On the other side, the people from the rchant Organization followed the trail left by the black rchant and arrived at the area ravaged by mutated carrion squirrels.
The burly man in a gray mask looked at the corridor crowded with mutated carrion squirrels like mountains and seas, without showing a trace of fear, because to him, this kind of scene was already... commonplace.
As the most secretive grey rchant of the rchant Organization, he, along with his subordinates, spent most of their days exterminating monsters in the Underground Labyrinth.
And the place with the most monsters was the sewer. The grey rchant and his n had been to the sewer multiple tis and had faced even more terrifying dense encirclents than the current one.
Therefore, looking at this group of mutated carrion squirrels, not only was the grey rchant unafraid, but all those wearing gray uniforms also appeared very relaxed.
On the contrary, at the rear, those in black and white uniforms mostly showed timid and wary expressions.
The grey rchant glanced at that group of cowards, shook his head with a sneer, thinking that these people’s quality was only good enough to bully those adventure groups on the surface. When faced with real events, they ran faster than anyone else.
However, the grey rchant was responsible only for his own subordinates, and how the subordinates of black and white rchants behaved was none of his concern. So, he cast a sidelong glance and then looked away.
Looking at his own subordinates, the grey rchant said casually: "Who will go this ti?"
Among those wearing gray uniforms, six people raised their hands.
The grey rchant pointed consecutively at three people: "You three put your hands down; this ti it’s not a wiping-out operation, there’s no ti for a gradual advance."
He then looked at the other three who had raised their hands, hesitated for a mont, and first looked at the man on the far right wearing a gray mask with the image of an evil ghost on it: "Ghost Shadow, we can’t determine the specific number of these monsters. Your shadow traversal may not last till the end."
Ghost Shadow said nothing, directly lowering his hand.
The grey rchant then looked at the remaining two people. One looked like a petite girl not yet fourteen years old, who had decorated her pink hair with the mask; her small hand raised highest, occasionally jumping, fearing the grey rchant might not see her. The other was a green-haired man, whose aura was lazy, without wearing a mask but having it strapped to his waist, exposing a freckled face.
The grey rchant first looked at the pink-haired girl, frowned: "Why are you causing a fuss?"
Pink-haired girl: "I’m not causing a fuss. There’s residue of illusion technique here, surely the previous people used illusion. I’m also an Illusionist, I can do this."
Grey rchant: "If you’re just trying to compare illusions, let tell you, you’ve already lost."
The pink-haired girl looked unconvinced, but the grey rchant had already turned to the green-haired man, leaving her puffing up her cheeks angrily.
"Shepherd, you go this ti." The grey rchant looked at the green-haired man and made a decision.
The green-haired man known as Shepherd stretched lazily, pulled a short flute from behind his waist-strapped mask, "Okay, it’s been a while since encountering rodent monsters. I almost forgot the lody of a wandering rodent group... Oh, do squirrels count as rodents?"
Grey rchant: "Stop asking boring questions, get to action."
Shepherd curled his lips, took his flute, and walked alone towards the terrible and ugly monster group.
The lodious flute began to float gently, all mutated carrion squirrels who heard it paused, their originally murderous crimson eyes slowly becoming dazed.
Shepherd just kept playing the flute as he walked towards the group of mutated carrion squirrels.
And the mutated carrion squirrels did not attack Shepherd, instead gave way to clear a path for him. The carrion squirrels on both sides swayed their heads following the flute’s rhythm, seemingly dancing.
The subordinates of the black and white rchants were all stunned at this sight, unable to believe that the seemingly unmanageable situation was resolved with only one subordinate sent by the grey rchant.
"Stop standing around, follow along," the grey rchant glanced at those in black and white uniforms and called out. As for his own subordinates, they were already following the Shepherd’s steps.
Only then did the people in black and white uniforms co to their senses and quickly followed.
The grey rchant was the last to catch up, not to act as the rear guard, but because he noticed sothing unusual about the white rchant, he fell behind just to ask about his situation.
"What’s wrong with you?" The grey rchant was still polite to the white rchant, who although only managed logistics in the organization, was an extrely knowledgeable person; more importantly, he possessed a rare skill in the Southern Domain: Inscription Studies.
Moreover, the white rchant often helped the grey rchant create inscription designs.
The evil ghost on Ghost Shadow’s mask was the masterpiece of the white rchant.
"Don’t worry, I’m fine." The white rchant said, but the grey rchant was not brushed off.
He rely watched quietly, then his gaze fell to the white rchant’s hand gripping his coat tightly, with veins protruding.
After a mont of silence, the white rchant finally sighed, "I’m fine, but... sothing happened to the black rchant."
Although outwardly opposing each other, as high-level mbers of the Birlos Family, the grey rchant was well aware that the black rchant and the white rchant were siblings. Their apparent rivalry was entirely black rchant’s designs; outwardly it seed mischievous, but in reality, insiders understood that the black rchant purely wanted to create a sense of existence in front of his brother the white rchant.
As siblings, and twins at that, they shared a mind connection; when one was in trouble, the other sensed it.
Clearly, the white rchant had sensed that his brother might be in trouble.
The grey rchant pondered and asked a seemingly rude question: "Did he die?"
The white rchant understood the grey rchant’s intent; he was not being rude but was trying to confirm the situation to plan subsequent actions.
"Not dead, but seems in a very bad situation."
"Can you sense his approximate location?"
The white rchant closed his eyes, sensed for a mont, and hesitantly said: "Feels like, just ahead."
The grey rchant nodded, said nothing further, nor comforted the white rchant, and instead approached the Shepherd directly.
"Speed up, it’s too slow."
Too slow? Shepherd was almost out of breath playing the flute.
"When I say it’s too slow, it’s too slow. Speed up, at least twice the current pace; if you go faster, there’ll be a reward when we return."
The grey rchant often distributed rewards, but individual rewards were rare. The last one was Ghost Shadow, whose reward was the inscription on his mask, significantly enhancing his abilities, making everyone green with envy.
Still blowing the flute, Shepherd pointed at the inscription on Ghost Shadow’s mask, the implication clear: Would an inscription be possible?
The grey rchant: "Yes."
Upon hearing this, Shepherd’s lazy deanor instantly transford into enthusiasm. The flute tune shifted from a soft lody to rhythmic music, paired with intentional drumming steps, turning the whole scene spirited.
The faster Shepherd stomped, the faster the path-clearing by the mutated carrion squirrels progressed.
This quickly brought their progress to double the previous pace.
However, Shepherd was still unsatisfied, his feet fueled by his Bloodline Power, transmuting into two hoofed feet embedded with tal plates, his stomping speed accelerating, and the drumming sounds quickly sped up.
Everyone’s hearts, unknowingly, started pounding fiercely along with Shepherd’s flute.
"Ghost Shadow, disguise everyone’s hearing and touch." The grey rchant sensed the crowd’s strange expressions, promptly instructing Ghost Shadow to obscure their senses.
With their hearing and touch lost, the crowd looked at Shepherd as if watching a mad dancer. Yet, not a single person appeared condescending.
From the violent drumming just now, it was clear how terrifying the Shepherd’s true strength was.
Previously, they could only double their speed, but now, with the Shepherd’s eruption, the progress of everyone beca faster and faster. In the end, the Shepherd directly tripled the original speed, an astonishing achievent.
When the White rchant sensed the location of the Black rchant, the Shepherd finally slowed the flute rhythm.
At this point, the Shepherd was pale all over, with sweat dripping continuously from his face, indicating that the previous explosion had been a strain of his entire energy.
"We’ve arrived, it’s right there." The White rchant suddenly pointed in a direction.
At this mont, everyone still didn’t know they were searching for the Black rchant, so when they saw the direction the White rchant was pointing, they thought there was sothing unusual there.
In fact, there was indeed sothing unusual, on the high wall, there was a small doghole.
However, the White rchant was not pointing to the doghole, but to a skinny and fainting mutated Carrion Squirrel below it.
The others still didn’t know what was happening, but the Gray rchant and the White rchant swiftly reached the side of this mutated Carrion Squirrel. The White rchant carefully placed his hand on its forehead.
After a while, the White rchant sighed with relief: "It’s just that the vitality and energy are exhausted, not harming the root, taking so ti can completely restore it."
Upon hearing this, the Gray rchant also relaxed the burden in his heart. The Black rchant’s importance was not only his personal strength; moreover, the Black rchant was quite grateful to the Birlos Family who had saved his life, which led him to join them willingly. However, the White rchant did not have this constraint; he hadn’t joined the Birlos Family yet. But, as long as the Black rchant remained here, the White rchant would never leave.
So, seeing that the Black rchant was still alive, not only was the White rchant pleased, but the Gray rchant also relaxed his tense heart slowly.
The White rchant cautiously picked up the Black rchant, who had transford into a Carrion Mutated Squirrel, then said to the Gray rchant: "I can’t advance with you temporarily. I need to give the Black rchant basic treatnt first, or even if he recovers, there will be sequelae."
The Gray rchant nodded. The Underground Labyrinth was originally the responsibility of the Gray rchant; this ti, both Black and White rchants ca only because they discovered this new entrance first, granting them priority exploration rights.
Just when the White rchant was about to bid farewell, he suddenly exclaid.
Under the watchful gaze of the Gray rchant, the White rchant gently opened the tightly closed mouth of the Black rchant, and an energy mass slowly floated out.
The energy was extrely faint, so faint that it only left a shadow in the air before disappearing.
The shadow left by the energy contained only a line of words: Do not go through the doghole, there is an unbeatable...
Clearly, this was a warning left by the Black rchant after an inhuman encounter, using the last of his energy. It’s just that perhaps at the end, the energy was exhausted, or maybe he fell unconscious, and the specific situation was not ntioned.
But this was sufficient.
This was a warning; it didn’t matter what unbeatable thing was inside, as long as they knew not to go through that doghole. The Black rchant obviously chose the wrong path when selecting the route, leading to the current predicant.
"He left a very useful piece of information," said the Gray rchant. "But it seems he hasn’t caught up with those who ca before."
Pausing for a mont, the Gray rchant looked at the White rchant: "Then we’ll continue forward."
The White rchant nodded: "I’ll head back to the base first."
As the White rchant was about to retreat, he suddenly stopped, and said to the Gray rchant: "For those who arrived first, you need to be cautious. If you’re able to engage in friendly communication, try not to resolve it with combat. Along the way, they left clues for us; it could be a goodwill gesture or a provocation. I lean towards the forr."
The Gray rchant was silent for a mont: "I understand, I’ll handle it."
With that, the three main rchants of the rchant Organization parted ways. The Gray rchant, with his subordinates, continued the pursuit, while the White rchant, with his and the Black rchant’s subordinates, retreated.
Actually, these subordinates could continue following the Gray rchant, but the White rchant, after thinking it over, decided that given their minimal strength, it might be better for them to stay. After all, there’s still a living area at this entrance, and they should be able to gain sothing exploring there.
...
As the Black, White, and Gray rchants parted ways, the doghole on that high wall slowly disappeared again.
At the sa ti, from the depths of the doghole, a tiny voice was heard: "It’s rare to encounter living people, letting them go just like that, really unwilling."
Another rough voice replied: "Have you forgotten what the Dominator Lord just instructed? The people of the rchant Organization are cleaning up the sewage area; the magical creatures’ living cycle can nourish the Magical Energy Array. This could count as a small contribution to Naraku’s restoration, and taking so blood and energy for research doesn’t necessitate harming lives."
"And those people outside were all from the rchant Organization, capturing them wouldn’t make a difference."
The tiny voice mumbled: "What about those few people at the very start? They weren’t wearing the rchant Organization’s attire."
The rough voice pondered: "Didn’t they choose not to take this path? Moreover, I vaguely feel that they aren’t simple; if they truly chose our path, the victor might not be us."
"Is that so? Then, shouldn’t we report to the Dominator Lord?"
"Would you bother the Dominator Lord over such a small matter? Never mind, go if you want, but don’t think I don’t know; you just miss your mother."
The depths of the doghole resounded with laughter, the kind after being caught, followed by the doghole returning to tranquility...
...
On the other side, Angel and the others had successfully bypassed through the Review House.
However, they were now faced with a choice between two paths.
One side led to a bottomless alleyway between buildings, the other to a brightly lit Little Garden illuminated by fluorite.
From the direction of the end, it seed both could reach their destination, but which one to choose was the dilemma.
This ti, Angel did not speak, instead, he directly looked at Dox.
"You’re not making the choice?" Dox asked in surprise.
Angel: "Since we decided to follow your lead when we started down this path, we should follow through to the end."
Seeing Dox still sowhat hesitant, Angel thought for a mont, then added: "Besides, even if there’s a problem, I won’t need to take the bla."
Dox: "As expected, you’re just afraid of taking the bla for a wrong choice. Fine, I’ll do it; I’m never afraid to take the bla!"
With that said, Dox took on the task of making the decision.
anwhile, Angel was privately chatting with Black Earl, speculating on which path Dox would choose.
Black Earl: "If it were you, which would you choose?"
Angel thought for a mont: "In my case, probably the Little Garden. The fluorites in the Little Garden are quite bright, and Ghosteye Witches are creatures that prefer darkness, so taking the Little Garden should be safer."
Black Earl: "My answer is the sa as yours. But Dox might find it perplexing."
Inspiration reversal doesn’t an the inspiration is wrong every ti. Dox needs to determine whether the guidance of inspiration this ti is real or fake.
Therefore, what Dox is considering now is not the problem of danger, but whether to trust the inspiration.
Previously in the choice of path, Dox went against it once; will he choose to go against it again this ti?
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