Pillar of Yita

Fang Hong turned his head back and informed everyone about the situation outside: ”Luo Yu, Little Fatty, you each take someone and go release the anchor chains. I’ll handle things here.”

The situation was urgent, and the two of them didn’t dare to waste any time. They quickly nodded, each took a person, and turned to drill back into the storm.

As the four left, those remaining were instantly halved in number. Affia also sensed the danger and instinctively moved closer to Fang Hong. For a moment, Fang Hong found it amusing and a bit exasperating; having such a self-conscious ’hostage’ was quite an odd experience. Although it was convenient, it somehow felt a bit strange.

Fortunately, the two of them were standing behind Luo Hao’s great shield, so the Bain Knights couldn’t see this scene from their side; otherwise, they might suspect that Fang Hong used some kind of mind magic on the ’hostage.’

”Miss Lavali,” Fang Hong said, ”you can go back now.”

Though she was technically a hostage, allowing this young lady to stay by his side made Fang Hong feel uneasy. In fact, he was becoming a bit paranoid, feeling uneasy about everything, and it was also time to release some goodwill to the other side. He needed the Bain people to believe they would ultimately keep their promise.

And not just be a group of real desperados.

Lavali glanced at them, then at Gita beside her. Although she seemed reluctant, she decided. She left her coat on her ’history teacher’ and decisively turned to walk back.

This made Fang Hong gain a bit of respect for the earl’s daughter; he truly feared she would cling endlessly. Even if they had Affia as a hostage, he couldn’t really kill the two ladies, right? Fortunately, the daughter seemed to have inherited some traits from her father—acting decisively and without hesitation.

But as Fang Hong sighed in relief, he was also puzzled. From before till now, the other side appeared unbothered. What, then, was causing his sense of uneasiness? From a distance, he watched the Bain Knights, intuitively sensing something wrong, yet he couldn’t pinpoint what was amiss.

Fang Hong carefully thought for a moment, feeling his suspicion stemmed from the previous scene. What had the other side done to cause an ether disturbance? Generally, it would be casting a spell, using some magic-guided conductor, or magic items, yet in such a tense situation, they certainly wouldn’t arbitrarily cast spells or use magic-guided instruments.

What are the Bain people hiding?

Before he could figure it out, the Bain Knights spoke up: ”When do you plan to return Miss Affia to us?”

Fang Hong was startled, immediately snapping back to his senses. His doubts hadn’t shown on his face at all as he confidently replied, ”I’m right here; what are you worried about? I’ve sent my people to release the anchor chains on the ’Dawood’ ship. After everyone has boarded, I’ll naturally return Miss Affia to you.”

The knights fell silent for a moment, but Fang Hong understood they were consulting His Excellency the Governor. Sure enough, after a while, the knights spoke again:

”How do you plan to conduct the handover? We need to understand these details clearly.”

Fang Hong turned to glance at the rooftop.

Not far from the platform, a tower loomed through the sandstorm, and that tower faced the rooftop’s centerline. Seeing this, he turned back to the knights and said, ”In a moment, I’ll take her to that spot, with the rooftop’s centerline as the boundary. I’ll let her go at that spot. But before then, you must maintain the current distance from us.”

The knights fell silent once again, but this time they didn’t seek further consultation with His Excellency the Governor, seemingly accepting Fang Hong’s proposal.

The whole process went smoother than Fang Hong had anticipated—

If it were before, he might still be suspicious for a while, but now they were on the brink of success. By then, the other side seemed to have no way to stop them. The distance was just enough for him to escape to the ship, and besides, the rooftop wasn’t safe; the knights would certainly prioritize protecting Affia.

As for ranged attacks, what use could they be in such a massive sandstorm? Magic couldn’t be positioned properly, could it?

He finally relaxed and expressed his gratitude to Affia: ”Miss Affia, we couldn’t have done it without you. If the opportunity arises, we will certainly repay you.”

He said this sincerely, as they would have been in big trouble during that blunder had it not been for Affia.

Affia blushed slightly and nodded.

Before long, Little Fatty and the others returned.

The chubby little fellow was panting heavily as he reported, ”Boss, the anchor chains are almost completely released. We can begin boarding now.”

Fang Hong nodded. With the current weather situation, they certainly couldn’t wait until all the chains were released to board; once the chains are undone, who knows where the ’Dawood’ ship might be blown. He had already considered the boarding order and said, pointing at the others, ”Luo Yu, Xiangzi, and Gita board first, then your people.”

”...As for Luo Hao and me, we’ll board last.”

”Hold on, boarding last might be dangerous.” Little Fatty hesitated and said, ”The wind is too strong; who knows what might happen once the chains are released.”

”Don’t worry,” Fang Hong replied confidently, ”you go ahead and record the positioning teleportation scroll, then have someone bring it back.”

Upon hearing this, Little Fatty’s eyes lit up. Right, they still had that; even if they couldn’t board in time, they could teleport up. Although the positioning teleportation scroll records fixed coordinates, a few seconds of delay wouldn’t send someone into the sky.

He immediately nodded.

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