Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 1186: Section 1187: Bureau

After finishing the story of Hua Que, Popota turned to look at Angel.

“Is she alright?”

It was the second time Popota asked the same question, but this time, the core of his question was “Is her soul still alright?”

“She was fine when I left,” Angel replied guardedly. Whether Hua Que was really fine, he could not rightfully say, as an outsider. He had only met her once, and even then, he had been drawn by her mournful crying. Just that alone was enough to suggest that her life down in the crypt was far from good.

However, before Angel left, he had set up an illusionary realm for her and left behind a few magic crystals. Compared to before they met, Hua Que was indeed somewhat better, but to say she was truly well would not be accurate. Perhaps the books and trinkets within the realm could alleviate her boredom, but they could definitely not dispel her loneliness.

And these were the things Angel could not tell Popota, at least not without upsetting him.

But Popota was no fool; he had his suspicions. “This room, it’s an illusion created by you, right?”

Angel nodded in acknowledgment.

“Thank you.” For the first time, Popota looked at Angel with a little less hostility in his eyes.

“There’s no need for thanks. If you really want to know how Hua Que is doing, you can go see her yourself. After all, she must be very lonely,” Angel hinted subtly about Hua Que’s current situation.

Popota, however, remained silent, with his head lowered.

He did indeed long to see his sister, but… he did not have much time left. The side effects from forcibly elevating his power already began to reveal themselves.

Moreover, Popota looked at his own body with a flash of discomfort in his eyes. With his current grotesque appearance, how could he face his sister?

“Where did you see her?” suddenly, Popota thought of a crucial question. His sister was dead, so who killed her?

Seeing the hatred flickering in Popota’s eyes, Angel knew what he was getting at. All of Angel’s previous statements were intentionally phrased to avoid provoking Popota, but now it seemed he had no choice but to answer…

Angel’s silence made Popota’s expression grow even darker. To prevent Popota from falling into madness again, Angel still said, “I can take you to see her, she is in—”

“Black Castle.”

Black Castle? Hearing this answer, Popota abruptly raised his head!

As someone who had struggled in the Wizards’ Realm for so many years, how could Popota not be familiar with Black Castle? It’s affiliated with the Witchers’ Alliance in Fairy Tale Town, currently ruled by the ‘Twilight Queen’ Isabella.

Even more, Popota knew that not too long ago, there were two major events at Black Castle. One was the return of Isabella’s mentor, the ‘Twilight King’ Isabel to the Wizards’ Realm; the other involved Angel—he was said to have almost reached a mysterious realm within Black Castle.

Considering the timeline, it was indeed possible for Angel to have met his sister there.

Moreover, Popota actually had a similar hunch. He and his sister were born on the Kashmar Plateau in the Fairy Tale World, later moving near the Fuxu Royal Court, so Popota always speculated that it might have been one of the Witcher Organizations from Fairy Tale World that took his sister away. Fairy Tale World, being Fairy Tale Town’s headquarters, has several Witcher Organizations, like Silent Hill, Heavenly Tree, Rainbow Forest…

And, of course, Black Castle.

Although Popota had his suspicions, he wasn’t powerful enough to investigate these organizations and so he had let it be.

“So, the people from Black Castle were the ones who took Hua Que away?” Popota’s voice was thick with resentment.

“I don’t know. I just met Hua Que there,” Angel said, deliberately turning his head away, not looking directly at Popota. Indeed, he did not know whether the wizards from Black Castle had taken Hua Que, but he had suspicions, especially after meeting King Gumman’s thirteenth daughter, who was bled to death in the castle, providing a cryptic clue.

The women captured for the castle’s wizards to bathe in their blood were often brought in by slave traders.

So, it was highly probable that Hua Que was also taken by slave traders.

Of course, this was just a suspicion of Angel’s, and the true circumstances were unclear to anyone. Thus, what he said was not entirely false.

“Moreover, when I met Hua Que, she had lost much of her memory, nearly forgetting everything from her life except that she had a brother who was kind to her and a beloved companion, Hua Que.”

“Yes, my sister had a Hua Que that she loved very much, it had always been with her ever since the Kashmar Plateau, staying by her side. It liked to perch on her shoulder just like your seagull, but… after she disappeared, it became depressed and died not long after,” Popota said with a tinge of sadness, “Is she still in Black Castle now?”

“She is,” Angel perceived the anxiety in Popota’s eyes and added, “There are many souls in Black Castle, some even wandering for hundreds or thousands of years. Hua Que is in a safe place, waiting for you to find her.”

“I failed her,” Popota turned away despondently, slowly making his way toward the makeshift altar. “If you have the chance to return alive, could you please visit her for me, tell her that I’m doing well?”

“Can you bear to lie to her? You can go see her yourself.”

“It’s no longer possible,” Popota shook her head.

“As long as you’re willing, nothing is impossible,” Angel said lightly, “Just like this time, you’ve even managed to make a Demon God’s standing city fall, and even the esteemed Monty of the ‘Endless Frost Cold’ took a fall before you. These feats, if done by anyone else, would be impossible.”

Popota turned her head, looking deep into Angel’s eyes, “These are just parts of my sister’s Prophecy. I am merely a planner.”

Having planned everything and leveraging the power of the Lord of the Depths, she had reached this point.

No one realized that the three Chinese female soldiers had escaped from the dungeon. No one knew that one of their people had been killed by a Chinese female soldier.

Xia Jinyuan, who was standing outside, calculated the time in his heart. Based on the little fox’s actions, she must have already started the entire plan. She was the fuse for the two plans. As long as she started, the soldiers of the Xueyu Unit and the Cloud Leopard Commando Brigade would immediately start moving. As for him…

Xia Jinyuan stopped in his tracks and glanced at the wooden house with the lights on. His plan was about to start.

At 9:10 pm, half an hour since their retreat, the five of them finally entered the pitch-black mountain.

The reconnaissance person of the Cloud Leopard Commando Brigade saw his comrades enter the mountain. He told all his comrades who were waiting, “They’ve successfully retreated to the mountain…”

The tense Chinese soldiers finally relaxed. They blinked and lowered their heads to wipe the sweat off their faces. At this moment, there was a faint smile in their eyes.

The most dangerous part of the mission was to rescue the female soldiers. The next step was to hurry and return to China quickly. This way, they would be able to complete the entire mission.

The members of the Cloud Leopard Commando Brigade entered the public channel. As they panted heavily, they wiped the sweat that was about to seep into their eyes and smiled as they told their comrades, “We’ve entered the mountain safely. We’ll wait for the rendezvous. Over.”

The team members looked at the female soldiers who almost fell to the ground after entering the mountain. Another female soldier was holding them, one on each side. As he spoke, he gave Ye Jian an ‘OK’ sign that meant that they were temporarily safe.

It was pitch-black. Ye Jian didn’t have any night-traveling equipment, so she didn’t see his hand signal. She only knew that after Zhou Yijin and Liu Le entered the mountain, all their energy seemed to have been sucked dry. She needed to hold them properly. If not, the two of them would fall together.

“Take a break before leaving.” Ye Jian held their hands tightly and comforted them. This was their first time experiencing a life-or-death race. It was normal for them to be nervous.

Moreover, they were already very good. They had to persevere all the way for a smooth evacuation.

Zhou Yijin was grabbing Ye Jian’s arm tightly. This was the only way she could find the strength to support herself. She was so nervous that her throat hurt. She didn’t speak and only nodded in reply to Ye Jian.

Rest, she needed to rest. Her legs were so weak that she couldn’t use any strength. If she was asked to leave, she wouldn’t be able to take a step.

The leader of the Cloud Leopard Commando Brigade put down the binoculars in his hand and replied to his comrades, “Roger that. We’ll meet up in ten minutes!”

Initially, Popota wanted to talk to Angel about Hua Que’s matters, but… for some reason, Popota always had a feeling of palpitations. Even though she had escaped from Lassudral, why had this uneasy feeling not disappeared?

Therefore, Popota decided to temporarily halt the conversation, to sacrifice Aoluxiya and to acquire information about the world from the Lord of the Depths, and then… to request an extension of her own body’s disintegration.

But just as Popota was preparing to enter the sacrifice Ceremony,

A light suddenly appeared in the dark sky.