One-Eyed Monster

Igor was startled by this voice. He had been so preoccupied with his exploration previously that he hadn’t given this matter much thought. Now, on reflection, he realized just how much uncertainty that statement actually held.

This uncertainty made Igor halt his exploration, forcing him to reconsider the entire situation all over again.

Igor looked up, only now noticing the unusual expressions on Kuren and Joseph’s faces inside the cave. It seemed the message conveyed via the secret code was also out of the ordinary.

Before Igor could ask, Kadi, who had been maintaining his composure, spoke first, ”What exactly is going on? How does Stan Sol know our monster language?”

Kadi’s words were laden with implications. He not only revealed that the message had come from someone outside Guru Mountain but also directly indicated his knowledge of who the master of this flow of Spirit Power was.

Stan Sol was an unfamiliar name to Kuren and Joseph, though the surname Sol was not. One of their companions, Dastan, belonged to the Sol Family. They knew the Sol Family as a mysterious, ancient lineage, but they hadn’t fully grasped what its members actually did. And now, Kadi had just casually blurted out this mysterious name. Could Kadi actually know this Sol fellow?

Before Joseph and Kuren could ask, Kadi volunteered an explanation, ”I met Stan Sol on Dawn Peak. There was a time when Igor and I were his captives. He said he was an ancient Hunter, and he was here for his brother…”

The story was rather long, and Kadi’s recounting was notoriously long-winded, so Kuren cut him off before he could finish.

Kuren sternly said, ”Get to the point. Did you leak any information?”

Kuren’s suspicion was quite reasonable. After all, Kadi knew Stan Sol and had even been his captive. It was impossible to know if Kadi had divulged any information about the mountain during that period.

”Of course, I didn’t disclose anything! I am Kadi of Guru Mountain. I would never leak information about this mountain! I learned a lot from Sol, especially knot-tying. That stuff is really fun; I love it!” Kadi started rambling again, but regardless, he insisted he hadn’t revealed any information about Guru Mountain.

”Then why does he know our secret code?” Joseph had the same question, and he, too, was taken aback by Kadi’s odd behavior.

For the moment, Kuren and Joseph couldn’t tell if Stan Sol was friend or foe. They were also puzzled about what Kadi had actually experienced on Dawn Peak.

If only Dastan were here, Kuren couldn’t help thinking. He and Dastan had been the guardians of Dawn Peak. Ultimately, Dawn Peak fell, and Dastan’s whereabouts became unknown. More crucially, Kuren’s World Setting Technique had somehow been inexplicably broken on Dawn Peak. Apart from sensing the Spirit Power of those enemies from two years prior, he had discovered nothing else.

Therefore, Kuren was very puzzled. How many enemies had come to Dawn Peak? Or, more precisely, which bastards was Guru Mountain facing this time?

Analyzing the current situation, it seemed Guru Mountain might be up against more than just those bastards from the Alchemy Workshop.

”Don’t look at me like that. Honestly, I also want to know the answer. I want to know what the hell is going on and how Stan Sol learned our monster language,” Kadi spoke the truth. Indeed, his heart was filled with doubt, as he had no idea what had transpired.

”What’s the message in the secret code?” Igor asked. He didn’t care whether Stan Sol was an enemy or a friend; he didn’t consider it a problem. Stan Sol had left a profound impression on him and didn’t seem like a man with ill intentions. Igor’s internal Scale of Faith had assessed Stan Sol early on, and he held considerable trust in him.

”The message he sent wasn’t particularly special. He just asked us to communicate with him and told us not to ask too many questions,” Kadi answered Igor.

”Judging from his Spirit Power State, he also seems to be in a weakened condition,” Kuren added. He was glad Igor had joined the discussion; from this, it seemed Igor’s earlier explorations must have yielded some discoveries.

”Regardless, this mysterious guy has mastered our secret code. There’s definitely something fishy about that,” Joseph analyzed.

Igor carefully mulled over this statement, then recalled what he had heard in the Two-way Channel. Stan Sol wanted to communicate with them.

But how could they establish a connection with him?

Igor was eager to know this, and he also wanted to understand what had happened outside.

Of course, this was likely something everyone wanted to know. However, if Igor were to suggest trying to contact Stan Sol directly now, Kuren and Joseph would undoubtedly object. They didn’t know if Stan Sol was friend or foe. Contacting him recklessly would only expose their location.

Exposing the safehouse’s location would only lead to more unnecessary trouble, a risk they were unwilling to take.

Igor knew that to make any further progress, he had to convince Joseph and Kuren. Only by persuading them could they possibly establish contact with Stan Sol.

But how could he convince them? No one knew the way. At this moment, Kuren and Joseph’s vigilance was certainly at its peak. Besides, Igor truly had no solid evidence to prove Stan Sol wasn’t a bad person. He couldn’t just tell Kuren and Joseph that his Scale of Faith had assessed Stan Sol, so they should just relax. Obviously, he couldn’t say that…

Just as Igor was fretting, Kadi suddenly yelped again, ”It’s coming again! There’s another message!”

Kadi’s excitement naturally stemmed from the Spirit Power flowing in the Two-way Channel. The meandering flow of Spirit Power trickled in again, and this time, it clearly carried another message in secret code.

”What does the secret code say?” Igor asked with evident concern. He wanted to try connecting with Stan Sol, so he was very keen to know what message Stan Sol had sent.

”Wait a moment, decryption is a bit slow this time. My Spirit Power feels a little rusty,” Joseph admitted. He was telling the truth.

Igor could only wait patiently. It seemed establishing contact with Stan Sol truly wasn’t going to be simple.

”The message is... strange. I’m not sure if I should believe this,” Kuren started to hesitate.

”What exactly is it?” Igor was a little anxious.

”He wants us to trust him—and he says it’s imperative that we trust him!” Joseph said, enunciating every word with gravity.