Lin Gui steered the flying vessel, slowly drifting toward the nearest ventilation window.
Looking down at the faint silhouette of the post office below, Theia couldn't help but ask, “Eve is still down there, and so is our wooden crate...”
Without looking back, Lin Gui replied, “No rush. I need to confirm something first.”
The flying vessel hovered in front of the heavy iron window.
The window was welded with dense steel bars, each as thick as a child's arm.
Lin Gui drew the dagger from his waist and handed it to Theia.
Theia took it and leaped down from the vessel.
She landed lightly on the bow, used the momentum to spring up again,
And crouched steadily on the edge of the iron window.
Taking a deep breath, she channeled her energy into the dagger.
Clang!
The dagger struck the steel bar—
A sharp metallic screech erupted!
Sparks flew everywhere.
Theia felt a violent jolt run through her hand, sending a numbing sensation up her entire arm.
Looking closely, she saw only a faint white scratch left on the steel bar, not even cutting halfway through.
Her gaze sharpened.
A dark red hue welled up from the depths of her pupils, like a drop of blood dissolving in a pool of ink.
Her silver hair fluttered despite the lack of wind, and a few wisps of black vapor seeped from the tips of her hair, coiling and drifting.
Demon energy surged from her fingertips into the dagger.
The blade buzzed and vibrated, glowing with ominous dark red veins that throbbed like blood vessels.
At this moment, her features carried the tyrannical, brutal aura of the Demon Race, yet her breathtaking beauty gave her a dangerous, heart-stopping allure.
“Break!”
She slashed with the dagger once more!
This time, there was no sound at all.
The blade, enhanced by demon energy, was like a hot knife through butter.
It slid silently through the steel bars.
The cut surface was as smooth as a mirror, reflecting a cold gleam.
One, two, three...
Every single steel bar was severed, clattering to the ground.
Theia withdrew the dagger and sheathed it back at her waist.
She leaned her head out the window.
Thud!
Though there was clearly nothing there, she hit a solid wall.
Rubbing her head, Theia was taken aback and pressed her palm forward.
The contact was cold and solid, as if she were touching ten-thousand-year-old ice.
A completely transparent wall sealed the entire window shut.
Her eyes turned cold as demon energy surged once more, a faint black mist rising around her body.
She unsheathed her dagger. The dark red veins glowed brightly, and its buzzing intensified.
With all her strength, she thrust it toward the transparent barrier!
Clang!!!
A deafening metallic screech erupted, echoing through the passage.
The dagger snapped!
The front half of the blade spun through the air, flashing with cold light,
before embedding itself into the distant rock wall with a sharp thwack, vibrating violently.
Theia froze in place, holding the broken hilt.
The skin between her thumb and index finger had split, and blood trickled down her fingers, dripping onto the windowsill.
She stared blankly ahead.
It was a transparent barrier—completely invisible, yet utterly indestructible.
“It's a barrier.”
Theia turned back, her expression a mix of oddity and frustration.
Lin Gui rubbed his temples in resignation.
His lips twitched, and he couldn't help but mutter under his breath, “Is this really necessary...”
He really wanted to ask the Fortress Lord to his face.
Just to trap three “little rookies” like them,
he actually activated the defense barrier that covered the entirety of Shield City?
Was that really necessary?!
Using a sledgehammer to crack a nut?
No, this was practically using a strategic nuclear weapon to swat a mosquito!
Now, no matter how superb his Levitation spell was, or how powerful and exquisite his Shroud of the Gloomy Night was, it was impossible to escape from a completely sealed cage.
As for destroying the Barrier Stone that maintained the barrier?
Lin Gui wasn't tired of living yet.
The value and strategic significance of that thing were not to be trifled with.
If he touched it, the enraged Fortress Lord would likely swat him into a meat paste with a single slap.
After a brief silence, Lin Gui let out a soft sigh and turned the flying vessel around.
“Let's go.”
“We'll go back and have a nice chat with that Fortress Lord, who likes to shoot mosquitoes with cannons.”
Back in the forge workshop.
Seeing the flying vessel return, Balin burst into a smug laugh.
“See! I told you there was no need to stop you!”
Lin Gui jumped down from the vessel.
He looked speechlessly at this Title Rank expert who lacked any air of superiority, and asked directly, “What will it take for you to let us go?”
Balin stood with his hands on his hips, his beard twitching slightly.
“As long as you don't go to the Wall of Sighs.”
Lin Gui nodded, looking completely serious.
“Fine, I won't go.”
Then, he raised his right hand with a solemn expression.
“I swear by my most revered God of Gululu.”
Balin immediately added, his eyes flashing with shrewdness, “I will have a Legendary dwarf follow and monitor you the entire way.”
Lin Gui silently lowered his hand.
Theia curiously leaned in, blinking. “What kind of deity is the God of Gululu? How come I've never heard of them?”
Lin Gui said flatly, “I made it up.”
The corners of Balin's, Grom's, and Theia's mouths twitched simultaneously, their expressions freezing.
“...”
Well, okay then.
Lin Gui had no choice but to play his final trump card.
“If you let us go, I can give you this.”
Balin chuckled, crossing his arms with a face full of disbelief.
“An item? Kid, even if you slapped an artifact right onto my face, I still wouldn't...”
His voice came to an abrupt halt.
His eyes widened, his mouth fell slightly open, and his expression froze.
He stared intently at the object Lin Gui drew from his bag.
It was a dusty, fist-sized stone.
Faint runic light flowed across its surface, containing a subtle, hidden energy.
“A... a Barrier Stone?!!”
Balin's voice suddenly shot up, cracking with utter disbelief.
Beside him, Grom's breathing instantly grew heavy, his eyes glazing over.
The eyes of both dwarves instantly turned red.
Red in the literal sense, shot through with bloodshot veins.
They snatched the stone away, turning it over and over to inspect it.
Their fingertips rubbed against the runes, and they eagerly channeled their mana inside to sense it.
“It's real... the fluctuations are very stable...” Grom's voice trembled with excitement.
Balin whipped around, rushing to stand right in front of Lin Gui in a few strides.
He grabbed Lin Gui by the shoulders, so worked up he was practically spitting as he rambled incoherently, “Oh! Kid Lin Gui! No—my dear human friend!”
“Sell this to me, no matter what!”
“Name your price! A demi-artifact? A wind pressure cannon? The Divine Forge?”
“As long as you want it, I can get it for you!”
Unlike other ordinary city-states, a Barrier Stone was of monumental significance to Shield City, directly tied to their strategic autonomy.
Although there was a much larger defensive barrier in the city, it didn't entirely belong to them, leaving them subject to others.
But this Barrier Stone... could play a pivotal role in the plan Balin held in his heart, serving as the key to breaking the deadlock.
Having said his piece, he rushed into the warehouse in a flurry, rummaging through things.
He dug out the Staff of the Windwhisperer and shoved it back into Lin Gui's hands.
“Here, take this back! See what else you want?!”
“I can give you anything!”
Lin Gui took the staff and tossed it backward without even looking.
The staff traced an arc in the air, landing with a soft clack inside the flying vessel.
Theia's eyelids twitched violently, her heart skipping a beat.
She leaped onto the flying vessel, carefully cradled the staff, and thoroughly inspected the runes on its shaft.
Only when she saw it wasn't damaged did she let out a sigh of relief, gently stroking it.
Then she glared speechlessly at Lin Gui.
How could this guy treat a demi-artifact so casually?! Throwing it around like firewood!
Lin Gui looked at Balin, his tone completely flat.
“I only want you to let us out.”
“Nothing else.”
The excitement on Balin's face instantly froze, his smile stiffening.
He fell silent.
The hand gripping the Barrier Stone turned slightly white at the knuckles, trembling from the sheer force.
Only the crackling of the furnace echoed in the workshop, the air seemingly frozen.
After a long while, Balin let out a heavy breath, his shoulders slumping slightly.
He raised his eyes, looking at Lin Gui with a complex gaze, struggle churning within them.
“Kid...”
“Do you have any idea what this stone means to us?”
“And do you have any idea what the Wall of Sighs means to you?”
He didn't say “no.”
But he didn't say “yes” either.
In those rugged eyes, struggle and desire clashed fiercely, like two torrents of molten lava colliding.
Rate on N.U.
