Ark Undead

The king's orders all involved interfering in the internal affairs of other countries. Although his words were said to be for the sake of the infected's future, infected mercenaries like Hedley did not agree.

Chaos will only lead to more chaos. Besides, Hadley himself doesn't consider himself a decent person; the number of people he killed and the number of heads he chopped off in his early years could probably fill a room.

But even he felt that the king's ideas and actions could hardly be called the right way.

If the other adult is still alive...

Hedley sat in the makeshift, dilapidated old house, picked up a pot of water he had boiled the day before, poured himself a glass, and drank it all in one gulp.

Unlike his other companion, Hadley knew in his heart who he would side with or fight for.

He was a traditional Sarkaz mercenary, whose only goal was to survive.

Even so, he could not ignore the queen's ideology and her attitude toward all infected people.

Compared to the current regent, the difference between the two is even more apparent.

Hadley was a servant of Theresis, and he swore allegiance to Theresis, becoming his sword.

However, swords can also turn against their owners, especially when the owner no longer cares about the swords in their hands; in such cases, they should think about their own escape route.

Just then, there was a soft knock on Hadley's door. A sound so quiet that even the neighbors wouldn't hear it if it were on the street.

The faint sound was clearly audible in the quiet room.

Hedley picked up the longsword leaning against the table, stood up from his chair, and slowly walked to the door.

I heard two more soft knocks on the door, followed by three seconds of silence, and then four more knocks.

Hedley gripped the doorknob, opened the door a crack, and peered out.

"it's me."

The person outside the door was wearing a black cloak, which concealed his true figure.

But her voice and tone made Hadley recognize her immediately.

"Ines".

So Hedley widened the crack in the door, letting the dark figure walk into the room from the dimly lit street.

Hedley cautiously peeked out again and glanced at the street. Making sure no one was watching them, and without even realizing they were being watched, he closed the door.

Just as he closed the door and turned around, Hadley saw the woman lift the hood that was lying on her head.

"How did you get in?"

Hadley hadn't seen his friend in a long time. His tone was calm, but a hint of surprise could be seen in his expression.

Ines immediately turned off the lights in Hadley's room after entering, then breathed a sigh of relief and asked in a low voice.

Is there any water?

"Yes, wait a moment."

Hedley went to the cupboard, found another dusty cup, wiped it with a relatively clean cloth, and poured her a glass of cool boiled water from the kettle.

After drinking the glass of water, Ines finally caught her breath, closed her eyes to feel the moisture in her throat, and then slowly opened her eyes.

"The capital is under martial law, and there are so many patrols outside. Did you sneak in during the troop rotation?"

Hedley glanced at the windows and curtains, then turned back to continue his question.

Ines shook her head and said.

"W gave me a map of the city's defenses, and I slipped in through a gap. I don't think anyone followed me."

"Okay, as long as it's safe."

Hedley wasn't simply trying to confirm Ines's route, but rather to determine whether it would affect him.

This was not selfishness, nor did he intend to betray his companions.

Ines knew perfectly well that her coming to see Hadley now was also a way of dragging Hadley into the mess.

If discovered, Hedley will have to hand her over.

Because Hadley was the least safe stop on their trip.

"What did W tell you? Didn't she go out on a mission?"

Hedley had seen W in the days following his return to Kazdel.

At that time, W, guided by the pardoner, traveled to the capital to meet the regent.

Their eyes met briefly, and they exchanged a greeting with their eyes. After that, Hedley never had another chance to meet with W.

It wasn't until a few weeks ago, when Hedley stepped on an unusual bump under the rug by his front door, that he discovered a letter hidden underneath.

It was left by W.

After meeting with the Regent, Therese did not make things difficult for W. On the contrary, he seemed quite understanding of W's failure, believing that it was already very difficult for her to get away unscathed.

This was roughly in line with W's expectations, after all, she was the only one who had survived wounds inflicted by the Undead. Given this, Theresis couldn't possibly just smash such a useful tool.

However, Theresis immediately sent W out on a mission.

W did not explicitly state his mission objective, only saying that he would send a friend to find Hedley in a while.

W's stay in the capital was short; she didn't have enough time to gather information about Kazdel and the Regent's current activities. She needed more intelligence about the capital.

Sure enough, after some time, Ines, who was originally part of the trio but now works at Rhodes Island under a false identity, came to Kazdel and found Hadley.

"W passed by Rhodes Island and left a mark for me, asking me to go out and talk to her."

"Ines said."

"She gave me a map of the royal city's defenses and told me your current location. Then she left Rhodes Island, saying she was going to Great Yan."

"Da Yan?"

Hedley frowned immediately upon hearing the name of the country.

"As far as I know, Regent Therese has no plans to target the Great Yan in the near future; he's still keeping his hands on Victoria's side. And what he's doing is preparing to take action against Kazimierz."

There was one more thing Hedley didn't say.

The Great Yan is the most mysterious kingdom on the entire continent of Terra. Theresis would never attempt to cause trouble within Great Yan's territory without any preparation. If her actions are exposed, Great Yan's wrath would be no less than that of Ursus.

Ines shook her head and said.

"Ursus has taken a conservative approach to the Chernobog issue. They even abandoned the defense of Chernobog outright. Afterwards, they simply issued a brief reprimand and then turned around to suppress the infected within. Now Ursus has no energy to deal with Theresis, and the same goes for Great Flame."

“W told me that internal strife was imminent in the Great Yan, and she was ordered to go to the Great Yan to add fuel to the fire. This fire doesn’t need to actually burn; as long as the seed is planted, it will erupt on its own at the right time. This is also the task that Theresis gave her.”

Ines added.

"Furthermore, Theresa also has some people within the Great Yan, who seem to have been developed through some special means...believers? In short, these people have already betrayed the ancestral faith of the Great Yan itself. If the Great Yan can be crippled as a result, even if it takes several years to recover, it will provide Theresa with a guarantee to carry out his plan."

The Great Yan is not simple. A spokesperson for Theresis has repeatedly expressed concerns about the Great Yan at meetings.

It seems that Theresis's goal is to emulate the ancient Kazdel kings, sweep across Terra, and unify all forces.

But Hadley couldn't see the source of Therese's confidence; he didn't understand why Therese was so confident in doing such a thing.

Putting aside other factors, just consider Ursus and Great Flame; these two behemoths would never sit idly by and watch Kazdel expand outwards.

It's important to know that Kazdel is located in the south-central part of Ursus and Great Yan.

But as Therese thought, even if the Reunion Movement didn't actually succeed.

However, after the turmoil of the Reunion Movement, Ursus did not show its tough stance as before.

Hedley couldn't understand why Ursus was unusually calm.

Now, Theresis has set her sights on the Great Yan.

The task that W is to perform may once again force the Great Yan to focus its attention solely on its own inner workings.

With the two behemoths confined to their own territories, Kazdel could then focus its attention on the west.

No wonder Theresis wanted Hedley to focus on the management and integration of mercenaries. These brave and skilled mercenaries might not be good at large-scale national wars, but they are first-rate experts at waging wars of attrition and small-scale battles under the noses of others.

"Actually...it's more than that."

Ines hesitated slightly, but still spoke.

"Do you remember when I told you that there seemed to be two consciousnesses inside Talulah's body?"

"I remember."

Hedley certainly remembered that when Ines was nearly killed, it was Talulah who took action and sent someone to intercept and kill Ines.

"W witnessed most of it during Rhodes Island's frontal assault on the core city."

Ines said.

"She said she suspected that Therese had become involved with some unclean things, like Talulah."

"Something unclean?"

Hedley did not understand what unclean things were.

"Something supernatural or ghostly? Is it some kind of ghost possession?"

"No..."

Ines didn't know how to explain it to Hadley.

She didn't believe it at first, but during the battle to rescue the Doctor at Rhodes Island, she witnessed firsthand the undead's lightning spears piercing the sky. She also saw Ace and his group's description of the hunt for Talulah in the combat logs in Rhodes Island's archives.

Those things that Rhodes Island's elite operators called demons, and the undead called the abyss, had a profound impact on Ines's heart.

For the first time, she believed that things like gods and ghosts might really exist in this world.

"In short, what Theresis is going to do is definitely not wishful thinking."

Ines concluded.

"What W needs you to do now is to keep a close eye on where Theresis is going to go. Keep in touch regularly, and don't go about your own business like before, only talking to each other once every few months."

Ines took a device out of her body and handed it to Hadley.

"This is a special communicator made by Rhodes Island. It can open a communication channel at regular intervals, bypassing the communication network you are in. It uses Rhodes Island as a central base point to connect two special channels."

“W has one, I have one, this is for you. The channel will be open for five minutes every Sunday night starting at midnight. It can transfer a small number of files and pictures, and it can also facilitate stable communication.”

Hedley was also aware of this.