Pillar of Yita

”Don’t they have a backup magic source?”

”They do,” this time Hilveld answered, ”but it takes half an hour to activate.”

At this moment, Baijia also put down the communication crystal and said to them with a stern face, ”All the combat artisans have gone to the frontline. It will take at least a quarter of an hour for them to return, and the situation is tense there, they may not be able to break away.”

Everyone fell silent upon hearing this.

Each person deeply sensed the meticulousness of the opponent’s plot, making every party present run around in circles.

With the combat artisans unable to return, it meant the backup floating ship couldn’t be activated either. Although magic guided conductors and elementalists could fly short distances, flying to the seventy-seventh floor, nearly two to three hundred meters high, was almost impossible.

Upon hearing this, Fang Hong didn’t say a word and immediately started walking toward the east side of the square. The others, seeing this, roughly guessed what he had in mind and followed one by one. Only Baijia called after them, ”Wait, where are you all going?”

”To the workshop.”

”Is there still time?”

Fang Hong shook his head, ”I don’t know, but we can’t just sit and wait to die.”

”The workshop is also in the inundation area,” Baijia replied, ”There might already be Thornfish People there, going like this might not work.”

Baijia calmly looked at the others and said, ”You are life profession practitioners, it’s best you stay and inform others, see if anyone is willing to go with me.”

Then she looked at Fang Hong, ”You too, stay here, I’ll go for you.”

”But you can’t activate the teleportation array,” Fang Hong replied, ”I’m a combat artisan.”

Baijia was stunned.

She only pondered for a brief moment before nodding, ”Alright, then I’ll go with you.”

Fang Hong then looked at Hilveld to see Miss Ship’s Officer already pulling out that silver handgun from her back, giving him a slight smile. ”That workshop belongs to the Westwood Sibika family.” With just one sentence, she blocked any words he might have had.

Fang Hong opened his mouth, looked at the two, and could only nod.

”Let’s do it this way—”

The group then immediately dispersed.

In the live broadcast room, when the incident occurred, frontline staff received orders to start retrieving equipment—after all, they were there to broadcast a match, not an incident.

However, retrieving the projection crystals and clockwork fairies from various places would take some time, so there was still footage in the broadcast room. But at this time, no staff was adjusting the camera angles, so the lens remained focused on the square.

Most of the audience in the broadcast room had left, while those remaining were eagerly discussing everything that had happened previously, as such events weren’t common in their real life.

But just at this moment, someone suddenly said:

”Look, something seems to be happening over there.”

Everyone looked in the said direction and immediately saw a group on the square heading out. And the leader, whom they happened to know, was Fang Hong.

”What are they going to do?”

People were taken aback.

On the square, staff members were retrieving a clockwork fairy.

He naturally noticed the commotion in a corner of the square, but the matters of the natives had nothing to do with him, so he only glanced indifferently in that direction and intended to put the tools back in the box.

But at this moment, a hand reached over from the side and pressed his hand. The staff member was startled, turned around to see it was the team’s main person in charge.

”Wait a minute,” the person said, also looking in that direction, gesturing lightly with his hand, ”Let the fairy fly over and take a look.”

”But——”

”Don’t worry, I’ll take responsibility for anything that happens.”

...

Fang Hong eventually took Baijia’s suggestion.

He communicated his analysis to the Elfendo Council and the military, both sides quickly came to a similar conclusion as his.

However, while arranging manpower, the council directly gave him the highest authority—at the same time Su Changfeng also fully authorized him to mobilize the adventurers on the square, so Fang Hong quickly organized a team.

But after much consideration, he ultimately refused Sophie’s suggestion to join the team.

”Even Sister Baijia can go, why can’t I,” this made the Princess of Silver Weslan very dissatisfied: ”Do you have something against me and Xi?”

Fang Hong could only explain to her that the square needed someone reliable to oversee the work of the Invoker.

After having so much dealing with the Dragon Worship Sect, he had also learned to be cautious, in case they still had something up their sleeve. Although Sophie reluctantly accepted this explanation, it was evident she still harbored animosity against him at the moment.

Therefore, Fang Hong also had Luo Yu and Gita stay on the square for similar reasons and for easier contact with Miss Atira and others. Afterward, he and the others headed in the direction of the Fanric Museum.

In fact, close by was Cold Raven Street, where they had experienced a battle just days before, and the traces of that battle could still be clearly seen. Not to mention the ruined buildings that couldn’t be cleared within days.

The second time walking through this place, Fang Hong felt somewhat emotional. He wondered if he was having bad luck, as nothing seemed peaceful wherever he went, and such events happened twice in just a few days.

But compared to last time, this journey was much more peaceful.

In fact, up until they reached the small square in front of the Fanric Museum, they didn’t encounter any enemies. The undead from that day seemed to have vanished in the sunlight without a trace.

Yet Fang Hong knew well — going further wouldn’t be as smooth.

The street in front of the Fanric Museum called Wave Boulevard coincidentally marked the edge of the inundation area when the floods came.

As Fang Hong, Baijia, Hilveld, and a few others passed through a small alley, they saw streams of water flowing across the slates. A low-lying area beyond looked like a vast expanse of water.

”The water is waist-deep,” an adventurer waded back from ahead, telling the group: ”You can wade through.”

Fang Hong, having retracted the clockwork fairy, looked ahead and told the group, ”Be careful, there seems to be signs of Fishmen activity to our southeast.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

...