Pillar of Yita

”Indeed, it’s only possible if you consider it in reverse,” Fang Hong nodded. ”In fact, I have never ruled out the possibility that Toragotos is just a puppet of Salrutaka. Assuming its brothers and sisters have all failed to escape the erosion of the Dark Force, it may not necessarily be the luckiest one.”

”But this possibility is small, given the various signs that Toragotos possesses its own free will, and it clearly covets the power sealed below,” Hilveld replied softly, ”Do you remember the Phantom Realm it showed us, Captain?”

”Within the Phantom Realm, we were essentially seeing through its eyes. We are only now coming to understand the fear and desire it harbors for that power. Assuming it were truly a puppet of Salrutaka, it should not be capable of generating such complex emotions.”

”A friend of my father’s, an elderly Magic Guided Conductor who practiced Spirit System Meditation Techniques, once told me that the abilities of the Phantom System inherently possess a strong enslaving nature. Its feelings towards its master should be complete subjugation and fear.”

Fang Hong mentally gave Hilveld kudos for her keenness, but then asked with some curiosity, ”Aren’t the Magic Guided Conductors who practice Spirit System Meditation Techniques all Court Sorcerers? Your father certainly has a wide range of connections.”

”That’s how nobles are, they must be good at networking, never knowing when it might help you.”

Hilveld said with a smile.

Fang Hong, unfamiliar with nobles, naturally had no response.

He picked up the previous topic again. ”However, in any case, our analysis actually only points to one thing— I don’t know if Toragotos really controls the Dark Force, maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t, that’s not important. What’s important is that the Dark Force permeating underground definitely doesn’t belong to it; otherwise, why would it go to such lengths, exploiting the conflicts between the Invoker’s powers?”

Hilveld nodded gently.

Fang Hong paused, then asked in a low voice, ”Miss Virus, what is your opinion?”

”I am an analyst, not a decision-maker. I’m here to help you uncover details you might have missed in your clues,” Virus’s cool voice came through the channel, ”But overall, I agree with your analysis. Logically speaking, there are no issues.”

”Or perhaps you’d like to hear other people’s opinions?” she asked.

”Other people?” Fang Hong was taken aback before realizing, ”What does Mr. Chenxi think?”

”Be careful, Mr. Xiaya,” Chenxi’s somewhat hearty voice came through: ”I don’t know if you’ve noticed, based on the intelligence you provided, the opponent has been continuously tempting you deeper into these ruins from the start.”

Fang Hong nodded.

He naturally had considered this point, but whether it was Virus or the Chairman of Silver Weslan, these high-ranking officials of the Grand Guilds were all seasoned veterans. Much of his own experience came from these people, and they certainly wouldn’t have a more superficial view on matters than he did.

With these people supporting him, Fang Hong felt more confident. He turned back to the Priest and asked, ”Where are those survivors?”

”Up ahead.”

The Priest, of course, had heard the conversation between Chenxi and Fang Hong—having seen his own superior, the Chairman of Silver Weslan, treat himself as equal to this young man, his own attitude became decidedly more deferential, now completely regarding Fang Hong as the Commander of this operation.

Fang Hong glanced back at the Lizard Warrior Leader not far away, knowing with Tainaric keeping an eye on him there shouldn’t be any problems, so he proceeded forward and soon saw the fortunate survivor.

It was a member of a few small Guilds from Fenris, with only about a dozen people left, all injured and seeming somewhat disoriented. Fang Hong didn’t recognize them, but they recognized him; after all, his earlier action in wiping out half the Jiefulite Red Cloak Team was hard to forget.

Under the leadership of the Jiefulite Red Cloak Team, they once had an adversarial relationship, but without any deep-seated hatred, so these people at most felt a bit of awe towards Silver Weslan. Fang Hong didn’t bother with pleasantries and directly transferred the military personnel’s communication privileges to them.

After a stern ’persuasion’ from Ambassador Liao, those people looked at Fang Hong somewhat differently.

They looked at him as if he were a panda—

However, these people at least had some spirit— after all, most of those who became the Chosen were hardly cowards— after listening to the current situation, they each stood up, straightened their crumpled clothes, patted their chests, and said to Fang Hong, ”Mr. Xiaya, we’re all here. The Grand Ambassador has made the situation clear to us. Fenris Isle is in imminent danger; we will achieve honor in success or death in failure. One way or another, it’s a life at stake—we entrust our lives to you now, what do we do next, you call the shots!”

Fang Hong nodded without any fuss and directly asked, ”I want to know what exactly happened after we entered the twelfth layer, where are the Blood Oath Alliance and the Jiefulite Red Cloak Team now?”

This was one of the questions he most wanted to know the answer to.

Although he had his suspicions, guesswork could not serve as an answer to the problem, especially at this critical moment; any misjudgment could prove fatal.

But unexpectedly, upon hearing this question, these people burst into curses:

”Those damn bastards from Jiefulite!”