Chapter 858: Leaked News

“The Glittergold Trade Union… After all, the Glittergold Trade Union and the Tower of Dusk are only temporary partners, unlike the Mithril Alliance. We’re an alliance that has been around for over a thousand years. I doubt the Glittergold Trade Union would help the Tower of Dusk if we went against them,” Charles answered.

“Hmph, an alliance that has been around for over a thousand years? At the beginning, there were 13 families, but why are there only six left? Why did we, the Caesar Family, withdraw from the alliance?” Claus said with disdain, but he also knew that his grandson was not one who could keep secrets, so he didn’t explain too much to him. Instead, he switched back to the main topic, and said, “Do you really think we can easily deal with the Tower of Dusk even if the Glittergold Trade Union doesn’t help them?”

Charles was just an Archmage in the end, so his outlook was limited. When he heard his grandfather’s words, he was somewhat unconvinced. “Isn’t that the case? That Felic and his two Undead creatures are at most just three Legendary powerhouses. We have so many Legendary powerhouses, can’t they deal with them?”

“Hehe, you underestimate the Tower of Dusk, but you’re not entirely to blame. You just need to know that the Tower of Dusk managed to get to where they are today not because of luck.” Seeing how puzzled Charles looked, Claus smiled and shook his head. He continued, “I bet you’ve only been paying attention to that Felic right from the beginning, huh? Didn’t you notice the mages of the Tower of Dusk? What kind of power can a group composed of nearly 100 Archmages exert? Since you have been the patriarch of the Dida Family for two years, you should be able to imagine it.”

“No matter how many Archmages there may be, they still aren’t Legendary-mages. Besides, we have a team of mages too…” Charles grumbled in a disgruntled manner.

“Well, let’s not talk about the mages from the Tower of Dusk being on par with ours. Let’s just talk about the Legendary powerhouses that you keep mentioning. That Felic is a few years younger than you, and is now a Legendary-mage. You might think that he has just entered the Legendary-realm for less than two years, and isn’t a big deal.” At this point, Claus could not help but sigh deep down. The young mage of the Tower of Dusk was a complete monster. He stepped into the Legendary-realm before the age of 20, which was an unprecedented feat in Anril.

However, Charles still found Claus’ high opinion of Lin Li unacceptable. He could not help but ask, “Isn’t it? Even if he entered the Legendary-realm early, it’s only been a little more than two years since then. How powerful can he get within such a short period of time?”

“I must tell you that you are wrong to think so, and you’re actually very wrong. Haven’t you heard of the conflict between the Tower of Dusk and the Dark Blade? Can an ordinary Legendary-mage defeat two Legendary powerhouses who had been famous for a long time? And now…” Claus said a few words to Charles, but when he said that, his brows furrowed. At the thought of how he felt when he met Lin Li, he couldn’t be sure if he was hallucinating or not, but he faintly felt the aura of the Sanctuary-realm.

“What’s going on now? That lowly Dark Blade can’t prove how powerful he is. Besides, there are six big families and a dozen Legendary powerhouses on our side. Do we still need to be afraid of him?” Charles obviously did not agree with his grandfather. He looked down on the Dark Blade, which had been known as the leader of the top 10 bandit groups of the Breezy Plains. In fact, they had not even qualified to participate in the meet at Gran Town. It was far from the top forces like the Mithril Alliance and the Caesar Family.

Hearing what his grandson said, Claus shook his head, temporarily cast aside his doubts, and continued, “Now, it’s not easy to deal with that Felic alone, let alone with the others around him. He has more than just two Legendary Undead servants. That human who looks like a High Elf in his team may not have strong mana waves, but he makes me feel a sense of danger.”

Upon hearing Claus’s words, Charles’ expression changed. After all, he wasn’t clueless about everything. He felt that if the other party could make his grandfather feel a sense of danger, he had to be about the same level as his grandfather. For the ones below the Legendary-realm, the gaps between levels were not very obvious, and it was not uncommon for level-17 Archmages to kill level-18 or level-19 Archmages. However, in the Legendary-realm, every difference in level would be a huge gap unless the mage had very powerful magic equipment or other tools for assistance.

However, that was not all. Claus continued to say to Charles, “Besides, did you notice that goblin from the Tower of Dusk’s team? The goblins have disappeared from the mainland for countless years. I really don’t know where the Tower of Dusk found that goblin. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know about goblins. However, you have to know that the presence of the goblin often means the existence of an Alchemy Colossus. The goblins are true Alchemy masters who manipulate and control the Alchemy Colossuses. The Alchemy Colossuses that they create are not the inferior ones created in Rotterdam. They have at least Legendary-level combat power.”

“Isn’t it just a little dwarf? Is it that exaggerated?” Charles clearly didn’t believe it. The hideous dwarf did not have any mana fluctuations, yet it could still have Legendary-level combat power?

Claus was not upset about Charles’ doubts. He said, “Maybe you don’t understand what kind of strength they have. We have heard before that the Tower of Dusk found the Retribution Knight Rodhart, who ravaged the Breezy Plains hundreds of years ago, in the Dragon Mountains recently—”

“Impossible, hasn’t the Retribution Knight already been purified by the Prophet Willen of the Brilliance Shrine?” Charles shrieked in shock before Claus even said anything more.

Claus shook his head, and said, “We have already verified the piece of news. Although the Retribution Knight had been seriously injured by Willen, he still had Sanctuary-level power, and he had nearly 100 Death Knights around him. Regardless of the means used by the Tower of Dusk, the result is that the Retribution Knight was annihilated. That person who looks like a High Elf is holding a weapon which is the Eternal Frost Blade that belonged to the Retribution Knight back then.”

“This… This doesn’t necessarily prove how powerful they are.” Charles was no longer as confident after hearing his grandpa’s explanation.

“That’s not all. To my surprise, the person standing next to Felic, Basel, who’s a hermit from Doland, had actually joined the Tower of Dusk. Although Basel had never made any amazing achievements in his life, I can tell from previous observations that I won’t be confident in dealing with him. Therefore, even if the Glittergold Trade Union chooses to stay out of the matter, we will have to pay a great price if we want to eliminate the Tower of Dusk. Think about who will really benefit in the end when that happens.” When Claus was describing the power of the Tower of Dusk to Charles, he was actually more and more frightened. The Tower of Dusk appeared in the Breezy Plains less than three years ago, and Claus had to admit that the young President Felic was really good at creating miracles.

“But… they obviously have the same agenda as we now. They are also going to explore the ruins in the depths of the canyon. Do you want to watch them share the treasures in the ruins with us?” Charles said indignantly.

“Don’t worry, the time just isn’t ripe yet. We still have a long way ahead, we’ll definitely get the chance.” Claus naturally did not feel good about Lin Li who had ruined his plan, not to mention the fact that it concerned the ruins of the High Elves. No one would be willing to see the huge wealth that they were about to acquire being shared with others.

At this moment, someone outside the tent reported, “Master Patriarch, Master Joseph of the Mithril Alliance would like to invite you to the discussion.”

“Remember, the time is not ripe yet. Joseph has a greater feud with the Tower of Dusk than you do,” Claus said, giving Charles the last reminder. He then lifted the tent’s flap and walked out.

Looking at the dangling curtains, Charles fell deep into thought.

The open ground in the canyon was extremely quiet at the moment. The camps of the two expedition teams were not very far apart due to the limitations of the terrain. Hence, they were all keeping their guard up.

As for the Glittergold Trade Union and the Tower of Dusk, the senior executives gathered in one tent with solemn expressions, which caused tension to build up in the tent. No one thought that they would encounter the Mithril Alliance and the Caesar Family there. However, they were certain that the other party had the same goal as them.

Although no one could make up for the fact that the news had been leaked, none of them wanted to have a competitor lurking around them in the face of the potential dangers that could exist in the High Elves’ ruins.

“It’s a pity that the expedition team of the Mithril Alliance and the Caesar Family is here. If they did not get the news from someone else, we might be the source of the clue that they have.” There was an unusually solemn expression on Hoffman’s chubby face which was usually graced with a smile.

“Regarding this exploration, only me and my Undead servants knew about it before we arrived. Master Basel, too, has only arrived two days before the team set off.” Lin Li had already thought about it a long time ago. It would be impossible for the news to leak from the Tower of Dusk unless he mentioned it in his dreams or his Undead servants betrayed him.

Hoffman looked at the people on his side, and shook his head slightly. With a look of puzzlement, he said, “In the Glittergold Trade Union, only Master Thomas and I knew about this matter. Jerany and Elvan only found out after the team set off. Even the two surviving members of the previous expedition never knew what those clues that they found meant…”

If the reason was that the Tower of Dusk and Glittergold Trade Union’s team had attracted the attention of the Mithril Alliance and the Caesar Family when they headed to the Gargas canyon, it wouldn’t seem to explain the problem at this time. After all, the other party obviously wanted to beat them in entering the canyon. They also required time to prepare. The fact that they were well-prepared made it seem impossible for their choice to enter the canyon to seem like a last-minute one.

After analyzing the possibilities, the senior executives of both parties still couldn’t figure out how the news got leaked, unless they had gotten the clues from other channels. Although that was also possible, it wasn’t a convincing explanation. After all, the Glittergold Trade Union got the news by chance. If it were not for the previous expedition team which brought the clues back, no one would believe that there would be High Elven ruins in the Gargas canyon.

After some discussion, they still did not get the desired result. The Glittergold Trade Union and the Tower of Dusk could only temporarily put that issue aside. After all, it was more important to deal with the Mithril Alliance and Caesar Family at the moment.

Hoffman and Lin Li had the same idea as Joseph in terms of dealing with the competitors. At least for now, the two parties should not get into an obvious conflict. The difference in strength between the two parties was not that great. Even if they had a certain advantage, they would not have enough power to explore the ruins after fighting. As for the exploration of the ruins, both parties should rely on their own abilities. Since they had an advantage, they could be confident, especially because the Glittergold Trade Union started off as archaeologists.

After getting some rest, the team of the Tower of Dusk and the Glittergold Trade Union packed up, and began to move toward the depths of the huge canyon. Seeing that the situation was amiss, the Mithril Alliance and the Caesar Family packed up at the same time, and went ahead together with their competitors.

Although the two teams did not give in to each other, they had a tacit understanding, and maintained a peaceful interaction. Everyone knew that the two parties could never cooperate, but they would not deliberately interfere with each other’s plans. There seemed to be an invisible wall between the two teams. Although they both had the same goal, they were doing their own things silently.

Although some tyrannical monsters that grew up in the environment appeared along the way, that did not have any impact on the two powerful teams at all. Be it Lin Li’s or Joseph’s team, their weakest member was still a level-15 powerhouse. Even the Legendary-level magical beasts would not be able to stop them in their tracks.

As the team delved deeper, some things were finally unearthed, such as broken sculptures, stone tables with blurred carvings, and other unidentified fragments. Since both teams had been advancing alongside each other, they each occupied an area, and did not interfere with each other. Whenever Lin Li and Hoffman found something, the people from their team would exclaim from time to time. Obviously, the other party also found some extraordinary items.