"That should be fine."
After climbing over weedy mounds and ruins one after another, the figures of a few people running south quickly passed through the increasingly dense stone forest, and the crowds echoing the growing number of green stone pillars also followed the team. The march appeared in front of them more and more frequently, replacing the desolation that originally belonged to this area with a completely different noise. No longer able to completely conceal their actions with magic skills and stealth methods, several people used disguises to quietly sneak into the area. They simply concealed their faces with prepared cloaks, cloaks and other objects, and bowed their heads. Whisper's movements look no different from other ordinary people walking in this stone forest: "As long as we don't meet each other and are not stared at, we should not be exposed."
"Just don't do anything that attracts attention, and don't talk to others. No matter what we talk about, we will probably be discovered immediately."
"Walking around, walking around... No, are there any passers-by who deliberately avoid others and walk around? Wouldn't this be more suspicious?"
"That's why I asked you to carry your big knife! You are the most likely to pretend to be a miner! Come on, come on, put two handfuls of dust on your face, and then go to the front to carry it! I promise it will be authentic and will never reveal any flaws!"
"This is also to make our future operations smoother."
Ignoring the two people in front who were about to start fighting again, Duan Qing, who was walking silently behind the team, focused his attention on Mephisto. The latter seemed to understand the purpose of the other party's signal at this time, but After briefly confirming the movements on the left and right, he spoke again: "If at a critical moment, both of us are hiding something, then it's not just a matter of trust."
"We are going to the Emerald Tower this time to retrieve the artifact we placed there." Sansheng Yutang, who was following Mephisto, also nodded and said solemnly: "It's us who are here. After serving the Magic Empire for so long, the reward finally obtained in a certain large-scale mission is very powerful, and is now being 'mortgaged' there."
"Mortgage?" Duan Qing repeated the word unconsciously: "What is the specific situation?"
"The process in between is very complicated, so I won't go into details." Mephisto tugged on the black hood above his head: "Simply put: for the sake of its own security, the Magic Empire, let us provide some Guarantee as the basis for them to rest assured that we can act as we please."
"I understand, it's like a deposit, right?" Duan Qing curled his lips and nodded: "This group of remnants who call themselves successors are still somewhat unsure of themselves... Other guilds are also in the same situation. What?"
"As far as I know, there should be only a few guilds like this, usually money, treasures or other valuable things." Sansheng Fish Pond replied while continuing to look around the surroundings with vigilant eyes: "The other party must have seen that we would not be completely loyal to them, so they came up with this method."
"Adventurers will not always be loyal to a certain force, but adventurers will definitely be loyal to the treasure." Duan Qing nodded his head in agreement: "So what is that artifact? Why did you put it there?"
"The Rod of Eternal Darkness." After saying this name, Mephisto's voice became even lower: "The Magic Empire is not only the one who provided clues, but also contributed a lot to our search process. Reason, choosing this artifact as a mortgage is the best choice for them, since we won’t be able to use it temporarily anyway.”
"When I returned to the Magic Empire this time, I originally wanted to get rid of the relationship and wait for an opportunity to redeem the artifact." Sansheng Yutang sneered at the answer: "Of course, there should be no need to redeem it now. It's here, but it would be more appropriate to take it back."
"Because you have completely broken off the relationship with the Magic Empire?" Duan Qing seemed to have drawn a conclusion from this conversation, and Duan Qing's words became more and more filled with sudden realizations.
Feeling: "That's why you struggled with them outside the Emerald Forest for so long, and then you continued to go in afterward?"
"That's right, after we returned we discovered that the Magic Empire had completely distrusted us due to the machinations of the Wings of Freedom." Mephisto said with a gloomy face: "We have confirmed this fact. I wanted to withdraw right away, but when I thought about the artifact being held in the tower by them, I couldn’t hold my breath, so——”
"So you have an impromptu idea and want to use our hands to return to the Emerald Tower." Duan Qing nodded with increasing certainty: "And the sooner the better, otherwise the things may be confiscated by them."
"It is impossible to confiscate. The owner of that artifact cannot be easily changed." Sansheng Yutang shook his head: "But they may be transferred. If they are hidden in a place we don't know, it is almost impossible for us to get them back. .”
"Okay, I have a general understanding of the situation." Avoiding the path of a group of Magic Empire players that were about to approach, Duan Qing sighed and pulled up the hood on his head a little: "What are you worried about? The whereabouts of the artifact, so I made a temporary decision to rush to the Emerald Tower as soon as possible, but even if you fully explain this matter to us, the help we can provide is very limited."
"Of course we will also summon our own strength." Mephisto shook his head and replied: "But when it comes to a critical moment, just relying on methods such as piling up numbers will not be of much use. Only elite masters can make the final decision."
"You should also know the mission goal of our trip." Duan Qing gestured to other directions around the team: "If we really discover Romulus, we cannot leave it alone. When the time comes -"
"Don't worry, we will also provide the necessary help when the time comes. Otherwise, how can we call it cooperation?" Mephisto let out a few weird laughs: "The only thing that might go wrong is that we are taking back our 'While pledging, you must also complete your tasks."
"That means Romulus and your artifact were imprisoned in the Emerald Tower at the same time, right?"
After bypassing another jungle of stone pillars, Duan Qing walked into a wilderness again with muttering to himself. The sparse woodland and shrubs also appeared in front of everyone as they stopped temporarily, and the gray-robed magician heard The voice of Xue Ling Huan Bing also appeared: "No, the worst case scenario is to part ways."
"Um?"
"If Romulus is not in the Emerald Tower, we will have to separate."
Reminding the other party in a low whisper, Xueling Huan's ice-white long hair was also fluttering in the cold wind passing through the wilderness: "It is not a good thing to agree to this kind of cooperation easily."
"In the final analysis, it's just whether we are willing to help." Duan Qing smiled and answered: "And how certain we are that we can confirm that Romulus is on this road... the words have been said. After such a long time, it stands to reason that you should have been able to see it by now, right?"
"I remember that the Emerald Forest is not so deep, nor does it have such a wide terrain." An imperceptible light flashed in Xueling Huanbing's eyes: "Did the Magic Empire do anything here?"
"For example, they conducted some large-scale experiment here, and then blew up a large stone forest and flattened it." Duan Qing pointed forward and tilted his head half-jokingly: "Have you ever heard of such news? "
"No."
Throwing out these two words casually, Sansheng Fish Pond, who was standing on Mephisto's side, seemed to have lost his initial patience: "We don't squat here every day, how can we keep monitoring what's going on here? ?」
"In our impression, there should have been ruins here." He reached out and patted his teammates on the shoulder to calm down. Mephisto's gloomy face then showed a thoughtful expression: "The village's Ruins—you must have heard of them, right?”
"I have some impressions." Duan Qing nodded with a confused look on his face: "In the area near the Emerald Tower, there were indeed some old villages' sites... Heh, I thought they would keep these places as temporary residences and strongholds. Woolen cloth."
"They did indeed do this, but it seems to have been razed now." Mephisto reminded in a low voice: "There must be a problem, and it happened recently."
"Romulus."
Duan Qing and Xueling Huanbing read out the name again and looked at each other and came up with the same answer at the same time. However, before they could take the steps to start the search, excited calls from the front followed the appearance of Asahi Dongsheng. And the message came back: "You guys! Why haven't you followed? We've been waiting for you in front for a long time!"
"Look, look, what did I find again?" Before Duan Qing and the others could explain, he once again took out a fragment that was the same as before, and happily handed it to the gray-robed magician: " I just said this is the right direction, right? Hahahahaha!"
"Keep your voice down." His excited expression only received a slap from Xueling Huanbing and an angry warning from her: "If you don't want to be discovered, just be quiet! And - where did you find it? ?」
"It's near the pile of rocks ahead, at the edge of the wilderness." Asahi Dongsheng, who was covering his head, replied reluctantly: "Both Gedman and I felt that there should be something there, but now it's not. There is nothing, it must have been cleaned up by the Magic Empire in advance, so maybe something will be left behind..."
"It's difficult to move around in this wilderness, it's just too empty."
Duan Qing and Xue Ling Huan Bing nodded to each other, and then turned his gaze to the distance of the wilderness: "With no shelter and no people passing by, it will become very conspicuous when walking from here."
"If the Magic Empire has deployed eyeliners or other detection methods here, we will be exposed in an instant." Xueling Huanbing also agreed: "It's best to go around and go around the stone forest to the east. Better."
"I don't think there is any problem, but don't we have more professional locals here?" Duan Qing smiled slightly and then turned his eyes to Mephisto aside: "Do you have anything better? suggestion?"
"If you must go around, we suggest going around on the right, that is to the west." Mephisto lowered his head and thought for a moment and then replied: "Although the journey will be longer, it is safer."
"Then let's do it like this." Without giving others more time to speak, Duan Qing nodded and pointed to the right: "Time waits for no one, hurry up and set off."
"About our previous proposal——"
"No problem, let's do this first."
The low-pitched inquiry from Mephisto was interrupted by Duan Qing's words that followed. Duan Qing, who was the first to walk forward, answered with a tone that seemed unconcerned: "We have formed an alliance to help each other for the next actions. At least until we reach the Emerald Tower, this alliance agreement is absolutely valid... Oh, by the way."
"Give."
As if he had just remembered something, he put the mechanical fragment that Asahi Dongsheng had just handed to him into Nina's hand. The little girl who had been following them silently also put away the fragment with a normal expression. He looked like a well-behaved child who quietly accepted the candy: "..."
"What's going on now?"
Among the several people with expressions of doubt or astonishment, Gedman, the last one to return from exploring the front, looked at the back of Duan Qing who left first and asked. Xueling Huanbing, who did not answer, just looked at him and shook his head. Nina left the place without saying a word. In the scene where Mephisto and Sansheng Fish Pond were also leaving, only Asahi Dongsheng left the shield warrior with a last shrug of innocent expression, so Gedemei, who originally planned to say something, Enya could only mutter and curl his lips, dragging his heavy steps to keep up with the team: "Really, can't you understand the hard work of us pathfinders?"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, look at your armor and equipment, I feel a little sorry for you. Do you need me to help you share some of it?"
"……roll."
"What? Do you still think that I will hack your stuff? We have been in the same team for so long, which part of you is valuable?
I know better than you whether a party is worth anything. If you don’t believe me, I’ll report it to you—hey, hey, wait for me! "
Time passed quietly in such a strange atmosphere, and at the same time, the scenery passed by around the quietly rushing team, and the biting cold wind also passed between the wilderness and the stone forest under the almost unchanged dusky sky. In the border area, the voices of people who came from nowhere were accidentally transmitted to the ears of every member of this temporary team. Apart from these noises, the absence of anyone along the way seemed to prove the correctness of Mephisto's previous choice and the safety of this road. However, before the detour was even halfway through, the unexpected happened. happened.
"--stop."
