Pillar of Yita

The bald man leading the group was exceptionally tall, with a turban wrapped around his head, pale skin, and a prominent shark-tooth-shaped tattoo on his face—a weapon was tucked into his waist, a short gun alongside a curved blade. Fang Hong could not figure out what profession the man belonged to.

The others also had tattoos on their arms and faces, such as the Dwarf, who boasted a parrot tattoo.

”They are subordinates of my father,” Hilveld spoke bluntly, answering softly. She then looked towards the tallest man, introducing him, ”This is Mr. Bakins, my father’s trusted assistant.”

”Hello, lad.” Bakins glanced at Fang Hong without offering a handshake, simply responding indifferently. It was then that Fang Hong noticed the man, like the Big Cat People, was blind in one eye, with a glass eye fitted in the right—which was significantly lighter in color than the other eye.

This gave him a somewhat cold and fierce appearance.

However, Fang Hong did not mind the man’s disregard.

He only looked at Hilveld and asked, ”So, Miss Hilveld, what exactly is the reason that you left everyone without a word and came down here?”

Hilveld, as if she had anticipated his question, opened her suitcase, took out a slate, and handed it to him, ”It’s because of this. The reason why the Jiefulite Red Cloak Team caught up with me is also because of this thing.”

Fang Hong was slightly taken aback, receiving the slate and looking at it, the whole slate was reddish-brown, resembling some sort of layered rock, but much sturdier, not sandy. There were clear signs of human carving, and it was only when he shone the dimly glowing crystal upon it that he saw its surface was covered in dense, complex lines. He carefully compared it in his mind with what he remembered, feeling somewhat astonished.

This was a map.

The section from the eleventh to the twelfth floor was particularly clear in Fang Hong’s memory, matching exactly what was depicted on the slate. But the map on the slate went beyond this segment, showing a broader terrain, and Fang Hong struggled to contain the tumult in his heart.

He realized this could be the complete detailed map of the underground relic beyond the twelfth floor.

”Miss Hilveld, this object...” he took a deep breath, calmed himself down, then asked, ”Where does it come from?”

”From the hands of the Andrett Ratmen, they are the natives of this underground,” Hilveld looked at the slate, her expression unchanged as she replied, ”Princess Briana is their long-time patron, so I have always known about a Ratmen village down here.”

Fang Hong was slightly taken aback.

He vaguely sensed something amiss—was this slate a spoil of war obtained by the Andrett Ratmen from beneath the relic? Was it originally the property of the Xinsas Serpentfolk? But then, Sophie said the Andrett Ratmen were very timid, they would not easily venture deep underground, let alone into the relic to search for treasures.

He frowned and took a closer look at the slate in his hand, only to discover that it bore some peculiar text.

However, it did not look like the language of the Xinsas Serpentfolk he had seen before.

He subconsciously called out to Miss Fairy in his mind, and once Tata saw it, she told him, ”This is the script of the Andrett Ratmen, actually a variant of an ancient Dwarf language. Mr. Knight, do you need me to translate it for you?”

Fang Hong nodded.

Miss Fairy carefully read through it and then told him that the text was just some auxiliary markings, mainly to highlight some key nodes on the map.

Fang Hong was slightly taken aback: ”So does that mean, this map is penned by the Andrett Ratmen?”

Tata shook her head, ”I cannot be certain of that, Mr. Knight. However, judging by the handwriting, it is very likely. Would you like me to analyze it further, Mr. Knight? It might take some time.”

Fang Hong nodded again.

He kept holding the slate, then looked towards the Lady Noble before him—the doubts in his heart grew even more—if this map was made by the Ratmen, then the problem was even bigger. How could the Ratmen, with their timid nature, dare to venture deep into the relic to create such a detalied map?

After a moment of silence, he slowly began to speak, ”Miss Hilveld, I know you have certain secrets, as do I—but if you wish to know, I can share those with you.”

”I simply hope that we could share our secrets with each other, as we are teammates—”

He looked directly at her, the Lady Noble’s eyes, like shallow seas, seemed somewhat tender under the light of the crystal.

”Do you trust us?”

Hilveld’s eyelashes lightly fell, ”Then what would you like to know, my Captain?”

”I want to hear the truth... What exactly is your purpose with this slate?”

”It’s the Obelisk.” Hilveld lifted her gaze, glanced at him, and said, ”You’ve guessed as much, haven’t you?”

”But why?”

The young lady gently shook her head, ”Because of my father.”

Fang Hong was taken aback. He knew that the noble lady rarely mentioned anything about her father, as if, besides the ship, she seldom revealed even a word about him.

He didn’t know what had happened between them, but he was certain that it was by no means a happy experience.

”Is that enough?” Hilveld took a breath, raised her head, and looked at him.

Fang Hong hesitated for a moment before nodding, ”I’m sorry, Miss Hilveld...”

Hilveld narrowed her eyes and smiled at him somewhat happily.

”Thank you, Mr. Captain.”

”So this slate,” Fang Hong looked at the slate in his hand before he continued, ”how did it come to involve the Jiefulite Red Cloak Team, and why would they treat you that way?”

Hilveld shook her head, ”Because someone sold this slate and my information to the people of the Jiefulite Red Cloak Team. I originally thought I had been too careless when meeting with the Andrett Ratmen, but I never imagined it would be him—”

”I was ambushed by the people of the Jiefulite Red Cloak Team in the Ratmen village. I almost fell into their hands, but luckily, I still managed to get the slate. Since then, they’ve been chasing me all the way to this place.”

She looked at Fang Hong, ”You know what happened after that, Captain.”

But Fang Hong felt something wasn’t right.

”Wait, are you saying that you encountered the Jiefulite Red Cloak Team back then?”

Hilveld nodded, ”Is there a problem?”

”Then who attacked the Ratmen’s village, killing everyone?” Fang Hong asked, ”And that dragon boat...”

Hilveld was slightly startled, looking at him with some surprise.

She obviously didn’t quite understand what he meant.

”You don’t know?” Fang Hong pressed, ”Those people outside said you summoned those undead to attack everyone.”

”Undead?” Hilveld reflected for a moment and replied, ”I was also curious where those undead came from. If not for them, I couldn’t have escaped that far. It was thanks to them drawing the attention of the Jiefulite Red Cloak Team that I was able to flee into the ruins—”

As the noble lady replied,

Fang Hong carefully observed her expression, which seemed genuinely unfeigned.

But suddenly, it was as if a bolt of lightning flashed through Fang Hong’s mind, as if he had vaguely grasped something.

”Hold on,” he suddenly interrupted her, ”Miss Hilveld, before the eighth level, did you meet Alice?”

”Alice? The twin sisters?” Hilveld shook her head, ”Of course not.”

At that moment, Fang Hong thought of the Native’s matter, and his line of thinking became even clearer, ”Let me guess—because you and the Jiefulite Red Cloak Team were both searching for the Obelisk early on, they’ve always been aware of your presence, so they planted an informant among those close to you?”

Hilveld furrowed her brow, hesitated for a moment, but then nodded.

”So the question is, at the time in Saint Peru Valley, we all entered the trial later than the people from the Jiefulite Red Cloak Team—” Fang Hong thought for a moment, ”so naturally, you were no exception. The insider with you was a Native, right? How did he communicate with the Jiefulite Red Cloak Team to let them know you had also entered the trial and to ambush you in the Ratmen’s village?”

Hilveld was slightly startled, looking at him with some astonishment.

And a name flashed through Fang Hong’s mind.

Leaving him completely dumbstruck on the spot.

The problem seemed to be quite serious.

...