Chapter 1 I Really Regret It

Hao Ren now truly regretted not insisting on a different name when he first formed the mercenary团 (tuan – group/team). Now that he thought about it, even Pink Fluffy Bunnies would have been better than this. When Gelton solemnly said, “Good names are always taken by dogs,” everyone present looked ashen, except for Lily, who was actually gleeful. She even jumped out and introduced herself: “Right, right, I’m the vice-captain of the mercenary團 (tuan)…”

Hao Ren decided he might as well let her be the vice-captain from now on, even though there wasn’t really such a position in his team…

Gelton mainly inquired in detail about the origins of this mercenary team and how they had rescued the four ascetics, partly to gather information and partly to verify the authenticity of the whole affair. He didn’t try to hide his verification process; as the local parish head, it was normal for him to be cautious about this matter. However, Hao Ren and the others had already rehearsed the whole story with Big Beard several times, so of course, they told it flawlessly.

“In that case, I have no more questions. You have done a great service on this trip,” Gelton said, breathing a sigh of relief after the detailed questioning. The wrinkles on his face smoothed out, and he finally looked curiously at Hao Ren. “However, I’m very curious as to why you didn’t come directly to Leyton Town but instead went to the edge of the Holy Lake. Wouldn’t it be more troublesome to escort the Holy Pearl back to town that way? I heard you teleported here; did the landing point go wrong?”

Hao Ren said with a serious face: “No other reason, just a slip of the hand.”

Vivian punched him beside him, helping to explain: “We weren’t too familiar with the terrain around Blood Lake, and there are many sources of magical energy here in Leyton Town, so we chose an open space to teleport to. But we didn’t expect the stone giants to have already infiltrated the Blood Lake’s surroundings. We thought we only needed to deal with the monsters in the Twisted Woodland.”

Gelton nodded solemnly: “I see… that makes sense. Fortunately, nothing happened to you.”

Big Beard then asked, “I know the defense line here was breached once, but why haven’t all the invading魔物 (mowu – demonic creatures) been purified yet?”

Gelton glanced at Hao Ren and the others, but considering that these things were no longer confidential and that the people before him had witnessed and participated in the whole affair, he didn’t hide anything. “We’ve only blocked the breach here in Leyton Town. The魔物 (mowu) have other routes to bypass our defense line…”

The old parish head then explained the situation roughly. What he said was obviously more accurate and detailed than what the knight captain had said earlier: “…Everything was fine before. Although monsters occasionally split off from the mountains, they were few in number and had a simple route, so it wasn’t difficult to deal with them. We set up fortifications on the main roads, and after learning the weaknesses of those monsters, we easily blocked them. Then I began to study ancient books about the ancient magic civilization, wanting to find out the reason why these giants split off from the Dragon Spine Mountains. Before there was any progress in the research, we were prepared to keep stalemating with the魔物 (mowu), but the research was slow in coming… More than half a month ago, the main peak of the Dragon Spine Mountains had a major collapse, and soon after, news came from the northern defense line that it was under heavy attack. The main force here went to support as usual, but soon after, the front of the defense line was attacked by a large group of魔物 (mowu)… That was the first time those stone monsters showed planned actions, and their numbers were several times greater than before…”

Gelton paused and continued: “After the defense line here in Leyton was breached, the southern part of the mountains also collapsed, and this collapse was even more bizarre: the entire mountain changed its shape in the collapse as if it were alive, twisting and extending into a road. This new mountain body directly crossed the mountain ridges on the defense line and extended into the Twisted Woodland. The monsters that are now appearing around the Holy Lake are basically invading from that sinful mountain road. If you go south, you can easily see that scene: a new mountain body extends from the Dragon Spine Mountains and is hanging over our defense line.”

Gelton told Hao Ren and the others these things in a simple and detailed way, without the slightest pretense of being a parish head, because he knew that the four ascetics before him would eventually return to the royal capital to report the recent situation here to the Pope, so he simply took the opportunity to explain the situation clearly.

“The mountain range actively changed its shape?” Big Beard looked serious. “This is not a good sign… Can’t you stop it?”

Gelton closed his eyes slightly: “Human power is limited, it is difficult to shake nature – although I don’t want to admit it, the power left by those sinful magic emperors of ancient times is something we still cannot understand. That mountain road is indestructible, filled with miasma, and will even suddenly collapse to prevent outsiders from approaching. The Knights have suffered heavy losses there, and the魔导师 (Modaoshi – magic instructor) reinforcements sent by the kingdom have no way to deal with it. Now we can only continue to clear魔物 (mowu) in the Twisted Woodland or block them everywhere on the Dragon Spine Mountains to maintain the situation. The former is the responsibility of the Church Knights, and the latter is the Kingdom Knights of Marshal Ofra.”

Hao Ren listened silently on the surface, but in his heart, he began to consider how to explore the secrets of the Dragon Spine Mountains. That mountain range was showing more and more strange things, and he believed that the mountains must hide the secrets of the magic empire more than 10,000 years ago – and this secret might help him crack the异类 (yilei – alien species) on Earth, and even the ultimate answer to the Dream Plane itself. His first priority now was to prevent the Dream Plane from continuing to merge with the surface world, so all the slightest clues related to it could not be let go. While he was discussing with the data terminal whether to apply for a miniature observation satellite, the door of the reception room was suddenly pushed open, and a heroic and beautiful woman rushed in: “Parish Head, I heard that the Holy Shrine Pearl… hmm?”

Hao Ren looked back and saw that the visitor was a female soldier wearing a fitted women’s armor and with long curly chestnut hair. She was heroic and had a kind of majesty. It was Marshal Ofra, whom he had only met once – the legendary heroine of the Kingdom of Holletta, a magical figure who had guarded this country for hundreds of years. As soon as the female Marshal entered the room, the first to jump up was, as expected, Becky. The mercenary girl’s eyes were dull, and her chin was shaking when she spoke: “O… Ofra-daren (adult) is here!! Marshal… Greetings, Marshal, may you live forever, Marshal, may you be well… I… I’m Becky, do you still remember me? I… I found the Holy Shrine Pearl…”

Hao Ren was really tired for this girl and reached out to press Becky down: “Marshal, I am… the head of the mercenary团 (tuan). We have safely returned the Holy Pearl.”

Ofra looked at the group of people in front of her with some surprise. Because of the presence of a quirky Becky, she had a deep impression of these people and now remembered their previous encounter: “So it’s you… I heard the news outside the town. I didn’t expect the heroes who protected the pearl would be your newly established mercenary team. Well done.”

Becky immediately grabbed Hao Ren’s arm with dazed eyes: “Hehe… hehehe, did Marshal Ofra just praise me…”

Vivian pressed her forehead with her hand, thinking of some things she couldn’t bear to recall: “God, it’s really hard to communicate with brainless fans…”

Ofra quickly stopped paying attention to these strange and unreliable mercenaries. She greeted the four ascetics one by one: “Masters, long time no see. I am very happy to see that you are still healthy. Is the Holy Pearl on you?”

Ofra seemed to be a decisive person, and she directly asked about the Holy Pearl. Big Beard nodded: “It’s here with me. But we haven’t decided what to do next. According to the regulations, the pearl should be stored in the Holy Lake Church after it is returned, but now it seems that it is no longer safe there.”

“It can be stored here,” Gelton said from the side. “This is the closest sanctuary to the Holy Land. The current situation is special, and storing the pearl here is also in line with the teachings. We can do it after solving the魔物 (mowu)…”

“Allow me to say a few words,” Ofra casually found a place to sit down and looked at Gelton majestically. “Parish Head, it’s not that I don’t trust your knowledge, but you probably won’t be able to find the reason for the mountain’s split in the short term. In this case, it is not appropriate to put the pearl in the Beinz area. I suggest that the Kingdom Knights and the Church Knights each send elites to escort the pearl to the royal capital’s church. This can also stabilize people’s hearts – recently, the war situation in the Beinz area has been frequently reported to the royal capital, and those pampered guys are already panicked.”

Gelton didn’t say anything. Ofra waited for a while and showed some impatience: “Also, Parish Head, I would like to suggest again that my Kingdom Knights ‘help you’ clean up the area around the Holy Lake? Half a month has passed, and those stone monsters are still wandering around the Holy Land. I can see that the warriors of the Church Knights are already quite tired. They need to rest, but I’m taking several support troops from the inland of the kingdom and just wandering around in the mountains – I already have too much force on my side. This is not the time to be stubborn. The warriors of the Kingdom Knights are also followers of the goddess. Although they don’t have刺印 (ciyin – tattooed seal), they can also fight in the Holy Land. This is in line with the teachings.”

Gelton stood up tremblingly: “This is not a matter of pride, Marshal. But I should seriously consider your proposal. Before that… let these guests who have come from afar rest for a while. Masters, please wait here. Ofra and I have some things to ask.”

Hao Ren understood: it seemed that the things to be discussed next were not something that these “outsiders” could listen to.