Azur Lane: I Crossed the Graduation Port Area

Chapter 1370: The Underground City Maze of the Teaching Nation (2700 words)
"Something must have happened to the commander. We must find Marco Polo as soon as possible and return to the port."

The two girls remained silent all the way.

As they went deeper into the South Wind Plain, Xia Fei finally took a deep breath, suppressed the sadness in his heart, looked at the bushes and green shades around him, and spoke first.

Thanks to the magic items they carried that had a deterrent effect on low-level monsters, the low-level monsters in the South Wind Plains all stayed away from the two girls.

When Mogador heard Xiafei mention this, he also frowned and said:
“Finally I followed the clues and found this place.

"What on earth is Marco Polo up to? And why didn't his Sardinian companions stop her but acted with her?"

In order to track down the whereabouts of Marco Polo, Andrea, the Dragoon, Mistral, and Southwesterly, the leader of the Iris Inquisition, Clemenceau, sent out a total of three teams led by Inquisitors to search.

La Galissonnière and Terrible, Algeria and Tartu, plus them, three teams of the Inquisition conducted a search in the southern region of the Church State for nearly half a month based on the clues provided by Veneto.

In the end, they were the only ones who discovered the whereabouts of Marco Polo and his Sardinian companions.

After having the clergy of the Holy Light Church convey the signal to gather at South Wind Plain, they came here first to conduct an investigation.

Mogador's confusion was also what Xiafei was thinking about along the way.

"According to the information provided by Veneto, before Marco Polo set off, he brought a large number of commander's collections from the port area, as well as several wild birds.

"Even the cruise ship that carried the commander's fondest memories was taken away by her into the ship's storage space."

As the heat from his body gradually dissipated, Mogador hastily buttoned his cloak again.

Listening to Xia Fei's information, the purple-haired girl speculated in a serious tone:

"Could it be that Marco Polo has been controlled by the 'false god' omen again, and is trying to use those props that are related to the commander to do something bad to the commander?

"If it is the mental distortion of the 'false god', it can also explain why Andrea and the others did not stop Marco Polo."

Regarding Mogador's speculation, Xiafei did not directly comment, but continued to analyze it thoughtfully:

"We have to find them first to confirm this. If this is true, we may not be able to confront the mind-controlled Sardinian fleet head-on with our strength. We must retreat first and wait for Algeria to reunite with La Galisaunière."

"But if this is the case, won't it delay the time it takes us to learn about the commander's situation?"

"Do you think, given the commander's personality, he would want us to get hurt by being reckless?"

Facing Mogador's unwilling expression, Xiafei asked back calmly.

"Gu...Okay, okay, Miss Angel, I'll do as you say."

The two Inquisitor girls from the Iris camp quickly discussed the future arrangements on the land lizard trailer.

Although the Nanfeng Plain is a vast plain, it still has some undulating hills.

About two hours later, Joffre and Mogador could no longer see the village of Carlo behind them and came to the depths of a vast plain with almost no human traces.

A not very wide river lay before them. Under the setting sun, they could see many small groups of magical beasts being affected by magic items and moving away from them.

On the flat grassland on the other side of the river, there stood a huge stone tablet with a white long-horned monster skull on top.

Behind the stone tablet, there is a cave entrance that looks like a tunnel, decorated with two extinguished torches.

"We are finally here. Speaking of which, Miss Angel, I have always been curious as to why the mercenary groups in this country are so abiding by the rules that they have to set up these things at the entrance of the maze?"

Since the land lizards could not cross the river, the two ship girls did not choose to find a bridge to cross the river in order to save time.

So they parked the land lizard and the trailer by the river, opened the ship gear directly, crossed the river, and came to the entrance of the dungeon maze.

Looking at the dark dungeon maze cave, Mogador, who was carrying the huge spear and chain axe on his shoulder with one hand, sighed and complained to Xiafei.

“If you looked carefully just now, you would have seen the name of the first mercenary group that discovered the entrance to the maze on the back of the monster skull on the stone tablet.

"The Mercenary Association of the Teaching Nation will take into account the ability to discover the entrance to the maze when rating mercenary groups."

Xiafei said this lightly as he pulled a feather from his black wings.

The next second, the jet-black feather in the aircraft carrier girl's hand was like a spellcasting medium, and soon gathered a large number of white light balls for lighting.

“Let’s go, each floor of the dungeon maze is like an independent world.

"According to the information provided by the Mercenary Association, the fifth level of the South Wind Plains maze has been conquered. The signposts leading to the entrance to the next level have been placed by the previous mercenary group, and the maze map has been loaded into the ship-mounted radar system." Mogador nodded and followed in the footsteps of Xiafei who was the first to enter the maze entrance.

The first level of the maze is a traditional underground maze made of gray stone bricks covered with ivy.

At regular intervals on the maze wall, there were magic fluorites emitting blue light, causing Xiafei to temporarily disperse the light ball around the feather.

Just as she thought, all the guardians and traps in the first level of the maze had been cleared by the mercenaries.

It didn't take long for the two Iris ship girls to pass through the maze effortlessly and reach the entrance to the next level.

The environment of the second level of the maze is a desert, and the scorching sun above seems to be always at noon, which also declares that the creator of the dungeon maze is definitely not an ordinary person.

"As expected, just like the intelligence records provided by the Mercenary Association, this level of the maze has a desert terrain and climate."

Both Mogador and Xiafei remained calm in the desert environment that was like traveling to another dimension.

The Iris Camp and the Sardinian Empire had already investigated the principles of the Saint Lothalon Teaching State's labyrinth.

Simply put, this is a space folding magic similar to the Siren mirror system.

In Saint Losolon, where magic exists, many magicians who have mastered space magic have the ability to create independent spaces.

Of course, in the eyes of the Iris ship girls, even a legendary magician is only as threatening to them as a level II Siren Executor.

"According to the route plan, it will take us at least an hour to reach the fifth floor of the maze... Let's leave this floor quickly. The temperature here is too high. I feel like the cloak is going to suffocate me again!"

Looking helplessly at Mogador, who was unbuttoning his cloak and exuding a faint mist, Xiafei asked calmly:

"Why didn't you bring an ice magic device for cooling down? Didn't Walkerlan and Surcouf just go to the Magic Association to purchase a large number of magic devices before leaving?"

"It's useless~~~ Those ice magic devices are too fragile. They will break down after a short time."

Facing Mogador's feverish howling, Xiafei said calmly, without changing his expression:
"After all, convenient magic technology is a revolutionary innovation in the use of magic, and it has not yet been certified by the Holy Light Church and the Tower.

"But Frederick Karl seems to be very interested in magic technology. Maybe after returning, she can help you develop a cooling magic device that uses magic cube energy."

As the two girls talked, they walked towards the entrance of the next level passage in the desert.

Although Mogador and Joffre seemed to be chatting, they were always observing the surroundings with sharp eyes for any clues.

After all, their goal is to track down Marco Polo and the Sardinian fleet, not to conquer the dungeon maze.

Of course, it would be great if we could confirm that these Sardinian companions are hiding in this maze.

Time passed minute by minute, and the two girls finally arrived at the fifth floor of the maze.

Although in the swamp terrain of the third level of the maze and the plain terrain of the fourth level, they were attacked by maze monsters that had not been cleared out.

But for them, there was no need to even deploy their ship gear against an enemy of this level.

The Iris ship girls are just like the Shrine Maidens of the Sakura Empire. From the moment the Mind Cube was born, they have possessed extraordinary magical powers and an incredible talent for learning magic.

After arriving in the Saint Lothal Doctrine Country, the Iris Ship Girls, out of curiosity, more or less learned some magic from another world that would be convenient for their daily lives.

As for why you don’t learn the high-level magic known as forbidden spells?

Are you kidding? No matter how exaggerated the high-level magic damage is, can it be more powerful than naval guns?

What's more, high-level magic has extremely harsh release conditions and lengthy chanting time, and is not as convenient as ship-mounted main guns.

"Ok?"

The moment Mogador and Xiafei stepped into the fifth level of the maze, their expressions changed.

The fifth level of the maze is a towering mountain area covered with green trees, and it is also the end point where other mercenary groups have collectively returned in failure.

But this is not important.

What’s important is that both Mogador and Joffre keenly noticed that a blue light representing friendly forces flashed quickly on their ship-mounted radar systems.

Although the light spot was fleeting, Xiafei and Mogador locked the coordinates immediately.

(End of this chapter)