Pride Online

Chapter 549: Surrounded Part V

“More importantly, they’re reaching here,” Aerin said.

“How do you know?” Wisana asked.

“We have spies in Dores,” Warunya answered. “The Cataral knows not only the exact location of our ship, but they also know that we’re holding Sven captive. They’re moving here to rescue him. That’s the problem.”

Hearing that, Wisana turned to look at Maysa.

The bridge was quiet. There were only four stern people in there with serious looks on their faces. Then, Maysa walked to her chair and sat down on it.

“The first problem is, how did they know our whereabouts and that we’re holding Sven hostage.”

“They should have their own intelligence, I assume...” Aerin said.

“You sure?” Maysa interrupted. “If they had one, they should have known this a long time ago. Why did they have to wait this long in the first place? I don’t think so.”

“Then... how?” Warunya asked.

“Maybe...” Maysa touched her chin. “They know it the same way we learned about Nuch that time.”

Hearing that, everyone went quiet. They thought about the mysterious and anonymous news that they received through the guild channel at that time. It was sent here to prompt their move for Nuchjaree. They eventually succeeded in the mission because of that.

The more Maysa thought about it, the more she felt stressed.

“Maybe we’re just walking into their palms.”

She spoke in a firm tone. Wisana frowned tightly.

“The enemy intentionally sent us the news for us to go rescue Nuchjaree, who was travelling with Sven alone. Maybe it was their intention, too, for us to keep Sven as a hostage.”

“Why would they do that?” Warunya said.

“To drag us into the mud pool.”

Silence overtook the place again.

“We’re holding Sven, a big time bomb, in our hands and now the Cataral is coming for him. We’re at the most dangerous time of the war.”

“Dangerous time of the war?” Wisana raised his eyebrows.

“Yes, the dangerous time.” Maysa nodded before opening up the map. “We’re situated close to Tristan, the home of the William Star and those mysterious people. In the north, the Cataral are coming for us. We also have the Dominion coming for us from Ziggard from the west. To our right, although it was hard now to travel by sea, the Bunny Burner is camping for us in Endel. The Pandora is in the south in Venesia.”

“This is...”

Aerin and Warunya opened their mouths in awe.

Actually, Maysa knew this all along. She just did not expect the mysterious players to be able to wrap everyone around their fingers like this. It was possible that the other guild had already known this location, too.

“Yes, we’re surrounded,” Maysa added and gritted her teeth. “No matter how we look at it, they’re surrounding us.”

“This is big.” Wisana sighed.

All four of them had this stern look on their faces. Everyone was so quiet as if they were deep in thought for the best solution possible. Aerin eventually broke the silence.

“Then, should we move to Endel and ask for Bunny Burner’s help? At least we were once on the same side. Maybe they’d be able to help us.”

“It’s not going to work.”

Wisana and Maysa interrupted at the same time.

“It’s true that we used to be on the same side, but don’t forget that each guild has its own sacred crystal. It’d be difficult for us to help each other. The thing is, they won’t get anything if they join us, so I don’t think they’ll give in. Judging from Valentine’s fun way of living, I’m pretty sure.”

Wisana explained with a stern face. Aerin drooped down in silence.

“And going to Endel is risky since we have to travel through Tristan, which is where the William Star, our arch enemy, was. And we have to cross the ocean, and we can’t be sure whether we’d be ambushed like before. I don’t want to take the risk of unlocking the Over Limit to use the warp gate again.”

“That’s true.” Aerin lowered her face.

“But to stay here and fight the Cataral is...” Warunya was obviously concerned.

“We can’t.” Maysa shook her head. “There’re too many of them and you see it too, Orn. We’re not at all ready for battles. Mr. Sander isn’t here. Samie is still hurt. Shin can’t really control his Longinus. And Jinnie can’t really help Wisana to her full potential. The chance of losing his high. Even with Alexander, judging from the last fight, our weapons aren’t enough.”

It was a worrisome truth. The Nemesis was really at its lowest.

“We can’t escape to the west because we have to cross the ocean. If we travelled on land, we might have to encounter the Dominion.” Wisana said. “Or should we risk the south?”

Hearing that, everyone immediately turned to look at the leader.

“That may be the best option.” Maysa nodded. “There’s only a desert in the south where there’re not that many accommodations. There’re also a lot of cruel monsters and merchants.”

“What about Aeneas?”

Wisana suggested. Maysa sighed softly.

“That should be the best.” She said. “It’s a small town with a lot of people going back and forth from it. The thing is, it doesn’t side with anyone in the war, which is good for hiding. But there’s a problem...”

“The Pandora.” Wisana finished the sentence.

Even though the Pandora did not look like they had anything against the Nemesis, those mysterious players might have already sent them some news and turned the table around.

“But it should be better than being surrounded,” Wisana said.

“True.” Maysa nodded in agreement. “In all the solutions that we have right now, the south sounds like the best one. We have to go there and fill ourselves with weapons and food. We also need to repair the ship first. Then, we’ll see what we can do afterwards.”

“What about Sven?”

Warunya asked as if to remind everyone in the room about what they had forgotten. Wisana and Maysa glanced at each other.

“I didn’t want him here in the first place. We can just let him go, May. This should be the best way so that they will stop following us. What do you think?”

Hearing that, Maysa looked the other way to think.

“What about the information that we’re working on with him?” Maysa asked.

“He can send us the update later.”

“But...”

“I trust him. And I think giving us the enemy’s information would also benefit the Cataral. He’ll definitely keep us updated. I’m sure of it.”

Maysa sighed and eventually nodded.

Wisana was a lot better than her when it came to people.

“Then, it’s up to you.”

“Mhmm.” Wisana beamed at her.

Hearing that, everyone looked at each other before nodding in agreement with the plan.

“We’ll wait until the rain stops and we’ll move out immediately. We’ll use the mirage system to cover us at all times. Orn, I leave you to every system in the ship. Please cooperate with Ae for a check-up.”

“Roger,” Warunya said and went back to her seat.

“And you, Aerin, I want you to keep watch on the Cataral. Please tell our intelligence unit not to risk too much.”

“Yes.” She said and also went back to her seat.

There were only Wisana and Maysa there. They looked each other in the eye with worried faces.

“Time for a life-or-death situation, I see.” His smile was awkward.

“I guess so.” Maysa’s face was not so different.

----------------

In front of the door to the bridge, a thin figure of a small girl was standing there. Her ear was pressed on the door like she was eavesdropping. Nuchjaree only wanted to go inside to talk to her best friend, Warunya.

But before she could do that, she heard something about ‘Sven’, so her body halted instinctively.

Her rust-colored eyes opened so widely when she heard the conversation inside. She covered her mouth in awe. Her facial expression was so shocked...

“They’ll let him go back to his guild?”

She moved her hands to her chest. Strange... Why did she suddenly feel so empty inside? It was just like that time when Sven said goodbye to her.

“...Sven.”