"If others found out about this, they would tear me apart."

  Thorn reached out his hand, smiled bitterly, and slapped Chen Yue's hand hard, which was considered a formal alliance.

  Chen Yue gave a few dry laughs and said, "Actually, you don't have to worry. There's no way to get in touch with the Free Capital from here. So, even if you let it slip, it's just about me. It won't attract those high-level apostles at all. And I won't take advantage of you. We'll split the gains from the ancient ruins equally."

  Hearing this, Thorn's spirits lifted. What he was most afraid of was being exploited by Chen Yue. Since he couldn't defeat the other party, he had already lost the initiative. And the huge organization behind Chen Yue made him not even dare to think about resisting. It could be said that this alliance was completely unequal. At this time, when Chen Yue took the initiative to propose splitting equally, it was impossible and he couldn't refuse.

  "At that time, I'll need you to cover for me. Only when no one can guess that I'm an apostle and doesn't know my background and real strength can we obtain the greatest benefits." Chen Yue's eyes flickered with an inexplicable light as he ordered.

  Thorn nodded approvingly. The several forces that would come to excavate the ancient ruins knew each other very well. The only variable was Chen Yue. Probably, even if those treasure-hunting forces racked their brains, they wouldn't have thought that an apostle had sneaked in.

  However, looking up at the floating Blade Beast, Thorn still had something he couldn't figure out.

  "To be honest, the life aura of your summoned beast isn't conspicuous at all. There's really no need... Ah, do you have other summoned beasts?"

  Halfway through speaking, he suddenly realized something and his eyes shot out a menacing light while his mind was spinning rapidly.

  As far as he knew, to become an apostle, one had to summon a summoned beast, and the star level of the summoned beast couldn't exceed the level of the apostle. That is to say, any apostle must have a one-star summoned beast. Was this the summoned beast that Chen Yue had concealed?

  "No, that's not right." The ability of a one-star summoned beast was limited. No matter how special its ability was, due to the huge gap in strength, it could be completely ignored at the fifth-order level. But looking at Chen Yue's attitude, undoubtedly the ability of that summoned beast was very strong.

  "Do you have another two-star summoned beast?" Taking a deep breath, Thorn was startled by the conclusion he had drawn himself.

  If you added the initial one, that would mean having three summoned beasts. Thinking of this, Thorn's gaze at Chen Yue inevitably carried a bit of shock.

  "This person, if he can't be eliminated during his growth period, then, he must never be made an enemy." Silently, he made a decision in his heart.

  Seeing Thorn's expression, Chen Yue knew that he had misunderstood. However, this misunderstanding was beneficial to him, so he wouldn't expose it.

  "Well, my summoned beast is very special. Although its level isn't high, its ability is quite strong." As he spoke, Chen Yue became a bit hesitant.

  "You haven't seen it, but you've heard of it."

  "I've heard of it?" Thorn was shocked when he heard this. His whole face was full of question marks. He couldn't figure out when he had ever seen this mysterious summoned beast even if he racked his brains. Besides, he had just met Chen Yue, the owner of the summoned beast.

  "Well, actually, my other summoned beast is the leader of this group of magical beasts." A blush flashed across Chen Yue's face, and he said the answer somewhat shyly.

  "Are you saying that the rabbit is... your summoned beast?" Thorn repeated Chen Yue's words in a daze, and his face immediately became extremely colorful, turning green and then white.

  Chen Yue nodded.

  Suddenly, the atmosphere between the two of them became very strange.

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  After a long while.

  "I... damn it..." Thorn suddenly stood up, and a series of "damn it" came out of his mouth. He looked extremely depressed.

  Chen Yue wisely kept his mouth shut.

  After venting for a while, he sat down dejectedly, but his gaze at Chen Yue had a bit of a gnashing-of-teeth look...

  "So, we've been working our butts off and being played by you all this time, right?"

  Hearing this, Chen Yue broke out in a cold sweat and looked straight at Thorn with a bitter smile.

  "Do you think I'm that kind of person?"

  Looking at the sincere look in his eyes without any falsehood, Thorn shook his head bitterly.

  "This is what happened..." With a sigh, Chen Yue started from when he fainted due to a breakthrough and was afraid of being poisoned or attacked by others, so he gave the Ice Rabbit a kill order. He told the whole story. Of course, since he had fainted halfway, many of the details were his own speculations.

  After hearing this, Thorn's face changed drastically.

  "So, those adventurers knew that the leader of the magical beast group was a summoned beast and still tricked us into going to our deaths? Well killed. Haha, originally I felt a bit guilty, but now I feel completely at ease."

  He laughed heartily. The previous gloom was swept away. He wasn't a bloodthirsty maniac. Judging from the situation, his mercenary group was not in danger of being wiped out. Naturally, he felt a bit guilty about killing those people before. But now, after hearing Chen Yue's analysis, his knot in his heart disappeared.

  Chen Yue didn't laugh. Instead, he concentrated and began to think quietly.

  "Thorn, have you noticed that we've been staying here for a long time, but no more magical beasts have come over."

  Thorn was stunned when he heard this: "Yeah, and what about Uri and the others? Why haven't they come back yet."

  The two of them looked at each other and saw a hint of uneasiness in each other's eyes.

  Normally, they had been chatting for a while now. Uri should have found the others and returned to the camp long ago. However, not only them, but even the magical beasts hadn't come over either. Obviously, something had changed.

  "The Ice Rabbit isn't stupid. Since I've been retreating all the time, it must be able to figure out that it's inconvenient to meet. In that case, it won't drive the magical beasts to come this way." Chen Yue's fingers unconsciously drew in the air as his mind was spinning rapidly: "Without my latest order, the previous order will take effect. But those adventurers have been killed and even their bodies have been buried. It's impossible for it to find them anymore. So, what will it do?"

  A thought suddenly flashed through his mind. Chen Yue was shocked, and his handsome face turned pale.

  He stood up abruptly.

  "Oh no, my summoned beast might attack Uri and the others."

  Thorn was also shocked all over. He had also thought of this possibility. For him, if several key members who were as close as brothers all died here, then even if they got the ancient ruins, it would be meaningless.

  The more critical the moment was, the calmer one needed to be. Taking a deep breath, Thorn thought about this possibility in his mind and immediately said firmly:

  "No, if they were just surrounded, they would have fought to break through long ago. But we haven't heard any sounds of battle at the moment, which means that's not the case. I know them very well. The only possibility is that they are so calm because they are confident."

  "That is to say, they have powerful reinforcements?" Chen Yue added.

  Thorn nodded solemnly.

  Powerful reinforcements? Most of the key members of the Snow Goose Mercenary Group were there. So the only possibility was outsiders.

  Thinking of what Thorn had said before, Chen Yue had an idea: "Thorn, you said that several forces had learned the secret of the treasure. How did you make the arrangements?"

  "The Snow Goose was the first to arrive, but they weren't too late either. They might have arrived by now." Thorn realized: "Do you mean that the powerful reinforcements are them?"

  With a cold laugh, the corner of Chen Yue's mouth twitched: "My summoned beast has caused such a big commotion. How could it not attract attention? As far as I know, there's a fifth-order magical beast nearby. Naturally, it wouldn't get involved in the previous incident of the magical beast group. And those individual adventurers needn't be mentioned. Even if they wanted to get involved, they would have to weigh their own strength. So, the only ones who might get involved are those forces with fifth-order professionals."

  As if to verify Chen Yue's guess, the continuous roars of the magical beasts suddenly disappeared. It was like a basin of cold water being poured on a raging fire. The world was filled with an eerie and abnormal atmosphere.

  Suddenly, in the deepening twilight, like a volcanic eruption, a bright red magma shot up into the sky, rising to a height of two or three hundred meters. The whole sky seemed to be burning. The powerful magic power directly split the sky into dozens of pieces. The magma spread along the cracks, like a burning large net, covering half of the sky.

  In the next moment, the burning magma with a strong aura of death dripped down from the sky.