Chapter 21: The First Secret Exploration _2
Translator: 549690339 |
The possibility of being exposed would be greatly reduced.
After signaling the five ‘benevolent brothers’ and the social phobia trio to tidy up the ropes, Link turned to Jasmine and asked, “Ready to tell us now about your substantial discovery?”
Perhaps because it had been a “lengthy” time since they last met, Link’s attitude towards Jasmine had seen some change, with his tone even carrying a hint of mockery.
Jasmine quickly caught on. She understood that Link was teasing her for her previous bashful behavior of hugging him upon their reunion, followed by her shy reluctance to lift her head to speak.
She couldn’t help but blush, her silver teeth gritting a little as she glared at Link and responded with a huge, exasperated eye roll.
Such a man.
Shouldn’t a man offer a girl gentle comfort when she’s feeling shy, rather than making fun of her?
I wish him a lifetime of singleness.
After venting a few bitter words inwardly, Jasmine decided to remain indifferent towards Link’s idle provocations,
Pretending to clear her throat, she adopted a business-like demeanor and said, “While I was idly digging some tunnels, I unearthed a submerged iron door, and behind this door, a passage filled with numerous murals. At the end of the passage was a bronze door.”
Pausing slightly, Jasmine raised her voice, “The content of the murals illustrates the process and causes of the world’s impending demise. The secret passage and the bronze door have a mysterious nature, amplifying emotions and tempting one to explore it.”
On hearing this, Link was immediately filled with intense curiosity.
Secret passage, murals, a bronze door – these were all classic elements of an adventure story.
If they could unlock the secrets behind the murals and the bronze door, perhaps they could greatly advance the third main mission, or in other words, the Righteous Faction mission: Save The World.
“Boss, we’ve finished gathering up the ropes,”
Eager to show off, Buck reported loudly the moment the ropes were tidied up,
Trying his best to make a good impression in Link’s eyes.
So that in a critical moment, Link might intervene to deter others from beating him too hard.
“Good,”
Link acknowledged, then proceeded to arrange, “We’ll enter the tunnel to rest briefly and recuperate before taking any further actions. You will remain in your designated teams, Jasmine and I will act independently.”
While speaking, Link looked towards Linn and Dalton, emphasising, “The success of your tasks is crucial, you must remain vigilant at all times. If anyone lands on the sandbars, I hope you’ll detect it immediately and inform me. Additionally, I plan to relocate two reconnaissance puppets.”
“Absolutely, we’ll follow your order,”
Linn stated without any hesitation.
“I’m the same,”
Dalton chimed in right after.
“Lead the way, let’s rest in the tunnel for now.”
Link signaled for Jasmine to lead the way.
The tunnel was her excavations, she would know the terrain best.
Jasmine responded without a word, leading the entire team into the tunnel she had spent over a day digging.
Since there were no external enemies, Jasmine hadn’t prioritised the construction plan while excavating the tunnel.
Aside from the transport trenches being relatively standard, all other aspects could be considered no more than barely passable.
The tunnel’s greatest advantage was its smoothness.
After all, Jasmine wasn’t using a spade but a secondary Mudstone Technique.
Nearing the iron door, Jasmine stopped.
She pointed to the obviously marked earthen wall and said, “After digging through the section of the tunnel ahead that I’ve blocked off, you’ll be able to see the iron door.”
“Hmm, let’s rest first.”
Link was the first to set down his large pack and began to rest.
After roughly five hours of continuous travel, every member of the team was somewhat fatigued.
With an expedition of unknown circumstances before them, fully recovering their strength was extremely important.
The source of illumination inside the tunnel were discarded magic stones.
Rune objects and magic tools were both driven by magic power.
Either they would slowly draw free magic from nature, or the magic power supplied by a wizard apprentice or wizard would be used, or they could be powered by magic stones.
Some rune objects and magic tools that were frequently used couldn’t wait to slowly recover magic power reserves from nature and were not suitable for using one’s own magic power, so they had to use magic stones.
For instance, the flying sphere and reconnaissance puppets.
Once the magic power within the magic stones was exhausted, they became natural luminous stones.
Discarded magic stones the size of a thumb could illuminate a large area.
Their uses were wide-ranging.
With Jasmine placing them inside the tunnel, it was only fitting.
Drinking water, eating, chatting, closing eyes to rest…
Each team member had their own way of resting.
Jasmine sat next to Link, all the unease, panic, and worry that had plagued her for the past two days were swept away in an instant.
Her heart was discernibly calm.
It was as though she suddenly felt a sense of security.
Having realised the change in her frame of mind, Jasmine felt a touch of helplessness.
She truly desired to be self-reliant and stand strong on her own!
She hadn’t felt this way while still at the academy.
However, after leaving Link for less than two days, her behavior had become extremely maladapted.
Looking back, she dared to engage with Witch Ayla in a grueling tug of war, keeping her intentions ambiguous to delay giving a definite answer. All because she had Link by her side.
She had been indeed moved and felt that if she could successfully take control of the “New Blood Mutual Aid Association”, it would provide assistance in her development and Link’s as well.
But then, she had come to accept reality.
“New Blood Mutual Aid Association” can only be Wizard Palo’s “New Blood Mutual Aid Association”.
Since they are already connected to Wizard Palo, there is no need to get involved further.
Enough about minor matters.
In an atmosphere of relative ease, everyone was fully rested, their energy replenished.
Then, it was time to act.
Dalton and Linn stayed behind to monitor the surroundings of the sandbank and did not participate in the exploration.
Link activated the active defense mode of the “Defender 3202” suit, leading the way.
Jasmine half a step behind Link, trailed just behind him on his left.
Digee led the Social Phobia Trio, sandwiched in the middle.
Buck and Ezio took the rear.
Several team members with Earth Element Affinity consecutively used secondary Mudstone techniques to reopen the tunnel where the iron door was located.
Even though Jasmine had already entered the secret passageway once, Link still showed great caution.
He didn’t directly open the iron door, instead, he manipulated the Thorns Whip and controlled the thorns to open the iron door.
The moment the door opened, Link sensed a change.
Thanks to the highest level of “Mind Closure Technique”, Link was incredibly sensitive to his own emotions.
He clearly felt a very subtle fluctuation, stirring his emotions.
It was as if a demon was whispering in his ear, trying to provoke his greed.
“Be careful, control your emotions, and if you have any extreme thoughts, inform everyone immediately.”
Link had no immediate solution, so he issued a warning first.
“Yes.”
Jasmine responded.
“Yes, boss.”
The team members replied in kind.
Though their words were different, everyone became a little more vigilant.
On their journey, Link has issued similar warnings many times.
It was proven that those warnings had avoided some unnecessary trouble each time.
His authority had been subtly established.
With a thought, Link threw several Water System and Wood System detoxification spells into the secret passageway.
After confirming that there were no toxins in the air of the secret tunnel, Link had an idea.
It was the effect of a mental-type witchcraft.
Only mental-type witchcraft can counteract mental-type witchcraft.
Very troublesome.
Link could rely on the “Mind Closure Technique” to ensure that he was not affected, but he couldn’t take care of others.
This discovery made Link feel both difficult and pleasantly surprised.
Why the surprise?
They hadn’t even entered the door yet, but there was already such a subtle “defense” measure. How small could the secret hidden inside be?
There might indeed be hope for advancing the faction mission.
After asking his teammates to retreat a certain distance to the safe zone beyond the unknown influence, Link ventured into the secret passageway alone.
From the first mural on the left to the one near the Bronze Door, and then returned to the first mural on the right side.
Link spent a full half-hour.
He didn’t miss a single detail.
All twenty murals were firmly etched in his Hall of Memories.
For future reviews and confirmation.
After finishing, Link had only one feeling: one mustn’t go courting death!
“How is it? How do you feel? Shocking right?”
The reason Jasmine bore not telling Link and others about the content of the mural was to see the shock on Link’s face at this moment.
She’s been holding back until now, it’s been so hard for her.
Link shook his head and sighed, “Only what you can’t think of, not what you can’t do.”
This absurd conversation piqued the curiosity of the five brothers and the Social Phobia Trio.
What was on the murals that shocked their usually calm boss so much?
They wished they could see it for themselves.
“Go and have a look, there’s nothing to worry about now.”
During the mural inspection, Link had already confirmed that what was stirring the emotional fluctuations was the pigment used in the murals.
After being kept sealed for a considerable time, when it encountered fresh air, it gave off a scent.
Now, after being ventilated for a while, the smell remained but had become very faint, and its effects on the emotions had diminished a lot.
As long as they don’t cause trouble, like sticking out their tongues to lick the murals, there won’t be any issues.
Upon hearing this, everyone immediately entered the secret passageway in single file to inspect the murals.
Then, they all gave their exclaim:
“Oh my god!”
“You can really do that?”