his father ’s expression turned cold again.

It made it hard for him to believe that the tired father who had just called him his son, and the current cold, indifferent, and serious commanding officer was actually the same person.

He stood up stiffly.
He felt that he could finally find a place to vent the disdain and resentment, which had yet to completely disappear from him.

”All right, Vice Captain Quill Barney. ” He also returned to using his usual tone.
He cast a glance at his father before he left the night shift break room and closed the door coldly.

*Clack!*

The door of the night shift break room was closed with a bang, and Barney Jr.
snapped out of his reverie.
His mind also became clear again!

He gradually regained his consciousness and felt himself moving.

”Thank the Sunset Goddess, you are getting better.
I thought we were about to lose you. ”

It was Nalgi ’s voice.

There was a touch of faint joy in his voice.
He sounded vague like he was far in the distance.
It did not seem real.

’Lose me?

’Am I still dreaming? ’

Barney Jr.
tried to blink, but he moaned in pain.    

His eyes hurt, and when he opened them, tears flowed out.
His ears were still ringing with a strange buzzing noise.

’What happened? ’

”Nalgi, let go of me… ”

He opened his eyes while he withstood the pain, only to see blurred lights and shadows.
He could vaguely make out a small team of several people who were fumbling about to move about in the light produced by torches.

And he was one of them.
Nalgi supported him as they staggered forward.

”No, I don ’t think you can stand on your own two feet now, Commanding Officer. ” Nalgi sounded a little exhausted, and his footsteps were not very stable.

Barney Jr.
shook his head hard.
Although the ringing in his ears had not been relieved and his eyes were still in pain, his mind became a little clearer.
He saw various vague images of Beldin ’s back, overlapping with each other and swaying as he walked in front.

He remembered something.

’The Prison of Bones, Zakriel, and…

’The Alchemy Ball. ’

”Where are we? Hell ’s River? ” Barney Jr.
accidentally stepped on a stone and staggered.

A somewhat unfamiliar but also familiar teenager ’s voice traveled into his ears from behind.
He sounded like he had no strength left in him.

”Of course not.

”You have to take the boat to go to Hell ’s River… ”

Barney Jr.
frowned and recalled a name from his slowly-recovering memories.

’It ’s him. ’  

Before he could turn his head around, the owner of the voice walked unsteadily towards him.

It was a miserable and pitiful boy with blood as well as dirt all over his body.
He also had a frightening red swell on his cheek.

His left hand was tossed over the shoulder of an impatient young man with red hair, and in his right hand, he held a smooth, shining, silver longsword.
He was limping.

”Is he all right? ”

After listening to the teenager ’s words, Nalgi frowned and turned to Barney Jr..
He reached out and shook him.

”Can you see me clearly, Barney? Barney Jr.? Bunny Barney? How many fingers do you see now? ”

’Damn it.  

’This chatterbox…

’Just wait till I recover… ’

Barney Jr.
kept blinking his eyes, but he still could not blink away the blurry, overlapping images.
However, he did manage to see Nalgi.

”Four. ”

He snorted lightly and sulkily said, ”But…

”Do you mean the fingers on the left or on the right? ”

Nalgi raised his eyebrows and put away the two fingers he put up.
He let out a delighted hum.

He patted Barney Jr.
on the arm and turned to the boy, flashing his teeth cheerfully.

”Nothing ’s wrong with him.
He ’s in very good condition. ”

The boy also raised his eyebrows and turned his head around.

’Very good, my foot. ’

Just then…

”Waaooooh! ”

The person supported by Beldin in front suddenly spoke loudly.
He sounded surprised and happy.

”I think I just heard some sounds! ”

He was so loud that it caused the tunnel to shake.
His voice pierced into their eardrums, shocking all of them.

A rather loud uproar broke out in the tunnel.
Most of them complained in dissatisfaction.
The tunnel was filled with wails of pain for the time being.

”Oh my God, make him shut up… ”

”Knock that bastard unconscious… ”

”Ughhhhh…. ”



”Kill him… ”

However, Tardin, who was supported by Beldin, continued to shout in a loud and excited manner, ”Hey, Nalgi, great poet, hurry up and say something! I think my hearing is recovering! ”

His voice was getting louder.

The entire team swayed left and right for a short period of time, as though they had encountered an earthquake.

Nalgi, who was next to Barney, shuddered violently.

”Damn it, speak softer, Tardin! When you talk, my ears hurt… ”

However, Tardin did not seem to be conscious of the volume of his voice at all.

”What? ”

He looked back with a confused expression, and he opened his mouth wide in an exaggerated manner.

”What did you say? What hurts? Can you speak louder? ”

His voice reverberated through the air, and it was deafening to their ears.

All of them let out wails of pain again.

”Don ’t talk to me! ”

Nalgi covered his ears in pain.
His voice grew louder as well.

”Up until now, everything I ’ve seen has consisted of overlapping images.
When I walk, I still run into walls… ”

Barney Jr.
grew more annoyed as he listened to the rest, but his heart slowly grew at ease as well.

’They ’re all here. ’

”Be quiet. ”

Barney Jr.
found that his sense of balance was recovering, so he slowly gained footing and removed a part of his weight from Nalgi ’s shoulder.

”What happened? ”

Barney Jr.
knew who to ask.
He turned directly to the boy by his side.

”Your Highness, that Alchemy Ball…

”What ’s going on? ”

By his side was Thales Jadestar, whose eyes were as unfocused as his.
The boy was grimacing.
He yawned in pain as he cast a glance at ”Wya ” who was next to him.
He smiled at him in a rather embarrassed manner.

”That ’s… ”

Thales paused for a moment.

”You saw it. ” Thales shrugged.
The sudden movement made Quick Rope and him sway.
They frantically leaned against the wall to avoid slipping and falling.

”The Alchemy Ball is a… ”

Thales wracked his brains and finally found a word that could be easily understood.

”How do I put this…
a flash bomb? ”

’Flash… ’

Barney Jr.
went silent and mulled over the word for a while.

”Flash bomb? ”

Thales frowned.
He looked at the Royal Guards whose heads were rolling.
They supported each other like a group of drunkards helping each other to go home.
”It ’s more than just a flash, ” he said bashfully.

”Maybe it produced sounds that resembled that of stun grenades…
I only recovered my hearing after a few minutes, and even now, I still hear ringing in my ears… ”

’And that ray of light… ’  

Thales closed his eyes in vexation.

’Although I covered my eyes in advance, it ’s still very painful… ’

Barney remained silent for a while before he asked the question he cared about the most at that moment, ”What about him? ”

The team fell silent.

They knew what he meant.

Thales glanced at Barney.
He saw anxiousness and a longing on his face as well.

Barney Jr.
felt that something was not right.

”Tell me, what happened to him? ”

The vanguard frowned.
”Have you killed him? ”

”Barney, about that… ”

Nalgi answered in a troubled fashion, ”Ahem, Zakriel, he… ”

”What happened to him? ” Barney Jr.
asked hurriedly.

The team was quiet for a while.
Beldin was the one who finally broke the silence.

”Let ’s put it this way… ” The penal officer ’s calm voice echoed.
It was sometimes loud and sometimes soft in their ears.
By the looks of it, he had yet to recover from the shock of the Alchemy Ball.

”Zakriel ’s perception of the world through his senses and attention are more sensitive and focused than ours…

”After losing his sight and hearing, he was affected more than anyone else.
He roared at the air… ”

Barney Jr.
had a feeling that something was not right.
He ignored these details and asked directly, ”You killed him? ”

The entire team was stunned by his question.

Samel coughed while he was at the front of the group.

He explained plainly, ”He went mad, but his battle instincts increased instead of decreased.
He became more aggressive, and he started to swing his weapon like a madman. ”

Samel let out a loud puff of air.
He seemed to be relieving the pain in his eardrums.

”You should have seen how he reacted at the time.
He searched for every living thing in sight recklessly and tried to cut down anyone within two meters of him.
Nalgi tried to get close, and he almost cut his head off, and I… ”

Samel patted the bloody bandage on his left arm and sighed.

Barney Jr.
paused his questions before he clenched his teeth.

”Long-distance attacks? ”

Beldin shook his head and whispered, ”Tried it.
Remember Tardin ’s fake nephew? He tried to shoot an arrow at Zakriel ’s head from a distance.
But no one knew why it didn ’t hit.
He did manage to shoot his shoulder, though. ”

Thales felt Barney ’s gaze move towards him.
Quick Rope, who was supporting him, hunched his shoulders and lowered his head, as though he wanted to bury his whole head into Thales ’ bosom.

’Missed? ’

Barney Jr.
stared blankly at Quick Rope, who lowered his head in embarrassment.

Beldin sighed and said, ”Zakriel felt the pain.
He sensed the direction in which the arrow came from, and fled into the darkness in the opposite direction. ”

Barney Jr. ’s expression froze.  

After a long while, Barney Jr.
stared at the darkness under his feet and said, ”Tell me that you killed him. ”

No one spoke.
Thales subconsciously took a step back.

Many of the guards also lowered their heads.

Barney Jr.
sighed heavily and gritted his teeth.

”Why? ”

He stomped his feet, and his movements caused Nalgi to sway unsteadily beside him.


”Why…
Why didn ’t all of you chase after him and kill him?! ”

There was bitter hate in his voice, and his voice was loud.

He was so loud that everyone ’s delicate eardrums throbbed in pain again.

”Barney, ” Beldin spoke calmly, ”the Alchemy Ball was exceptionally powerful, and we were also affected quite badly by it. ”

Many people, including Quick Rope, instinctively stared at Thales, causing the prince to unwittingly raise his eyebrows.

’What has it got to do with me? ’

”For a few minutes, all of us were deaf, as though there was someone blowing a conch in our brains.
We had a problem balancing ourselves and we would stumble after we got up and took three steps… ”

Beldin sighed.

”Even if our situation was better than Zakriel ’s, it took us a long time to stand up and escape down here. ”

Barney looked at Beldin in disbelief, then at the others, but many people turned their heads away from his gaze.

”Don ’t worry, ” Samel whispered.
”Zakriel ’s senses are more sensitive than ours, and they ’re more affected by the Alchemy Ball.
I guess he needs more time than us to recover; he may not even be able to fully recover.

”At least we are still alive. ”

Barney was silent.
He lowered his head silently.
The entire team continued to move forward slowly.

Just as Thales thought that everything was over, Barney Jr.
suddenly asked, ”Where did the Alchemy Ball come from? ”

Thales ’ eye twitched.
He exchanged a glance with Quick Rope.

’This…

’How do I say this? ’

”Well, the Jadestar Royal Family…
always has some stock… ” Thales gulped and said.

Barney Jr.
furrowed his eyebrows.

”Why didn ’t you use it earlier, or just give it to us? ”

Thales frowned before he immediately relaxed.
With confidence, he said, ”Wasn ’t it best to activate it when he was fully concentrating on something else?

”If I had waited until Zakriel saw it before I threw it, I don ’t think it would have been so effective. ”

’I can ’t possibly say that I forgot to do so before, can I? ’

Fortunately, Barney only pondered over this for a little while.
He did not continue to ask further questions.

Thales shifted his ”prideful ” gaze away.

’Moreover, Zakriel and Quick Rope thought that this was a powerful Alchemy Ball with great explosive properties, just like the one used by Raphael at the secret passage in Dragon Clouds City.

’But in truth… ’

”Hey, how did you know that this Alchemy Ball only produced flashes and sound? ”

Sure enough, Quick Rope poked his ribs restlessly, and he whispered, ”When Stake took it out, didn ’t he say… ”

Thales sighed in his mind.

’See, this is my greatest concern. ’

”I just knew, ” said Thales.
His expression made him look like someone who had extensive knowledge of things.
He shrugged.

”I know that this toy isn ’t fatal. ”

When Quick Rope saw this, he frowned.

”But what if it was the explosive kind? It should be noted that there are no obvious markers on Alchemy Balls.
Only a few talented people can— ”

The rookie mercenary looked at him in dissatisfaction.

”I saw one a few years ago… ”  

Thales coughed softly and stopped the topic in a decisive manner.

”It ’s not.

”The Jadestar Royal Family has a long history, and we have a way to identify Alchemy Balls. ”

He smiled mysteriously.

”Just like how our blood is gold in color… ”

Quick Rope flashed him a disgusted expression, implying that he did not care even if Thales refused to tell him.
He turned his back around in disinterest.

Thales breathed a sigh of relief.

’That ’s right, I was also fearful when Stake threatened him and Zakriel with the Alchemy Ball. ’

However, all mysteries were revealed after he found the anchor point and ”lost control ” while he still retained a rational mind.

In that magical state, Thales saw the interior of the Alchemy Ball clearly.

It was a ball of rotating energy.

At that time, he knew intuitively that the rotating energy inside was actually empty.
Even if it was all released at once, it would blast away a few feet of dust around it at most.

’More importantly…

’No obvious markers? ’

In fact, when Thales ’ vision penetrated the cover and the interlayer, he found that the inner ring covered under a metal shell and invisible in the mysterious Alchemy Ball was engraved with a few words, which he was not very familiar with.
They resembled the modern Empire ’s language.

[Blinding glaring XX film + XXXX film]

[Alchemy Tower, Glorious Product of War Wizard XX, No.
XX EE1109-8-17, Creator: First Class XX Wizard, D.E.
Charleton]

[Used to suppress senses, XX suppression, XXXX, XX, etc.]

[Unified XX.
Only to be used in the tower.
Strictly forbidden for export, XX, or transported out of the tower.
Forbidden areas includes but is not limited to Soul Tower, Bright God Church, XXX, the Third Ring, Gate of Hell, XXXX, Temple of Knights, Empire and XXXXXX]

The strange text contained a huge amount of information, such as the name of the creator.

There were a lot of words he was unfamiliar with in the text, but it was enough for Thales to understand its function.  

Hence, it came in handy when he was thinking of using something to suppress Zakriel, who possessed extraordinary senses.

Quick Rope frowned.
He seemed to be deep in thought.

”So, earlier, Stake threatened you with a fake bargaining chip, and he fooled us with it? ”

”Looks like it. ”

When Thales thought of the cunning Stake, he shook his head in annoyance.

”Actually, he was right.
I should have thought of it.

”How can someone like him have the determination to die with his enemies? ”

At that moment…  

*Thump… Thump…*

Thales was the first to be astonished.

Under the influence of the ”poison ” from that ”XX film ” or whatever it was called, the recovery speed of the group members ’ senses varied.
They helped each other to advance while as moved forth on unsteady feet.

But right then, almost everyone became tense!

*Thump… Thump… Thump…*

A string of footsteps belonging to whoever it was behind them suddenly echoed in the dark tunnel.
That person did not bother to conceal his footsteps.

*Thump… Thump… Thump…*

It was getting closer.

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