230: Act separately, target the Royal Archives!

The morning sun, filtering through the cracks in the top of the cave, cast dappled light.

After a night of rest, everyone's Spirit and energy had returned to their Peak.

Mo Yan called Bai Lingyue and Idora to his side.

“The farce in Black Crow Town is over; the higher-ups of the Church must have been alerted. We don't have time to waste with them. From now on, we split into two groups!”

Bai Lingyue's captivating Phoenix eyes blinked, a strand of silver hair falling beside her cheek, and she asked, “Oh? Is Sir planning to have me expand our territory?”

“Something like that.” Mo Yan nodded, satisfied with her intelligence, “From now on, I will fully hand over the command of the five hundred and eighty Soldiers to you.”

“You have two missions. First, based on the intelligence we gathered from Black Crow Town and the information provided by Idora, take the initiative to attack and dismantle the Light Church's scattered strongholds.”

“Be quick, be ruthless, and don't give them any chance to breathe or regroup!”

“Second, while clearing out the strongholds, find and rescue the Empire's displaced people, those like the God Forsaken Village. Bring them back to Dean Village; this will be our main base for the counterattack.”

Bai Lingyue licked her lips, a hint of cunning flashing in her amber pupils: “Don't worry, Sir, destroying those minor strongholds isn't difficult. However, to find those hidden Empire displaced people, I might need to use some methods to make them come to us.”

“I will certainly make the entire Light Church district chaotic.”

With her strength, plus five hundred and eighty LV7 Soldiers, and her Formation mastery, sweeping through these Church branches was indeed not difficult.

“Very good.” Mo Yan nodded, then looked to the other side.

Idora stood quietly, beside her, Gun Gun was gnawing on a piece of metal armor salvaged yesterday, making a "crunch, crunch" sound.

“Idora, Gun Gun, you come with me.”

Idora was startled, then a flame of hope ignited in her eyes: “Sir, are we… going to the Royal Archives?”

“That's right.” Mo Yan took out the tattered Empire map from his In arms.

He needed to get the most crucial intelligence before the real bigwigs reacted.

“I will lead a team of Soldiers to explore the Empire ruins.” Mo Yan announced to the Soldier captains, “And you, you will follow Commander Bai Lingyue and clear the periphery. Are there any problems?”

“No problems!” The Soldiers roared in unison, their voices shaking the cave.

The plan was finalized, and the army immediately began to move.

“Sir, please be careful yourself.” Before leaving, Bai Lingyue walked to Mo Yan's side, lowering her voice, with concern in her tone, “Those high-ranking Church members have strength far exceeding what we encountered before. A place like the Archives will also be extremely dangerous.”

“Don't worry.” Mo Yan smiled confidently, “I'm not that easy to die. It's you, don't play too wildly and forget the main task.”

Bai Lingyue was amused by him, covering her mouth with a light laugh, and gave him a charming side glance: “Your subordinate understands, and will not forget.”

With that, she turned, her silver hair fluttering, and with a heroic wave of her hand: “Depart!”

The massive army marched out of the cave in a mighty procession.

Only Mo Yan, Idora, Gun Gun, and twenty Soldiers and the villagers remained.

“We should go too.” Mo Yan cast his gaze upon the tattered map in his hand.

The map's material was neither leather nor cloth, and ancient Empire characters depicted mountains and rivers that had long since changed.

Most of the areas were blurred, only one place marked with a red circle could be vaguely identified as "Crying Swamp."

“Sir, the location of the Royal Archives is very secret.” Idora leaned forward, pointing to the red circle, “According to my father's notes, it is not in any city or fortress, but hidden deep within a Forbidden Ground called 'Crying Swamp' by the Empire.”

“It is said that it is the site of one of the most tragic battles during the Empire's downfall, where the grievances of countless brave Souls transformed that land into a Forbidden Ground for the living.”

“Forbidden Ground for the living?” Mo Yan raised an eyebrow, “Perfect, I love exploring Forbidden Grounds the most.”

He patted Gun Gun's head: “Let's go, Gun Gun, stop chewing, let's get to business.”

“Gulu?” Gun Gun lifted its innocent face, reluctantly stuffing the last bit of armor fragment into its mouth, then trotted along on its short legs, following Mo Yan's steps.

After leaving Dean Village, Mo Yan and his group headed west, following the map's guidance.

The scenery along the way was even more desolate than around God Forsaken Village and Black Crow Town.

The ground was grayish-black, vegetation was sparse, and even the wind carried a faint, decaying scent.

Even the stones exuded an aura of decay.

Occasionally, they could see a few twisted dead trees, their trunks covered with strange moss resembling human faces.

Idora said these were all lingering effects of the great catastrophe back then.

The entire heartland of the Diens Empire had been polluted by the power of the undead and had not yet recovered.

They occasionally saw some abandoned villages, ruined walls, and a Death Qi atmosphere.

It was clear that the residents here were either long dead or had been used by the Light Church as Materials for “raising” resentful Souls, confined to some corner.

Whenever Idora saw these, her eyes dimmed a bit, and she clutched her father's notes even tighter.

Gun Gun also disliked the aura here; it was listless the whole way, only sticking close to Mo Yan's feet.

After walking for most of the day, as dusk approached, they finally reached the edge of the area marked on the map.

It was surrounded by cold, damp mist, and visibility was extremely low.

Before them was a vast, endless swamp.

Turbid black water, constantly bubbling, with rotting plants floating on the surface.

The most eerie thing was that the wind blowing across the swamp produced mournful wails, as if countless wronged Souls were whispering, sending shivers down one's spine.

“This is the Crying Swamp.” Idora's face turned pale, clearly uncomfortable with the environment here, “My father's notes say that this is the boundary between life and death; those who step in will have their Souls confused by the swamp's resentment, eventually losing their way and becoming part of the swamp.”

“Resentment?” Mo Yan activated the Taiyi Refinement Technique, and the world before him instantly changed.

The dense grey mist, in his eyes, was composed of countless tiny, twisted black threads.

These threads were the resentment Qi.

They were intertwined, forming a huge force field that enveloped the entire swamp.

This force field could not only distort light and block sound, but also directly erode a person's Spirit.

Ordinary people entering would experience hallucinations and mental confusion within ten minutes.

“A bit interesting.” Mo Yan was not afraid, but rather intrigued.

“Everyone, calm your minds, release your spiritual power, and follow me closely. Don't look, don't listen, don't think.” Mo Yan gave concise orders.

As soon as he finished speaking, a faint golden spiritual power spread out from beneath his feet, isolating the cold Qi seeping from the mud. The twenty Soldiers followed suit, and layers of spiritual power halos enveloped the squad, forming a moving fortress.

“Yes!” The twenty Soldiers responded in a deep voice, forming a compact defensive Formation, protecting Mo Yan, Gun Gun, and Idora in the center.

Mo Yan stepped down, and his shoes sank into the mud up to his ankles.

A cold aura immediately seeped up from his feet.

Almost at the same time, those wailing sounds began to ring in their ears.

“Mommy… I'm so cold…”

“Save me… I don't want to die…”

“Kill them all! Avenge Your Majesty!”

“Why… why did you betray us…”

Countless voices filled with pain, despair, and anger, like demonic whispers, frantically pounded everyone's minds.

A Shield Soldier suddenly stopped, his eyes becoming fervent and joyful, he reached out towards the thick fog ahead and shouted: “Your Majesty! Is that you! The Empire's glory has returned!”

He actually saw a hallucination of the Empire's Emperor personally arriving and was about to drop his guard and rush over.

Mo Yan frowned, his Divine Thought stirring: “Wake up!”

The Soldier trembled violently, the illusion shattered, he knelt on one knee, his face pale, gasping for breath, his eyes filled with lingering fear.

One of the Soldiers, his eyes unfocused, saw the phantom of his deceased companion appear on his face, instinctively wanting to walk deeper into the swamp, but was finally startled awake by Mo Yan's cold shout.