Mercenary Wars

Chapter 56 Abandoned Dungeon
"He's a second-level priest," said the drastic medicine expert. "Although he wasn't trained by the church, he can indeed use the corresponding spells, such as punishment, power word, healing... I think we still need a priest."

Gao Jianuo thought for a moment and asked, "Does he use the poison lamp leaf himself?"

The drastic medicine expert nodded.

After a brief silence, she added, "If you're worried, you can go for another divination."

Gao Jianuo sighed inwardly. Amaro had already died because of him, so how could he dare to go to the fortune teller again? He couldn't use up a fortune teller for every divination.

Thinking of Amaro's last divination result, he made a decision: "I will join the team. When will we set off?"

"Tomorrow afternoon."

The next day at noon, Gao Jianuo came to the black market again. Led by the strong medicine expert, he came to a corner, met his other four teammates, and introduced themselves to each other.

The four are the third-level fighter "Grocer", the third-level thief "Cave Seeker", the second-level mage "Forbidden Books Merchant", and the second-level priest "Orange Merchant".

Plus two hunter-pharmacists, Gao Jianuo himself and an expert in strong medicine.

The six-member black market team was formed.

Gao Jianuo focused his observation on the mage and the priest.

The wizard used a disguise to appear as a white-haired old man, but judging from his words and actions, his age was no more than thirty years old, perhaps even around the same age as Gao Jianuo.

The Orange Merchant seems to show his true appearance: a blond, round-faced fat man wearing a fake priest robe. His complexion is not too good, and his dark circles are very heavy, which fits people's stereotype of the Orange Merchant.

"Would you like an orange?" He took out a few oranges and tried to share them with everyone.

Everyone shook their heads.

The banned bookseller couldn't help but ask, "Are you really a second-level priest?"

Without saying a word, the Orange Merchant immediately emitted a ball of genuine holy light from his hand, dispelling the doubts of several people including Gao Jianuo.

After carefully examining the Holy Light, the Forbidden Bookseller asked, "Excuse me, where did you learn the Holy Light spell?"

The cave-seeker interrupted, "Are you a pastor who was expelled from the church?"

"Of course not." The Orange Merchant shook his head and explained, "My second Holy Name Blessing is 'Treasure'. The Saint told me about a treasure that was easy to obtain. I found a copy of 'Notes of Light' in the treasure, and then I learned Holy Light spells."

Strong Medicine Expert: "I heard that many 'treasure' blessings come with a prophecy..."

"Yes, that's right," said the Orange Merchant. "The prophecy I received is 'You will receive sincere gratitude in the process of finding the treasure.' Sounds good, right?"

"indeed."

The orange merchant continued, "That's why I never refuse an invitation to look for treasure. In our business, 'sincere gratitude' is so rare!"

After some conversation, everyone became a little more familiar with each other.

At this time, the Forbidden Books Merchant took out a scroll and spread it on the ground: "This is the 'Scroll of Oath'. Before starting this exploration, I think we'd better make an oath."

Gao Jianuo: "Does this require blood?"

The Forbidden Books Merchant shook his head. "I don't have that kind of advanced stuff. This 'Scroll of Oath' is only of a lower quality. It doesn't even have the necessary binding force, but it's better than nothing."

Everyone naturally agreed, and immediately put their hands on the scroll, reciting the same oath: "I swear by the God I believe in that we will help each other and never hurt each other until we return to the ground safely." As soon as the words fell, a ball of flame suddenly rose in the middle of the oath scroll, like burning wool, burning the scroll in an instant, and then disappeared with the wind.

The cave-seeker asked, "Will our vows reach the ears of the gods?"

The Forbidden Bookseller: "If it's a 'Sacred Oath Scroll,' God will definitely hear it and take it seriously. But a 'Lesser Oath Scroll'... that depends on God's mood. However, I believe that everyone is rational. Even if there's only a one percent chance that a vow will receive God's attention, no one should easily abandon it."

The orange merchant nodded: "That's right."

"Then let's go." As a soldier, the grocer took on the role of captain without hesitation.

The group set off immediately and, following the cave seeker's instructions, arrived at an inconspicuous, dark corner of the black market.

This place is located at the very edge of the underground black market, surrounded by exposed rock walls. There are some bad-smelling stagnant water and rat corpses in the potholes on the ground.

"Where is the entrance?" the grocer couldn't help but ask.

The cave explorer pointed upwards and said, "Look at that stone dripping with water."

The orange merchant raised his hand, and the holy light came on. Everyone could see clearly that there was a faint gap in the rock wall a few meters above the ground. Drops of water slowly dripped from a protruding stone and fell into the potholes on the ground.

"How did you find this place? Do you have dark vision?" asked the banned bookseller.

The cave seeker said proudly, "I can sense the structure of the soil and rocks. Once I drank too much and vomited here. When I put my hand on the rock wall, I immediately felt there was a cave behind it. Then I looked around and found the entrance."

Strong Medicine Expert: "So this smell is your vomit?"

Cave explorer: "Well, that's not the way to say it. It stinks here anyway."

At this moment, the grocer took a few steps back, then took a running leap and jumped directly onto the dripping water.

He adjusted his posture, squeezed into the gap in the rock wall, and then turned and said, "Can you get up by yourselves?"

The fat orange seller obviously knew he couldn't do it: "Throw down a rope, man!"

The grocer threw down a rope, and everyone used the rope to reach the gap in the rock wall, and then crawled forward in the narrow gap for a while.

"We're here." The Orange Merchant shone his holy light, and everyone saw a wide cave space in front of them.

The group descended into the cave, moving forward cautiously until a bust blocked their path.

The bust is of a majestic old man sculpted from Patrick marble. He is wearing a robe and a crown, and is obviously of high status.

"Pope Dato I." The banned bookseller looked at the bust with a hint of disgust on his face. "One of the most brutal popes in history. He burned thousands of people simply for his disrespectful remarks."

"I think I've guessed what this place is." The drastic medicine expert observed for a moment. "This should be the dungeon of the Inquisition. After Pope Fanfrost VII became Pope, he abandoned and sealed off almost all the dungeons. This must be one of them."

Grocer: "Cave Hunter, how much of the area did you explore the last time you came here alone?"

"Most of the area," the cave explorer said. "I felt that there was still space behind some of the rock walls, so I kept looking for other cave entrances until—"

His words were interrupted by several strange noises: "Quack...Quack..."

(End of this chapter)