Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 369 - 362: Chance Encounter with a Nobleman

Chapter 369: Chapter 362: Chance Encounter with a Nobleman

"It’s a long story and we got to get going. The pursuers are hot on our heels." Luo’er sighed and shook his head.

"Are you guys being chased?" Feliz asked.

"Yep!" Luo’er nodded.

"By whom?"

"Well, those guys in the city..." Luo’er wasn’t sure how to explain it to her.

"The city... city defense forces? How did you get into trouble with them?" Feliz asked, frowning.

"You tell me." said Luo’er, shrugging. They were the Advance Team, Earth’s reconnaissance team, so it was expected that they would have conflicts with the residents of the Otherworld.

"Hmm... Wait a second," Feliz said, looking down thoughtfully for a moment, then raising her head and frowning at Luo’er.

Then she lifted her skirt and ran towards the carriage. She spoke to the people in the carriage, gesturing towards Luo’er and his group. Immediately after, another familiar figure appeared before everyone.

"Dean Shariya, what a coincidence!" Luo’er exclaimed upon seeing Shariya step down from the carriage.

"Old guy, you’re still alive?" Yalunte stepped forward, waving and laughing at Shariya as he descended.

"I just recovered from my injuries and couldn’t wait to return to the Magic Academy. It seems you all just arrived at Holy Heart City and now you’re leaving?" Shariya waved off Yalunte’s comment without taking offense.

"We have no choice, a whole gang is chasing us." Yalunte shrugged.

"Is it the city defense forces?" Shariya asked.

"Who else could it be!" Yalunte shrugged again.

"Weren’t you guys hunting down a Summoner called Fu’en?" Shariya asked, furrowing his brows.

"How did you know we were hunting down Fu’en?" Luo’er seemed surprised at his words.

"Of course I knew, I am part of the Church Court after all." Shariya said, as if it was the most obvious thing.

"As expected..." Ziang murmured under his breath.

They had always suspected the Church Court was leaking information on the Advance Team. It seems they were correct. Even though Shariya is responsible for the academy, he knew about this, indicating he was somewhat involved, and privy to inside information.

"Fu’en used himself as bait, tricking us into his trap. It wasn’t just them, even the city’s defense forces were in on this. What on earth is going on?" After confirming Shariya knew about the situation, Luo’er stepped forward and asked with a furrowed brow.

"How could Fu’en have known about your planned ambush and set up a trap?" Shariya was surprised by this revelation.

"Your informant was just executed by him earlier!" Luo’er stated matter-of-factly.

"Hmm..." Shariya pondered for a moment before saying solemnly, "Seems like we have a mole in the Church Court."

As expected, the issue was the Church Court. Luo’er had originally thought the Church Court wanted the Advance Team wiped out by Fu’en. But it seemed they were left in the dark as well. Although the Church Court appeared powerful, it was riddled with internal corruption.

"Are the city defense forces still pursuing you?" Shariya asked after a moment of thought.

"Yes." Luo’er nodded.

"Hop on board, I’ll get you to the Magic Academy for shelter," Shariya offered.

"Uh..." The group exchanged glances, unsure of Shariya’s reliability.

"Rest assured, your death wouldn’t be in the Church’s interest. And since the issue started internally, it’d be our responsibility to fix it," Shariya said, noticing their hesitation.

"Dean Shariya, we are grateful for your help!" Luo’er nodded and beckoned for everyone to get into the carriage.

There were many carriages in the convoy, some for people and some for cargo. The cargo was mostly Earth’s industrial and luxury goods, apparently, this convoy was originally intended for transporting goods to the Church Court.

Now, the Otherworld Gate was firmly controlled by the Church Court and there was no longer the previous freedom. The daily trading volume became extremely limited, leading to a surge in prices for Earth’s industrial goods in the Otherworld. If all the goods on these carriages were sold, they would make a large profit.

Most of the Advance Team was assigned to one carriage, while Ziang, Yalunte and Luo’er shared a carriage with Shariya. Feliz, not wanting to be crammed in with all the men, went to join Tangmo in another carriage.

"Dean Shariya, remembering it now, our first visit to the Magic Academy was a year ago," Luo’er couldn’t help mentioning.

"What were you doing at the Magic Academy at that time?" Shariya asked, taken aback.

"Investigating the Mage Corps’ movements!" Luo’er replied bluntly.

"Oh, indeed, did the academy abduction case have anything to do with you?" Shariya nodded then continued to ask.

"Of course it did!" Ziang cut in before Luo’er could speak.

"What?" Hearing this, Shariya’s gaze suddenly became sharp.

"If it weren’t for us, who knows when you would have been abducted by those people!" Facing Shariya’s sharp gaze, Cheng Ziang said with a light smile.

"Was it you who destroyed that strange device?" Shariya asked, a doubtful expression on her face.

"Yes!" Luo’er nodded.

"Why would those Western Earthlings abduct the academy? Was it truly just to gain control of Yazhi City’s garrison?" Shariya continued to ask.

"Those people are not from Earth." Luo’er said.

"Not?" Luo’er’s words left Shariya taken aback.

"Although they were speaking English, it was clear to us that it was very poor English, not a dialect spoken by a native English speaker. Their vocabulary was also quite lacking." Luo’er explained.

"Then who are they?" Shariya asked sternly.

"They are the Aud people, or more accurately, they are Northern Aud people!" Cheng Ziang glanced at Yalunte beside him before answering.

The Aud people look remarkably similar to Europeans, and the Northern Aud people are almost indistinguishable from Northern Europeans. It was this resemblance that allowed the Aud people the chance to impersonate Earthlings.

"They’re Aud people?" This was the first time Shariya had heard such news, and she was greatly startled. She had always thought these incidents were orchestrated by Earthlings, and even the Church Court had blamed it on them. But as it turned out, they were completely wrong.

"What exactly do these people want to do, why do they want Earth’s armies stationed in Yazhi City?" Shariya asked, her brow furrowed.

"I’m not sure either, but what’s certain is that Earth’s countries probably aren’t aware of this." said Luo’er.

"I see!" Shariya nodded, musing aloud.

"Speaking of which, why was magic restricted that day?" Thinking of that peculiar device, Luo’er couldn’t help but ask.

"It’s probably an Anti-Magic Device!" said Shariya, hesitantly.

After Luo’er had sketched the device, he promptly destroyed it, so Shariya didn’t have any solid proof.

"Anti-Magic Device?" Upon hearing this term, Luo’er and Cheng Ziang couldn’t help but exchange glances.

"That thing..." Shariya said hesitantly.

"Isn’t it just an Anti-Magic Device?" Yalunte casually interjected.

"You know?" asked Cheng Ziang, turning to look at him.

"Anti-Magic Devices, a major weapon against mages. However, most seem to have been confiscated by the Church Court." As a well-traveled man, Yalunte was aware of the existence of these devices.

"It’s an artifact of the Ancestors..." Since Yalunte had already come clean, Shariya felt there was no need to hide it. "Mysterious artifacts from ancient times; many were once widespread among the people, but most have been confiscated by the Church Court later. They can cause magic in an area to cease flowing, preventing mages from harnessing it."

"Ancestors again..." This was the second time Luo’er had heard the concept of Ancestors, the first being related to the Otherworld Gate.

"If Earthlings had access to Anti-Magic Devices back then, they would have simply launched an attack instead of going through the trouble of threatening the Magic Academy and coercing the Church Court, right?" Cheng Ziang couldn’t help but say.

"Anti-Magic Devices vary in size and power. The one at the academy was probably one of the larger ones." Shariya explained.

"No wonder magic couldn’t be used. That would really be a precious asset for Earthlings." Cheng Ziang nodded.

"Did you blow up the archive that day?" asked Shariya, looking at them.

"Of course, they had their escape route in there. If we hadn’t blown it up, they would have gotten away long ago." Luo’er explained.

"Alright then," Shariya nodded, signifying she wouldn’t press further. She lowered her head in silence, before finally asking, "If they were the Aud people, then why would they speak for the Earthlings?"

"That’s something you’ll have to ask yourselves." Luo’er responded.

"Fair enough!" Shariya nodded.

Not long after the carriage began its journey, several cavalry teams passed by one after another. Had they not encountered Shariya and her accomplices, the Advance Team would have definitely been captured by now. Much of the journey was across plains. If faced with cavalry, they wouldn’t even have the opportunity to flee.

Suddenly, the carriage came to a halt. Immediately following this, a holy knight’s angry roar could be heard from outside: "What is the meaning of this? Do you know this is a Church Court convoy?"

"Our apologies, but you must submit to an inspection." An unfamiliar voice retorted assertively.

"I’ll go have a look, you all stay on the carriage." Saying this, Shariya opened the door and disembarked from the carriage.

Luo’er gently pushed open the carriage window and looked outside. Not too far away, a group of guards had blocked the path of the carriage, insisting on inspecting it. The man leading them appeared to be in his twenties. To become a squad captain at such a young age, he must not be an ordinary man and likely came from a prominent family.