Lin Gui steered the flying vessel, slowly drifting toward the nearest ventilation window.
Seeing the faint outline of the post office below, Theia couldn't help but ask, "Eve is still down there, and our wooden crates..."
Lin Gui didn't look back. "No rush. I need to confirm something first."
The flying vessel hovered before a heavy iron window.
Dense steel bars were welded across the window, each as thick as a child's arm.
Lin Gui pulled out the dagger at his waist and handed it to Theia.
Theia took it and leaped down from the flying vessel.
She landed lightly on the prow, used the momentum to spring up again, and crouched steadily on the edge of the iron window.
Taking a deep breath, she funneled her battle force into the dagger.
Clang!
The dagger struck the steel bars—
A sharp metallic collision erupted!
Sparks flew.
Theia felt a violent jolt in her palm, and her entire arm went numb.
Fixing her gaze, she saw only a shallow white mark left on the steel bar; she hadn't even cut halfway through.
Her eyes sharpened.
A dark red hue flickered deep in her pupils, like blood dropping into an ink pool.
Her silver hair fluttered despite the lack of wind, and wisps of black energy seeped from the tips, entangling and swaying.
Demon energy surged along her fingertips and into the dagger.
The blade hummed and vibrated, revealing ominous dark-red patterns that pulsed like blood vessels.
At this moment, she possessed the menacing ferocity of the Demon Race between her brows.
Yet, because her appearance was so exquisite, she exuded a dangerous, heart-palpitating charm.
"Break!"
The dagger slashed again!
This time, there was no sound.
The blade, bolstered by demon energy, sliced through the bars like cutting through tofu.
It glided silently through the steel.
The cross-section was as smooth as a mirror, reflecting a cold glint.
One bar, two, three...
Every steel column was severed and hit the ground with a series of clangs.
Theia withdrew the dagger and tucked it back into her waist.
She leaned her head toward the window.
Thud!
Though nothing was there, she slammed into a hard wall.
Rubbing her little head, Theia was stunned and pressed her palm forward.
The touch was icy and solid, like touching eternal black ice.
A completely transparent wall had sealed off the entire window.
Her eyes turned cold, her demon energy surged again, and a faint black mist rose around her.
The dagger left its sheath, the dark-red patterns flaring with light as the humming intensified.
She stabbed the transparent barrier with all her might!
Clang—!!!
A deafening screech of clashing metal exploded, echoing through the passage.
The dagger snapped upon impact!
The front half of the blade spun as it shot away, a flash of cold light, before "clanging" as it pinned itself into the distant rock wall, vibrating with a hum.
Theia gripped the remaining hilt, frozen in place.
The web between her thumb and index finger had split, and blood trickled down through her fingers, dripping onto the windowsill.
She stared blankly at the empty space before her—an invisible yet indestructible transparent barrier.
"It's a barrier."
Theia turned back, her face a mix of strangeness and depression.
Lin Gui propped a hand against his forehead helplessly.
His lips moved, and he ultimately couldn't resist muttering a low complaint: "Is that really necessary..."
He truly wanted to ask the Fortress Lord to his face.
Just to trap three "rookies," he had actually activated a defensive barrier that could cover the entirety of Shield City?
Was that really necessary?!
Using a butcher's knife on a chicken?
No, this was practically using a strategic nuclear weapon to kill a mosquito!
Now, no matter how divine his Levitation was or how powerful and exquisite the 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 something one could mess with lightly.
If he touched it, he would likely be flattened into meat paste by the enraged Fortress Lord.
After a moment of silence, Lin Gui let out a soft sigh and turned the flying vessel around.
"Let's go."
"Let's go back and have a proper talk with that 'howitzer-firing' Fortress Lord."
...
Inside the forging workshop.
Seeing the flying vessel return, Balin burst into a triumphant laugh.
"See! I told you there was no need to stop you!"
Lin Gui jumped down from the vessel.
He gave this Title Rank expert, who lacked any air of superiority, a speechless look and asked directly: "What will it take for you to let us go?"
Balin stood with hands on his hips, his beard curling slightly. "As long as you don't go to the Wall of Sighs."
Lin Gui nodded with a serious face. "Fine, I won't go."
Immediately, he raised his right hand with a solemn expression.
"I swear it by the God of Gululu, whom I respect most."
Balin immediately added, his eyes sparkling with shrewdness: "I will send a Legendary dwarf to follow you and monitor you the entire time."
Lin Gui silently lowered his hand.
Theia leaned in curiously, blinking. "What kind of deity is the God of Gululu? I've never heard of them."
Lin Gui said flatly, "I made it up."
Balin, Grom, and Theia simultaneously twitched their lips, their expressions freezing.
"..."
Fine then.
Lin Gui had no choice but to use his final trump card.
"If you let us go, I can give you this."
Balin let out a chuckle, his face full of disbelief as he crossed his arms.
"Something? Lad, even if you slapped a divine artifact onto my face, I wouldn't—"
His words came to an abrupt halt.
He stared wide-eyed, his mouth slightly open, his expression frozen.
He stared deathly still at the object Lin Gui pulled from his pack.
It was a gray stone, the size of a fist.
Tiny runic glimmers flowed over its surface, and it contained a subtle inner energy.
"A... Barrier Stone?!"
Balin's voice suddenly pitched upward, cracking in utter disbelief.
Grom's breathing also grew heavy as his eyes glazed over.
The eyes of both dwarves instantly turned red—physically red, as bloodshot veins appeared.
They snatched the stone away, checking it over and over.
Their fingertips rubbed the markings and their mana reached in to sense it with frantic movements.
"It's real... the fluctuations are stable..." Grom's voice trembled with excitement.
Balin spun around and rushed to Lin Gui in a few steps.
He grabbed Lin Gui's shoulders, agitated to the point of incoherence, his spittle nearly flying out: "Oh! Lin Gui lad! No—my dear human friend!"
"Sell this thing to me no matter what!"
"Just 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 held immense significance for Shield City; it concerned their strategic autonomy.
While there was a much larger defensive barrier in the city, it didn't completely belong to them and was subject to the control of others.
But this Barrier Stone...
For the plan in Balin's heart, it could serve a critical role; it was the key to breaking the situation.
After speaking, he rushed into the warehouse like a whirlwind and rummaged around.
He dug out the Staff of the Windwhisperer and stuffed it back into Lin Gui's hands.
"I'm returning this to you! Look and see what else you want?!"
"I can give you anything!"
Lin Gui took the staff and, without even a glance, tossed it backward.
The staff traced an arc in the air and landed with a "thud" into the flying vessel.
Theia's eyelids jumped wildly, her heart skipping a beat.
She leaped onto the vessel, carefully picked up the staff, and scrutinized the runes on the shaft.
Seeing it wasn't chipped, she breathed a sigh of relief and gently stroked it.
Immediately after, she glared at Lin Gui speechlessly.
How could this man be so casual with a demi-artifact?! He treated it like a piece of firewood!
Lin Gui looked at Balin, his tone calm and level: "I only want you to let us out."
"I want nothing else."
The excitement on Balin's face instantly congealed, and his smile froze.
He fell silent.
His knuckles turned slightly white as he gripped the Barrier Stone, trembling with force.
The only sound in the workshop was the crackling of the furnace; the air felt stagnant.
After a long while, Balin let out a heavy breath, and his shoulders slumped slightly.
He looked up, his gaze meeting Lin Gui's with complex emotions as struggle surged in his eyes.
"Lad..."
"Do you have any idea what this stone means to us?"
"And do you have any idea what the Wall of Sighs means for you?"
He didn't say "no."
But he didn't say "yes" either.
In those rugged eyes, struggle and desire clashed violently, like two flows of magma colliding.
Rate on N.U.
