Pillars of Ita

Chapter 1170 Threatening Letter

"Ms. Linseya, we need you to help us do something. Help us remove the heart of the Holy White Tree."

  The girl in the darkness had a snow-white complexion, with long silver-gray hair hanging down in disarray. Her hands and feet were bound and she could not move. She only looked at those people with disgust in her light purple eyes:

"Don't even think about it."

Her voice is clear and ethereal.

"Hey, beautiful lady, please don't refuse my toast."

In the darkness and shadows, a figure walked towards her and stabbed something into her forehead.

Fang He opened his eyes from the bed and subconsciously reached out to touch his forehead. He found that he was not injured and realized that he had just had a dream. He sat up from the bed and looked around the elf-style room. He was a little confused. How could he have a dream that looked like someone else's?

He pushed the door open and went out. Outside was the inner courtyard of the temple. In the center of the courtyard was a fountain. In the center of the fountain was the statue of Aimeya. The spring water fell from her palm, forming a crystal waterfall. The unicorn girls were talking beside the fountain, looking at him curiously.

They have been living in this temple these days. Merrill invited them to stay here. It is quiet and elegant here, and they will not be disturbed by outsiders. They can stay here until they leave.

Fang He could only recognize Fanny and Ailuoya among those trainee unicorn girls. The former was a little shy and greeted him with a slightly blushing face - he nodded slightly in return, but his mind was on his own research.

These days he experimented with the 'ash branches' obtained from the disaster and found that, as he expected, the system was still reliable. These 'ash branches' were no different from the withered Telaka tree hearts.

So he spent some time making and upgrading a batch of 'Snake Eye' type clockwork goblins for use in the next battle. As for upgrading the Fire Giants, because the power of the Fire Giants could not catch up with his requirements, he only upgraded one or two experimentally.

During the experiment, he suddenly had an idea. 'Heart of Stone' and 'Gift of Nature' were only mentioned to be effective once on different series of constructs respectively, but what if they were different inspirations?

He did what he thought and tried to upgrade the design of his 'Ancient Guards' with gray branches. The result was beyond his expectation, after two experiments, the upgrade was successful, and 'Ancient Guards' became 'Ancient Guards-II (Assault Type)'. Sharp claws grew on their fists that were originally only capable of hand-to-hand combat.

The gray-white claws were exactly the same as the shadow of the tree, slender and sharp, and even the texture of the wood was almost the same. Fang He checked the Type II Ancient King Guard and found that its agility and attack had increased.

The improvement was not much, but this discovery made Fang He ecstatic. Doesn't this mean that his exclusive alien construct can be upgraded in two rounds instead of just one?

He further discovered that the Gray Branch could be adapted to almost all types of construction design drawings, but this time he did not make the modification immediately. On the one hand, there was not enough time, and on the other hand, the relevant design drawings were not very strong - the Gray Branch's improvement on the Clockwork Fairy and the Ancient Lord's Guard was also extremely limited.

However, there are not many types of constructs that he can use, so good steel must be used on the blade.

Dealing with gray branches every day these days, it seemed as if even the air in the laboratory was filled with gray matter. He didn't know if it was affected, but he didn't sleep well for several days and even started to have strange dreams.

"Ms. Tata, can gray matter erode my spirit?" he asked as he walked.

The fairy lady carefully checked his conscious world and shook her head at him, "Mr. Knight, there is nothing abnormal in your spiritual world, but..."

"but?"

"But communication and exchange will not leave any traces. Mr. Knight, have you heard any strange sounds recently, like someone is talking to you or whispering?"

Fang He thought about it and shook his head.

He was going to meet someone from the Investigation Society today. He had already inquired about the origins of the society in advance. The society was commissioned by the Ring of Stars, and its main tasks included going to the wild to conduct field investigations, monitor the spread of disasters, the impact of gray matter on the environment, and retrieve samples.

Because most of the scholars and astrologers of the Tower of Stars and Moon have no combat capabilities, they will entrust the Adventurer's Guild to help them complete this task, and the Adventurer's Guild will then hand over the task to the Chosen Ones.

Over time, the Investigation Society was formed. Those who regularly cooperated with the Ring of Stars, or the Chosen Ones who had conflicts with the Silver Wind Watchers, chose to join this camp.

A typical mission of the Investigative Society must include a main investigator, who is usually also the head of the investigation team. This position is usually held by the indigenous people, and sometimes by the Chosen Ones.

However, whether it is the Chosen One or the Aboriginal, the person in this position must be a senior scholar or astrologer.

Then there are the deputy captain and the accompanying advisory group. These people are very diverse. The deputy captain is mainly responsible for the defense and stationing of the team, and is usually a professional mercenary captain or brigade commander.

The remaining advisory group is the leader's assistant, assisting the leader in conducting investigations or helping the leader deal with some trivial matters. The size of the advisory group varies depending on the tasks to be performed.

However, this mission is rather special. The investigation team has two leaders. The leader, Arian Seraphiel Starlight, is a court scholar, while the deputy leader, Ms. Marian Titmouse, is the leader of the advisory group and an expert in wilderness survival and tracking.

For this purpose, the investigation team specially established the position of head of the guard, whose status was equal to that of the deputy head. It was this position that Fang He applied for. With Merrill's recommendation, the two professionals did not make it too difficult for him.

Arian only asked him some questions about camping and security defense in the wild. Fang He answered them one by one. The elf scholar nodded, expressing his approval of Fang He's thoroughness and steadiness.

"That's it," chirped Marian Titmouse, as her name suggests. "He's a great guy with a lot of experience. Merrill recommended him, but are your people reliable?"

"They are all my companions." Fang He replied.

"The brigade?" Marian nodded repeatedly. "The brigade is good. It is much more reliable than those mercenaries and bounty hunters."

So the matter was settled. The two employers were gentle men who seemed easy to talk to. The scholar Aryan was gentle and well-spoken, while Ms. Marian, who was from Papara, was full of witty remarks.

Fang He himself was also very satisfied and thought that the rest would be a smooth journey.

Since the departure time was set for two days later, Fang He used his power as deputy leader to gather the rest of the escort team in advance.

The scale of the investigation team this time is not small. Together with the non-combat personnel of the advisory group, there are as many as 27 people. Therefore, the Seven Seas Brigade alone is definitely not enough, so the investigation team also recruited some personnel from outside.

These people included a group of mercenaries and two teams of the Chosen Ones, the two teams of the Chosen Ones came from Moonshado and Emerald on the edge of the Nightingale Forest respectively.

Fang He checked their identities at the Adventurer's Guild. The credibility of the Chosen Ones was good, but that of the mercenaries was mixed. So he selected people from the crowd and asked them to tell their stories.

But one of the nightingales was somewhat unconvinced and stood up to openly question his authority.

"The position of the head of the guard group is related to the safety of everyone. We have never heard of the head of the guard group in this field before. Does the head of the guard group have any means to prove that he can lead us?"

The others remained silent, obviously doubting the idea of ​​an unknown person being appointed as the group leader.

Fang He didn't waste any time talking to him and let Daryl go up and knock the man down in no time. Sometimes the prestige of a leader does not have to be based on his own strength, the methods of his subordinates can speak for themselves.

The square was silent. Fang He asked Daryl to pick up another person and throw him out of the team, and then asked Miss Nightingale to publicly announce the misdeeds of the two, and let them leave in disgrace.

He got information from the Brotherhood of Thieves - the contact methods Mr. Reed taught him were still fresh in his mind and were particularly useful in Giant Tree Hill. Most of these people had titles in the Brotherhood of Thieves, and two of them were even members of the Brotherhood.

And these people are not the only ones with bad records. In order to ensure the smooth progress of the mission and eliminate unstable factors, he must replace a group of people.

He simply fired all the mercenaries and found the bounty hunters from the Pure Blade. When they heard that it was his mission, they readily agreed. On the one hand, the investigation team of the Star Ring has always been a lucrative job.

On the one hand, they also expressed deep trust in Fang Plovers.

Fang He informed Ms. Arian and Marian about the replacement. Both of them agreed and affirmed Fang He's work. After all, this was the responsibility of the head of the guard.

Early in the morning of the third day, when it was just light, the Seven Seas Brigade was ready to set off. Fang He asked someone to say goodbye to Merrill, but was told that she was not in the temple. Ailuoya told him that the girl had left the temple after receiving a letter early in the morning.

Fang He didn't care. The job of the unicorn girls was not easy. As clergymen, they had to be confessed, take care of some trivial matters in life, and solve problems for believers, and they were always on the go.

So he asked Aloya to leave a note, wrote his farewell words on it, and told Aloya and the others that they would return to Silverwind Harbor to visit them when they had the chance, and wished these kind and simple unicorn girls to achieve their goals.

"Goodbye, Mr. Ed."

"The same goes for you."

Ailuoya bestowed the blessing of the forest on them, and then both sides said goodbye to each other.

After leaving the temple, there is a trail in the middle where you can overlook the port. It used to be part of the Linfeng District, which also suffered a disaster not long ago. The street repairs have not been completed yet, and traces of the Ash Branch Disaster that day can be seen everywhere.

The Seven Seas Brigade heard a long whistle, and a ship entered the port. Fang He looked in that direction and saw a magnificent three-masted sailing ship slowly entering the dock. Elisa told him that it was the "Green Field".

However, he had already learned from the news that Elion de Ferien's ship was delayed due to some issues and would not arrive until today. The ship he was on was the 'Emerald Fields'.

It looks like Silverwind Harbor is going to be busy for a while.

Fortunately, he didn't leave much information at the time, otherwise someone would probably investigate him as a fake.

  He led everyone to the agreed meeting area, only to find that the other members of the investigation team had already been waiting here. Arian and Ms. Marian both had serious faces. Fang He thought he was late, but the two came with an elf guard and said to him:

"problem occurs."

"What's wrong?" Fang He asked in surprise.

Arian took out a letter and handed it to him: "Someone left a letter on my desk this morning, threatening us not to meddle in other people's business and not to leave Silver Wind Harbor, otherwise we will bear the consequences."

Ms. Marian also said bitterly, "I received it too. These damn bastards actually entered a single lady's home without permission, but I burned the letter."

The elf scholar looked at his colleague in silence. "Okay," Marianne realized that her behavior was not right and apologized, "I will be calmer next time and keep the evidence. I was just too angry."

Fang He took a look at the letter and found that it was just a common threatening letter. Even the threatening tone was so bland. After checking it, he handed the letter to Jita beside him without saying a word.

Miss Naturalist took the letter and twisted the envelope with two fingers above and one below. She immediately opened her eyes and shook her head gently:

"The letter has been treated with magic, and its origin cannot be traced."

"An elf guard standing next to Marian and Arian saw this scene and looked at them in surprise: "Prophecy, is there an astrologer in your team?"

"Who is this?" Fang He looked at the elven guard. "Kaylan Elvir," the elven guard introduced himself, "I am a member of the Disaster Investigation Department. Ms. Arian and Ms. Marian have already reported the incident to the security team, and Mr. Cavendish asked me to be responsible for their safety."

Fang He looked at the two of them, and the elf scholar Arian explained, "It's not that I don't trust you, Mr. Captain. Elvel's boss, Mr. Cavendish, is a member of the Linoril-Sanshak Council and the person in charge of this investigation. Because of some unexpected situations, he sent more people to assist us--"

"Mr. Kailan is an intelligence expert from the Disaster Investigation Department. He is not responsible for security work. He is just here to help us check the origin of this letter. Regarding this letter..." said Marian.

"The letter has been processed by magic, and the owner of the letter should no longer be in Silver Wind Harbor," Fang He replied, "But at least it means this is not a prank. I am responsible for everyone's safety. Can you tell me about the investigation itself?"

Arian nodded. "This investigation is mainly to investigate a gray matter disaster that occurred in Sanshak. An investigation team from the society disappeared in that disaster."

"Missing?" Fang He asked in surprise, "Are there any Chosen Ones?"

"No," Arian replied, "That team is a little special - it is not funded by the Ring of Stars, but by the Silver Wind Harbor City Hall. Because it is only a small-scale investigation, the number of people is far less than that of the investigation team."

"That team was escorted by the Port Guards. In order to deal with the gray matter disaster, there was also an apprentice unicorn girl accompanying them. Nothing went wrong before they arrived at Sanshak, but after entering the gray matter area, there was no news at all."

Kailan added.

Fang He heard that the unicorn girl was accompanying them, and couldn't help but narrow his eyes slightly. But without the Chosen One, it was no wonder that the Alliance didn't show up. "How long ago did it happen?"

"About two weeks ago."

This matter was full of conspiracy. Fang He looked at the threatening letter and didn't know whether the other party was so arrogant or just bluffing. However, for him, leaving Silver Wind Harbor was the top priority.

He took the letter back from Jita and asked the three people, "What do you think?"

"It would be ridiculous for the parliament to stop because of a threatening letter," said Lady Marian immediately. "As for us Paparars, we are born without any fear."

Kailan had to interrupt her to prevent the woman from talking too much - this was a natural skill of the Paparars, but every Giant Tree Hill person knew how to get along with them.

He said, "Ms. Marian means that I want to ask for your opinion, head of the delegation. Do you think we need to add more personnel to strengthen our defense?"

Fang He looked at the other people in the team. The average level of the two Chosen One teams was no more than level 25. They were considered elite among ordinary people, but meaningless to the Seven Seas Brigade.

He shook his head. If he and the Seven Seas Brigade couldn't protect the survey team, then it might not make sense to find a Silver Rank.

He thought the three would object, but Arian nodded: "Then the safety of the investigation team will be left to the captain."

After Fang He left, Marian asked, "Isn't this a bit too careless? I'm not saying that we should give up this investigation, but isn't that young man a bit too confident? Maybe it would be better to add some more manpower?"

"Let's leave it to the professionals, Ms. Marian," Kailan said, "I believe in this leader. You have found a good partner."

"how do I say this?"

As a staff member of the Disaster Investigation Department, Kailan seemed to have confidence in Fang He. "Normally, a team would bring an astrologer who has no combat ability. I have heard about the deeds of this team leader. Although he is young, he looks like a veteran."

"Don't worry, I will ask Lord Cavendish for support," he added, "After we leave, the second investigation team will be on the road. It should be safe for us in a day or two."

The two nodded.

  When Arian Seraphiel Xinghui was about to leave, he suddenly noticed someone stopped in front of him and waved at him. He looked in that direction, almost unable to believe his eyes, and said in a lost voice:

"your Highness?"

The elf guard beside Lian Kuiya Alsana quickly made a gesture to silence him, but the elf girl said, "Okay, Faela, don't embarrass Mr. Arian. It's me. Mr. Arian is the leader of this investigation team?"

"Your Highness, what do you want me to do?" Arian was confused. Why was Her Highness the Princess here?

"I will be with you for a while, so don't worry about me," Lian replied, "but now, I have a question for you."

"please say."

"The missing unicorn girl, is she a member of the Saint's Society? What's her name?"

"Yes, Your Highness, her name is Linseya—" Arian thought for a moment and said.

"Linthia Starlight."

……

Everyone packed up their things and loaded the heavy equipment onto two large carts. The elf scholar was worried about his own things, so he was responsible for guarding them himself, while Marian and the other investigators rode in the other four carriages.

Fang He rented a highland land dragon to carry the escort's equipment, ammunition and food. The spellcasters also rode on it. The group did not encounter any trouble when leaving Silver Wind Harbor, which was smoother than Fang He had imagined.

"This is not a checkpoint," the bounty hunter told him. "With the guarantee of the Investigation Society, the guards will generally let you go directly. But if it is at the border of the sky barrier, the inspection will be much stricter-"

The facts are just as they said.

After the team left the city, they saw a completely different scene. There were endless wheat fields on both sides of the avenue, which seemed to be thriving. However, Silverwind Port had erected many spires in the fields. On top of them were druids, who used spells to maintain this huge barrier.

The barrier guards the last of the port's food production, but the range of the sky barrier cannot supply a port of this size, so most of Silver Wind Port's food has been shipped by sea.

However, the price of food in the port has increased several times. Although the disaster did not occur for long and most ordinary people still have some food reserves, an atmosphere of panic has actually begun to spread.

On the other hand, the parliament has not risked any major disapproval by cutting off the supply to the temple - there is no need to do so, so Meryl and the others are not actually greatly affected. Sometimes these unicorn girls will even take out the temple's elf rations to help others.

However, when reaching the edge of the barrier, the scene ahead changed drastically. The gray fields were almost adjacent to the pale blue light curtain hanging from the sky, and the crystallized wheat fields were all dry gray.

On the other side of the light curtain, there was a dead silence.

Everyone in the investigation team fell silent - this port supported the coalition's crusade against Ninimere, but that faint layer of light was the last barrier protecting Silverwind Harbor. Once it fell, Linoril would become a deadly place.

Just like Ravenrel today.

For everyone in Giant Tree Hill, it was the end of the world.

"Heaven," Tianlan watched this scene. For the first time, she deeply felt the changes that this 'epidemic' had brought to the Holy White Giant Tree. "It wasn't like this when I left. What happened?"

She was a girl who loved to laugh, but at this moment she couldn't laugh at all.

Even Paparar seemed a little at a loss. He looked around, as if looking for some familiar sights.

Fang He looked at Lian Kuiya Arsana in front of him. The elf girl was unexpectedly firm. She just looked at the land silently - thinking that this was the kingdom she had to protect and the disaster she had to overcome.

Even if she has to sacrifice everything, she will achieve it.

The team left the barrier, where the high-level druids of the Ring of Trees checked each of them. Fortunately, they did not check their identities, but whether they were carrying tree species and pests. After the inspection was confirmed, they were allowed to pass.

After leaving the Silverwind Harbor barrier, the team moved along the border of the Morning Mist Woods, where there was an abandoned trade road called Fogotern Vere. Most of the trees on both sides of the road had turned to gray, and the forest was dead silent, so quiet that it was a bit creepy.

  After passing through the forest, they passed a valley with a small lake. Lady Marianne told everyone in her unique loud voice that the lake used to be called Silver Lake. Of course, that was in the past. Now it is just a pool of stagnant water:

"Since even the algae have withered, there is no fish in the lake. It is empty. There used to be an ash branch growing here, but it was cut down by the Silver Watchers. But it can't return to its original state."

"Perhaps one day the disaster will be gone, but will the sacred tree be able to recover?"

No one can answer this question.

"She is right," the Paparar said to the plover, "I remember this place, and it has become like this."

He became a little discouraged, as if all this happened because of his departure. It had only been a few years since he left Giant Tree Hill, but his "hometown" had changed so much that he could not recognize it.

They had been walking all day, the sun was setting and dusk was gradually approaching.

Fang He looked around and planned to stop and set up camp - Cui Xisi had already scouted the area before, and this place seemed to be the safest.

There are not many trees near the lake, and the ash will not affect the water source, so there is clean water here; and the Chosen Ones are fine, but the investigators of the advisory group are somewhat tired. Most of them are scholars, and naturally cannot compare with those of them who are outside every day.

Therefore, Fang He ordered everyone to stop, parked the six carriages outside to surround the city, and then asked the Chosen Ones to set up camp. He was considered a veteran in adventuring, and everything was in order.

The last doubts of the two teams of Chosen Ones about him also disappeared. Everyone received their orders, and soon a camp was set up by the lake. Everyone reported to him one by one and checked the nearby forest.

Fang He arranged the people to keep watch at night and left at least one person from the Seven Seas Brigade at each time period. Then he returned to his tent and took out the clockwork fairy - he didn't need to be so cautious, but for some reason, the letter during the day always made him feel uneasy.

But at this moment, a figure opened the door and came in. Fang He looked up and found that it was Daryl who was in charge of the night watch. "There is something in the forest."

"Have you checked?" Fang He frowned.

"Yes," Taliel nodded, "It's not a clockwork goblin, nor is it a nightingale's eyeliner. There is a scent of magic. I am a holy guard of the woodlands. My perception of the forest will never be wrong."

Fang He nodded to her. She didn't expect these people to dare to cause trouble. No matter what, this investigation team was also ordered by the Silver Wind Port Council. The other party was really bold.

He didn't think too much about it, and immediately released a group of clockwork fairies outside. Then he put on goggles and made contact with several 'snake pupils'. These special clockwork fairies quickly disappeared into the forest and moved freely.

But the next moment, an unexpected face appeared in his sight——

……