Gathered in front of the swirling purple rift, Ye Chen turns around, and asks—
"Final confirmations. We really doing this?"
Despite looking a bit pale due to how rough the trip here had been, Yu Ji answers—
"…Well, I'm already here."
"Certain."
"…"
As Ye Chen turns to Li Xue, she simply shrugs her shoulders—wanting to get on with it.
As for Long Hua—
"Let's just get this over with."
Saying this, Long Hua is the first to step into the rift with Tian Cheng following.
"…"
Upon entry, Long Hua finds himself on an island.
There are no trees on this island, all there is, is brown sand—creating a shore like landscape.
"…"
Rather quickly, Long Hua's attention is drawn to the warship that is in the waters up ahead.
The entirety of the warship is around 300 meters in length, and is armed with two colossal cannons on each side.
Other than the warship's main batteries, eight additional cannons of a smaller scale are situated to the front and rear—adding up to a total of 16 cannons.
Near the ship's stern is a helipad that will most likely not see any use in this excavation.
"…"
"…"
Momentarily, Ye Chen and the others enter, and similarly, their attention is drawn to the ship with the former muttering—
"How grand."
Soon after, they begin to look around the island landscape that is occupied by—
"So those are the Moon Guards?"
Dressed in black body suits with hooded jackets, along with oni masks covering their faces—are the Moon Guards of the Long Yue family.
"Seems like it."
With each Moon Guard in possession of beast-like traits, it's quite easy to tell them apart from ordinary Sinners. In total, there are around 50 of them.
"…"
"…"
Similarly to the Moon Guards, the people near Shao Tianming and a dispirited Wang Yongning number in the fifties as well. What makes them stand out is their hooded jackets, and their vast array of full-faced masks.
As for the others—who are essentially a mash-up of various Guilds and the military, it's impossible to give an accurate headcount; however, their numbers should still be well over 600.
"Colonel Ye."
Being called out to, Ye Chen turns to the side, and sees Teng Hao dressed in a black jacket over a sleeveless shirt.
Raising a smile of amusement, Ye Chen asks—
"So, Major Teng, what's up with your office and the military?"
Heaving a sigh, Teng Hao replies—
"Not much that I could have done under those circumstances, you see. So, I ended up giving away some insider information to the hall—in exchange for letting us use their exit."
"I see. Well, smart move really. And your squad?"
"Only brought Shen Le with me this time. Afraid of not having enough information to pay for a full squad."
"…Is that really something that you should be saying?"
As the others begin to move, Long Hua follows them, while stretching his arms with Tian Cheng an arm's length behind him.
"…"
"…"
Seeing as how Yu Ji is right in front of him, Long Hua figured that he might as well ask—
"So? Surnamed Yu, why did you come here?"
If possible, Long Hua would have wanted Yu Ji to just find some place safe, and stay there until Wen Qing arrives to pick her and her little sister up. That way, he wouldn't have to pay too much attention to her health.
Glancing back at Long Hua, Yu Ji replies—
"I don't feel safe leaving my little sister's issues to a stranger that I've never met before."
Nodding his head in an uncaring manner, Long Hua asks—
"And?"
Towards Long Hua's dispassionate gaze, Yu Ji awkwardly answers—
"…Some debts that I need to settle."
"Don't you have enough money in your bank account after that first excavation?"
Staring up at the grey skies, Yu Ji heaves a heavy sigh, and answers—
"…Surnamed Long, interest over time is a real bitch, isn't it?"
"How realistic…"
Replying as such, Long Hua chuckles, while Yu Ji adds—
"Also, the doctors can't say for certain that Li's conditions have really stabilized. So, the machine still requires maintenance."
"You really going to trust that black company's employees?"
Forming a helpless frown, Yu Ji replies—
"Ai, I don't want to either. But legal matters and the likes with my debt are… You know. Doesn't help with the fact that contracts are highly disadvantageous to Sinners in the fine prints' section. …Even though I knew that, I was still forced to sign them due to past circumstances. Also, I'm no doctor myself, hence… I can't make proper judgment on Li's conditions."
"I see."
Glancing at Tian Cheng, Long Hua inwardly thought back to the documents that he had seen.
(Hmm. This little sister of surnamed Yu's—according to those documents, it's said that she possesses a Relic that is merged with her body. The ability of this Relic is similar to a practitioner's divine senses, which allows her to see into the far distance—while not being at the actual scene. Her cryostasis unit was designed to be a component that would allow an unnamed satellite weapon to function… Those documents didn't say if that weapon was completed or not, still…)
Thinking up to here, Long Hua felt like it would be best to get Li out of Dainsfield's HQ as soon as possible.
(That surnamed Wen had better not go back on his words, or I'll make sure he pays for it dearly.)
Just as Long Hua is thinking of this, the Tai Xuan Emperor says—
(*-laoban, you got enough free pulls for ten.)
Being reminded of this, Long Hua brings up the gacha interface, and hits the button for ten-rolls, which results in—
(Two physical strength boosting talismans, and some grenades.)
The black jadeite flute has yet to be converted into pulls, as Long Hua needed an instrument to re-acquaint himself with his skills as a musician.
(Promised to play surnamed… Mo a tune every week, as a member of Dao He Palace—I'd be dragging the sect's name through the mud if I didn't play well.)