Despite Lorenzo's wishes, the Imperial Sentinels managed to successfully evade capture and made their way towards the coastline. In the first place, they were Perception Realms. Using their heightened senses, they could easily avoid danger ahead of time. Most of the searching parties were Fundamental Realms. Combined with the extremely complex terrain of the Mellor Wilderness, seeking out the Imperial Sentinels was truly next to impossible! Of course, there were also Grand Knights assigned, but the area the ravine went through was huge. There was no way to comb through every place systematically without the army's full attention. As a result, General Illion did not have much hope. Only when crossing the Desterina Ocean would the Imperial Sentinels have a chance of being caught.
It took some time before the Imperial Sentinels reached a coastline town. The leader wisely decided against entering Pelangi Fortress. Pelangi Fortress was the Sentago provincial capital and a massive port city on the Maelstrom Gulf. The fortress was ironclad and a symbol of Alzar might. It weathered countless sieges in the past, but it stood strong through the ages. Just like the Xingyuu Empire's Yunyun Stronghold, the two were the foundations of the conflicts in the Maelstrom Gulf. In the Desterina Ocean, the Maelstrom Gulf was where naval battles were commonplace. It made sense though, as this gulf was the shortest distance between the two continents, excluding the impassable north. Consequently, the fortress was swarming with soldiers. If Illion's message reached the commander, then the Imperial Sentinels would be asking for trouble by entering.
There were multiple ways to enter the Xingyuu Empire from the Alzar Kingdom, none of which were legal methods. Navigating the Maelstrom Gulf with a Xingyuu fleet would be forcing the Alzar fleets to respond. There was no reason to start a battle so he could transport a few captives over. Instead, the method the leader chose was that of being smuggled across the border. Naturally, the goods he was planning on smuggling over were the captives. Human trafficking was an extremely lucrative business in the civilizations. With the Second Great Kingdom War and the booming refugee crisis, refugees would be kidnapped and sold as slaves. Officially, the Alzar Kingdom's stance on slavery was poor, but that was a mere façade. In fact, a decent fraction of the workforce was actually composed of slaves! With enough coin, anyone would be convinced. As they say, money was the pillar of society!
The leader met with one such slave trader who frequently travelled between the civilizations. Publicly, the slave trader was a wealthy merchant with large connections with the military. People may be fooled by his amicable behavior and upright appearance, but the leader knew better.
"I hear you have business for me?" the man wondered with an impeccable smile. "May I know what it is?"
"I need some goods transported to the Yunyun Stronghold."
The trader smirked. "Of course, of course, that is possible! May I know what goods they are? It wouldn't do good for me if they were particularly… exciting and we were caught."
The leader grunted and brought over the four captives, who were currently bound up and gagged. The captives were none other than Elizabeth, Benedict, Shirley, and Freon. They were unkempt and smelly from the time trekking through the mountains. There was also an unceasing flow of animosity from their gazes, as if wanting to murder everyone before them.
The slave trader nodded in understanding and approached Elizabeth, placing a hand on her cheek, observing her features closely. "Not bad. Young, well-fed, and a decent figure. Red hair can also be quite desirable. She also seems like a virgin by her reaction. She would go for a good price," he snickered before turning to Shirley. "As for this girl, excellent figure! People would pay extra for her. It's a pity she doesn't seem like a virgin… Oh, this boy looks strong and well-trained. He would do well in the fields. As for the other one though," he scoffed at Freon. "It'd be hard to get a good price with him…"
"Enough," the leader interjected. "Are you willing to smuggle us across or not?"
The man contemplated for a while before grinning ominously. "Of course, with these four, it's not a big deal. I wonder if you can afford it?"
"State your price."
"I won't make things difficult for you. How about four hundred Wesel?"
The leader inwardly frowned. Four hundred Wesel coins was a large fortune by the Alzar Kingdom's standards, but it was expected. The four 'slaves' he was smuggling across were high quality according to the slave trader. Furthermore, Alzar Kingdom slaves sold in the Xingyuu Empire were worth ten times more. The leader did not hesitate in tossing over a coin pouch, earning the satisfaction of the slave trader. Just by feeling the weight of the pouch and a cursory glance, he could tell it was the correct amount. This was one of the special skills of being a merchant!
"Now, about the price of keeping quiet…" the trader sneered. He could tell the slaves before him had an abnormal background. This was an opportunity to extort more money from the gold mine!
"You…" the leader nearly lashed out.
As an Imperial Sentinel, when was he treated with such disrespect? If it was not for staying low profile, he may have killed the trader on the spot. Instead, he angrily threw another coin pouch over. The trader's eyes glimmered. The amount received was even more than before! The trader was tempted to continuing sucking the gold mine dry, but he restrained his greediness. He was an upright character after all!
"The ship leaves in a day. Don't worry, I'll keep my mouth shut," he snickered.
Hearing this, Elizabeth's last wisps of hope were thoroughly extinguished. She never knew there could be someone as shameless as this slave trader. Can you see I'm a poor helpless girl? Shouldn't you be helping me instead? she screamed internally. If she could, she would run up and beat the man to death. She wanted to run away from her captors, but that was easier said than done. Although she and her friends outnumbered them two to one, the captors were Perception Realms. It was nothing for them to subdue her and her friends. Therefore, she hoped that the slave trader would understand their plight and help them… Initially, Elizabeth believed that the Xingyuu Empire was the only rotten civilization. After all, they were responsible for slaughtering her family and turning her life into misery. However, she began to see this was truly biased. The Alzar Kingdom was equally as rotten!