The next day ca quickly.
"Splash, splash..."
By the shore of the vast lake, the waves continuously crashed against the bank, as Moli’s group appeared.
Moli turned slightly to look at Su and his group beside her and said, "I have made up my mind. This mission we will execute independently. After all... it is safest if only our own people are involved. I’ve handed all the information regarding this mission to you. If you have morized it, and there are no mistakes, there’s a high chance of success this ti."
As soon as she finished speaking, almost everyone simultaneously glanced at Hulk.
Hulk’s body stiffened slightly, and he opened his mouth to say, "Don’t all just look at like that, I rember it this ti, I really do!"
Faced with the group’s extrely distrustful looks, Hulk couldn’t help but look at Moli, speaking aggrievedly, "Captain, you have to believe , I truly rember."
"As long as you rember, that’s good." Moli didn’t say much more and continued sternly, "I want everyone to understand one thing, you do not trust outsiders, nor do I. But only our abilities can solve the problem at hand, eliminating the need to seek help from outsiders. Therefore, we must work hard together to avoid involving outsiders and prevent them from introducing uncertainties. Understand?"
"Yes," the group responded in unison, their morale quite high.
"Very good." Moli nodded, "Then let’s set off."
With these words, she faced the center of the large lake, pushed off with her feet, and flew forward. The rest quickly followed, full of confidence and montum.
...
...
Soon, a day and night passed.
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Splash!"
Moli and her group returned from the heart of the lake in a state of panic, almost stumbling as they landed on the shore.
"One-eyed," "Wood," and a few others, exhausted, plunged headfirst into the lake near the shore. After a long ti, they surfaced, swam to the shore, flipped over and lay there, gasping for air, before getting up.
It was clear that Moli’s group had experienced sothing unknown, as almost everyone was injured, looking extrely miserable and their morale was at rock bottom.
Hulk was the only one a bit better off; his whole body, except for sowhat tattered clothes, bore no injuries. However, Hulk wasn’t particularly grateful, instead sowhat ashad and confused, looking at Moli, he said, "Captain, why didn’t you let activate the furnace and kill those hateful things?! If I had taken action, they would all be dead..."
"That’s enough, shut up." Moli glared at Hulk and unceremoniously said.
She tidied her hair, covering a scar on her face, and said, "Do you think I wouldn’t want to do that? But I’ve told you how many tis, you are the most critical part of this operation. The Energy Furnace puts too much strain on the body. It must be reserved for the final monts. If used prematurely, it will be impossible to break through later, only leading to failure."
"But haven’t we already failed?"
"Indeed, but not completely failed. There are still other thods to get you to a deeper place to activate the Energy Furnace." Moli squinted her eyes.
"Captain, you an..." Hulk blinked his eyes.
"Of course, I an seeking outside help. Is there any other way at this point?" Moli said.
As she spoke, Moli’s eyes swept over everyone, and each person shafully lowered their heads.
"But, will the other party really agree to help us?" Hulk asked quietly, "That guy isn’t exactly easy to talk to."
"We have to give it a try." Moli said seriously, "We still have many things we haven’t presented. I think he might be tempted."
"Uh-huh."
"Contact him then."
"Alright."
...
...
Farlo City, at noon.
Richard visited Wizard Cersi once more to discuss the deciphering approach of so obscure primordial texts. After the discussion, he returned to his place.
As soon as he stepped inside, Richard stopped in his tracks, reaching into his coat to pull out a handkerchief—this was the magic tool given to him by Moli for contact before they explored the ancient relics.
Several magic runes lit up on the handkerchief, flashing in a certain pattern, delivering information.
He was not unfamiliar with this kind of ssage, as Moli had told him more ways to convey ssages on their way back from the relic exploration. The current ssage expressed a desire for a eting, scheduled for two days later.
A eting, in two days? What’s it for?
Thanks to Moli, he had obtained the Energy Furnace design drawings, so he held so goodwill towards her. However, due to so speculations about her identity, he maintained a basic caution when interacting with her. Now that she actively invited him to et again, he hesitated, unsure of her intentions.
After a few seconds of hesitation, he made up his mind, pressing a hand onto the handkerchief, infusing energy, and gave a response of "okay."
After replying, he put away the handkerchief, thought for a mont, flipped his hand to bring out the crystal ball. Activating the crystal ball, he sent a ssage to a certain individual in Farlo City.
...
It wasn’t long after the ssage was sent that there was a knock on the courtyard door.
"Knock, knock, knock!"
With a "creak," Richard opened the door, and just as expected, Sherlock appeared outside. A carriage was parked on the street, the horses pulling it were breathing heavily, with froth at their mouths, clearly having rushed to arrive.
"What’s going on, calling here in such urgency?" Sherlock asked as they t, complaining with so dissatisfaction, "Don’t you know, I’m busy."
Richard ignored the latter part and said directly, "I want you to help collect books recording the royal family mbers of countries across the continent, as many as possible. Preferably, I’d like them by tonight."
"Books on royal family mbers..." Sherlock listened and frowned, his face showing difficulty.
"What’s wrong? Is it difficult?" Richard asked. Considering the books’ contents involved royal families, with so potential taboos, Richard found it understandable.
Unexpectedly, Sherlock shook his head, frankly saying, "It might be a bit challenging, but I can manage it. That’s not the point—the main issue is, I have a banquet to attend tonight, no ti to help you."
Richard: "..."
"What sort of banquet is so enticing to you?" Richard asked after a brief silence, looking at Sherlock in puzzlent, "I recall you weren’t very fond of Farlo’s banquets, saying they lacked grandeur, not worthy of your taste."
"This one’s different." Sherlock smiled brightly, expectation in his eyes, "This ti it’s one hosted officially by Farlo City, unlike those shabby banquets by nouveau riche nobles, not only is it much larger in scale, most importantly, it’s of very high status."
"How high?"
"Imnsely high." Sherlock gestured a ter with his hand, "At least to this extent, after all, it’s related to the emperor of the Soma Alliance."
"The Emperor?" Richard questioned, "What does this have to do with the Emperor?"
"Haven’t you heard?"
"What?"
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