Pillar of Yita

He squinted his eyes, seeing a curved blade being blasted out from that place, whistling as it shot straight towards him.

But it didn’t hit Fang Hong; instead, it struck the shield glowing with a ghostly blue light at the edge, then bounced upwards, hitting the ceiling with a bang, leaving a white mark.

Fang Hong wasn’t stupid; he naturally knew what it meant to open fire in this place. Although the shoulder-mounted cannons of the Mares Knights weren’t as deadly as some real weapons of mass destruction, they were still very threatening in a confined space. Therefore, before firing, he had already deployed the Energy Angel’s shield.

The dust settled, and the battlefield was already in ruins, with hardly any intact bodies left. At such close range, sharp shrapnel was enough to shred a person to pieces.

The Mares Knight was a level nineteen construct, but the cannon wasn’t meant to be used at such close range, and in the narrow and specific environment, it actually exerted far more power than under normal circumstances.

However, this passageway was built very sturdily; after the explosion, only a few small pits were added to it.

The Ranger from Shield of Lufu that was rescued was not significantly harmed. The flying axe hit his right shoulder, but the blood loss wasn’t much. Such a wound would hardly be an issue after being treated with Holy Spell healing. Of course, his right hand would definitely not be as nimble as before for some time.

Fortunately, the people from Shield of Lufu weren’t considered the main force, so this reduction in their combat power was almost negligible.

However, after this battle, they were truly exposed, and there might be a few more fierce battles ahead — and these ’knights’ weren’t in a state of combat readiness. Most were only prepared with one or two cannonballs—at most enough for two rounds of salvo.

Therefore, Fang Hong had to carefully calculate the consumption.

”Actually, they found some additional ammunition.” Luo Hao retracted his shield and turned his head to quietly say to him.

Fang Hong shook his head: ”That additional ammunition is substandard, and there’s not much, only a dozen rounds.”

”Even if it’s substandard, it’s not unusable. Don’t forget we have two Alchemists; Captain, Luo Yu can help with identification.”

”But reloading this cannon requires special tools; manual reloading would be very troublesome.”

”Let the people from Shield of Lufu help out. After all, they’re not much use in this kind of battle. We divide these Magic Guided Constructs into two batches, one for reloading, one for combat, so as not to waste time. And besides, in such a narrow space, we don’t need all twelve for a salvo.”

Luo Hao thought for a moment and replied. After experiencing two battles, he clearly realized the role of these ’knights.’

Fang Hong considered it for a moment and thought the proposal really feasible.

After this battle, they didn’t encounter any more enemies.

The passage eventually led to a natural underground cavern, making one feel that this place was quite large. The warehouse outside stored so many military constructs, making it hard not to suspect that there was something hidden in this vast cavern.

But after all, they weren’t here for treasure hunting, and even if they found something, they couldn’t take it out. Such a tale as one biting off more than they can chew wouldn’t play out among professional Invokers. Everyone — mainly Fang Hong, of course — could still distinguish between what’s urgent and what’s important.

Yet the surroundings remained as quiet as before, making one doubt — did the enemy really flee?

They had encountered over ten guards one after another; a caravan wouldn’t only have this few guards, but Fang Hong thought back to their experience at Tansnier Port, and he was reassured. He vaguely felt that things were far from simple.

Besides, there was still a team behind them. Even if the smugglers ahead had truly escaped, the few guards at the back wouldn’t have anywhere to run, right?

As they walked, Fang Hong suddenly wrinkled his nose and sniffed.

Whether it was due to a keen sense of the smell of blood or something else, he faintly felt as though he had caught a whiff of a bloody scent coming from the front. He looked at the others — they had no reaction. He wasn’t sure why but perhaps it was related to the Dragon King’s Blood.

Because thinking carefully, the only change in himself over the past few months was in this aspect.

Surely mastering Ancient Alchemy didn’t make his five senses sharper, right? After all, his five senses weren’t sharper, just his vision was better and his sense of smell stronger.

However, upon catching that whiff of blood, Fang Hong didn’t feel uneasy. Instead, he felt reassured —

Finally, it had come.

”There’s something ahead,” he reminded everyone.

Miss Nightingale was slightly startled, turned around, and looked at him curiously.

But in the darkness, a rustling sound suddenly came, as if something was crawling on the ground. Everyone looked toward that direction, and soon someone gasped: ”What on earth is that thing?” The speaker wasn’t a member of the Seven Seas Travel Group but someone from Shield of Lufu.

What appeared in the darkness was a group of creatures resembling flayed hounds. Their slender limbs stood on the ground, but their blood-stained bodies lacked any sense of beauty, and they had no heads. The stumps of their necks were filled with snow-white sharp teeth, and from them dangled a long, blood-dripping tongue.

Luo Yu, Gita, Parker, and Elisa had all seen these things, although slightly different from the monsters inside Tansnier Port. The differences were minor; from their appearance, it was clear they were the work of the Blind Followers.

The people from Shield of Lufu gasped continuously, evidently having never seen such bizarre creatures.