Mystery Paradise: Wishing Power Demon-Chapter 303 - 302 The Mountains of the North

Chapter 303: Chapter 302: The Mountains of the North

Chapter 303 -302: The Mountains of the North

“So… how were you captured?” Shandela couldn’t help but ask.

“What other way is there to be captured? They used the army’s internal cipher to lure me for a meeting, posing quite convincingly, yet they didn’t take a superior officer’s orders seriously. Just as I was about to teach them a lesson, I was knocked out by a sudden sneak attack,” Ryan spat, “Damn it, I should have chopped them up the moment I walked in!”

Shandela was baffled, “What do you mean by ‘superior officer’s orders’?”

“I mean my orders! I am a lieutenant colonel in the Royal Guards, and I naturally have command authority over subordinate units.” He looked indignantly, “Besides, I recognize almost all the military officers in the Royal City, big and small. Those two were clearly new faces. If they were truly soldiers from the Kingdom Army, they should have obeyed my command!”

“…” Shandela blinked, only just noticing that Ryan’s face was bruised, with patches of blue and purple, his cheeks swollen high, and his once handsome features were gone, now resembling an over-inflated pig’s head.

“Ha… hahaha, hahaha…” She couldn’t help but laugh softly.

“Hey, what are you laughing at!?” Ryan said, dissatisfied.

“Didn’t you order them to take you to the resistance forces’ gathering spot straight away and ended up fighting them because they didn’t comply?” Shandela could already picture the scene perfectly.

But she couldn’t blame them, because Ryan was different from her—she had been away from the military for a long time, while Ryan had always been an active-duty officer, and not a low-ranking one at that, often having audiences with His Majesty and the Crown Prince, so his attitude towards the remnant troops was utterly different.

“Isn’t that normal? If they were truly from the Kingdom Army, obeying a superior’s orders is their foremost duty!” Ryan complained, “Though I did consider the possibility of a trap, two ungraded warriors posed absolutely no threat to me. Had it not been for a Grandmaster Level expert’s ambush…”

“Is that so… it seems you were also struck with a blunt weapon,” Shandela pondered.

“I was careless. Otherwise, even if it were a Grandmaster Level martial artist, it wouldn’t have been possible not to sense even a hint of their presence.”

“No, it’s not just at the Grandmaster Level.” She fell silent for a moment then decisively refuted, “I observed before entering, and the gap between a master and a grandmaster isn’t so vast as to be insurmountable. Furthermore, you’ve already stepped into the threshold of grandmasters yourself, how could you be ambushed by someone of the same level?”

“Alright… I considered that too, but it couldn’t possibly be a Legendary warrior, right?” Ryan sulked, “Shengxia’s Brave Warrior Association has been evaluating for so many years, and no one has been promoted to that level. The last person at the Legendary level was a historic figure from over four hundred years ago! I don’t believe such a prominent figure would stoop to being a henchman for Duke Long Jiu.”

Shandela had to admit, Ryan had a point.

Not to mention Duke Long Jiu, even during King Tesser of the Laurel Family’s reign, it probably wouldn’t have been possible to mobilize such a legendary fighter. The reason they were able to reach that level wasn’t only because their strength was extraordinarily powerful, but also because they had made major contributions to humanity. They were figures of transcendent stature who typically didn’t concern themselves with royal affairs.

Yet both of them being struck with a blunt object was real.

This incomprehensible disparity was simply a mystery.

“Forget it, let’s not talk about this. Tell me about you… what have you been up to these days?” Ryan changed the subject.

“I guess it’s pretty much the same as you. Gathering information on the remnants of the army, contacting acquaintances to send messages, even seeking help from the gangs who sell information…” Shandela rubbed her legs against the floor, inch by inch sitting herself up straight—better than Ryan, she wasn’t shackled with leg irons. “Then, lured outside the city by a secret letter to meet at a windmill, and well… here I am now.”

“Turns out we have indeed ended up in the same boat,” Ryan couldn’t help but smile bitterly, “Had I known, I would’ve just stayed at Magnificent Castle and joined forces with the Paradise Sect.”

“Do what?”

“Take down Duke Long Jiu, of course. You don’t think they lack ambition, do you? Being kind to the people, developing industries, expanding the ‘pie’… These aren’t things ordinary sects would do.” He curled his lip, “Since we can’t save His Majesty, it would be better to help Mr. Zhao and seek revenge for His Majesty through him, rather than just handing over our heads to the traitor Long Jiu.”

“You’ve been mentioning Long Jiu over and over, but the person who arranged our meeting was most likely not one of Duke Long Jiu’s men, so you don’t need to be so disheartened and dejected.”

“Huh?” Ryan gave her a skeptical look, “You sure your head wasn’t smashed in? I am a lieutenant colonel of the Royal Guards! If they really were remnants of the Kingdom Army, why would they dare to treat me like this?”

“I don’t know…” Shandela sighed. Having been struck that way, she felt that her train of thought had suddenly cleared up considerably, “Just trust my instinct. They don’t seem like people from Duke Long Jiu, but they don’t seem like remnants of the Kingdom Army either…”

“The more I listen, the more confused I get. If they’re nothing alike, then what are they considered?”

“There are resisters who can prove this point.”

Those words from Dute echoed in her ears again.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.

“Perhaps… they are considered resisters.”

Shandela murmured.

Just then, several jailers came towards the cell, “Who is Shandela Allen?”

“It’s me.” Shandela replied calmly. No matter who the other party was, she did not want to lose her last shred of dignity.

The other party didn’t rough her up but instead helped her up politely after opening the cell door, “Please come with us.”

“Bastards! If you dare to kill her, I will never let you go! Hear me, I will come back to haunt you even as a ghost and seek revenge!” Ryan shouted from behind her.

Despite sounding weak, Shandela couldn’t help but lift the corners of her mouth—this time it wasn’t mockery, but the first sincere smile she revealed after returning to the Royal Capital.

She walked out of the prison, and what followed was a long, winding stone staircase.

“Where are you taking me?” she asked.

“To meet the divinities.” the leader replied.

Shandela was stunned, not immediately comprehending.

What did he say? Divinities?

While she was still confused, the stone staircase had come to an end. The jailers pushed open the wooden door, and a blast of frigid wind rushed into the room, causing Shandela to involuntarily shiver.

The first thing that caught her eyes was the snowy peak of a mountain. These majestic mountains linked together, resembling the backbone of a giant of the Old Continent. The world beneath the mountains remained lush and tender green, untouched by the influence of deep autumn. The clear boundaries between the white and the green, each enhancing the other, along with the blue of the sky, painted as if with dye, combined to form an unparalleled natural masterpiece!

This was not the Royal City.

It wasn’t even near the Royal City!

Shandela then realized how long she must have been unconscious for her to be brought to this place without any knowledge of it.

Based on her understanding of the geography of the Old Continent, there was only one place that offered such a view.

It was the mountain ridge to the northeast of the continent, the area once known as Snow Country before unification, the eternally frosted Ailens Mountains. And the largest human settlement established here was called Zhaixing City!

“Is this… Zhaixing City?” she asked subconsciously.

“Where else could it be?” the leader said with pride, “Only we could carve out a path of survival in the vast snowy mountains and build a city stretching for hundreds of miles. Look—”

He pointed to the towers and walls integrated with the mountain’s peak and to the bustling thoroughfares that cut through the mountains, “This is a miracle that even the people of Shengxia cannot achieve. And such miracles, you will see many more of… Look forward to it, Royal City’s lady!”