Chapter 457: Chapter 352: Fully Automatic Egg Incubator (Part 2)

"I know you’re just trying to talk me out of it," Agatha sighed. "I’ll think about it again. I won’t risk crossing the Boundary Wall."

"If only Rubus could talk," Shire said. The moment the words left his mouth, he saw Agatha’s eyes widen in a glare. He knew she was blaming him for luring away the Star Realm Dog and even thinking about starting a breeding business for them.

"You know that’s not what I meant," Shire said with a nervous laugh, avoiding his old classmate’s gaze and letting his eyes drift around the room.

"Hmph." Agatha snorted irritably, but Shire cut her off before she could say more.

"I think I just saw that thing move," Shire said with a frown, pointing at the Phoenix Egg on the table.

Agatha followed Shire’s finger, turning to look at the Phoenix Egg. She kept it in the corner of her lab bench, observing it from time to time. However, she had no idea how to hatch it, so she could only leave it there for now. Fortunately, a Phoenix’s life force is incredibly resilient; even a simple egg could survive.

"Did it move?" Agatha leaned in for a closer look. "I don’t think so."

"I’m pretty sure it just moved," Shire said, leaning in as well. The Phoenix Egg was resting on a circular cushion to keep its oval shape stable. He stared intently at the "egg stand." "The dust on this has been disturbed. Did you move it earlier?"

"No." Agatha shook her head firmly.

"Then it seems this thing really did move." Shire raised an eyebrow. "Why would it move? What just happened?"

"We were just chatting, and we mentioned the Grand Commander of the Saintly Army," Agatha recalled, slowly counting on her long, slender fingers. "Then we talked about the Longsword."

"The Angel’s Feather?" Shire asked.

"Yes, the Angel’s Feather!" Agatha exclaimed. "That’s the only thing that’s changed. From when you put that thing on the table to when I picked it up, that must be it."

With that thought, Shire immediately took out the High-level Angel’s Feather again and placed it next to the Phoenix Egg.

The two of them stood there with wide eyes, staring fixedly at the one-meter-tall "Giant Egg."

Ten seconds.

Thirty seconds.

One minute.

Two minutes.

"Are your eyes getting dry?" Shire asked.

"Y-yes, a little," Agatha nodded.

"Was it just my imagination?" Shire began to doubt what he’d seen. "But looking at the marks on the ’egg stand,’ something definitely seems off."

"What else did you do just now?" he asked, turning to Agatha in confusion.

"Me?" Agatha thought for a moment. "I just looked at the Angel’s Feather on the table, then I picked it up, and then..."

She twirled the Angel’s Feather between her fingers again. As she did, the golden patterns on it seemed to begin flowing once more.

"It moved," Shire said, his eyes wide.

Agatha also saw it. The Phoenix Egg was actually rocking slightly. The movement was small, but it was definitely moving.

"How is this possible?" she exclaimed in amazement, still twirling the feather.

"Could it be that the chick inside felt the feather’s call?" Shire suddenly asked.

"This is an Angel’s Feather, not a Phoenix Feather," Agatha retorted irritably.

"Could it be that when the feather moves, it creates a magical fluctuation, and that fluctuation is what the chick inside the egg is sensing? That’s why it’s moving. After all," Shire thought for a moment before continuing, "the little thing is cooped up in its shell. It can’t see what its phoenix parents look like, so it has to rely on temperature or some other sense."

"Is that possible?" Agatha frowned. She thought Shire’s theory sounded ridiculous.

"Let’s give it a try! I’ll go get all the High-level Angel’s Feathers right now. You just stay here and twirl them one by one until the Phoenix Baby can’t take it anymore and breaks out of the shell on its own."

"What do you think I am, a mother hen? The fully automatic, rotating kind?" Agatha pouted irritably.

"A Phoenix! A Mythical Creature!" Shire exclaimed. "Countless High Tier Mages could only dream of finding one, and you’re about to get one just like that. If you have it by your side in the future, what Mage wouldn’t be green with envy?"

’Well...’ Agatha considered it and realized he had a point. ’If I had a Phoenix, then Rubus can go be close to Shire for all I care. I can still summon the Star Realm Dog to my side anyway, it’s just that he’s always so listless every time he shows up.’

"I’m going to get the feathers. You wait here, don’t wander off." After saying that, Shire turned and, humming "I’m looking up, above the moon...", walked briskly toward the Teleportation Gate.

"What a strange tune," Agatha muttered with a frown.

...

"Grand Commander, we’ve dragged you down this time," a few Paladins said, their heads lowered in guilt, not daring to look at Diana.

"No, it’s not entirely your fault." Diana sighed softly. "I bear responsibility as well. I was away from the garrison due to personal matters. If I had been there, things wouldn’t have ended up this way."

"What about Vice Commander Lingard?" one of the Paladins asked in a low voice.

"Once we reach Yangjiao Town, we’ll immediately post a commission at the Adventurer Association and ask the Adventurers to search for him in the forest," Diana said, glancing toward the depths of the woods. "When I was in Yangjiao Town before, I noticed those Adventurers didn’t seem to have much to do all day."

"Since that goblin made off with so much, I won’t let him off easy. I’ll give him something to keep him busy."

"Aren’t we going to look for him ourselves?" a Paladin asked.

Diana glanced at him and shook her head. "We have all sworn a Blood Oath to a Divine Being not to reveal the situation with the Goblin Tribe. But if we go searching ourselves, we’ll need to return to the garrison to re-request Armor and weapons, which means dealing with the Church’s Logistics Department."

"But we did lose that equipment," a Paladin at her side pointed out.

"It’s just normal attrition. After a few months, we’ll slowly replenish it from the Logistics Department. If we make sporadic requests, they’ll just assume it’s for normal replacements." Diana sighed. "If any problems arise, I will take full responsibility."

Hearing this, the other Paladins all bowed their heads. Although they could refrain from telling the Church higher-ups what had happened, if their superiors decided to use certain methods, they would eventually find out everything.

Failure itself wasn’t frightening. But for the mighty Holy Order Army to lose to a group of goblins... that was a colossal joke.

Even if they mustered the full power of the Church to annihilate Shire and his goblins, it would still be impossible to wash away this disgrace.

They couldn’t bear the thought of people pointing and whispering behind their backs, "Those are the ones. They lost to that bunch of goblins who do nothing but dig holes, catch rats, and eat bugs."

For the honor of the Holy Order Army, for the Church, and for the great God of Battle and Glory, they had no choice but to bury this disastrous defeat deep in their hearts.

And if the higher-ups ever did find out, Diana, as the Grand Commander, would be the one to take the fall, just as she had said: "I will take full responsibility."

How would she bear it? The Paladins didn’t know, but the lightest punishment would be expulsion from the Holy Order Army.

If she were expelled from the Holy Order Army, all of Diana’s Abilities and Magic would be completely stripped away. She would become an ordinary person—weaker, even, because her spirit would have been scoured clean.

"Will he be found?" a Paladin murmured.

The others remained silent. Finding someone in the Nightmare Forest was likely harder than climbing to heaven.

"We’ll have to rely on luck. Let’s hope the great War God’s Blessing is with us," Diana said, her gaze sweeping over her subordinates.

"We’re about to reach Yangjiao Town," Captain Byron’s voice called from outside the cabin.

His voice was filled with delight.

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