The three Players hustled back to the stronghold, practically hugging the barbed-wire boundary.
By the ti they reached the southern stronghold, the chaos had subsided. The scavengers had reverted to cowering — as if a new leader had erged, reasserting control through brute force.
Reality was less straightforward. When the three Players entered the shack that served as the southern stronghold's seat of power, they found a hulking man — nearly a full size larger than Well Si — smashing furniture, roaring with furious grief.
"Who killed my lover?! Talk! Where did these outsiders co from — where did they go?!"
"..."
Three stunned looks were exchanged. For the first ti, the word "lover" felt profoundly... abstract.
Who was this?
Could this be the eastern district's boss — Ye Nuoli?
They blinked. Not because the romance blossoming in this frozen abyss was too absurd — they'd seen wilder things. They were simply taken aback by the man's physique, struggling to imagine what Pro To's description of "rolling around together" actually looked like in practice.
As the trio zoned out, the scavenger dangling from Ye Nuoli's grip caught sight of Cheng Shi. Eyes lighting up like he'd found a lifeline, the man jabbed a finger outside and scread:
"It's them! Them! Lord Ye Nuoli — they killed Lord Well Si!"
The scavenger knew perfectly well these three hadn't killed his boss. But weighed against his own neck, letting strangers take the bla was an excellent deal.
Ye Nuoli, of course, wasn't truly mourning Well Si. Losing a partner was sad, yes — but what truly pained him was Well Si's ticulously hidden war-machine plan!
He'd co today with freshly found tal materials for Well Si, counting on the repairs that would push open the Faith Theater's doors.
Full of anticipation, he'd arrived — only to find Well Si dead.
How could he not grieve?
But Ye Nuoli was no "love-brained" fool. He seized the opportunity, channeled his sorrow into a hostile takeover of the leaderless southern stronghold, deliberately killed several promising successors to cow the rest, and tearfully swallowed the south camp whole.
Now three Players had walked right in — handing him the perfect chance to consolidate authority.
Imagine: if he could bring Well Si's "killer" to justice, Ye Nuoli's reputation for loyalty would spread across all of San Dales. More "visionaries" would rally to his banner, and with everyone pooling efforts, completing Well Si's unfinished plan wasn't out of the question.
In Ye Nuoli's eyes, these three Players weren't outsiders — they were the golden key to seizing southern power and building a legend.
They had to die today!
The scavengers had called their combat power extraordinary, sure — but calibrated against Well Si? What kind of extraordinary was that?
All of San Dales knew: apart from the Devout Land's specter, the tower-like Ye Nuoli had no equal.
Riding that confidence, Ye Nuoli dropped the half-dead scavenger, malice on his face, and strode toward the doorway cracking his knuckles.
"You three are going to pay for my lov—"
He didn't finish. He was already on his knees before Cheng Shi.
No warning.
Silky smooth.
Ai Si hadn't even drawn. Two scalpels — one left, one right — from Cheng Shi and Zhang Jizu, had severed Ye Nuoli's leg tendons, dropping him into an involuntary kneel.
Feeling the overwhelming threat, Ye Nuoli instantly discarded the ferocity. His eyes went crystal-clear, and through gritted teeth he purred:
"I wish to sincerely apologize to you three lords for any inconvenience caused by my late lover. Should you have need, the southern stronghold's scavengers and the eastern district's Scavenger Alliance are at your complete disposal.
I assure you — we are professionals."
Then he whipped around to the surrounding scavengers, bellowing: "How dare you treat such esteed guests this way — kneel down and apologize, all of you!"
But the scavengers weren't stupid. They'd already identified the three outsiders as the real power here. Without orders from them, nobody was listening to Ye Nuoli anymore.
Cold sweat beaded on Ye Nuoli's forehead. He never could have imagined outsiders this strong — and deeply regretted not divining his fortune before stepping out today.
Cheng Shi, however, had no ti for theatrics. He appreciated the weather-vane opportunism, but right now the priority was extracting intel about the Devout Land and catching up to Surna-Zhen.
He seized Ye Nuoli by the hair and asked with a pleasant smile:
"I ask. You answer. Say too much or get it wrong, and you go keep your lover company.
First question: on your way here, did you see anyone enter the Devout Land, or notice anything happening there?"
"No. Nothing. I'm sure of it." Ye Nuoli's face was ashen; he didn't dare add a single syllable.
"The earlier Frenzy — did you see it? How does it compare to a real Ghost Frenzy?"
"The east didn't see it at all. I only noticed dense fog near the south, but in this wind the fog is hard to read at the best of tis. I hurried here specifically to confirm it with Well Si... to see whether the southern Devout Land had undergone so new change."
'That reckless trick worked, but it's not Surna Zhen's usual polish.' Cheng Shi couldn't quite figure it out. Brow darkening, he pressed on.
"How do you normally explore this area? Any thods to avoid the specter's kill?"
"Stay as silent as possible. Beyond that — nothing we've found.
Oh — right, Well Si once ntioned using Tower of Logic war machines to explore the fog. That's what I ca to deliver materials for. But he's..."
Ye Nuoli's face went whiter still — whether from anguish or blood loss. He looked up at Cheng Shi with eyes that distilled into two words: rcy.
Cheng Shi snorted and ignored the plea.
"Outside the instant-death zone, how could a war machine outperform a person? Are there other rules in this area?"
"No more, my lord. Even if there were, we wouldn't know. Every scavenger who's explored has died nearby. We've tried everything to push the boundary farther, but on this frozen soil and howling wind, making zero noise is simply impossible..."
For scavengers — true. But for Players? Silencing tools and talents made it trivial.
Unfortunately, this team had no Silence follower. But each of them likely carried their share of tools.
Cheng Shi glanced thoughtfully at Mi Laozhang and Ai Si, smacked his lips, and squeezed every last drop of intel from the eastern boss before Ye Nuoli passed out from blood loss.
The three returned to the barbed wire. Cheng Shi gazed at the fog — buffeted by wind yet stubbornly unyielding — and mused in a peculiar tone.
"Whose faith does the Faith Theater enshrine? Whose devotion does the Devout Land test?
If faithlessness can be a faith, then perhaps irreverence is just another form of reverence.
Enlightennt has struck, my friends. How about you?"
"..." Zhang Jizu ignored him. Ai Si only smiled and stayed quiet.
Eyeing the remarkably composed Ai Si, Cheng Shi raised a brow.
"A Silence trial indeed — you've already stopped talking. Well then, let's get to the point. Ladies and gentlen — who goes first?"
Without asking who carried Silence tools, his "who goes first" made it clear he didn't. Zhang Jizu squinted and shook his head too. Both turned simultaneously to look at Ai Si.
An odd move — because Ai Si was a War follower. Silence was War's polar opposite. War believers almost never kept Silence tools for fear of blasphemy.
Of course, experts with unconventional views on blasphemy and faith were the exception.
And this Ai Si appeared to be exactly such an expert.
The War Supervisor set down her great sword with a sour expression. From her storage she produced three vials and introduced them curtly.
"'Dumbstruck.' B-rank Silence specialty potion. Half a bottle enforces muteness. A full bottle eliminates all sound a living being produces. Three bottles turn a living being into a mute, rigid puppet.
Extrely effective, but the duration is abysmal — only thirty seconds. And I only have three.
So, gentlen — if you don't have a better plan, are you ready to sprint to the Faith Theater's doors in thirty seconds?"
...
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