Chapter 350: Carpet Search

Ansu turned his gaze toward Elder Matthew.

“Of course I'm not afraid either,” Elder Matthew replied with unexpected composure, smiling. “But honestly, I'd rather die than turn into a lunatic. If I end up becoming some half-human, half-demon monster, don't hesitate—just kill me on the spot.”

Ansu thought silently to himself, I've actually already killed you once.

If it hadn't been for dealing with the monsterized Elder Matthew, he wouldn't have been so completely powerless to fight back against Celia. At the very least, he would have been able to escape...

He nodded to Elder Matthew, accepting the request.

Vera immediately chimed in with a grin, “I'm not scared either! As long as my brother doesn't send me back. Besides, staying behind to handle logistics is bound to be very safe!”

Ansu shifted his gaze to Altina, who was standing near the edge of the tent.

“Although saving Elune is my mission,” Altina spoke up, “I have seen with my own eyes the tragedy wrought by the mana plague. I do not wish to see such a disaster repeated in the human world.”

She raised her emerald green eyes, staring earnestly at Ansu.

“Meeting all of you was the first time I saw a glimmer of hope for success, and I finally have companions to stand by my side. So, no matter how dangerous the road ahead is, I will go with you.”

Ansu looked at the elven lady, his tone filled with sincere solemnity. “Thank you.”

Altina shook her head gently. “I am the one who should be saying thank you.”

In her hundreds of years of wandering and searching, this was the closest she had ever been to saving her homeland.

After everyone had spoken, only Celia remained silent.

Everyone's eyes fell upon her in unison, but she was staring blankly at the map, her thoughts drifting off to some unknown place.

Ansu watched her for a moment before waving his hand. “Meeting adjourned, everyone.”

“We move as soon as Professor Duncan's magic crystals arrive.”

One by one, the others stood up and left the tent, leaving only the two of them inside.

Outside, the wind rustled through the dry grass. The shifting light and shadow slowly drifted across Celia's face like a softly draped veil.

“What are you thinking about?”

“You said earlier that the team would eventually kill each other...” Celia finally came back to her senses, her eyes filled with an inescapable worry.

“So the reason for the total party wipe... was because of me, wasn't it?”

She stared intently at Ansu, as if she had already guessed the truth long ago.

“Yes,” Ansu nodded, his tone carrying a touch of helpless banter. “The strength of Miss Witch is simply too terrifying. You decapitated Danielle and Sean outright, and while Altina tried her best to run away, you ended up crushing her to death between two mountains...”

He paused. “And you didn't show Vera any mercy either.”

Celia's hands clenched slightly. “Then did I also...”

“You didn't kill me,” Ansu told her honestly. “But you captured me and said you were going to lock me in the Void Corridor and imprison me for a thousand years.”

“That's a relief...” She let out a subconscious sigh of relief, but then her brow furrowed in confusion. “Imprison you for a thousand years? Was I... really that crazy?”

Ansu pursed his lips and gave her a wry, annoyed look.

That's just the tip of the iceberg...

“I'm sorry, Ansu.” Celia lowered her gaze, her voice sounding a bit strained. “If things really turn out that way... I apologize to you on behalf of my crazed self.”

Ansu shook his head. “Since none of it has actually happened yet, you don't need to feel guilty.”

“Will you... resent me?” Her eyes flickered, her gaze tentative and cautious.

Ansu looked at her. To say he didn't harbor any resentment at all would be a lie.

Those scenes from the simulation were still burned into his mind. The moment Vera collapsed to the ground... the deafening roar of the mountain burying Altina, and the utter powerlessness of being bound and forcefully dominated by her. Every single memory was crystal clear.

But he also knew it wasn't entirely her fault. It was the Filthy Heart that had dragged out the deepest fears from her soul, and she had already been trying her absolute best to restrain herself.

“I don't blame you,” Ansu said softly. “Don't worry. I can keep things in perspective.”

Celia was silent for a moment, then softly prodded, “Then... is there anything else you want to say to me?”

“...No.”

But meeting the blatant resentment and disappointment in her eyes, Ansu paused. He knew he couldn't keep playing dumb anymore.

He sighed.

“Actually, there is...”

“But I don't think now is the right time. We have more pressing matters to attend to right now.”

Ansu's tone was serious.

“When the day comes that I must say it, I will tell you everything.”

Celia didn't press further. She simply nodded quietly.

“Okay.”

...

Three days after sending the request for magic crystals back to the rear, the first batch of supplies finally arrived at the front lines.

Crates of artificial magic crystals, escorted by the battle mage regiment, were brought into the camp, completely filling the temporary supply depot.

When the wooden crates were pried open, row after row of neatly stacked crystals glowing with a faint blue light were revealed. A massive amount of dense mana drifted out, making the entire front-line camp feel as if it were submerged right next to a mana spring.

Yet, this was still far from the quantity required for Ansu's plan.

Professor Duncan's laboratory had already cleared out its entire inventory. The remaining amount could only be produced by running the production lines day and night.

In Ansu's eyes, money was of no importance—only human lives mattered. Therefore, the current phase-two plan was to pave a safe path forward entirely with money and resources.

The scarlet mist churned ahead, as thick and dense as it had been in the simulation.

Ansu and Altina officially set off.

After trekking forward for a kilometer, Ansu stopped. He drove a magic crystal, which had been pre-engraved with a teleportation formula, deep into the ground.

Ansu channeled his mana to run a test. A pale blue light glowed from the surface, quickly stabilizing and casting a faint but steady radiance through the blood mist.

“Is that it?” Altina crouched beside him, looking curiously at the faint light on the ground.

“It's done,” Ansu said, slowly standing up.

Altina grew even more curious. “Even though I haven't studied teleportation magic, I know it's an extremely complex high-tier spell. Why did it look so incredibly simple when you did it?”

“We have the laboratory in the rear to thank for that,” Ansu replied. “Specifically, the Magic Safety Standardization Committee you saw last time.”

Looking at Altina, who was becoming more and more of a curious child, he patiently explained.

“What we are using now is pre-made magic. The mana source and teleportation coordinates are already engraved onto the artificial magic crystals. It's plug-and-play. You can deploy a magic circle through this, allowing anyone to teleport here from the rear or return from here at any time.”

“Pre-made magic...” Altina murmured the strange phrase under her breath. “How magical.”

Ansu thought silently to himself. Given the current momentum of the laboratory's development, as long as this system wasn't disrupted by external forces, the entire landscape of the magic world would be overturned sooner or later.

Perhaps in the future, the entire world would adopt this "pre-made magic"...

After confirming that the first teleportation node was running stably, Ansu unfolded the map and marked the corresponding location.

He raised his head and peered into the thick, impenetrable blood mist ahead.

“This is only the first one. We need to pick up the pace.”

“Right!”

Over the course of the morning, the two of them worked tirelessly to lay down twenty teleportation coordinates.

The other elders would later use these nodes to teleport back and forth, conducting searches within a one-kilometer radius of each point. As Ansu and Altina advanced, this search network would eventually blanket the entire blood mist zone.

Thus, the search for the Filthy Heart steadily progressed through this most brute-force, yet safest systematic carpet search.

During a break, as the two of them sat around a campfire, Ansu looked down to organize the remaining magic crystals and suddenly spoke.

“Oh, right, Altina. There's something I need to ask you in private.”

His gaze drifted to her chest, resting on the crescent amulet pressed against her fair skin. At this moment, the pendant was glowing with a warm, gentle light, its intricate runes faintly visible.

“Does that amulet of yours possess some kind of special power? Could you be honest with me about it?”

“Huh?”

Altina was taken aback. She instinctively covered her chest, clutching the amulet tightly in her palm.

...