Through the observation window, Lebius noticed the injured soldiers lying in the hospital beds. With the rescue efforts at the Border Sanatorium, they were all out of life-threatening danger, but due to severe injuries, most remained in a coma, under subsequent observation.
Retracting his gaze, the wide and silent corridor was filled with heavy pressure. Everyone wore somber expressions, with unresolved worries between their brows, but no one sighed, as everyone held their breath in restraint.
The sll of disinfectant and blood lingered at the tip of the nose, an unpleasant sensation, as if having experienced a battlefield without drawing weapons.
Lebius leaned on his cane, tapping against the solid ground, creating the only noise in the silence. Geoffrey followed behind Lebius, his face also serious, brows furrowed.
At the end of the corridor, Yas, the leader of the Sixth Group, Violence Suppression Action Group, stood with arms crossed. Beside him stood Hart, his muscular body and fur attracting attention wherever he appeared.
The few exchanged glances, and Lebius pushed open a door on the side of the corridor, with the others following him.
The scent of disinfectant and blood was even stronger inside the ward, as if a major surgery had just taken place. Rachel had been waiting here for so ti.
Lebius asked, "Can we start?"
"Yes," Rachel nodded, worry evident, "His condition isn’t good; it’s best to end quickly."
"I understand."
Rachel left the ward, leaving the space to the Field Operations mbers.
Pulling open the curtain, a wounded Field Staff lay on the hospital bed. His complexion was pallid, breath weak, and his entire right foot had disappeared, leaving a clean stump.
Marlori, the unlucky guy Palr spoke of, who lost a leg. If he had been slower by a few seconds in entering the path, it wouldn’t just be a leg but half his body.
Through the ergency rescue at the Border Sanatorium and various excess doses of Alchemy Potions, after several hours of effort, they finally snatched Marlori back from the Death God’s grasp.
Marlori’s body was severely tortured, but his ntal state was relatively good, clear enough to converse with the others.
"Hello everyone."
Marlori forced a smile, nodding at the two leaders, having known each other for so ti.
Lebius pulled up a chair, sitting by Marlori’s side, looking at Marlori’s severed leg. Lebius ought to offer so words of comfort, but there were more important matters than consolation, and for all Field Staff, this was all too common.
"What exactly happened?"
Lebius questioned. Ever since the incident with the Tenth Group, the Field Operations Departnt dispatched several squads to investigate, yet no response had been received. To Lebius, it seed better to directly inquire from those involved rather than wait for them.
After a simple weigh-up, Rachel agreed with Lebius’s idea, and the doctors reluctantly woke up one of the team mbers, the person in front of them, Marlori.
Marlori sighed; indeed, though they hadn’t seen each other for so ti, Lebius was still that workaholic he was familiar with.
The others were also accustod to Lebius’s nature. Geoffrey, standing behind Lebius, nodded apologetically to Marlori.
Marlori struggled to suppress the physical pain, organizing his thoughts.
"At the beginning, everything proceeded normally, every step strictly following the plan.
We surrounded Iris Town, an important stronghold of the Sangvein sect in the Narrow Countries, with an Extraordinary Disaster: Eternal Rotting Land already ford inside. According to disposal regulations, we poured hundreds of tons of Red rcury inside; the soaring flas were visible from tens of kiloters away."
Recalling that treacherous battle, Marlori felt a wave of repression. The Tenth Group’s action against the Sangvein sect persisted for several months, during which they were constantly engaged in high-intensity combat, and this final siege was undoubtedly the most frenzied of all.
Flas dried and cracked the land, burning all flesh away, while air currents easily incited fiery winds, the ash sweeping toward everyone like a snowstorm.
"Just as stipulated in the regulations, after demolishing each patch of Eternal Rotting Land, we advanced step by step, everything proceeded smoothly. The flesh monsters the Sangvein sect prized were turned to ash by the Red rcury, and those Condensers perished in the fire.
Only a few High Tier Condensers resisted the flas’ assault, but those few High Tier Condensers stood no chance against us. Especially since we had a Defender on our side."
Marlori referred to the leader of the Tenth Group. Under the Defender’s protection, their offensive was akin to wildfire, easily crushing the enemy.
"To be honest, everything went smoothly beyond imagination. We simply wiped out these bastards."
Halfway through his words, Marlori’s expression turned grim. Hart quickly approached, picked up the tranquilizer, and administered an injection to Marlori. After a few minutes, Marlori’s state improved significantly.
"From your report, after months of pursuit, the Sangvein sect’s strength had already been greatly weakened. The Sangvein sect in Iris Town was rely residual power, surviving on the Eternal Rotting Land. Your successful attack fell within reasonable expectations."
Lebius said that before coming, he had carefully read the report of the Tenth Group and was well aware of their actions.
Marlori nodded in agreent with Lebius’s words. He said, "Then... then we began to clear the scene. You all know, not a trace of the flesh of the Crimson Decay Sect can be left behind on the scene, even if it has been scorched by fire, it must be checked again."
"In the core of the hinterland, we found a cellar, a place of great importance to the Crimson Decay Sect. They built walls of flesh several ters thick to resist the scorching of Red rcury, and when we discovered it, it had not been affected by the flas at all.
We stord in, and after a battle, we found that inside the cellar, in addition to the cultists of the Crimson Decay Sect, there was another group of unexpected guests."
Lebius asked, "Who are they?"
Marlori explained, "The Gray Trade Association. Those strange rchants were also there. We speculate that they were in the middle of a transaction with the Crimson Decay Sect, but the deal wasn’t concluded before they were surrounded by us. Like the cultists, the rchants had no way out and hid in the cellar."
"Your Tenth Group’s post-action report didn’t ntion this at all."
Yas questioned, as the leader of the Sixth Group, he had also reviewed the Tenth Group’s action report, which made no ntion of the Gray Trade Association.
"Don’t rush, let explain slowly."
Marlori had anticipated their confusion and had sufficient reasons to explain all of it.
"It was Gold’s directive. He instructed us to keep the appearance of the Gray Trade Association confidential."
The room fell silent. Gold, referenced by Marlori, is the leader of the Tenth Group, stationed at the Fourth Stage, with the Defensive War Chariot.
"The battle in the cellar was intense. It seed like they were protecting sothing, with an intense desire to resist, but under our leader’s assault, their defenses crumbled and collapsed instantly.
During the subsequent cleanup, the leader found sothing, which was presumably the item being traded between the Gray Trade Association and the Crimson Decay Sect."
Lebius realized that the cause of this incident might have originated from the item that Gold discovered during the trade. He did not urge and remained patient, listening to Marlori’s recount.
"I guess you’re wondering what that trade item was now?" Marlori said with a bitter smile. "I’m sorry, I don’t know what it was either."
"Judging by the leader’s reaction at the ti, that trade item must have been very important. He has always been a composed person, but after seeing the trade item, he uncharacteristically lost control of his emotions, drove us out of the cellar, leaving only himself behind.
The leader spent so ti alone with that trade item, and when he ca out, he carried the trade item and ordered us to return to the Order Bureau as quickly as possible."
Marlori felt a headache, covering his head, taking deep breaths repeatedly, striving to control his willpower. Hart intended to administer another sedative to Marlori, but Marlori refused.
"Ah... this feeling is terrible."
Marlori panted heavily, calming his breathing, and weakly said, "Looking back, the leader considered that trade item extrely important, so much so that he didn’t even docunt it in the report, but kept it a secret and personally escorted it back to the Order Bureau."
"For this reason, he even disrupted the original plan. You must know, according to our planned actions, we were supposed to patrol the Narrow Countries for another week before returning to the Order Bureau."
"The entire Tenth Group, escorting that trade item?"
Lebius spoke, feeling a sense of pressure. This was a formidable force, yet it was used for escorting.
But even so, problems arose with the escort action.
"What happened next is as you are aware. We were at our base in the Narrow Countries, preparing to return to the Order Bureau via a shortcut when we were attacked by an unknown group during our return."
Marlori murmured, "It seems this trade item is truly significant... perhaps the recent actions of the Crimson Decay Sect were also for this trade item."
Lebius nodded, now that they had gathered enough information, it was ti to report to the Decision Room.
"The Primordial Artifact."
Suddenly, Marlori uttered a mysterious term, looking at Lebius as he continued, "The leader never explained to us what the trade item was, but he referred to it as ’The Primordial Artifact.’
"Alright, we understand."
Lebius nodded again to Marlori, who then fainted after holding on for a few more seconds.
Sustained by dication, the will could no longer hold on at this mont.
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