NOVPUBAbout half an hour later, they surrounded a level 28 guard, now tied up nicely and half-awake.
Because a portion of the guards were sent to war, and many were also sent to accompany the Lord to the warehouse (and were now taken down by the two families' forces), the defense around the palace was much laxer than usual.
They snuck into a location with the least number of guards using a retractable ladder that could go up 8 meters, let alone the current 6-meter one. Theirs could fit three people at a time, too.
The sentries were dense but no denser than Alterra's, so the number of them simply had to have their shields out and compress as they breached the walls.
Then they took a random guard making rounds, and so was the current scene.
They had just made him gulp a generous amount of Miss Althea's improved Truth Potion, albeit she kept saying a disclaimer that it worked more as a suggestion than a strong compulsion.
However, they'd argue that it worked just as well. It was especially impressive to see it work—to some degree—on a Level 28. It could be seen Miss Althea was really busy improving these things the past few months, which ultimately focused on improving the survival rate of her people.
Had she focused on her own strength, she should've easily passed level 20 by now, considering who her husband was. Instead, she chose to hone her craft so that the entire territory usually ended up getting benefits from.
At the same time, because it was more of a suggestion, they had to tap into the guard's desires as well. If they just tortured him from the start, the potion might not work. 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓹𝓾𝓫.𝓬ℴ𝓶
"We'll take you with us, and you can have half of the goods there, right?" he said, and his words triggered the greediness inside the guard. "So, tell us where all the treasures are… and where they imprison people."
In front of the guard, Eagle drew whatever rough directions the guard said about the important rooms.
"Straight through the hall, where we put the good stuff before movin… to warehouse…
"Good stuff…" he repeated, almost drooling.
"Above are rooms. Another treasure area for stuff…somewhere… the lord wants near him," he said. "But I haven't seen much."
"I also know the Lord takes people upstairs, too."
"Back in the back rooms, we take the beautiful maids… they scream a lot… it's been a while—"
Slash!
Eagle didn't spare a second look at the corpse lying lifelessly on the chair. His dagger was a Superior Class D weapon he received from the Contribution Store, and could kill a level 28 as long as they targeted well and infused with elemental power, which wasn't difficult in this case.
Now… a periphery guard might not be privy to a lot of things, but he supposed the information they received was enough of a starting point.
He got Tambai and the others prepared to leave at a moment's notice, and he headed alone. Before leaving, he also sent Chris another message, telling him he was headed to the 'Master's treasure areas', in Terran language.
Perhaps… if he were somewhere… he could reply to him.
Anyway, Eagle knew he was the only one who could be sneaky enough with decent strength to go deep in the palace. The others could just be burdens, so it was only he who would be sneaking around the rooms.
Outside of wars, the security of this place would be enforced by the system, but now it was a free-for-all. He should hurry too, because if those patriarchs decided to loot this place in advance, then they'd be in trouble.
Fortunately, that was unlikely because once they integrated the token, they'd have access to the Warehouse itself, so they'd probably focus on taking the contents of that first.
Eagle stopped at a spot. He held out a dancing firecracker, something that was played by kids back in Terran during new year's. It had been designed to be relatively harmless, but it sure made noise and, therefore, a great distraction.
He threw one right at the fenestration, using his wind to carry it farther, just to the opposite side of the palace he was sneaking in.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
At this, many of the guards flinched and looked in the direction of the noise. "What's that!?"
They were understandably edgy because of their smaller numbers. In the end, while some were left behind in their positions, a lot of them ran over to check it out, which was enough for Eagle.
Eagle watched as a few of the guards disappeared in the direction of the sound, and he didn't waste another movement and began to make his move, going from room to room, aiming to find Chris as soon as possible. At the same time, he also used his space stone to loot whatever room he went in.
Anyway, his space was not small and he only needed to wave his hand to get the things.
To be honest, after joining the military, sneaking around and robbing people's home was not among the things he thought he'd do at this age.
It wasn't to say that he didn't do it.
Growing up, he was actually a street rat. He grew up orphaned by a war from the previous generation, and until he was in his teens, he lived off stealing.
He targeted usually empty homes of course, learning how to sneak in, pry locks, and that whole thing. It was another reason he was sent on this mission. He did not just have a large space, he was an expert in sneaking around.
It wasn't until a fateful day that he accidentally stole from a house that didn't have a tenant. Or so he thought.
It was a soldier who was always out on a mission. Luckily or unluckily, he was there when he decided to steal. Teenage Eagle almost died then.
But he was used to fighting for his life and although he was a weak chicken next to the soldier, he apparently impressed him enough to get recruited. At the time, he promised not to steal again.
At this, he couldn't help but chuckle.
Sorry old man, he said, this sharp-faced brat will break his promise.
