Chapter 668: Section 455: Squad Leader, You Saved Me Again
Cang Xu’s heart was in chaos.
“I am not afraid of death, not afraid…” At this moment, he tried to convince himself of this.
He told himself, “On Mysterious Monster Island, in that cave, I was even willing to sacrifice myself, to use myself as food…”
A picture from the past emerged before him.
Cang Xu said to the youth, “Eat the food, and you will have the physical strength. It’s not just about increasing your chances of survival, but also about protecting your fiancée. Perhaps it is because you ate an extra piece of meat that she will miraculously survive the breakout tomorrow morning.”
The young “Zhenjin” angrily said, “Are you forcing me?!”
Back then, Cang Xu had laughed, “Yes, I am forcing you. But please forgive me, Lord Zhenjin. I am about to die, and a dead man does not fear earthly authority. I want to fulfill my last wish, and for that, my life is merely a bargaining chip.”
Now, Cang Xu wanted to laugh as well, but he could not.
Because his attempt to convince himself had not succeeded.
At this moment, he suddenly realized—he was afraid of death!
On Mysterious Monster Island, at that time, he truly had no way out and could only entrust his last wishes. But now was different; deep down, Cang Xu knew he still had hope—it was not a complete dead end!
Why not take a chance? By selling secrets, he was almost certain he could survive!
But without a doubt, this was—betrayal!
Guilt surged through him like flames, churning and burning, bringing him agonizing torment.
“Am I going to betray the squad leader?”
“Betray such a person?”
In Cang Xu’s mind, the young Zhenjin’s sincere and affirmative declaration surfaced—
“I once said that I would do my utmost to save everyone and would not give up on anyone. This is my promise and my responsibility,” Zhenjin had said to Zi Di and Cang Xu.
“Sir, your noble character makes even the dazzling stars in the night sky dimmer!” Cang Xu exclaimed from the bottom of his heart, “You are the epitome of a Holy Temple Knight.”
Before the final battle at the underground factory, at the center of alchemy.
“Even this appearance of mine belongs to someone else, I must have been modified and altered by the War Merchant.”
“In fact, as you can see, I am a Beastification Person, just a rather unique one.”
Such a moving speech!
At that moment, Cang Xu was extremely impressed with the youth’s courage.
“We were betrayed by our loved ones.” The youth looked to Cang Xu.
The old Scholar squinted his eyes, moved by these words!
“Although it seems we have lost our way in our lives, in truth, deep inside, we always know how we must proceed.”
“You are more suited to be a knight and a noble than Zhenjin, I have always thought so,” Cang Xu had said contemplatively at the time, using the motion of cleaning his glasses to hide the turmoil inside.
They had won the battle, and they had eliminated Jia Sha and seized the Divine Artifact.
Compared to Holy Knight Zhenjin, Cang Xu admired and agreed more with the Beastification youth.
Cang Xu thought back to after leaving Mysterious Monster Island, how he had reached out using Undead Magic amidst annihilation crisises, only to invite isolation and wariness from his companions. It was the Dragon-man youth who publicly showed closeness, going out of his way to maintain the relationship between Cang Xu and the others.
And in the battle at Nether River, it was the substitute puppet given to Cang Xu by the Dragon-man youth that had saved his life!
“It was the Death Replacement Puppet that resurrected me.”
“No, it was the squad leader who saved my life!”
Overwhelmed by intense fear, a warm surge of emotion welled up in Cang Xu.
Now, as Cang Xu recalled this scene once more, the previous emotions, although much dissipated and no longer as intense, still disturbed his tranquility.
“The squad leader saved me multiple times, without him, I wouldn’t have escaped Mysterious Monster Island, nor would I have returned from Nether River.”
“He has never wronged me, and now am I to betray him?”
“Expose secrets and bring him enemies of the Holy Domain Level?”
“Do I really intend to repay kindness with hatred?!”
A torrent of guilt unleashed from his heart, spreading rapidly as if burning his entire body.
Clearly, as an Undead Mage, he no longer needed to breathe, Cang Xu nonetheless felt a suffocating illusion.
He recalled the moment he had learned the Blood Core’s secrets.
It was truly shocking.
Cang Xu was not only astonished by the marvel of the Blood Core but also by the magnanimity and vision of the Dragon-man youth!
“Without his sharing, I would never have know the secrets of the Blood Core.”
“Now, to use this secret to exchange for my chance to live?”
Cang Xu’s head hung lower and lower, his back becoming increasingly hunched, as if an invisible mountain pressed down on his shoulders.
Intense guilt transformed into a weight unbearable for life.
His hands supported on the sandy sea bed, fingers spread wide, ferociously digging into the mud.
His eyes, however, clearly lost focus, unable to see the scene in front of him, immersed in his own world.
“But I don’t want to die…”
“I really don’t want to die!”
“To die here now, I can’t accept it!”
“It’s too hard to accept…”
“If I had not known about the existence of the Blood Core, maybe it would be different, but now that I have new hope, why should my life end here?!”
“I still have hope, I still have a future! A bright future!!”
“In fact, I don’t need to expose the Blood Core, just need to reveal the secret of Mermaid’s Fairy Tale and that might get Zhou Zhang to temporarily spare me.”
“Perhaps, I could use this opportunity to stall for time, and later cooperate with the squad leader and others, to defeat Zhou Zhang, right?”
“Even if, even if Zhou Zhang wins, maybe the Blood Core won’t be exposed, allowing me to secretly obtain it and be reborn!”
Cang Xu’s expression was ferocious, his gaze unfocused, mouth agape, he was gasping for breath instinctively.
“Wait, there’s also the Magic Contract.”
The survivors had once bought a Magic Contract to bind each other, agreeing to keep secrets.
“Once exposed, I will be killed by the power of the contract!”
“But there is still some room to maneuver.”
“The level of the contract at that time was not high, Zhou Zhang is of Holy Domain Level! Plus, she is the Archbishop of the Mei Lan God, who is most adept at Deception and Disguise. Deceiving the Magic Contract shouldn’t be a problem…”
“Wait, what am I even thinking!?”
“Do I really have to do this?”
“Become a despicable betrayer and betray the squad leader?!”
Cang Xu’s thoughts were entangled in an extremely intense struggle.
Amidst his struggles and hesitations, it was as if he could hear the speech of the Dragon-man youth again.
It was during the naval battle at Snake Rat Island, below the domain of the Confession Light, where their fighting spirit had plummeted.
“We are guilty!”
“But it is because of our guilt that we repent, that we shed tears of remorse, that we understand all the more the importance of pursuing justice, isn’t it?”
“We should be guilty!”
“Who can avoid making mistakes? Who can guarantee that their life is without fault?”
“Survival, survival!”
“Only by surviving can we admit our wrongs, have the capacity to atone, have the emotion to repent, and embark on the path of justice.”
That speech of the Dragon-man youth had uplifted the spirits of his companions and allies and had been the crucial turning point of that battle.
“Yes, yes.”
“I am guilty, my sins are grave!”
“But I need to survive, I must survive…”
“For survival, I can only bear these sins!”
“Thank you, squad leader, you’ve saved me multiple times, but I can only betray you now.”
“Forgive me, forgive me this one time.”
“Just as you said, I do it for survival!”
“I will repent, I definitely will.”
Cang Xu made his final decision in his heart.
He completely bowed down, his seated posture resembling that of kneeling.
Strangely, once he had made his decision, his restless and chaotic emotions began to settle.
“Since the decision has been made, then act,” Cang Xu told himself.
His gaze gradually hardened, and his vision cleared.
Then.
He saw the markings on the seabed gravel.
The mark of the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps!
In that instant, it seemed like time stopped for Cang Xu, he froze in place, motionless, like a statue.
The mark of the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps, to be precise, was a code.
It was designed by Sanda.
He had once been a squad leader of the Mercenary Corps, and the members would use secret codes in many situations. For example, when scouts were checking the road ahead, they would leave a secret code as a directional marker. Or like leaving a mark at a city corner, indicating a building as a mission target.
Xu Ma had left secret markers at Twin Eyes Island, successfully aiding other Mercenary Corps members in accurately assessing the situation.
Cang Xu didn’t know how long had passed, he subconsciously reached out and erased the secret code from the seabed gravel.
The code was just small segments of slightly protruding gravel compared to other grains.
With a slight brush, Cang Xu destroyed the gravel forming the code.
But the next moment, these grains of sand reassembled, revealing the previous code.
Cang Xu’s mouth twitched, his expression becoming very complex and strange.
Then, the code changed, and the gravel formed a brief text—”I am nearby.”
Without reason, Cang Xu knew that this “I” referred to the young squad leader!
His Adam’s apple moved, and as intense emotions almost breached his defenses, he nearly wanted to shout or even wail.
“Squad leader…”
“You’ve saved me once again.”
Cang Xu sighed deeply in his heart.
In the cockpit of the Deep Sea Monster Fish, the Fishman youth quietly watched the Magic Image, expressionless.
The material making up the gravel was not real gravel, but finely crafted eel drillers.
These tiny, delicate alchemy puppets could drill through the walls of the Ocean Nest, creating numerous tiny deep holes.
Using these small deep holes, Dual-Ear Detectors could use sound wave feedback to scout the outside of the nest.
After testing the conditions for Faith, the Fishman youth’s plans for self-disguise being teleported out were dashed. After much contemplation, he decided to risk a probe.
This probe was to see if the Deception and Disguise Skill would be detected by Zhou Zhang!
Zhou Zhang was a Holy Domain Level Mage, Divine Mage, and also one of the archbishops of the Mei Lan deity. Such an opponent had never been encountered by the survivors before. She was likely to detect the Deception and Disguise Skill, as she was an expert in this field, and the Deception Array was merely designed by the War Merchant and did not fully utilize the alchemy technique of Pearl Bubble.
The probe was risky, and if exposed, Zhou Zhang might trace it back to them.
But the Fishman youth knew this probe was necessary!
Because once the nest was broken, the Deep Sea Monster Fish, even with the Deception and Disguise Skill, would still face Zhou Zhang. Instead of being passive at that time, it was better to probe in advance, also allowing the Fishman youth to prepare for escape.
Of course, the Fishman youth wouldn’t risk himself; he soon realized the eel drillers were the first choice.
Eventually, several drillers drilled out of the Ocean Nest into the outside world.
The nest did not break due to these small holes; in fact, the holes were rapidly closing. The nest had self-healing capabilities.
The drillers were covered with the Deception and Disguise Skill, designed by the Fishman youth to resemble seabed gravel.
They moved beneath the countless feet of believers, even deliberately circling several times right under Zhou Zhang’s watchful eyes.
No issues at all.
The probe showed that the Deception and Disguise Skill, utilizing materials of Divine Level, was superior to Zhou Zhang of the Holy Domain.
The Fishman youth then sent these drillers to find Cang Xu’s location.
Before long, he manipulated the drillers to arrange text, allowing him to communicate with Cang Xu ahead of time.
Taking this step obviously carried a greater risk of exposure.
But the Fishman youth had scouted in advance and found that there were not too stringent surveillance measures here.
On one hand, Zhou Zhang might rely on her strength and the army of believers, and these captives were heavily restricted, unable to stir any waves.
On the other hand, it was because this place had a Gold altar, covering a widespread array of Magic and Divine Texts. Setting up any magic or Divine Arts detection measures here might interfere with the large array. Put another way, each time the array is activated by blood, the power was too immense, likely to break through most of the scouting measures.