Armipotent

"What should we do, then? If we cause a commotion in this city, we might get found out by this King," Yeon Hee was concerned with the cunning King. If they could not clear the second floor, they would die or be trapped on the second floor.

"I thought clearing the first ten floors within an hour would be easy with how fast we cleared the first floor, but it's not as easy as I thought," Viona let out a sigh, "I think we should head back and report this to Supreme General Zhang first. If we cause a commotion inside the city, we may alert the kingdom, and the King may notice the Players' arrival."

Viona and Yeon Hee turned toward Lu An. He was the leader of this operation, so he made the decision. Lu An was reluctant to return empty-handed, but this was the best for now. He had to talk it out with Zhang Mengyao about the situation because a small blunder could cause the twelve kingdoms to hunt them down.

"Alright, let's return for now. We will wait for further instruction from Supreme General Zhang," Lu An listened to Viona and decided to retreat from the city.

*** ***

Lu An returned to the operation base in the middle of the forest. So far, they had done well to hide from the twelve kingdoms. Upon returning, he reported all the information, including the speculation that the King of the second floor was hiding in the dark.

Zhang Mengyao heard all of that with a frown on her forehead, "We need more detailed information to confirm your speculation. We need more information from the other kingdoms. Maybe only people from The Kingdom of Gienas do not know about the dimensional tower."

"What about asking the traveling merchant? We can stop one of the merchant groups and interrogate them," Lu An voiced his idea. Gathering information would take a long time with how vast the second floor is. On top of that, they still did not know the location of the other kingdoms aside from the two kingdoms next to The Gienas Kingdom.

"That's a better idea for collecting information," Wei Xi agreed with the plan. That was the best way to collect information than visiting all the kingdoms. The traveling merchant should have broad and general information about the twelve kingdoms, and they might know something about the second floor.

"I feel like we have become a group of thugs now," Kang Xue let out a sigh because they were talking about kidnapping as if it was a normal thing to do.

"Rather than a group of thugs, we are going backward in time to the ancient time where war was something common," Zhang Mengyao chimed in before looking toward Lu An, "Follow the main road, and we will kidnap one merchant group to interrogate them. You will search for the target, and I will lead the operation. However, we are not going to kill them this time, so make sure to cover your faces."

Lu An left with his small team. That small team was a group of three, including him, Viona, and Yeon Hee. Since they were choosing the target, he only brought his subordinates with shadow affinities.

*** ***

"The forest is dangerous, huh? Why would the merchant group bring these many guards with them?" Lu An complained in a small voice. The merchant group in front of him only brought five carriages, but the group had around one hundred if not two hundred guards with them. This was less crazy because the previous group brought five hundred guards with them.

The mission was not to make a commotion while kidnapping the merchant, but if there were too many guards, they were bound to make a commotion. Even though this was in the middle of the forest, Fanvas City built watchtowers to ensure the visitor's safety.

"This group had fewer guards; maybe we will take them?" Yeon Hee voiced her thoughts. This was the third merchant group that passed this road and also the merchant group with the least guards. With the two earlier first two groups, she doubted there would be a merchant group with less guard than this one.

"Let's wait longer. Maybe we will hit the jackpot by waiting for another hour," Lu An shook his head. Since this was a no-kill mission, it would be harder to knock down hundreds of people at the same time, so he did not take the risk.

The jackpot never came because the following five groups had at least five hundred guards with them. There was one merchant group bringing twenty carriages, and they had a thousand guards with them. It was like an army instead of merchant guards.

"We should gamble with the third group," Yeon Hee sighed.

"Let's wait longer," Lu An was patient with the mission, and his patience paid off.

Two hours later, they got the jackpot. There was only one carriage, but this carriage was meant for passengers instead of goods, and the carriage was fancier than the merchant carriages. The white carriage with a golden line around the window, and there was a flag with an emblem above the carriage. The emblem was a lion standing up with hind legs with a pair of wings.

Along with the carriage, there were twenty white-armored knights riding the horses. Two on the left and two on the right carriage, six following behind the carriage, and ten knights in the front, leading the carriage. The carriage itself was pulled by ten white horses, and for some reason, it mattered how many horses pulled the carriage.

"Let's not get this one. If ten horses pull the carriage, it means Royalty inside, or at least a Duke or the duke's family," Viona shook her head. "I am not sure because the royalty of the Lionax Kingdom only has eight horses to pull the carriage, so I am not sure about this Gienas Kingdom."

Lu An and Yeon Hee were baffled by the newly acquired information, "Does it matter how many horses pull the carriage?" Lu An blurted out that question.

"Of course. The noble can't have more horses than your Royalty to pull their carriage. That's considered an offense to Royalty!" Viona nodded seriously. She was a former noble, so she knew about this.

"If the person inside the carriage is a duke or even Royalty, then it's better. That person should know more information than those merchants, no?" Lu An insisted on making this carriage their target despite the warning, "But it's not up to me or you to decide, but Supreme General Zhang. Keep watch on them; I will return and ask for Supreme General Zhang's decision."