Chapter 317 - 82: The Older Generation, the New Generation

In a hidden base on the fifteenth floor’s ice plains, the High-level Knights of the Celestial Wing Knight Order were gathered to discuss a critical matter.

The Commander of the Knight Order had invoked the Emergency Decree. The Order’s high command had ceased all other duties and gathered here to address the current crisis.

The Emergency Decree was the most critical directive of the Celestial Wing Knight Order, having been used only twice in its history.

The first time was when a rebel army appeared, marching straight for the capital. The rebel leader was a once-in-a-century Great Mage, which allowed his army to move in secret without alerting anyone.

It was only when the rebel army was about to storm the capital that their movements were finally detected and reported to the Celestial Wing Knight Order.

To protect the Kingdom, the Commander at the time issued the Emergency Decree. Hundreds of members returned from the Dungeon at all costs. Two-thirds of them perished in the Dungeon during their return, but the remaining third successfully reached the capital before the rebel army arrived. They annihilated the Great Mage at the cost of being nearly wiped out themselves, ultimately saving the capital.

After this battle, the Celestial Wing Knight Order’s fame spread throughout the world.

The second time involved the conflict between royal and divine authority.

When the friction between the two powers became irreconcilable, the Celestial Wing Knight Order, after careful deliberation, decisively invoked the Emergency Decree to help the royal authority expel the divine authority represented by the Church.

As it turned out, they had made the absolute right choice.

A portion of the royal family’s power was transferred to the Celestial Wing Knight Order, granting this team, originally focused solely on conquering the Dungeon, immense authority.

And today, the Emergency Decree had been issued for the third time.

After being briefed on the current situation, the entire high command agreed that the decree was completely justified.

Once the Emergency Decree is issued, all members of the Knight Order must unconditionally follow the Commander’s arrangements. All other activities must yield to the Commander’s priorities to avert the present crisis.

In the cold wind, the resolute Commander of the Knight Order pointed to a small blackboard before him and said to those assembled, "As you can see, we have suffered a most severe attack. Fearless Slimes have assaulted our camp here. Some of our people were killed during the attack, while others were taken captive."

"Currently, we still don’t know how the enemy discovered our location. Do any of you have any thoughts?"

A young officer was about to raise his hand, but an older man beside him shot him a fierce glare, causing the officer to timidly lower it.

The Commander saw this exchange.

’After all these years, many problems have appeared within the Celestial Wing Knight Order,’ he thought. ’The rigid hierarchy between seniors and juniors is one of them.’

’A senior’s command is absolute. Before a senior speaks, a junior must remain silent.’

’This relationship was useful for establishing authority in the early days, allowing orders to be carried out more effectively, but now it has become somewhat outdated.’

’Never mind anything else, the very structure of the fifteenth floor is unsuitable for this kind of relationship. We need better, more dynamic ideas to find the passage to the sixteenth floor.’

’On top of that, some of the older members are slowly losing their desire to continue exploring.’

’They believe the claim that the Dungeon has twenty floors is a lie. After all, if no one has ever been to the twentieth floor, how could anyone know it exists?’

’The argument is so simple yet so piercingly direct that many have come to believe it, declaring they have no reason to devote their limited lives to this lie.’

’They want to leverage their current advantages and the knowledge gained from the Dungeon to acquire more benefits, rather than waiting foolishly like Ascetic Monks.’

’If it weren’t for the Slime attacks, the Knight Order would have fractured from within.’

Letting out a long sigh, the Commander of the Knight Order collected his thoughts and emphasized again, "Does anyone know why the Slimes are able to find our bases?"

An old officer thought for a moment, then said with certainty, "We have a mole. And since they can leak our intelligence without anyone knowing, it means the enemy has a powerful Mage."

The Great Mage who had once crossed swords with Duan Fei was also present. Hearing this accusation, he sneered, "Why don’t you speak more plainly? Are you saying I betrayed the Celestial Wing Knight Order?"

"You said it, not me."

"Then I can also accuse you of colluding with outside forces and accepting bribes from the Church."

"That’s nonsense!"

"I’m merely imitating you."

These two factions already had friction between them. Even under the constraints of the Emergency Decree, they subconsciously attacked each other to weaken the other’s influence.

Raising a hand to silence them, the Commander stopped their argument. He looked at the others and said, "I can tell you all with complete seriousness that none of us here is a traitor. I guarantee it. So, stop accusing each other. Such behavior is inappropriate. Our primary objective right now is to find out how the enemy knows our base locations, nothing else."

After a moment of silence, an old officer raised his hand and said, "Could it be a coincidence?"

"Once is a coincidence. Dozens of times is not."

"Do they have some method of detection?"

"There’s no Magic Power fluctuation, and the enemy’s Great Mage shows no signs of activity."

"Then..."

A dozen or so old officers argued heatedly, but from beginning to end, they never had any intention of letting the younger officers speak.

One of the young officers tried to speak several times, but each time his companion would hold him back, telling him to stay quiet.

The Commander noticed this but said nothing. Only after almost all the old officers had had their say did he look at the young man and ask, "Charlie, do you have something you want to say?"

Just as the young officer named Charlie was about to speak, his companion’s hand pressed down on him again.

But he resolutely pushed the hand away, stood up, and said, "Yes, I’ve discovered..."

"Shut your mouth!"

His superior, an old hardhead, suddenly removed his gauntlet and threw it at Charlie.

Charlie didn’t dodge, though it would have been easy to do so.

He let the gauntlet strike him on the brow, drawing blood.

He nodded at the old hardhead. He knew the man was trying to protect him.

After all, it was too dangerous for a young officer to speak up at a time like this.

If his theory was baseless, he would become a laughingstock to everyone and never be given an important position again.

If he was right, stealing the seniors’ thunder at this moment would mean he’d be given a hard time for the rest of his career.

However, his sense of justice made it impossible to suppress his feelings. He felt he had to stand up and speak out about his discovery.

He didn’t care even if this discovery could cost him his life.

Glancing around, he met the intimidating gazes of the old officers and said seriously, "I am Charlie, a Scout from the 13th Company. I believe I know why the Slimes are always able to find our bases so precisely."