Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 112 - 108: Puzzle

Chapter 112: Chapter 108: Puzzle

Inside the royal palace of Odelanqi, Gudelv was listening to a report from the temple knights together with the cardinal Bishop Dulens. According to their account, the magic within the Magic Academy suddenly began to flow, and the magicians immediately began to counterattack the bandits. Following this, the temple knights launched another attack, but this time the gunmen weren’t as fortunate as before.

The fully armed temple knights, much like heavy tanks, ignored the dense gunfire and launched a fierce assault with their shields. The gunmen fell into disarray. Their trust in the Earth guns failed them in the face of armored shields with magic defenses. The gates of the academy were swiftly breached.

Gudelv quietly listened to the report from the temple knights, his expression grim, but, fortunately, nobody noticed. He recalled the reports that unknown forces had appeared in the academy, which could potentially interfere with this operation.

Gudelv at first did not take these matters seriously. Now, however, he had to pay for his negligence.

He was confident in these gunmen who assuredly would not willingly surrender. This wasn’t just because of their loyalty, but also because he held their families hostage. If any of them were captured, he would not hesitate to kill their families.

Those who aspire to achieve grand things must be ruthless. Gudelv indeed excelled in this regard. His original plan was to hold the Magic Academy hostage and force the Church Court to agree to the Earth army appearing in Yazhi City. This would facilitate activating his second plan, but now, everything seemed to have gone awry.

The emergence of the unknown force disrupted his arrangements, causing him great anguish. Looking at the contented Dulens beside him, Gudelv randomly felt nauseous. This fat, stupid pig was not on his level. To restore the glory of the Aud Empire and dispose of the Church Court’s influence was his primary task.

The appearance of Earth gave him a glimmer of hope. These Earth-based countries also had their irreparable contradictions. He thought he could exploit this, seek their assistance, overthrow the Church Court’s rule, and restore Aud Empire’s glory.

Regardless, with the failure of these people, his previously prepared plan was now invalid. He would need to reconsider a new plan to ensure his overall scheme was not affected.

The moment when magic began to flow, Tangmo felt a message from the headquarters on her wrist, but she had no time to check. The group had changed into simple clothes and snuck into the Uptown District to reunite with the sniper squad.

Due to the academy hostage incident, all three districts were locked down. They had to reunite with the sniper squad and discuss how to leave Holy Heart City. They appeared in the core area of the Uptown District, a place without fortification, which made it easy for them to slip into the district.

According to Cheng Ziang, the sniper unit was waiting for them at an inn. The Uptown District was a residence for the nobilities, so the prices at the inn were high. They had to pay a gold coin for a night at the inn where the sniper squad stayed, an astonishing price.

But as Advance Team members, they had no concept of money. The headquarters fully provided all goods, so they didn’t have to worry about a lack of funding. The sniper squad had a comfortable stay for over a week. Besides their nightly reconnaissance tasks, their days were quite good.

After much stumbling, the trio finally reached the inn where the sniper squad was staying after sundown. As they pushed open the door, they saw Hu Daoke and Baiyue discussing intelligence. Elated, Tangmo shouted and threw herself at Hu Daoke. The siblings embraced each other fervently.

Baiyue was excited and nervous to see Luo’er. Her body slightly trembled. She went to Luo’er, disregarding her restraint, and clutched onto his shirt. Her overjoyed expression was evident.

"I’m back, Yue’er!" Luo’er said to her, gracing her with a gentle smile.

Baiyue felt weak and almost collapsed, but Luo’er managed to support her in time. She raised her head to look at him, then shyly lowered her gaze. She clutched his shirt tighter, nestling against him in a restrained manner.

"Ah!" Seeing the warm welcome received by the others, Cheng Ziang sighed lightly.

Hu Daoke noticed his melancholy and, letting go of Tangmo, went up to him. He opened his arms wide and loudly said, "Come, let me give you a hug too!"

"No thanks!" Cheng Ziang blocked him with an extended arm and declined, "I don’t need your enthusiasm!"

"Tsk, so why are you sighing then!" Hu Daoke rolled his eyes and retorted.

"I was just exhaling heavily, you all misinterpreted!" Cheng Ziang hurriedly defended himself.

"Luo’er, it’s been a while, let’s have a hug!" Hu Daoke grabbed Luo’er and picked him up. Luo’er gave a wry smile, only able to let him continue his antics.

"You have no idea how tough it was when you two weren’t here. We had to go out every night for surveillance. It’s like becoming nocturnal." Hu Daoke made a grimace at Luo’er, airing his grievances.

"We didn’t exactly have the easiest time either." Luo’er turned his face away, looking exhausted.

"Right, what on earth happened at the academy? And what’s the next plan?" Hu Daoke asked.

Luo’er was about to answer when he felt a disturbance of magic energy. Turning around, he saw Tangmo watching him solemnly. Seeing him respond, she then said: "Luo’er, there’s a message from the headquarters."

Luo’er nodded and took the letter from her hand. Despite being the captain, Tangmo doesn’t really read mail. Any incoming letters are given to Luo’er. She really does nothing more than supervise.

Upon opening the letter, Luo’er quickly furrowed his brows. Seeing his reaction, Tangmo tentatively asked, "What’s the matter?"

Luo’er glanced around at everyone, then said with a solemn face, "The abduction at Holy Heart Magic Academy has reached the United Nations!"

"What’s going on?" Hu Daoke’s eyes widened in shock.

"The people from the Church of Light claim that Earth’s people have kidnapped the Holy Heart Magic Academy, and are using this incident to blackmail the Church into allowing Earth’s military to station in Yazhi City. Our headquarters is asking us to verify the truth of this matter," Luo’er explained.

"How did they know that it was the people of Earth who did it?" Hu Daoke asked, baffled.

"The kidnappers were dressed in Earth’s modern tactical equipment and were armed with AR rifles. Although their English is not very fluent, they were still able to deceive the people of Otherworld," Luo’er explained.

"So you mean to say that people impersonating as Earth’s citizens have kidnapped the Magic Academy, then threatened the Church Court to allow Earth’s military to be stationed in Otherworld?" Hu Daoke said, scratching his head puzzledly, "This is somewhat chaotic, isn’t it?"

"Not at all. It’s clear that the puppeteer behind this abduction intends to make the Church and the United Nations enemies. They want to exacerbate the differences between them," Luo’er contemplated.

"But why would they want to do that?" Tangmo couldn’t resist asking.

"Well... the reasons are still unclear," Luo’er said with furrowed brows, his gaze lowered deep in thought.

"Let me posit a hypothetical situation," Cheng Ziang finally interjected after a long silence.

Feeling the weight of everyone’s gaze, he slowly said, "This is just speculation, but if someone wants to eradicate the Church’s influence in the Continent, then the Earth people would undoubtedly be the best allies. They’d want to estrange the two factions, so that the Church and Earth people can never form an alliance. If that’s the case..."

Pausing for a moment, he looked at the eager faces and continued, "The enemy of the enemy is our friend."

"What are you even talking about?" Hu Daoke was the first to respond.

"Only an idiot wouldn’t understand," Cheng Ziang said with a sigh.

"So you’re insinuating that I’m a fool, right?" Hu Daoke said, pointing at Cheng Ziang, his anger flaring.

"Ziang’s point is that if Earth people and the Church are enemies, it ensures they will never collaborate. In this way, the day someone tries to rebel against the Church, they could seek help from the Church’s enemy, the Earth people," Luo’er interjected.

"So, you’re saying this person hopes that the Church and the Earth people will be enemies forever. This way, when he decides to rebel against the Church, he could seek help from the Earth people?" Hu Daoke asked, repeating Luo’er’s explanation to clarify.

"Correct," Luo’er nodded and continued, "They pose as Earth people, kidnap the Church’s Magic Academy and use these students as bargaining chips to blackmail the Church into allowing Earth’s military forces to station in Yazhi City. As we all know, the Church will never agree to such absurd conditions. In doing this, they are successfully instigating a conflict between the United Nations and the Church. And Earth’s people are unfairly blamed... although maybe it isn’t so unfair!"

"We still don’t know how these people got their hands on the tactical vests and the AR guns from Earth. If a particular nation is really behind this operation, what could be their motive? Or do they not know about it at all?"

"Why do I feel like things are getting more and more complex?" Hu Daoke scratched his head and said.

"From the disappearance of the weapon cache till now, not a single mystery has been solved. Just thinking about it all gives me a headache," Luo’er said, massaging his temples.

"Luo’er, let me help you with it!" Tangmo stepped up and offered with enthusiasm.

"No need, Moumou. You need to report the situation here to our superiors right now. We need to collate all the evidence and figure out what’s really going on," Luo’er waved his hand and said.

"Oh!" Tangmo responded disappointedly before turning to file the report.

Eerily silent until now, Baiyue made her way to Luo’er. She looked from Tangmo to Luo’er. It took a while for her to muster up the courage to reach out, trembling, and start massaging Luo’er’s head.

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