Fight to Our Hearts' Content!

Alfred walked in front while the others followed behind. Under Alfred's lead, everyone moved at an excruciatingly slow crawl. If given the choice, they would have rather run for the exit like their asses were on fire. That way, there would be no time left to think or feel. Because of that, this agonizingly slow pace turned into a form of torture instead. Richard was the first to snap. He shoved away Memphis's supportive arm, plopped down hard on the ground, and slapped the floor with both hands, shouting repeatedly like an aggrieved shrew throwing a tantrum in an open-air market: "What the hell is this supposed to be? No, seriously, what the hell is this!" Everyone came to a halt. Some turned toward Richard, while others lowered their heads. After shouting several times in a row, Richard asked, "So, we're really just leaving like this?" No one answered him. Richard kept shaking his hands, demanding, "Hey! I know we can't beat that woman, but was it really necessary to just leave our captain behind and run out on our own?" Memphis spoke up to remind him, "That was the captain's order." "I know that! I'm not deaf! But I still can't accept it. Our squad looks like an absolute joke!" Alfred looked at Richard and said with utter composure, "All we need to do is obey the young master's orders." "Hey, my friends, is anyone willing to turn around and fight our way back? Even if we can't win, the worst that happens is becoming members of the audience after we die, right? Do you really believe that woman's three conditions? The more I think about it, the more it sounds like something she made up on the spot to dupe us!" Philomena walked up to Richard and raised her hand. *Smack!* Richard took a stinging slap across the face. "You're indulging in a completely worthless emotional outburst." Richard glared at Philomena, took a deep breath, and said, "I just don't want to live with regret. I can sense it—if something happens to Karen, even if I get out of here alive and well, I'll spend the rest of my life drowning in agony!" Standing to the side, Memphis heard Richard's words, and his gaze shifted slightly. "I believe in my young master," Alfred said with a faint smile. "We only need to carry out his orders." Philomena looked at Alfred. "If we get outside sooner, we can call for reinforcements." Alfred replied, "Yet the young master instructed me to lead everyone at a slow walk." "I don't understand." Philomena stared at Alfred. "Does he mean for us to walk slowly so we can wait for him?" "Who knows? Maybe," Alfred replied in an airy, relaxed tone. "Hah." Philomena let out a dry chuckle, seemingly expressing her scorn for the entire situation, yet she still added, "Fine. Walk slowly, then." "I know everyone is suffering inside, but please place your faith in the young master. Have faith in your captain." In truth, Alfred was the most concerned and anxious person among them all, yet he would still execute Karen's orders without the slightest compromise. Muri chimed in, "Then let's take a rest. We won't walk for now." Alfred nodded. "Certainly, that works as well." Everyone sat down. Philomena was the last one left standing. She thoroughly disliked this atmosphere, but in the end, she sat down as well. Richard lowered his head, rubbing his stinging cheek. Memphis leaned over and consoled him, "I know you care deeply about the captain, but keeping your emotions under control is a sign of maturity." Richard snapped back irritably, "Sorry, it's hereditary!" Memphis: "..." Ashley whispered, "Can't we turn back and take another look at the captain? I didn't even get the chance to say a proper goodbye. If... if... I'll regret it forever." Blanche nodded. "Indeed." Mars folded his arms, remarking with a sigh, "Our strength simply isn't enough. Not only is that woman terrifyingly powerful, but this is her home turf. She could crush all of us like ants with effortless ease." Muri rubbed his chest; he had taken the worst beating of all. Bart asked, "Where did the intelligence for this mission come from?" Mars answered, "There was nothing wrong with the intelligence." "Nothing wrong? Then how did things end up like this?" "According to normal grave-robber logic, the greater the anomalies when opening a coffin, the higher the value. The issue was that we lacked the capability." Mars leaned back a little and continued, "The intelligence and reconnaissance reports were exceptionally well done. Otherwise, we wouldn't have even made it all the way to the deepest sanctum." "What a humiliating mess." Bart used the tip of his sword to score scratches into the ground beneath him. "It's just too infuriating." Ashley proposed once more, "Can't we really go back and check on the captain? We'd just be making up for our farewell. That woman shouldn't go on a rampage over that, right? The captain was so fierce when we left that I didn't dare stop to speak." Ventura, who had remained quiet all this while, spoke up: "Nothing will happen to the captain. If you have anything to say, you can save it and tell him when he gets back." "Ventura, we don't need pointless comfort right now. We're all being strong." Ventura glanced at Ashley and said, "I'm not comforting you. I'm merely stating the facts as I see them. The captain will be fine. Up ahead, on the other hand, there might be danger." "Danger?" Ashley asked in confusion. "Mm." Ventura took it as entirely obvious. "That's why the captain told us to walk slowly." Philomena spoke up, "No matter how slowly we walk, we'll reach it eventually. So what is the point of moving slowly?" Ventura continued to take it completely for granted. "Walking slowly gives the captain time so he can go and resolve the problem." "Resolve it how? He's a hostage right now!" Ventura shook his head and said, "I don't know how the captain will resolve it, but he definitely can." Philomena felt her temper stirred by Ventura's way of speaking. It wasn't that she harbored any ill intent; rather, she was thoroughly sick of the mood permeating the entire squad—oscillating between hopeless despair and blind, baseless optimism. She said flatly, "Then why not just have the captain settle everything? Let that woman release him instead of keeping him captive, and while he's at it, have her gift him some treasures so our grave-robbing trip ends in total success?" The moment Philomena finished speaking, she froze, turning her head toward the corridor behind them. Memphis also turned his head to look. The others did not react immediately, but a moment later, upon hearing footsteps, they all looked behind them. A figure emerged from the shadows in the rear. Only as he drew closer could they see it was their captain. Muri immediately shouted, "Prepare for battle!" With that, he was the first to charge forward, raising his round shield and lifting his short blade. Bart and Philomena both stepped forward to follow up in defensive formation. Ventura, who should have moved up to defend at a time like this, merely cracked a grin and cheered, "Captain!" Karen looked at Muri and said bluntly, "I was the one who helped wash your shield." Muri paused, taken aback, then immediately said, "It's... it's really you, Captain?" "Mm." Karen nodded. "I chatted with her for a while. She let me go, and she even gave me some array magic stones. They're worth quite a few point coupons." Philomena: "..." "Captain!" Ashley threw herself forward, wrapping her arms around Karen's waist. Blanche ran over as well, though she was more reserved than Ashley. Ashley let go at once, wiping away her tears as she said, "I was just mourning the fact that I didn't get to say goodbye!" "Haha." Karen chuckled, opened his arms, and shared a gentle embrace with Blanche as well. Then he thumped Muri and Bart on their chests, and ruffled Ventura's hair. "Karen—!" Covered in tears and snot, Richard also flung himself toward Karen. Karen took a step sideways to dodge, sending Richard careening straight into Muri's round shield, which he ended up hugging tightly. "Oh, Karen, you can't discriminate against me like this! Every drop of these tears and snot was shed for you!" "The sentiment is enough. As for the rest, wipe it off." Having said that, Karen looked around at everyone and announced, "Regarding what happened this time, I must reiterate our nondisclosure requirements. From now on, that lady will be our partner. In other words, we can treat this tomb as our squad's secret base." Richard blew his nose into a tissue and remarked, "Oh, that fulfills a childhood dream of mine." "I expect all of you to keep this secret—for the sake of this squad, this collective, and me, your captain." "Yes, Captain!" "Yes, Captain!" "All right. We can now leave this place at a normal pace." Karen handed his backpack to Ventura. The magic stones inside were actually quite heavy, but although Ventura still had a small build, carrying two backpacks was no trouble at all for him. Soon, the group arrived at the platform. Karen pointed ahead and cautioned, "Everyone, stay alert." Muri asked, "So an accident was originally supposed to happen here?" "Mm, yes. Originally, half of you would have died here, and the rest would have gone mad." Everyone immediately grew cautious. When they shifted into mist form and flew across the center of the chasm, Karen looked down into the depths. He couldn't see anything, but he sensed a presence slightly warmer than when they had first arrived. It felt as though some ferocious beast lay below, which had just been awakened and had now slipped back into slumber. This tomb had been jointly renovated by Mr. Gandiro and members of the Congers family. The parts that could be understood through ordinary logic were likely handled by the Congers family, while the inexplicable elements were undoubtedly Mr. Gandiro's handiwork. This tomb still harbored many secrets. After leaving here, he would need to thoroughly investigate the surname Gandiro. However, looking into that name would certainly prove extremely difficult, because information concerning him had likely been covered up by Order. Every divine church was exceedingly sensitive to the existence of apostates. In a certain sense, the Last Mad Pope also counted as an apostate, and his singular roar from the top of the Tower of Light had sounded the death knell for the Church of Light. Still, would Xinyali be able to help with this matter? If she could dig up information even on someone like Gandiro, then taking on this partner from the Church of Principles had truly been an extraordinary bargain—or rather, the captain's stay in the hospital had been far too fortuitous. ... Aseroth lay on the seabed, its massive body blending seamlessly into the surroundings like a submerged hillside. This was one of its ways of resting, thanks to a camouflage ability akin to that of a chameleon. At that moment, several figures descended diagonally from above. They gathered near the rift—several dozen individuals, all dressed in plain clothes. Yet as they descended, they failed to notice that the nearby hillside had not been there a day ago. Before long, these figures leaped into the rift one after another, heading down. "Miss, Miss! Lord Karen is in danger, Miss!" Aseroth called out within its abdominal cavity. However, Pu'er was sprawled across the altar engraved with the communication array, sound asleep. She was utterly exhausted. After passing the silly dog's message along to Karen, she had collapsed into slumber immediately. Waking her right now was simply unrealistic. Inside the abdominal cavity, a young man's figure coalesced, his body covered entirely in scales—Aseroth's spiritual projection. He first looked at the fast-asleep young lady, a faint smile curving at the corner of his mouth. Then he walked to her side, bent down, and picked up a scroll. It was an emergency distress scroll. According to the prior arrangement, when a signal came from below, the young lady was to be responsible for activating this scroll. Since she was asleep right now, the duty naturally fell to him. "I await your summons, Lord Karen." ... A group of people traversed the intersecting water currents and entered the perimeter of the tomb. "Phew... I never knew seawater could carry such a pungent, foul stench," a woman grumbled distastefully, pinching her clothes between her fingers. "It's fine. Not as rank as that other thing." "Anpang, if you make another dirty joke like that at my expense, I'll slice off your junk and shove it right into your mouth so you can get a proper taste of yourself!" "Anpang, Ni'erman, did we come all the way here to listen to you two bicker?" "Lord Sains, please forgive us." "Forgive us, my Lord." A middle-aged man wearing a copper mask turned his gaze toward the distant castle. Then he opened his hand, revealing a yellow sphere in his palm. A flash of light swept across it, and the yellow sphere split into wriggling yellow moths, one after another. Flapping their wings, these moths flew toward everyone present. "Everyone, Wien is the domain of Order. Even if an accident befalls us here, we cannot allow a single intact corpse to remain behind. Swallow it. When you die, it will devour your body completely." All of them swallowed their moths. Ni'erman spoke up, "My Lord, are we to continue waiting here? I'm worried our bait might have already died inside." "We will wait one more day. I believe in the Moon Goddess's favor upon us. And naturally, the Moon Goddess will grant Her favor to our bait as well." "Understood, my Lord." Sains reached up to touch the copper mask over his face and said, "After one day, if the bait has not emerged, we shall go inside. But for now, everyone, set up the fishing nets and prepare to draw them in. "May the moonlight protect us." Everyone chanted in unison, "The moonlight is with us." The rest of the group set about making preparations. Once everything was deployed, they concealed themselves immediately. Beside Sains, Anpang and Ni'erman remained standing. The Church of the Moon Goddess also possessed an operational arm analogous to the Church of Order's Whip of Order, named the Moon God Guard. Its standard formation consisted of one captain, two vice-captains, and eighteen members, making twenty-one people to a squad. Present here were two full squads. Anpang's squad was the force the Church of the Moon had planted undercover in Yorktown, while Ni'erman's squad was the force latent in Sangpu City. Naturally, top-tier Moon God Guards would never be assigned to such deep-cover assignments, and these two squads normally focused on intelligence gathering. However, at such a sensitive juncture, mobilizing elite personnel from the mother church would both take too long and risk alerting the Church of Order. Even so, Sains believed that this manpower ought to be sufficient. In truth, relationships between the divine churches were far more intricate and fickle. Earlier on, the Church of the Moon had enjoyed amicable relations with the Church of Samsara. Yet after the Church of Samsara suffered a crushing defeat in its war against Order, the Church of the Moon immediately moved in to seize Samsara's former sphere of influence. In response, Samsara launched a counterattack on Romir's orders, leaving the Church of the Moon with a bloody nose. Just as the Church of the Moon gathered forces to retaliate, the Church of Order issued a formal diplomatic note on behalf of the divine church community, implicitly backing Samsara. Not long ago, Samsara Valley was struck by a cataclysm, weakening Samsara even further. The Church of the Moon then initiated cooperative negotiations with the Church of Order, with the express aim of securing Order's backing to strike at Samsara. Sometimes, it was enough to make your teeth ache with resentment: relying on its sheer strength, the Church of Order could put on airs and play all sides to reap benefits from every direction, while everyone else had no choice but to follow the rules it dictated. Such was the advantage of wielding the bigger fist. Yet this secret operation... Sains toyed with a tiny crystal between his fingertips. Within this ancient castle lay buried a secret of Order. If this operation succeeded, the Church of the Moon would have the opportunity to acquire a segment of an Order sequence—and one of Order's foundational sequences at that! "A huge portion of Order's deep heritage and power relies precisely upon this." ... On their return journey, they passed through the chamber where they had previously dispatched the combat puppets. Karen instructed, "Search around once more. Sift through the destroyed puppets to see if there are any well-preserved components. Also, inspect those suits of armor one by one. There might be intact puppets that never activated due to 'disrepair.' Be careful while checking." "Yes, Captain." On the way in, they could only pick and choose a few items to carry with them, but now that they were heading out, they naturally intended to haul out as much as possible. He would treat it as an advance top-up for Lemar Pottery Studio. In any case, his squad's future development could not do without the support of the Voss family. After all, while the Voss family specialized in puppet crafting, puppets were far from the only thing they could build—just as Malif, despite being a devotee of the Church of Craftsmen, had also designed and constructed tombs. After everyone finished scavenging and searching the area again, they resumed their march toward the main entrance. Arriving before the doors, Ashley prepared to summon Sandy and the giant tortoise to help push them open, but Karen held her back. Turning to face everyone, Karen said, "We can consider our grave-robbing mission essentially accomplished. Although our harvest has been substantial, I can sense that everyone still feels a bit of regret inside. Aren't you feeling just a little suffocated and aggrieved?" Everyone nodded, including Memphis. "Now, based on our prior reconnaissance for the mission, there is a fifty percent chance that someone outside is waiting for our group of bait to take the hook. The moment these doors open, we might be thrown straight into battle. "We prepared five distress scrolls in advance. I believe that no matter how dire the situation gets, at least one of those five can be activated. "However, unless it comes to an absolute last resort, I do not want our squad's mission here exposed to the light of day. That would look terribly unsightly. "How about this: if the angler waiting outside is overwhelmingly powerful, we won't hesitate—saving our lives through a distress call comes first. "If the angler outside possesses strength that falls within an acceptable range, then we will..." Karen smiled, then finished: "Vent to our hearts' content!"