40: I'm fine, Captain.

The two Arcane Apprentices reacted immediately, their attacks ready to be unleashed at a moment's notice.

Even Ronan couldn't help but gather red energy at his fingertips.

The moment Red Star stood up, instead of launching a counterattack, he immediately raised his right hand, signaling the two Arcane Apprentices not to attack.

Seeing this, Ronan couldn't help but curl his lips and canceled the Ray he had been preparing.

This Red Star was way too much of a nice guy... If it were Ronan, while saving people was the priority, it didn't mean he would just let himself be bullied like that.

"Does Your Excellency intend to start a war now and simply abandon the mission?" An Arcane Apprentice with a head full of white hair, nearly seventy years old, stepped forward and questioned.

"Annual Ring, forget it." Red Star waved his hand as he stood up, indicating he was fine.

"Old man, your old bones are still... huh?"

Kane had originally intended to mock the man's age but suddenly froze.

"I was wondering why there was such an elderly apprentice; it turns out you've overdrawn your life force..."

"How unlucky."

He cursed with a look of pure disgust and said no more.

Regardless of the class, the type of person you should avoid provoking the most are those who don't hesitate to overdraw their own life force in pursuit of high-power skills.

They often possess terrifying combat power, but their lifespans are also very short.

Unless necessary, no one would want to fight to the death with such people.

No matter how mercurial the Vice Commander was, he wouldn't start a fight here for no reason.

After that, they continued in silence.

The nine people from the three major factions hurried along without a word, finally arriving at the entrance of a cave.

The Arcane Apprentice codenamed Annual Ring turned to the group and said:

"This cave is the most likely place to find the missing personnel. I hope everyone will prioritize finding them and avoid combat as much as possible, provided you ensure your own safety."

His words were essentially directed at Ronan's trio.

Because the Vice Commander had already ignored him and led his two subordinates inside first.

Ronan was naturally happy with this; their purpose here was to rescue the people and bring them back.

So, the three members of the squad followed closely behind the three from the Arcane Arts Society, holding torches as they entered the cave together.

As soon as he stepped into the cave, Ronan discovered that his Spiritual Power network was suppressed to a range of three or four meters by an inexplicable force.

The last time this phenomenon occurred was when they were exploring the Bear Goblin nest.

"Drill Mouse, stay alert," he instructed.

As a Berserker, Evil Axe certainly couldn't be relied upon to sense danger.

In contrast, as an assassin, Drill Mouse was more likely to detect danger ahead of time; at the very least, his nose was very sharp.

Drill Mouse nodded understandingly and took the initiative to walk at the rear, keeping a constant watch for potential attacks from behind.

The passage inside the cave was spacious, with the three from the Arcane Arts Society walking at the very front in a triangular formation.

Annual Ring and another Arcane Apprentice led the way, covering the left and right, while Red Star followed cautiously behind them.

Next was Ronan's squad; Evil Axe followed behind Red Star, his gaze scanning back and forth between the left and right sides.

Ronan was in the middle position, with Drill Mouse bringing up the rear.

The core damage dealer is always the position that needs the most protection, not to mention a mage with powerful attacks but a weak constitution.

As for the Vice Commander and his two subordinates who had entered the cave first, they had long since vanished from sight.

But soon, Ronan and the others heard their voices.

"Lord Kane, quick..."

"Do it, Lord Kane..."

"Ka..."

"Damn it! You couldn't hold out for even this long..."

"Pfft." "Pfft."

Ronan and the others arrived just in time to witness the Vice Commander holding a long spear, decapitating his two subordinates with a single sweep.

While everyone was still in shock, they then saw...

After the two severed heads rolled on the ground for a few turns, they suddenly stopped in unison.

A pool of Black Liquid slowly flowed from the severed necks. As if it had a mind of its own, the liquid transformed into several spider legs, propping the heads up.

Immediately after, the spider legs flexed, and the two heads looked toward the crowd.

Pitch-Black Liquid like asphalt flowed from all the facial features of the heads, and their mouths opened and closed, looking extremely terrifying.

"Boom." "Boom."

Two fireballs flew in simultaneously, instantly igniting the two heads. As the scorching flames burned them, the heads continued to let out silent roars.

This eerie scene plunged the entire area into silence.

Only the crackling sound of the burning flames remained.

Ronan looked at the two Arcane Apprentices in front and couldn't help but admire their decisiveness and coordination.

To be able to strike at the same time, hit simultaneously, and have almost identical fireball power... even twins couldn't achieve such precision.

"Mr. Kane, you had better walk with us," Red Star kindly reminded him.

The Vice Commander's face was grim as he looked at the headless corpses of his two subordinates, lost in thought.

With a flick of his wrist, he shook off the blood on the spear blade and said to Annual Ring,

"Old man, don't forget to deal with the bodies too."

Annual Ring looked up and glanced at him, offering no response.

Instead, the other Arcane Apprentice beside him raised a hand, and with two whooshes, fired two fireballs at the Mercenaries' corpses, incinerating them.

"The old man's got quite a temper, you're much more..."

The Vice Commander looked at the other Arcane Apprentice and suddenly paused.

Suspicion was hidden in his eyes as his gaze drifted back and forth between Annual Ring and the other Arcane Apprentice.

Finally, he gave a heavy "Hmph" and spoke no more.

"Everyone, please be careful not to touch anything around you casually and watch your step," Annual Ring warned loudly.

He had already spotted a small puddle formed by Black Liquid on the ground not far from the Vice Commander.

It seemed those two unlucky Mercenaries had been contaminated because they stepped into the puddle of Black Liquid.

Red Star took out a Glow Lamp from his storage device, instantly illuminating the entire passage.

This was much more useful than a torch; everything on the ground and walls could be seen clearly.

"So stingy, you should have taken it out earlier."

Evil Axe, behind him, grumbled, "How much can this thing even be worth..."

"It's not about the money, it's mainly that I don't have much of it."

Red Star turned around and pointed to the energy storage compartment in the Glow Lamp, which contained only about a third of the liquid.

"The remaining amount is only worth about 1 Gold Dragon..."

Upon hearing the price, Evil Axe's face changed instantly, and he praised, "I admire generous young masters like you the most!"

Red Star accepted his praise with a smile.

Although they had Red Star's Glow Lamp, Ronan and his two companions still held their torches.

Besides keeping a backup just in case, fire could also be useful at times.

In a dark cave, no one would complain about the light being too bright.

After dealing with the two Mercenaries' corpses, the group continued forward.

The Vice Commander eventually accepted Red Star's suggestion and joined them, walking at the very front.

However, Drill Mouse, who was bringing up the rear, suddenly felt an inexplicable nausea as he passed the two incinerated remains.

A surge of weakness washed over him, making him crouch on the ground and retch.

The attention of the people ahead was drawn toward him.

"To think you can't even handle this much and still call yourself an Adventurer..." Seeing this, the Vice Commander's face was full of contempt.

"Are you okay, Drill Mouse?" Ronan asked.

The team ahead had already begun to move forward slowly; clearly, this was nothing in their eyes.

"I'm fine, Captain." Drill Mouse, face down, raised his hand and waved it. "I'll catch up as soon as I catch my breath."

With that, he slowly stood up.

Seeing this, Ronan felt relieved and turned to continue forward.

No one, including Drill Mouse himself, noticed that a smear of black had already quietly seeped into his eyes.

If Ronan had looked back two seconds later, or if he had been a bit closer to him,

at this moment, he might have even seen...

...behind Drill Mouse, a mass of Black Pollutants with bared fangs and brandished claws was firmly clinging to him.