Missing

Snow fell heavily in the north, and even though it was late spring, it was still freezing cold.

The holy city is located at the northern end of the border, where snow falls all year round. The pure white snow covers the vast mountains, and whenever the church bells ring, the sacred and ethereal atmosphere is further enhanced.

In the magnificent church, the Pope was kneeling in front of the statue and praying. The door of the temple that was originally closed opened silently, and a clergyman walked into the temple and prostrated himself before the throne.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, Duke failed to live up to your expectations. He failed."

"I don't think there is anything in the South that could put the two archbishops in danger."

These words made the reporter break out in a cold sweat, and he lowered his head even lower.

"I'm sorry, we have lost contact with Duke, and we don't know what happened to him. We can only confirm that he is missing in the territory of Earl Ya'an. This earl is very hostile to the influence of the Holy See, so it is difficult for us to get in. We have sent people to contact Earl Ya'an, and we will find them as quickly as possible."

"Ya'an... I remember him. Their ancestors made a covenant with the church that the church would not compete with Ya'an's descendants for territory. In return, Ya'an would never leave the south."

This is a distant and ancient covenant, and there is no need to break it yet. But it is also important to find the two missing people. The Pope thought for a moment and finally made a decision.

"I see. You should go there in person."

The clergyman prostrated himself on the ground and accepted the task without hesitation. He kissed the ground at the foot of the steps and walked backwards. He stood up only after he left the church.

The priest guarding the door brought him clean water. He washed the dust off his hands and then took the knife that another priest had handed to him.

It was a pair of strange double swords. Shaped like a crescent moon, dark as night, the blades did not reflect light. The holy man silently put the swords behind his waist and raised his head to reveal a resolute face.

There was a notch on his left eyebrow, dividing it into two parts.

This gap is very thin and also looks like a crescent moon.

......

In the territory of Viscount Burke.

The next day, the people woke up to find that they had a new lord. After a brief moment of surprise, they gathered in front of the castle at the order of the soldiers, their hearts filled with fear and worry.

Viscount Burke was a cruel lord, and even he was killed. How terrible would the new bloodline be? When the townspeople thought of this, they were worried about their future.

Seeing the uneasiness on their faces, Mason said nothing. He released the mechanic's control and turned the giant beasts back into parts. Some of them were completely unusable, so he picked them out and melted them down directly, focusing on being a frugal person.

Viscount Burke had been running the territory for many years and had trained many skilled blacksmiths. All kinds of infrastructure were in place, and Mason hired several craftsmen to return to the new town, intending to build a furnace there. Apart from that, Mason did not interfere with the lives of the people in the territory, but only maintained their daily order.

These people's reactions were normal. There were only a few people who believed in the bloodline like Xinzhen did. Ronald's many years of management were indispensable. He was indeed a good knight who was loyal to his duties.

After a few days of peace, the two territories returned to their normal tranquility. Mason's raid had no impact. At most, it caused some complaints from the surrounding nobles, but when your strength reaches a certain level, these minor problems can be ignored. The entire new town was immersed in a joyous atmosphere, eagerly waiting for the earl's transfer order.

A few days later, the transfer order from Earl Ya'an arrived late, and the person in charge of sending her was still an acquaintance.

Osk, the leader of the bloodline in District 4 of Ya'an City. Mason once teamed up with them under the guise of Oleus to go to Amela Village to deal with the missing contact issue. He is a Thunder Rhino bloodline, powerful, and fully trusted by Ya'an. According to common sense, he should not be responsible for such errands.

Rambo was also a little puzzled. He looked Osk up and down, as if he wanted to find something special in him: "Why are you in charge of delivering the transfer order?"

"Why, you don't want to see me? Although I heard that you left Partington, I didn't expect you to come to such a small place."

The Brainworm Bloodline glanced at him calmly, Osk touched his nose, and looked at Mason again. Rambo said, "He is a trustworthy person. Just say whatever you want to say."

"Well... well, he is the lord of this place after all, maybe he can be of use."

Osk lowered his voice: "Someone from the church has gone missing in the southern border."

Rambo frowned: "Another member of the church sneaked into the southern border?"

"Not exactly. You know, even though the Count hates them, the churchmen are unwilling to give up this place."

Osk shrugged. "After the previous person disappeared, the church sent a new person, and the new priest also disappeared in the earl's territory. It is said that the person who came was the high priest, but guess what? He disappeared directly. The place where he disappeared is nearby, so I came to investigate."

Mason thought about it carefully and said, "I haven't heard of any similar rumors."

"After all, they came secretly and could not be publicized. We did not know they were coming until they found the Earl and said that someone was missing."

Osk was full of complaints about this. He was loyal to Yaan. The Earl hated the church, and naturally his bloodline followers didn't like it either. In such an environment, the church had to choose to sneak into the territory every time, and Yaan and his men had to take responsibility when something happened. This further intensified the conflict between the two sides.

These things are secrets that cannot be made public. The Bloodline complained for a while, but when they saw that Mason and the others didn't know the details, they couldn't help but sigh even though they had expected it.

"Anyway, I will go search for those missing people next. You should also pay attention and don't let your men wander around recently."

Mason naturally had no objection, he wished there were less things to do. After completing the ceremony of receiving the title, Osk left in a hurry.

The young man didn't take it to heart. If the sky fell, there were tall people to hold it up, and with Ya'an there, he didn't need to do these things himself.

Now he was troubled by another matter. The transfer order had been received. According to custom, the newly appointed viscount should send someone to visit his colleagues. Who should he send? Mason thought about it and decided that this task should be given to Rambo.

The brainworm bloodline is smart, good at speaking, and knows the nobles around him very well. No one is more suitable for this job than him. The only problem is that the workload seems to be too heavy. Rambo completed the tasks that normally take half a year in just half a month after arriving in the new town. The latter has multiple jobs and has no complaints about this, which makes Mason feel a little guilty about forcing him to work hard.

On second thought, this is clearly for the purpose of making the new town better, how can it be called exploitation? At most, he can just give more care when rewarding people for their merits. He never treats meritorious people unfairly!

In this way, Mason let go of his guilt and went to Wormwood every day to supervise the progress of cement production.

Everything is going well and the future seems bright.

At this moment, Mason learned an unexpected news.

.....

“There’s something wrong with this place.”

The bonfire was burning, lighting up the faces of the people around. The aroma of barbecue filled their noses, but few people could muster an appetite.

"You are talking bullshit!" The man sitting opposite took a big bite of the skewer, his face looked like he was chewing wax. "We have to find a way to get out. God knows how long we have been here. If we continue like this, I will definitely go crazy."

There was still enough food, and they were strong enough to deal with the enemy. Nothing could stump an experienced Wandering Bloodline, unless it was a problem they couldn't solve. Fortunately, they hadn't run out of food yet.

But it wasn't long before that time came. Everyone sitting here knew that despair was more terrible than death. The biggest problem was that the fog was too thick and they couldn't find the way back.

The rest of the people remained silent, and the silence spread among them like fear. Until another person forced a smile and said, "It doesn't matter, Xinzhen will find us."

His words opened up everyone's conversation. When the bloodline members mentioned the small village, their expressions relaxed a little.

"That's better. Honestly, it's a nice place, isn't it?"

"This is a lot better than the life I had before. At least there's beer and a warm bed and a bunch of damn noisy merchandise."

"Come on, you love chatting with those little things. Don't think I don't know that you go to the Chamber of Commerce every day. But I have to say that the things sold there are really good. It is said that they will sell even better things in the future."

"Ha, let's just pray we can go back. I've had enough of this damn barbecue."

As they were talking, fog began to fill the wasteland. This made the Bloodline members look serious. They all fell silent. The gray fog spread, greatly affecting the vision. There were faint panting sounds coming from the darkness, and the beasts were growling restlessly.

God knows how so many monsters suddenly appeared in the south. The bloodline warriors exchanged uneasy glances and held their weapons in silence.

The next second, the campfire beside them suddenly went out, and the monsters rushed over impatiently.

The sounds of screams, cries of pain, and blades piercing limbs were endless.

After an unknown amount of time, the fierce fighting finally stopped.

A bloody figure walked through the mist, his right arm missing, his face full of fear.

"Ahem... ahem... we must pass the message back..."

Before this battle, none of them had thought that it was not the monster that killed them, but their companions!

Those who come after them will surely fall into the same predicament once they enter the mist. Must... must... otherwise...

Faith supported him as he continued to move forward, his stumbling steps leaving a trail of blood. The man did not notice that despite leaving such a clear mark, no monster came to attack him. Occasionally, a monster flashed by, ignoring him as if he were one of its own kind.

Slowly, the man's eyes became dull. The Bloodline stopped, turned around as if confused, and walked towards the depths of the thick fog. There, several familiar figures stood silently, as if waiting for him to join them.

When the last person walked into their group, all the figures turned around at the same time, with stiff and unified steps, and gradually disappeared into the depths of the mist.

Soon, silence overwhelmed everything.

......

Mason is surprised to learn that the expedition has gone missing.

The exploration team is a special team for the purpose of opening up the territory. All members are bloodline people selected by Mason. They were originally wandering bloodline people and are very strong. Even if they encounter danger, escaping will definitely not be a problem.

If the missing people were from the church, Mason could have remained silent. But now that people from Newtown were also missing, he could no longer remain indifferent.

After carefully planning the manpower, Mason decided to go and see for himself. The new town was under construction and everyone was very busy. As a manager, he naturally had to be responsible for his people.

When Roland learned of the situation, he immediately objected: "This is too dangerous. What will happen to Xinzhen if something happens to you?"

Mason raised his eyebrows and couldn't help but teasing: "I thought you would have more confidence in me."

"Well..."

Thinking of the territory that the other party had taken not long ago, Roland, who was not even a baron yet, was shocked. But the other party didn't do it alone! ?

He stubbornly changed his words and said, "It's still too dangerous to go alone. You can take the mechanic with you."

"Let the mechanic stay in the new town. If a monster attacks, she can protect the townspeople in time."

"Monsters may not come to New Town, but you are going to a dangerous place. Let the mechanic protect you."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. If a monster really attacks, Xinzhen will be a more conspicuous target than me. Besides, the mechanic needs to prepare a lot of equipment in advance, and it's difficult to bring all of it. Letting her stay in Xinzhen is the best option."

Mason spoke slowly, and seeing that Roland was still unwilling, he sighed helplessly with gentle eyes.

"I am no longer a child, Roland. I am a bloodline and your lord. Since I received the title, I have the responsibility to protect my people. Believe me, okay?"

Since the Lord has said so, what else can he say? Roland sighed inwardly. The boy in front of him is still a child - yes, he is not even old enough to be called a man. But no one would doubt that he is qualified enough to become a lord, even Roland himself could not deny it. When he heard the other party say this, his persistence was shaken.

The young man knelt on one knee, kissed the back of the other's hand, and begged, "Please be careful.

The equally young lord smiled. He leaned over and hugged him, promising, "Of course. Wait to welcome us home, my friend."