Our Family Has Fallen

Chapter 1274: Chapter 696: Pause (2)

"Hmm?"

Lance’s soft inquiry brought Audrey back to reality, forcing her to smile wryly and gesture.

"It’s nothing."

Only after speaking did she realize, and hurriedly pursued Lance with a question.

"Um... where’s my antidote?"

Her demeanor had completely lost the earlier pride and madness, now cowering, she was indeed Hamlet’s modified human.

"Didn’t I give it to you?" Lance found her question strange, then added, "It’s the bottle I gave you when you entered."

These words left Audrey dumbfounded, her expression indescribably peculiar.

What! That vial was actually the real antidote?

Then why did I follow along?

Why did I get beaten?

What the hell am I doing?

The mixture of complex emotions made her seem a bit insane, tears welling up in her eyes, mumbling some incomprehensible words.

"Lost it?" Seeing this, Lance couldn’t help but inquire, which prompted Audrey to quickly search her waist pouch, retrieving the seemingly ordinary vial.

Like a person finding water after days of thirst in the desert, she uncorked it and drank without hesitation.

After all, she made it out alive, and Lance didn’t want to make it difficult for her.

Understanding her nature, he slightly used his ability, and instantly Audrey felt a spasm in her stomach, vomiting intensely.

While Audrey was dizzy from vomiting, Lance performed a trick, using a short sword to pick out a non-existent seed from the mess as a gesture.

"Here it is."

Saying that, he ground it with the sword tip, completely ending this lie.

Audrey could no longer hold back and began to cry.

This made Lance somewhat confused; wasn’t resolving it supposed to be a good thing? Why cry now?

Crying was fine though, crying was good, as keeping things bottled up was the real pressure, and crying released it.

Lance’s capacity for tolerance was quite strong.

At this moment, the soldiers stationed outside seemed to have heard the commotion and opened the door wide enough to see inside.

"My Lord!"

Seeing this, Lance couldn’t care about anything else and hurriedly approached and asked.

"How long have we been inside?"

"Report! Five days."

Upon hearing the soldier’s words, Lance couldn’t help but frown. The environment in the Dark Dungeon blurred the concept of time, and during the fight, who kept track of such things?

Five days, plus the two days clearing the old mansion, it was seven days in total, time galloping like a swift horse, how could he not be anxious?

Despite his concerns, Lance suppressed his emotions and calmly took over the topic, inquiring about the situation around during his absence.

The answer was nothing major, the cultists had been eliminated earlier, and as for the relic, those Skeletons couldn’t spread to this remote place.

Lance found this both surprising and unsurprising.

Surprising because they had reached the Dark Dungeon, yet those ancients hadn’t reacted, was he only facing the small fries of the Ascension Sect?

Unsurprising because the Ascension Sect had changed headquarters, few people left here, and even if they wanted to respond, it would take some time.

"Hold this position, no one is allowed in or out without my command."

"Yes!"

Lance knew he had to accomplish tasks during this brief window.

A fast ship sent the squad and a batch of rotating soldiers back to Hamlet.

They didn’t disembark at the port, but at the naval dock on the other side, so few outsiders were aware of their actions, and the military deployment was likewise secretive.

These rotating soldiers needed to go to the relic frontlines to relieve those fighting.

No matter how strong an army, it can’t endure battlefield pressure long-term without relief; effective rotation maintains combat strength and balances the combat experience of various units.

Relying solely on an elite unit while others stay off the battlefield leads to rapid decline.

Military movements naturally had someone in charge, and Lance and the team returned to loyal Hamlet.

Everything was normal; his absence had caused no issues, furthermore, the relic’s fame attracted many people.

The bold ventured into the relic, while many without the courage turned to services spawned by the situation.

Brothels, casinos, and taverns monopolized by the Lord were deep waters, even major powers hit snags, not to mention ordinary people.

Fishing, gathering, hunting, or other work, everything here belonged to the Lord; without an official permit, it was illegal.

Ordinary people found obtaining a permit very difficult; you had to be local or have applied to join Hamlet.

This condition excluded many outsiders, yet prosperity required much labor, thus there were plenty of job opportunities.

Human mule transport became a viable outlet; the route from the city to the new frontline town was extremely busy.

The reason being transport capacity and resources were concentrated on construction, so human effort was needed to fill the gap.

Everyone knew the profit from transport was high, but Lance wasn’t a businessman; he needed to consider territory operations.

To finish as much construction as possible before the winter snow, or progress would halt upon heavy snowfall.

Without enough shelter from wind and snow, many would freeze to death, this was not figurative but fact.

Therefore, maintaining a basic logistic capacity to control prices with a slight price difference allowed profitability for manpower transport, indirectly stabilizing them.

But here’s the thing, vehicles or livestock like oxen and horses also required appropriate permits for transport.

This was Lance’s rule after extensive consideration, the artificially created margin left a lifeline for ordinary people, the regulations restricted organized merchants from exploiting Hamlet.

The Lord’s will opposed the invisible hand; in Hamlet, he had the final say.

Upon returning, the team dispersed, each going their way, only Boudica went home with Lance; however, she immediately collapsed asleep, ignoring the filth on her, showing extreme fatigue.

Lance was also exhausted but insisted on bathing before bedtime.

At this moment, Grendel, knowing his return, briefly reported recent events and the list of suspicious individuals.

Some Transcendents appeared, which Lance didn’t care much about, as once he declared rules surpassing the Church, it was inevitable.

But that legion caught his attention.

"Did we spread the Empire’s treasure rumor?"

Lance soaked in the barrel; with bathhouses closed during the day, waiting for heated water to fill the pool would put him to sleep.

"No, we investigated, likely just adventurers’ fantasies, with no traces of other organizations."

Lance couldn’t help but smile, "Whoever it is, intentional or not, this news is favorable for us."

The relic’s purpose was to draw more people; adding one more rumor didn’t matter.

"What about the legion? Any news now?"

"They are likely still inside the relic, specifics unclear due to their rapid progress without replenishing supplies.

But they’re very active in killing those vile creatures and are extremely powerful, our scouts found numerous signs of destruction."

As Lance inquired further, Grendel recounted the situation.

"We feel the legion isn’t human, but they’ve never harmed anyone and head straight for the relic with obvious intent."

"Perhaps Amanda knows something, I’ll ask her later; she’s likely gone to sleep now."

As Lance spoke, he could barely hide his fatigue, a quick wash before lying down, the faint floral scent clearing his mind, leaving him unwilling to think of anything.

Grendel towel-dried his hair beside him, soon noticing Lance had already fallen asleep...

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