The Midnight Ring
What aroused Su Ming's suspicion was the fleeting hatred in her eyes when she occasionally glanced at the people of the Plundering Clock.
Katharine was deeply moved.
"Even without our intervention, as long as Yuye doesn't perish, it will definitely join ' Fang of the Wild ' in the future."
"This organization has been wiped out multiple times, with countless orcs sacrificing their lives."
"But it continues, precisely because of these seeds."
Su Ming's eyes sharpened.
"Water Chestnut Island doesn't need this kind of future."
"We will end all of this soon!"
****
More than half an hour later, Ximina's treatment came to an end.
Su Ming went in and saw that Yise had thoughtfully changed her into a set of soft clothes and was gently wiping her with a half-dry towel.
Su Ming couldn't see anything wrong with the others, but the bruises on Ximina's neck had noticeably faded. Jinxiu was clearly exhausted; her wings were drooping considerably.
Su Ming took a peach out of his pocket and put it on a plate. Jinxiu immediately pounced on it.
She took a delicious sip of the juice, her eyes squinting in enjoyment.
The fact that Star Fairy was finally able to eat the peaches she had been longing for made her feel much better.
"Ximina has a minor fracture of the laryngeal cartilage, accompanied by severe edema."
Jinxiu told Su Ming.
"It should be fine after some follow-up treatment."
"You've worked hard," Su Ming said.
****
As midnight approached, Su Ming's takeout arrived as scheduled.
The Y-20 flew over the Cloud Fang Royal Palace from high altitude, opened the tail hatch, and then dropped several huge aerial bombs.
The person on duty was Laikede, Pseudo-Saint Rank expert. He quickly sensed the arrival of the uninvited guest.
After assessing the situation, Laikede concluded that an object falling at that speed would not be able to penetrate "Burning Cloud '" defenses.
Therefore, he did not sound the alarm and disturb Abidaqi's rest.
As expected, these aerial bombs struck the Burning Cloud, quickly triggering the explosive countermeasures.
The bomb was quickly destroyed by the explosion, bursting open thousands of meters in the air and emitting several brief flashes.
From the ground, the explosions of these bombs appeared disproportionately large and weak compared to their enormous size.
But Laikede's pupils contracted as he clearly saw the powerful shockwave ripple outwards, blasting significant gaps into the massive "Burning Cloud Spell" and "Obscuring Barrier Canopy."
The edges of the clouds churned and tore apart, as if something had suddenly forced them open from the inside.
Laikede stared intently, but saw no further changes. Only the Y-20 hurriedly moved away, even reaching near-supersonic speeds.
His confusion lasted for three seconds.
This is the time it takes for the sound to reach the ground.
"Boom----!" A deafening roar, like muffled thunder, suddenly crashed down from the clouds.
The sound wasn't coming from anywhere; it was as if the entire sky had collapsed. The roof tiles trembled violently, the window paper bulged inward, and ripples spread across the puddles on the street.
Terrified screams echoed through the city, startling the few birds that were perched there, causing them to flutter and scatter into the night sky.
Abidaqi was unsurprisingly awakened from his dream.
He strained to stay awake, grabbed his staff, and hurriedly flew out, looking warily at the sky.
The other members of the Plundering Clock also rushed out.
The group waited for a while, but found that there were no new attacks. They could only watch as the Y-20, trailing its exhaust plume of flames, disappeared into the darkness.
****
The airburst of the sonic bomb briefly revived Ximina.
The girl barely opened her eyes, feeling confused by the room's furnishings and even more bewildered by the IV drip on her wrist.
She simply didn't have the strength to try and retrieve it.
It wasn't until Ximina saw Yise that she realized she had been rescued. She tried to say something, but no sound came out.
Yise immediately comforted her gently, told her about Ximina's situation, and even gave the girl a little water to moisten her lips.
Ximina immediately relaxed a lot, managed to give Su Ming a thank-you look, and then fainted again as her mood eased.
"Ximina's physical condition is too poor," the medical expert team remarked.
"She was just a Low Rank superhuman, and then she was imprisoned for a month and a half," Su Ming said. "That's normal."
The medical team prescribed amino acid and other nutritional solutions, which Su Ming then teleported over to be administered to Ximina.
"Do you two know each other?" Su Ming asked Yise while operating the device.
"We met at a banquet," Yise explained. "But at that time I was still a commoner, and she was the third princess of the Pearl Duchy. After exchanging greetings, we didn't have any further contact."
Su Ming glanced at the girl on the bed, then at Yise.
Ximina was wrapped in a rather oversized nightgown, her slender wrists exposed. Although some color had returned to her face, it still bore the Pale of someone recovering from a serious illness.
Yise sat on the edge of the bed, showing none of the reserve or affectation one would expect from a noble lady.
"I don't think either of you looks like princesses," Su Ming retorted.
"You don't seem like the king of an emerging power either," Yise retorted.
****
Somewhere in Cloud Fang City.
As night deepened, Lang Yefu finally emerged from the shadows.
During the day, she changed into the uniform and armor of a death guard at the demolition site.
At that time, Anrelo's illusion had not yet worn off, and she appeared to the others as a middle-aged male orc.
So "he" climbed out of the window and called out that there were two survivors inside, attracting everyone to come to the rescue.
When no one was paying attention, Lang Yefu took advantage of the chaos to leave.
Because of the helmet I was wearing and the black ash I had deliberately gotten all over my body, the process went surprisingly smoothly.
Lang Yefu determined the direction and then moved towards a certain location.
She clutched her chest, where a "Prisoner Brand" was clearly visible. All that remained at the explosion site were body parts covered in tattered prison clothes. Once the guards began counting heads, they would inevitably realize something was amiss.
With the "Prisoner Brand" on her, there was no way for her to escape!
Lang Yefu carefully concealed herself as she passed through a series of narrow alleyways.
Three hours later, she finally managed to navigate around most of the city and arrived at the back of a house.
There, there is an old stone-carved drain.
Just as Lang Yefu was about to go over, she suddenly felt a pain in her chest.
She groaned and knelt down.
****
Five minutes ago, in Cloud Fang City prison.
With the death of the former head, Zannuoxiao, the bell-ringer Aolai'en is temporarily taking charge here.
He suddenly received a report from the city guards:
Lang Yefu didn't die in the explosion; she escaped! Perhaps it was because of the chaos of the explosion, or perhaps because everyone was more concerned about who would succeed the company commander.
In short, it wasn't until now that someone discovered that what was buried in the rubble of the explosion was not Lang Yefu's body.
Aolai'en was in a very bad mood.
Today's ambush on the First Sunrise Republic's alchemy aircraft failed. Our side mobilized a large force and is now extremely exhausted.
After Abidaqi returned, he flew into a rage over something else, which created a very bad atmosphere.
"Forget it, let's just kill Lang Yefu!"
Aolai'en said to the prison clerk.
The reason Lang Yefu was spared was because the Plundering Clock planned to use the Fang of the Wild's Cloud Fang City stronghold to send a false message.
The communication codes mastered by this half-werewolf are valuable.
But now that the truth has come out, Lang Yefu is no longer of any use.
The clerk quickly retrieved the book containing the "Prisoner Brand" and found the corresponding rune code for Lang Yefu.
Aolai'en raised his hand, and a large totem pole in the center of the prison lit up. Then, in the surrounding blocks, another ring of smaller totem poles seemed to be infected, their patterns activating.
As they spread one after another, hundreds of totem poles in Cloud Fang City were tinged with a faint light.
Aolai'en swung his hand forcefully:
"Prisoner Punishment!"
****
As the totem pole transmitted the energy, the "Prisoner Brand" on Lang Yefu's body was suddenly activated.
The dark patterns embedded in the skin of his chest emitted a chilling red glow, and his skin seemed to be pressed down by a red-hot iron, hissing and emitting white smoke.
A burning pain exploded in my chest and spread down my ribs.
The lines rose up, like tiny hooks piercing flesh, greedily devouring her life force.
Lang Yefu's face turned deathly pale instantly.
She opened her mouth, but only coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Lang Yefu tried to struggle and resist, but under the influence of the "Prisoner Brand," her heartbeat began to slow, and her limbs gradually lost strength, making it difficult even to lift a finger. She collapsed into the mud, gazing at the swirling dark red Burning Cloud in the sky, and finally gave up.
Suddenly, several flames lit up the night sky.
Lang Yefu was somewhat puzzled. The next moment, several explosions, one after another, brutally engulfed Cloud Fang City.
Aolai'en, who was casting a spell, was suddenly startled, and then his Magic Power backfired, causing a tightness in his chest.
He ignored Lang Yefu and hurriedly flew up to check the situation, while contacting his colleagues to inquire about the situation.
As the punitive totem stopped, the light on Lang Yefu's chest began to dissipate.
The restraints on her body immediately loosened.
Lang Yefu struggled to turn over, but she couldn't stand up. She could only drag her limp body forward.
Move it little by little.
Lang Yefu stared intently at the stone drainage outlet not far ahead, her fingernails digging into the mud with increasing force.
Her vision began to darken, and all she could hear was the sound of her own heavy breathing.
When Aolai'en realized that it was just a feint by Su Ming and restarted the Punishment Totem, Lang Yefu's hand also touched the cold stone sculpture. It was a gray stone wolf statue with its mouth open, rainwater flowing down the beast's tongue into the culvert below. Lang Yefu trembled as she reached her hand deep into the beast's mouth, groped around for a while, and grabbed something cold.
Pulling it out, it revealed a key with Wolf Fang pattern engraved on the handle.
With almost her last ounce of strength, she pressed the key against the Prisoner Brand on her chest.
The Wolf Fang- tooth pattern on the key's surface gleamed with a silvery light, like a thin layer of moonlight covering it.
The "Prisoner Brand," which had just begun to flicker again, suddenly stopped, its light forced back into the depths of the skin by the Wolf Fang Key.
Lang Yefu was panting heavily, lying on her back on the ground, her hair soaked with sweat.
"We're saved for now!"
On the other side, Aolai'en frowned.
Based on the feedback, Lang Yefu was not successfully killed.
She obtained an item that isolates the mark and prevents it from being activated by the totem.
Aolai'en ordered the clerk:
"Check all entrances and exits of Cloud Fang City carefully, and make sure that Lang Yefu does not escape!" "Yes!" the clerk replied.
"Sir, shall we arrange a search?" he prompted.
Aolai'en shook his head.
"Stop messing around. Cloud Fang City is so big, searching it all isn't easy."
"Besides, she only has three days left to live."
This possibility was considered when designing the "Prisoner Brand".
It needs to be "stabilized" by the main totem in the prison every three days at most, otherwise it will automatically detonate again.
"Why struggle in vain?" Aolai'en retorted sarcastically.