Chapter 276: The Entrance to the Trier of the Fourth Epoch?

The "Iron and Blood Cross Order" is searching for the entrance to the Trier of the Fourth Epoch? This person disappeared for several months and then reappeared? Hearing the trader's words, several thoughts flashed through Lu Mian's mind in an instant.

He kept in mind the warning not to communicate verbally and to try his best not to speak. He did not respond to the trader's words, leaned his body slightly forward, and extended his right hand, attempting to take the small, brownish leather suitcase.

The starving-bear-like man did not refuse, only laughed once:

"If I were Gardner Martin, I would pray that I never know what is inside this case."

What does this mean? As Lu Mian's thoughts raced, his palm truly touched the leather suitcase.

Just at this moment, his gaze froze. He discovered that the trader's right palm was not at the handle of the suitcase; it was suspended at the position of the sleeve, as if being pulled by an invisible force.

Following the handle of the suitcase, Lu Mian also saw that there was no arm inside that sleeve; it was empty, supported by something invisible!

No arm! His heart tightened. He subconsciously raised his head to look at the trader, only to see that the brownish-red eyes, set off by thick whiskers and coarse eyebrows, were as cold as a wild beast, filled with undisguised hatred and fear.

As various thoughts came one after another, Lu Mian forcibly controlled his reaction. He took the case steadily, without asking, without observing, and without reflexively defending or attacking, just as if he had discovered nothing at all.

The trader's emotions seemed to have a slight fluctuation, his laughter carrying a bit of shrillness:

"You tell Gardner Martin that it won't be long before he also enters the underground!

"All the pain and torture I have endured, he will also encounter once!"

Lu Mian only listened and did not speak. Carrying the small leather suitcase, he was about to turn his body and leave the Albe Mine with "Giant" Simon and "Rat" Christo.

Suddenly, behind the trader, at the other entrance, the sound of footsteps rang out once again.

Compared to before, it was increasingly clear, seemingly already close at hand.

And Lu Mian was even more certain than just now that it was the sound of leather shoes walking in the deathly silent tunnel!

The next second, a figure appeared in the eyes of him, Christo, and Simon.

It was a naked man, his neck empty, without a head, with fresh blood constantly seeping from the jagged opening.

He was only wearing a pair of dark blue shorts, and on his feet were a pair of black, laceless leather shoes.

This headless monster rushed behind the trader in two steps, extended its hands, grabbed his head, and pulled upward and backward with force.

"Save me! Save me!" The trader could no longer hide his panic and fear, and he shouted loudly.

Almost simultaneously, his entire head was lifted up, revealing the blood-stained spine hanging below. It was very long, swaying gently like a tail.

Silently, the trader's shirt, vest, trousers, and formal wear simultaneously lost their support and collapsed to the ground.

He had no body at all, only the head and the bloody spine connected to the head remaining.

"Save me! Save me!" The trader struggled hard, but was tightly grabbed by the headless monster, which seemed to want to stuff it back into the empty neck.

Although Lu Mian had seen many twisted and terrifying monsters in the real Cordu Village, this was the first time he had encountered one so bizarre and horrifying.

He turned his body without hesitation, ignoring the pleas for help from the trader's head, and rushed straight toward the entrance of the secret tunnel.

"Giant" Simon and "Rat" Christo, who had long been frightened by this scene, finally no longer needed to try hard to control themselves. Like cyclists hearing the starting gun, they bent their backs and dived back into the tunnel.

Lu Mian caught up to them in a few steps, behind him echoing the shrill screams in the Albe Mine:

"Save me! Save me!"

"If I die, don't think you'll live either!"

"Help!"

The three of them, carrying calcium carbide lamps, walked silently through the secret tunnel, which was only 1.2 or 1.3 meters high, their hearts contracting with every scream from behind.

A few minutes later, the shrill screams stopped abruptly, and the direction of the Albe Mine fell into a deathly silence.

Immediately following, the sound of leather shoes walking echoed in this secret tunnel.

"Rat" Christo was the shortest, and his posture while bending and running was the most relaxed. While moving forward, he turned his body sideways, frantically pointing at his pocket with his right finger, his face filled with the terror of having seen death.

That special rat gave a very dangerous warning? Lu Mian lowered his gaze, took a look at his left chest, and then nodded slightly to Christo, meaning: I'm behind you, you just keep running forward.

The sound of footsteps approached bit by bit, and the spirits of Lu Mian and the others were highly tense.

Although they had to bend their backs to walk through the secret tunnel, this only slightly reduced their escape speed. After all, they were all Beyonders who were good at fighting and had significantly enhanced physical fitness.

Time passed second by second. Just as the sound of leather shoes was only a few meters away and a chill rose on Lu Mian's back, the three of them finally reached the tunnel exit and dived out one after another.

Seeing "Giant" Simon about to run away on his own, Lu Mian, who had returned to the agreed area, no longer remained silent and growled in a low voice:

"Come over and block the door!"

While speaking, he turned his body back himself, dropped the calcium carbide lamp and the small leather suitcase, and attempted to push the heavy stones next to the exit.

"Giant" Simon subconsciously wanted to ignore Lu Mian's order, but his heart still trembled from that low shout.

Along the way, he had become accustomed to following the other's instructions, as if that were the only guarantee for his own survival.

He fell into a struggle.

After a brief hesitation, "Giant" Simon suspected that if he just ran away like this, and Charles wasn't killed by that monster, the other party would very likely attack him later and kill the "deserter"!

"Rat" Christo had similar thoughts, but he believed that if the two of them didn't go to help, Charles wouldn't waste time blocking the tunnel exit. By then, whoever ran the slowest would become the monster's first target, "buying" enough time for the other two to escape.

After weighing the characteristics of their pathways and the levels of their sequences, Christo felt that he was definitely the slowest one, and he had no way to harm "Giant" Simon and "Lion" Charles in a short time to force them to slow down and be overtaken by him.

He no longer hesitated, stopped running, returned to the tunnel exit, and helped Lu Mian push the stones to block the door.

With the demonstration of this "Rat," "Giant" Simon also chose to follow the order and turned his body back.

The three of them worked together, and it only took a few seconds to block the entrance and exit of the secret tunnel tightly.

The sound of footsteps disappeared accordingly.

At the same time, "Rat" Christo said with both surprise and joy:

"It's fine now!"

His pocket, which contained the rat Taffy, no longer had any obvious movement.

Lu Mian did not join in the joy. He picked up the calcium carbide lamp and the small leather suitcase and said in a low voice:

"Let's talk after we return to the first underground level."

The spirits of "Giant" Simon and "Rat" Christo, which had relaxed a bit, tightened up once again. They instinctively followed Lu Mian to climb the rock wall and turned into another secret tunnel.

Along the way, they did not encounter any attacks, but being underground, the surroundings were either completely silent or occasionally had strange sounds coming from them. No matter which environment it was, for them who had just been frightened, it was not a good experience. If it weren't for Lu Mian remaining calm and composed throughout, "Giant" Simon and "Rat" Christo would very likely have made some extreme moves.

After returning to the area that corresponded one-to-one with the streets and squares on the surface, "Rat" Christo sighed long while reaching his hand into his pocket to soothe Taffy:

"When I saw that monster, I thought we would die there."

Both he and Simon had killed more than ten people, and they had also dealt with other Beyonders and even fought, but they had never seen a monster like that just now, nor had they experienced such an abnormally horrifying thing.

This was even more terrifying than the horror stories they heard when they were children!

Lu Mian smiled:

"Didn't the boss say so? As long as there is no communication and the box is not opened, there won't be too much risk."

But seeing such a situation, most people wouldn't be able to stay calm! "Giant" Simon and "Rat" Christo had a brand new understanding of Charles's mental fortitude.

"Benefiting" from the fright brought by the trader and the headless monster, the two of them had no interest at all in what was inside the box. Following Lu Mian, they hurriedly left the underground, returned to 11 Spring Street, and met Gardner Martin in the study.

Gardner Martin took the small leather suitcase, took a casual look at it, and said with a smile:

"Very good, you all did very well. Later, I will give you some rewards one after another."

After praising them, this Savare boss looked at Lu Mian and nodded gently:

"I have a sentence to give you.

"If you want to go further on the 'Hunter' pathway, you must remember this sentence:

"'The devil is our friend, and hell is other people.'" (Note 1)

The devil is our friend, and hell is other people... Lu Mian couldn't figure out the true meaning of this sentence for a moment, and Gardner Martin did not explain.

After watching these three subordinates leave the study, Gardner Martin turned sideways and looked at the door connecting the study and the living room.

That door opened with a creak, and a man wearing a half-high silk top hat, a white shirt, a yellow vest, black formal wear, and dark trousers walked over.

He had short brownish-red hair, brownish-red eyes, and thick and messy whiskers, with relatively thick eyebrows, resembling a male bear that had been hungry for a long time. He was exactly the trader who had handed the small leather suitcase to Lu Mian and the others and was tragically dragged back by the headless monster.

"Olsen, how do you feel?" Gardner Martin asked.

The trader known as Olsen replied with a smile:

"The background is simple, the origin is clear, he has brains, courage, and initiative, and he is decisive enough to initially merge several people who had nothing to do with each other into a team in a very short time. Isn't this what you wanted?

"As for loyalty, this is the least thing to worry about. When the time comes, even if he isn't loyal, he will become loyal."

Gardner Martin nodded gently:

"Observe him for another period of time and see who he comes into contact with."

After finishing this topic, Gardner Martin looked at the small leather suitcase on the table and asked with slight curiosity:

"What exactly is inside here?"

"I said, you'd better pray that you never know." The trader known as Olsen smiled, picked up the suitcase, and left the study.

After walking a few steps in the hall, he suddenly felt his head was a bit crooked, so he raised both hands, pressed his head, and snapped it straight with a crack.

Note 1: The original source of the quote is "Montaillou".

(End of chapter)