Nancy's face was so cold that it was almost frozen, but her eyes could not help revealing a deep sense of self-blame.
Victor nodded slightly:
"I have already notified the aftermath personnel of the Super Management Bureau, and I will stay here to provide you with assistance."
Nancy sighed deeply and was about to start searching when she heard a familiar voice coming from a distance:
"...Boss! Boss, you're finally back!"
"Talis?"
Nancy was slightly startled, turned her head and saw the civilian member running hurriedly from behind the ruins, covered in blood.
"You are hurt?"
Nancy frowned subconsciously and walked forward to ask with concern.
"Huh... Huh... No, no, uh, actually I am, no, I am injured, but not completely injured... No, no, it should be..."
Talis ran over to Nancy and leaned over her, panting, her explanations becoming incoherent.
Nancy looked closely and found that although she was covered in half-dried blood, her face was rosy and she didn't look like she had suffered any serious injuries.
"Whose blood is this?"
Nancy's expression changed slightly.
"This is her own blood."
Victor suddenly said, with a hint of surprise in his tone:
"Strange, this amount... is far beyond what the human body can bear."
Just as the two were about to ask something, they heard familiar shouts coming from every corner of the ruins.
Civilian members and resident executors arrived one after another.
After counting, nothing was missing.
What’s even more strange is that there were no casualties!
Although they all looked exhausted and their clothes were dirty and torn, they did not seem to have suffered any substantial damage.
"So, the intruder nearly destroyed the headquarters, broke into the underground containment room, and stole an item, but didn't hurt anyone?"
Nan looked at the teammates and colleagues who were all unharmed and felt a little confused for a moment.
Although this result is good, and although the loss of the headquarters and the robbery of the underground containment room are quite serious accidents, no one lost their friends or partners, which can be considered a blessing in disguise.
But this is too unbelievable! It is so beautiful that it seems unreal, like a dream, a fairy tale.
"No, Boss, it seems... someone saved us!"
Seeing the puzzled look on her captain's face, Talis hurriedly explained.
"Saved you? Who?"
Among the people who stayed in the headquarters at that time, the strongest was a righteous mage, and the others were basically skilled warriors, or even civilian members who had no combat power at all.
In front of a malicious top magician, such a configuration would be extremely fragile if it were not for the assistance of the reserved defensive spiritual rituals.
If you want to save people from the invader, don’t even think about it unless you are a magician or a psychic warrior.
However, how could anyone be able to predict such a sudden attack and come to the rescue in time?
It couldn't be possible that a kind-hearted strong man just happened to pass by and saved him, right? This was too ridiculous.
"You don't need to delve into these matters."
Victor suddenly interrupted their thoughts:
“Next, a high-level extraordinary person who is proficient in divination and spiritualism will take over this matter.
“Don’t worry, we can find the escaped magician or the mysterious extraordinary person who may help.
"Of course, this also requires your cooperation in the investigation..."
"brush!"
At this moment, a bright light suddenly fell from the sky, passed through the passage that ran through the headquarters building, and fell straight to the open space where everyone was!
"Humph!"
Victor's eyes flashed, and without even looking, the ground at his feet suddenly exploded, and a green vine rose from the ground and accurately entangled the falling object.
"What is this?"
Talis cast her eyes curiously towards the thing entangled in the vines.
With a "metallurgist" present, no one was too worried about their own safety.
Victor narrowed his eyes and controlled the vines to move the object in front of his eyes.
"...a note?"
I saw that it was actually a small piece of paper with ink on it, and there were obvious words written on it.
"Wait, this kind of paper...I think I've seen it before?"
Nancy looked at the note and suddenly remembered something.
"When I found the necklace box in Richard's office before, there was also a note, and it seemed to be made of this kind of paper..."
Thinking of this, she asked hurriedly:
"Sir Victor, what does it say?"
Without her asking, Victor quickly glanced at the words on the paper and his eyelids twitched slightly.
After a moment's silence, he said in a low voice:
"Coastal area, 9 degrees east of the 'First Pier', 13 kilometers away, above the inland sea 'Twilight Sea', there is a medium-sized yacht, and the person you are looking for is on it."
He put down the paper and said:
“This is what’s on it.”
"This, is this someone giving us a hint?" Talis scratched her head. "Could it be the person who helped us?"
Nancy shook her head uncertainly:
"It could also be a trap."
Although she guessed that the person who sent the piece of paper was the same person who placed the necklace in Richard's office, she did not trust that person very much.
After all, in a sense, if that person hadn't given her the necklace, she wouldn't have noticed Viscount Mossante's abnormality, wouldn't have taken the main forces out, and wouldn't have called Victor for support.
As a result, when invaders come, the defense force in the headquarters will not be insufficient and Victor will not be able to arrive in time.
She had reason to suspect that the man was in cahoots with the intruder.
"It doesn't matter." Victor suddenly put away the paper and shook his head. "I'll go there myself."
"Oh!"
As soon as he finished speaking, his body disintegrated into green vines with thorns and flowers, which drilled into the ground and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Nancy was suddenly touched and discovered several powerful spiritual fluctuations appearing in her perception. She realized that the rescue team and follow-up personnel of the Super Management Bureau would soon arrive.
This means that she no longer has to worry about the safety of her teammates and colleagues.
So she turned around, glanced at her companions, and said simply:
"I'll go take a look too."
"boom!"
The blazing orange-red flames suddenly rose up and surrounded her.
Before the executors and civilian members could react, she soared into the air, passed through the passage above their heads, and flew straight to the east.
"what?"
"Why did the boss leave too?!"
"She, what is she going to do? That's a fight between a smelter and a magician!"
"..."
While they were in a panic, Nancy had already flown several hundred meters surrounded by flames, leaving the ruined headquarters building behind.
Faintly, one could see a blurry shadow... overlapping with her body.
That seemed to be a figure, so blurry that it was impossible to determine its exact identity.
Chapter 224: Undercurrents Beneath the Waves
Further east than the coastal area of Sunset Harbor, above the vast blue inland sea called the "Twilight Sea".
The setting sun in the evening sprinkled endlessly with thin twilight, dyeing the sparsely clouded sky and the calm sea with a warm dim color.
Because it is too far away from the land, when looking to the west, one can only see an almost straight line between the sea and the sky.
The soft setting sun falls into the sea, blurring the boundary between the sky and the sea, as if the two are merged into one, indistinguishable from each other.
It was as if the magnificent dusk melted into this quiet, mirror-like ocean.
A white yacht rises and falls on the calm and dim sea.
Inside the yacht, in a narrow, dark room.
Bona, with an ordinary face and half-white hair, stood quietly facing the wall with his hands behind his back.
He had changed out of the tattered and dirty old-fashioned suit and was now wearing a pure black robe.
The inside and outside of the robe were also covered with fine blood-red lines, which were complex, intricate, weird, blasphemous, and evil.
"Your Excellency, everything is ready."
A young voice came from behind him, and one could tell that the man's tone was filled with piety and fanaticism.
"You did great, Burton."
Bona nodded slightly, without turning around, but continued to stare at the wall in front of him.
His eyes, obscured by the haze, were deep, as if he was lost in thought.
The wall was densely covered with various words, symbols, and patterns, and there were also many newspaper clippings, rubbings, and hand-drawn maps hung with thumbtacks.
It is like an extremely thorough, complex and rigorous draft action plan.
The old man in a suit who broke into the headquarters of the Executioner Team, the Archbishop of the "Holy See of Life", the top magician disguised as Viscount Mossante's butler, just stared at the wall full of patterns and words for a long time without saying a word.
"The promotion ceremony to the 'Light Smelter' in the 'Moon' realm requires three elements..."
After an unknown amount of time, his deep whisper slowly rang out, his words seemed to contain endless emotion and profound meaning:
“First, there is the sacrifice of seven pure souls.
“Secondly, it is the perfection of one’s own state.
"Finally, and most importantly, it is the blessing bestowed by the gods..."
As he spoke, he suddenly flipped his right hand, and a black stone with a crimson glow appeared in his palm.
"If you want to receive the blessing of the gods, pleasing them is an essential step."
A meaningful smile appeared on Bona's old face:
"Then, is there anything that can please Him more than the fragment of His own divinity?"
Behind him, the tall and handsome Burton knelt on one knee, lowered his body, and praised with great piety:
"There are no divine beings stationed at Sunset Harbor's Super Management Bureau, so they are unable to discover the divinity contained in the Red Moon fragment, so they just treat it as a normal spiritual pollutant...
"The Bishop was farsighted and strategic. He keenly grasped this loophole and formulated a careful and rigorous plan. In the end, he succeeded and obtained this crucial object.
"Now, everything is ready. I believe that your next promotion will be foolproof, and you will lead the Church of Life to further pursue and save the Lord!"
"My Lord..."
Bona listened to his praise, murmured thoughtfully, and suddenly laughed softly:
"Unfortunately, even though I planned so much, there were still some mistakes.
"I didn't expect that old dog Victor would react so quickly, forcing me to activate the 'Mirror of Redmormon'. As a result of the backlash, my current state is no longer perfect...
