Chapter 165

Chapter 165

The next morning, the Pegasus Raid Team left the Mana Stone Mine.

The faces of those leaving the Mana Stone Mine were clearly marked with fatigue.

Most of the raid team had played hard the previous night, as if it were their last day in the world. The aftermath appeared on the day of departure.

Even so, Lee Ji-ryeong said nothing.

That was because he knew they would have no choice but to steel themselves the moment they entered the desert.

When they had entered the Mana Stone Mine, there had been thirty vehicles, but when they left, that number had increased to forty.

That was because the vehicles carrying the Awakened from West District had joined them.

The sight of forty vehicles racing across the desert all at once was magnificent.

As the vehicles moved, dust rose like clouds.

Mandy also joined the vehicle carrying Zeon, Briel, and Levin.

Mandy sank deep into her seat and said,

“This is nice. Going with the others was terribly uncomfortable.”

The position of Supervisor was one that made others uncomfortable.

There was no way people would feel good about someone who monitored their movements and reported them to City Hall.

Because of that, most people rejected or avoided Supervisors dispatched by City Hall.

Mandy asked Zeon,

“By the way, do you happen to know what kind of dungeon it is?”

“I don’t know either. They said they couldn’t identify it because it was buried deep beneath the sand.”

“The Pegasus Raid Team is impressive too. Dungeons buried deep in the sand are difficult to detect, yet they found it.”

“They must have an excellent detector.”

“That’s right. According to rumors, the detector of the Pegasus Raid Team has an extraordinary dungeon detection ability.”

“Then there must be many scouting offers.”

“That is why the Pegasus Raid Team supposedly manages him specially.”

“Do you know him?”

“I am still a Supervisor, so I at least know his personal information.”

Every raid team in Neo Seoul had to submit its members’ personal information to City Hall.

In Neo Seoul, the personal information submitted by raid teams was classified as top secret and stored.

Naturally, Supervisors had the authority to view it.

“The person leading the Pegasus Raid Team’s exploration team is a man named Gesling. He is both a detector and a leader. Under him, dungeon cartographer Lee Chi-woo, guide Obroy, and protector McNine form one team.”

“Protector?”

“He is a martial artist. His role is to protect the exploration team with outstanding combat power.”

“I see.”

“In any case, all four of them are excellent Awakened. That is why Lee Ji-ryeong values them highly.”

“That makes sense.”

Zeon nodded.

Finding a dungeon in the desert was never easy.

It was a probability like finding a needle in a sandy beach, as the saying went. What dramatically increased that probability was a dungeon exploration team.

The more outstanding an exploration team a raid team possessed, the greater its chance of finding and clearing more dungeons.

Naturally, Lee Ji-ryeong had no choice but to treasure them.

Mandy, who had been looking at Zeon’s profile, suddenly had a thought.

‘Wait! Many dungeons are buried in the sand. Finding those dungeons is the job of dungeon exploration teams, and that means this man......’

He was the only Sandmancer in the world.

Naturally, he possessed outstanding sand control, and he had proven his ability in the fight against the Balrog.

Although it had only just awakened and its power had been greatly weakened, it was still a catastrophe-grade monster in name and truth.

If he was capable enough to subdue such a monster, he should naturally be able to easily find dungeons sleeping deep beneath the sand.

‘Just how many dungeons has he found and cleared?’

Her curiosity pierced the sky, but she could not bring herself to ask openly.

It was then.

Zeon, who had been looking out the window with an indifferent expression, suddenly opened his mouth.

“There are watchers.”

“What? What do you mean? Watchers?”

“Someone is hiding on that sand dune, watching this procession.”

The place Zeon pointed to was an unusually tall mountain of sand.

At a glance, the sand mountains of the desert did not look very high, but in reality, many of them exceeded several hundred meters.

The sand mountain Zeon pointed to was one such place.

The sand mountain, hundreds of meters tall, shone golden beneath the sunlight.

Mandy narrowed her eyes and stared hard, but she saw nothing.

“There are watchers there?”

“Yes!”

“Really?”

“There are two of them in total. Ah, they’re gone now.”

The people caught by Zeon’s senses disappeared.

They had either used a concealment Skill or left this area entirely.

If they had been a little closer, he would have been able to detect their movements as they escaped.

But the buggy was moving away at high speed, and their movements were also covert, so he lost their traces.

Levin asked,

“Brother, could it be the person from yesterday?”

“It could be......”

“The atmosphere is suspicious from the start.”

Mandy cut into their conversation.

“The person from yesterday?”

“Ah, Levin said he saw someone suspicious yesterday.”

“Someone suspicious?”

“It is hard to explain in words, but he said the person did not suit the mine.”

“Is that so?”

Mandy frowned.

Whatever the matter, the beginning was important.

If impurities were mixed in from the start like this, the probability of even more obstacles appearing later was high.

“Could they be Scavenger?”

“Perhaps.”

“Would Scavenger really target us when such a large group is moving?”

There were no fewer than three hundred and seventy Awakened, and more than forty vehicles.

It was a force capable of erasing most large monsters in an instant.

No matter how fearless Scavenger were, they would not be able to touch a force of this scale.

“They probably just came to test the waters. There’s no need to worry too much. Even if they are a Scavenger group, they should only number a few dozen at most.”

Scavenger were vicious enough to survive in a desert where not a single blade of grass grew. Even so, forming a large group in a desert where food was hard to obtain was not easy.

Because of that, most Scavenger groups numbered from several dozen to around a hundred.

With that level of force, robbing the Pegasus Raid Team was impossible. Rather, they would be annihilated in an instant before they could even approach.

At Mandy’s words, Zeon nodded.

“That may be true.”

“We have a long way to go, so get some rest. I’ll close my eyes for a bit too.”

Mandy sank deep into her seat and closed her eyes.

---

“Why did you pull us out? We could’ve watched a little longer.”

“It did not feel good.”

“What feeling?”

“It felt like something was sweeping over my entire body.”

At the woman’s answer, Aslan frowned without realizing it.

The owners of the gazes watching the Pegasus Raid Team earlier had been Aslan and the woman.

They had been observing the Pegasus Raid Team from far away.

Their goal was to grasp its exact scale.

But suddenly, the woman had grabbed Aslan by the scruff of his neck and retreated several kilometers.

During that time, he had been dragged around like baggage.

Naturally, the words that came out of him could not be pleasant.

“Fuck, what bullshit is this about something sweeping over you? There was nothing there.”

“I definitely felt it.”

“Ah, seriously......”

“If you say one more word, I will tear your mouth open.”

“Hup!”

Aslan hurriedly shut his mouth.

Because they traveled together, he had forgotten for a moment, but the woman was an assassin.

And not just any assassin, but one of a far higher grade than Aslan, someone he could not even compare to.

She was not someone he dared act up against.

If he offended her, he could lose his life without even realizing he had died.

He had actually seen several people die that way.

The woman’s name was Duduyan. She was a Grade B assassin.

Duduyan said,

“Let us return.”

“Why? We need to gather more information.”

“The feeling is not good. We will return like this and report.”

“Fine. Damn it!”

Aslan nodded as if he had no choice.

They climbed onto the Bactrian Camels they had prepared in advance.

Evolved Bactrian Camels were the Scavenger’s best means of transportation.

No matter how long they ran through the desert, they did not tire, and the mane on their necks detected the presence of other monsters like radar, allowing them to avoid danger.

Since that was the case, Scavenger rode Bactrian Camels as an absolute necessity.

“Let’s go!”

They mounted the Bactrian Camels and raced across the desert.

The Bactrian Camels headed toward their destination at terrifying speed.

After running for a long while, they arrived at a place where countless tents and groups of Bactrian Camels were lined up.

Outside the tents, people had gathered in groups of three or five and were tearing into something to eat.

At a glance, there seemed to be more than a hundred tents, and there were several times that number of people outside.

It was astonishing that there was not much noise despite so many people being present.

Duduyan and Aslan pushed through the people and headed toward the center of the group.

At the center, there was a fairly large oasis, and in front of it stood an especially large tent.

Like the other tents, a campfire burned in front of it, and unknown meat was cooking over the flames.

In front of the campfire sat a large man tearing into the meat, while a woman with a solid build sat beside him, carefully cutting meat for him. Around them, children were running and playing noisily.

In a way, it was almost peaceful.

Aslan and Duduyan approached the man.

“Captain!”

“We have returned, Urtian!”

At their voices, the man raised his head.

He had a strong, masculine face. His face was covered in tattoos whose meanings were impossible to know. But what stood out even more than the tattoos were his pointed ears.

The man was not human, but an elf.

The male elf called Urtian opened his mouth.

“You both worked hard. Eat some of this with me. Sand Angler meat is incredible.”

The meat cooking over the campfire was Sand Angler.

The woman who had been serving Urtian immediately sliced the Sand Angler meat and placed it on plates. Then she handed them to the two.

“Please eat, Aslan. Duduyan.”

“Thank you, Deborah.”

“I’ll enjoy it.”

Aslan wolfed down the meat on the plate, and Duduyan removed the hood of her robe. Her appearance was revealed.

Skin unusually dark, black eyes reminiscent of obsidian, and pointed ears.

She too was an elf.

But she was far darker and blacker than ordinary elves.

That was why her comrades called her a Dark Elf.

The two were hungry as well, so they ate the Sand Angler meat with relish.

A Sand Angler was not a monster one could catch easily.

It was a precious creature caught only once every few years.

Urtian looked at the two eating Sand Angler and said,

“We were lucky and managed to catch it. We shared plenty with the others too, so eat your fill.”

“Thank you, Urtian.”

“By the way, how was this expedition force? I heard it was quite large.”

The one who answered was Aslan.

“Just the vehicles they mobilized numbered forty, and there were nearly four hundred Awakened.”

“They mobilized that many Awakened? It seems they discovered a large dungeon somewhere.”

“That appears to be the case. Since they mobilized that many people, they must be overflowing with food and supplies as well.”

“Is that so?”

Urtian looked interested.

At that moment, Duduyan spoke carefully.

“What if we let this raid pass?”

“Why?”

“The feeling is not good.”

“Is that so?”

It was then.

“We cannot. We have already reached our limit. If we do not secure food this time, people will begin starving to death.”

Someone approached while raising an objection.

It was a man who appeared to be in his mid-to-late thirties.

Unlike Urtian, he was human.

Urtian looked at him.

“Cormac!”

“Captain, we need food. Right now.”

The man called Cormac spoke forcefully.

At that, Urtian gave a faint laugh and looked at Duduyan.

“You heard him. The Red Storm Band needs food right now.”

“Urtian!”

“So tell me everything you have learned so far.”

The voice of Urtian, captain of the Red Storm Band, a massive Scavenger group made up of elves and humans, contained a powerful force that could not be defied.