Chapter 457: Escape
In the evening of Adria, in the square of the Church, in front of the Pure Flow Church, Antonio, who had originally looked dejected, was taken aback after hearing Oliver’s words, then he turned to Oliver with an unexpected expression.
“They didn’t clear the landmark? How is that possible? How could they think of stealing something like the Emmanuel Crown without clearing the landmark?” Paul, who was beside them, remarked in surprise. With a church treasure like the Emmanuel Crown, it was certain that it would have the landmark sigils on it, and the thieves should have known this better, so how could there be a situation where they didn’t clear it while stealing?
“Well… it’s possible he forgot to clear it, or maybe we used a deep landmark on the Emmanuel Crown that regular methods couldn’t easily remove. He might have tried to clear it with common methods but couldn’t?” Oliver thoughtfully replied, and at that moment, Antonio directly spoke up.
“That’s unlikely… That thief is a Red Tier. Someone of his caliber likely wouldn’t forget to clear such an important matter. As a Red Tier thief, he definitely has the means to clear deep landmarks; it should be impossible for him to not be able to clear it. There must be something else going on here…” Antonio murmured while furrowing his brows. He was beginning to sense that the theft he was currently involved in was far from as simple as it appeared. There might be deeper reasons behind it.
At this point, Antonio fell into thought, and just then, Oliver couldn’t help but ask.
“Um… Lord Antonio, the landmark is currently moving quickly southeast away from us. Should we pursue or not?”
Hearing Oliver’s words, Antonio paused slightly, then he set aside his confusion for the moment. After a moment of steeling his resolve, he spoke up.
“Let’s chase. We’ll head to the port now and board the Wavebreaker to pursue at full speed! No matter what, the Emmanuel Crown is linked to the spiritual embodiment of the people of Adria; we cannot afford any mistakes. We must catch up.”
Antonio ordered sternly. There happened to be a church fleet’s military port in Adria, where a large fleet that had just returned escorting pilgrims was currently stationed. This military port hosted not only a large number of church military extraordinary beings but also many high-speed ships specialized for expeditions.
To prepare for the possibility that this was a trap, Antonio decided to deploy all the high-speed ships along with a group of church naval extraordinary beings to pursue with the strongest forces and at the fastest speed.
This was an issue concerning the church’s reputation; he would not let that audacious thief escape!
…
Late at night, on the Conquer Sea.
Relying on the soul of a shark and transformed into a half-shark form, Garib was speeding through the water. With his shark-like features and the power granted by the third-tier “Cup,” Garib was swimming at incredible speed, surpassing any ordinary fish, vessels, and even soaring birds in the sky. Despite this, Garib did not dare to rest for a moment.
Faster, faster! Farther, farther! What Garib was thinking was to exert every effort to get as far away from Adria as possible, distancing himself from Antonio. He had to escape his detection range before Antonio emerged from the Underworld. The perception range of a Red Tier “Lamp” extraordinary being was vast; their tiered vision could cover an entire super-large city, hence he did not dare to let his guard down during his escape. He swam hard towards the front, just to shake off Antonio as quickly as possible.
In the battle in the Underworld, Garib had already sustained some injuries. While he was a supporting extraordinary being of the “Cup,” his self-healing ability was not as potent as that of those belonging to the bl**d Darkness Path or the Path of the Holy Mother. As such, the wounds on him had not healed completely, and he had no time to focus on healing, forcing him to bear the pain while swimming vigorously, with countless bl**d flowing from his wounds mingling with the sea water.
He swam and swam, tirelessly. Under the power of the “Cup,” Garib had been swimming in the sea for several hours. Logically, he should have already escaped Antonio’s tiered vision by now, yet he still didn’t stop; he maintained his position and kept swimming forward—he could not afford to stop just yet for safety’s sake.
Garib continued his relentless swimming in the sea until the moon in the sky sank below the western horizon, until the dawn broke in the eastern sky, until the sun rose from the sea in the east and climbed high into the sky, illuminating the world. Only then did Garib gradually slow down, having swum continuously from night till day in an intense manner. Even the third-tier “Cup” couldn’t withstand that; Garib felt the soreness of every muscle in his body.
At that moment, far ahead of Garib on the surface of the sea, a lush small island appeared under the morning light. Upon seeing this, Garib immediately perked up, enduring the pain throughout his body, and swam swiftly towards the island, finally setting foot on the sand of this deserted island a few minutes later.
As soon as he landed on the beach, Garib immediately released his reliance, letting the shark soul dissipate and sealing it back into the bones. Then he staggered forward, panting, until he found a tree to lean against and finally sat down, exhausted. At this point, he was utterly drained.
“Huff… huff…”
Gasping for air, Garib finally had the chance to rest after a long swim. Amid the soreness of his muscles, he sat under the tree for more than half an hour. After he managed to recover a bit of strength, he couldn’t help but gaze out at the vast sea before him, thinking to himself that he had run so far, he shouldn’t be found again, right?
‘Huff… I think it’s safe now… I wonder how much Sailim and the others can escape. This time, the rest period might take quite a long while… I never expected this incident to occur. How did that old man Antonio find out about me?’
Garib thought in his heart. He had initially planned to acquire the divination artifact now and then steal from a Repair Association ruin in April. However, given the current situation, he knew that his trusted subordinates had suffered significant losses and might not be able to organize enough strength to raid the ruins any time soon. After this wave, he needed to take ample time for recovery and preparation.
‘Although there have been unexpected events, at least I got what I came for! As long as I’m still here and this item is still with me… everything will be fine…’
Garib thought to himself, then he looked at the pouch hanging from his waist, inside it was the hard-earned treasure he had stolen at great cost—the inheritance most coveted from Azamu.
Staring at the pouch, Garib, still catching his breath, decided to open it to take a look. He took down the small pouch, opened its mouth, and gazed inside, pulling out artifact after artifact.
A goblet, earrings, a dagger, arrowheads… Garib examined each item carefully. As a seasoned treasure hunter, he had a certain ability to discern treasures and could identify the cultural origins and approximate age of these artifacts.
In Garib’s impression, although he had never seen Azamu’s divination artifact, he vaguely knew it was unearthed from Northern Ufeiga, so it should belong to Northern Ufeiga culture. Azamu’s donated collection primarily comprised Northern Ufeiga relics. However, after spending a while appraising, Garib discovered that among these artifacts, he hardly saw any items from Northern Ufeiga; instead, most were from Iwig’s own cultural collection.
As he continued assessing the artifacts in the pouch, Garib’s brows slightly furrowed. Just as a sense of unease began to rise in his heart, he finally finished examining all the items, leaving only a small cloth bag at the bottom of the pouch.
Seeing the small cloth bag, Garib’s confusion deepened. He picked it up with curiosity, pondering why his young subordinate had specially wrapped this item.
With that confusion, Garib opened the cloth bag, but as he saw the radiance spilling out from within, his eyes widened in shock.
Unwrapping the cloth bag, Garib beheld a luminous crown in the style of the Radiant Church, emanating a visible glow. The entire crown was crafted from shiny metallic wire intricately woven together. At the front, it was adorned with a gigantic crystal-clear diamond that shimmered brilliantly under the sunlight.
“This is… the Emmanuel Crown!”
Seeing the crown before him, Garib couldn’t help but blurt out in fear, almost dropping the item he was holding. He never expected that his subordinate would have something as significant as the Emmanuel Crown in their pouch! Such a treasure from the Radiant Church would undoubtedly carry potent landmark sigils on it, and no matter where it was taken, it would be traceable.
This was precisely the sort of thing that should not be stolen!
Why? Why is the Emmanuel Crown here! Didn’t I say it was fine to only take items from Eibeni? I never told them to steal this!
Looking at the crown in his hand, Garib thought with overwhelming shock. Initially, he thought his subordinate was being greedy, wanting to make some gains when looking for Eibeni’s donations, hence daring to steal the Emmanuel Crown. However, after considering it again, he felt the situation implied something more complicated; this operation was full of unexpected twists. It was frustrating enough to encounter Antonio, who should have been leaving; now something that absolutely shouldn’t have been among his spoils suddenly appeared. This thought made Garib feel as if he were targeted by someone, and for a moment, he sensed he had fallen into a significant conspiracy.
Staring at the Emmanuel Crown, a mix of anxiety and excitement surged within Garib. Just then, he noticed that beneath the Emmanuel Crown in the cloth bag, there was indeed another item—upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a small white card.
Upon seeing the card, Garib’s eyes widened; he immediately took it and unfolded it before his eyes. What he saw on the card was… a message written in Iwig.
Staring at the message on the card, Garib’s breathing quickened, and his pupils constricted. After moments of heavy breathing, he finally gritted his teeth and uttered a name.
“Thief K…”
Realizing he had been set up, Garib slammed his fist against the tree beside him, breaking it down completely. Then, he tossed the Emmanuel Crown to the ground, wanting to flee immediately. Since he had not originally intended to steal the Emmanuel Crown, he had never prepared anything to remove the sigils, and now he could only keep running to avoid being caught by the church.
Just as Garib rose from beneath the tree, he saw a scene that filled him with despair.
On the distant horizon over the sea, thick smoke rose, and beneath that smoke, several warships had emerged on the surface of the sea, rapidly heading towards the island.
On the far side of the island, three notably small and slender church warships were cutting through the waves at high speed. These lightweight high-speed military ships, with their streamlined hulls, were powered by extraordinarily expensive engines crafted by the White Stone Craftsmen Guild that burned spiritual storage items, providing immense power to drive them forward swiftly.
Onboard the military ships, the church navy soldiers were fully equipped. At the forefront, Antonio stood there, his robe billowing in the sea breeze. As an extraordinary being of the “Lamp,” his vision could already see Garib’s astonished face on the distant island.
…
Back in Adria.
As night turned to day, the jewel of Iwig, a well-known tourist city in the Northern Conquer Sea, welcomed another new morning. Amidst the calls of seabirds, the citizens and tourists of Iwig, as usual, walked out of their homes to begin a new day of work and sightseeing. As a key tourist spot, the Pure Flow Church also welcomed the first batch of visitors early in the morning; however, this group of visitors found something amiss about the church today.
Seals and police—that was the sight presented at every entrance of the church square. Whether it was on the streets or at the bridgeheads, guards were posted everywhere, and the church square, usually bustling with Adria’s citizens, was completely sealed off at this moment—no one could enter, supposedly for large-scale renovations taking place, leaving everyone baffled by this unprecedented lockdown.
How could they seal off a square for renovations so tightly, even having police prevent anyone from entering? That was ludicrous!
In a moment, the streets, alleys, and restaurants were filled with discussions about what had happened in the church square that suddenly led to such a lockdown. Many rumors began to spread rapidly, some claiming there had been a large-scale gang shootout last night in the square, leaving dozens dead, citing the loud noises that were heard. Others mentioned that many church personnel who could freely enter and exit the sealed area were searching for a renowned nun from Adria who had gone missing.
Among all these claims, the most shocking and widely circulated one was that the Emmanuel Crown had been stolen from the Pure Flow Church! Furthermore, it was allegedly at the hands of the recently featured Thief K in the newspaper!
This claim originated from individuals in the church and a certain insurance company in Adria, who mysteriously said that yesterday morning, numerous letters and postcards suddenly flooded their places, stating that Thief K planned to come and admire Adria’s morning treasure, the Emmanuel Crown. Due to the influx of postcards, the insurance company and church’s reception desks, which typically catered to ordinary people, couldn’t handle it. Not only some regular employees saw it, but some ordinary customers and donors also caught wind of it.
After this incident, the insurance company and the church required all employees and clients who had seen the postcard contents to keep them confidential. However, due to the number of ordinary witnesses, the matter leaked soon after.
This confidentiality request typically ended up resembling, “I tell you not to tell others. If you tell others, don’t say I told you.”
At first, many people didn’t believe the rumors, but after the square was sealed this morning, the claims began to circulate rapidly, overtaking other gossip and becoming the main focus.
The reason was simple: the dazzling light that the Adria people used to see on top of the church—belonging to the Emmanuel Crown—had vanished without a trace. They looked through telescopes at the church, only to see the thickly shut roll gate of a small loft—something definitely unusual for the people of Adria.
The disappearance of the light atop the church seemingly confirmed the rumors of the Emmanuel Crown’s theft, and soon many places began discussing the combination of strength and audacity, along with the legendary Thief K and the Emmanuel Crown, including a certain restaurant.
At noon, at a window-side table in the restaurant, Nephnis, adorned in a flowing purple dress, sat observing the discussions happening around her among the patrons, looking slightly anxious as she spoke to Doro beside her.
“Um… Miss Doro, can you please keep the noise down a little when you send out the notifications? Just send them to one or two specific people; there’s no need for so many…”
“How can I keep it down? If I only send one, it could easily be dismissed as a joke by the reception and go unnoticed, so I send more to ensure their superiors pay attention; it’s more secure that way.”
As she spoke, Doro took a bite of her noodles, then turned to Nephnis and continued, speaking in Prit.
“After all, for the people in this world, sending a notification before stealing sounds too unbelievable; they need to gradually get accustomed to this legendary method, don’t you think? Right, Miss Thief K?”
