Chapter 71: Chapter 71
Morris moved his feet with extreme caution, concentrating his perception within a radius of two to three steps, hoping to discover any traps the enemy might have left behind.
One step, two steps, three steps.
Just in the instant Morris’s leading foot was about to fall, the sense of panic in his heart was pulled to its absolute peak, as if his next step would plunge him into hell.
“Not good!”
Realizing something was wrong, Morris’s body violently contorted. The posture was bizarre, but it managed to reverse his original forward momentum into a backward trajectory. He retreated rapidly, but he was still a step too late.
Skyward Black Qi erupted like a curtain from the very spot he was about to tread, bursting outward in all directions. Morris’s tangible physical body, no matter how fast, couldn’t outpace the near-light-speed black qi.
Struck by the dark light, Morris’s body instantly emitted sounds akin to cracking bones. Enduring the severe pain, he pushed himself back again and again.
It wasn’t until he was supported by his teammates, and the dark light ceased its spread, that his mind relaxed. Blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, and he barely managed to point out the direction the enemy left before losing consciousness completely.
“Captain!”
“Morris!”
“Captain, wake up!”
Seeing this scene, Garrick and the others were both shocked and furious. Looking at the black qi ahead that was rapidly dissipating, they wanted to continue the pursuit, yet they feared a repeat of the same trap, especially with their captain currently unconscious.
“Fall back to the watchtower first. Garrick, send a signal informing them of our movement route, and remind the others to be careful of the enemy’s methods.”
With Morris unconscious, the vice-captain immediately assumed command according to protocol. Carrying Morris, they swiftly retreated along the path they had come.
They hadn’t gone far when they encountered reinforcements from the rear; it was actually Waynes leading the tracking team himself. This caused the members of Morris’s squad to feel a surge of emotion, and they reported the situation directly to him:
“Vice Commander, we just encountered the enemy. The Captain is injured and unconscious.”
“How many enemies were there? Why wasn’t this mentioned when you sent the message earlier?”
“We didn’t even see the enemy’s shadow. Only the Captain noticed an anomaly and had us throw our javelins in one direction, but the enemy didn’t engage. Someone among them should be injured though; we smelled the scent of blood.”
“If the enemy didn’t engage, then how did your Captain get injured?” Waynes swept a suspicious gaze over the group.
Seeing this, Garrick hurriedly replied, “When the enemy left, they left a trap behind. The Captain accidentally triggered the enemy’s trap while searching for clues. The trap was a kind of suddenly erupting dark light, somewhat like the Domain of Chaos, but far more aggressive.”
Hearing Garrick’s explanation, Waynes fell silent for a moment before ordering, “You, come with me. The rest of you, take your Captain back to the watchtower first, but be prepared to accept temporary reorganization at any time.”
“Yes.”
…
Qiumu Forest.
At the location where Morris’s squad had thrown their javelins, Morris had repeatedly searched multiple times but couldn’t find many clues. Yet, as soon as Waynes arrived, he discovered a corpse buried by the enemy.
It was a corpse with half of its head shattered. The gear on its body was still there. Upon seeing the white robe draped over the armor, a rare look of surprise appeared on Waynes’s calm and stern face:
“The Salvation Cult?! To think it’s them!”
Waynes had originally assumed that the cultists near the territory were the Holy Spirit Cult mentioned by the Mailin Merchant Guild a while ago, or perhaps the Knights of Supreme Good who liked to operate along the borders of various nations.
He never imagined that the cultists arriving near the territory this time would actually be the Salvation Cult. If one were to ask which of the six nations on the continent investigated and hunted down the Salvation Cult most severely and thoroughly, it would undoubtedly be the Kingdom of Helios, where the Sis Territory was located.
Some nations, for various purposes, superficially classified the Salvation Cult as an evil cult, but their actual investigation and suppression efforts were quite lax, far inferior to the Kingdom of Helios. As long as someone possessed the emblem of the Salvation Cult, they could be identified as a cultist, and anyone who killed them would be guiltless.
To avoid misjudgment, Waynes personally inspected the equipment on this dead cultist. The embroidery on the outer robe was indeed crafted from extremely fine, pure gold thread, and the main material of the outer robe appeared to be the Fireproof Spider Silk Cloth, unique to the Oz Empire.
Garments made from this material were not only lightweight but could also resist puncturing by any sharp weapon below the Transcendent level. In terms of protective efficacy, this outfit was not inferior to the armor worn by the Knights of the Sis Territory, and was even a notch superior.
In addition, being impervious to fire was also one of the characteristics of this material.
Fireproof Spider Silk Cloth was highly popular within the Oz Empire, but outside the Oz Empire, even a Senior Knight wishing to purchase a garment made of this material would need to expend an immense amount of wealth, and often, only the fabric itself was available.
Finished garments could only be imported from the Oz Empire. This was because crafting the clothes required spider silk of the same material, as well as special techniques, ensuring that the finished garments were left without any flaws.
The reason Waynes knew all this was largely thanks to those foreign merchant guilds.
What those merchant guilds brought, aside from limited goods, was more importantly a variety of news from the inland of the Kingdom of Helios and even other nations on the continent.
“Give me a sword!”
Waynes said to his subordinate behind him. In the next moment, a Standard Longsword of the territory was placed in his hands. Then, holding the longsword, Waynes forcefully thrust it into a corner of the unearthed corpse’s outer robe.
The intense impact condensed at the tip of the sword, yet it failed to pierce the outer robe immediately. Instead, pressing against the robe, it drove over half a foot deep into the ground.
Feeling the resistance from his hand, Waynes couldn’t help but marvel, “It really is Fireproof Spider Silk Cloth!”
For it to withstand a casual strike from him, it had to be Fireproof Spider Silk Cloth. There was no need to test its fire resistance anymore; Waynes was very confident in his judgment.
Since it was Fireproof Spider Silk Cloth, there was a very high chance that this person came from the Oz Empire!
Subsequently, Waynes continued to inspect the armor beneath the corpse’s outer robe, primarily checking the crest patterns on the armor, as well as its internal structure.
“Sure enough, it’s the Salvation Cult!”
After a thorough inspection, Waynes discovered a large number of emblems characteristic of the Salvation Cult on the corpse’s armor. Furthermore, the interior of the armor lacked a specific feature common to the armor of all nations:
Gold coin slots.
The minted coins of various nations embodied Order and the will of the people. They were the easiest to obtain, relatively effective, and stably functioning essential materials for resisting Chaos.
When forging armor, the six nations of the continent, regardless of whether they had gold coins or were willing to use them, would always pre-design gold coin slots. Yet, the armor on the corpse before him had none!
What this implied was practically self-evident.
Even if this guy wasn’t from the Salvation Cult, he had to be from some other evil cult.
But having already discovered so many clues pointing toward the Salvation Cult, Waynes wouldn’t deliberately ignore them just to insist that this corpse belonged to the Holy Spirit Cult.