A Core Ship From The Start
Chapter 1628 - 1087: Eastern Incident

Chapter 1628: Chapter 1087: Eastern Incident

For the students, a splash of cold water from Duanmu Huai served to cool their hot heads. Indeed, thinking carefully, they have come to this world, gained powerful attributes and abilities, but none of that matters; the crucial question is, can they kill?

Of course not.

After all, they are just students, and most of them are girls who on a normal day couldn’t even kill a chicken, let alone a person.

So after a discussion among themselves, the students responded to Duanmu Huai — they don’t like war, but they hope to at least have the ability to defend themselves so they don’t hold everyone back. Although Banriya, Murasakifuji Ilina, and Mary will remain here to watch over them, they still hope to gain some combat experience and self-defense skills.

Duanmu Huai didn’t mind this and let them be. As for the training, Captain Meld would be in charge, so he didn’t have to worry about these minor issues.

Next, Duanmu Huai had two matters to attend to.

The first was the information sent by Princess Lilliana, coming from the Royal Palace.

Previously, when Andariel had taken over the Blood Wasteland, the kingdom’s external communication methods were completely cut off. It was only after Duanmu Huai got rid of Andariel and reclaimed the Blood Wasteland that the kingdom sent people again to establish contact. And up to today, the messages from the front have finally started to come through.

Many human countries and cities have already been destroyed... Such news holds no significance for Duanmu Huai; he only cares about the whereabouts of the Demon King and the Demon God.

Fortunately, there is indeed information on this.

According to the report obtained by the kingdom, there are currently signs of Demon King activity in two cities. They are Lut Gholein and Caldeum, both of which are located in the desert to the kingdom’s east, and perhaps because of their remote location, they have not yet fallen.

According to the intelligence, the King of Pain, Duriel, one of the four great Demon Kings, is active in Lut Gholein, while the King of Lies, Belial, is in Caldeum.

But... the desert...

Duanmu Huai dislikes the desert the most, unable to distinguish north from south and east from west, and the Mammoth couldn’t go there — a place like the desert, with the weight of the Mammoth, would just sink immediately.

However, there is good news: after killing Andariel, Duanmu Huai’s summoning list has unlocked one more slot.

This reassured Duanmu Huai; he had heard that there were three Demon Gods and four Demon Kings here, so unlocking seven slots shouldn’t be a problem. Looking at it this way, being summoned to this world wasn’t for nothing.

The question is, who to summon?

Aikute... It’s not the right time now, and Zhenjiling is not an option either, plus there’s another issue; the previous people were all summoned to Duanmu Huai’s place. Now that they’ve been summoned to this world, it’s uncertain whether, if given an invitation letter again, they’d come here or go directly to his place. If they go to the other side, that’s fine; Duanmu Huai could ask them to pass a message to Liliath and the others, letting them know about the current situation.

Ann can’t be summoned. The Tribunal is at such a critical stage that Ann and Mary are Duanmu Huai’s most indispensable right and left hands. If Duanmu Huai isn’t there, one of them must be present to ensure there are no problems. Since Mary followed him here, Ann can’t be summoned — and with Ann’s personality, if only she and not Greiya are called, she’d likely throw a tantrum, which would be terribly troublesome.

So Duanmu Huai decisively chose a little fellow that wouldn’t cause him trouble but would bring him good luck.

The pity is...

"As I thought, the selection is based on where I am."

Stroking the fluffy white rabbit in his arms, Duanmu Huai pouted. Indeed, for insurance, Duanmu Huai sent the invitation to Tutu, who also happily ran over just like Ling’Nu. However, Ling’Nu usually stays by Duanmu Huai’s side in the form of a black cat, whereas Tutu transformed into a little white rabbit... But the problem lies elsewhere.

The problem is her luck; now Duanmu Huai thinks he could use a bit of luck.

After all, he is about to head to a desert city to search for the Demon King; if the opposing force comes out like Andariel, that’s fine; but if they skulk about like thieves, refusing to show up, that would be a headache.

So bringing Tutu along for a bit of luck might result in encountering the BOSS right as they enter the city gate.

As for Tutu, Duanmu Huai just gave her a soldier piece for transformation, since around Duanmu Huai, Tutu mainly functions as a luck-bringing mascot, not needing to assist him in combat, right?

That’s settled then.

After referring once more to the map and the Bird Divination Tool, confirming his next target, Duanmu Huai nodded. First to Lut Gholein and then to Caldeum. The aim is to finish off these two Demon Kings in one go; since it’s the desert, there’s no need to bring others along this time, going alone will suffice.

No, he’s not alone.

Thinking of this, Duanmu Huai reached out his hand, and a small black cat quickly jumped onto his shoulder, meowing softly. Meanwhile, the little white rabbit in his hand rolled over comfortably.

Hmm... aren’t this pair of black and white evils a bit too cute?

On second thought, it’s quite nice.

Duanmu Huai stood up, stretching lazily.

It’s time to set off.

The journey to Lut Gholein isn’t easy, but that’s for the land. Although it’s all desert there, and the Mammoth can’t make it, it doesn’t mean he has no other means.

"Hoo———"

A howling gale carrying yellow sand blew, hitting Duanmu Huai’s Power Armor and making crackling sounds. Duanmu Huai flew a circle in the air, forced to choose landing.

"Cursed desert, I despise this godforsaken place!"

While muttering complaints, Duanmu Huai took out the Bird Divination Tool and checked his direction.

It should be just ahead, if I haven’t lost my way.

After confirming the direction, Duanmu Huai set off again. Fortunately, perhaps his little bunny brought sufficient luck, for it didn’t take long before he spotted the outline of a city wall in the swirling sands. So Duanmu Huai trudged on, bracing against the sandy wind.

"Whoosh whoosh!!"

Just as Duanmu Huai was approaching the city gate, two arrows were quickly shot from the city wall, landing on the ground at Duanmu Huai’s feet. Immediately, a voice rang out.

"Halt! Who are you? What brings you to Lut Gholein?"

"I come from the Kingdom of Helike, with matters to discuss with your ruler."

Duanmu Huai raised his head, glanced at the guard on the city wall, and spoke. The latter fell silent for a moment upon hearing Duanmu Huai’s response. Soon after, the originally tightly closed gate slowly opened a crack, and a guard emerged from it. Seeing Duanmu Huai before him, he was startled but did not scream as Duanmu Huai had expected. Instead, he merely tensed his body and approached Duanmu Huai.

"Are you the envoy from the Kingdom of Helike?"

"Yes, here is a letter from King of Helike."

Duanmu Huai spoke as he pulled out a letter and handed it over. This letter, of course, he had obtained through Princess Lilliana. After all, when it comes to proving one’s identity, it’s sometimes easier to find a reliable way, isn’t it?

"Alright... please wait a moment."

The guard took the letter but did not leave quickly as Duanmu Huai had imagined. On the contrary, he scrutinized Duanmu Huai again, as if he had something he wanted to say.

"Is there anything else?"

"Sorry, I just want to know, are you the Steel Warrior who eradicated Andariel?"

"How did you know?"

One must admit, Duanmu Huai was somewhat surprised to hear the guard’s inquiry. Although he knew his appearance was as eye-catching and stylish as a firefly in the darkness, did the news spread this fast?

"So it really is you."

Hearing Duanmu Huai’s response, the guard also flashed a smile.

"You might not know, but not long ago, we hosted a caravan from the Blood Moor here. It was from them that we learned about your heroic deeds... ah, pardon me, please wait here for a moment. I shall go and report right away!"

With these words, the guard hurriedly turned and retreated back into the gate.

"............"

It must be said, this turn of events did take Duanmu Huai by surprise. But it didn’t matter; he was more curious as to why the other party was so excited, as if they’d seen a savior... well, it now seemed the information coming from the other kingdom was indeed true. Clearly, due to the demon rampage here, they needed assistance.

"Hurrah..."

As Duanmu Huai was contemplating, the gate opened again, and a group of soldiers emerged, led by a young man who seemed to be in charge. He was smiling as he looked at Duanmu Huai and approached him.

"Greetings, Steel Warrior. I am Jain, the King of Lut Gholein, and I welcome you to this beautiful harbor city. Please, come with me..."

Well, well, the king came out to welcome him personally?

Watching Jain greet him so warmly, Duanmu Huai raised an eyebrow. The last time he received such treatment was when he was just summoned, so what play was this now?

Though the other’s behavior was enthusiastic, Duanmu Huai didn’t become complacent because of it. A gratuitous show of kindness usually hides an agenda. Coupled with the expression of the earlier guard and the information from the kingdom, Duanmu Huai had a pretty good guess about why the king was so warmly welcoming him.

Sure enough, as they made their way to the Royal Palace of Lut Gholein, King Jain also recounted the events occurring there to Duanmu Huai.

"You might not know, but before Andariel overran the Blood Wasteland, a mage came here. He seemed quite insane, muttering words that defied belief. Things like the Demon God will soon resurrect, and this world is about to face destruction, and thus he wished to enter the palace to find clues to save the world..."

"Did you agree to it?"

"Of course not. The palace is not a place just anyone can enter, so I ordered the guards to expel him. Unexpectedly, the mage vanished just like that... I have no idea where he went, and not long after, terrible and horrifying things happened in the palace. Demons, I don’t know from where they emerged, attacked the palace. To prevent its destruction, I had no choice but to summon all soldiers back to the palace... as you can see, there are almost no guards outside now."

"Hmm."

Duanmu Huai nodded. Indeed, he saw that the entire street was empty, with no one guarding it. And since the other had spoken to this extent, Duanmu Huai understood what they meant.

"You want me to investigate this matter, correct?"

"Precisely. We suspect that mage might be related to the Demon King, but my guards are no longer sufficient to hold the line. Frankly, if not for your timely arrival, we might have had to abandon this city..."

"No problem, leave it to me."

Upon hearing this, Duanmu Huai tightened his grip on his War Hammer and chuckled. At the same time, he reached into his pocket to stroke the little white bunny.

Indeed, the luck of my bunny is truly something else. Although the boss didn’t offer itself for defeat, entering the city directly into the main storyline is pretty sweet!

Now, all that remains is for me to enter the Royal Palace, find that wicked bastard causing trouble, and finish him off!

Only thing is... given that it’s the Royal Palace...

Duanmu Huai caressed the thermite bomb in his bosom and sighed.

Probably can’t blow it up.