Paths that have been trampled countless times appeared between ruins and ruins as the team progressed, with some lush shrubs and grasses interspersed in between. The green dotted between the abandoned areas made the originally lifeless scene before everyone's eyes. It brought a slight difference, but it did not bring any relief to the atmosphere between this team - ever since Xueling Huanbing forcibly brought this mixed team, the embarrassment and silence in the team that continued to move forward The silence gradually began to spread in the atmosphere. The white-haired female swordsman who was used to keeping silent did not feel any discomfort on her face, but the stiff look on Duan Qing's face, who cautiously groped forward, became more and more stiff. It's getting more serious: "I said, you two -"
"Shh, be quieter."
Before the words of consolation could be uttered, Gedman, who was staring ahead, issued a serious warning: "This is not the place for talking, nor is it the time to talk. If you have anything to do, we will talk about it later."
"I haven't detected any abnormality, but considering the degree of magic disorder here, my detection magic and induction magic may be wrong." So Duan Qing had no choice but to curl his lips: "Let's rely on You should observe it with your naked eyes."
"That's right, there are two other 'human hearts' that need to be observed with the naked eye. After all, they can't be seen on the surface." Asahi Dongsheng, who was guarding the left side of the team, also uttered strange words in his throat at this time, and his eyes also Deliberately passing by the other two people at the back of the team: "We have to take a closer look."
"snort."
Without making too many excuses, Mephisto, who was walking behind the team, just gave Asahi Dongsheng a dull snort in response. Duan Qing, who was pressing his forehead, then gave up the idea of easing the atmosphere in the team and turned to His eyes fell on the front where the team was groping and marching: "The impression here is far from the impression we had when we first came here... It must have been transformed by them, right?"
"You can understand it just by looking at the structure of this ruins." Mao crouched and tried to remain as hidden as possible. Snow Spirit Huanbing's voice was as groggy as the sky above her head here and now: "Although it's not obvious, the remaining furnishings The traces and structures are all neatly stacked, but the items that should have been stored on these traces are missing.”
"They must have been packed away because they knew about our arrival in advance." Duan Qing sighed in a low voice: "Of course, it is also possible that they were prepared to prevent the collapse of the frontline war or other possible enemy attacks... Haha , I find this reason somewhat unbelievable.”
"The smell of the trap has become stronger and stronger." Xueling Huanbing did not look back, but the questioning voice still came over freshly: "Do you still want to persist?"
"Wait a minute, anyway, there are no other clues yet."
Gently patting the other party's back, Duan Qing's eyes also flashed with a strange light: "Before the 'suspiciousness' is not transformed into 'reality', we still have many ways to investigate and confirm. If we suspect that we are wrong, If you make a reckless choice easily, the situation may develop in an unpredictable direction."
"But 'doubt' itself is a problem, and you should have seen the effect." Xueling Huanbing quietly gestured behind her with her eyes: "If it is not solved, this problem may now destroy us, at least our mission Don’t even think about it being completed.”
"...Okay, let me test it a little more." So Duan Qing raised his head and thought for a while, and his walking pace also slowed down a bit: "Mr. Mephisto, don't pay attention to what my companion said. Since we If the leader has spoken, you will no longer be suspected."
"I hope so." Mephisto, who was wearing a black robe, did not reply, but Sansheng Yutang who was following him snorted coldly: "There is no need to force it too hard. If something unexpected happens, we will I will also be ready to run away at any time.”
"By the way, we have arrived at the Emerald Tower now. We are not far from the opponent's core area." Duan Qing pointed towards the towering Dark Tower among the ruins in front of him, and there was something in his sight. With a sense of inquiry: "You should have a general direction of what you are looking for, right?"
"If we are not mistaken, the artifact should be in the tower." Mephisto replied in a low voice: "We can't guarantee the specific floors. The first thing we need to determine is how to enter the tower. After entering, we can It’s not too late to search.”
"With just the few of us, it's not easy to find that artifact." Duan Qing touched his nose and let out a few dry laughs: "Of course, we broke in openly while the other party was guarding them. Judging from the current situation, it seems that they are not strictly monitoring this area...Ahem, it would be better to say that there is no one here, which is really unimaginable."
"It's normal for no one to show up." Mephisto replied in a low voice: "Because the Emerald Tower itself has sufficient surveillance and guard functions, there is no need for sentry or anything like that. Previously, in this ruins The group of people who were rebuilding were just looking for a place to stay and exchange, and they only made temporary use of the ruins."
"You mean, the area we are passing through now was once an exchange?" Duan Qing raised his eyebrows with a surprised expression: "Is it the exchange of the Magic Empire?"
"No, it is an exchange established voluntarily by players. It is similar in nature to a hermit camp." Sansheng Fish Pond on the side replied in a low voice: "The Magic Empire appears to be very strict and professional in terms of magic-related management, but in ordinary I’m almost not good at management, and the players who come here can’t do anything but help with work, so I choose suitable places to gather in various regions and sell and trade items spontaneously.”
"It seems that wherever there are players, there will be such demand." So Duan Qing nodded with enlightenment: "Have you also been to this 'private market'?"
"When I was on a mission before, I took a look at it in my spare time. I can only say that it was like 'mining for gold in the sand' at best. Most of them were not good products."
"But why is no one missing now?"
"I don't know, he must have been driven away for some reason, war, or a ban from the Magic Empire."
Answering Duan Qing's words casually, Sansheng Yutang's eyes flashed with a strange light at this moment: "Humph, are you still doubting us?"
"My paranoia is not as serious as that of some of my teammates, but there is still some."
Having reached the edge of the ruins, the team stopped just before being exposed to the surveillance of the tower. Duan Qing, who was hiding in the shadow of the ruins, then put away the joke on his face and looked towards the Devil's Paradise seriously. The two said: "I think we should exchange more information, which will also help strengthen the trust between us, after all-"
"After all, our Qingling Adventure Group is already famous all over the world. Apart from the mission goal of coming here this time, we have nothing to hide." The person who followed this sentence was Xueling Huanbing who came forward: " We know very little about your situation. Before formulating a specific invasion plan, any lack of communication and understanding may become a fatal obstacle, right?”
"Do you want to use the information we provide as the main axis?" Mephisto pointed in the direction of the unfriendly eyes of Gedman and Asahi Dongsheng behind him: "Can I understand that-if If there is really a chance to invade that tower, do you plan to help us find the artifact first?"
"After all, we are still not sure where Romulus is. We don't even know if he is here." Duan Qing shrugged helplessly after laying down a few useful magic barrier runes. : "Of course, we will also depend on the situation. If the plan you made seems really wonderful, then follow your plan first."
"I still don't believe either of them."
The atmosphere froze at this moment. Asahi Dongsheng curled his lips and said this before Mephisto was about to speak again: "Since the two of them have problems, and we let them formulate an invasion plan, then Aren’t you just throwing yourself into a trap?”
"At least listen to what their plan is first." Duan Qing explained nonchalantly: "If we feel that the plan is not suitable, we can put forward our opinions again."
"We have been inside this barrier for so long. Let alone enemies, we haven't even seen a sentry." Gedman on the other side also frowned deeply: " I don’t know why you and the leader can trust these two people so much, but everything tells us that they are ‘abnormal’, so we should at least eliminate these abnormal factors first, right?”
"I know, I know. If everything was 'normal', a large number of people should have come to hunt us down at this time." Duan Qing sighed and replied: "But the reality is that we haven't encountered anything. There were no pursuers or ambushes, it was just like being free-range——"
Halfway through his words, a hint of alertness flashed in the gray-robed magician's eyes, and a vigilant light flashed in the eyes of Xue Ling Huanbing, who was looking at him, and he made a hidden gesture with both hands towards everyone present: "Shhh !”
"Quick! Go search over there!"
Faint shouts then came from the depths of darkness ahead, and several figures gradually emerged from the depths of the horizon on one side of the tower, shrouded in the dark sky. These figures spread out in a fan shape were also gradually approaching. While looking at the ruins, they reminded each other of their position: "We have arrived at the outskirts of the old ruins! There is no sign of the other party! Start searching now!"
"Look, isn't this coming?"
Huddled in their respective hiding positions, Duan Qing's ears heard Xue Ling Huan Bing's extremely low-pitched mocking voice: "I just said there were no pursuers or ambushes, and now there is one."
"Which one do you think it is?" Duan Qing, who was hiding behind the broken wall with his arms folded, also murmured to the other party amidst the sound of exhaling close by: "Are you here to search for us? Or are you waiting in front? We waited for a long time, and finally got impatient and came over to look for us?"
"No matter what it is, we can't sit still and wait for death." Gedman's low voice reminded the two people in front of them. The shield warrior was also in a state of readiness at this time, staring closely ahead. The figure in the grass on the other side of the broken wall was still approaching: "They haven't discovered us yet. We still have a chance to strike first. Do you want to take action?"
"My suggestion is not to take action." His inquiry received a low response from Mephisto: "This team is just an advance team, and their search operations are under the surveillance of the tower. Once we take action, we will It will definitely be completely exposed.”
"If we don't take action, are we waiting for them to discover us?" Asahi Dongsheng accused in an anxious tone: "We have no magic means to cover our whereabouts! It will be a matter of time before we are discovered!"
"Since it will be discovered sooner or later, it is better to strike first - is this what you want to say, right?" Sansheng Fish Pond let out a few low laughs: "As someone who has been there, I can give you some advice: Don't do it as a last resort. Don’t take the initiative to expose yourself, you will definitely regret it.”
"What nonsense are you talking about? Why can't I understand?" His words caused Asahi Dongsheng's backlash: "I think you want us to just sit back and capture you, right?"
"Shh! Keep your voice down!" The white-haired swordswoman then suppressed the emotional expression of her teammate, and then turned her gaze in the direction of Duan Qing: "Do you have any other confidence?"
"……hold on."
Facing the clearer and clearer shouts from the closer and closer search players, Duan Qing finally restrained his actions: "It doesn't seem like they knew someone was hiding here, otherwise they wouldn't be so loud. Search...hey, maybe he's trying to scam us."
"Are you sure you want to continue waiting?" Goldman's response became a little impatient: "At least we should change to another place -"
"No, it's too late to change places, we are here."
His voice had been lowered to the extreme, and Duan Qing began to gesture to everyone else to indicate the direction and location: "A suitable place to hide...here, here, and behind the wall, find a place, and hold on as long as you can. "
"If we really can't hold on and are discovered, it won't be too late for us to take action."
The sound of swaying in the grass gradually came along with the sound of footsteps, and the swaying black shadow finally broke through the boundaries of the wilderness and came to the front of the ruins. The search team, who seemed to be very familiar with the ruins, also began to spread their hands very familiarly. , and walked along the boundary between the dirt road and the broken wall step by step. There was almost only a wall between the nearest players. Snow Spirit Huanbing, who had chosen a hidden spot in the front, had already held his breath. However, the frosty face and the white sword raised high finally reached him. But before the other party appeared, a deafening explosion came from the top of the distant tower.
boom!
