Chapter 2574: Chapter 2575: Dawn

Half an hour later, in the lower left third district of the ruins, everyone stood on top of a ruin covered in moss, where the original architectural shape was barely recognizable.

In the distance, there was a row of stone houses with Bloodthirsty Vines used as exterior walls.

Next to the biggest stone house, there was a bonfire, smoke rising, and a tall flag. The flag depicted an image of Dawnlight breaking through dense fog.

"Dawn Adventure Group, vine stone house, should be here, right?" After Dox spoke, he clicked his tongue twice: "Quite an artistic name, yet living so ruggedly. It’s not even as good as that underground supply point of the Hero Squad."

"Not all adventure groups are as lucky as the Hero Squad to have a foothold in The Garden Labyrinth. For adventure groups made up of ordinary people, this is already very commendable," Angel gave a positive evaluation.

Although The Garden Labyrinth has been nearly rampaged by the Wizards, it was once the Extraordinary City, and there still exist mechanisms that haven’t been destroyed, as well as Magical Creatures lurking in the shadows.

The Hero Squad was fortunate enough to find a haven. Other adventure groups, especially those smaller ones with not much strength, need courage and wisdom to survive here.

Whether the Dawn Adventure Group has courage remains unknown for now, but their wisdom is evident from the outside of the stone house. For instance, by using certain methods of preservation, they adorned the dead Bloodthirsty Vines on the stone house. The aura of the Bloodthirsty Vines effectively prevents monster invasions, granting the Dawn Adventure Group a relatively safe living space.

Though Dox scoffs at this, in Angel’s eyes, it is considered a clever survival strategy.

"As if these adventure groups are carving out territories, in reality, they’re just a bunch of blood-sucking worms nurtured by Traveling Merchants."

"At least, both parties get what they need." Angel did not argue with Dox on this topic. The exploitation of ordinary people by Transcendents is not uncommon, especially in this kingdom ruled by King Gumman. Traveling Merchants provide supplies and Gold Coins in exchange for the adventure group’s profits, at least abiding by the principles of transactions, even if such trades are unfair.

Angel turned to look at Mathusa, who hadn’t recovered yet.

"The Traveling Merchant you saw earlier, are you sure it’s here?"

At this moment, Mathusa was still enveloped by the light wind created by Speedy Spirit, and that feeling of lightness, coupled with the experience of walking on air earlier, left her somewhat dazed. Until hearing Angel’s question, Mathusa snapped back to reality: "Ah, ah... Yes, yes. It’s here, the Dawn Adventure Group’s camp."

Having confirmed the location was correct, everyone jumped down from the ruins and headed towards the vine stone houses.

As they walked, spiritual power swept across. Almost everyone in the camp was scanned by their spiritual power.

At the same time, illusions continually appeared before Mathusa’s eyes. These illusions were of people in the camp. They brought Mathusa not only to show her around but also for a crucial reason: identifying personnel.

"I haven’t seen this one before, probably logistics... This woman seems to be an archer’s wife..."

"These three are the backbone of the Dawn Adventure Group, very strong."

"..."

"The one wearing the Dawn Church’s yellow and white armor is their leader, who calls himself Dawnlight. He is very powerful and has a heavy sword that can even compete against Crow’s staff."

Angel captured a keyword: "Dawn Church, what is this?"

"It’s an ancient Sect from the southern part of the Gumman Kingdom, worshipping a deity called Dawnlight. They believe the first ray of the sun wheel provides life to all things, and this light is transformed by the Goddess Dawn," Mathusa explained.

Angel muttered softly: "This doesn’t sound like an Evil Sect?"

"Indeed, it’s not counted as an Evil Sect," Black Earl spoke up.

"Sir knows about this Sect?"

Black Earl: "One of my offspring traveled to the Gumman Kingdom and visited this Sect. I inquired about it along the way. The teachings of this Sect are considered positive, but in recent years, King Gumman’s plan is nearly complete, the tusks are bared, and previous tolerance has vanished, beginning to suppress all religions, with Dawn Church naturally being a victim as well. Now, there should be very few members of the Dawn Church left..."

"King Gumman’s plan is about to be complete? The tusks are bared?" Dox looked at Black Earl with surprise: "What do you mean, sir?"

Black Earl said blandly: "It’s of no concern to you, and you cannot get involved."

Although Dox said he wouldn’t go to the Gumman Kingdom, in his heart, he still had some curiosity about the matters of the Gumman Kingdom. Hearing Black Earl unwilling to answer, he turned to Angel, hoping Angel would stand on his side, and probe these secrets.

After all, Dox believes Angel should also be interested after they jointly experienced the events at Princess Town.

But when Dox looked at Angel, Angel seemed to completely ignore the mystery in Black Earl’s words and continued questioning about the Dawn Church.

Dox didn’t believe Angel hadn’t heard that sentence.

Yet how could Angel be entirely uncurious and remain so calm? There must be some hidden agenda... Could it be that Angel already fully understood King Gumman’s plan?

But he and Angel had always been together recently, where did he learn this? Witcher Organization methods?

While Dox lamented the slow news of Wandering Wizards, Angel had already fully understood the Dawn Church through Black Earl and Mathusa.

Confirmed it wasn’t an Evil Sect, he sighed in relief.

It’s not about overreacting, but due to Seed’s influence, Angel now is somewhat wary of all religions. Especially, with Lord Reine and others on the Pamiji Plateau probably engaging in a battle of wits and courage with Seed followers, increasing his sensitivity to religions again.

So just hearing the word church made him overly tense.

"After all this idle talk, it’s time to get back to the main topic." Angel coughed twice to draw everyone’s attention.

"You know it’s idle talk?" Dox muttered.

Angel ignored Dox and continued to ask Mathusa: "I’ve shown you everyone in the camp, is there a Traveling Merchant?"

Mathusa shook her head: "No, but I’m sure I saw a Traveling Merchant earlier. Maybe the Dawn Adventure Group has already completed their transaction with the Traveling Merchant?"

"That might be it; the living supplies in the back scattered stone houses are brand new, probably just traded from the Traveling Merchant," Kaier remarked, noting the detailed observations.

"Where will the Traveling Merchant go after the Dawn Adventure Group? Do you know?" Angel asked Mathusa again.

Mathusa shook her head: "The person sent by the Traveling Merchant for transactions varies each time, so the route is very unpredictable, everyone’s preferences differ."

"Are you familiar with the distribution of nearby adventure groups?"

This time, Mathusa didn’t hesitate and nodded: "I’ve infiltrated several adventure groups secretly. When it comes to familiarity with the third area, no one should be better than me."

"Since you have this confidence, finding the traces of the wandering merchants shouldn’t be a problem."

As Angel finished speaking, a group of people was already approaching from a distance, led by the leader of the Dawn Adventure Group, clad in yellow and white armor.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Although he was asking, his voice was a harsh shout, full of threats, ready to fight at any disagreement.

Angel didn’t answer and directly snapped his fingers.

Speedy spun in mid-air, and a breeze blew towards the opposite side. Along with the breeze came a large number of illusion nodes.

The group of over thirty people was instantly surrounded by illusion nodes.

Before they could react, the light in their eyes gradually faded away, as if they became like puppets.

While Mathusa was covering her mouth in surprise, watching the magical scene unfold, Angel directly approached the leader of the Dawn Adventure Group and began questioning him.

Under the influence of the illusion and the coverage of the psychic waves, Angel quickly got the answer he wanted.

"An hour ago, the wandering merchants left from here, heading towards the southwest path."

After getting the answer, Angel looked at Mathusa.

Mathusa hesitated for a moment before understanding Angel’s intention: "If they take the southwest path, that side has hardly any complete roads. Female merchants usually rarely go there first. Male merchants, however, prefer to go there first because there’s only one adventure group in that direction, the Blazing Adventure Group."

"Blazing Adventure Group? Is the leader the one dressed like a flamingo?" Dox questioned.

Previously, while searching for traces of the Hero Squad, both he and Angel scouted the entire area and saw the leader of the Blazing Adventure Group, a lady who called herself Miss Red.

"If the gentleman is referring to Miss Red, she does dress a bit flamboyantly." Mathusa paused: "But she is not a bad person."

"Whose standards decide good and evil?" Dox retorted: "In Mia’s eyes, both you and that flamingo are villains. So, don’t judge good or evil based on your own perspective."

Although Dox’s words had some logic, Angel interjected: "Are you addicted to arguing? Stop talking nonsense. Since Mathusa knows Miss Red, let’s go over there now."

After saying this, Angel prepared to walk away.

Mathusa: "M-master, what about them?"

Mathusa pointed to the members of the Dawn Adventure Group, still in a "puppet" state.

"It won’t take long for them to wake up by themselves. Once awake, they’ll forget what happened before."

As soon as Angel finished speaking, Dox added: "If your Hero Squad has a vendetta with the Dawn Adventure Group, hurry up and take revenge, one knife each, make it lethal, wipe out the entire group, let me see."

Mathusa quickly waved her hands: "No, there is no feud between the adventure groups. It’s just that my lover has a bit of an issue with Dawn."

"Is Crow jealous that Dawn looks more sunshine and mighty than him?" Dox gossiped light-heartedly.

Mathusa smiled awkwardly: "No, I infiltrated the Dawn Adventure Group before, and at that time the leader of Dawn was quite kind to me... So, Crow has some resentment against him."

"But I assure you, the leader of Dawn is not a bad person."

Dox rolled his eyes: "Boring, here we go again. I already said don’t talk about good people or bad people. Forget it, since you don’t want to perform an annihilation, let’s go."

After leaving the Dawn campsite, they flew towards the direction of the Blazing Adventure Group.

Earlier, Mathusa mentioned that this path was very rough, almost impossible for pedestrians, but under the blessing of Speedy’s wind, even Mathusa could leap tens of meters. No matter how bad the road was, under such a terrifying speed boost, it became a smooth path.

Along the way, Dox’s mind was still fixed on gossip.

He first asked Mathusa why male wandering merchants were willing to take a detour to go to the Blazing Adventure Group, wondering if there were special services offered there.

Mathusa chuckled awkwardly: "I don’t know, but Miss Red is a good..."

"Shut up, don’t mention the word good. Since you don’t know this, then let’s switch to something you know. You say you infiltrated many adventure groups, you can disguise as a male and as a female, aside from seducing Dawn, did you have romantic encounters with other people? For instance, sparking romance while disguised as a female with females, and as a male with males?"

This time, not just Mathusa but everyone was a bit speechless.

Although Dox noticed everyone’s gaze, he remained indifferent and said with a smile: "Do you know what’s most important in running a bar? Besides information, it’s those interesting stories."

"Don’t you find Mathusa’s story interesting? If she can use her acting to be popular among men and women, this would be a fascinating talking point."

With Dox’s explanation, except for Mathusa, the others reluctantly accepted.

As for Mathusa, she couldn’t refuse, given the impressive presence of a transcendent being.

However, accepting is one thing, but she absolutely wouldn’t answer such questions.

Mathusa showed a firm stance, so Dox gave up on asking further. Mathusa thought she escaped a crisis but didn’t notice Kaier and Vay shaking their heads helplessly not far away.

Dox had already determined to use Mathusa’s story as a talking point to attract people at the bar, how could he give up halfway?

Since Mathusa didn’t want to talk, he could just make things up!

Moreover, when making things up, he could be completely free, the more outrageous, the more interesting.

As long as Mathusa is a real person, her magical makeup and acting skills are real, and she truly infiltrated other adventure groups, then what happens next doesn’t matter. Dox can create impromptu stories, catering to the guests’ preferences, with a new version every day.

So, Mathusa’s silence instead benefited Dox. If she spoke, under the "reality" effect, Dox might have been cautious about making things up, fearing exposure. But without speaking, the outcome is different.

As Kaier and Vay sympathized with Mathusa, they had already crossed a forest full of needle-leaved trees.

After flying over the forest, a group of people busy transporting goods appeared before them.

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