Start with a core cabin

Chapter 1816 Attack (Today is another snowy day)

Since I joined the Inquisition, I have experienced several battles, many of which can be regarded as "saving the world", but I have never been so nervous and uneasy. I know why. In previous battles, Mr. Duanmu was either by our side or behind us. This makes us feel very at ease. At least when we encounter something that we find difficult to solve, we know that someone can solve it.

But now he stands opposite us.

Everyone was a little uneasy and nervous. In fact, I wondered if this was also a plan of Mr. Duanmu, because according to my experience, he always made some strange moves without any explanation, and we would know the basis of his decision later. I talked to several other people, and they also had similar optimistic expectations - it was as if Mr. Duanmu would immediately turn around and become our companion when he saw us.

But I also know that this is just an optimistic expectation, and it will not become a reality to a large extent. Mr. Duanmu has said more than once that "no expectation, no waiting, no harm", which seems to mean that you should not expect things to change, but focus on doing what is in front of you... I don't know if this explanation is correct, but I have to admit that I have benefited a lot from this statement at the moment.

Considering that some readers have written to me and asked why I rarely describe the romantic relationship between Mr. Duanmu and I in my novels, my answer is... It's not that I concealed these relationships for some reason, but from the perspective of ordinary people, getting along with Mr. Duanmu is actually not romantic at all. To use a certain adjective, Mr. Duanmu's way of thinking is very "straight male". He will consider what problems you have encountered and then find ways to solve your problems. But that's it. He doesn't care about the kind of romantic feeling that girls expect. Even when having afternoon tea with me, Mr. Duanmu thinks that it is more like having a casual meal than chatting with girls. He is obviously more interested in the desserts on the table than in girls.

Miss An once described such an incident to me with a hint of complaint. She felt that Mr. Duanmu spent too little time with her, which made Miss An feel very lonely, so she went to Mr. Duanmu to complain (it might have been a way of acting coquettish, but based on my understanding of Mr. Duanmu, he would generally regard it as a complaint).

Mr. Duanmu's solution to this problem was simple. He called Miss An to his office the next day and asked her to work with him. When Miss An, who was overwhelmed by her work, started to complain, Mr. Duanmu replied, "I have too much work to do and I don't have time to spend with you. So I just let you work with me, which will satisfy your request."

I don’t know what Miss An’s expression was at that time, maybe it was similar to the expression I had when I heard this sentence.

By the way, I am sure that Mr. Duanmu must be very proud of his own cleverness and think that this is a good way to have the best of both worlds.

As to whether this is a good idea or not, I believe readers should make their own judgment.

Some readers also said that they find it hard to understand how such a man can be favored by so many women. I do think this is understandable. Perhaps many of us have a more or less first impression of Mr. Duanmu as a product of the suspension bridge effect. After all, you have to admit that when you encounter desperate and almost irresistible danger, a figure that falls from the sky and blocks your way does bring a certain unspoken sense of security. But things are not that simple, or rather, feelings themselves are complicated.

Mr. Duanmu once specifically asked me about my views on love. But in fact, it is difficult for me to explain this question. I am afraid that everyone has the same feelings for Mr. Duanmu. Each of us has complicated feelings for Mr. Duanmu. It is not as simple as love. Many times, the feeling is more like dependence or trust. Of course, there are some people whose situations are more special and strange (such as Miss Gu Leya and Miss Satori).

But no matter what, Mr. Duanmu is indeed the bond that connects us. Perhaps it is because of this that we have not had any conflicts and frictions with each other. Generally speaking, love is selfish, but we feel like companions fighting side by side in a trench. We rely on and trust each other more, rather than being rivals.

Of course, the question of who we are fighting against is a little more difficult to answer.

But now, our target is very clear. We need to find a way to trap Mr. Duanmu and make him regain consciousness. This mission is very Mr. Duanmu's style. There is no complicated plan, only a clear goal, and the rest will be solved automatically on the battlefield. I suspect this is because we have been following him for too long, so we have almost no idea about complicated plans.

But anyway, we did everything we had to do.

We set up a camp at the foot of a nearby mountain. Miss Mio used her magic to dig a huge maze of holes inside the mountain (considering the combat style of the green-skinned orcs, we all agreed that it would be safer to confine them in narrow passages rather than on a wide ground). Two regiments of Night Guards have been stationed there. I have explained to them the plan and objectives of this operation. Although they were a little confused, they still carried out the order neatly and efficiently.

The next thing we have to do is to wait - this is the most difficult time. Most people feel nervous and uneasy, only Miss Satori is bored and practicing swordsmanship. To be honest, it is really relaxing to see her like this. Everything is ready, and now we are just waiting for what we are waiting for to come.

If some readers are indignant about our abandonment of that city, I think that is understandable. But strictly speaking, according to Miss Satori's feelings and my observations, there are probably only a few thousand humans in that city who have not been corrupted, and most of them are nobles from the upper class and their servants. And tens of thousands of people in that city have been corrupted into aliens. If we go back now, we will all be in danger of being swallowed by aliens. On the other hand, they are safest when the orcs attack - after all, the orcs do not distinguish between aliens and humans, so whether for self-protection or not, the aliens will spontaneously form a defense line to resist the orcs.

This might bring a glimmer of hope to those humans, of course, just maybe.

In fact, I can't explain why we continue to carry out this dangerous mission. It seems that this is a "self-evident" thing for all of us. It is not simply out of emotion or profit. It seems that this is what we should do, just like people have to eat and sleep every day. It is an instinctive behavior that does not need a reason. Even Miss Chiyin, who has just joined us, did not show the slightest doubt about this matter. She is more worried about the feasibility of the plan and the instability on the battlefield.

But I think this should be the least of our worries.

Because Mr. Duanmu’s battlefield has never been stable.

———Interlude of "Battlefield of Fear"

Duanmu Huai arrived later than the girls expected, and the reason was certainly not the traffic jam, but it was almost the same. It can be imagined that when a large group of orc warships rushed into the Eye of Terror with great momentum, the Chaos War Group living inside would naturally come out to see who entered their yard without knocking.

So the two sides started a great battle, Duanmu Huai led the orcs to blow up the cursed betrayer fleets into pieces like cutting melons and vegetables, and then continued to move towards the destination. The orcs' WAAAAAAGH shouts echoed in the subspace, even the demons trembled.

After the rest of the Chaos fleet went home crying to complain to their mothers, the Orc fleet continued to move forward. In fact, the Chaos fleet had no idea that it was precisely because of their "fearless" resistance that the people of the Inquisition had enough time to build and prepare the battlefield. Otherwise, with the orcs' crazy speed, the girls might still be busy digging holes when those big green elves unexpectedly fell from the sky like Santa Claus' gifts.

However, considering that most of them are warbands that believe in tyrannical wrath, this does not seem to be an incredible thing in itself.

After all, in a sense, they have always been loyal.

Loyalty cannot be expressed in words.

When the green-skinned orcs roared down from the sky, they soon found themselves in a big trouble—Mary chose a heavy, huge mountain as a fortress. Naruse Mio used her already extremely skilled "civil engineering" magic to quickly dig holes in the mountain and create an underground base that looked like a maze. Of course, the girls took risks in doing this. After all, according to their usual impression of Duanmu Huai, he usually used hot melt bombs when facing a maze. No one can guarantee that he won't use it this time.

Only Alicia said that it probably wouldn't happen - after all, Duanmu Huai's goal this time was to retrieve the orc crown. Considering the choice between digging like looking for a needle in a haystack from soil buried by hundreds of meters of rubble or rushing directly into the battlefield to grab it, most girls tended to think that Duanmu Huai would choose the latter.

After all, he hates trouble the most.

Facts proved that the girl knew Duanmu Huai very well, and soon the orcs abandoned their vehicles and rushed into the open tunnel entrance waving their weapons. Their shouts were so loud that Mary, who was deep underground, could hear them.

But for Mary, this is not the most worrying issue at the moment.

“Oh my god…”

Staring at the screen, Mary blinked her eyes, even wondering if she was seeing things. She could "see" that there was a green beam of light above the head of each green-skinned orc, and these beams stretched out from their heads like cables, and then gathered together in the distance. Countless green beams gathered in the same place, staining the place with a dark green color.

Even Duanmu Huai's tall body seemed to be there and not there, quite unreal under the cover of green.

Not only that, Mary seemed to see the shadows of two orcs standing behind Duanmu Huai, but it looked more like a reflection of the light - although she knew that was definitely not it.

"It seems that Miss Irisviel's judgment is correct."

Mary had to sigh.

"There is a line on the heads of those orcs that connects them to Mr. Duanmu, and now Mr. Duanmu's whole body is glowing green. I can't even tell if he is green too."

"So our plan is still going as expected?"

Lorena asked, and Mary nodded and looked at Naruse Mio.

"I'll leave it to you this time, Ms. Mio."

"I'll...try my best."

Naruse Mio's expression was quite serious and nervous. No wonder, the plan this time was all based on Irisviel's conjecture. In other words, since Duanmu Huai became insane due to the influence of the orcs, what they had to do was to keep Duanmu Huai away from the orcs, and then kill as many of them as possible to reduce their influence on Duanmu Huai, and then...

Then, leave it to fate.

What else can they do? Girls don’t believe in fairy tales where a kiss can wake up Prince Charming.

In this plan, Naruse Mio's role is unquestionable. She is the only one who can use her magic to change the route of the entire building at will. In other words, Naruse Mio can divert as many orcs following Duanmu Huai as possible by creating passages and handing them over to the Night Guards. At the same time, she also has to open a passage specifically for Duanmu Huai, so that he can go to the center of the camp alone and stay away from the green-skinned orcs.

It can be said that the success or failure of this plan depends entirely on Mio Chengze.

And she had to be careful to prevent Duanmu Huai from throwing a hot melt bomb without thinking - he was definitely capable of doing such a thing.

By the way, the four-member team of Alicia also gathered here. Eden's method of manipulating gravity can help Naruse Mio complete part of the task. And when necessary, she can also use this trick to restrain Duanmu Huai's actions (I hope this will be effective). Xi'er is responsible for dealing with the orcs. She didn't fight before, but this time it's different. Attacking their souls is much simpler than attacking the orcs' bodies. Of course, for Satori, she doesn't seem to care.

Padufils was slacking off, but in fact there was nothing she could do here. She was more of a scout, responsible for reporting the situation outside the battlefield.

The reason for leaving Alicia here was simple. After all, Mary still remembered that it was Duanmu Huai who asked Alicia and the others to find the orc crown. Considering the importance of this mission in the plan to destroy the Eye of Terror, it was obvious that Duanmu Huai would not let Alicia's team do this mission just to kill time.

Mary believed that Duanmu Huai must have his reasons for letting Alicia's team handle this matter, so to be on the safe side, she chose to let Alicia stay here to deal with various possible unexpected situations.

It's like playing a game of cards. You don't know what effect the card in your hand will have, but if you play it, it might have a miraculous effect...

Mary will soon find that this is a wise choice.