"Sploosh!"
Mixed with the rush of water, Fang Zheng was flung out and slamd heavily onto the ground. Before Fang Zheng could get up, a dark shadow appeared behind him and crashed into his chest, pinning him down again.
"Cough, cough... I really had bad luck this ti."
When the torrent of water finally dispersed, Fang Zheng lifted his head and coughed a few tis, then started to complain. At this mont, the clothes he had worn before had returned; it seed he had left that domain, hence the recovery of his clothing.
"Ugh... Captain... "
"Iona?"
It was then that Fang Zheng noticed Iona lying on his chest with her eyes swirling, apparently having endured quite a tumult too. Hearing Fang Zheng’s voice, Iona blinked and seed to regain her senses gradually and slowly lifted her head.
"Captain?"
"Are you alright?"
"I’m fine..."
Iona shook her head slightly, then stood up, while Fang Zheng turned to look around. They seed to be in a huge underground waterway. From the smooth design with no straight lines, it was probably designed like the Goddess’s bathhouse they were in just before, but fortunately, there were no strange, twisted lines here, making it rather easy on the eyes.
However, Fang Zheng did not see Fina and the others, which made him sowhat worried.
"Nymph, Javelin? Where are you? Are you alright?"
Closing his eyes, Fang Zheng imdiately started to contact his subordinates and soon received a response from Nymph.
"Master, I, Javelin, and Lady Fina are all together, no one is injured, but it seems we’ve been teleported to another place..."
"That’s good to hear."
Hearing Nymph’s reply, Fang Zheng breathed a sigh of relief, then he stretched his hand into the air and waved it; quickly, a series of Magic Radiance appeared and then rapidly vanished.
"So teleportation is still prohibited? Although I had already anticipated this."
Fang Zheng was not surprised that his teleportation was blocked. This place was a residence of the Goddess, naturally isolated from spatial teleportation and other spells. Otherwise, if the Goddess was targeted by sothing teleported, that would be troubleso. From the design here, it seed there weren’t many guards around the Goddess. Those creatures the Goddess called "Poppy" had no fighting capacity at all; hence, there must be an automatic defense system in operation.
"Stay put and don’t move; I will co to you. If anything unusual happens, report to imdiately."
Having said that, Fang Zheng extended his hand again, and soon, a series of translucent chains appeared in his hand, pointing in one direction of the passage.
"Honestly, I never expected to use this thing so frequently."
Looking at the chains in his hand, Fang Zheng was filled with many emotions. Initially, he thought using chains to restrain the Little Angel was inhumane. Little did he expect these chains would prove useful on several occasions. Thinking about it, although Nymph wearing that large iron collar looked sowhat pitiful, it was indeed very useful.
"Let’s go, Iona."
"Yes, Captain."
Hearing Fang Zheng speak, Iona nodded, then followed behind Fang Zheng, and together they walked in the direction indicated by the chains.
The entire sewer was silent, except for the footsteps of Fang Zheng and Iona; there was not the slightest sound. Fang Zheng held the chains, observing his surroundings as he moved forward, while Iona quietly followed behind him, her face carrying a complex expression as she watched his back.
"... Is there sothing on your mind, Iona?"
Fang Zheng, of course, had not failed to notice Iona’s gaze. In fact, Iona had been acting strangely since the beginning of this adventure; she rarely took the initiative to participate in missions before, but this ti she was particularly eager to join. Of course, Fang Zheng was not entirely unaware of Iona’s thoughts. He also wanted to find an opportunity to have a proper conversation with Iona, and he believed now was a good ti.
Facing Fang Zheng’s inquiry, Iona fell silent for a mont before she softly spoke.
"...Captain, has Iona not been able to help you?"
"Why would you think that?"
Hearing Iona’s question, Fang Zheng turned his head to look at her and, noticing his gaze, Iona lowered her head like a child who had done sothing wrong.
"Because... lately, the captain hasn’t been acting together with ..."
"Uh..."
Hearing this response, Fang Zheng was sowhat speechless. In the Azure World, he and Iona had cleared about three hundred days of instance missions, and at that ti, Fang Zheng practically lived aboard Iona. But after returning to the Heavenly Dao Palace, due to many tasks needing attention and the current lack of need for the Sea Mist Fleet, Fang Zheng naturally wasn’t spending as much ti with Iona as before.
For Fang Zheng, this was just part of his routine, but obviously, Iona found it sowhat hard to accept this change.
Of course, this situation wasn’t unique to Iona, but the difference was that she and others like Natsuse and Fumie Busei, though also reluctant to part from Fang Zheng, similarly enjoyed a peaceful life. Therefore, even without combat, these children could still enjoy a leisurely life within the Heavenly Dao Palace.
But the Warship of Sea Mist was different, as mind models always considered themselves weapons, and no gun likes to be kept clean and put away; on the contrary, they can only show their true value on the battlefield.
However, for the ti being, there was no scenario where Fang Zheng needed to mobilize the Sea Mist Fleet, and perhaps other mind models were not too concerned, but to Iona, who had always seen Fang Zheng as her captain, this might have given her a feeling of potentially being abandoned.
"You don’t need to think like that, in fact, you have been of great help to . If it weren’t for you and the other mind models, the Heavenly Dao Palace would likely be far more dangerous. And now, it is precisely because of you all that the Heavenly Dao Palace manages to maintain peace."
As he said this, Fang Zheng looked at Iona.
"Moreover, this is just the beginning, Iona. I assure you, there will be many opportunities for you to go onto the battlefield..."
These weren’t just empty promises from Fang Zheng, who knew whether he might unlock a science fiction ga or movie setting in the future. In such cases, the Sea Mist Fleet would be the first to be deployed.
"Of course, I won’t abandon you since you are my secretary ship, after all."
"I understand, Captain."
Hearing this, Iona fell silent for a mont, then gently nodded her head.
"I will follow by your side."
Facing Iona’s response, Fang Zheng rely smiled, aware that words alone were not convincing enough to reassure Iona. Practical asures had to be taken. However, as long as he could placate her for now, he believed that there would be plenty of opportunities in the future for Iona to see his actions.
Just at that mont, suddenly, the voice of Nymph sounded in Fang Zheng’s ear.
"Master! Can you hear ? Master!"
"What’s the matter, Nymph? What has happened?"
Hearing Nymph’s call, Fang Zheng also hurriedly gripped the chain in his hand, then inquired in his mind.
"I have detected a strong signal nearby, and according to the radiation frequency fluctuations, the source is very likely the guardian of the goddess we’ve been looking for!"
"What?"
Hearing that, Fang Zheng also was taken aback.
"I’ll be there right away, don’t do anything rash!!"
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