Xisha woke from her daze.
The creature before her was a merman with two bulging eyes. Xisha was momentarily dazed, but quickly understood what had happened.
Xisha, an 8th-level Observer.
The Merman Sage spoke softly. "Go ahead."
"How did the exploration of the Evil Lair go?"
Its gaze swept around the area at the same time.
Actually...
It had realized that Lu Cang wouldn't simply leave.
Still, it hadn't truly intended to keep Lu Cang away.
It was just going through the motions.
Xisha was reporting core information, and Lu Cang had only just joined them... Although the Expeditionary Force had few members, all of them were powerful 8th-level fighters, so there were fewer idiots.
But even so, disagreements were still common.
And Lu Cang's origins were mysterious.
People were already displeased that Lu Cang had learned some of their core secrets. After all, no one could prove that he was definitely on their side.
If Lu Cang turned against them, his knowledge of so much intelligence would make him a huge threat.
The Merman Sage himself leaned toward trusting Lu Cang.
He felt that the hope of breaking their predicament rested largely on Lu Cang, but the others might not see it that way.
Having Lu Cang step aside to avoid suspicion was therefore a strategy to put on a show.
Xiu Mi and Airosa had also been persuaded to leave. In the end, only the four people Lu Cang had been there to rescue remained.
Xisha knew she needed to report the intelligence, not the minor details of their injuries.
"We did reach the depths of the Evil Lair. Thanks to Mon Yi's talent, no monsters detected us along the way."
"And on the way, we saw..."
"A lair contest."
The Merman Sage asked, "A lair contest?"
"Mm..."