Chapter 137: Mage Warren

Olive grove, a position slightly south of the center.

In the open space between several olive trees, Lao Hanke pointed at an inconspicuous little stone and said, "At that time, that mysterious person was standing in that position; when I saw him, he had stopped his movements."

With an accurate location, plus the previous experience of dispelling Disguise Magic, Xia Duo checked the surrounding Magic Net background directly with Magic Vision. With intent, he soon discovered an anomaly—

It was still a Disguise Magic. Xia Duo carefully dispelled it, exposing what was still a dim, yellowish aura, but it was slightly different from what he had just discovered in the north.

Xia Duo carefully checked the changes in the surface and the first layer of the Magic Net; it was indeed different from before. Xia Duo did not conduct too much further investigation, but instead cast a 【Light】.

With the help of the light, he recorded some information about this unknown spell in his notebook. Xia Duo staying here so late was largely to obtain more magic data.

Otherwise, after discovering that unknown spell in the north, he could have returned immediately to turn in the mission.

But now it was late, and the town gates should have all been closed. Xia Duo put away his notebook and looked at the crowd waiting for him to speak. Xia Duo found Wuke, pulled him aside, and asked in a low voice:

"If we go back now, can you call for the town gates to be opened?"

"Mage Xia Duo, this—" Wuke was somewhat troubled; this was already beyond his scope of duty.

But he did not directly refuse, which made Xia Duo perceive the feasibility. "We must return tonight, otherwise there might be trouble."

"A mysterious person? But wasn't that made up by Lao Hanke?"

"Made up? A mysterious person can be made up, but the magic here cannot be made up at will. I checked it several times and confirmed that an unknown magic was set up here by someone. I just dispelled the disguise on it; do you think the person behind this will notice?"

"This—" Wuke suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. If they wanted to return to town from Hexi Village, besides taking the stone bridge outside the town's West Gate, the only other way was to swim back through the Wolfburg River.

And near Savi Territory, the narrowest part of the Wolfburg River was over ten meters wide. Many team members, including Wuke, were not good at swimming. If they encountered the mysterious person on the way back, then—

"Mage Xia Duo, do you think we will encounter the mysterious person? We will, we definitely will!"

By the end, Wuke's voice had risen uncontrollably. Seeing this, Xia Duo hurriedly pacified Wuke, "Don't be nervous, that was just my inference. Didn't you all return safely a few days ago? But if you stay here today, I cannot guarantee whether you will encounter the other party tomorrow."

"I have a way!" Wuke said immediately. "I know the guards at the South Gate; I have entered after dark before."

"Good! Then let's go back now." Xia Duo made the final decision, letting Wuke notify the other team members to prepare to return, and to bring Lao Hanke and his son.

Afterwards, Xia Duo personally dealt with the two Goblins with high Wisdom. If he had an independent Research Lab in the Mage Tower now, perhaps he would have brought them back.

But with a mysterious person lurking in the dark, Xia Duo had no heart to play any "civilization" games. Bringing them along would only be a burden; he could only deal with them as soon as possible.

He believed that Goblins like these were not everywhere in the wilderness, but at least they were much more common than imagined.

After doing all this, Xia Duo felt slightly more at ease. Although he knew when checking the Disguise Magic that the duration of this magic was at least calculated in days, no one could be sure if the mysterious person would have a sudden whim and come to take a look.

Now, Xia Duo was betting that the mysterious person believed an Apprentice could not discover his setup and would only come to check periodically based on the duration of the Disguise Magic.

And that he could run away even if he couldn't win, thanks to his extraordinary physique after awakening his bloodline.

……

On the way back, when the villagers saw Lao Hanke and his son being taken away, they were all beaming with joy. Xia Duo watched this scene coldly and summoned his mount.

The group embarked on the journey home under the farewells of the villagers.

Xia Duo rode in front and summoned a ball of light, hovering in mid-air. Although it wasn't very bright, it was at least enough for people to see clearly.

It wasn't until the moon rose and the soft moonlight spilled over the earth that Xia Duo stopped maintaining the 【Light】.

On the other side, after Xia Duo and the others had left Hexi Village for some distance, an alarm suddenly sounded in a Private Research Lab in the Tower of Time.

A suave middle-aged Mage stopped what he was doing, first put away some experimental materials, and then cast a cleaning spell on himself before walking out of the experimental area.

Coming to another corner of the Research Lab, a long table covered with mysterious patterns was placed here. One section was flashing with a warning red light. The middle-aged Mage reached out and tapped a corner of the Magic Array, pausing the alarm sound while murmuring to himself:

"Did the Suggestion fail? Or did someone discover it?"

The middle-aged Mage walked to the other end of the long table, where there was also an intricately structured Magic Array. In the center of the array was a colorless, transparent Crystal Ball.

He stroked the Crystal Ball a few times and recited an auxiliary incantation he was already proficient in. The Magic Net soon responded, and misty fog appeared in the Crystal Ball.

After a roll, the fog in the middle gradually dissipated, revealing a scene of the team walking. The middle-aged Mage adjusted the viewing angle, his gaze lingering on the face of each member of the team for a moment, and finally noticing Lao Hanke and his son with their hands tied behind their backs.

Seeing that his plan had fallen through, the middle-aged Mage did not get angry, but instead smiled, "Interesting! An Apprentice? He was actually able to discover my setup! Interesting!"

After laughing, the middle-aged Mage immediately took a Badge from his Dimensional Bag and tapped his finger on the sword-shaped fleur-de-lis pattern on the badge. A glimmer of light flashed and vanished on the pattern, and a gloomy voice came out—

"Warren, what do you want with me?"

"Nothing much, just a reminder: the plan on my end has failed. You can handle it yourself!"

"You—Warren! How are you handling things? You can't even handle such a small matter!"

Upon hearing this, Warren's face immediately darkened. "First, I am not your subordinate; you are just a vermin hiding in a dark corner playing tricks, don't vent your temper on me. Second, I am an Intermediate Mage, and you are just a Low-level Mage with no hope of advancement. Even if you don't use an honorific, please call me Mage Warren. This is my last warning; don't contact me again after this."

A burst of rapid breathing came from the other side of the badge, and then it returned to normal. "Apologies, Mage Warren, it was my improper speech, but you can't just take the benefits and not do the work! Please put in more effort regarding that matter!"

This tone was already exceptionally humble, but Warren remained unmoved. "It has been discovered here; the risk of exposure is too high if I act again. The reward you gave before is not enough!"

"You—"

Seeming to sense the rage on the other side, Warren left behind the words, "Come find me after you've thought it through," and directly cut off the communication.

Putting the badge away, Warren walked back toward the experimental area, ready to continue his previous experiment, seemingly not taking this matter to heart at all.