Chapter 786: As Clear as Fire in a Cave

The sound of horse hooves echoed in the dark cavern.

Lei En, with dark‑gold wings sprouting from his back, maintained a height of several meters above the ground as he flew ahead.

Behind him, two hundred Holy Lance Knights rode bronze warhorses, racing across the ground; the Extreme Warriors' fiery dragon bodies were too large to fly, and they could not squeeze through the cramped tunnels, so they could only run to keep up.

A moment later, the legion entered a massive cavern.

Lei En, as if he had been here before, was intimately familiar with the terrain; he descended into a hidden underground fissure and found the benevolent Zhor hidden in a cave at the bottom of the gorge.

Kuilu's figure appeared near the cave entrance; seeing Lei En, she relaxed.

Her gaze swept over Lei En and the Holy Lance Knights; seeing their empty hands, she assumed Lei En's raid had failed and asked, "Lei En, did you run into trouble? Why didn't you succeed?"

"I never miss."

Lei En smiled lightly, offering no further explanation, "How are things on your side?" In fact, through the eyes of the Thundercast Celestial Soldiers, he knew the situation perfectly.

"Everything is going smoothly," Kuilu said with a smile. "We've been waiting for you."

"Good, then."

Lei En nodded, ordering the Holy Lance Knights to guard outside the entrance while he followed Kuilu inside. The cavern was shaped like a jar: the mouth was tiny, but the interior was vast, and the once‑rugged floor had been cleared into a plain that could hold tens of thousands.

Upon entering, Lei En saw a large group of Zhor.

These dark elves numbered far more than planned—over two thousand.

Although they also had dark skin and slender builds, each dressed as a Zhor warrior, their demeanor was clearly unlike typical Zhor: most had bright eyes, no trace of twisted evil, their faces filled with anticipation and a hint of nervousness.

They divided into a dozen or so small groups, standing or sitting; most were Zhor warriors, with only a few mages among them.

Each small group came from a different dark‑elf city.

The largest contingent were the newly arrived Mosuobulai residents—over three hundred—many bearing wounds and receiving treatment, yet their faces were highly excited.

Liflin guarded the opposite side of the cavern with three companies of Holy Lance Knights; the blood elves and dark elves were sharply divided, constantly eyeing each other warily.

When Lei En and his party entered, all the elves stood.

"Honorable lady," the Zhor chorused, bowing to the moon‑dancing Kuilu and not forgetting Yizite, "We have seen Lord Yizite."

The blood elves called out, "Lord."

Lei En spotted Daknalun in the crowd and, surprised, gave him a slight nod. At that moment, Kuilu announced loudly, "Followers of Ilyas, let me introduce you. This is Ryan Augustus, the founder of our new home, Gotham City; you will all become his subjects."

The Zhor's eyes focused on Lei En; some were curious, others skeptical.

But the Zhor from Mosuobulai were different, revering Lei En. They had just endured that battle; while fleeing, they witnessed Lei En's clash with Banrimu and saw him slay Banrimu with a single stroke.

"We have seen the Lord," the Mosuobulai Zhor greeted loudly.

Zhor from the other cities were not so enthusiastic.

The followers of Ilyas were merely devoted to the light, yet they remained elves, most retaining the elves' proud nature.

Kuilu sensed this and sighed quietly.

Her tone grew solemn: "Before heading to Gotham City, each of us must pass Lei En's selection, and he will decide who may go to Gotham and who may not."

As soon as she finished speaking, many Zhor furrowed their brows and whispered to their companions.

This had been agreed upon by Kuilu and Lei En from the start, but she had never disclosed it to anyone; the Zhor only learned of it now, sparking some discontent and a stir.

"Lady."

A Zhor asked loudly, "May we know the criteria for the selection?"

"There is only one standard: good versus evil. I don't care whether you are Ilyas's followers; anyone with ulterior motives trying to slip in—traitors, Rossi's spies, or scouts from other forces—won't be allowed into Gotham."

The Zhor looked at each other in bewilderment.

Lei En's words were flawless, but how could he guarantee to root out traitors? With over two thousand people here, would he have to interrogate each one?

Daknalun in the crowd shook his head, thinking Lei En was too naive.

Zhor society is cruel and dark; everyone grows up in such treacherous conditions, adept at disguise, well‑versed in various interrogation methods, and specially trained.

Even mind‑control spells find it hard to extract the truth.

"Lord, how will you conduct the selection?" a Zhor asked, worry evident on his face. "Relying solely on magic may not reveal the truth; what if a mistake is made?"

"Form a line and walk past me in order," Lei En said calmly.

The Zhor were baffled, unable to grasp Lei En's meaning, and murmurs spread through the crowd.

"Will that work?"

"He isn't joking, is he?"

Even the Mosuobulai Zhor were puzzled; Kuilu raised her voice and ordered, "Do as Lei En says."

"Yes, lady."

Reluctantly, the Zhor lined up and, one by one, stepped forward, passing before Lei En. Lei En watched each Zhor pass with a calm gaze, saying nothing; the scene felt relaxed yet oddly strange.

In fact, Lei En had activated his Soul Eye as soon as he entered the cavern.

Earlier, Vandas and three other Thundercast Celestial Soldiers had been observing covertly; before Lei En arrived, they had already identified all the traitors hidden among the crowd.

Lei En had them walk past him once more, merely to reconfirm.

Soon, over two hundred Zhor had finished.

Lei En remained silent, showing no sign of selection or interrogation, which made the Zhor even more doubtful.

Even Kuilu began to worry—was Lei En's method too frivolous?

Just as she was about to ask, Lei En finally spoke.

"Stop."

The moving line halted; standing before Lei En was a male Zhor warrior, his expression blank, seemingly not understanding why he had stopped when his turn came.

He looked anxious yet retained a hint of openness.

Lei En asked, "What is your name?"

"Amora."

The dark elf voluntarily reported his background, shouting, "Lord, I come from Samas, born a commoner, have followed Ilyas for forty years, and am the guard captain of the Samas Moonlight Church; everyone can vouch for me."

"You're quite impressive." Lei En nodded approvingly, "It's truly rare for a Ros follower to have hidden for forty years without being discovered."

Ros follower!

The Zhuoers' faces changed dramatically, then they were puzzled again: how did Lei En discern that Yamora was a Ros follower?

Yamora's unit, all Zhuoers from Samas, immediately defended him, "Lord, Yamora could never be a Ros follower. Without him we couldn't even escape Samas. On the way here he was grievously wounded by the enemy and nearly died."

"Indeed! I joined the Moonlight Church thanks to Yamora's guidance."

"Lord, could you have mistaken?"

Amid the doubts, Yamora also showed anger and grievance, speaking to Kuilu with neither humility nor arrogance, "Madam, please bear witness for me; I am willing to swear in Ilyas's name to prove my innocence, so the lord can see which deity I worship."

Kuilu frowned and did not agree immediately.

Rationally, she leaned toward Lei En's judgment, but perceptually she felt Yamora was not like Jianxi, and her constant detection technique revealed no clue.

While still hesitating, she heard a gunshot.

Boom!

In the deafening gunfire, Yamora's head burst open like a watermelon.

The one who acted was Lei En; the Bolt Gun in his hand emitted a wisp of black smoke, his motion so swift that no one could react. Only after Yamora's headless corpse fell did the Zhuoers gasp, then feel boundless anger.

Kuilu was also very displeased; just as she was about to question, she saw Lei En toss a soul stone that hovered over the corpse.

Quickly, Yamora's soul was drawn into the gem, then flew into Kuilu's hand.

Lei En said lightly, "Take a look yourself."

Kuilu glanced once and was stunned.

The Zhuoer soul within the soul stone was entwined with red‑black flames, exuding an aura of evil chaos; she was all too familiar with this scent—it came from Spider Queen Ros.

Yamora truly is a Ros follower, and a fanatical one!

Kuilu wore a look of shame, having doubted Lei En. She sighed, handed the soul stone to a Zhuoer from Samas, and the Zhuoers were speechless before the iron‑like fact.

The Zhuoers who had just defended Yamora were still incredulous, murmuring, "How could this be?"

A few Zhuoers also apologized to Lei En.

Lei En was unfazed, simply saying, "Keep moving."

The formation regained order, each passing Lei En; after more than three hundred passed, Lei En shouted, "Stop."

This time the one who stopped before Lei En was a female Zhuoer, trembling and screaming, "Lord, I'm not a Ros follower…"

Boom!

Lei En ignored her explanation and shot her head off with a single blast.

Then he tossed a soul stone to capture her soul and gave it to Kuilu for inspection. Kuilu glanced, remained silent; this Zhuoer indeed was not a Ros follower, but she worshipped the Masked God Weilun. He is Ros's son, an evil deity, and obeys Ros in opposition to the dark maiden Ilyas.

"Continue onward," Lei En ordered.

The cave's atmosphere was extremely oppressive; each time Lei En called to stop, a gunshot followed. When the group was halfway through, six headless corpses lay on the ground, the scent of blood shocking the Zhuoers into a chilling silence.

Finally, a Zhuoer about to reach Lei En raised a question, shouting, "Lord, why not give them a chance to defend themselves? What if you kill the wrong person?"

Lei En glanced at him, "So far no mistakes have been made."

"What if a mistake occurs?" the Zhuoer pressed relentlessly.

"I'd rather kill a thousand wrongly than let even one slip by," Lei En replied casually, sending shivers through all the Zhuoers present.

The questioning Zhuoer fell silent, yet as he drew nearer to Lei En, his dark face grew increasingly pale, his eyes darting; even the slowest to react could see something was wrong.

Finally, just a few steps from Lei En, he vanished.

"He's trying to escape!" a nearby Zhuoer shouted.

Kuilu had long ago sealed the space with a spell, preventing traversal into the shadow plane.

Lei En casually fired toward a direction at the cave entrance; the massive gunshot echoed, and a headless corpse fell from the air, the fleeing Zhuoer.

But the chaos did not end.

The Mosuobulai Zhuoer squad suddenly fell into disarray; seven Zhuoers acted together, some using shadow‑step to vanish and flee wildly toward the entrance, others attacking nearby comrades caught off guard. Mosuobulai had the largest number of Zhuoers, with nearly half being unexpected, joining at the last minute.

They claimed they had long been devoted to the light, but dared not reveal it, until today they found a chance to escape.

Earlier outside the cave, Kuilu used a messaging technique to secretly inform of this situation,

Lei En had also been on guard the whole time.

Boom boom boom…

Amid the chaos, gunfire rang; several Thundercast Celestial Soldiers had already equipped armor‑piercing rounds, each assigned a target, firing instantly and killing without a single friendly fire on other Zhuoers.

Lei En also killed one.

Two more were each slain by Yizite and Daknalun.

A few Saint Rank elites were present, and these Zhuoers, not even reaching legend status, had no chance to escape.

The cave regained order; only two Zhuoers were wounded in the ambush, but not fatally, and were quickly healed.

The Zhuoer squad was about to continue, but Lei En said, "All right, Jianxi has been completely eradicated."

The dark elves exchanged glances, yet no one questioned Lei En's decision any longer.

Lei En holstered the Bolt Gun, looked at Kuilu and said, "Madam, you may now remove the spider mark from them."

"Fine," Kuilu nodded.

Each newborn dark elf is marked by Ros's priests with a spider mark, tracking their movements and preventing escape. Ilyas's priests can lift the mark, but Ros's priests would sense it; however, Mosuobulai is currently overwhelmed and lacks the strength to pursue traitors.

Zhuoers from other cities have already had the marks removed.

Kuilu and the priests quickly removed the marks from Mosuobulai's Zhuoers as well, as if freed from shackles, and many Zhuoers covered their faces and wept.

"It's time to go."

Lei En nodded at Kuilu, and the Moon Dancer began casting.

She has already placed guide stones in the sealed stone cave where Mosuobulai's eastern teleportation array is, allowing the portal to be opened directly. Over two thousand Zhuo Er entered the portal in batches, saw the array carved on the ground, yet did not know the location, thereby preventing the array's exposure.

Reslin activated the teleportation array inside the Obsidian Tower.

The Zhuo Er, as soon as they entered, were teleported to the top floor of the Obsidian Tower; moments later, more than two thousand Zhuo Er and five hundred holy knights gathered in the tower, crowding the upper hall to the point of being packed.

Then they were teleported from the Obsidian Tower to the surface.

The Zhuo Er emerged from the teleportation array of the highland fortress, brimming with excitement, and walked out of the fortress hall.

At this moment, outside it was noon; the early‑summer sun was not intense, yet it still made the darkness elves, who are naturally averse to light, extremely uncomfortable.

They forced their eyes to endure the sting, stood before the fortress, looked down at the city under construction, their bodies bathed in sunlight, breathing fresh air, feeling the gentle breeze, tears welled in their eyes, and before they knew it they were weeping openly.

Amid the swelling of their hearts, the Zhuo Er heard Lei En's voice: "Welcome to Gotham City."

(End of chapter)