Chapter 478: Regroup

“All right. So we’ve concluded that Xuan Kai’s magic can indeed fight back against this antimagic power, and could very well be the only thing that can,” Lan Xiao Su concluded, spinning around the pen in her hand. “What’s our next move?”

“We don’t have much time, so we should end this the sooner the better,” Feng Mian said, to which Ling Xin gave a firm nod in agreement.

“The Midnight Syndicate may only have showed up in Fragment on the surface, but I have no doubt their secret lairs all around the world will soon emerge and attack their respective cities to take advantage of all the chaos in the Magic Capital,” she stated matter-of-factly, folding her arms. “It’s only a matter of time until they reach here as well.”

Yu An Yan sighed. “Yeah… and not to mention they’ll definitely be trying to further advance their antimagic after learning it failed against Xuan Kai. If it becomes so advanced to a point where even Chaos doesn’t work against it, then… well, we’re all doomed, to say the least.”

“There is no time to waste,” I replied, mind set. “We rest tonight, then set out tomorrow for the Fortress. If we want to get back into Fragment, that will be the only place we can. The teleporter here’s been destroyed, right?”

Qing Yue nodded. “The portal closed off, but we can still reroute it to a different location.”

“I see. In that case… looks like it’s time to pay another visit to Old Man Leng, huh?”

“That geezer?” Flaria raised an eyebrow. I frowned.

“What, you don’t like him?”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Eh, he’s not bad. It’s just… he and his shop always smells like cigarettes. It’s disgusting.”

Oh yeah… she did sleep there once.

“Well, now that we have this private beach, you won’t have to sleep there ever again,” Feng Mian said with a smile, doing her best to lighten the mood in the face of the calamity upon us. “But back to the topic… how will we execute this? I mean, if only Chaos power can fight against this antimagic, then the rest of us apart from Xuan Kai and Mei Gui will be essentially useless.”

“Not necessarily,” Mei Gui answered sharply, a steely gleam in her reddish-pink eyes. “When we face off against X’s subordinates, only Master and I will go, but the rest of you can still take on the lower-ranked Midnight Syndicate members with ease. There will be no shortage of them, so we’ll leave those to you. And…”

“Yep! Leave back-up to me,” Qing Yue said with a wry smirk. She may not be able to attack them directly, but healing and buffing she could still do.

“Then it’s decided,” I said. “We head for the Fortress tomorrow, then find a way into Fragment. Rest up, everyone. We have a long road ahead of us.”

The girls all nodded in response, and we headed off to the inn to rest. Who knows? We might even come across some old friends at the Fortress, those who also escaped from Fragment…

*****

– The Next Morning –

We wasted no time at all.

Waking up at 6 AM, I immediately opened up a portal to the Fortress. The girls and I all stepped through, and emerged in front of Old Man Leng’s shop. It was a place we had been to numerous times in the past, so I remembered it very well.

I also remembered that since it was morning, pretty much no one was up. In the Fortress, day and night were essentially flipped, after all. It was when night fell that life truly began in this place.

Of course, that was not to say there weren’t normal early risers. Thankfully for us, Old Man Leng was one of them. He had a pistol in his hand as he opened the door, but upon seeing who we were, he let out a sigh and glanced out at the streets to make sure no one was watching, then beckoned us inside.

Once we were in, he shut the door behind me and locked it tightly, then set down the pistol on the counter and leaned against it, sighing deeply. I tilted my head.

“… You’re not going to question why or how we’re here?”

“Nah. I already know bloody everythin’, kiddo. What happened up there in Fragment, I mean. All the survivors escaped to here, the bloody Fortress. The Midnight Syndicate followed them, and lemme tell ya, last night was a bloody battle. My wife n’ I stayed out of the fight, but many of the survivors from Fragment are dead now. Luckily, though, the Midnight Syndicate’s bloody troops lost quite a bunch as well, so they retreated—for the time bein’, anyway.”

“I see… but if that’s the case, why didn’t you suspect us of being Midnight Syndicate members? Shapeshifting exists, you know.”

“Hmph. No one but ya could be surrounded by all these fine young ladies, kid. A Midnight Syndicate member couldn’t mimic ya if he tried.”

That’s… surprisingly accurate.

“Ahem… anyway,” I shook my head, getting straight to the point. “Do you mind if I set up a portal here? It will make traveling between our place and here easier.”

“Ya could just stay here, y’know. I dunno what yer tryin’ to do, exactly, but if yer still here in the Fortress, it means ya want to fight, right? Most of the remainin’ survivors already fled.”

“Running away isn’t going to do them any good,” Feng Mian muttered. “The Midnight Syndicate will catch up with them sooner or later.”

“Thank you for the offer, but…” I glanced at the girls. “There’s way too many of us to live in this place. We already have a suitable lodging set up, so if you could just let us place a portal here…”

“Hm… and what do I get outta this?”

“Uh…” Yeah… what was I thinking, coming here without a suitable deal in mind?

“Well… we could let you and your wife come to our lodging whenever you want, until this whole business is over.”

“Hah! I was just kiddin’,” Old Man Leng said with a chuckle, then turned serious. “Those bloody Midnight Syndicate bastards most likely took my son’s life. I’m too old to be in the frontlines myself, but if this counts as support for ya kids tryna take ’em down… then I’ll gladly do it, free o’ charge. Not usually my modus operandi, but this is a bloody exception. Ya can set up yer portal or whatever in the back storage room.”

“I see… thanks,” I replied, giving a firm nod. “But you can still go to our lodging if you want. The portal’s going to be set up in your shop, so feel free to go in it whenever you want.”

“Ho? Where is the lodging anyway?”

“A private beach.”

“A- what?!” Old Man Leng’s eyes widened and he slammed his palm on the glass counter so hardly it made me wonder how it wasn’t broken. “Kid, ya got a private beach?! How?!”

“I, uh… bought it. But never mind that, feel free to go there if you like. It’s a good and safe place to stay in this time period. Just… one thing.”

“Hm…?”

“… No smoking,” I said hesitantly, then turned to the girls behind me, folding their arms. “They… want to keep the air there fresh and clean.”

“Ah… understandable,” Old Man Leng laughed and put out his cigar. “But if that’s the case, I won’t go. I’ve been smokin’ for fifty bloody years. Can’t stop now.”

“I see. That’s fair.”

After setting up the portal, I came back out of the back storage room and faced Old Man Leng once again.

“Old Man Leng, do you know where other survivors could be gathered? Those who haven’t fled yet, and actually have a will to fight. If I’m doing this, I want all the help I can get.”

“Hm…” Old Man Leng scratched his head. “Well, I don’t know fer sure myself, but if I were you, I’d check large buildins. Y’know, places like the Library of Infinite Beginnins.”

“The Library of Infinite Beginnings, huh…” I echoed, sinking into thought. “Very well. Thanks for the info—and stay safe.”

He nodded and gave a lighthearted salute. “Ya too, kiddo. And don’t worry, I remember what ya said. If this place gets raided by the Midnight Syndicate, I’ll blow up the portal. Relax.”

I smiled slightly. “You have my gratitude.”

“Now then, if yer lookin’ for survivors, best hurry up. The bloody Midnight Syndicate will probably come out again tonight. Ya don’t got much time.”

I nodded, and together with the girls, we set out. The first place we headed to, just as Old Man Leng had advised, was the Library of Infinite Beginnings. It would’ve been faster to fly there, but we decided to go by foot so we wouldn’t miss anyone on the way.

Of course, by walking, we were also at the risk of getting attacked by any Midnight Syndicate members who were out and about, but since the survivors managed to take down a lot of them last night—enough to force them to retreat—it would mean the low-ranking members don’t have access to antimagic yet. That would also mean they were vulnerable, and easy to take down.

With that in mind, we headed out.