Beginning Of Multiverse Saga-Chapter 326: Sacrifice

"But we can’t give up on our mission. We’re going to look around first and gather all the trapped workers. Captain Ding told us that Cloudcenter City has already been informed about what happened here. Madam will send people to save us. The Frost Clan won’t abandon a single person; I trust the madam..."

Sharky felt some grief when he saw that. The guard had still been fantasizing about his achievements allowing him to receive a reward from Alina.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t known that something major had happened in Cloudcenter City. Alina had been accused of being a fiend race person.

The Frost Clan was a complete mess, so none of them had known that something had happened at the mine. How could they send anyone to rescue the trapped people? The miners had been waiting for nothing.

Anger appeared in Alina’s eyes when she saw that. She no longer seemed as gentle as before. She was a clan leader, and thus carried responsibility for the entire clan. Because of what Carl had did to her, the people at the mine had been left in a difficult situation. She obviously blamed him.

The two of them quickly kept reading. The reports were getting sloppier and sloppier. The writer’s hands had definitely been shaking badly while he was writing.

"People are disappearing every day. My companions grow fewer and fewer..."

"Even the captain has disappeared! He’s our leader, and the one with the highest cultivation rank among us!"

"There’s something even more terrifying than the black fog, and it’s everywhere. What exactly is that thing?!"

Sharky and Alina could both sense the guard’s fear conveyed through the distorted writing. The two of them exchanged a look, their expressions turning serious. They quickly continued reading to find out more information.

Unfortunately, there was nothing. There were no more recordings.

Sharky wondered seriously, "Could that thing he was talking about be the creature releasing those roars?"

"It probably is," Alina said, taking the book from him. Her expression was grim as she continued, "In private, the other guards call these items death accounts. These books prove the guards’ statuses and record their dying words, so they usually keep them close. Since it’s been left here, that means he’s already encountered something unexpected..."

Sharky fell silent. The pressure the mysterious creature gave off could even make them somewhat fearful, so how could it be something an ordinary guard could deal with?

Alina closed the notebook. The owner’s name was engraved on the cover: Peace. She felt pained when she saw that name, which carried his parents’ blessings.

She didn’t have any impression of his name. The Frost Clan had many subordinates. As the clan leader, there was no way she could know every single person. And yet, it was precisely such an ordinary member who, despite being in danger himself, had first decided to help the missing miners before anything else.

"It was I, the clan leader, who failed to protect them..." Alina’s eyes became moist.

Sharky wrapped his arm around her shoulder and said in consolation, "It’s not your fault. No one could’ve anticipated that all of this would happen when you were imprisoned."

Alina gritted her teeth and said, "Carl is a senior official in Cloudcenter City. Don’t tell me he never noticed the abnormalities that were taking place in this mine?!"

Sharky thought to himself, Carl Carries the emperor’s Imperial Edict. Taking down the Frost Clan is the only thing on his mind. He couldn’t be happier to see the Frost Clan suffer a serious blow like this.

But saying all that would be completely meaningless. He looked around him and said, "According to what we read in that book, this mine might have other survivors. Let’s look around and see if we can find anyone."

"Alright, let’s do that!" Alina replied, calmly putting the book away. A resolute expression appeared in her eyes. Now she was thinking not only about the Snake race, but also about dealing with this problem first.

Sharky sighed inwardly. Judging from the information he had received, those left inside were probably ordinary miners and some guards. But whether it was the black fog or that mysterious beast, neither were things they could deal with. Now that so many days had already passed, they were probably already...

Of course, he couldn’t say that out loud, or else it would affect Alina.

The two of them quickly began to search through the mine paths. At the same time, they were vigilant against any danger. According to the guard’s recordings, apart from the black fog, there were other, even more terrifying existences inside.

But Sharky was still confused. Judging from the strength the mysterious beast had shown, if it made an appearance, just its power alone would have been enough to leave all the guards speechless, and even completely wipe all of them out. Why had they disappeared one by one?

Unfortunately, the two didn’t have much information at all. There was no way for them to make an accurate judgment.

The two walked for a long time. Apart from the black fog, they didn’t encounter any other dangers.

Suddenly, however, Alina squatted down by a corner. The dirt there was somewhat dark red; it would be hard to notice in the pitch-black cave if they weren’t looking carefully.

Sharky squatted down and kneaded a bit of it between his fingers. Then, he sniffed it and exclaimed, "Blood!" Furthermore, it was human blood.

Alina nodded, looking upset. Soon afterward, the two of them found a broken sword nearby. It was a standard-issue Frost Clan sword. She said in shock, "This seems to have been someone who accompanied me."

Sharky was confused. Alina explained, "The sword hilt’s decoration is different. The guards who stay at my side have all taken the Frost surname."

She pointed at the sword hilt. There was the character ’Frost’ engraved there. She picked up the broken sword and examined the damage. "Even though these guards’ weapons aren’t divine weapons, their quality is definitely excellent. It’s not so easy to break them."

Sharky gave it a look and said, "It doesn’t seem to have been artificially broken, or broken by another weapon... The surface is covered in fine sawtooth marks that are easy to overlook if you don’t check carefully."

"If the sword remains, so does the owner. If the sword is ruined..." Alina mumbled to herself.

"Don’t worry, everything will be back on track." Sharky patted her shoulder to comfort her. Since the guard was already dead, they could just continue walking towards the fiend races.

Alina also surrounded herself with her elemental barrier and walked over. She examined the wall and said, "But even though the earth here is loose, there are no traces of a cave here. If a monster really emerged from inside, it would have left a huge hole behind, right?"

Sharky shook his head and said, "It’s probably an earth element monster, one that can move freely underground. It wouldn’t really need to make a hole. It’s only because the earth here was affected by the earth element that the dirt here is a bit different."

"You’re right. Looks like we have to be careful of something suddenly coming out of the walls," Alina said, her expression carrying a hint of grief. She said, "All of this was an information guard left behind at the cost of his life."

Sharky patted her shoulder. Anything he said at that point would pale in comparison. After Alina calmed down a bit, however, he said, "The first priority is to rescue the survivors and to prevent a repeat of this tragedy. Since the Guard intentionally drew that beast here, Maid Soni and the others should be on the other side."

The guard had been cut off from Maid Soni’s group because of the collapsed passage, but with the pair’s cultivations, that wasn’t too big of a problem. They could just break through. They had finally gotten some clues about Maid Soni’s group, so they naturally had to take a look.

Alina nodded. She didn’t even know how terrible she would feel if something similar had happened to Maid Soni’s group too, "Once I return, I’ll establish a monument for these brave soldiers who have sacrificed themselves. Even though they’ve died, I must let their wills live on, to continue existing in the hearts of the Frost Clan’s people."

Sharky instead felt a bit worried. Now that Alina’s Medusa identity has been exposed, she might not be able to return to Cloudcenter City’s Frost Clan anymore...

Of course, he wouldn’t bring up something like that while she was grieving.

...

The two of them then headed in the opposite direction. Along the way, they found some traces that had most likely been left behind by the guard.

Eventually, they arrived at a collapsed area. Sharky looked at the wall in front of him and reached out a hand. After sensing it for a bit, he opened his eyes and said, "This path is being blocked by around a dozen meters of rock. We should be able to dig our way through."

"Sounds good!" Alina replied. She had already rolled up her sleeves, prepared to take action.

Sharky couldn’t help but laugh, saying, "Just leave this to me. You’re injured and should use this chance to catch your breath a bit."

Alina looked at his chest worriedly, saying, "Your injuries were even more serious than mine. If it were anyone else, they might already have died from a wound like that. I think you should rest and let me do this."

Sharky pulled aside his clothes and moved closer to her. He was worried that she might not be able to see clearly, so he placed the hand she was holding up on his chest, saying, "I told you my body was tough, right? I even ate Charlotte’s pill, so the wound has already healed. Look, it’s already formed a scab."

Alina’s finger gently caressed his wound and discovered that it really had closed up. She exclaimed, "It really healed that fast? White Jade Sect’s Ice Heart Pill really is as miraculous as the legends state..."

Sharky couldn’t help but chuckle. It seemed it was really hard for ordinary people to understand his body’s toughness. They always subconsciously thought his recovery speed was because of medicine.

"Sigh, it really is amazing. How could Charlotte be willing to give you such an important medicine?" Alina mused, her expression strange. She just felt that the matter was way too absurd.

"Maybe it’s because I’m handsome and she ended up liking me," Sharky replied.

"Look at you!" Alina rolled her eyes and shot back, "If Sect Master Charlotte heard that, she might just skin you alive."

Sharky sighed and said, "I’m telling you the truth, but you don’t believe me."

He quickly approached the collapsed area. His hand pressed against the surface, and he slowly began digging through the wall. However, he didn’t smash into it with his fist. They were underground, after all, so he was worried about causing a second collapse.

Instead, he used a weaker force to slowly soften the earth through vibration. At the same time, he protected the surroundings with his ki. That way, he slowly drew out the dirt; in time, a long, circular tunnel appeared before them.

"You’re completely covered in sweat from all that work," Alina said. She took out her handkerchief to help Sharky wipe away the sweat on his forehead.

When he saw her shockingly beautiful face up close, Sharky couldn’t help but raise her chin and kiss her. Alina was caught off guard. At first, she hit him lightly with her fists, but eventually, she returned the affection.

"You really are beautiful..." Sharky said with sincere admiration when their lips separated again a while afterward.