Chapter 1 ps. Check Back in Twenty Minutes

The Reis longhouse hunting party wasn't large, so their progress was slow.

It took them ten days to reach the Dawn City Central Prison.

From a distance, it was a peculiar five-pointed star-shaped building, partially collapsed. In terms of shape, it resembled a giant pentagram formation.

"Commander, a cursed space has been discovered at the ruins over there, with a very large coverage area. Assessment: S+. Energy fluctuation: S+. Spatial stability..."

"Judging from the architecture, it should be a prison. Preliminary determination: a large complex cursed space. Requesting high-level professionals to assist in the investigation..."

"Investigation complete, the spatial entrance is temporarily inaccessible. Special activation conditions are required..."

"..."

Due to the intense battles in recent days, the original team of four to five hundred people had been reduced by more than half, leaving only fifty or sixty wounded soldiers. The vanguard of the Cross Society was almost completely annihilated, and the elite troops brought by Reina also suffered heavy losses. Of the dozen or so second-tier professionals in the team, only six remained.

Even several members of the supervisory team who never participated in the battles had died one after another, and the inner city military had sent new ones to replenish them.

No one could evacuate without completing the mission.

Looking at the spatial vortex seething with black mist above the prison ruins in the distance, everyone's face was filled with despair.

They had never seen such a large spatial entrance before.

The only good news was that within a certain range of a cursed space, there were usually no mutated monsters or Abyss creatures.

Before long,

an old man in rune light armor led the exploration team back.

The old man was naturally Anthony, the butler and the only third-tier professional in the team.

Due to the lack of manpower, second and third-tier professionals had to personally lead teams to explore dangerous routes to reduce casualties.

Anthony discussed the findings of the investigation with the supervisory team,

and those guys routinely reported the information to their superiors using military communication devices.

The team set up camp on the spot.

.......

Because the number of survivors was small, the team members chose a sturdy building that was easy to defend, and built a circular camp with mechanical arm equipment and armor.

Now, upon hearing the order to set up camp, everyone began to take out their marching tents from their backpacks and set them up.

Anthony found Reina, who was setting up her own tent.

Her personal maid had also died in the battle three days ago, and this young lady was now doing everything herself without asking for anyone's service.

Anthony reported in a heavy tone, "Miss, the cursed space entrance is temporarily inaccessible. It should be a space that requires special trigger conditions to enter. Marjorie's team is trying to crack it..."

"I know."

Reina listened, her expression very calm. The work of setting up the tent in her hands did not stop because of hearing this news.

Anthony looked at the change in his young lady, and a trace of relief flashed in his eyes, but then he expressed his concerns, "Miss... the preliminary determination is a 'T-grade' space. This time, I'm afraid we won't be able to get through it."

"Mm."

Hearing this, Reina paused for a moment.

But seeming to have been mentally prepared, her tone was firm and indifferent, and she said, "If it's really T-grade, there's no point in probing in batches. After finding the method of entry, I will personally participate in this exploration."

Anthony gave her a complicated look. "Yes, Miss."

They were both very clear that

no one could disobey or escape the Duke's command.

If they didn't continue to explore, they would definitely not survive even if they escaped, and they would definitely implicate the entire family in Old Lundon.

Reina had been mentally prepared for total annihilation from the moment she set out.

This moment would come sooner or later.

Reina did not forget to comfort the loyal old butler, "Grandpa Anthony, the situation may not be so bad."

"Sigh..."

Anthony sighed slightly, said nothing more, and turned to leave.

At this time, Reina thought of something and looked sideways at Mr. Zoro, who was setting up a tent in the corner and had always been very aloof.

Thinking about it, she walked over and greeted him, "Mr. Zoro."

"Zoro" responded, "What's the matter, Miss Reina?"

The full-face gas mask on his face was very rough and had mechanical modifications, so his appearance could not be seen clearly. His voice also sounded very hoarse through the filter canister.

"Thank you for taking care of me along the way."

Reina bowed to Zoro. She was very clear that Zoro had taken great care of her along the way.

Otherwise, she would have been severely injured, if not killed, in the battle against the third-tier Three-Headed Human-bodied Python a few days ago. At that time, Butler Anthony was restrained by the monster, and her personal guards were all killed in battle. If it weren't for this Mr. Zoro, she would have been burned to death by the corrosive poison gas sprayed by the monster.

Sure enough, Auntie said he was very powerful, and he really was very powerful.

After bowing, Reina continued, "Mr. Zoro, what I want to tell you is that after the cursed space is investigated and the method of entry is found, I will lead everyone inside. You are not a contracted member of our family, so there is no need to go with us..."

"No, you don't have to be so polite."

Zoro shook his head, his tone not as heavy as Reina's. "After all, Qian Tiao asked me to take good care of you."

"You have already done enough. Thank you very much."

Reina thanked him sincerely again and stated the truth, "But you don't have to die with me."

Zoro shook his head upon hearing this, seemingly smiling. "No, what I want to say is... even if I wanted to leave, I wouldn't be able to."

After a pause, he said meaningfully, "Besides, I don't plan on leaving."

"???"

Reina looked puzzled upon hearing this.

She was just about to say something more when a hurried report came from the communicator.

"Miss, a large group of people on our left is rapidly approaching us... Judging by the flags, they are from the Clark family!"

"Miss, a group of people has also arrived on our right. They are from the Oliver family!"

As soon as this was said, the entire camp became tense.

.......

The Dawn Ruins were already very large, but dozens of teams were exploring at the same time. In reality, the distance between each team was not far.

Reina's team drew number sixteen, Oliver's family was number fifteen, and Clark's family was number seventeen.

Although the fog and ruins obscured the figures, the gunshots and combat could be used to distinguish that the teams were not far apart. Just like dividing a cake, the closer to the core area, the closer the distance between the teams.

In fact, Reina and her team had noticed the movements of the left and right teams several days ago.

Those families recruited enough manpower, and they could divide into several waves of people to explore, so their progress was very fast.

The hunting team was in the front, and the young masters' main team was in the back.

Just a few minutes ago, in the Oliver family's team a few kilometers away from Reina's team,

Young Master Danze was leisurely enjoying his afternoon coffee in his tent.

Compared to the fierce battles on the front line, although they had also suffered some small-scale monster attacks here, they were insignificant.

After all, there was also the vice president of the Hunter Guild, the renowned third-tier professional, "Wind Thunder Sword King" Nero Redgrave.

Since being ambushed by Soren last time, Danze had never dared to stray too far from this third-tier professional.

He and this bearded swordsman were drinking coffee and playing chess on a black and white checkered board while chatting.

"Mr. Nero, what do you think of the strength of that SS-ranked wanted criminal Soren?"

"Hard to say..."

"Hard to say?"

"I specially observed the previous ambush. Soren's true strength was only at the level of an ordinary second-tier. But his Eight-Armed Spider Spear has excellent mobility in the ruins. Even for me, it wouldn't be easy to catch him..."

"He's just good at running."

"It's not that simple. Now that it's confirmed that that guy is related to that reactionary organization, he can't be underestimated. Besides, haven't you noticed that that guy hasn't shown his second-tier advancement ability yet?"

"The advanced choices for puppeteers are nothing more than a few types. That guy isn't very old, but his puppet control skills are so skilled. His professional ability is probably advanced in the direction of 'puppet control skills'. After all, as you know, puppet control requires a lot of time and energy to practice..."

"Well, that makes sense."

"In my opinion, that SS-ranked wanted criminal Soren just relies on the scythe of the sealed object in his hand to be fierce. That guy is really lucky. He actually mastered a secret living corpse refining technique that can avoid the curse backlash of the sealed object. However, now that I have completely stabilized my second-tier realm and mastered this Steinitz's Chessboard, if Soren comes again, I can guarantee that he will not return."

"Although I think Young Master Danze you should be careful, but you have this cursed object, and with the Puppet Theater, you really have no reason to lose when facing a second-tier professional..."

Danze smiled smugly upon hearing this.

The two were chatting when, coincidentally, a subordinate came to report.

"Young Master, the Black Tower has issued an order, asking us to send someone to help the Reis longhouse team open up a large cursed space..."

The two looked at each other with different expressions upon hearing this.

Danze turned his face, "Mr. Nero, are you interested in taking a look?"

"Of course."

Nero squinted his eyes and said, "Since the Reis longhouse has been offended, they must be cut down to the root. Now that the Black Tower has acquiesced to your actions, that Miss Reina and Old Anthony must not be allowed to leave the ruins alive. Otherwise, there won't be such a good opportunity next time. Carnegie Reis is very strong-willed. He survived the last split. If this time still can't completely defeat him, a sick tiger is still a big trouble..."

Danze smiled, "That's what I think too."

.......

Reina had long known that the Clark family's vanguard team on the left had far exceeded their team in the wilderness and had been closely monitoring them.

Now that these guys suddenly changed their route, their intentions were obviously bad.

Sure enough, a hunting team of hundreds of people walked out of the distant fog not long after.

Looking at the family crest engraved on the equipment, it was actually the Clark family's elite team.

The young man leading the Clark family, wearing a brand new hunting suit, was naturally the eldest son, Eli Clark.

Looking at Reina's dozens of remaining soldiers, this eldest son's tone was full of teasing: "Yo, Miss Reina, it looks like you are not in a good situation?"

The visitors clearly had bad intentions. Butler Anthony had long been protecting Reina. He looked at the three personal bodyguards beside Eli and his pupils shrank slightly. He said, "Miss, be careful. Those are the Ice, Lightning, and Earth Elders of the Old Lundon Occult Association. They are very powerful elemental warlocks and have very strong cursed objects in their hands. Working together, I'm not confident that I can gain an advantage in a short time."

An archer holding a blue longbow, a woman in a robe holding a lightning-patterned staff, and a green-haired punk strongman.

The three of them had an extraordinary aura, and the weapons in their hands were not ordinary.

Reina raised her eyes and glanced at them, then turned her face and looked coldly at the approaching group of people. She responded, "What are you here for?"

Eli led the team swaggeringly over and said lazily, "I received a notice from the Black Tower's high-level that you may not be able to handle this cursed space, so I brought people over to help you take a look."

Originally, there was no need for him to come in person, but now that he heard it was Reina's team, this Young Master Eli naturally came to kick them while they were down.

Reina frowned slightly upon hearing this. She glanced at the three white-helmeted supervisors not far away, as if asking for clarification.

The black-faced supervisor team leader responded faintly, "The above order is only to supervise your exploration. We will not interfere in matters between your families, nor will we care."

After saying that, the three supervisors deliberately distanced themselves, seemingly to show their attitude: you guys fight, don't accidentally injure us.

Having not expected these people to mediate in the first place, Reina let out a stern shout upon hearing this, "Everyone listen to the order, anyone who approaches the camp will be killed without mercy!"

With an order, both sides raised their guns almost simultaneously.

"Click" "Click" the sound of dense gun-loading rang out.

With nearly a tenfold difference in numbers, the Clark family had an absolute advantage.

Young Master Eli didn't seem to be afraid of these guns pointed at him at all and motioned his men to put down their guns.

After all, in this situation, even if the other side fired first, they would not have any chance of winning.

He looked at Reina and continued to provoke, "Yo~ Miss Reina seems to be in a bad mood..."

As if they had agreed, the Clark family had just arrived when the Oliver family's Young Master Danze also led his team out.

Looking at the tense two groups of people, that Young Master Danze gloated and said, "Tsk tsk... did I come at a bad time?"

Beside him was a heavily made-up girl who looked three parts similar to Reina.

It was actually the Reis family's second wife's daughter, Betty Reis, Young Master Danze's fiancee.

This time, she also contributed greatly to the plan to defeat the longhouse.

She looked at Reina and said gloatingly, "Sister Reina, long time no see."

........

The two teams totaled nearly a thousand people, and they were all enemies.

Now, in this situation, it looked like Reina and her team might not be able to enter the cursed space and would be annihilated outside.

Young Master Eli pressed on step by step, saying, "Miss Reina, now... should we talk?"

Reina looked at the enemy who was already within fifty meters, unafraid, and pulled the trigger.

"Bang!"

The gunshot rang out.

The bullet hit the ground at Eli's feet, and white smoke came out.

Reina held up her gun and said calmly, "If you get any closer, the next shot will be in your head."

Probably predicting the trajectory of the bullet, Eli's bodyguards didn't even raise their eyelids.

Although Eli was startled, the mockery on his face was even worse. He looked at the group of guards around Reina and said a thought-provoking sentence, "You don't want to live, don't you think about your subordinates?"

These words were like some kind of code.

Just then, the second-tier captain named Pritz Keith suddenly led more than a dozen subordinates to distance themselves.

Seeing this, Old Butler Anthony shouted, "Pritz, what are you doing!"

That Pritz looked at Reina and said, "Miss Reina, I'm sorry. I've contributed a lot to the Reis family, but I don't want to die here..."

Obviously, these people had been bought off.

Having infiltrated to this point, there was no need to continue.

Whether it was the cursed space in front of them or the predicament here, staying in the Reis longhouse team seemed like certain death.

As they spoke, they guarded themselves with guns and walked out of the constructed camp.

Reina's team originally didn't have many people, and now that there were more than a dozen less, a gap immediately appeared in the camp's defenses.

The most crucial thing was the blow to morale. Although the remaining people's eyes were full of hatred, there was also despair.

Old Butler Anthony wanted to kill the traitors, but there were enemies all around him, and he didn't dare to act rashly.

Reina didn't speak, nor did she change much because the situation had worsened.

The hand holding her gun was still steady and didn't tremble.

At this time, the mockery in Young Master Eli's eyes not far away was even worse. He asked again, "Now, has Miss Reina changed her mind?"

The Reis longhouse's situation had fallen into a desperate situation at this moment.

Reina didn't turn her head to look. She said faintly to the remaining guards around her, "If anyone still wants to leave, I won't blame you."

She was very clear that the other party was here to destroy the Reis longhouse.

Surrender? Besides being humiliated, it would have no effect.

After a pause, she said resolutely, "But if you stay, prepare to fight to the death with me!"

Hearing this, the morale that had been low because of the cadre's rebellion suddenly boiled over.

The guards clustered around Reina, with an expression that they were about to fight to the death.

"Miss, we won't leave!"

"We swear to coexist with the family!"

"Yes! We swear to coexist with the family! We will fight to the end!"

"..."

The crowd was excited. The momentum of dozens of people was like a raging fire, and they managed to contend with the nearly thousand surrounding enemies.

Old Butler Anthony also seemed to have unlocked some secret technique. Suddenly, horns grew on his head, his bones crackled, and his body soared to become a humanoid goat with bulging muscles nearly two meters tall.

Looking at this group of people, the experts of the Oliver and Clark families frowned. Even the third-tier professional "Wind Thunder Sword King" Nero was full of solemnity.

Looking at the old goat whose aura suddenly exploded, he didn't know what he thought of and muttered, "Demon Goat Anthony, the champion of the Old Lundon fighting competition twenty years ago... Tsk tsk, this state is really long-lost."

A third-tier professional fighting desperately was no joke.