I'm not just human!

Seeing this, Xia Fa no longer hesitated and asked the question that had been on his mind most:

"With your demigod-level strength, why were you lured away for more than ten minutes by a mere elephant-level snow demon that had gone out of control twice?"

Chapter 72 Gaze

The moment Xia Fa asked the question, Lieutenant General Bedivet, who had been all smiles, was immediately silenced.

The dark cubicle was already quiet, but now it was eerily quiet.

"Ugh……"

After a long, long time, a long, aged sigh finally rang out from the darkness.

"That old man Tyrene really doesn't give me any face. He told you all about this?"

With a snap, a faint flame rose from the darkness, teasing the tobacco and slowly spreading the rich, hazelnut-scented aroma of the cigar.

In the pitch black, a circle of densely packed bright red dots flashed for a fleeting moment, as if Lieutenant General Bedivere had taken a deep drag on his cigar.

He slowly exhaled a puff of smoke, then said in a very complicated tone:

"To be honest, I didn't expect it at the time."

The naval demigod sighed and continued:

"Just as you predicted, even if a snow demon of elephant level goes out of control twice or three times, it can't withstand one punch from me, but... it will descend."

"Arrival?"

“That’s right. Tyrene mentioned to me that you, Shafa, were also entangled by the Snow Demon, right? In essence, this is the Snow Demon’s strange and special ability. It can mark you, treat you as prey, and then, after locking onto you for five days, it can descend upon you at any time.”

"Are there no distance restrictions?"

"Of course it exists, but the range is extremely large. The Church's scholars have tested this ability of the Snow Demon, and it is effective within a range of 100 kilometers. The Snow Demon that goes out of control twice can arrive earlier, and the distance increases to 1,000 kilometers. The Snow Demon that goes out of control three times can reach 3,000 kilometers."

"Lieutenant General, you mean..."

"Hmm, you're so smart that you could even answer such a tricky question from the storyteller in a minute. You must have guessed it already. That's right, the snow demon that went out of control for the second time had already placed several ordinary people it had targeted along its escape route!"

At this point, Lieutenant General Bedivet's tone became indignant.

He was a soldier, and his duty was to protect his country, especially the weak and innocent civilians.

And the snow demon, or more precisely, the person behind it who caused the snow demon to lose control a second time, had crossed his bottom line.

"The Snow Demon killed several of my soldiers on duty. Those who know me know that I absolutely cannot tolerate such a thing."

"Whether they are monsters or nobles, I will not let them get away with touching my soldiers."

"So when I received the alarm, I rushed out immediately, and because of that, I missed the SOS message that Ellis sent."

"But as soon as I rushed out, the snow demon seemed to vanish into thin air."

Hearing this, Xia Fa couldn't help but ask:

"As a demigod, Lieutenant General, you should have a way to track people, right?"

Bedivere nodded, his tone growing increasingly serious as he recalled yesterday's events:

“I had signed a Tracker's Pact, and with the blessing of my demigod status, my tracking range even exceeded the maximum area it could descend to. Then, I tracked it down to an island about 160 kilometers away, and right beside it…”

The naval vice admiral, whose face was always adorned with a hearty smile, suddenly clenched his teeth, as if he wanted to crush them to pieces:

"...There was a person whose upper body was eaten away by it, leaving only his legs. His blood stained the beach red."

Xia Fa felt a sudden tightness in his chest, as if the cruel scene was flashing through his mind.

He wasn't sure what level of being he could deal with at his current full power, but at least defeating a whale-level weirdo or superhuman shouldn't be a problem.

If he could find the person hiding behind this, and if he could deal with them... a fierce glint flashed in Xia Fa's eyes.

Lieutenant General Bedivet continued indignantly:

"I just caught up with it, and as you predicted, the snow demon descended upon other ordinary people it had targeted. I chased it five times, and it descended five times, until finally, it appeared in a tangled thicket on an island."

"I'm sure you've already heard what happened next. That tangled thicket was actually a hidden, abandoned temple, worshipped by the island's indigenous people. It was dedicated to a minor god, but for some unknown reason, it was abandoned."

"I rushed in and killed the snow demon, but I got trapped myself. Luckily, Tyrene arrived."

He narrowed his eyes, a fierce glint in them:

"If I can find that bastard who orchestrated all of this, I will break every single bone in his body."

Upon hearing this, Xia Fa felt an even stronger sense of vigilance rising within him.

He felt once again how terrifying the person behind the scenes was.

That schemer even considered the faith of the Bald family steward, using it to lure him out.

And now, they've even taken into account... the personality and strength of this demigod Bedivere, and even some of his specific secret abilities?

If Lieutenant General Bedivere hadn't been the type to care about the lives of his soldiers or the common people, he wouldn't have pursued the snow demon in such a furious manner.

On the other hand, if he hadn't signed the Tracker's Pact, even as a demigod, he wouldn't have been able to track the Snow Demon if it could instantly traverse tens or hundreds of kilometers by descending to its prey's side.

In the very end, the person hiding behind the scenes even considered that, in Lieutenant General Bedivere's eyes, a mere elephant-level snow demon that had gone out of control twice could be killed with a single punch once it caught up.

That is precisely why Lieutenant General Bedivere relentlessly pursued them!

If it were a more powerful or more troublesome opponent, Lieutenant General Bedivet might have already given up during the pursuit.

Everything was meticulously planned and executed, perfectly timed.

"So, the person hiding behind all this, going to such lengths to lure Lieutenant General Bedivere away, was it to allow the other snow demon, which had gone out of control for the second time, to successfully hunt me down, or to let it devour several blocks of civilians?"

If it's the former, why would I be targeted for no reason?

At that time, he was just an unknown member of the lower class.

If it's the latter, why would a snow monster eat several blocks of people, numbering in the thousands or tens of thousands?

As Xia Fazheng was pondering, Lieutenant General Bedivet solemnly spoke up:

"Xia Fa, if possible, could you also keep an eye out for me? If you can find that bastard, bring me his whereabouts, and I will give you an extremely generous reward."

Xia Fa nodded:

"Even without any reward, I will still go to him. I have a grudge against him, don't I?"

Lieutenant General Bedivere was taken aback at first, then burst into laughter:

"I like your temper. Kid, how about joining our navy?"

Xia Fa smiled:

"If there's a chance, may I go and take a look at the naval base first?"

Lieutenant General Bedivet laughed loudly:

"No problem, I'll have my personal guards take care of you the whole time!"

The two chatted for a while longer, then Lieutenant General Bedivere patted him on the shoulder and said:

"Alright, now that we've basically confirmed that you haven't been affected by any mental pollution, here's one last question."

His eyes suddenly lit up in the darkness, like cold lightning, scrutinizing Xia Fa.

"Why did that underground cavern region change from an eagle-level exploratory region to an elephant-level high-risk region? Let me give you a piece of advice: think carefully before you speak, otherwise, things will get out of our control as three demigods."

Chapter 73 Visit

In that instant, immense pressure descended from the sky, engulfing Xia Fa.

The atmosphere in the dark cubicle, which had been somewhat cheerful, suddenly turned as serious and cold as a trial.

Xia Fa's heart skipped a beat, realizing that although Lieutenant General Bedivere's questions were important, and even the things he had told him were not false,

But... the real reason why the three demigods separated everyone for interrogation is probably this!

After all, whether those few low-level superhumans were out of control or mentally corrupted, how could they compare to the unprecedented catastrophe of an Eagle-level exploratory ghost realm transforming into an Elephant-level high-risk ghost realm?

This level of extraordinary event must be thoroughly investigated by both the Silver Church and the Natural Church to prevent similar situations from happening again.

After thinking it over, Xia Fa decided to explain everything clearly, except for omitting the things he saw and heard that were related to his "special" nature.

Of course, this means that all that's left is the part he and his teammates experienced together—entering the strange realm, encountering the extraordinary civilian Blar, who volunteered to draw a portrait of the unknown being that resembled a heavily armored cavalryman...

Xia Fa began to recount everything in detail, even including the detail that Blar only advanced in the Ghost Realm after completing the final stroke of the portrait.

After listening, Bedivere remained silent for a while, seemingly deep in thought.

Immediately, he flipped his palm and took out a stone slab.

The stone slab was about the size of a palm and was polished very smoothly. Suddenly, a dozen or so secret characters flashed across its surface, and Xia Fa didn't even have time to see them clearly.

But then Lieutenant General Bedivere nodded, and suddenly seemed to breathe a huge sigh of relief:

"Alright, there are no more problems. Your accounts are all the same. To be honest, this extraordinary event involves a descendant of the Augustus family, a demigod's granddaughter who is also a member of the Silver Iris Orchid family of the Rat Clan, and you, Xia Fa, an extraordinary descendant. We're really afraid it's beyond the control of us old folks..."

Just as Xia Fa was about to speak, there was a sudden "bang".

The door opened.

A bright light shone in, and Shafa instinctively raised his hand to shield his head, only to see Lieutenant General Bedivet laughing as he strode out.

Outside the door, Tyrene and Axe also came out, and the three demigods gathered together.

Immediately afterwards, Chestnut, Finsney, Ethan, Glenn... also emerged from their respective cubicles.

Tyrene glanced at everyone, his tone finally softening and becoming more relaxed:

"Alright, you're all tired. Go home and rest. Leave everything that needs to be reported to us. Oh, and—"

He was halfway through his sentence when he suddenly remembered something and continued:

"Regarding that unknown entity that looks like a heavy armored cavalryman from the era of cold weapons, from now on, do not try to find out about it by consulting books, do not discuss it with anyone, and do not even think about it. Do you understand?"

Everyone was startled by the sudden serious tone and nodded instinctively.

Axel echoed in agreement, sighing:

“Yes, after all, you were able to look directly at it and track it for so long, so it must not be a being of godhood or higher. But merely drawing a full-body sketch of it triggered blasphemous divine punishment, so it must not be a physical entity, which means…”

He took a deep breath, his tone seemingly filled with endless confusion: