Card Apprentice Daily Log

Chapter 2470: Agent Lois Is Not Worth The Gamble

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Central-Southern Region Corridor, Central Region, Base Gecko

”Squads one and two will engage the hostile and buy time for the asset to escape. Meanwhile, Squad three will lay in wait at the edge of the corridor to secure assets and deliver her to the nearest supply depot. So, she can use the teleportation array there to escape to safety without any delay,” the Squad one’s leader instructed the three squads before turning to General Maden and instructing, ”I want you to get all the supply depots to prepare their teleportation array to deliver the asset to safety. And get your soldiers to activate the battle array formation at my signal... Fuck, activate the battle array formation, now!”

”We have one shot, people. No mistakes will be tolerated. Move out now,” the Squad one leader cut his instructions short and deployed the squads, seeing that the standstill between the Agent Lois and the Field Marshal had ended with the latter beating the former unconscious and capturing her.

...

Location: Southern-Central Region Corridor, Southern Region, Base Ursus

’They can’t wait any longer, can they?’ I thought to myself smugly as I captured Lois by her neck and suddenly felt a thin veil of pressure descend on me. It was the seven sin suppression battle array formation set up by the soldiers of the central region that I let surround me.

I didn’t immediately break the pressure and pretend to be affected by them, waiting for the whales that I waited for. I have to say I liked to take their time. If this wasn’t a trap and a real scenario, I would feel bad for Lois seeing how unreliable these guys were being. Their soldier was fighting for her life at their doorstep, and these guys were still discussing their course of action instead of just diving in to rescue her.

I guess I can’t blame them. After all, they thought they were facing the Field Marshal and were considering if they should be risking their lives over a doomed mission.

Especially now that the Field Marshal had already captured Lois. Now their mission had upgraded from buying Agent Lois sometime to escape using her godly physique to freeing her from the clutches of the Field Marshal and helping her escape her pursuit. It was akin to asking a bunch of crows to steal from a falcon. You know that would be like sending the crows to their death. But in their case, the crows knew they were being sent to their deaths, so the hesitation was understandable.

”Your Highness, please forgive our rudeness and our friend,” a deep voice sounded as ten demigods entered my line of sight.

”Your Highness, please hand our friend over to us. I’m sure we can agree that she had suffered enough for her offence,” the leader of squad one pleaded to me, referring to how ’I/Southern Royal family had imprisoned Lois till now.’

He was careful with his words: he addressed the Southern Field Marshal Lorn politely, but without confirming her identity. Respect for the strong was common in this world, but more importantly, as long as he didn’t state her name out loud, there would always be a hint of doubt. This ambiguity held true no matter how certain his subordinates were that the hostile was the renowned Field Marshal Lorn.

”It is not up to you or me to decide if she had suffered enough for her crimes. We each have our own duties. Unless you want to die on duty, I would advise you guys to leave now,” I said, giving the rescue teams an opportunity to change their fate. Yes, I planned to kill them from the start, but I couldn’t bring myself to be that cold-blooded. Besides, I knew these guys weren’t smart enough to appreciate my offer.

”I agree with you, Your Highness,” the squad leader said. ”However, if you would generously let her leave with us, I assure you the central government will justly compensate for her mistakes.”

The leader knew his words were futile; the Field Marshal would never compromise, especially after they had violated so many laws to trespass into the Southern Region. Yet, he had to try. He knew precisely how this would end if they were to fight her: most of them would die, and the few who survived would suffer from PTSD for decades. This wasn’t a guess—it was a known fact. A couple dozen ‌Elite demigods had faced her before, and those who survived did so only because the Field Marshal typically spared the defenseless, provided they weren’t demon worshippers.

”Clearly, you lack the will to fight. Do yourselves a favor and clear the field by the time I return,” I ordered, turning to leave in a swagger despite the pressure of the battle array formation. I carried the unconscious Lois, clutching her by the neck like a hunter carrying the duck he just hunted.

”I’m sorry, Your Highness. If you want to leave here, you will have to kill us all first,” the leader of Squad One declared. At his command, members from Squads One and Two slowly surrounded me, taking up the arrangement of the Seven Sin Suppression battle array.

It was not that these guys didn’t value their lives, it’s just that if they left her empty-handed a fate worse than death awaited them at the hands of their masters even though the masters didn’t really think they could actually stop the Field Marshal from capturing Lois. They were just distractions buying Lois time to escape using her godly ability. They were the price the masters were willing to pay to buy Lois a small window that could be her path to freedom.

Meaning, the masters weren’t willing to send a pawn capable of standing toe to toe with Field Marshal Lorn to rescue Lois because then they would definitely manage to rescue Lois, but then, they might end up losing a pawn capable of standing toe to toe with Field Marshal Lorn. To them, underestimating Field Marshal Lorn was foolishness they couldn’t afford, and Agent Lois wasn’t worth gambling a pawn as strong as the Field Marshal Lorn.

Pawns with that kind of power were very hard to foster in submission and limited. To them, these pawns were worth more than Lois. After all, Lois’s physique did make her an asset to them, but the physique’s nature also made her a variable on their side — a variable that they cannot control.