Chapter 576: Chapter 292: Machine Core Tunnel

“And me, I’m Li Ang’s—”

“Meluna,” Li Ang sighed, “This is Meluna.”

He hadn’t initially mentioned Meluna, and even though he wasn’t as angry as when he had first seen her again, introducing her willingly was still something he found hard to do, despite her having responded quite naturally just now.

It was an instinctual reaction for Li Ang to promptly interrupt her to prevent her from saying more.

But Xiaomo, being an experienced Sky Knight, couldn’t possibly have misheard what was just said.

He leaned in close to Li Ang and said in a low voice, looking at the similar appearance of Meimei and Meluna, “There’s another sister, isn’t there?”

“No, you’re mistaken. Counting Farina, my Sky Cavalry only has five members; the others are just—”

“Sky Cavalry? You call this a Sky Cavalry?”

Morales turned to look at Farina, his expression full of disbelief, as if to say, “Are you part of this too?”

“Oh dear,” Farina chuckled, “Relationships among young people can be a bit more complicated.”

By mentioning young people, she subtly removed herself from the equation, and Xiaomo picked up on this, yet he still growled, “Is this the kind of complicated relationship where good things don’t happen to me?”

It took him a moment to come to terms with Li Ang’s current situation, especially after repeatedly observing the nonchalant members of the Star Flower Travel Corps. The only one afraid of being misunderstood was Meimei, who quickly ducked aside.

“Let’s get back to business.”

Li Ang, looking serious, said, “Since the first thing you did upon seeing us was joke around, it means your situation isn’t so dire, despite those Imperial blades being right at your doorstep.”

“A joke? Now I really want to punch you; if I’d known, I wouldn’t have come to rescue you.” Xiaomo said with fists clenched.

After saying this, he let out a sigh, “Of course they aren’t capable of capturing me.”

Li Ang glanced at his old friend’s profile.

[Name: Duncan Morales]

[Race: Beast-Earkin [Shadow Fox Race]]

[Profession: Thief, Tier 8. Ranger, Tier 6]

[Summoned Beast: Shadow Crocodile, Tier 7]

[Energy Source: “Fellowship of Fortunate Stars” Refined Magic Core, Tier 7]

[Equipment: Dancer’s Sharpness, Tier 8. Blade of Mischief, Tier 7. Ranger’s Shadow Cloak, Tier 7. Sword Dancer’s Gloves, Tier 7. Silent Soft-Padded Long Boots, Tier 6.]

[Secret Technique: Comprehensive Secret Technique—Shadow Dance Assault, Professional Secret Technique—Chaotic Struggle]

[Skills: Talent Shadow Control Skill [Shadow Entanglement, Shadow Curtain], Thief [Light Step, Rapid Strike, Swift Body Technique, Stealth, Ambush], Weapon [Dancing Concealed Blade], Weapon [Juggling Strike], Cloak [Shadow Clone], Gloves [Sword Skill Enhancement], Long Boots [Rapid Run]]

[Combat Power Amplification: 54%]

With his full dodge and agility from the thief abilities and his innate Shadow Control Skill, those mindless Annihilation Knights would find it hard to subdue him.

However, places with Annihilation Knights usually also have Supervisors to ensure their effective action, commonly Oracle envoys.

This is what Li Ang wanted to discuss.

“So tell me, what is the Empire planning here? How did your conflict with them arise? And, have you seen anyone from The Soul Apex?”

Xiaomo looked at Li Ang, “That’s a lot of questions; answering them could take a while.”

“However,” he shifted gears, “I have even more to say, let’s walk and talk.”

Li Ang sensed that Morales intended to take them somewhere.

Farina said with a smile, “Having been in the City of the Ship’s Rudder for several years, I see you’ve discovered quite a few secrets quietly, like where we are now.”

“Sister Farin, you’re subtly calling me a sneaky thief again.”

Xiaomo turned nimbly to face Li Ang and Farina while walking backward, unafraid of missteps even in the dim light, indicating his familiarity with this “Machine Core Tunnel.”

“This path we’re on wasn’t a secret I discovered sneakily; it was found by our team before I joined.

“Uh, talking to you all and saying ’our team’ feels a bit odd, I’ll just call it the Super Lucky Team.”

Xiaomo pointed downward and said, “You’ll never guess what’s buried beneath the City of the Ship’s Rudder.”

Li Ang didn’t know why he steered the topic in this direction, suspecting it might relate to current events here.

Xiaomo grinned and pointed at Li Ang, “It’s just like Li Ang to start thinking deeply. Share your thoughts.”

Li Ang spoke plainly, “This tunnel is related to a certain secret under the City of the Ship’s Rudder, and the Empire has come for this.”

“You’re not far off, but some things an outsider can’t fully analyze.” Xiaomo continued, “Do you know why our team chose this place as our main base?”

“How could I analyze that when I have no information?” Li Ang retorted.

“Ah, I was just making conversation.” Xiaomo spread his hands and explained directly.

The Fellowship of Fortunate Stars is a Sky Cavalry primarily composed of various interesting individuals, founded on the principle of “joyful adventure, fortunate events, hoping to prosper.” Because the leader himself is very skilled, it’s not a place where Sky Cavaliers lazing around under the guise of joy can join easily, and somehow, it became a Celestial Group.

The base being in the City of the Ship’s Rudder is simple; the leader is a local, and his father was an engineer at a large shipyard, as was his grandfather. Perhaps from family heritage, when sorting his father’s belongings, he found a peculiar notebook, the author unknown, filled with research on the pre-civilization of the City of the Ship’s Rudder.

The leader of the Super Lucky Team had a penchant for adventurous combat rather than engineering knowledge, didn’t learn much about it, and couldn’t tell if there was any such information in the notebook, but he focused on one point—beneath the City of the Ship’s Rudder might lie some extraordinary treasure.

So, besides venturing out, the Super Lucky Team would explore the City of the Ship’s Rudder while resting at the base, hoping to uncover secrets.

Then, they discovered these steel passages inside the island.

“In reality, similar passages were already known to the guilds.”

Morales pointed above, “The reason for building the guild office on top of the island is they guard a passage, exploring its secrets.

“As a city rebuilt on the ruins of pre-civilization, the construction of the City of the Ship’s Rudder was also about clearing wreckage and restarting large machinery. Surely many secrets were unearthed, and it wouldn’t be surprising if others knew of different passages.”

“Your words imply that we are walking through numerous such passages, but they don’t connect with each other,” Li Ang stated.

“Correct.” Xiaomo snapped his fingers.

“The leader says each major shipyard basically controls a passage, the guild controls one, and this one here, according to numbering, is the fourteenth passage.”

Farina continued, “So the fourteenth belongs to the Fellowship of Fortunate Stars?”

“No.” Xiaomo answered negatively.

“The Fellowship of Fortunate Stars didn’t open the fourteenth passage; they discovered it. It already had a controller before that.”

The Beast-Earkin youth slowed down, raising the lantern to illuminate a broader, taller area further ahead.

His intention was to give everyone a slight glimpse of how vast the space they were currently in was despite the dimness.

“The fourteenth passage, as its controller claims, is much wider and deeper than the other thirteen, and though a passage, it’s an entire interconnected underground space. It contains many diverging paths, the deepest of which can be seen directly below the island, through the clouds, to the Bloody Red Land.”

Li Ang frowned slightly, “Its controller is—”

“Shadow Factory.”

Xiaomo’s face carried a smile, “It’s a legend of the City of the Ship’s Rudder, a group well-known among locals as existing in reality. This is the Shadow Factory, and we’re walking through passages found and cleared by them.”

“And Shadow Factory is also the Fellowship of Fortunate Stars’ ally. We explore the fourteenth passage together, trying to open the door at the end of the passage.

“Such doors exist at the ends of all thirteen other passages as well.”

Xiaomo stopped speaking and paused in his tracks.

Li Ang knew he had something crucial to say; this person usually went with the flow but would get like this when serious.

Morales lifted his hand, making an elliptical shape in the air.

“Imagine this as the island outline of the City of the Ship’s Rudder.”

Li Ang and the young girls listening attentively nodded.

Xiaomo placed a clenched fist in the middle of the ellipse.

Li Ang seemed to realize what he was implying.

“These fourteen passages are collectively called the Machine Core Passages. They’re named that way because all these passages lead to the center of the island.”

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