Han Shuo was in no hurry to leave. When Emily saw Cecilia and the members of the Dark Mantle slowly making their way over, she felt that she would have to be a bit cautious and keep a reasonable distance from Han Shuo so as not to arouse suspicion.
After all, Emily was the daughter-in-law of the Betteridge family. No matter how she felt about Han Shuo in private, they couldn't let outsiders know about it. Whether it was Emily or Han Shuo, this particular piece of information would only cause them unnecessary trouble in the foreseeable future.
After seeing the bone staff in Han Shuo's hand, Ancient Lizard King Dagassi's attitude towards Han Shuo had improved considerably. His long years of life had also seemingly forged an incredible amount of patience. His expression remained unchanged as he watched Cecilia and the others slowly make their way over.
"I can just take care of these people if you think they're in the way, it won't take me too long." Dagassi remarked casually. A wicked grin crossed his face as he saw their tentative approach.
Dagassi's attitude towards Cecilia and the others could only be described as extreme contempt. He wasn't afraid to let them overhear his conversation with Han Shuo. To a demigod existence like himself, Cecilia's group were no different than ants, an eyesore that needed only a flick of a limb to be wiped out.
Cecilia and her team had only approached the group because they had seen Han Shuo and Emily getting on well with the Ancient Lizard King. Cecilia's face turned pale when she heard Dagassi's offer. She couldn't help but take a few steps back and stare nervously at Han Shuo.
"No need, they are my colleagues." Han Shuo's reply allowed Cecilia to breathe a sigh of relief. But it was only when she saw the Ancient Lizard King nod at Han Shuo that she slowly walked over to their side. She first nodded at Emily and then spoke to Dagassi, "Mighty Being, I am from the Lancelot Empire and in charge of dealing with the enemy this time, I..."
"I am not interested in your words." Dagassi interrupted before Cecilia could get much further, let alone finish, "Puny human girl, those who dared to invade lie dead. Whatever happens in this area is under my control, and the underground world is no place for you humans to set foot in. I won't kill you, as you are his colleagues, but if you value this temporary amnesty, I hope you will leave this world as soon as possible".
"I..." Cecilia started to say more, but was quickly stopped by Emily, "All right, little sister Cecilia, as far as I can see, we've successfully completed our mission. Though it wasn't exactly our doing, the name of the Redbud Knights will no longer be spoken on this continent. We should definitely leave. We've done a great deed here.
Emily winked frantically at Cecilia as she said this. Cecilia was no fool, she caught Emily's signal and nodded. She then turned to Han Shuo and said bitterly, "I know that you have gone to a lot of trouble, and I will report this to the higher-ups in detail. However, our private grudge is not over yet."
Shrugging his shoulders, Han Shuo smiled blandly, "Whatever you want!"
Han Shuo didn't care, but the Lizard King immediately rolled his eyes when he heard that they had a private grudge. A mass of energy as heavy as a mountain erupted from his body and spread out rapidly. The Ancient Lizard King didn't even need to transform into his massive appearance to put pressure on Cecilia and her group.
"I think I'll help you kill them anyway. You and they seemed to have a grudge. If they never leave the underground world, your words will simply become truth. Then all your problems will be solved, how about that?" The Lizard King laughed loudly and looked at Han Shuo as he offered his help once again. His powerful presence alone made Cecilia feel very uncomfortable.
Han Shuo didn't feel any goodwill towards Cecilia, but it wasn't to the point that he wanted to take her life. Besides, the relationship between Emily and Cecilia was very good, so Han Shuo couldn't kill her in front of Emily.
Therefore, he shook his head again, "They are my colleagues. Although there are some misunderstandings, we are not enemies. Just let them go."
As Dagassi regained his aura, the sweating Cecilia and her team were able to resume their regular breathing. This time, Cecilia didn't wait for Emily to wink before turning without another word. As she left, she glanced back at Han Shuo and whispered a sentence, "Thank you!"
Cecilia understood in her heart that if Han Shuo hadn't stopped him, Dagassi, who had killed enough Redbud Knights and Dark Elves to form a river of blood, would definitely have wiped them all out with a single gesture. Although she still had some negative feelings towards Han Shuo, he had definitely saved her life this time. Even if she didn't want to thank him in her heart, she still had to.
Unconsciously, Cecilia's grudge against Han Shuo had dissolved a bit. Her heart was full of doubt, she didn't understand how Han Shuo could forge a relationship with such a powerful creature, or how he could make the Ancient Lizard King listen to his words so easily.
Her mind flashed as she suddenly remembered something else. As she left with Emily, Cecilia pulled on Emily's arm when no one else was around and asked in a low, suspicious voice, "Are you with this Bryan?"
Emily's heart pounded and her cheeks flushed uncontrollably. She pretended to calmly tell Cecilia, "What nonsense are you talking about? I only worked with him a few times and developed a friendship."
"Is that so?" Cecilia stared at Emily in confusion, "It feels weirder the more I think about it. Bryan's relationship with me is selfish and unfriendly. He shouldn't have helped us last time Kassel chased us, I only found out later that it was because of you, big sister."
"It's the same this time. He went to the underground world, through Chrissie, just to look for you. He protected you in the fight before, even that big lizard didn't target you with his murderous intent. I know Bryan is no saint. I always wondered what kind of relationship you two had that would make him worry so much about you. I think he only did it because he loves you, don't you, big sister Emily?"
"Of course not. What are you guessing so madly for? It's just that he wasn't so powerful before and I saved his life once. That's why he's helping me now. You can stop talking nonsense now". Emily denied everything with all her might. She knew that she had to deny things no matter what, or the result wouldn't be good for Han Shuo or her.
"Big sister Emily, look at yourself, why are you still not admitting things?" Cecilia stared at Emily in surprise. Her hand rose and held a small mirror in front of her face.
In the mirror, Emily's face was embarrassed and red with a secret pleasure, an unconscious reaction to Cecilia saying that Han Shuo only did what he did because he loved her. Emily couldn't help the feelings in her heart from showing on her face. Looking at this shy and flushed appearance, no one would believe her if she said she had nothing to do with Han Shuo.
Seeing that Cecilia's face showed absolute confidence in her theory of Emily and Han Shuo's intimate relationship, Emily sighed softly and said, "Little sister Cecilia, I do have some goodwill towards him. But you know my situation. I'm the widow of the Betteridge family, and my age is greater than his. Even if I had affection for him, he wouldn't have anything to do with me. My identity condemns me to being shunned by men forever, aiii!"
Emily sighed pitifully. Hearing her explanation, Cecilia was stunned and came to a sudden realisation. To think that her big sister Emily's love for Bryan was one-sided! Cecilia's thoughts spun around, and seeing Emily's desolate expression, she hastily said, "Big sister Emily, I'm sure this Bryan is far from ordinary. With his strength, sooner or later he will gain immense power. You know that as long as he has enough power, nothing is impossible for him in the Lancelot Empire, rest assured. By then we will have my grandfather, he can help you too!"
Emily was genuinely touched by Cecilia's words, and the last sentence in particular made her heart rejoice. Cecilia's grandfather was an important person in the Lancelot Empire. If she and Han Shuo were determined to be together in the future, things would go much smoother with the old man's help.
"Really? If Bryan and I can be together, you'll ask your grandfather to help me?" Emily asked, feeling happy in her heart.
"Of course, Grandpa loves me the most. If I'm willing to help you, he'll help me," Cecilia replied proudly.
"Then I must thank you in advance!" Emily was overjoyed.
"Hehehe, we sisters shouldn't be so polite. Right, tell me how you saved that cocky brat earlier. Now I'm very interested in his affairs!" Cecilia giggled.
As the two women led the Dark Mantle members away, Han Shuo also stuffed all the weapons, armour and money bags that the skeleton warriors had sorted out into his space ring. His space ring could only hold a part of them, the rest was stuffed into Celt's space ring.
Han Shuo finally remembered the space ring of the Fire Grand Magus Marceau. He conveniently asked the old lizard king Dagassi to break her magical enchantment seal, and harvested about three hundred thousand gold coins from it. There was also some valuable magical equipment, the most precious of which was a strange tent.
The tent looked like it could only hold two or three people, but when Han Shuo actually stepped inside, he discovered that the space was much larger than he'd imagined. It was divided into three levels, with a hundred rooms of varying sizes. Each room was clean and brightly decorated, with luxurious carpets covering the floor.
On the top floor, there were several magical laboratories with magical equipment, as well as a library on fire magic. There were even two storage rooms with a number of fire-related magical items. This would be the place where Marceau usually conducted his magical experiments.
The inconspicuous tent had turned out to be a valuable space treasure, with the area inside no smaller than Han Shuo's residence in Brettel City. This magical tent was definitely the result of the combined efforts of a Space Sacred Magister and a great alchemist.
The accommodations of this tent were even larger than those of the Space Ring. More importantly, when used for travelling in the wilderness, hundreds of adventurers could stay in this tent when it was set up. For mercenaries who often went out on missions, this kind of space treasure was comparable in value to a divine artefact.
"This thing is not an artefact, but its practical value is even greater than that. If you want, you can sell it for at least three hundred thousand gold coins. The Ancient Lizard King told Han Shuo after understanding the tent's miraculous ability.
"Such a magical treasure, comparable to a divine artefact, I won't sell it. It's better to keep it for my own use." Han Shuo replied to the Ancient Lizard King.
After robbing all the dead knights and dark elves of their valuables, Han Shuo and the Ancient Lizard King Dagassi returned to the ruins of the gourd-shaped mountain. Thanks to the Earth Elite Zombie, a tunnel had been dug out of the subterranean space, and all the lizardmen filed out through it.
"Where is our great 'True God'?" The leader with the longest tail asked anxiously as soon as Han Shuo and the Ancient Lizard King Dagassi arrived.
Pointing to Dagassi in human form, his long tail waving in the air, Han Shuo smiled and explained, "Isn't that him?"
When the lizardmen heard Han Shuo's words, they looked at the ancient lizard king with a look of horror. Only when they felt a familiar presence from him did they feel relief and submit. Under the command of their leader, the lizardmen kowtowed to Dagassi, their mouths rapidly speaking in the lizard language.
The old Lizard King, in his human form, was no longer bound by the ancient magical formation. He also rumbled in gibberish, chatting contentedly with the lizardmen. Han Shuo didn't understand anything, but he didn't speak. He just stood there with a dry expression on his face.
The Earth Elite Zombie stood there for a while after leading the lizardmen out, watching the group while roughly touching his head. It was even a little afraid of the Ancient Lizard King. Sensing his powerful presence, it silently walked over to Han Shuo's side and tugged at the corner of his clothes, sending him a message, "Is there anything else? If not, let me go back!"
Han Shuo was stunned as he looked at the earth elite zombie that had just sent him a message. He had barely opened his mouth to speak when the Ancient Lizard King's attention was drawn to the Earth Elite Zombie on the other side. He was stunned and asked in disbelief, "Did, did that zombie warrior just communicate with you?!"
"Uhh... I think so." Han Shuo replied. He was also a bit shocked inside. The Earth Elite Zombie had originally been able to communicate with him, but only in the form of listening and obeying orders. The messages had also been simple reports about the battles, unlike now, when he'd expressed his own opinion.
It seemed that the zombie of the Earth elite was unwittingly developing an autonomy like the little skeleton. This also showed that it was getting stronger, otherwise it couldn't have developed its own ideas so quickly.
"If I'm not mistaken, he wanted to take the initiative to return to the necromancy dimension. It is your summoned creature, but it also has its own consciousness?" The Ancient Lizard King couldn't suppress his astonishment. He could also sense the message the Earth Elite Zombie had sent to Han Shuo.
"He is different from other ordinary undead creatures. You've seen it, it can use the power of the earth to move freely underground and create tunnels. Hehehe, this has to do with my magic cultivation. I can use this art to transform the summoned undead. It not only gives them a higher intellect, but also more power and even the ability to evolve. For some unknown reason, Han Shuo had a favourable impression of the Lizard King. He could feel his passion and trust in him, and understood in his heart that he wouldn't harm Han Shuo. Therefore, Han Shuo replied without hiding anything.
"Incredible. Incredible indeed. Even my master couldn't imbue undead creatures with intelligence and the ability to evolve. It seems your techniques are even more incredible than I'd imagined." Dagassi exclaimed.
"Hehehe, I think this art is amazing too. I believe that once I break through again, I might possess a power on par with yours." Han Shuo said confidently. He remembered that Chu Cang Lan was once able to cross the moon in the realm of 'nine changes'. He also understood that the Canal Realm would definitely increase his power tenfold, or even a hundred times.
"Very good. I look forward to our next meeting. If I'm still alive, we'll definitely have the chance to meet. Maybe you can really help me then." Dagassi said contentedly. He turned back to the lizardmen and resumed his rapid gibberish.
After listening to Dagassi's words, the lizard leader turned to Han Shuo and said respectfully, "From now on, we lizardmen of the underground world will follow your instructions.