"What happened?"

  Chen Yue was suddenly startled. Intuitively, he knew that something unexpected had occurred.

  "Was the treasure map leaked?"

  "No." Thorne slowly shook his head. As if bearing a heavy burden, his expression was indescribably solemn, with a strange look in his eyes.

  Sensitively catching Thorne's unusual expression, Chen Yue felt his heart sink. He knew that this unexpected matter was probably related to himself.

  What could be related to him? With countless thoughts running through his mind, Chen Yue thought of a possibility.

  Sighing, Chen Yue said, "Is someone looking for me?"

  Although it was a question, his tone was extremely certain.

  Thorne was taken aback for a moment, then nodded.

  "The people looking for me are still apostles, right?" Chen Yue said slowly, somewhat helplessly.

  Hearing this, Thorne was so shocked that he almost jumped up from his stool. He stared at Chen Yue in astonishment. Judging from his expression, he knew that Chen Yue was right.

  After being stunned for a while, Thorne nodded heavily and said in an extremely certain tone, "I believe you."

  "Hehe." Chen Yue gently patted Thorne's shoulder, gratitude showing in his eyes.

  "They are indeed looking for me, but it's for another matter that has nothing to do with the ancient ruins. After this adventure is over, I'll go back to the Capital of Freedom with them. As for now, let them wait." Chen Yue said calmly.

  Thinking about it, the time was almost up. In the Capital of Freedom, Venia must be worried, so she would definitely send apostles to search. Perhaps not only here, but even several cities in the north of the Sky Leaf Empire would have apostles going there to search.

  Thinking of these things, Chen Yue was somewhat touched. Speaking of which, Venia had been really nice to him. He hoped that he could satisfy her this time.

  Chen Yue's words seemed to have a reassuring power and immediately calmed down Thorne's somewhat restless mood.

  "It was my proposal to set off immediately to search for the treasure. And after knowing that apostles had appeared, Poison Dragon and the others immediately panicked. Hehe, if most of our people were killed or injured, but in the end the apostles came in and snatched the ancient ruins away, I'm afraid all of us would become the laughingstock of the world." Thorne said half-sarcastically and half-self-mockingly.

  Magical beasts were already powerful enough, not to mention the higher-level summoned beasts. Just look at Chen Yue's two summoned beasts. Although their levels weren't high, their strength was unimaginably powerful. And in the hands of apostles, they were even more like undying monsters. Not many people had the confidence to snatch food from their mouths.

  Chen Yue smiled and said, "I'm afraid you also considered my safety."

  Thorne was shocked and smiled bitterly. "Nothing can be hidden from you. Whether you are a high and mighty apostle or not, since I regard you as a brother, of course I have to consider things for you."

  Since they were here to look for someone, those apostles would naturally bring Chen Yue's magic portrait. With their influence, perhaps it wouldn't take half a day for Chen Yue's portrait to spread throughout all the cities here. By then, his identity couldn't be hidden.

  Poison Dragon and the others, who least wanted the ancient ruins to be snatched away by apostles, could be imagined what their reactions and the means they would take if they knew that an apostle had sneaked into their team.

  Of course, at this moment, Chen Yue could completely leave and report the secret of the ancient ruins to Venia, or even bring in the few apostles nearby. But this couldn't stop Poison Dragon and the others from preemptively excavating the ancient ruins. Moreover, it would also put Thorne and the Snow Goose in an extremely dangerous situation.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  For Thorne, who had treated him sincerely, he definitely couldn't do such a thing.

  "Alright, let's set off immediately." Chen Yue stood up and said with a determined smile.

  ...

  Among the six people from the three major forces, besides Chen Yue and Thorne, Poison Dragon, who was taken care of by the sixth-level great magician, also survived. Together with the two people from the Heavenly Azure Mercenary Group, they stepped into the outer area again in the afternoon. Less than a day had passed.

  The traces of the riot were still everywhere in the outer area. Many magical beasts were wandering around in groups, and they carefully avoided them all.

  With the treasure map as a guide, the group moved forward at full speed. It took them half a day to reach the outside of the core area. Fortunately, they didn't encounter any fifth-level magical beasts and arrived here without any danger.

  Chen Yue observed for a while. This wasn't the place he had entered before. The core area covered a considerable area. Although he had been inside before, Chen Yue might not necessarily know more than others.

  "Here." Thorne handed Chen Yue something that looked like a water bubble. It felt soft and fluffy when pinched and didn't offer any resistance at all.

  "What's this?"

  Seeing Chen Yue's puzzled expression, Poison Dragon beside him burst out laughing. "Brother Chen Yue might be using these things for the first time. Don't look down on it. We spent a huge price to exchange it from the Apostle Association. It can isolate the harsh external environment and also has a certain protective effect."

  Finally understanding why they were so confident in entering the core area. After all, even he didn't dare to venture deep into the core area before. Helplessly shrugging his shoulders, Chen Yue stared intently at this prop.

  "Cough, cough." Thorne's expression was a bit strange. Chen Yue was an apostle, so why didn't he even understand these items sold to the public.

  It was still Poison Dragon who explained a few sentences. Yesterday's lesson was still fresh in their minds. These people who had narrowly escaped death all knew the importance of unity. Especially Chen Yue, who had left a deep impression on them. Poison Dragon was deliberately trying to curry favor with him and had completely put him on the same level as the great magician. If it weren't for the fact that calling him "senior" was too creepy, he definitely wouldn't mind lowering his own status.

  Even though this "senior" was really too young.

  The usage method of this prop called the Space Suit was very simple. Just tear the water bubble open, and it would expand when exposed to the air. Then it could be put on the body. After feeling the body temperature, it would shrink to the size of the human body and attach to the skin without interfering with any movements at all. So generally, it was worn inside. And its protective effect was roughly equivalent to that of a protective ball. It was already a very practical treasure.

  "This thing isn't cheap, right?" Chen Yue asked with a half-smile.

  "Of course not. Those damn apostles are the stingiest." When mentioning this, Poison Dragon looked pained, and his words became vulgar. "They have a special point system for the outside world. We can only get meager points by completing the arduous tasks they assign, or we can buy them with money. But the price is ridiculously high. Only with points can we exchange for some props. These things are rare and expensive, and few of them are practical. Just these two little things cost our mercenary group more than half of its property. And they're disposable."

  After cursing several more times, Poison Dragon finally shut his mouth indignantly.

  Disdainfully curling his lips, Chen Yue turned to look at Thorne. After seeing Thorne's confirmation, he was sure about it.

  "This is monopoly." Chen Yue secretly sighed in his heart. It seemed that the Apostle Association didn't only open these props to apostles. However, those props opened to the public were obviously not very practical. As for offensive props, there were probably even fewer. The most excessive thing was that the acquisition of points was extremely harsh. This was also a means of control. After all, apostles also needed money, needed to build huge associations, training bases, and so on. They had a noble status and couldn't steal or rob, so naturally they could only find ways from the outside.

  As the saying goes, the wool comes from the sheep. It was exactly like this.

  Glancing at these "fat sheep" who were being exploited, Chen Yue didn't care about the disrespect in Poison Dragon's words and walked aside.

  The rest of the people followed suit. After a while, when everyone gathered again, they had all put on the Space Suits and isolated themselves from the harsh external environment.

  "Let's go."

  Slowly uttering these two words, Chen Yue stepped into the wind and snow.