Sanctuary Paradise

Chapter 671: Fortress Acquisition
The structure of the Dark Glow Continent is very interesting.

In other words, its development process is completely opposite to other worlds invaded by the abyss that Xin Lailai has witnessed.

Unlike the White Frontier Star, where everyone was extremely united and never stopped looking for a way out until the entire civilization was completely destroyed, the native civilization of the Dark Glory Continent did not actually experience the ordinary slim way out under the invasion of the abyss because it had the mobile fortress as a retreat from the beginning. It simply took and used the precious property left by its predecessors before the catastrophe.

Looking at the development history of the native civilization of the Dark Glow Continent, the number of times it has actually suffered catastrophic disasters from the outside is actually only three times: great disaster, energy exhaustion, and the resurrection of giant beasts.

Of course, the key is not the number of times a crisis of this level occurs. After all, if you really count it, the White Frontier Star has only faced one crisis from beginning to end, which is the erosion of filth. In other words, the number of crises does not represent or explain anything. The key to truly seeing the nature of a civilization or race lies in the attitude it shows when facing a crisis... or growth.

If we look at it from this perspective, we will find that the local forces of the Dark Glory Continent have not made any substantial progress when facing the three crises of destruction.

During a great disaster, the great nobles who controlled the core of the fortress would shut out ordinary people without titles and extraordinary powers, leaving them to be swallowed up by the darkness pouring down from the sky; when energy sources were exhausted, they would rather launch a war against other fortresses and shut down all living facilities in the lower areas than stop a single floor heating unit in the upper areas; not to mention the revival of the behemoth, that was the evil consequence of the three major forces' own suicidal war.

It can be said that no matter which time, the native civilization of the Dark Glory Continent has never truly faced the crisis it faced, but has survived time and again by relying on almost miraculous luck, and finally just got by with this luck.

The mobile fortress left by our ancestors, the pyroxenes everywhere brought by the energy of the abyss, the unexpected discovery of a new world route...

This is how the native civilization of the Dark Shine Continent survives the crisis, just like a rich man who locks his door when facing a famine and survives by eating the surplus food in the granary. After getting through the famine, he continues to focus on the small piece of land in front of him, without even thinking about how to deal with the next crisis.

As for the impact of surviving in this way, just look at the current situation of the various camps in the Dark Glory Continent:

The Pyroxene Sect, which was born from pyroxene patients but in turn persecutes pyroxene patients madly; the Gusa Federation, which hates all dissidents indiscriminately; the wandering pyroxene patients who are pitiful but perfectly fit the saying that there must be something hateful about pitiful people; and the Tower of Order, which claims to be the orthodoxy of mankind but in fact perfectly inherits all the defects of human civilization in its development process.

Perhaps if you look closely, you can indeed find some bright spots in these camps, but overall, the situation in the Dark Continent is actually the same as what is described in the world introduction, it has long been rotten to the core.

Of course, these have nothing to do with Xin Lailai. Rather, he should be thankful for the worse situation of the local camps in the Dark Glory Continent. After all...

"Tafina! I'm asking you a question! Why are you the only one back? Where are Grand Warlock Lakadi and Hud and the others?!"

——If the rulers of this world’s civilization were as noble as the guardians of the White Kingdom, they might not be able to do it.

On the huge fortress platform, a red-haired warlock who looked like a noble lady rushed out from the entrance and questioned the gray-haired girl in a sharp voice. She looked so arrogant, as if she was not talking to a great warlock of equal status, but scolding her own servants.

The gray-haired girl Tafina seemed to be used to this. She first used her peripheral vision to confirm the expression of Xinlailai beside her. After observing a hint of boredom in her expression, she looked calmly at the red-haired noblewoman in front of her. After performing a simple etiquette commonly used by warlocks of the same level when meeting each other, she spoke in a voice that was neither humble nor arrogant:

"Please accept my condolences, Master Seraph of the Fire Serpent. As I have reported to the Association, Master Sorcerer of the Iron Tower unfortunately died in the enemy's attack. I deeply regret this, but I can assure you that they were bravely fighting against our enemies until the last moment of their lives..."

"impossible!!!"

Before Tafina could finish, the red-haired noblewoman in front of her interrupted her with a voice as sharp as that of a brothel owner. She grabbed Tafina by the collar like a madman, stared at her with bloodshot eyes, and growled:
"How could Lakadi and the others die so easily?! You must have used some tricks, bitch!!"

"Tell me! Where did you hide them? How could a bitch like you survive a battle that could kill Lakadi?!"

A sharp question with a hint of madness came from the red-haired lady's mouth. She stared at Tafina in front of her, as if she wanted to see something from the gray-haired girl's eyes.

However, Tafina just looked at the other person with an extremely calm gaze from beginning to end, allowing her to clench her ten nail-polished fingers on her collar. Her eyes were filled with a hint of pity, as if she was looking at a mad dog that had lost its home.

"Your Excellency, Master Seraph, I understand that the deaths of Master Iron Tower and Master Shude have been a great blow to you, but this is a public place, and there are important guests here who the Lords of the Crown have specifically asked us to treat with kindness. Please respect yourself."

“You…you…!!”

Tafina replied calmly, and the red-haired lady seemed to be stimulated by her indifferent reaction, her chest heaving violently, and finally she suddenly raised her right hand with the magic unit made into a glove, a ball of violent flames rose from her palm, and she was about to fan it towards Tafina's face——

Clang!
A dark cold light flashed by, bringing with it a few drops of bright red blood, which splashed on the faces of the gray-haired girl and the red-haired lady as they looked stunned.

A white arm burning with flames suddenly broke off from the forearm of the red-haired lady without any warning. The smooth broken surface and the black crystal blade without any blood on it showed how abrupt and clean the blow was.

hand……

For a moment, Tafina and the red-haired lady stared at the arm that fell to the ground, both of them stunned. They obviously had not expected Xin Lailai to act so abruptly, and then...

"Ah ah ah ah ah--!!!"

A scream like a pig being slaughtered exploded from the platform. The red-haired lady who had lost her right hand screamed and covered her broken arm in horror. At the same time, she looked at the gray-haired girl and the black-haired young man in front of her and said in a sharp and piercing voice:
"You...you guys! I understand! Tafina, you are the one who seduced the guy next to you and plotted against Lakadi with him, right?!"

"..."

"Are there many warlocks like her inside your tower?"

Xin Lailai looked at the red-haired noblewoman in front of him whose performance was even more exaggerated than he had expected. He narrowed his eyes slightly, and silently released an extremely concealed soul secret technique towards her. At the same time, he deliberately glanced at Tafina beside him and spoke.

"I'm sorry to make you laugh at me, Lord Black Sword. The Seraph Grand Warlock is the direct descendant of Lord Red Crown. Because of her natural bloodline talent and resource advantages, she doesn't come into contact with many people, so she is not very experienced in dealing with the ways of the world."

Upon hearing this, Tafina, who was standing by, flashed through her mind the doomsday scene she had seen not long ago. She shuddered slightly and quickly apologized to Xin Lailai beside her in an apologetic tone, explaining the background and situation of the red-haired lady in a very tactful way.

However, before Tafina could breathe a sigh of relief, the sudden heat wave and the sharp voice of the red-haired lady caused her to change suddenly -

"You two bastards! Go to hell!!!"

A crazy roar sounded, and the red-haired noblewoman's eyes were bloodshot. She shouted at the two people like a madman. At the same time, all the pyroxene ornaments and equipment on her body emitted violent energy fluctuations. She stretched out a palm towards the two people like a mad dog, and when she was about to release an attack spell...

"quiet."

An old and deep voice suddenly sounded, and along with it, there appeared a circle of colorless ripples that suddenly spread from afar. As the ripples spread, the fire elements on the platform that had become extremely violent due to the instigation of the red-haired lady suddenly calmed down. Not only that, the pyroxene ornaments and equipment on the red-haired lady also went out suddenly like instruments that had their power pulled out.

This is…!
As Tafina looked at this scene, her pupils shrank slightly, her mental strength surged, and she instinctively entered a state of alert. It was obvious that she had already determined the identity of the person who came.

"I'm sorry to make this gentleman laugh. I was careless and let this ignorant guy run ahead."

The old and hoarse voice continued to sound. Looking in the direction of the sound's source, one could see a hunched old man in a black robe who was leaning on a cane and looked very old and frail, walking slowly from a distance. Under Tafina's nervous look, he came step by step to the side of the red-haired noblewoman who had been unable to make any sound since just now and could only cover her throat tightly. He looked up at the two people in front of him, and finally set his sights on Xin Lailai, and said:

"Is this the Lord Black Sword that Tafina mentioned? I'm sorry, it's my poor management that made Lord Black Sword laugh at me."

"Oh, so it's due to poor management? I thought this was the way the tower treats guests?"

Xin Lailai looked at the octogenarian in front of him, squinted his eyes, looked down at him, and spoke. At the same time, he had already understood the other party's identity based on the information that Ling Yuzi had extracted from the residual soul of the warlock named Lakadi and the results of the detection in front of him.

The Grand Warlock of Silence, Senon LeBlanc.

He belongs to the Black Crown faction of the Tower of Order. He is known as the Great Warlock closest to the Crown. He masters the "Silence Spell" that can silence the Pyroxene Spell. Most importantly...

[Detection completed. Since the pioneer's willpower attribute is determined to be 2.36 times that of the current unit, this detection can obtain 95% of the current unit's information]...

Name: Senon LeBlanc.

Category: Grand Warlock of Silence/Right Hand of Black/President of the Warlock Guild
...

...

Skill 3, Silent Spell Master (Spell Passive, LV.13)

Skill 4, Pyroxene Energy Master (Spell Passive, LV.10)

……

The old man in front of him, who is also a great warlock like Tafina and the red-haired noblewoman who are only spell masters at LV.33 and LV.25, is actually a powerful character whose passive spells are both above Grandmaster LV.10.

"It looks like we've caught a big fish."

Xin Lailai glanced at the information detected at the edge of his vision, squinted his eyes, and stared at the old warlock in the black robe in front of him, knowing clearly that the other party was the target of his trip.

Although the Tower of Order was his chosen ally and they had sent people to receive him with great sincerity, from the information in the world profile, one could tell with one's eyes closed that the Tower of Order at best just wanted to use the power of him as a person from outside the world, and it was impossible for them to achieve true cooperation with him.

This is why he chose the gray-haired girl Tafina as a breakthrough point. Judging from the information he detected, if the other party took him back to the fortress alone and told the truth that everyone else was dead, there would be a high probability that they would clash with the warlocks of the aristocratic faction inside the tower. At that time, it would be his chance to express his dissatisfaction, demand compensation from the Tower of Order, and take the opportunity to take control of the entire fortress in his own hands.

As for why they chose such a tactful way instead of a more violent and direct approach, one reason was that the Tower of Order was his apparent ally after all, and it would not be a good idea to completely break off relations right away; the other reason was that they were still unclear about the actual strength of the Tower of Order, and if they rashly chose an overly tough approach, it would likely bring about some unnecessary trouble.

Of course, all of the above are based on the fact that the Tower of Order is essentially a human aristocratic force. Therefore, all its styles are based on the style of those in power that Xin Lailai is very familiar with. For this type of force, he is very clear that a combination of soft and hard tactics is far more effective than just using force.

Now it seems that it was right not to fight right away. The right hand of the Black Crown alone has two Grandmasters at LV.10 or above. If the six crowns and all the top warlocks under their command are counted, if they really want to fight right away, they will most likely have to face the siege of more than two dozen spell masters. For them who still have two powerful enemies, the White Mage and Randy, to deal with, this is obviously not a wise choice.

Of course, you can't show too weak, otherwise, with the other party's aristocratic style, you will only end up taking advantage of him endlessly.

This is also the reason why Xin Lailai chopped off the red-haired noblewoman warlock's right hand without hesitation, and deliberately used the secret soul technique to stimulate the other party's emotions, causing the other party to further lose control and actively create a reason for herself to kill her.

From the moment the red-haired lady rushed out, he had already noticed the old sorcerer in black robe who was lurking in the distance, so all his actions just now were to show his attitude to the other party.

If the other party continued to leave the red-haired noblewoman sorcerer alone, he would kill her without hesitation, and use this as an excuse to kill his way through the entire fortress.

Now, since the other party took the initiative to stand up, it was naturally another matter. This meant that his goal of taking the initiative had been successfully achieved. Now that the initiative was in hand, the only thing left was...

"Haha, Lord Black Sword, you are joking. What happened just now was just a joke caused by a child's ignorance. As a distinguished guest of Lord Crown, the entire tower will be your most solid ally."

"According to the rules of our tower, if you need anything, just tell an old man like me to talk to these young people."

On the platform, the hunched old man in a black robe laughed and spoke in an old and hoarse voice, his wrinkled eyelids narrowed into a slit.

"Oh, really? What if I say... I'm interested in this fortress?"

Upon hearing this, Xin Lailai lowered her eyelids a little more and looked into the eyes of the old man in black robe, whose eyes were narrowed into slits. She spoke in a voice that was neither hurried nor slow, and a dark pressure was rising from her body, causing the surrounding air and the platform under her feet to tremble slightly.

"If this can calm your anger, then of course it's fine."

The old man in black robe looked at this scene, his eyes hidden under his eyelids were slightly moved, then he laughed and said in his old and hoarse voice, then tapped his cane under Xin Lailai's gaze.

Wow!

The next second, a circle of black ripples spread out from behind him, and then a figure shrouded in a black robe emerged, half-kneeling on one knee behind the old man in black robe, waiting for his orders.

"Go to the core of the fortress and tell the person in charge there to hand over the highest authority of this fortress to this Lord Black Sword. Remember to bring the key with you."

The old man in black robe spoke, then looked down at the red-haired lady beside him, who had stopped bleeding from her wound but still couldn't make any sound and could only look at the others in horror, and said:

"As for Seraph... well, although she is a member of the Crimson Crown, she made a mistake after all. If I use her head to make amends to Lord Black Sword, I'm sure the Crimson Crown won't say much. After all, her husband and son died heroically. It would be torture for her to live alone in this world. Let's just let her be free."

"As ordered."

The cold response fell, and the red-haired noblewoman who was sitting on the side heard the words of the black-robed old man. Her eyes widened and she began to struggle desperately, but she could not move away from the spot. She could only kneel down and hug the black-robed old man's thigh, shaking her head silently with a look of fear on her face, and then...

Wow——! !

A dark cold light flashed by, and the black-robed figure behind the black-robed old man passed by the red-haired lady like a ghost. The red-haired lady's movements suddenly froze there, and the terrified expression on her face froze there. Finally, the whole head slipped silently from her neck, and was steadily caught by the black-robed figure in a delicate gift box, which was respectfully handed to the black-robed old man in front of him.

"Yes, Not Bad."

The old man in black robe looked at this scene, stroked his beard, nodded slightly, took the gift box containing the red-haired lady's head with one hand, and did not rush to hand it to Xin Lailai, but waited patiently.

"My lord, I'm fine now."

A few minutes later, the black-robed figure who had disappeared reappeared beside the black-robed old man, raised a fist-sized square dark brown crystal above his head, and handed it to the black-robed old man.

"Yeah, that's good, let's go back."

"As ordered."

As soon as the words fell, the black-robed figure disappeared again in the ground that was rippling with black waves like the surface of water, and the black-robed old man held the dark brown crystal and placed it in the gift box, then handed the gift box in his hand to Xin Lailai in front of him, and said with a smile in his old voice:

"How is it? Lord Black Sword, are you satisfied with this?"

"You are joking, Lord Set. If the Tower is so sincere, then the incident just now must be just a small misunderstanding."

Xin Lailai looked at this scene, and a smile appeared on her resolute face that gave people a strong sense of oppression. The pressure on her body suddenly dissipated. She took the gift box in front of her with a smile and held the dark brown crystal in her hand.

[Reminder (Tree of the Void): The Pioneer has obtained the "Key to the Nott Fortress" and the current identity has been changed to "Manager of the Nott Fortress"]

[Prompt (Void Tree): It is detected that the pioneer has become the "Manager of Nott Fortress (Medium Fortress)", and the current initial camp has been automatically changed to "Tower of Order"]

……

(End of this chapter)