Chapter 1095: Guard
The ‘Royal Highness Little Princess’ was of course not Alice, but Veronica!
Old Father Lal was 1 of Veronica’s teachers. His strength was not very strong. He had only just touched the edge of Pseudo-Saint, but he was good at military strategy and knowledgeable in astrology, geography, appraisal, and herbal medicine. He also took charge of the treasure map of a secret warehouse of the former royal family back then.
Although the Cloud Rider Empire had perished for a long time, it was 1 of the former Holy Empires after all. The Cloud Rider’s royal family had never been extinct, and there were still a group of loyal subordinates.
Unlike the devotees of the Abyss, Black Death Followers, these subordinates were true loyalists of the royal family. Most of them opposed the union between the royal family and the mysterious cult. Regia (Old Father Lal) was one of them, when Veronica was just a teenage princess. She was chosen by the mysterious cult as the ‘Blessed One’. Regia and others who were trying their best to oppose the matter wanted to escape with Veronica, but they were eventually captured because of the failure. Veronica offered to partic.i.p.ate in the blessing ceremony in order to save the lives of Regia and others. Meanwhile, Regia and others were expelled.
On the way, Regia and others were surrounded and suppressed by the Holy Church and they were seriously injured in order to keep the secret of the treasure map. When Regia and 2 companions fled to this border town, they were caught up by the judges sent by the church.
Outnumbered by the enemy, Regia and the other 2 were forced to flee into the depths of the desert. The judges were still chasing after them, and they started a decisive battle in the desert in the end. At a critical moment, the Dreamy Oasis suddenly appeared and everyone strayed into the area of Phantom Springwater. Except for Regia, who was the least poisoned, the rest of the enemies and allies were killed by the poison.
Regia barely escaped. Since then he a.s.sumed the name of Lal. He had lived in seclusion in this border city, but due to the poison of the Phantom Springwater in his body, he couldn’t get dispell it with all his efforts. His strength kept weakening.
Over the years, he had lived a rough life. He had partic.i.p.ated in an adventure group, worked as a desert guide and was once captured by the sand bandits. With knowledge and wit, he improved the desert boat for the sand bandits, and he finally left the bandit den safely.
When Chen Rui appeared previously, he activated [Divine Blessing] and dispelled the poison on Regia, but Regia recognized the Crown of Thorns. Therefore, he increasingly believed that Chen Rui was related to the church. In order to eradicate the enemy, the resourceful Regia first fostered a false relations.h.i.+p with this ‘high-level church member’. He brought Chen Rui to the Stone Horse Town, deliberately induced him to conflict with the bald head of the s.h.i.+p factory, and secretly left behind the special mark that he had learned from the sand bandits. It meant that there was a ‘big fish’.
On the desert boat, Regia took the initiative to point out that bald Okafor was suspicious and reminded him to be careful of the food and drink. After Chen Rui activated [Divine Blessing], Regia poisoned the water bag and wanted to use the hands of the sand bandits to completely remove the enemy.
Unexpectedly, all these plans were noticed by the other party. It was even more unexpected that this person actually ‘summoned’ the soul projection of Little Princess Veronica!
Soon after, the desert s.h.i.+p, namely Red Sand s.h.i.+p, set off on its voyage again.
By right, such a large s.h.i.+p couldn’t be operate by Chen Rui and Regia alone; at least 10 sailors were required. However, the death of the sand bandits did not mean that Chen Rui had no sailors. Although these sailors were new at ‘sand sea voyage’, they quickly got the hang of it. The Red Sand s.h.i.+p was faster than usual.
These sailors were of course the sandmen. The power of the sandmen in this desert, where the elements were extremely rich, was stronger than that at sea.
“Regia,” Chen Rui frowned, “you heard my conversations with Veronica just now that I completely destroyed the main altar of the Black Death Follower. The Cloud Rider’s royal family no longer exists. Speaking of which, I’m also an enemy of the royal family…”
Regia interrupted Chen Rui’s words, “Sir is wrong. They are the Black Death Follower, so they are no longer descendants of the Cloud Rider Emperor. Royal Highness Little Princess is the only one. To be precise, Royal Highness Little Princess was rescued by sir.”
“Even so, didn’t Veronica say it already? You’re completely free.”
“No sir, please don’t underestimate the previous oath, which is the highest loyalty oath of our Cloud Rider’s royal family.”
Chen Rui knew that Regia didn’t lie, and the oath made by Regia had formed a master-subordinate spiritual link that appeared in the Super System, “I understand, but as long as you want, I can easily cancel it with my strength. Let me tell you, I actually don’t belong in this sunny world, you understand?”
“Since the fall of the Cloud Rider Empire, we have been walking in the dark. The loyalty of the guardian covers any time, any place. If sir canceled the power of my oath, then not only the oath and loyalty will dissipate but also my life.”
Regia said stubbornly, “I’m loyal to sir, not because of sir’s strength, but for Royal Highness Little Princess. Sir is the most important person for the little princess, so you are like her highest guardian. Of course, if sir does not take interest in my strength and loyalty, you can obliterate me at any time.”
Chen Rui thought of the phrase ‘the most important person’ that Veronica said when introducing him, and sighed, “Okay, I officially accept your allegiance.”
The Cloud Rider Empire has perished for a long time. Since he can become a guardian and not join the Black Death Follower, he can be said to be an absolute loyalist!
Regia had a tough temperament and was resourceful. If it wasn’t for the absolute power gap, Chen Rui would have fallen to his trap.
“Thank you, sir.” Regia performed a solemn etiquette.
“Okay, I’ll not elaborate on other matters. This time I came to the Black Prison Desert to find the Dreamy Oasis for 2 purposes. 1 is the fire condensing crystal sand, and the other is the Phantom Ice Spring. Both of these things are very important to me. I want to hear your advice.”
“I have only seen fire condensing crystal sand in some ancient books. It is a rare treasure that combines the essence of fire elements and earth elements. Its function is unknown, and I don’t know if it is in an oasis; the Phantom Springwater is something I witnessed with my own eyes. I’m not sure if the Phantom Ice Spring is formed in it. I’m just sure that the Phantom Springwater, like the Dreamy Oasis, will move freely; its position is not fixed. Moreover, it will also turn invisible. For me, it feels like some kind of predatory living creature.”
“Living creature?” Chen Rui was slightly surprised. He didn’t expect the Phantom Springwater to be able to move and turn invisible. No doubt it was worthy of the name ‘phantom’.
“Let’s talk about the Dreamy Oasis again.” Regia said solemnly, “I joined a certain desert adventure group over the years, and I became familiar with the terrain in this area. Later, the adventure group was disbanded due to heavy casualties during a mission, and I was seriously injured. Coupled with the poison, I almost lost my strength, so I started to work as a desert guide. For more than 10 years, because I have stayed in this kind of place for a long time, I also have some sense of smell to seek fortune and avoid danger. Apart from being chased by the church judges, I only encountered the Dreamy Oasis once, but it disappeared before I could get there. In the following years, my legs and feet became more and more inconvenient, and Little Jim was gradually able to take care of himself. Therefore, I don’t have to be a guide anymore. I know that sir is extremely powerful, but I have to remind you not to underestimate the Black Prison Desert. Always be cautious at all times, otherwise, even if you can get out, you may not be able to get what you want.”
“I understand.” Chen Rui nodded, “The sandmen are now able to control the sand s.h.i.+p proficiently. Why don’t we rest in place for a while, then we will set off at full speed when we are energized.”
“No, this journey has to go at full speed.” Regia said apologetically, “Because I mistook sir as the enemy, so I also thought about what to do if the sand bandits couldn’t solve sir… Just in case, I used some scheming when guiding the way. Although we can reach the core area at the fastest speed in this direction, it is a very dangerous area. There are many terrifying creatures such as sand scorpions, giant lizards, and the most terrifying desert demonic earthworms.”
“From your point of view, I should applaud your exhaustive calculations.” Chen Rui shrugged, “But you don’t have to worry, it’s good to be able to arrive at the fastest speed.”
With that said, Chen Rui frowned suddenly. Regia felt his vision blurred for a while as if some kind of displacement had taken place in s.p.a.ce. When he regained his vision, he found that the entire s.h.i.+p had instantly retreated dozens of meters.
The ground where the s.h.i.+p was originally located had erupted, and a huge body appeared. This body was only half exposed. It was like a magnified earthworm with a long and winding body. It had no limbs, but it had terrible mouthparts growing at the end.
“The desert demonic earthworm!” Regia blurted out, “d.a.m.n, we really alarmed this thing!”
The desert demonic earthworm was a giant sandworm with infinite power. It usually lurked in the depths of the sand and attacked pa.s.sing creatures. It was the most terrifying predator in this area. If it weren’t for the power of Chen Rui that elevated the Red Sand s.h.i.+p in time, the blow that broke through the sand just now could shatter the entire s.h.i.+p.
After the huge desert demonic earthworm missed a hit, it only made a low whistle sound toward the s.h.i.+p that was moving forward. Regia’s strength was already close to the level of Pseudo-Saint (Demon Emperor). However, when he heard this whistle, he couldn’t help but feel chills in his heart.
Chen Rui’s figure instantly appeared above the huge body, and the desert demonic earthworm’s whistle stopped abruptly. Instead of attacking Chen Rui, it quickly escaped into the sand pit as if seeing something terrifying.
The desert demonic earthworm also had a special attribute of burrowing to the ground. The huge body dove into the depths of the ground in a flash. The surface of the dunes did not have any visible ups and downs at all.
Chen Rui slowly stretched out his hand and waved in front. A huge body broke out from the sand and was suspended in the air. Judging from the desperately struggling appearance and the panicked whistle, it was obviously not ‘voluntary’.
Soon, the desert demonic earthworm returned to the ground, burrowed into the sand, and exposed half of its body.
“If this thing is the most terrifying demonic beast in this area, then I think, before leaving this area, no ‘guest’ will dare to approach us anymore."”
Chen Rui’s voice sounded beside Regia again. Then, under Regia’s stunned gaze, the desert demonic earthworm was burrowing in the sand in front like a guard who opened the way.