Discovered

A few days later, the Sonia Fleet secretly returned to port.

The entire fleet made a grand show of going to besiege the Iron Anchor and the Death Announcer, but when they arrived at the Ambush site, the Iron Anchor never showed up, while the Death Announcer, as if it had received advance Message, circled outside the encirclement and then ran away.

This intelligence originally came from Kronos, so naturally he wouldn't expose the Iron Anchor to the Navy. Otherwise, even if Amyrius was an ally, he would have taken action under pressure.

As for the Death Announcer, a Sequence 4 Demon, it sensed the malice from the Navy beforehand and naturally didn't fall into the trap.

In fact, Amyrius had already advanced to Sequence 3 and was fully capable of taking action alone to hold off the Death Announcer, allowing the Navy to encircle it.

But there's no need for that. He was promoted in secret anyway, and if the Royal Family finds out, their fear will only intensify.

Whether this encirclement and suppression operation succeeds or not is not important.

This was merely an alibi that Amyrius created for himself.

Therefore, the encirclement and suppression operation failed, and the Sonia Fleet only managed to wipe out some small Pirate on its return journey.

Upon Amyrius's return to Bayam, the first thing he did was seek out Kronos, for he was eager to know what had happened.

"There's a portal within those Ruins; the fluctuations you're sensing might be coming from that portal," Kronos offered his guess.

"What are they doing in there?" Amyrius asked.

Kronos already had an answer in mind, so he said directly, "There are many laborers inside, MI9 is overseeing the work. It seems they're excavating Ruins."

"They probably don't want you to get a share, so the laborers are all transported here through the portal. Now the entire Ruins are sealed off, and all the supplies they need have to be sent through the portal."

You'll likely experience more fluctuations later.

Of course, Kronos couldn't tell the truth; some Message had no explanation for its source and could cause considerable panic.

After Kronos finished speaking, Amyrius was silent for a moment, then asked, "So you're telling me to stay out of this?"

Clearly, Amyrius was interested in this Ruins.

There aren't many ways to get good items, but exploring Ruins is definitely one of them.

Amyrius's increased strength gave him more ideas, which may have led him to consider competing with him.

"If it's just MI9, this matter is easy to resolve, so there's no problem in arguing about it," Kronos analyzed "professionally."

"But you forgot that during the last exploration of the Ruins, it was clearly Prince of Sonia who was in charge."

"This means that the Ruins belong to the Royal Family, which could easily lead to disputes."

Kronos's words reminded Amyrius of what had happened before; indeed, after entering the Ruins and completing the mission, he had heard Grove Augustus's voice.

Amyrius wanted to compete mainly because he knew that MI9 didn't have Sequence 3, making them an easy target.

But for the Royal Family, it's a completely different story.

So after thinking it over, he gave up on the idea.

For the next month or so, Kronos was extremely busy, constantly "traveling" around the country.

If you want to retrieve the Information left by Tudor in the Ruins, now is the best time to do so.

At this time, there was still a lot of work to be done in the various Ruins, so there were many slave laborers among them. Even if Kronos left any small traces, they would not be discovered.

So Kronos wanted to take this opportunity to reclaim all the Parchment in one fell swoop.

Kronos did not choose to use the portals in the Ruins, even though that would have been faster and more convenient, as it would have been much more dangerous.

So Kronos used the Coordinates he obtained from the portals to search for them one by one in the Real World.

At this point, Kronos finally understood where the previous quest to find the Ruins came from.

Even after obtaining the Coordinates through the portal, it's not so easy to locate them in the Real World, because the entire Ruins conceal divination and teleportation.

But it's much simpler for Kronos.

Because all he needed to do was get near the Coordinates and find the people from MI9.

The people from MI9 had already located the exact location of the Ruins through various methods, so finding them meant finding the location of the Ruins.

Then, they entered the Ruins at night, found the Stone Chamber, and took the Parchment.

Kronos was extremely familiar with this tactic.

At first, Kronos had two Parchment, and within a little over a month, that number rapidly increased to eight.

Now, Kronos's final target is Ruins 1.

During this time, Kronos tried to eavesdrop on the situation at Ruins 1.

There wasn't much important Message, but the gist was that the site was almost finished, and many of the workers in the Ruins came from Ruins No. 1.

As for who are the important figures in Ruins No. 1?

Kronos had not obtained any such Message.

In this uncertain situation, Kronos could only resort to some minor measures to improve his safety.

Kronos chose the underground Ruins of Desi County and unleashed his strongest attack right at the Gate —Ruins the attack of the Justice Mentor, activated through the Sun Card.

The reason for choosing this location is that, apart from Bayam, it is the farthest Ruins from Ruins 1.

The reason for not choosing to cause trouble in Bayam was twofold: firstly, to avoid causing trouble for Amyrius, and secondly, to prevent Amyrius's attention from being constantly focused on the Ruins.

An attack in Sequence 3 should be able to attract the support of a powerful figure.

After unleashing this attack, Kronos quickly returned to the entrance of Ruins 1, then concealed himself and slipped inside.

As expected, Kronos was very skilled; he entered the Ruins with great ease.

The Message gleaned from the laborers' casual conversations was quite accurate; the Pyramid here were indeed completed.

Therefore, there weren't many people in the entire Ruins; they were mostly guarded by MI9 personnel.

Kronos looked around but did not see anyone above the Demigod level.

That would reduce the pressure considerably, and I should be able to achieve my goal with ease.

So Kronos didn't hesitate at all, and walked straight towards the edge of the valley, then entered the darkness within.

Because of his skill, even without the guidance of the blood, Kronos was able to find the dark Stone Chamber.

Kronos easily found his way to the cave entrance, then passed through the dark passageway and entered the Stone Chamber.

The statue was imbued with Baron Pound, so it was once again aroused, and Kronos heard the familiar words again.

After collecting the Parchment from under the statue, Kronos turned to leave, as it wasn't entirely safe here.

But the moment he turned around, a sudden Spirituality reminder made him tense up, and he took a step back without hesitation.

It was this step that allowed Kronos to evade the fierce attack.

"Bang bang bang bang bang!"

The spot where he had just been was swept away by a barrage of Bullet.

Kronos was slightly surprised, because he thought he had been outmaneuvered by Tudor.

After all, he's a cunning old fox on par with Trunsoest; it's normal for him to have a backup plan.

Having obtained the last piece of Information left by Tudor, danger arose, and it seemed to me that this matter was related to Tudor.

But there were no Bullet in those days, Tudor's scheme couldn't have been in the form of Bullet.

Following the direction the Bullet had come from, Kronos looked over and saw a familiar face.

Major General Qonas Kilgor, Deputy Chief of MI9.

Kronos truly hadn't expected to see him here.

"You seem surprised," Qonas said first.

Kronos remained silent and motionless, simply waiting for Qonas to continue.

"It was actually a coincidence. I wasn't originally planning to come to Ruins No. 1 today, but I forgot something important here, so I ended up here."

"But my Lucky Clover has been guiding me here."

"It truly lives up to its name, bringing me such great luck," Qonas said excitedly.

This was indeed good luck; they caught someone who had infiltrated the Ruins and discovered a secret within Ruins, which was a significant gain for Qonas.

Kronos initially thought he had given himself away, but it turned out that Qonas had been lured there by an Beyonder Item.

This Beyonder Item appeared in the original work; it was seized by Klein from Qonas. It is called Lucky Clover and looks very simple—just a four-leaf clover made into a charm. Its ability is to allow the wearer to accumulate a certain probability of success for the next time after each failure. The negative effect is to amplify the wearer's human flaws.

Judging from the abilities, this Lucky Clover probably corresponds to the Lucky One in Sequence 7.

Such a small yet Beyonder Item was able to help Qonas find Kronos, who was hiding under the Concealment Cloak. Kronos certainly wouldn't believe there wasn't something fishy going on.

As for what this ghost is, it seems to have something to do with that bastard Will.

Given Will's status, it shouldn't be difficult for him to influence Pathway Beyonder Item through Fate.

Will himself cannot attack Kronos, but he can use "accidents" to provoke others to do so, as was the case with the Misfortune Mage before.

Now Kronos is being targeted by Qonas, and inside Ruins 1 no less, which is quite a problem.

"Is it Major General Qonas? Tell me, what are your conditions? How can you let me go?" Kronos said in a hoarse voice.

For MI9 for intelligence gathering, it's best not to reveal any of your true information to them, otherwise you never know when you might expose a weakness.

Qonas smiled and said, "Give me what you just got from there, and then we can talk."

After speaking, Qonas pointed to the original location of the Tudor statue.

He arrived a little late, and the statue had already disappeared, so he neither saw Tudor's statue nor heard Tudor's words.

This can be considered Qonas's good fortune.

He was neither a descendant of the Tudor Family nor had any Tudor Family blood. If Tudor's arrangements hadn't disappeared, he would have been wiped out the moment Qonas entered the Stone Chamber.

Although Qonas did not see the statue, he did see the hidden compartment beneath it.

In such a secluded place, with such a hidden compartment, Qonas could naturally deduce what was going on.

Kronos hesitated for a moment before taking out the Wooden Box he had just put away.

The location here is too special, right in Ruins No. 1. If he does anything suspicious, Qonas can instantly summon a lot of helpers, even Angel Level.

Fortunately, Qonas was Greed and wanted to keep the contents of the Stone Chamber for himself, so he didn't report it directly to his superiors; otherwise, Kronos would certainly have been in deep trouble.

But it was precisely because of Qonas's desire that Kronos had a chance.

Qonas is keeping a close eye on things now; if Kronos makes even the slightest move, he'll definitely take action.

Therefore, Kronos needs an opportunity for Qonas to relax so that he has room to maneuver.

So Kronos complied, and what he took out was the Wooden Box he had just obtained from the hidden compartment.

After handing out the Wooden Box, Qonas was still cautious and didn't take it, instead saying, "Open it."

Without the slightest hesitation, Kronos opened the box.

Kronos already has eight of these boxes, and each one is exactly the same.

Upon opening the box, the Parchment inside was revealed to Qonas.

Qonas had never heard Tudor's message before, so he didn't know what it was for, and asked, "What is this?"

Kronos feigned a timid demeanor and said, "It seems to be Treasure left behind by the Blood Emperor. It's divided into nine parts, and only by collecting them all can we obtain the Information within."

"I learned about this Information by chance, which is why I came here. I just didn't expect there to be official personnel guarding it, so I had to sneak in."

Upon hearing this, Qonas grinned from ear to ear. What kind of Treasure could Tudor's be?

If part of it is in Ruins No. 1, then the remaining eight parts must be in the other eight Ruins.

He was one of the few people who could travel between various Ruins through portals, which obviously gave him an opportunity to take advantage of the chaos.

Just as Qonas was fantasizing about his wonderful life, Kronos suddenly made his move; this was the opportunity he had been waiting for.

The combination of the Source of the Peach Blossoms and the Time Barrier fell directly on Qonas.