Clay's Savior Descends

"Let me see what happened."

Dekan walked over to Morion's chair, pressed the back of the chair, and looked at what Morion was calculating.

"This is not good. If things continue like this, with only a month and a half left, the mortality rate will likely still exceed 10%."

Morion, who had been concentrating, realized that Dekan had finally arrived. He put down his pen and said wearily.

He then picked out a few key pages from a list of reports on the table and handed them to Dekan.

Dekan quickly flipped through a couple of pages; most of them contained Morion's calculations of future mortality rates based on historical data.

Strangely, the final data conclusions came in several versions.

According to the initial versions, which were based on the calculations they made when they first arrived in Clantes City, the mortality rate would be far below 10% within the three-month mission timeframe, provided that the capture of Irenos was achieved.

However, in the most recent calculations, the predicted mortality rates have become increasingly abstract.

Is there a problem with your regression model?

Dekan asked, somewhat puzzled.

Half of the time limit for Mission Objective 2 has now passed.

Although the current mortality rate is only 0.6%, the seriousness of the problem lies in --

Yesterday's mortality rate was only 0.2%, and the day before it was even lower at 0.1%.

In other words, the mortality rate began to increase rapidly at a strange pace!

"My calculations should be correct; the problem is that one variable has changed unexpectedly."

Morion has provided a revised statement on the acceptance of refugees from the Clan Territory, which has been signed by Lunn.

"There are just too many refugees, and in the death rate calculation for this mission, refugees that Lunn placed in the Clan Territory will also be counted as residents! Even refugees who die on the way will still increase the death rate!"

Morion said in a deep voice.

Many refugees were already physically weak or injured, and with the added burden of the long journey, many died on the way, even before reaching the city-states after entering the Clan Territory.

The frigid temperatures are a cruel killer; the vast majority of refugees freeze to death.

Morion had already done the calculations, and given the flood of refugees, even with ample resources, the mortality rate would inevitably far exceed 10% under this trend.

Are there that many refugees?

Dekan picked up the other statistical reports on the table and found that the numbers were indeed far higher than they had originally predicted.

"Then we must get Lunn to stop accepting refugees like this, even if he can't save these people."

Dekan did not deny Lunn's compassionate desire to save as many people as possible.

Even Lunn has his limits.

Even with the support of Morion's merchant guild and the Irenos of Prosperity, the Clan Territory is already operating at an excessive capacity.

While continuing to accept refugees might ultimately save more lives in terms of sheer numbers, it could also threaten the lives of the original inhabitants of the Clan Territory due to issues with security, crime rates, and resource allocation.

"I'll go find Lunn and get him to change his strategy."

After finishing his sentence, Dekan prepared to leave the office to find Lunn.

"Lunn is not at the manor right now, and you can assess our trustworthiness first."

Morion grabbed Dekan's sleeve and said.

Dekan was slightly taken aback. Although he checked the trust level every day, he hadn't noticed anything wrong before he went to work at the energy station today.

Dekan then brought up the mission information interface.

The current level of trust that Lunn has in each challenger is:

[Dekan:75]

[Croix: 100]

[Morion:47]

[Clay: 50]

"Huh?"

Dekan frowned.

Neither Croix nor Clay's level of trust has changed since the beginning.

Dekan's trust level rose from 69 to 75 because he helped Lunn resolve the territory crisis and end the war.

However.

Dekan discovered that Morion's trust level had dropped from 58 to 47 in the short time Dekan had spent half a day working at the energy station!

"What did you do to lose so much trust?"

Dekan sensed that the data was somewhat dangerous.

Their average trust level has dropped to 68; falling below 60 will trigger mission objective 2 and result in immediate failure.

Morion sighed:

"I tried to persuade Lunn to change his strategy and stop accepting refugees, otherwise there would be no hope of saving those refugees even with the support of the Chamber of Commerce. I also explained to him from various aspects that rescuing these refugees without limit was not feasible. Lunn didn't seem angry on the surface, but when I came back, I found that his level of trust had changed."

He didn't know why any of his words had caused Lunn to lose so much trust.

Although Lunn didn't trust him as much as he trusted Dekan.

However, one should not turn from trust to doubt simply because of a piece of advice.

"Morion, this isn't your fault. If I were in your shoes, I would have lost trust as well. It's an unavoidable trial and error."

Dekan patted Morion on the shoulder and said:

"Tell me the whole story of your conversation with Lunn first."

"Um."

Morion then recounted his entire conversation with Lunn to Dekan.

Dekan nodded repeatedly, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.

"I think your advice is sound; I would have said the same thing if I were in your shoes... It's not that you said anything wrong."

"Dekan said in a deep voice."

Since Morion has already gone to conduct the experiment...

Dekan can no longer recklessly squander his trust rating.

From now on, whenever you talk to Lunn about refugee-related issues, you have to be extremely careful with every word you say.

Otherwise, their mission might collapse due to their lack of trust in Lunn.

"Persuading Lunn is unlikely to work; we'll probably have to think of some other methods."

Morion leaned back in his chair and wearily pinched the bridge of his nose.

This mission objective is like having a serious illness.

They all worked to ensure the mortality rate was below 10%, which directly led to Lunn ending the war between the Holy Kingdom and the Demon Realm, achieving such a great feat.

Unexpectedly, in the end, it turned out that this mission was actually a real dead end.

If Lunn hadn't done such a foolish thing, or had been willing to listen to them and not accept refugees without limit, the mission could be said to have been successfully accomplished.

The trust level requirement for Lunn directly locks in the condition that "Clan Territory must accept refugees".

"Currently, it seems that to bypass this restriction and meet the conditions, one either has to exploit the refugees who haven't yet flooded into Clan Territory, or, behind Lunn's back, prevent refugees from entering Clan Territory..."

Dekan analyzed, then paused, and said with a hint of helpless self-deprecation,

"Or... go and get rid of Lunn without anyone noticing? Hehehe..."

Are you kidding me?

Croix stared at Dekan in shock.

While the two solutions Dekan mentioned could theoretically solve the problem, they were not perfect.

But putting it into practice is far more difficult than "capturing Irenos"!

However, Croix quickly noticed it from Dekan's wry smile—

Dekan didn't think either of these methods was feasible.

He was Taunt the absurdity of this eighth-tier Shadow World mission.

None of the three of them initially realized that there was such a trap hidden in mission objective 2.

Now, with the mission progressing to this point, the absurdly high level of difficulty has finally been revealed.

It looks like one of the millions of refugees and Lunn has to die, and Dekan has to choose.

However, neither option is feasible.

This is a bottom-line issue.

Even if Dekan were to orchestrate another scheme to achieve either "intercepting refugees" or "eliminating Lunn,"

He couldn't possibly bring himself to do it.

How is harming civilians any different from that of Irenos?

Dekan would rather die than betray his friend.

Even though Lunn was excessively kind, and even kicked over his stove.

But Dekan had to admit that after spending some time with him, he developed a strong liking for Cardinal Lunn, who was hailed as a flawless saint by the Holy Kingdom.

Lunn's achievements and integrity deserve the respect of the Holy Kingdom.

Dekan sighed helplessly, walked to the sofa in the office, and leaned down.

"Lunn, it's one thing if you're confused at other times, but why do you have to act like a saint at this crucial moment?"

Dekan now feels that he was both made and broken by Lunn.

If you're too afraid to step up when things get tough, you're just a hypocrite.

If you're truly willing to step up in any situation, then you're a real saint.

But here's the problem: at this point in time, Lunn's top enforcer has already finished his job.

He possessed unparalleled ninth-tier combat power, unmatched in the Holy Kingdom, yet he couldn't save more people.

After all, despite being a saint, Lunn was more adept at killing.

Having finally ended the war, looking at these refugees, Lunn felt truly powerless when he wanted to save them.

Dekan knew Lunn was stupid, but he was just that kind of kind-hearted person to the point of being foolish.

With differing stances and perspectives, Dekan didn't know how to criticize Lunn.

Talomati sat on the sofa opposite Dekan. She couldn't understand what the other three were saying, but she could roughly grasp the situation.

It seemed like I couldn't help, so I didn't say anything.

"Ah Lei, where are you...?"

Dekan sprawled out on the sofa as if he were slumping down, muttering to himself.

He felt that things had come to this point.

The entire mission chain in the Shadow World is like a giant machine that jams just as it's about to start operating.

Ultimately, this second mission objective left Dekan with an indelible and unsettling sense of unease.

They should have exceeded expectations and shouldn't have encountered such a cruel predicament.

Even the ninth-tier Shadow World isn't this disgusting.

That means there might be something missing in some unseen corner of this machine.

As long as one of the right gears is in place.

All gears will mesh, and the machine will operate normally.

All the mysteries will be solved.

"It sounds like someone is calling me?"

With a creaking sound as the window was opened, a dark figure gently pushed open the second-floor window of the office and nimbly leaped into the room, alerting Talomati.

However, Talomati noticed that the other three didn't seem to be wary of the intruder, so he lowered his hand, which he had raised to protect Dekan.

The man dressed as a wandering assassin lowered his hood, revealing black hair. Although he exuded a fierce aura, he posed no threat whatsoever.

"...?"

Dekan turned around in surprise, then rushed over and gave Clay a big hug as if he had seen a savior.

"Well..."

Clay was blind, but he knew it was Dekan. Instead of shoving Dekan away with his usual fiery temper, he simply shrugged helplessly.

It's quite amazing that Clay, whom Dekan had always considered both an enemy and a friend, has now finally become his true friend with whom he would share life and death. Their feelings are particularly complicated when they meet again.

There was a bittersweet feeling of finally being able to reunite with my comrades.

Talomati stood there dumbfounded on the sofa, as if he doubted he was hallucinating.

When did her brother become so friendly with humans?

It even gave Talomati the illusion that Delois was already a human.

"Clay! Help me out! I don't know if you're a god or a ghost this game, but I can only bet on you getting a godlike streak this time!"

Dekan released Clay, brushed the snow off him, and then looked at him and said.

"Heh, as long as you're on the side of justice, you can trust me forever."

Clay's lips curled into an incredibly confident smile.

He took a file folder from his cloak and placed it on Morion's office.

"This is?"

Morion asked, puzzled, as he unpacked the file folder.

At this moment, Croix also activated a soundproof barrier in the room.

Although we don't know exactly what Clay did this time, anything related to Clay, the Holy Kingdom's most wanted criminal, must be kept hidden.

"Do you know why the Holy Kingdom has issued such a warrant for my arrest? Is it simply because I attempted to assassinate the Holy Emperor that I'm listed as a top-level wanted person?"

Clay asked the other three smugly.

The arrogance in his words was like that of someone wearing five stars on the head in Los Holy Capital, utterly invincible.

At this moment, Clay looked exactly like Bishop of Frenzy.

The other three were quite certain that when this guy was infiltrating the Resurrection Church, he didn't need to act at all; he was just being himself.

"Did you do anything else?"

Dekan wasn't too surprised, simply because the man's name was Clay.

"Of course, I seized from the Holy Capital evidence of the Holy Emperor's years of condoning the nobles' blood sacrifices of many innocent civilians."

Clay pointed to the file folder, his eyes turning incredibly sharp.

"And irrefutable evidence that the Holy Rite Church in the South has long been corrupted by unknown evil deities!"

The other three were stunned after hearing Clay's words, staring at Clay with wide eyes.

"What did you say...?"

"Excuse me, could you please say that again?"

"What on earth are you talking about?!"

The three of them seemed to have become deaf and mute, staring blankly at Clay.

This is a lot of information.

It wasn't until Clay repeated the story and explained it in more detail that they finally understood the truth.

Holy Capital City has a huge problem!!!

If this Shadow World focuses on Clay, the story we see will likely be completely different from the perspectives of the other three!

After reviewing the extremely important evidence that Clay had risked his life to bring back, Morion handed it to Dekan and Croix for their inspection.

Finally Morion breathed a sigh of relief and carefully sealed it away.

"The evidence is irrefutable."

After reaching a conclusion, all three of them couldn't help but stare at Clay.

You truly are a worthy disciple of Sion; your paparazzi skills are impressive!

The trio thought they had done something impressive enough in the northern part of the Holy Kingdom, but they didn't expect that Clay was still a cut above the rest.

If the Holy Capital were to learn that this information had fallen into the Clan Territory, they would likely launch a carpet-bombing campaign against Clan Territory without hesitation!

"Did you manage to shake off the pursuers from the Holy Capital on your way here?"

Dekan quickly asked.

"Don't worry, I'm a professional intelligence agent for the kingdom. The Holy Capital's henchmen, the hunters and spies along the way, have all been dealt with by me."

Clay said with a cold laugh.

He is undoubtedly the highest-ranking intelligence agent of the Kingdom Association.

"So that's why you've only just arrived in Clantes City?"

Dekan roughly understood that the reason Clay arrived a month and a half later than the three of them was to perfectly eliminate those tails and leave no hidden dangers.

But then another problem arose.

Clay had already reached the border of the Clan Territory a month and a half ago, which is why they started mission objective 2.

That means Clay spent a significant amount of time both inside and outside the border.

Are you currently overwhelmed by the refugee issue?

Clay asked.

"Yes."

Dekan.

"Do you think these refugees are all from other war-torn towns and villages that have struggled to survive, and they've come to the Clan Territory?"

"Uh-huh?"

"Indeed, the large number of refugees you initially investigated almost all came from other northern border territories, but now, there are still a large number of refugees appearing, and they actually came from the Holy Capital!"

Clay finished speaking.

The other three were stunned once again.

Clay seems to have uncovered another crucial piece of intelligence.

The three men from Clantes City did indeed investigate the origins of the refugees from Clantes City.

They were all other homeless residents from the north.

But the truly staggering number of refugees who subsequently flooded in, and who were still in the border cities of Clan Territory, were mainly from the Holy Capital?!

"Why would they have to flee from the Holy Capital to the northern border territory?"

Croix was very puzzled.

Even if the Holy Emperor is indifferent and the oppressive policies of the Holy Capital are unbearable, surely they wouldn't brave this deadly cold to flee to the northern border, which was originally a battlefield?

Logically speaking, this should be the real hell.

Upon hearing Croix's question, Clay's fists cracked, and finally, as if a surge of anger within him could no longer be contained, he gritted his teeth and pounded his chest, saying:

"You have no idea what the Holy Capital has become. News is completely blocked; the real Holy Capital is practically a ghost town!!!"

"Those corpses and spirits scattered everywhere—even though I can't see them, I can feel the eerie Terror of blood flowing for miles down the street!"

"There must be a Terror entity lurking in the Holy Capital. If I take one wrong step, I might be trapped here forever."

At this point, Clay clenched his fist, looked at the three of them, and said, word by word:

"We must persuade Lunn to raise an army and attack the Holy Capital, to kill the Holy Emperor! This is the true solution to this Shadow World!"