C485

On February 27, 1800, a furious sandstorm obscured everything in sight outside the camp.

The relentless sandstorm, blowing with the power to bury everything all day, was so tedious that even just observing it could induce nausea...

But the fact was that this very sandstorm had hidden Runcandel"s members for the past few weeks.

It had also concealed the existence of a ma.s.sive battleship construction shipyard here until Zipple intentionally leaked the information.

"Kugh..."

Dyfus groaned softly, pressing his forehead.

He felt a strong headache after reading the bulletin brought by the execution knights who had gone to the nearby village in the morning.

The Furious Wind and the Dark Crown Prince engaged in a battle on the deck near Tikan...

The sea split, and the sky opened every time the two knights wielded their swords.

The rank war had started out of nowhere due to Mary Runcandel"s provocation!

The winner was the Twelfth Flagbearer...

Cosmos, the confidant of the Seventh Flagbearer, revealed, "The captain wanted to keep fighting the Twelfth Flagbearer as soon as she learned that he had defeated the Black King"s Mountain alone. Were the rumors about the Black King incident true?"

Rumors circulated that the Twelfth had partic.i.p.ated in the recent unknown battle near the Gaifa Islands...

Did Jin Runcandel kill (or make disappear) Amela?

Zemo, the confidant of the Twelfth Flagbearer, confirmed, "Amela was indeed sent to the other world by our lord with a single stroke."

Jin Runcandel ascended to the fifth rank in just a year after becoming a Flagbearer.

Has the succession structure of the Runcandels truly changed?

Crushing victory against the Seventh Flagbearer!

The Twelfth Flagbearer continued to rise, how long will his legend last?

"Mary, I expected you to cause a great incident, but I never expected you to have a duel with the younger one in front of the public."

They couldn"t visit the village every day, so it had been over a week since the news became known.

While the infiltration team hid in the Sota Desert, the world was in chaos due to the battle between Jin and Mary.

"Do as you please for now. Cause as many incidents as you want, train as you like. I"ll deal with the aftermath."

Dyfus remembered the words he had told Mary some time ago.

His true intention was to help Mary live her life to the fullest.

However, Dyfus desperately needed Mary"s help due to Zipple"s unexpected leak of information about the battleship construction shipyard.

Luna and Luntia were on different missions and not available, and lower-ranked Flagbearers would likely be more of a burden if he called them.

So, with the intention of getting help one last time before Mary left, he hastily sent a letter indicating the infiltration tunnel.

Dyfus never thought he would hear the news that she had fought with the younger one.

Could it be that she didn"t receive the letter?

No, it can"t be.

Knowing Mary"s style...

She probably challenged the younger one to a duel with the intention that the winner would come here to support me.

Sigh~

Dyfus let out a sigh.

Asking for support from Jin was not something that hadn"t crossed his mind at all.

He had just officially become the Fifth Flagbearer, but Jin"s strength and abilities were comparable to the most prominent Flagbearers, as demonstrated during the patriarchal declaration.

However, the reason why he preferred Mary"s support to Jin"s was clear.

Coordination and teamwork.

Needless to say, the brother Dyfus trusted the most was Mary.

If Dyfus had to entrust his back on such a dangerous mission, it had to be Mary.

Moreover, in terms of teamwork, Mary fit much better than Jin.

Just knowing the relationship between Joshua and Jin would make anyone think that.

"Of course, Jin and Joshua would probably divide the work, but... This doesn"t sit well with me."

Swish!

While thinking that, the front and rear doors of the barrack opened simultaneously.

Joshua and the Black Knight, who had gone out to explore, entered through the front door, and Jin, who had just arrived, entered through the back door.

"...Younger one? Why are you here?"

When Joshua raised an eyebrow, Dyfus shrugged, and Jin asked a nonchalant question.

"There are quite a few strange tunnels along the infiltration tunnel. Did you make them, Second Flagbearer?"

Strange tunnels.

That was a question that had intrigued Dyfus as well.

Joshua had created the entire infiltration tunnel in the Sota Desert.

Dyfus had tried to create a different tunnel from another direction but had failed and ultimately joined Joshua"s tunnel.

During this process...

Dyfus had also confirmed that Joshua"s infiltration tunnel had a shape that no ordinary person or average magic could create.

Joshua"s infiltration tunnel clearly dug deep enough to cause the ground to collapse, but for some reason, it maintained its shape without collapsing.

"Yes, I did."

"It seemed like an infiltration tunnel that couldn"t have been made by humans."

"Do you think your limited standards apply to everyone? I have clearly overestimated your intelligence."

"Aren"t you hiding the fact that there"s an a.s.sistant, the so-called Prophet or something?"

Since Jin met Joshua in the mausoleum, right after the patriarchal declaration, he immediately judged that Joshua wouldn"t take long to reveal the existence of the Prophet to everyone.

Even then, Jin had openly talked about her in front of other Flagbearers and elders, but Joshua hadn"t shown any signs of being particularly upset.

"It seems you have some misconceptions."

Joshua shook his head and continued speaking.

"I"ve never hidden the existence of the Prophet. The fact that you and the other Flagbearers didn"t know was simply because you lacked the necessary access to information."

Jin chuckled.

"Well, I didn"t bring up the topic to get a strong reaction from you. It rea.s.sures me to think that someone who has been a high secret for a long time is helping me in my work. Now, there are also two Black Knights."

The Black Knights didn"t react to Jin"s provocative behavior.

Joshua"s gaze rested on Jin"s shoulder, where Murakan, in cat form, was snoozing.

"I"m relieved to think that the guardian deity of the Family is watching over this mission. Our goals are infiltration and a.s.sa.s.sination, so you are more suitable for the job than Mary."

While the two conversed, Dyfus kept pondering over the word "Prophet."

How much information did the younger one find out about Joshua?

And how did he find out?

Dyfus felt a mix of bitterness and curiosity. He had long been aware that Joshua had some power or special helper behind him, but that was all he knew. Dyfus had been investigating for a long time, but he hadn"t found any clues about what Joshua possessed. He had a.s.sumed that Rosa had hidden information about Joshua from them, making it impossible to find out.

On the other hand, Jin seemed to know everything about the Prophet since the patriarchal declaration.

Dyfus couldn"t help but feel a sense of defeat.

A defeat is a defeat, and I have to find a way for the younger one to share his information with me.

I have to gather as much information as possible and move faster than Joshua, even if it"s slower than the younger one.

Dyfus came to that conclusion as Joshua and Jin continued to gaze at each other.

"I mentioned the Black Knights on purpose, but there was no reaction. Has Dox not gone to Rikalton yet?" Jin thought.

He hadn"t received any contact from Dox, so he didn"t know how his orders were being fulfilled. Also, regardless of whether Dox had gone to Rikalton or not, it wasn"t that difficult for someone like Joshua to conceal his true feelings.

Joshua smiled and pulled out a stack of doc.u.ments from his bag.

"Here is the information on the secret shipyard we"ve been monitoring and the details of the operation until your arrival."

The doc.u.ment provided detailed information on the internal structure of the secret shipyard, the surveillance personnel, risks, and special considerations.

Are all facilities of this magnitude built underground?

Jin examined the internal structure and was surprised by the magnitude of the secret shipyard.

It was much larger than he had antic.i.p.ated.

Joshua smiled, as if he had expected Jin"s reaction.

"There are a total of 24 sections, each equivalent in size to a decent-sized castle. More than half of the desert"s underground is the secret shipyard. It makes me wonder how they built a facility of this size and kept it a secret all this time."

A few sections marked in red stood out.

"These marked sections are believed to be the most critical areas for the battleship"s design or essential resources for its construction. The Fourth, Eleventh, Seventeenth, and Nineteenth sections have the strictest security, and we haven"t been able to access them yet."

So far, the infiltration team had been exploring the internal structure with the power of the Prophet.

The fact that they couldn"t infiltrate those areas even with that special power and the abilities of the two main Flagbearers and the two Black Knights meant that the only way was to enter by force.

And the moment they forcibly entered those four areas, the real time limit for this mission would begin.

"We have to choose our initial entry points carefully because we might only have one chance."

"Yes. The real operation will begin tomorrow at 2 in the morning. From then on, we will get information directly from the inside, select one of the four sections, and start the mission of destruction and takeover. The top priority is to secure the battleship blueprint and destroy the most critical resources. I suppose this explanation is enough, isn"t it?"

Jin nodded.

"Alright, then I guess I"ll have to get some rest."

Joshua turned around, picking up the bulletins that were on the table.

"And congratulations on reaching the fifth rank. I"ll treat you to a bottle of good wine when we get back."

"Thank you, I"ll gladly accept that. Ah, and thanks for your help during the Black King incident."

The conversation turned back to Dox.

When Joshua saw that Dox hadn"t returned during the Black King incident, he instructed his bulletins to write favorable articles about Jin and Murakan, thus increasing the clan"s prestige.

"As I was looking at those articles, I came up with the thought that there were times when the Second Flagbearer and I got along well."

"I hope the same happens during this mission, Dark Crown Prince of Hufester. Hahaha..."

As soon as he heard the t.i.tle of Dark Crown Prince, Jin felt an intense desire to try killing Cosmos again.

When Joshua and the Black Knights left the tent, Jin and Dyfus"s gazes naturally met.

"Second older brother."

"Yes?"

Jin spoke after a short pause.

"...Let"s kill that person during this mission."

Dyfus was surprised by the sudden declaration.

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KO-FI

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