamant. Others did raise questions, but they were directly suppressed by the club side.”