Pillar of Yita

Since then, the Alchemists who used the ’Philosopher’s Stone’ to shape souls became a taboo.

It’s one of the types of Alchemy explicitly banned by the Artisan Association.

Fang Hong looked at those Crystal Shards and asked:

”Have the Blind Followers found the Emerald Star again?”

But Luo Hao shook his head.

”Captain, these were found on the ’Dawood Ship’, and their owner might not be the Blind Followers.”

”...because there are more on the ship, there’s a full set of equipment related to ’Creatogenesis’ and Alchemy Materials. They put a lot of Explosive Crystals on the ship, and if Miss Afeifa wasn’t also on board, they might have blown the ship up.”

”Moreover,” Luo Hao slowly started to speak: ”Captain, the state of these Crystals is somewhat peculiar...”

Yet before he spoke,

Tata already replied: ”They have already been used.”

Fang Hong listened silently. Regarding this matter, he understood the inside story far more than others.

Almost instantly, he thought of that possibility.

But did the other party succeed?

He hadn’t had the time to think it through.

Elisa had already walked in from outside with a solemn face, looked at everyone, and immediately said:

”Something happened, Captain, Miss Afeifa is missing.”

This news exploded among everyone like a thunderbolt.

”What!?”

...

Fang Hong hurriedly rushed to the Earl’s Mansion he had visited before, and there he once again met the Earl’s daughter.

But when he saw Lavali, he realized something was wrong.

The Earl’s daughter was pale, her right hand covering her left arm—under the cloth wrapped around it, red was seeping through. ZXC stood by her side, along with other members of the Shield of Lufu. Little Fatty looked at him apologetically: ”Boss Ade, I’m sorry... we spoke out of turn, promised to return Miss Afeifa safely... we didn’t expect this to happen...”

”Never mind their matters.”

The Earl’s daughter replied through gritted teeth, weakly shaking her head: ”It was my negligence, they had already delivered the person, I just didn’t expect the culprits to hide within the estate, it’s my responsibility, unrelated to others—”

”Let’s not talk about this now,” Fang Hong said: ”What exactly happened, do you know who the other party is?”

He had promised the King of Sand to look after Afeifa.

What’s more, setting that aside, a living person vanished right before his eyes, what kind of situation is this?

Afeifa risked so much at Bain Fortress to help them, even the members of Shield of Lufu viewed this young girl differently, let alone him?

Even stepping back a million times, the other party is his fan—his first female fan in Eteliria.

No matter what, he must save her.

More importantly, recalling Luo Hao’s previous words, he suddenly thought of a possibility—

”Has the King of Sand left the Royal Capital?”

Fang Hong paused, suddenly asking out of the blue.

Lavali thought he was worried about the covenant with the King of Sand, was stunned for a moment, then nodded. ”His Majesty departed an hour ago.”

”An hour ago...” Fang Hong murmured softly.

He quickly calmed down and asked again: ”So what exactly happened?”

Lavali took a gentle breath, fell silent for a moment, then replied: ”Someone attacked the estate, and there were already few people left there; the guards on the outskirts were taken down initially, then they overpowered the servants and broke into my room.”

She paused: ”But before that, I was aware of it and hid ahead of time. I initially thought they were after my father, but after hearing their conversation hidden behind the door, I realized their target was Afeifa... I figured they would act in the courtyard, so I went there in advance.”

Fang Hong looked at the Earl’s daughter’s injured hand.

”But you didn’t expect that you still couldn’t stop them?”

Lavali gently nodded.

”Is the injury serious?”

The Earl’s daughter unexpectedly raised her head to look at him, then shook her head: ”Just a minor injury, left when taking their weapons... these people were very targeted and well-trained, they left after knocking me out. I guess if they were ordinary bandits, they wouldn’t have ignored me...”

Fang Hong was a little stunned.

He looked at the Earl’s daughter, evidently, she was quite confident about her appearance, but after thinking, it did make sense. If it were ordinary bandits, how could they ignore the beauty of Bain’s Desert Pearl? They overpowered everyone without taking any valuables, only taking away Afeifa.

Not to mention bandits, even the City Defense Force of Quistack might not have such discipline. By the standard of this era, these individuals were at least of the death squad level.

But the key is, which side do they come from?

”Did you see what those people looked like?”

Lavali thought for a moment, then shook her head.

”They all had headscarves and masks, wrapped tightly, leaving no flaw in their weapons, all ordinary types,” she pondered a bit: ”But they should be locals of Quistack, I could tell from their accent.”

Fang Hong’s eyes narrowed slightly.

With this information, it was enough to narrow down the possibilities significantly.

What forces in Eteliria could train such death squads? Ordinary small nobles couldn’t afford such subordinates and attendants, and among the major local powers in Quistack, how many would be interested in Afeifa?

After excluding all impossible options, the remaining possibilities.

It seems there are only a few.

...