Chapter 288: Two Hundred and Eighty: Collusion (Part 3)

"Captain, this isn't right. We've searched a dozen cities back and forth, and we still haven't seen a shadow of the hostages. If we go any further, we'll be touching upon Mingdu..."

A team member stared at the map in their hands, lost in thought. At this moment, the silence of the group was deafening...

"Could it be that the hostages are really in Mingdu?" Bei Bei paused, put down the map in their hand, and then looked toward Mingdu, which was several hundred miles away.

"Luo Yu is not a reckless person, so the hostages are most likely only in Mingdu. But according to the latest news, it seems the three princesses were given to a certain minister last time..." Xu Sanshi looked at the latest news in his hand with a dark face, sweating profusely under the gazes of the group.

"Who?" The Star Luo Empire team member widened their eyes, looking at Xu Sanshi.

"Luo Yu..."

…………

Never mind. If it were anyone else, they could still find a way to sneak in, but Luo Yu is out of the question.

The current Luo Yu can be called the hardest person to kill in the Sun Moon Empire, bar none.

"Then what should we do? I went to Mingdu when I was scouting the path a few days ago, but whenever something is even remotely related to Luo Yu, I can detect some extremely terrifying auras. Not to mention the mansion the Sun Moon Empire Emperor bestowed upon Luo Yu now; its defenses are even tighter than where Xu Tianran was located during the last Battle of Mingdu."

A Shrek team member sighed as they looked at Xu Sanshi. As the scout responsible for pathfinding, they possessed the most intelligence.

"So, you mean we have no way to rescue them for the time being?" Huo Yu Hao's eyes dimmed.

Bei Bei continued: "Our mission is actually already complete. Aside from Mingdu, we cannot find any other place more suitable than this. Moreover, with our current strength, we wouldn't be able to survive even if we just happened to encounter a Soul Engineer Legion. Just the City Defense Army of Mingdu alone could potentially wipe us all out..."

The shadow of being surrounded and intercepted by the City Defense Army last time still leaves a deep impression on the Shrek group to this day, not to mention the five great Soul Engineer Legions of the Sun Moon Empire.

"Let's observe the situation first and send someone to check the specific circumstances. If we can determine the general location of the hostages, we won't need to continue further; we only need to notify the Academy and the Three Great Empires. After all, once it involves combat at the Title Douluo level, it is no longer something we can reach. Don't forget the purpose of our trip..." Wang Dong'er looked at Huo Yu Hao and Bei Bei and spoke slowly.

…………

"The latest news has come from Shrek Academy; Huo Yu Hao's side has already arrived in Mingdu, but they haven't yet detected the specific situation of the hostages." A team member passed the letter in their hand around.

Wang Qiu Er's team was a mix of personnel from Shrek Academy and the Three Great Empires. To be safe, there were several Soul Douluo in the team, so their actions were proceeding quite smoothly.

"We are also almost at Mingdu. However, the latest news has come from the Three Great Empires side: because this operation is extremely dangerous, regardless of whether we succeed or not, we need to take Su Yu with us when we retreat. Su Yu is a genius of our Three Great Empires and even more so a heaven-gifted talent of Shrek. This operation is highly likely to affect him, so we must find Su Yu before we act and take him with us when we retreat."

A Soul Douluo assigned by the Three Great Empires' royal family handed the intelligence in their hand to Wang Qiu Er, though the expression on their face was somewhat unnatural.

"This is only natural. We were nearly besieged during the last Battle of Mingdu, so..."

Wang Qiu Er did not yet know the specific situation of their information, but the same could not be said for Xu Sanshi's side.

Just as they were deliberating, a Soul Douluo who had been closing their eyes to rest suddenly stood up and looked around.

Their codename is Guying, with the martial soul Cloud Sea Sky Eagle. They are extremely skilled at reconnaissance, and a pair of eyes comparable to an eagle's.

"What's wrong, Senior?" A team member looked at Guying's unusual actions and was about to stand up.

In an instant, light lit up in the distant sky, and dozens of umbrella-shaped Soul Guidance Devices unfolded simultaneously, sealing off the space from four directions!

The large umbrellas, dozens of meters in diameter, emitted blue light, then spread out individually. The light continuously intertwined, finally forming a thin curtain of light that tightly surrounded Wang Qiu Er's group.

When this beam of light appeared, Wang Qiu Er's group felt dizzy and bloated. Because of this brief interference, by the time they reacted, their retreat had already been sealed.

Moreover, the large umbrellas arrived so swiftly that the group had no time to react at all.

"We were waiting here for your arrival long ago, but you didn't expect that from the moment you stepped into the Sun Moon Empire, you were already exposed." Leiqier chuckled, looking at the Shrek group who were standing in battle formation.

Wang Qiu Er looked coldly at Leiqier, killing intent filling their eyes: "How did you know our whereabouts?"

Leiqier touched the dagger in their hand, their gaze sweeping back and forth over the group. A hint of cunning flashed in those shrewd eyes, "Your academy caused such a big commotion at the border of our Sun Moon Empire, yet you didn't take any further steps. Even we could guess what you wanted to do; do you think our His Majesty, our captain, couldn't guess it? Not to mention the route of your group—it doesn't look like a merchant caravan, and it doesn't look like travel. Which tour group sneaks into someone else's capital without a sound?"

Once these words were spoken, Wang Qiu Er instantly understood why they had been exposed. The movement of acting together was already large, not to mention their people appearing in other cities one after another.

Lu Jiuyu stepped forward and continued: "Actually, your route was also within our expectations, but we didn't expect your patience to be so poor. If you hadn't approached Mingdu, I wouldn't have set my sights on you, but... you were too arrogant, actually daring to dream of approaching the captain's mansion."

Wang Qiu Er raised an eyebrow and then asked: "So, that's how we were exposed, and then you followed the vine to find our tracks?"

Yan Lingshu's voice came from behind Leiqier, "Not entirely. It was mainly because your route was too strange. From the moment you entered the Sun Moon Empire, we actually didn't find any problems, but your route kept getting closer to Mingdu, which aroused our vigilance. Not to mention that among your group, your aura, Wang Qiu Er, is truly too unique. Although you used concealment, your aura and fluctuations were still different in our detectors. Simply put, synthesizing all the information, we concluded that you are people from the Three Great Empires!"

Boom!

One after another, Soul Guidance Rays launched an attack without warning. In an instant, large swaths of red light clusters collided head-on with the dense Soul Guidance Rays. In this enclosed space, the violent explosions caused ripples to appear on the light curtain.

How fast were the people of the Three Great Empires? They made their response the moment Lu Jiuyu and the others launched their attack. They were elites among their peers, more than capable of dealing with such sudden situations.

"Spread out! Don't let the other side seal off our space for movement!"

Boom!

The Sun Moon Empire group did not choose to enter the blue light cage of the Soul Guidance Device to engage in close-quarters combat with the people of the Three Great Empires, but instead chose to adopt a simple and crude kite tactic to conduct blanket strikes.

A large number of Soul Guidance Rays, accompanied by a series of violent roars, resounded through the mountains. The people of the Three Great Empires were not forced into a desperate situation; they were resisting while seeking a way to break through.

"Surrender. Your plan has already failed. If you surrender now, perhaps His Majesty will be happy and spare your lives. However, Wang Qiu Er, I think there is no one more beautiful than you in this world. If you are presented as a gift to the captain, I think the captain will definitely be satisfied, hahaha..."

"You are welcome to try!"

The Golden Dragon Spear struck directly at Leiqier. Leiqier showed no fear, quietly watching Wang Qiu Er, who was like a swimming dragon, charging over at high speed.

Bang!

A crisp sound echoed out. Wang Qiu Er's Golden Dragon Spear fiercely pierced into the thin blue light curtain. The light curtain was pierced by the Golden Dragon Spear for nearly half of the spearhead, and the light curtain then rippled, absorbing the full power of the Golden Dragon Spear.

"Don't waste your effort. You even dispatched a Soul Douluo; do you think we wouldn't have countermeasures?" Leiqier looked at Wang Qiu Er, who was close at hand, and smiled contemptuously.

The Soul Engineer squad brought by Lu Jiuyu was still continuously wearing them down, while Wang Qiu Er kept trying to attack the large Soul Guidance umbrella, but every attack disappeared without a trace, like a clay ox entering the sea.

"Do you think we'll let them see through our flaws like this, and then..." Leiqier isolated the sound from the outside and communicated with Lu Jiuyu.

Lu Jiuyu touched their chin and continued: "We are acting a bit too arrogant. It's still within a controllable range, but at the very least, we must let them break this Soul Guidance Device of ours. Otherwise, if we just let this big fish go, the flaw will be too big."

Yan Lingshu looked at Wang Qiu Er, who was still fighting hard, their eyes flickering slightly, "You don't really want to give her to the captain, do you..."

Leiqier looked at Yan Lingshu's complex expression and chuckled, "A peerless beauty like Wang Qiu Er, I think no one is qualified to possess her except the captain. I think His Majesty would also be very happy to present her to the captain as a gift."

"You're serious!" Yan Lingshu's eyes widened, "Don't forget what her identity is. She is the captain of Shrek; aren't you afraid..."

"Let's discuss this kind of thing later." Lu Jiuyu really didn't want to continue listening, so they interrupted: "Fang Wei's side has already deployed, and Sheng Hongyun and Jing Peng are still waiting for our news. We should think about what to do next."

"Since we all intend to play the long game, we might as well be more realistic. Pretend they broke this Level Eight Soul Guidance Device, the Thousand Pound Soul-Fixing Umbrella, and then we pursue them, driving them toward the Evil Soul Master base in Lieming City. We can even let them clean up the Evil Soul Masters on the way, and Fang Wei and the others have also made deployments there." Leiqier looked at the Sun Moon Empire group and revealed a meaningful smile.