Alien world

Chapter 1909, Section 542: The Imperial Minister's Fantastic Journey

Annan was initially worried about whether the minister would be injured, but then he thought that Black Pearl was only a level ten or so, and it would be difficult for her to injure a legendary-level imperial minister.

But that makes it even stranger... Who can chase a legend around like a rat?
The deeper they dug into the black pearl, the greater the commotion attracted the attention of the Imperial Army stationed nearby.

Several miles away, the Imperial squad was observing this area.

They saw the iconic Liberty City airship, but instead of assuming it was an enemy invasion, they sent someone to make contact.

Annan was too embarrassed to admit that he had lost the Imperial Minister, so he lied and said that he was testing a new weapon.

The battle between the Free Army and the Kingdom Army at the Great Wall in the north has already spread throughout the Empire; at least officers in various regions know about it and have seen it.

Upon contact with the soldier, Annan seemed to realize something and asked if he needed help keeping it a secret. Annan awkwardly replied, "It's best not to tell anyone," and stepped back, then kindly offered to stand guard outside.

The pit created by Black Pearl is over fifty meters deep, yet no rat holes have been found.

"Annan is calling the minister, Annan is calling..."

As Anan was shouting, the light spots on the Leaf of Another World suddenly moved again and quickly disappeared into the distance.

He called out wearily, "Hey, are you coming back for dinner?"

……

Snapped--

The fingers that extended above the water touched a hard object, and the entire palm instantly gripped the protruding rock like a triggered mousetrap.

The minister managed to stop himself in the swift current.

Bring your head to the surface and take a few deep breaths to refill your lungs with air.

He began to observe his surroundings. This was a narrow cavity carved out by an underground river, with only about forty centimeters of height from the water surface to the top of the rock, barely enough to keep his head above water.

Alternatively, you could dig another hole, but that would be too much of a move and could easily break the rock.

Or… the minister looked towards a ditch about two meters away, carved out by the river over the years. Although even crawling in was difficult, the current was gentler, and there were places to grab hold. If he could just get a foothold, he could start smashing…
"Annan is calling the Minister, Annan is calling the Minister."

At that moment, the Leaf from Another World in his arms rang out.

The minister reached into his robes, stopping just before touching the Leaf of Another World.

Tell Annan that you will get out of trouble, but Annan will also know about your current predicament.

As a minister, a legendary warrior, and an Imperial citizen, this was something he could not accept…

The minister took his hand out and slowly extended it toward the ditch, gripping the rock with his other hand little by little.

The minister poured all his skill into the stone pillar he was holding, slowly turning his body sideways without breaking it by gripping too tightly. His seriousness was comparable to when he took his first soldier assessment at the age of sixteen.

The rushing underground river swept over the minister, who was now only half a meter away from the trench.

As long as I can get there...

click-

Just as the minister was about to exert his strength, the stone pillar, which had been bearing too much weight that was not its own, suddenly broke.

"Annan is calling the minister, Annan is calling..."

The minister slammed back into the water, and to make matters worse, the Leaf of Another World in his pocket was also washed out by the current and disappeared into the underground river in an instant, leaving only a faint sound lingering in his ears.

"Hey, are you coming back for dinner?"

The familiar, earth-shattering sound surged forth again. The minister told himself to calm down, but before long, the sound of rushing water ahead suddenly became clear, like... a waterfall!

By the time the minister realized what was happening, his upper body was already above the water, and the loud splashing was deafening.

After briefly leaving the water, he began to free fall.

……

Dang——dang——dang——

Beside the underground river, several dwarves were hammering away at an anvil, and the sound of picks chiseling could be heard from inside the cave.

"Hurry up!"

The dwarf overseer urged them on from behind.

These dwarves built watermills beside underground rivers and used underground waterfalls to forge the mined ore directly into weapons and armor, which they then sold secretly. As for why they sold them secretly…

thump--

Unlike the sound of water flowing in between forging, the dwarves looked up and all gazed at the undulating figures in the underground river.

"That looks like a human..."

The dwarf overseer was puzzled as to how a human could have been washed here, but seeing the human drifting along in the underground river without making a sound, he was relieved.

"Keep working, that's just a dead man!"

Dang——dang——dang——

The minister swallowed back the shout he had prepared.

Those damned dwarves! The Holy Council and the Dwarf King signed a pact prohibiting all dwarves from mining in human territory, and they dared to defy the pact...!
……

Annan called Black Pearl back.

"Should we continue digging?" she asked.

Annan looked at the light spot that had run to the edge of the Leaf of Another World again: "Damn... never mind."

"Silly cat, do me a favor."

"You want to save that person?"

"Hmm, his identity is very important. If he dies here, I... wait, it seems like nothing will happen?"

Annan was doing his best for the Empire, and the Imperial Minister had been forced to come along. Even if something went wrong, he could just blame it on the ratmen.

With a military minister sacrificed, the empire in its berserk state must be even more ferocious, right?

Annan first sent reconnaissance airships to give chase.

On the bright side, the fact that this minister is so fast means we can rule out the possibility that he has already been captured by the ratmen.

After following for several tens of minutes, the light finally stopped again. Annan gave up on letting the black pearl break through the rock layer and asked the silly cat to go and find the Minister of the Empire.

"I'm not a dog, and my precious divine power isn't for helping you find people..." the silly cat muttered, but still jumped down with the leaf from another world in its mouth, turning into a phantom and disappearing.

A moment later, a silly cat jumped out with two World Tree leaves in its mouth.

"I didn't see anyone, only this leaf hanging on a pile of withered grass in the underground river."

The good news is that the Leaf from Another World has been found.

The bad news is that the Imperial Minister is missing.

"Oh no, we've messed up..."

The underground river... If an Imperial Minister were to fall in, there would be no way to find him, and he might not even be able to be rescued.

Annan rubbed his forehead: "Tell the Empire."

Originally, this mission was supposed to have found the rat hole, the little spider and the silly cat, and uncovered the true intentions of the Chaos forces, making a great contribution. However, they ended up losing the Imperial Minister.

Hopefully, the empire won't blame itself.

Annan opened the portal and relayed the message to O'Lin on the other side.

"Okay," she said.

"You know? That's a minister, not some nobody!" O'Lin wasn't in a hurry, but Annan was.

“I know, so don’t worry.”

Olin said that the Empire has a Holy Spirit, and all high-ranking officials and members of the royal family are under the Holy Spirit's protection. The Holy Spirit will lend a helping hand in times of crisis. As long as Minister Steve is in the Empire, there's nothing to worry about.

"That's good……"

Annan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"By the way, what did you say the minister's name was?"

(End of this chapter)