Pillar of Yita

The use of violence to control violence is absolutely not advisable—

”Ye Hua went crazy?” Luo Hao instinctively said: ”Those people have problems with their brains, does he have a problem too?”

But Wu Xiaopang shook his head: ”This has nothing to do with Great God Ye Hua. After the Dulun decision, he is no longer in the New Alliance.”

Luo Hao was slightly stunned upon hearing this. Clearly, he didn’t know about this matter yet.

And Fang Hong now remembered that Ye Hua was involved in the battle to annihilate the Green Dragon Toragotos in Idus, which should have happened after the Dulun decision, but before the battle at Fanric, during which the other party even sent a recommendation letter about Colin to ’Westwood Sibika’ Earl.

And since then, this Ranger among the Ten Kings has disappeared without a trace.

Of course, most of the time, the Ten Kings themselves are elusive like dragons that show their heads but not their tails; temporarily disappearing doesn’t mean lost, especially for a Ten King like Ye Hua who has no affiliation.

Speaking of which, Colin even entrusted him to convey a message to Ye Hua; unfortunately, he had forgotten to ask about it back then.

However, since Ye Hua is not around, the only one with the prestige to turn things around isn’t in the New Alliance either.

Fang Hong couldn’t help but look up at the sky to the north.

Although it was clearly a scorching sun overhead, he seemed to feel a heavy cloud was hanging over the horizon.

Nonetheless, the Southern situation is really not something he can worry about. Although he’s almost certain the Dragon Worship Sect is fueling the flames here—yet if heaven decides to rain, mothers marry away, what’s happened in the South is beyond worrying.

Chaos is imminent, perhaps another disaster not less severe than a century ago on the political map of Colin Ishurian; yet unable to prevent the enemy from growing, he can still strengthen himself, think carefully about how to stand undefeated.

And the most important matter at hand is nothing but the construction work of the Seven Seas Traveler.

Yet to accelerate the construction of the Seven Seas Traveler, more support from Princess Rupert is needed, so after going around, it comes back to the current mission.

Thinking of this, he then raised his head and asked: ”Right, what does that previous nickname mean?”

”Boss, don’t you know?” Wu Xiaopang was evidently quite eager: ”You made quite the name for yourself in that battle at Fanric which we all watched, it was just too cool, now everyone calls you the Dragon Slayer Alchemist.”

”Dragon... dragon slayer?”

Fang Hong’s mouth opened wide enough to swallow an egg.

When did he ever slay a dragon, and wasn’t the nickname two months ago still Dragon’s Alchemist?

Wu Xiaopang chuckled: ”People in the community are just used to exaggerated rhetoric, but we believe that you, boss, have the strength.”

The battle at Aimumu Fortress left a deep impression on them, one Necromancer nearly annihilated the Shield of Lufu, yet this boss in front of them, with his strength alone, set up a trap in minutes to capsize the opponent.

Though there was also a small Natural Historian back then, Wu Xiaopang was not particularly impressed with Gita, so in his heart, he basically credited Fang Hong with all the glory.

Plus, the later battle at Fanric only solidified the impression, making his memory of Fang Hong even more brilliant.

Certainly, small tricks were used in the battle, but who would deny that tactics are also a form of strength—what Alchemist goes head-to-head with a boss like a big brute warrior? That’s clearly unrealistic.

Everyone in the Seven Seas Travel Group actually heard about Fang Hong’s description of the underground battle at Aimumu Fortress, including not a few who were there, such as Elisa who indirectly participated and even met members of the Shield of Lufu.

But even so.

Every time Wu Xiaopang mentioned the term ’boss’ — besides Xiangzi, the others had a somewhat inexplicable look towards Fang Hong, and our Miss Nightingale would secretly bend over with laughter.

Until Fang Hong was utterly embarrassed—

Seeing that Little Fatty was intending to speak again, he quickly interrupted—he didn’t change the topic to listen to him brag, even if the bragging was about himself—and the bragging was far too stiff, lacking any technical level.

He then spoke: ”Oh, how did you guys suddenly appear at that place?”

Frankly speaking, when these guys showed up earlier, it truly startled him.

Even though they were on the cliff and not completely out of sight of the situation below—they still somehow popped out from underground like prairie dogs, one after another without any warning, truly shocking.

Wu Xiaopang, upon hearing this, proudly said: ”Haha, boss, surprised, aren’t you?”

Fang Hong: ”...”

Surprised my big head.

```

The other party still boasted: ”You see, boss, there’s actually a crevice down below. We’ve always been hiding down there. If we hadn’t heard noises above, we wouldn’t have come up to check, and it’s such a coincidence to run into you guys here.”

”By the way, I found that crevice. It leads down to a platform below the cliff. Pretty impressive, right?”

Fang Hong suspiciously looked at these people: ”What were you hiding there for?”

He couldn’t help but glance around. In this desolate sea of sand, he couldn’t even find any monsters, so these people definitely weren’t hiding here to ambush some prey, were they?

But their presence here occurred to Fang Hong to be quite fortunate—he’d been about to ask if they’d seen any Arcanists pass by, but didn’t expect the Little Fatty to mysteriously speak first:

”Boss, we’re here mainly for a mission.”

”A mission?” Fang Hong was taken aback, swallowing back the words that were about to leave his mouth.

Wu Xiaopang nodded: ”A mission from the Adventurers’ Guild, to catch smugglers.”

When Fang Hong heard the words ’smugglers’, a heavy light flashed in his eyes. He didn’t turn around, and calmly inquired, ”Smugglers? But I heard that the King of Sand’s eldest daughter just cleared them out not long ago?”

The former vigorously shook his head: ”It’s not that easy. There’s a natural harbor down below, and the terrain is so complex. Even if they clear them, it’s only temporary. The smugglers will soon return, so ultimately, it’s up to us adventurers to deal with them.”

Fang Hong walked to the edge of the cliff and looked down.

He turned back to ask, ”So, you’re hiding in that crevice, waiting for the smugglers to come up?”

”Boss, it’s not that simple,” Little Fatty gestured mysteriously below, ”actually, we found a secret smuggler’s harbor down there. From that platform below, we can just observe that smuggler port.”

Hearing this, Fang Hong couldn’t help but be slightly surprised.

Smugglers in Istania often doubled as slave traders, or they swapped roles, and it wouldn’t seem unusual.

He didn’t believe it was mere coincidence that there happened to be two groups of smugglers down there.

”So your mission,” Fang Hong asked, ”is to take out those smugglers?”

”It’d be even better to capture them alive, of course.”

Fang Hong looked at the party, suddenly thinking of something and tentatively asked: ”Why don’t we combine our missions?”

Little Fatty looked at him in shock, ”Boss, you’re on this mission too?”

But Fang Hong shook his head: ”Our mission is different from yours, but it won’t interfere with you completing your mission. We could try working together to complete it and then take what we need, how about it?”

Although he wasn’t sure if this was his mission objective, he felt it was an opportunity. Whether those smugglers were their target or not, it couldn’t hurt to try.

And hearing his words, Little Fatty was obviously overjoyed.

”Of course, no problem,” he readily agreed, ”Boss, you saved us back then. Never mind not interfering with our mission, even if it did, it wouldn’t matter. It’s just a mission. Plus, to be honest, we’ve been observing those smugglers for a few days, and their level isn’t low—”

”Actually, even if you didn’t suggest it, we might have considered giving up on this mission.”

Fang Hong couldn’t help but glance at the party.

When he saved the Shield of Lufu folks, they said they’d repay him if ever given the chance.

He thought it was just something people say. After all, Eteliria is so vast, and the chances of two independent adventure groups crossing paths again are unknown.

But who would have thought such a coincidence could happen in this world—they indeed ended up helping him. So it goes to show that sometimes doing good deeds brings unexpected rewards.

He asked: ”The other party’s level is quite high?”

”Not quite sure about inside,” Little Fatty answered, ”but according to our Nightingale’s judgment, the guards outside are at least around Level 20.”

Although Little Fatty seemed troubled, Fang Hong was instantly reassured upon hearing that.

Only Level 20.

No problem!

...