Dangerous Mission

Although Su Ming had already returned to Yunya City, the Y-20 continued its pretense of dragging the aircraft around for a full two hours to avoid arousing suspicion.

The cargo hold tail door opened and closed, each time throwing something out or having a few spellcasters emerge to unleash magic, before "reluctantly" climbing back up and circling again.

He seemed to be looking for an opportunity, but was actually just walking the dog.

Only when the fuel level dropped to a point where there was only a safety margin of half an hour after deducting the time needed for the return flight, did the Y-20 stop swaying, bid a reluctant farewell to the orcs below, and head back towards Sanjian Island.

Abidaqi, however, felt no sense of victory; his face was ashen as he continued to strictly order his troops to search.

So much time has passed, and Su Ming has vanished without a trace, as if he had disappeared into thin air!

Abidal was determined to find Ainz Bone King, even if it meant turning the place upside down!

But all of this has nothing to do with the coalition forces.

The Zijin began to sleep.

She reclined her chair all the way back and put her legs up on the airline tray table in front of her. The cabin still smelled of aviation kerosene, but she didn't care. She tilted her head slightly, completely oblivious to the fact that she had just spent two hours repeatedly provoking the enemy over the skies.

Su Ming and his group were snoring loudly.

Only the poor half-werewolf, clutching his head, rolled around on the bed, clearly still consumed by the regret of his innocence being completely ruined.

****

Three Points Island.

A C929 lowered its nose and aligned itself with the runway centerline.

As the main landing gear touched down, the tires scraped through the runway, sending up plumes of blue smoke.

A few minutes later, the C929's engine shut off. The auxiliary power unit was still humming, and the residual heat from the tail cone continued to distort the air.

This trip is mainly for transporting goods, but there are also a small number of people on board.

The hatch opened, and Gerald was the first to jump out.

A sea breeze swept in from the end of the runway, and as far as the eye could see, there were lights, people, and machinery in operation everywhere.

The airport is located near a naval port.

Hundreds of ships of various types were moored in the harbor, their masts stacked one on top of the other, filling the sea to capacity.

Sailors and porters on the dock, dressed in uniforms from various kingdoms, and even with dragons among them, playfully unloaded cargo. The supplies were unloaded, sorted, and transferred. Rows of temporary warehouses were erected along the coast, their wooden planks unpainted, filled with wooden crates, oil drums, and ammunition boxes. On the road connecting to the military camp, vehicles streamed by, raising a plume of dust.

Just a few months ago, this was a deserted island.

Now, it's completely unrecognizable.

****

In the command hall, Gerald met Katharine, who had summoned her.

A huge sand table and nautical charts were laid out on the long table in the center, and screens hanging around the perimeter displayed the current fleet situation, with messengers carrying documents moving among them.

Katharine didn't say much there, but simply nodded to Gerald and led her through a side door to a relatively quiet small office.

She took a packet of dried meat wrapped in oil paper from the drawer and tossed it over casually.

Jelus grabbed it, her eyes lighting up.

"Thank you, sir!"

The diet on Fairy Island mainly consists of fruits, nectar, and various plant tubers. At first, it was quite novel, but after a while, Jelus found that the sight of green made her mouth taste bitter.

She'd had enough! Katharine gestured for Gerald to help herself to the food, then began asking about the situation.

"You've already mastered the Mirror Soul Technique?"

The Mirror Soul Technique is a special secret technique that symmetrically divides the soul. When one half is eroded or damaged, the other half is used as a template to repair the damaged part.

This special mechanism grants practitioners a regenerative ability that leaves enemies in despair.

However, the Mirror Soul Technique is very difficult to learn and extremely demanding in terms of talent. In addition, its scope of application is very narrow, so there are very few practitioners.

Jelusi nodded.

"With the help of the fairies, I'm no longer out of control."

Fairies are the race most sensitive to spirit and Magic Power; this is their forte.

"Where is Leonia?" Katharine asked.

Leonia, a member of the Originating Tribe who is parasitic on Gerus.

Gerald raised her hand, showing her middle finger.

"Here it is." A subtle glint flashed across her fingernails.

Gerald's striking pink hair quickly subsided, turning into an inconspicuous dark brown.

But these are just minor changes to the appearance.

The real core issue is that Gerus's soul fluctuations also shifted at the same time. Her temperament changed accordingly, and a wildness emanated from her.

Several powerful figures nearby suddenly tensed up and turned to look in their direction.

This is the core area of the Teya Alliance, yet suddenly a pure orc aura appeared.

Even the executioner, Zaplai, came from the other side of the hall toward this side.

"Don't be nervous, I'm just interrogating a half-orc prisoner."

Katharine slightly amplified her voice and explained to the surrounding guards.

Everyone was relieved.

Gerus withdrew her power, and the orcish aura dissipated, leaving the pink hue restored.

Katharine's eyes widened in surprise: "First" "start" "d" "e" "q" "i" "x" "s" "."" "o" "r" "g"

"I can't understand it at all."

"It doesn't seem like an act at all."

Gerald smiled gently.

"Of course."

"This involves using the soul manipulation abilities of the Qi Nian clan to rewrite things from the ground up."

"Without knowing the inside story, it's impossible to see through it."

Gerald stuffed the last piece of jerky into her mouth and then straightened her posture.

"My lord, the orcs' warning totem can no longer detect me."

"Please dispatch me to Water Chestnut Island immediately to support Su Ming and the others!"

Katharine shook her head.

"Su Ming doesn't need any manpower for the time being." Currently, besides Yise and Jinxiu, Wolfyf and Vioas have joined Su Ming's team.

These manpower are sufficient if there is no need to fight against powerful enemy forces.

For high-end products, adding just one more product like Gerlusi isn't very meaningful.

"Now there's another, more important task that needs your attention."

Katharine paused.

"Extremely dangerous."

Although it was completely different from what was expected, since it was necessary for the battle, Gerus did not hesitate to take on the task.

"My lord, please make the arrangements as you see fit."

She smiled nonchalantly.

"But I'm very curious."

"What mission could be more dangerous than going to Cloudfang City and carrying out a mission in the heart of the Bell of Calamity?"

Katharine gave a wry smile. "There really are."

Instead of immediately explaining the mission details, she brought up the incident two days ago in the Kum Cave where Su Ming, Zijin, and Abidaqi fought.

The process was brief, but the power displayed by this Heavenly Fate-level mage was astonishing.

The "traitorous group" was forced to reassess Abidal's threat.

Jelusi sighed deeply.

"Old Master Abidal, truly worthy of being called the living patriarch of the wizarding world."

"Katharine continued."

"Right now, we need to figure out why Abidaci is still able to maintain his Destiny rank."

"Another thing is that, although we have been tracking the movements of the Bell of Calamity, we have consistently lacked real-time intelligence from within their organization."

Are there still things like the "Earthfire Project"? What is the detailed timeline for the opening of the "Dimensional Gate," and its scale?

"We know absolutely nothing."

Gerus paused, taken aback. "So—"

She stretched out her hand, pointing to herself, somewhat incredulously.

"Are you going to arrange something for me?"

"Infiltrate the Bell of Calamity?"

"Yes!" Katharine nodded solemnly.

Jelusi was utterly perplexed.

"Can this kind of plan really work?"

****

When Gerald walked out of the office, she was so distracted that she almost bumped into the people waiting outside.

Rishiri took a step back and reached out to support Gerald.

"What's wrong?" Rishiri asked worriedly.

Gerus then came to her senses. She looked up and noticed that Ruishuli was dressed unusually formally. His coat was well-tailored, the collar was buttoned up tightly, and even his usually slightly messy hair was carefully tidied.

"Are you attending some high-level meeting?" Gerus asked.

Rishiri shook his head.

I'll wait for you here.

Gerus habitually opened her mouth to tease, but the words caught in her throat.

"... wait for me?"

Rui Xiuli tilted his head slightly, looking a little awkward.

How about I treat you to dinner?

Gerus checked the time.

Dinner at 3 PM?

"..."

Rishiri paused for a moment. "Then shall I show you around Triangle Island?"

Gerus glanced at her backpack and the suitcase in her hand.

"Why don't we go to the dorm first and drop off our luggage?"

Rishiri finally regained some of his normal thinking ability and quickly reached out to take Gerus's backpack.

He had intended to take the suitcase from her, but Gerald had already started dragging it forward, so he could only hurry to catch up.

****

Gerus inquired about her temporary accommodation arrangements with the staff, and the two headed in that direction.

Rishiri finally realized that Gerus was indeed preoccupied with something.

"Are you in a bad mood?" he asked tentatively.

Gerus paused for a moment, then found a suitable excuse.

"I was just thinking about something from before."

She glanced at Rishiri with amusement. "Want to hear?"

Rishiri unbuttoned the top button of her collar, and her posture returned to a more natural state.

"Of course, your dark history would be the best."

Gerus raised an eyebrow, seemingly intending to retort as usual.

But the slight smile that had just appeared faded away quietly.

She composed herself.

"That was something that happened while I was still in school."

"Back then, I didn't understand anything and was constantly ridiculed by my classmates."

Jelusi's voice was low.

"That day, several people stopped me."

"They tore my hair apart, stole my books, and threw them into the pool..."

Thirteen years ago, at Holy Light Academy.

As usual, Miss Gignavie and her companions stopped the country bumpkin from the Gravel Desert.

She was petite, with sun-darkened skin, and her cheap clothes were full of wrinkles.

In Gignavie's opinion, Gerus reeked of poverty from head to toe and should not have tainted this place at all.

But this girl had a strikingly different side of her head with shiny pink hair.

The other side was still dark brown, the two colors clearly separated by the hair, looking particularly awkward.

"Your hair color is ruined."

"Gigna said arrogantly."

"She's so dirty, give her a wash!"

Behind Jignawei, a burly boy stepped forward, grabbed Gerus by the collar with one hand, and easily lifted her off the ground, leading her towards the pool.

Gerald dragged her toes on the ground a few times.

The other three followed behind, laughing. They threw Gerald into the pool, the icy water covering her head and splashing against the stone edge.

Before falling into the water, Gerald deliberately let go of her bag, causing it to fall outside the pool.

Jignawei walked over, picked up the strap of the backpack on the ground with her fingers, and then pinched her nose.

"It smells awful."

She disdainfully tossed her schoolbag into the pool.

The cloth bag landed beside Gerald, the books inside soaking up the pool water and sinking one by one. The ink smudged between the pages, turning into a murky color.

Then, Gignavi bent down, grabbed Jelus's hair, and pulled her out of the water.

Water droplets dripped down Gerald's cheeks and chin. She was forced to tilt her head back, her soaked hair clinging to her face, and she coughed incessantly as she breathed.

Gignavie gripped the clump of pink hair she loathed tightly.

You need to be clean, understand?

"It's dirty; it will damage our college's image."

"What's the use of good grades?" Gerus whispered.

"... yes..."

"Hmph!" Gignavie threw Gerus back into the pool.

Usually, things should be over by this point.

Jelus is too small, making her feel light and airy when you hit her, which makes her feel unresponsive.

But today, as the little girl's wet hair rippled in the water, Gignavi glanced back and was surprised to find that Gerus's face had actually grown into something quite pretty.

The dust had been washed away by the water, and the little girl's face, which should have remained unremarkable due to her timidity, had gradually blossomed.

A surge of jealousy immediately welled up in Gignavie's heart.

She glanced around.

The location is very secluded; the woods and walls block the view in the distance, so you don't have to worry about running into those nosy people from the academy.

Such as Yise.

"Take off her clothes!" Gignavi said coldly.

A boy stepped forward, stepped on Gerald's hand that was resting on the edge of the pool, and reached out to tear at her clothes.

"Don't tear my clothes, they were... sewn by my mother..."

"Gelus requested."

The Gravel Desert is far from bustling towns, and everything brought in by caravans has to be marked up several times in price.

But before she left home to study at the Temple of Light, her family bought this piece of red plaid cotton fabric and sewed her a brand new shirt.

I've worn my Jelusi clothes for two and a half years; they're very worn and now they're a bit too small.

The boy tried to pull hard, and Jelus panicked, biting his hand and refusing to let go.

"Ah!"

The boy screamed and raised his hand to hit her.

Gignavi quickly instructed:

"Don't leave any marks." Otherwise, it will be very troublesome if the school teachers find out.

The boy looked around, picked up a wooden stick from the ground, and swung it at Gerald's head.

The latter immediately fell into the water.

With a tearing sound, Gerald's clothes were also ripped.

"The hair covers it, so the scar isn't easy to spot."

He dropped the wooden stick and said smugly.

None of them noticed that, in the water, the other half of Gerald's brown hair had gradually turned pink.

The chirping of insects in the woods has disappeared.

The surface of the pool stopped sloshing, and the splashed water droplets hung suspended in mid-air, dimming the sunlight filtering through the leaves.

Gignavie's smile froze.

A dark light, silently spreading, began to envelop the four bullies.

A shadow rose up in front of the four people.