NOVPUB
Chapter 144: The Unexpected Situation
30 minutes ago.
The sky was painted in a purple hue as the sun prepared to rise on the eastern horizon. At the edge of the central region, where the Badin family had established their base camp, all the dwarves incapacitated by Aldrian and Xin Haotian were now awake. Initially, confusion and disorientation clouded their minds as they found themselves lying on the ground, sensing that something was amiss but unable to pinpoint what it was.
Vandal, one of the guardians of the Badin family was among those who had awakened. He spread his senses, searching for any abnormalities. Something felt amiss, but he couldn’t pinpoint what it was. He glanced at Mariz Badin, whose expression indicated deep thought.
"Do you feel it? I don’t know what just happened or how we ended up lying on the ground, but I seriously can’t fathom what I’m missing. It’s like I’ve lost something, but I can’t understand what it is," Vandal said.
"Yes, I feel it too. I don’t know why, but something strange happened here. Didn’t we just talk a while ago? Why are we suddenly lying on the ground? And it’s not just us; everyone here is in the same state," Mariz replied.
"Also, I feel a sharp pain in my gut, and all these people seem to be hurting at the back of their heads. Do you think that’s a clue?" he added.
They looked around at the dwarves, who seemed lost and bewildered about what had just happened. After a moment of confusion, the dwarves resumed their tasks, but it wasn’t long before a new group arrived at the base camp. This group consisted of a dozen individuals, all of whom were above the Duke stage; four of them were at the Emperor stage.
The two Emperor stage members were notably taller than the others. They wore cloaks that concealed their bodies and their facial features. The dwarves quickly deduced that these two were humans, leaving them to wonder about their identities. One of the hooded men had a small bird perched on his shoulder.
Leading this new group was Duke Badin himself, his face solemn as if he had just received important news. Upon arriving at the base camp, he approached Valdan and asked, "How is it? How did the operation go?"
"Nothing significant, my lord. While we made progress and nearly crossed the bridge, the low divine armor I wore was on the verge of breaking. If I hadn’t decided to retreat at that point, I would have been shredded to pieces. The power of the wind is so strong that I doubt the low divine armor can withstand it any longer," Valdan replied.
Duke Badin gritted his teeth at this news. "I’ve brought the Middle Heaven Armor here; use it and try again. We are running out of time. The king has already started to suspect something regarding Mardred’s disappearance, and sooner or later, he will find his way here."
Valdan sighed at the reckless order from his lord but complied, donning the Middle Divine Grade armor. One of the hooded humans observed closely, his eyes shining at the sight of the armor. 𝓃𝓸𝓋𝓹𝓾𝓫.𝒸ℴ𝓶
"Before you go, has anyone or anything unusual appeared here? Is there something strange?" Duke Badin suddenly asked Mariz and Valdan.
The two exchanged glances before looking back at Duke Badin. "Actually, yes. We’re not sure why, but it seems we just woke up lying on the ground. We felt something strange, like something was missing, but we can’t pinpoint what it is."
"Do you see Duke Valiard here?" Duke Badin asked, his face solemn.
"Duke Valiard? No, we don’t. Why would he be here? He has no interest in this place, right?"
Duke Badin pondered for a moment before turning to the hooded man. "What do you think?" he asked through voice transmission.
"It’s some kind of memory-erasing technique. They have gaps in their memories, which is why they feel something is off but can’t identify the problem. It’s like searching for a problem that was never there because of those missing memories—they will never find it," the man replied, his voice matching the raspy tone from the communication artifact Duke Badin had used earlier.
"Are you telling me that Duke Valiard can use a memory-erasing technique?" Duke Badin narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
"No, obviously not. To use this technique, you must have a strong comprehension of both the internal structure of the body and the mindscape. You also need substantial energy to erase specific memories. It requires seamless control; if something goes wrong, you could leave the victim mentally impaired. It’s far more difficult than just reading memories, and from what I know, Duke Valiard lacks a strong understanding of either the internal body or mindscape," the hooded man explained.
"Then is there someone with him who could have helped? We even lost the tracer in this area," Duke Badin recalled Aldrian and his group. "Could that unknown group be the ones assisting him?"
"Most likely, yes. I must say, I’m quite surprised that Duke Valiard or someone from that group was able to detect and erase our tracer powder. Our spies inside Duke Valiard’s mansion placed the tracker powder on his attire, which should have always stuck to him. Now, even my Red Wing Sparrows can’t track it. It should have been impossible to remove with their abilities. I truly underestimated them."
"What are we going to do now? We don’t know their plans or what they’ve done here. I have a bad feeling about this," Duke Badin replied.
"Relax, aren’t we already here because we detected that Duke Valiard moved into this area? Whatever he does will be tantamount to suicide. Even if he somehow knows that his elder brother is here, it doesn’t matter. From the footprints they left heading toward the central part of the mountain, they haven’t come out yet. If they entered that area, with its dangerous environment, they won’t survive. But if they somehow do, whatever they attempt is bound to fail. This entire area is under siege and has become our playground, and there’s no way for them to escape from here."
"Are we really going to kill him if we find him?" Duke Badin asked.
"Of course, and you’ll have to bear the responsibility of this action," the man said, a creepy smile spreading across his face as he looked at Duke Badin.
Duke Badin gritted his teeth, desperately wanting to kill this man, but he knew he needed his help. He snorted and turned to Vandal, who was waiting for Duke Badin’s instructions.
"I’ve brought additional personnel to help you guard this mountain. We suspect that Duke Valiard is infiltrating this area with some unknown group, and it seems they’ve already knocked you out," he said.
Vandal’s eyes widened. "What? How is that possible?"
"Whatever the case, you just need to strengthen security here. I’ll handle the rest," Duke Badin replied tersely.
With all the arrangements in place, the area surrounding the central region of Dragon Back Mountain became bustling with members of the Badin family and the unknown group.
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Aldrian could sense the many new arrivals within his domain. Their numbers were significant, making him wonder just how important the blueprint or Mardred was to these people. As he continued to observe, he discovered something intriguing, an important piece of evidence related to his investigation into the devils in the Forgeheart Kingdom.
"So the Badin family is in cahoots with the devils?" he thought.
Despite the devils hiding their energy and aura with some artifact, Aldrian could still detect their presence within his domain. Two of them, particularly close to Duke Badin, radiated a dangerous aura.
Since he was far from his domain, Aldrian couldn’t see their information using his Eyes of the Heaven from his current position. In moments like this, he wished his domain covered all areas so he could read people’s information from anywhere.
"We have a situation at the base camp we visited," Aldrian communicated. "It seems the Badins brought reinforcements, and some of them are devils."
Xin Haotian’s eyes widened as he looked at Aldrian.
"The Badins are betrayers? Do you think they’re connected to that mysterious artifact hiding the devils’ presence?"
"I think so, too. So we need to return there after we’re done here, we can’t let the evidence escape." A smile crept onto Aldrian’s face. He felt he could gain something significant from the unexpected appearance of the devils.
He glanced at Duke Valiard and Mardred, who were deeply engaged in conversation, reveling in their brotherly bond after fifteen years apart. However, Aldrian wasn’t in a hurry now that he’d found this place. He could take his time to explore and check for anything useful. As for the Badins and the devils? For now, he would leave them be.
