Chapter 22: Tracking the Trail

The problem with the town beneath the Tote Mountain Range was discovered a month ago. Although remote, it was not out of contact with the outside world. Even disregarding the residents, the branch of the Mercenary Guild here had quite a lot of contact with the outside world.

But all these connections were cut off two months ago. Those who were sent over all mysteriously disappeared after reaching this town, and no information was sent out.

This place seemed to have become a bottomless pit, swallowing anyone who came here…

It was only after the Sanctuary Church noticed this matter that a large-scale Investigation Team was formed. The fact that most investigators could be silently eliminated without a trace fully indicated the unusual nature of this place.

Perhaps some Cult had taken a fancy to this place and was using it as a hideout.

“The efficiency in this world is too low,” Zheng Yichen muttered as he watched the teams that had entered the town. It took over two months to notice something was wrong? In the real world, problems would be identified in less than a week.

His head was then patted by Loris.

“Stop looking. You’ll be discovered.”

“How is that possible… we’re several kilometers away!” His dragon vision allowed him to see the situation there clearly. For humans, without a telescope, they probably couldn’t even see this side clearly.

“Don’t apply the definitions from your world to this one.”

Zheng Yichen nodded, but a strange feeling still lingered in his heart. Come to think of it, he was probably the Transmigrator who was exposed the earliest, right?

Thinking about it, the people in this world weren’t stupid. If they truly encountered a powerful being, it wouldn’t be particularly unusual for that being to notice something amiss. Especially when that powerful being was an ancient monster, merely the experience from their long life was enough for them to detect something wrong.

Even if Loris said he was special, this specialness was hard to conceal when there was such a vast disparity in strength.

“What’s wrong?” A brawny man wearing knight armor noticed a Mage in a robe beside him looking in a certain direction and asked.

“It seems someone was peeping at us…” The Mage frowned slightly. A glimmer of Mana lit up on his finger, and faint Rune Patterns could be vaguely seen within the light. He shook his head. “Have the others be more careful.”

“Huh? What was that just now?” Zheng Yichen, who was walking, looked around suspiciously. Just a moment ago, he felt a strange sensation sweep past nearby but it bypassed them.

“Detection Magic.”

“…That’s ridiculous.” Clicking his tongue, Zheng Yichen couldn’t help but mutter. Damn, this feeling was even better than radar. “Were we discovered?”

“No.”

After entering the town, the Church’s team immediately began gathering useful information. The information collected made the team leader frown lightly in thought. There were no signs of human activity here at all. Not only that… it was as if time had stopped in this place. After two months, the unmanned rooms should have gathered dust.

Yet in reality, they were completely brand new, as if the meaning of time had utterly vanished here.

“Found anything?”

“…” Several Mages in the team shook their heads with grim expressions. This abnormal state was definitely caused by some power, but they hadn’t detected any traces. This meant the other party’s level far exceeded theirs. “The other party might have already left.”

“Split up and search.” After pondering for a moment, the team leader gave the order to the others. “Remember not to spread out too thinly.”

The search of this Town proceeded quickly. After finding the only anomaly within the town, everyone immediately gathered. They surrounded the Mercenary Guild branch. After opening the tightly shut door here, a faint, filmy light appeared before them.

“Don’t touch this thing. It’s very dangerous.” A Mage stopped the team leader’s attempt to touch the light film and explained, “This is a Seal. Touching it recklessly might trigger a counterattack.”

“Can it be removed?”

“It will take a day.” The speaking Mage felt somewhat puzzled. The strength of this Seal wasn’t high, but it was of a very troublesome type. The slightest carelessness could cause the Seal to erupt. The lightest consequence would be the entire Mercenary Guild branch being blown sky-high. More severe consequences… perhaps the entire Town would be erased. After all, only the person who set this Seal would know what it was connected to if someone broke through it.

“Then begin.” The team leader nodded. After leaving most of the people behind to protect these Mages who couldn’t stop once they began unraveling the Seal, he pulled out a small team and led them to search the vicinity.

The first area they searched was the Tote Mountain Range.

After discovering that everyone in this town had disappeared, he had made thorough preparations. This Town was ordinary, and the Tote Mountain Range wasn’t a special place either. Although it had resources, they were quite common. However, in the past six months, the town’s development had seen an additional boost. The main reason was the appearance of a Young Dragon in the Tote Mountain Range.

Could it be that the people in this town foolishly provoked that Young Dragon, angering the old one, so the entire town was silenced?

When they entered the Forest, they encountered new Magic. This originally ordinary Forest, which rarely even had large beasts, was now filled with all sorts of dangerous beasts roaming about. Moreover, the beasts here were exceptionally fierce. They were attacked as soon as they entered.

“Captain, I remember this Forest didn’t have many powerful beasts, not even Magical Beasts.” A team member looked at a killed wolf at his feet. The wolf’s fur showed a faint bluish tint, and even in death, traces of Mana fluctuation remained on its body. This was a Magical Beast capable of using Wind Attribute powers!

Even if its level wasn’t high, its appearance here was very strange!

“First confirm whether that Dragon truly existed.” The captain paid attention to the surrounding environment and said to the person in the team best at tracking. Later, instead of finding the targeted Young Dragon, they found an area with traces of past combat.

“A heavy crossbow… and a Ballista!?” The captain stared at the fragments by his hand, his frown deepening. This thing wasn’t shattered; it was crushed by some force. Fragments were scattered all around. What was abnormal was that there were no signs of anyone here. Even the environment was different from other places. This place seemed to have suffered some kind of Curse, not a blade of grass grew, clearly demarcated from other lush areas.

Apart from this, there were no other traces here at all. Everything had been cleaned up neatly.

“Captain, I found a cave… probably belonging to that Young Dragon.”

“There really is a dragon? Let’s go check!” Dropping the useless fragment in his hand, he immediately stood up and hurried towards the place suspected to be the dragon’s den.