**Chapter 476: Desert**
At the banquet, the mayor of Kankdar was holding a glass of red wine in one hand while listening to Vania’s suggestions. After contemplating her words, he nodded slightly.
“Do you want to bring supplies to assist the people of Adis? Hmm… that is indeed a good idea; it could leave a positive impression on the people there. Sister Vania is quite considerate.”
Robert started speaking, and after listening to him, Vania continued.
“It’s nothing… these are just necessary considerations. After all, the people there have endured the ravages of war, and they are in need of help. This is an opportunity for us to demonstrate our sincerity in negotiations.”
“Sister Vania makes a valid point. I understand. Then, let’s postpone your departure by two days. During this time, the Kankdar municipal government will do everything possible to assist the envoy group in procuring the supplies.”
Robert said to Vania, and after hearing his words, Vania responded cheerfully.
“Thank you for your cooperation and understanding. I appreciate it.”
…
Time passed quickly, and soon the welcome banquet in Kankdar came to an end. Guests and the envoy group returned to their accommodations, and after a night’s rest, dawn arrived the next day.
Early the next morning, Robert announced that Vania’s envoy group had temporarily altered their itinerary, planning to procure supplies before heading to Adis. Upon hearing the news, various sectors in Kankdar began making donations. Along with the envoy group using their own funds for procurement, various food and medical supplies quickly piled up in the warehouse near the station, forming a small mountain.
The Desert Arrow train was a luxurious passenger train prepared by the Kankdar Railway Company specifically for the envoy group. This train was well-known in Kankdar and surrounding countries; it exclusively provided travel services for high-ranking officials. Although the number of carriages was limited, the dining area and interior were exceedingly lavish. In addition to standard passenger and dining carriages, there were also bar carriages, casino carriages, and social carriages among its various functional types.
The Desert Arrow was akin to a land cruise ship, offering passengers an extremely comfortable experience. Equipped with a powerful locomotive, it had fewer carriages than ordinary trains, enabling it to travel at almost double the speed of typical passenger trains.
However, this time the Desert Arrow underwent some modifications for the journey. To facilitate the transportation of large supplies, Kankdar Railway Station had to temporarily reorganize the train’s carriages. Many of the luxurious yet impractical entertainment carriages were unloaded and replaced with heavy freight carriages, which were all coupled to the train. This luxury train, originally intended for high-ranking passengers, now had to take on the functions of a cargo train.
The reorganization of the Desert Arrow took half a day to complete, and loading the freight consumed nearly another half day. At Sister Vania’s request, many freight carriages were added, so even after loading all the donated supplies, several carriages remained empty.
To avoid wasting this cargo capacity, Vania decided to propose to the merchants of Kankdar, inviting them to bring along essential emergency supplies for the war-torn people. They could join her on the Desert Arrow to Adis. As long as they were willing to sell their supplies at fair prices to the suffering people there, they could travel with her.
Due to the chaotic situation in Adus, not many merchants were willing to do business there. Most who dared to trade in that risky environment were those hoping to make a fortune by exorbitantly raising prices, and naturally, they were unwilling to agree to Vania’s condition of fair pricing. Although Vania issued her suggestion, very few merchants were responsive.
In the end, only a handful of merchants approached the envoy group, willing to accept Vania’s conditions and requesting to travel with their goods on the Desert Arrow to Adis. Vania quickly agreed to these merchants.
Transporting necessary supplies for the war-affected civilians was a charitable act, yet it still contained certain safety risks. Over the next day, Vania’s escort unit thoroughly inspected the entire train and all the cargo on board. After finding no abnormalities, the Desert Arrow was finally ready to set off the next day. On the morning of the third day, the train loaded with countless supplies was about to depart.
Within the Kankdar train station, a crowd gathered at the platform, watching as the iron beast exhaled steam and smoke. Amidst the loud roaring, it slowly departed the station, heading toward the vast inland of Northern Ufeiga.
Inside one of the accelerating passenger carriages, Doro, dressed in a traditional Northern Ufeiga robe and wearing a headscarf, was sitting in the compartment. She gazed out of the window at the rapidly passing cityscape. As the train sped up, buildings and homes gradually became sparser, giving way to dense green vegetation.
As a merchant, Doro had boarded the Desert Arrow together with Nephnis, heading to Adis alongside Vania’s envoy group. Doro and Nephnis arrived two days earlier than Vania. During those two days, Doro maneuvered her puppets to procure various supplies in Kankdar. When Vania suggested accepting fair-price merchants to accompany them to Adis, she promptly signed up. After bringing around seven hundred pounds worth of supplies, she and Nephnis boarded the train as merchants. Throughout this process, Vania provided cover for Doro, successfully evading most of the envoy guards’ inspections. Now they could travel on the Desert Arrow to Adis, well-concealed under Vania’s protection.
“It’s still hard to believe… that Sister Vania has become such an important figure now, and that she was sent as an envoy by the church to Adus. I remember when I met her last year; she said she was just an ordinary nun in a church in the Northern District. Now she’s even making the front page of newspapers…”
Nephnis, sitting opposite Doro and wearing a similar robe, sighed in admiration. She had met Vania last year in Tivyán, when she was escaping from the pursuit of the Eight Pinnacle Nest. Doro had informed Vania to rescue Nephnis back then, and Nephnis had been deeply impressed by the seemingly frail yet surprisingly powerful nun.
“Your transformation isn’t much less dramatic either. You were a university student last year; now you’re a legendary thief. In terms of making headlines, you’re not far behind Vania.”
While sipping tea, Doro spoke half-jokingly to Nephnis. Taken aback by Doro’s words, Nephnis quickly interjected with a hint of urgency.
“Please don’t bring that up… Miss Doro, this isn’t something I consider newsworthy at all. I truly prefer to keep my name out of it…”
“Alright, alright, let’s drop it…” Doro smiled in response to Nephnis’ anxious expression and then shifted the topic back to Vania.
“By the way, Miss Doro, is Sister Vania going to Adus for negotiations while you quietly follow along? Is there some influence from the society involved in Adus’s matters? Perhaps Sister Vania’s trip to Adus is not merely a church task but carries some other intentions as well?”
Nephnis curiously asked Doro about the society, referring to the Rosy Cross she believed she belonged to.
Nephnis was aware that Vania was a member of the Rosy Cross. Now that Vania was sent to negotiate in the war-torn country of Adus, with Doro accompanying her, did it imply a connection between Adus’s situation and the Rosy Cross? Was the Rosy Cross, to some extent, influencing the situation in Adus? Was the ongoing turmoil in Adus deeply entangled with the Rosy Cross’s involvement?
At this moment, Nephnis felt a thrill in her heart. Previously, she only knew that the Rosy Cross was mysterious and formidable, but she lacked an intuitive experience on an ordinary level. However, if Adus’s situation was indeed related to the Rosy Cross, it would confirm that the society held the capability to subtly influence the political dynamics of a significant nation—this was the power of a large society, right?
Nephnis spoke excitedly, while Doro, sipping her tea, shot an exasperated glance at her. Doro thought Vania was merely caught up in the church’s internal politics, and her decision to accompany her was just for convenience and support, with no ulterior motives. As for why Vania was sent to Adus specifically, Doro was not entirely sure either.
“There are indeed some deeper reasons behind Vania’s trip to Adus. These reasons go beyond just us and delve more into the church’s internal dynamics…”
“Internal church factors? This matter goes this deep? What are the specific reasons behind it…” Listening to Doro, Nephnis continued to ask curiously, but Doro waved her hand to interrupt her.
“The secrets of this matter are not yet for you to know. Speaking of which, haven’t you checked today’s secret transmission yet? The light is quite good right now; why don’t you go back to your compartment and read?”
Since she was unsure of the specific reasons for Vania’s assignment to Adus, Doro decided to divert Nephnis. After hearing Doro’s words, Nephnis realized she might have pried into something that was beyond her position as a lower-tier member, so she decided not to pursue the topic further and responded instead.
“Well… if that’s the case, I’ll go read now. Goodbye, Miss Doro.”
With that, Nephnis stood up from her seat, bid farewell, and left Doro’s compartment, leaving Doro alone inside.
Once Nephnis departed, Doro let out a sigh of relief and turned her gaze to the scenery outside. She noticed that the green vegetation beyond the train windows was rapidly thinning, with large patches of withered shrubs appearing on both sides of the railway, swiftly passing by. Soon, the vast expanse of yellow desert began to gradually emerge before her eyes.
‘We’ve started to slowly reach the desert area… This means the train has finally left Kankdar and is entering the inland of Northern Ufeiga…
‘According to Beverly’s intelligence, Vania’s trip to Adus carries considerable risks, entangled in significant conflicts, and many people may want her dead. Assassination is a high-probability event.
‘However, the good thing is that the church has provided substantial security for Vania. With three white chalks and a bunch of black earth, such protective forces can generally handle most extraordinary beings trying to approach…
‘The whole train has already been inspected by Vania’s security detail, and there have been no abnormal signs. All the procured supplies were thoroughly checked, even using the “Lamp” to carefully survey everything. They found no suspicious items or anything strange hidden away. Unsure, I also had my small zombie puppet check again, and indeed, there were no issues.
‘So far, everything seems secure, so I shouldn’t worry too much on the way to Adis. The focus should be on what happens once we arrive there.’
As Doro looked at the desolate landscape outside the window, she pondered to herself. To ensure the train’s safe journey, she had arranged for a zombie bird to remain on the roof, flying above during sections prone to ambushes to scout for any hidden threats. Right now, the bird zombie was circling in the sky.
Using the bird zombie’s vantage point, Doro surveyed the vast desert flanking both sides of the train. Under her gaze, the deserted expanse was silent, and within the wide view, there were no signs of life or any visible ambushers.
Seeing no hidden threats under the sunlight, Doro decided to retract the bird zombie once they passed this section of track. Just then, she noticed a flash of light catch her attention from the side of her vision.
“Hmm… what’s that light…?”
Attracted by the flash, Doro directed the bird zombie to look toward the source. However, due to the distance, even the eagle-eye vision couldn’t reveal what it was specifically. If she flew closer, she would risk losing sight of the moving train, making it difficult for the bird zombie to return.
Fortunately, that distant flash was not noticeable to Doro alone. In one of the carriages, a guard sent by the church was also on alert and spotted the flash while scanning the surroundings. He then used “Lamp’s” extraordinary vision to look further and finally discerned what the flash was.
There, atop a small stone hill, stood a man dressed in traditional Northern Ufeiga clothing, complete with a robe and headscarf. He was intently observing the rapidly speeding train through a long telescope, with a camel tied nearby.
The man and the camel alongside his telescope created the scene of the flash, with the shimmering light being merely a reflection from the lens of the telescope beneath the blazing sun, appearing as flickering flashes from the train’s perspective.
Upon seeing someone observing the train, the guard who noticed the flash immediately became alert and continued to monitor the man’s actions through enhanced vision. However, after a long observation, he noted that the man showed no signs of suspicious behavior; he simply stood there with the telescope, silently watching the train until it disappeared from view, without making any unusual movements.
‘Perhaps he’s just a curious ordinary person.’
As he watched the figure fade further into the distance and become unrecognizable, the guard in the train thought to himself and then diverted his gaze, no longer contemplating the incident. Meanwhile, doubt surfaced in Doro’s mind as she witnessed the situation.
