Chapter 536: Tunnel Staff

“Da Dou snatched the big guy?!” Tripleblade paled in shock.

"This can't stand. We must get the big guy back! Even if the opponent is a gold level." Tripleblade hesitated not a moment.

The big guy was too crucial!

Tripleblade could see the big guy possessed at least saint level potential!

What organization would abandon a saint talent? Not even the mightiest force, the Sheng Ming Empire, would do such a thing.

Da Dou's actions were essentially poaching the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps' future pillar. This was absolutely intolerable!

Tripleblade immediately ordered Chi Lai, Men Shi, and others to assemble elite forces to intercept Da Dou.

Simultaneously, he mobilized the alchemy puppets aboard the fleet, determined to thwart Da Dou at all costs.

But the next words from the reporting mercenary plunged Tripleblade into an icy abyss.

"What?! Da Dou vanished right where he stood?!” Tripleblade demanded, eyes wide.

The mercenary nodded, his expression filled with terror.

“Damn it!” Tripleblade cursed, spinning on his heel and racing toward the observation chamber.

Upon entering, he sought aid from Snow Bird Harbor City Lord.

Snow Bird Harbor City Lord agreed to intervene, declaring that Da Dou's actions violated the harbor's order and that as its ruler, he could not stand idly by.

Seated nearby, the Sea Bird Bishop also volunteered his assistance. He declared: It is precisely the presence of the big guy that has added luster to this rare culinary showdown. He held a genuine fondness for this simple giant!

Tripleblade understood perfectly: "The big guy's unexpected involvement in this culinary duel exposed much of his potential. Both Snow Bird Harbor City Lord and the Sea Bird Bishop showed interest, but Da Dou was the most direct, he simply snatched the big guy away!

Though Da Dou vanished instantly, that didn't mean he left no trace.

Snow Bird Harbor City Lord immediately led Tripleblade and the others back to the docks, entering the mage tower.

The magician tower maintained constant surveillance, naturally capturing magic footage of Da Dou's intervention and the big guy's abduction.

Tripleblade and the others witnessed the entire sequence.

The mercenaries escorting the big guy moved slowly. Suddenly, a spatial ripple appeared, and Da Dou materialized, scattering a handful of pepper.

The pepper landed on the mercenaries, igniting instantly and burning fiercely.

The mercenaries, struggling to save themselves, descended into chaos.

Da Dou struck again, instantly knocking the big guy unconscious. He captured him and teleported away once more.

Tripleblade and the others were filled with shock and rage.

Da Dou's actions were remarkably efficient. With just two moves, he had snatched the big guy away.

The magician reported with a troubled expression: Everything happened too quickly. Only 48.3% of the spatial fluctuations from Da Dou's teleportation were recorded by the mage tower.

At this level, it was nearly impossible to deduce Dà Dōu's destination through spatial fluctuations alone.

Tripleblade's heart sank to the depths.

The magician asked him: “If you provided more detailed information about the big guy, perhaps we could use it to track his location.”

This made Tripleblade hesitant.

The big guy's origins and bloodline were secrets. Exposing them would endanger all the survivors.

But without providing it, how could he find the big guy?

Tripleblade suspected the magician's words might be a ploy, merely an attempt to pry more information about the big guy from him.

This made Tripleblade even more flustered.

He understood clearly: under the current circumstances, most believed the big guy possessed a gold level bloodline. Da Dou harbored doubts. Yet if the big guy's bloodline secret were exposed, everyone would know he was destined for at least the saint level. Even if Snow Bird Harbor City Lord found the big guy, he'd never return him to the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps.

As Tripleblade hesitated, the mage tower suddenly emitted a shrill alarm.

The mage tower detected a massive, high-energy object approaching Snow Bird Harbor. Moreover, this object was rapidly descending, targeting the harbor's docks.

Just as the mage tower prepared to engage, it received a communication from Shuang Lian.

Realizing the situation, Snow Bird Harbor City Lord finally calmed down and immediately expressed his welcome for Shuang Lian's arrival.

Everyone exited the tower to greet her.

Soon, the Honey Snow Tower revealed itself before their eyes.

Boom…

Honey Snow Tower finally landed on the docks, mere hundreds of meters from the dock's mage tower.

Honey Snow Tower stood five stories tall. Compared to it, the dock's mage tower suddenly seemed much smaller, like a little brother.

Bu Quan was the first to emerge from the Honey Snow Tower.

Tripleblade had long been privy to intelligence regarding Bu Quan and knew full well that Bu Quan's mentor was none other than Shuang Lian.

Seeing Bu Quan return, and hearing that he had persuaded his teacher to aid the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps, Tripleblade was both astonished and overjoyed.

Unexpectedly powerful reinforcements!

Tripleblade paid a visit to Shuang Lian, earnestly requesting her assistance in helping the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps recover the big guy.

Without any hesitation, Shuang Lian immediately mobilized the search capabilities of the Honey Snow Tower and requested the spatial fluctuation records from the dock's mage tower.

Honey Snow Tower's capabilities were clearly far superior to those of the dock's mage tower.

What the dock's mage tower could not accomplish, under Shuang Lian's direction, yielded a clear response: “The spatial fluctuation records are incomplete. It will take three days to calculate the answer.”

“Da Dou was able to teleport using a Tunnel Staff.”

“This teleportation artifact was mass-produced during the demon war a thousand years ago.”

"It's a consumable item, usable only three times and non-rechargeable. Thanks to it, the allied races' forces could deploy troops faster back then, barely holding off the demons' assaults from all fronts."

“After the war ended, this teleportation device became a banned item, prohibited from production.”

"The Tunnel Staff not only employs spatial teleportation technology but also possesses the ability to monitor and harness earth veins. It is precisely by tapping into these veins that the user's energy expenditure is drastically reduced, allowing for far more precise destination targeting."

"From this, we can infer that even if Da Dou continues using the staff, assuming he has no second one, he can only teleport a maximum of three times. I believe the likelihood of him possessing two Tunnel Staffs is quite low."

“He snatched your people, committing a crime in plain sight. This means he has directly forfeited his participation in the upcoming national ceremony.”

"He'll likely head far from Ice Sculpture Island and probably won't teleport deep inland."

"With the Tunnel Staff, the greater the geomantic enhancement, the farther the teleportation distance. Considering this, Da Dou will likely teleport to larger islands."

"Later, I'll retrieve the specific usage data for the Tunnel Staff from the guild. With that data and nautical charts, we can calculate his departure range and potential escape routes."

Shuang Lian spoke with confident eloquence.

Her words left Tripleblade both thrilled and moved.

Thrilled because, compared to the magician earlier, Shuang Lian was so professional!

She'd applied her knowledge to pinpoint clues in such a short time!!

He was moved because Shuang Lian had offered her help voluntarily, truly a godsend.

Tripleblade's gratitude continued to swell.

Next, Shuang Lian mentioned she'd heard the deputy commander, Shi Qi, was injured and unconscious. She could try to see if she could be of assistance.

Overwhelmed with emotion, Tripleblade dared not suggest Shuang Lian attempt treatment.

Though he was confident in his Deceptive Disguise and Anti-investigation and Prophecy spell, it was better to avoid trouble. After all, the current “Shi Qi” was merely an alchemy puppet.

Tripleblade protested, "Shi Qi's injuries aren't severe. He possesses unique healing battle skills. This minor wound is nothing to him."

“Really?” Shuang Lian stared at him in disbelief. "Are you certain? You must understand, the one who attacked Shi Qi wasn't merely a silver level assassin. It was a gold level assassin!"

Tripleblade flinched before replying that he had suspected as much. But “Shi Qi” truly was unharmed.

The mention of a gold level assassin sent shockwaves through Snow Bird Harbor City's leadership.

Shuang Lian turned to him, her face icy, her voice laced with fury: “This gold level assassin also attempted to attack my beloved disciple! But now, I have captured him!”

Snow Bird Harbor City Lord was stunned, then immediately declared in a rage that he would pursue this matter to the very end!

This stance earned a slight nod from Shuang Lian.

Her mention of the gold level assassin was precisely to leverage the official authority of Snow Bird Harbor City to deal with the enemy.

If the enemy had only targeted the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps, Shuang Lian wouldn't have been so enraged.

But the gold level assassin Yi Jiu had attacked Bu Quan, this had crossed Shuang Lian's line.

Shuang Lian would retaliate.

But as a magician, her vengeance would be strategic. Her first move was to mobilize every available resource to aid her revenge.

Moreover, Snow Bird Harbor City Lord's own position was reason enough for him to act.

Shuang Lian then dispatched her students to repair the destroyed alchemy workshop.

All of this, naturally, was Bu Quan's suggestion.

“Moving forward, I will continue overseeing the alchemy within the city,” Bu Quan stated her intentions.

Tripleblade exclaimed, “Miss Bu Quan, you've truly been a tremendous help this time!”

Snow Bird Harbor City Lord stood nearby, inwardly stunned.

What astonished him most was Shuang Lian's attitude.

After all, she was a powerful elder of the Alchemy Guild, possessing formidable strength and the support of the Honey Snow Tower. What price had the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps paid to secure such an existence's assistance?

Even Snow Bird Harbor City Lord sensed that Shuang Lian's assistance had been somewhat overly enthusiastic.

“I shall remain here for the foreseeable future,” Shuang Lian declared to Snow Bird Harbor City Lord before parting.

“I will not rest until I uncover the enemy who targeted my apprentice!”

Snow Bird Harbor City Lord hastened to respond, “I too shall dedicate myself fully to this matter.”

He then volunteered to divert energy channels from beneath Snow Bird Harbor to support the Honey Snow Tower.

“Thanks,” Shuang Lian replied. “I've already tapped 80% of the energy channels.”

Snow Bird Harbor City Lord turned to face his mage tower's tower master.

The tower master spread his hands in a wry smile, having just been about to sneak off to report.

Honey Snow Tower was too overbearing. Upon landing, it had immediately struck, severing the underground energy channels. The dock's mage tower simply couldn't compete!

“Cang Xu, your divine spells are truly formidable when used for proselytizing!”

In a makeshift hut along the White Hair Trench, Xiao Wang Zi gave Cang Xu a thumbs-up.

At that moment, a slender soul chain linked Cang Xu and Xiao Wang Zi together.