No Rescue

"Over here." Guided by her Starmark sorcery spirit, Gwen reached out and shoved aside the earth. With very little effort, a narrow tunnel appeared before everyone's eyes. It was situated along the slope of a hill, while merely a dozen meters beyond the other side rose the colossal vine fortress of the Four Pillar Cult. Had Igola not cast a group miracle that dampened their presence, the cult's long-range miracles would likely be carpet-bombing their position right now. Even with the miracle's aid, they still had to don wasteland camouflage to avoid drawing attention. It was almost laughable. Back in the Blood Moon Country, Yaxiu and the others had been so weak that whatever energy they had could only be channeled into boosting their combat prowess, leaving no room to develop other areas. In the Gospel, despite having a desperate need for reconnaissance, the Gospel Book mechanism trumped all scouting miracles, so they never bothered to catch up on those lessons either. Once they arrived in the Senluo Wasteland, although they had to hunt down Silver Lantern, locating her proved nearly impossible through any means other than the Mercury Trojan's prophecy miracles. Consequently, they still hadn't patched this gap in their repertoire. Across the six fundamental paths—attack, defense, healing, movement, scouting, and support—this group of Sanctuary sorcerers had almost exclusively honed the first four. When it came to a requirement as straightforward and common as tracking traces, they actually found themselves helpless. Fortunately, Gwen possessed both the Starmark sorcery spirit and the Starlight sorcery spirit. The former could trace starlight trails, while the latter could brand starlight onto any target. Provided preparations were made in advance, she could track virtually anything. "Mr. Tamashi must have used this tunnel to slip into the city," Gwen said. "Should we go in?" Yaxiu glanced toward the quiet, colossal vine fortress and shook his head. "He slipped in under the cover of night, so he might not have drawn attention, but that won't hold true with so many of us. Let's pull back to a safe spot, have breakfast, and talk it over." No one raised an objection. The group withdrew into the shadows of the gravel desert a hundred meters away. Chikala skillfully produced a griddle and a portable stove, heated the pan, poured in oil, and tossed in the marinated beef—breakfast was beef macaroni. Then, he promptly declared his stance: "Mr. Tamashi definitely went in to assassinate the Mercury Trojan. He's in grave danger right now. We have to go back him up!" Igola raised an eyebrow. "If you were in the Blood Moon Country, even if you couldn't land mayor, you'd certainly make city councilor. With such an exceptional gift for steering into whichever way the wind blows, being born in Senluo really did you a disservice." "Sigh, I often lament why I wasn't born a Blood Moon native myself," Chikala said wistfully. "Then I could have met Mr. Bojin, Mr. Harvey, and Mr. Yaxiu much earlier... I truly wish I'd been born there!" "We met in a prison for death row inmates," Harvey remarked as he trimmed fingernails. He wasn't clipping his own, however. He had brought the coffin out to bask in the sun, sitting atop the lid. Lying within, Alice stretched her arm outside the casket, letting Harvey trim and tend to her nails. The power of habit was undeniable; by now, Chikala and Gwen could remain completely unfazed by the pungent cocktail of embalming fluid and rotting flesh, not to mention Yaxiu and Igola, whose olfactory nerves had burnt out long ago. "Now, Mr. Harvey, that's unfair," the orc chuckled, grinning slyly. "Do I really not look like a condemned criminal? But come to think of it, among all of us, except for Mr. Tamashi, isn't everyone here practically a death row convict?" "Tamashi is, too," Yaxiu said calmly. "He prepared himself to suffer in Hell a long time ago." The beef sizzled loudly in the hot oil. Chikala quickly tossed in cut scallions to stir-fry them. Through the rising plumes of fragrant steam and oil smoke, Yaxiu looked at Gwen, and then turned his gaze to Igola. "Your clothes also carry starlight marks," Igola offered an explanation on his own initiative. "I wasn't singling Black Crow out; it was an insurance measure applied to everyone. Naturally, if Gwen ever betrayed us, we could use those marked clothes to set a trap." "Yet you knew the Mercury Trojan was down there, didn't you?" Yaxiu said, a hint of accusation in his tone. "After all, even Tamashi figured it out." "All I can say is that I wasn't certain," Igola confessed candidly. "The Mercury Trojan is cautious and timid, terrified of death, obsessed with pleasure, yet ruthless and cruel. What's more, she can descend into the vessel of any believer to command her cult. It wouldn't be surprising wherever she chose to hide. "However, analyzing her personality traits, the Mercury Trojan is someone who prioritizes her personal safety above everything else. Therefore, she would without question hold her strongest bargaining chip closest to her chest—namely, the legendary sorcerer she controls, Extinction Pontiff Oreva. "According to my findings, even when Oreva has to go out to battle, he immediately returns to the Four Pillar Cult's encampment. The Mercury Trojan certainly wouldn't reside in Oreva's immediate quarters, but the distance between them would never be far, ensuring that if any mishap occurred, Oreva could rush to her aid at a moment's notice. "Now, Oreva has entered the Silent Spiral, and he will likely remain there for more than half a month. Consequently, it is extremely probable that the Mercury Trojan is down in the Silent Spiral as well. That is piece of evidence number one. "Black Crow once said that except for him, every single member of the Kill-All-Crows Cult is thoroughly addicted to Crow Blood Wine. There must be some addictive substance in that brew, and clearly, the Mercury Trojan is hooked on it as well. When the Four Pillar Cult moved into the Silent Spiral, they hauled along enormous quantities of Crow Blood Wine; it's hard not to suspect it was meant to supply her. That is piece of evidence number two. "The Four Pillar Cult pulled back all their forces, abandoning almost every strategic strongpoint and permitting the Harp Sun Alliance to thrust into their heartland, all to stubbornly hold the Silent Spiral. This is sufficient proof that the Mercury Trojan is making a reckless, all-in gamble without caring about the consequences. In a gamble of fate where she wagers everything, it's hard to imagine her remaining hidden somewhere else, merely waiting for news. That is piece of evidence number three. "Even so, I couldn't draw a definitive conclusion." Igola paused briefly. "Only Black Crow, having spent over twenty years with the Mercury Trojan, could be absolutely sure his old friend was down there." Yaxiu's lips parted, but in the end, he said nothing. Chikala finished ladling out a portion of breakfast for each person, even setting aside a plate for Alice, before eating directly from the griddle himself. Sensing the delicate atmosphere, the orc took the initiative to change the subject. "If we want to infiltrate the place, our best bet is using the cover of night. We could even smash the statues of the Four Pillar Cult to shrink their lit areas and sow chaos. Oh, right, I happen to know the Dark Gold Bishop guarding the west wall. That fellow is a total coward; if something goes wrong, he'll definitely see to his own skin first..." "But there are still nine hours until nightfall," Gwen noted. "Wouldn't that be... too late?" "Oh, right!" The orc patted his bald head. "Look at my brain! Good thing you reminded me, Miss Gwen. In that case—" "Shut up and eat your breakfast," Igola said coldly. "If that mouth of yours is that eager to blabber, I wouldn't mind helping you shove that griddle into your other opening." The orc's sphincter instantly clenched. "Why take it out on Chikala?" Yaxiu shrugged. "He was only saying what I wanted to hear. Thank you, Chikala, but I wouldn't dare put in a good word for you in front of Igola. You'd be better off sucking up to him directly." The orc Sanctuary sorcerer let out a dry, awkward chuckle. "Or perhaps you were actually using reverse psychology—trying to make me give up by egging me on to save Tamashi." "No way! I, Chikala, never lie—" "If that's the case, you're worrying over nothing," Yaxiu said. "I never intended for us to go rescue Tamashi." Everyone froze in astonishment.