Pillar of Yita

”It’s the Arcanist.”

Elisa recognized them at a glance.

”They’ve actually made it in, and it looks like they’ve already clashed with the smugglers.”

Miss Nightingale instinctively wanted to say ’Blind Followers,’ but suddenly realized that Wu Xiaopang and his group had nothing to do with this mission, so she changed her words. It wasn’t about distrust but rather caution—not recklessly involving unrelated people is irresponsible to both those involved and the mission’s commissioner.

Fang Hong nodded, standing at the back towards the bottom of the hall. There were no longer any bodies of Blind Followers in the hall, but traces of blood and scattered weapons were still visible from this direction, along with some small items that seemed to have been dropped during the previous combat.

There were two entrances at the bottom of the hall, small doors on the left and right, with traces of spell impacts near the stage. Fang Hong inferred from these combat marks that the Arcanists infiltrated through the right door and clashed with the Blind Followers, who then retreated into the left corridor.

The main door at the back had remained unopened the entire time, which made him realize a crucial point—

If the Blind Followers hadn’t left through that main door from start to finish, it meant that the guards they fought in the rear cave area had likely been stationed there from the beginning. They heard the disturbance, came to investigate, and engaged in combat with them.

And those Blood Servant bodies—they might have misunderstood something—they were originally being ’kept’ there.

Fang Hong suddenly had a clearer understanding of their previous encounters. If the Blind Followers had been attacked by the Arcanists first, then a lot of things made sense.

He took out the Communication Crystal, intending to inform Tianlan and Abed of the current situation. After all, the Arcanists were another official power of Istania, so briefing the Grand Princess on what had happened here was only appropriate.

However, perhaps due to increased interference outside, the Communication Crystal only emitted static. Someone seemed to be speaking, but it was inaudible.

He tried notifying Hilveld, but the result was the same.

Fang Hong thought for a moment and sent a private message to Tianlan on the community network—but to his surprise, the network was unusually slow today. The term ’network latency,’ a concept from centuries past, unexpectedly made a comeback.

Is the desert storm really that powerful?

He couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

While attempting various communication tools at hand, Fang Hong also gave the members of Shield of Lufu one minute to gather spoils of war—simultaneously serving as a search for clues.

Most of the items were basic equipment, with a few valuable Magic Guided Conductors. However, the equipment level was too low for the Seven Seas Travel Group, so Fang Hong generously let them take the items.

These items didn’t benefit them much, but for someone like Wu Xiaopang at his level, it was quite an unexpected windfall.

Sometimes showing kindness to others is showing kindness to oneself. Although they had signed a joint mission agreement, not everything needed to be haggled over. The members of Shield of Lufu were indeed grateful. Earlier, Wu Xiaopang and that Swordsman had sincerely called Fang Hong ’boss,’ appreciating the rescue from that day.

However, the others hadn’t necessarily been on the receiving end of Fang Hong’s favor; their previous support was more of a formality, but now things were different.

The people from Shield of Lufu specifically appointed the Priestess to express their gratitude to the Seven Seas Travel Group.

Fang Hong, however, wasn’t concerned with such formalities.

”Boss, should we continue?”

Wu Xiaopang put away the items, glanced at the left entrance, and asked.

The others, having tasted success, also showed eager expressions.

Fang Hong’s goal was for the others to trust him at critical moments. The current situation was a bit complex, and he needed to guard against any unexpected complications.

Though both groups had earned substantial rewards earlier, the ’spoils of war’ weren’t too few but rather too many, with military constructs and such likely needing to be surrendered to the Adventure Group in the end.

While the ’point system’ within each Adventure Group is a way of wealth distribution, it’s not as immediately gratifying as tangible benefits. Having these little things directly in hand makes everyone involved feel envious.

This envy would instantaneously translate into motivation for unified action.

Fang Hong’s group only had seven people, and he genuinely needed help from the members of Shield of Lufu.

In fact, while they were cleaning the battlefield, Fang Hong had already sent out ’Hornet-I’ for a quick reconnaissance. The passages behind the left and right entrances were complex underground tunnels leading to numerous dormitories, warehouses, and even workshop-type functional buildings.

This was a true ’Underground Base.’ Evidently, the previous site cleared by the Grand Princess was just a diversion.

The true nature of this smuggling port is hidden beneath the Fjord.

Responding to Wu Xiaopang’s question, Fang Hong nodded—although the Arcanists seemed to have already clashed with the Blind Followers for some time, every passage he saw bore signs of fighting, but most bodies had already vanished, leaving only chaos behind.

The Arcanists were now unaccounted for, and the winding passages made exhaustive searching increasingly impossible.

He then spoke to describe what he saw up ahead.

Wu Xiaopang listened and understood his meaning: ”So, you mean we split up and find out where they went first?”

Fang Hong nodded: ”The Arcanists might be fighting these smugglers, but our mission is our mission. If we do nothing, the Natives won’t grant us credit for nothing.”

He said that, but his true concern was the Arcanists hoarding all the rewards. They came to this place after much effort, not to help Tansnier clear out smugglers but to obtain information about the Wandering Alchemist.

If they didn’t achieve this goal, the mission couldn’t be considered a success.

The people from Shield of Lufu clearly agreed with this, with one person nodding and saying: ”Indeed, our primary goal here is to complete the mission.”

After reaching a consensus, the group split into two teams. Actually, it was more than two teams, as even the seven members of the Seven Seas Travel Group divided themselves into two, making it four or even five groups advancing concurrently, spreading into the Underground Base.

Due to the impending storm, Fang Hong distributed some Magic Messengers, as the Communication Crystals were unusable, making this primitive method of communication necessary. But persistence paid off, as shortly after splitting up, Fang Hong received good news from Wu Xiaopang.

Their luck seemed favorable as they were the first to find clues and sent a Magic Messenger to inform Fang Hong that they seemed to have discovered traces of the Arcanists.

Fang Hong looked at the simple map drawn on the note—though crudely drawn, he understood it.

The location was to the north.

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