Chapter 916: Ch 915: Jeanne, Saint George, and Brontes

Standing at the edge of the rooftop, Ryo looked down at the crowds moving below, then lifted his eyes to the enormous mall.

It covered about 130 acres and was shaped like a clear top hat set down on the ground. Through the glass walls he could see people streaming in and out in an endless flow.

He watched for a while, then muttered, "Under a department store, huh?"

Contrary to what most people imagine, the big strongholds of secret organizations aren't tucked away in remote mountains or forests. They're built where traffic is convenient, crowds are thick, and resources are plentiful.

Like the mall in front of him.

It sat in Outer Gate 3345, right next to Thousand Eyes' headquarters in the lower layers.

An ordinary person would never guess that a place like this belonged to Ouroboros. And anyone who did guess would have their divination go wrong and get led astray.

Ryo used his Cosmo to probe the ground below, but he could only faintly sense that there were living beings down there. His face stayed calm.

"They haven't relocated yet..."

If the underground facility could still block his senses, then Ouroboros hadn't moved the base yet. That put Loki's timeline slightly off.

Still, it didn't get in the way of Ryo's plans.

"I never planned on checking this place one room at a time anyway..."

As he spoke, he stretched out his right hand and lightly grabbed at the air.

Borrowing Machine God Hermes' Authority of Theft!

The air froze. The busy mall looked like someone had hit pause. Every person stayed exactly as they were, stiff and rooted to the spot, their thoughts halted along with everything else.

A moment later, the people and the building itself began to vanish.

It was like a pencil drawing meeting an eraser, getting rubbed out bit by bit.

By then, a white top hat had appeared in Ryo's hand.

He put it on his head and calmly gazed at the vast underground palace, now exposed with its cover gone.

In that instant, three presences rose from inside the palace and locked onto him from afar.

...

*Flashback*

Five minutes earlier—

In a room beneath Ouroboros' base, a high-tech electronic door opened with a beep.

A burly man walked in, wearing nothing but a leopard pelt around his waist, his bronze skin and thick muscles on full display. He had a bushy beard.

"I heard two people would be working with me on this one. That must be you two."

His voice rumbled like thunder, and the whole forty-odd square meter room shook a little under it.

In the middle of his line of sight, a pretty girl with brilliant golden hair and sky-blue eyes knelt on the floor in silence. She wore coarse brown linen clothes that looked like a prison uniform.

The moment he saw her, a flash of admiration crossed the big man's eyes, and then it hardened into raw desire.

"What's this?" He grinned broadly. "Don't tell me my partner this time is a mute? Now that's interesting."

Inside the room, a middle-aged man in worn knight's armor, with tanned skin, stopped polishing his lance and turned around. "Jeanne, when you're facing a colleague, you shouldn't just stay silent. At least say a polite word or two."

"I'm sorry, Saint George."

A clear voice came from the girl. She watched the bearded man with flat eyes and spoke coolly. "I'm just not used to talking to an enemy of my Lord from this close. Maybe you could lend me the lance. If I had it in my hands, I think I could get along with my colleagues just fine."

"You really are something." George shook his head and sighed helplessly.

Then he turned to the bearded man. "Sorry about this. It seems my assistant doesn't want to talk much with you, Lord Brontes."

"Aw, what a shame. It's not every day you meet a real beauty in the Snake."

Brontes grinned, pulled out a leather flask, and gulped down some liquor with a loud glug glug. He let out a satisfied "Haaah," squinted, and laughed.

"Still, I never expected my partner to be the legendary Saint Joan of Arc. Guess I'm pretty lucky. Too bad I didn't trick the pretty lady into giving her name away. Such a shame~"

Jeanne d'Arc didn't answer. She just stared ahead as if Brontes were thin air.

George, on the other hand, was far more courteous. "If Lord Brontes could drop the lust in his eyes, Jeanne would be happy to exchange a word or two with you."

Brontes laughed. "You mean right before she stabs me in the forehead with that lance and yells 'Heathen'?"

George smiled a little. He neither denied it nor admitted it, and kept wiping down his weapon. "I hear you volunteered for this mission too, Lord Brontes. What do you make of the warning Lord Loki of the First Union sent out?"

Brontes answered casually, "Loki looks pretty cute as a crow."

George's hands stopped. His face went blank for a moment, then turned oddly complicated. "I'm not talking about her looks. I mean the warning Lord Loki passed along from our colleagues in prophecy, that someone might attack our base."

Brontes finally turned his eyes to George. "You mean that brat from Arcadia?"

"...More or less."

George thought it over. His advisors suspected Shiroyasha would be the one to act, but given her status, she'd most likely send a subordinate instead.

"If you want me to be careful about something..." Brontes said between swigs, squinting, "all I can say is watch out for that kid's poison."

"Poison?" George relaxed a little. "Then it sounds like this will be easy..."

Before he could finish, Jeanne suddenly stood up, her eyes fixed on the ceiling. "Danger!"

George immediately gripped his lance. "I'll go protect the supplies and personnel," he said in a low voice.

"Hm?" Brontes frowned. He watched the building above them rapidly dissolving. "Hermes' Theft?"

Surprised as they were, the three of them all sent out their senses at the same moment and locked onto Ryo's position.

And right then.

Atop the tall building, Ryo stretched out his hand again and gave the empty air a light grab.

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