Chapter 213: Cooperation
Along the way, Chen Rui learned from Delia that after she had dealt with the affairs of Town Leia in accordance with Christina’s order the last time, she had been worrying about “Richard” who was taken away by the noblewoman. Yet, strangely, Christina seemed to have disappeared. She didn’t return to Town Leia, and her whereabouts were unknown.
When Delia returned to the Dark Shadow capital, her elder brother, also the Fire Blade Legion’s Commander, Broc reported from the heavily-fortified Jergal Fortress and pleaded guilty to Queen Catherine.
The reason was that Broc had a conflict with the noblewoman, Christina while investigating the disappearance of scouts. Broc was also assassinated by a mysterious person and got poisoned.
Broc’s wife was Mandy, the daughter of Queen Catherine’s uncle, Franz. During the Dark Shadow Empire’s civil war, Catherine’s brother and younger brother fought for the throne, killed each other and the scourge of war was endless.
At the critical moment, Catherine stepped forward and settled the rebellion with her own strength. She personally beheaded her brother, Kepler and finally restored the stability of the Dark Shadow Empire.
That battle was quite cruel. The Asmodeus Royal Family suffered huge losses. Uncle Franz was Catherine’s most powerful supporter and also her most trusted relative.
After Catherine became the empress, she transferred her military power to Franz. Subsequently, Broc married Mandy and gradually began to take advantage of this relationship to be promoted. Together with his personal strength and superior military talent, he replaced the “retired” Franz’s position and became the leader of the 3 generals of the empire. He had a strong appeal in the military.
Regarding Broc’s “plead for guilty”, not only didn’t Empress Catherine accept it, but she even pointed out that Christina had handled the matter improperly. She promised to give her relative punishment by ordering Christina to reflect behind closed doors at the forbidden palace, and she was prohibited from going out. Queen Catherine even invited the president of the Potioneer Alliance, Angelique to the Jergal Fortress to heal Broc and rewarded everyone in the Fire Blade Legion for guarding the fortress for many years. Because of that, the morale of the army rose high and they were praising the empress.
Christina was barred. She wasn’t allowed to contact any outsiders. Delia took a lot of effort, but still couldn’t get any information about “Richard” that was taken away by the noblewoman. Up until she saw Chen Rui now that she was relieved.
Chen Rui frowned while listening. It’s clear that Broc wanted to get rid of Christina ambitiously. However, he became a meritorious personnel that was rewarded and pacified; whereas Christina survived the hardship, but she was still under confinement.
With the Empress Catherine’s intelligence, it was impossible for her to not notice Broc’s ambition and plan. That comforting method was nothing more than a check and balance. However, it was too unfair to Christina. Since she was locked in the forbidden palace, even if he went to the Dark Shadow Capital, it would still be difficult to meet her.
Chen Rui took a deep breath. Now, he wasn’t qualified to look for her openly. As the same phrase went, ‘let’s leave these matters to the future’.
Chen Rui also noticed a detail. When she mentioned her brother, Broc, Delia’s eyes seemed unnatural. It might be related to the fact that Broc forced her to marry the old Finance Minister 3 years ago.
The trio’s pace was very fast. Roman, who had fought with Chen Rui, didn’t mind Chen Rui’s speed. However, when Delia saw “Richard” who only revealed a Higher Demon’s breath could easily keep up with Roman’s and her pace, she was secretly shocked. Due to the gold crystal magic shackles the last time, I didn’t get to witness Richard’s actual strength. Now, it seems that he is likely to be the same level as me. No wonder he could counteract the <Eye of Incubus> with some secret method back then.
Actually, the last time Delia met Chen Rui, Chen Rui was really just a Higher Demon.
Along the way, many plants had withered and the water sources had dried up. The further they went, the more severe this phenomenon was.
“Delia, were there changes like this the last time you guys came?” Chen Rui pointed at the surrounding environment.
Delia recalled and replied, “Yes. Yet, it doesn’t seem to be as serious as it is now. It may be related to the magic array of the treasure.”
Chen Rui thought of the pond that was drying out at the Wyvern’s Lair and the poisonous pond at Hydra’s Lair. He started to have doubts inexplicably. Now, he was quite familiar with Dragon Inscription. With the characteristics of inscription, these “symptoms” shouldn’t appear. Besides, it even got worse over time.
It was the forgetful poison dragon’s fault. His memory was bad already. After sleeping for more than 2000 years, he couldn’t remember a lot of things. Let alone the specific layout of the complicated inscription traps, even the treasure, he could only remember it was in a “rather big cave”.
A special interference appeared at the front. Under this interference, items such as magic maps and magic compass were no longer usable. From the general direction on the map previously, it was almost certain that the treasure land that Delia mentioned was the same as Paglio’s treasure.
After a day and a night, the trio finally arrived at their destination.
Looking from a distance, this was a very common wetland jungle. There were heavy mist that made the scene unclear. However, strangely, this jungle didn’t wither like the plants along the way. Instead, they remained lush which made it seem very strange.
It wasn’t just the 3 of them on the edge of the jungle, but there were also others.
Paglio was sealed for more than 2000 years. In the past 2000 thousand years, people had discovered the oddity of this jungle. There were even people who found treasures in the area around the jungle from time to time. Like Delia, these people had also figured out that the “protective magic” would weaken every 3 years, so they came to hunt for the treasure.
Among these people, two of them were the strongest. One of them was an Asmodeus Royal Family at the early stage of Great Demon King. He led a team of more than a dozen individuals, and he had the most people in his team among the treasure hunters.
The other one was alone. It was a mature woman with the strength of the middle stage of Great Demon King. Her identity was shown as Greed Royal Family in <Analytical Eyes>.
The Greed Royal Family with the surname “Mammon” was the ruling class of the Bloody Empire. Today, the Demon Realm’s strongest powerhouse, Raizen Mammon was the most representative of the Greed Royal Family.
Other than that, there were some other teams and individuals, most of which had Demon King-level combat power.
It seemed that the treasure had attracted a lot of powerhouses to come. The one that caught Chen Rui’s attention weren’t the 2 Great Demon King, but a single guy. This man had an average body figure. He was wearing a cloak, and his face was covered. In <Analytical Eyes>, this guy’s Comprehensive Strength Assessment was C, the middle stage of Demon King. However, his race was shown as: Great Demon (Mutation) (Corpse Puppet).
Corpse Puppet? Chen Rui had never heard of the term. However, from the word, it was likely to be some kind of controlled puppet. Then, the controller might be among these people or hidden in the dark, waiting for the timing to snatch benefit after conflicts.
There were also a few corpses on the ground. From the appearance, it seemed that they had just died not long ago. They were probably also treasure hunters who were killed due to some kind of conflict.
The appearance of the trio immediately caught the attention of these people. Their eyes were faintly revealing hostility and murderous intention. The trio immediately mustered their strength, and they were ready to fight at any time. None of them were kind and benevolent. Everyone wanted the treasure. So, the lesser the competition, the better.
The early stage Great Demon King from the Asmodeus Royal Family said, “A lot of people who came here are familiar faces. Let me introduce myself first. My name is Casillas, an Asmodeus Royal Family. Everyone coming here today must be for the things in this jungle. I believe everyone knows that there are a lot of scary magic traps in the jungle. A little carelessness will cost your life. Fighting each other with our lives before even seeing the treasure’s shadow is meaningless. I have a proposal. Let’s work together to crack these magic traps first. When we truly find the treasure’s location, everyone can fight to their death to determine the ownership of the treasure. What do you think?”
Casillas’s team had the strongest overall strength, so his proposal was agreed by many people. Casillas was actually more afraid of the woman with the strength of middle stage Great Demon King. If these people first fought a round, he wasn’t confident in defeating this opponent even with his teammates’ aid.
Besides, it wasn’t worth fighting before even seeing a glimpse of the treasure. It was better to use the strengths of other people to crack the trap and minimize one’s own consumption. Then, he would find another opportunity to plot against the middle stage Great Demon King. As long as he eliminated the most troublesome opponent, who else could compete with the strength of his team?
Those who agree to cooperate also had their own considerations. Most of them were worried about the strength of Casillas’s team. The strongest woman pondered and agreed. Her individual strength was the strongest around here. It was just nice for her to save her strength, then she could use them when they encountered the treasure.
Chen Rui also voted in favor, then everyone introduced themselves. Chen Rui used the name Richard; Roman was still using the name, Lennon; Delia also used a fake name called Nicole. Although Casillas was an Asmodeus Royal Family. He didn’t know that the veiled Nicole was the famous “Madam Black Widow” from the capital. The Demon King woman from the Mammon Royal Family claimed to be Akui. The Corpse Puppet that Chen Rui had been paying attention to reported his name as Hart. His voice was a little creepy.
Casillas’s cooperation proposal was: Everyone would move forward together. Each team or individual would take turns to crack the traps along the way. If you couldn’t crack it, you must try to find out the location and attributes of the trap. Whoever dared to escape responsibility or withdrew would become a common enemy. If you don’t agree, you must leave now. If you were found secretly following and getting benefit without giving any effort, you would be killed without mercy.
As soon as that was said, a few scheming guys were dumbfounded. These people wanted to rely on Casillas’ team to crack the traps while they relax and look for opportunities. Now, it was all in vain.
As the saying went, there was no free lunch in the world. Those without ability naturally didn’t have the qualification to hunt for treasure.
After the proposal for cooperation was unanimously adopted, everyone seemed to be less hostile. The atmosphere seemed to become harmonious. Yet, everyone knew that this temporary peace was quite fragile. It couldn’t be maintained for a long time. Once something happened, they would immediately turn their face and become rivals.
“I have a very fair way.” Casillas spoke and a special magic tool appeared in his hand.