"All right. You can go inside now," Rocky said as he led Shirley to the cave.
Shirley couldn't help but snort as she walked in. It seemed that she kind of rolled her eyes, but they
were actually fixed at Rocky. In her mind, it was still hard for her to accept the fact that the pathetic
loser she had known in the past had already become much stronger than her. Rocky even had two
powerful spirit-manipulated beasts at his disposal. Right now, she felt so inferior to him in every aspect.
As the three women entered and settled inside the cave, Rocky walked out and looked at the direction
from which they had come from.
After waiting for quite a while, he saw three figures finally appear from a distance.
"How was it? Are you guys okay?" Rocky asked out of concern.
"Well, not too good. Supernatural beasts are very difficult to deal with. Even if the three of us joined
hands, we only managed to kill one," Marcia said in a rather frustrated tone.
"Let's have a proper rest first. We'll discuss the rest later." Rocky knew that they had been on a tough
journey. He was just glad that everyone was safe.
Then, he guided the other three to the cave where they would stay the night.
After a night's worth of rest in the cave, the rescue team prepared themselves and set out early the
following morning.
After such a long journey, the rescue team that was led by Marcia finally reached the border of the
Dragon Master Clan's territory. As they passed through a dense fruit forest, they immediately saw
several female members of the Dragon Master Clan, gathering fruits and other crops that they could
obtain from the area. From their observation, all of them seemed to be ordinary spiritual slaves.
"I wonder if they know where my father is being held captive." Currently, Rocky and the others
continued to hide in the dark and observed the movements of the female members of the Dragon
Master Clan.
"How long are we doing this? Why don't we just catch one of them and ask what we want to know?"
Shirley suggested as she grew impatient.
"And what if she doesn't know? I am afraid it's not a good idea as it will alert the enemies," Sabina
answered while shaking her head.
"So we're just going to hide here and do nothing? If you won't ask, how will you know that they don't
know?" Shirley got annoyed and refuted Sabina immediately.
"Fine. If you want things your way, just catch one of them and bring her here by yourself." Sabina knew
how to get in Shirley's head and provoked her all the more.
"Sure, I will!" Shirley scoffed before quickly rushing at a fast speed.
Upon seeing this, Rocky and the others couldn't help but shake their heads and let out a deep sigh.
"Shirley is too impatient." Even Bryant frowned at Shirley's reaction.
"Come on. Why did you have to irritate her? You know her temper," Rocky slightly reprimanded Sabina
for provoking Shirley.
"But I didn't know that she'd really do it," Sabina rebutted as she shrugged her shoulders.
"Well, it's fine. General Marcia followed her as soon as she dashed out," Bryant said in an unworried
manner.
Upon hearing what Bryant said, Rocky turned and looked at where Marcia was originally standing and
saw that she indeed disappeared from that spot.
Not long after, Marcia and Shirley came back together with one of the female members. They all heard
that Marcia was talking with the woman in their language.
Initially, the woman had been scared because of their sudden appearance, but as she heard Marcia
spoke their language, she seemed to calm down somehow. As Marcia continued to interrogate the
woman, they could just see her shaking her head in panic from time to time.
After a while, Marcia turned to her companions and shook her head. "She doesn't know where the
emperor is imprisoned. But she said that more than half a year ago, they saw that a seriously injured
human was brought back to the Dragon Master Clan."
Hearing that, Rocky and the others looked at each other. The woman's description might point that it
was the emperor.
"What are we going to do now?" Sabina broke the silence and asked.
"General Marcia, you had been in the Dragon Master Clan before. Do you have any idea where they
may be holding His Majesty?" Bryant asked as he looked at Marcia expectantly.
"Yes, I think I do. However, if he was really locked in that place, it will be too difficult for us to save him,"
Marcia answered, wearing a serious expression on her face.
"How difficult are we talking about?" Rocky's eyes lit up. In his mind, he was already determined no
matter how hard it would be.
Marcia let out a deep sigh before she gave her answer. "Once we enter that place, the chances of us
getting out of there are almost negligible. With our current strength, I'm afraid that the rate of failure is
so high," she explained without sugarcoating the situation.
As they heard what Marcia said, everyone's expressions looked extremely gloomy.
"Well, let's go to that place first. It's better than looking for my father aimlessly. Once we made sure that
he is indeed locked up there, we'll think of the most feasible way to save him," Rocky said after thinking
for a while. Right now, they had no choice but to move forward and deal with their adversaries when
the time came.
Everyone mustered their courage and nodded in agreement.
"All right. But we have to wait until nightfall before we commence our plan. It's too risky to make a move
in broad daylight," Marcia advised as she looked towards the sky.
"But what about her? What are we going to do with this woman?" Lucilla asked as she looked at the
woman from the Dragon Master Clan.
"Let's take her with us. She might come in handy when the situation permitted," Rocky suggested.
In the meantime, Rocky and the others searched for a hidden place nearby to rest and wait until night
fell.
"Chief Bryant, can I talk to you for a minute in private?" Rocky quietly approached Bryant, who was
already about to close his eyes to get some rest.
Bryant immediately knew that it was something important just by looking at Rocky's eyes. He quickly
agreed, and the two of them found a corner to talk to.
"What is it, Prince Basil?" Bryant asked straightforwardly. He actually had a hunch that Rocky might
have an idea of what to do later when they raided the base of the Dragon Master Clan.
"Can you do me a favor?" Rocky asked as he looked directly into Bryant's eyes.
"A favor? Of course. Go ahead and tell me." Bryant was quite surprised and curious at what Rocky was
about to say.
"Although I have the cards to lay down in negotiation with the Dragon Master Clan, there's still no
guarantee that everything will go smoothly. There's still a possibility that they would try to kill us. Once it
is exposed that they kidnapped the emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire, the Dragon Master Clan would
surely lose the trust of the empire." Rocky told him bluntly.
"I know. That's possible. Do you have an idea of how we could deal with it?" Bryant inquired.
"In case something unexpected happens, I hope that you, General Marcia, and my master will do your
best to escort my father safely out of the Dragon Master Clan's territory," Rocky stated with a straight
face.
"Wait. What do you mean?" Bryant started to get confused and asked with furrowed brows.
"We all know that even the ordinary spiritual beings are very powerful, let alone the spiritual masters. If
we do want to successfully rescue my father, someone has to stay here and cover for you as you
escape," Rocky replied in a low voice. It turned out that he was willing to go as far as being a decoy
just to ensure that the emperor could escape to safety.
"I'm not trying to belittle you, but I think it's still better if I or General Marcia would cover for the rescue
team. Although I know that you're much stronger now, it's still going to be very difficult for you to defeat
the ordinary spiritual beings. If I or General Marcia carries out the task, we will be able to resist their
clansmen more effectively," Bryant insisted and persuaded Rocky.
"I know that. But both you and General Marcia are the backbones of the Holy Dragon Empire. You are
indispensable. Moreover, with your strength, there's a higher rate of success that you could get my
father out of here. That is the crucial thing. More importantly, if it was me who faced them, they wouldn't
easily get the spiritual treasure." It seemed that Rocky had already thought about this for a long time.
He devised a plan and carefully considered every factor before he talked to Bryant.
Bryant recognized that Rocky had already been mentally prepared to take on this role so as to save the
emperor at all costs. However, he still couldn't get himself to agree because he knew that if they
followed Rocky's plan, the prince might not be able to come out alive.
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