"Little Grey... You’re too intelligent for your own good. It’s a good thing, but how will your eldest sister ever be able to surprise you like this?" Grey could hear the Captain’s voice in his mind, sounding almost as if she were sighing. There was a faint trace of genuine exhaustion in her voice, as though she were truly tired of dealing with him.
"I noticed something shiny when we came here. It caught my attention, and I’ve not been able to retract my gaze from it ever since. I can also sense that its value is far more important than that cheesy flower you guys are looking for."
She paused briefly before continuing.
"Anyways, I want you to collect it for me. It’s only a small distance in that direction. It won’t take long."
The blue flower tilted slightly, its petals turning toward a certain direction.
Grey followed its indication with his eyes.
The moment he looked in that direction, his expression became slightly more solemn.
The flower was pointing deeper into the Corroded Zone.
Much deeper.
Beyond the relatively safer peripheral region, where the dense veil of darkness seemed to cut off everything ahead from the outside world.
Even from where Grey stood, he could faintly sense the difference.
The corrosive substance in that direction was denser.
The air was colder.
And the oppressive feeling that lingered in the darkness was considerably stronger.
Grey’s eyes narrowed slightly when he heard Violet’s words.
"Why don’t you get it yourself if it’s only a little distance away and it’s that important?" he asked calmly.
The voice of the Captain suddenly fell silent.
For several seconds, there was no response.
She had clearly not expected such a straightforward answer from Grey.
Eventually, she spoke again.
"Because I obviously don’t have legs to walk over there or hands to pick it up, that’s why. You’re being so mean, Little Grey!"
Her voice carried a hint of annoyance, and if she had possessed a face at this moment, Grey was certain she would have been glaring at him.
However, Grey completely ignored her complaint.
He turned his attention back toward Iria.
She was still sitting nearby with her eyes closed, cultivating silently. Her breathing was slow and steady, while the medicinal energy from the pills she had consumed continued circulating through her body.
Grey’s gaze lingered on her for a moment before he looked away.
He had no intention of answering the Captain.
He could already guess what she was trying to do.
The place she wanted him to enter was undoubtedly somewhere beyond the veil of darkness, deeper into the Corroded Zone. And if something capable of attracting the Captain’s attention was located there, Grey seriously doubted that it would be ordinary.
The Captain had described it as something shiny.
But Grey knew better than to take her words at face value.
Anything that could make the Captain pay such close attention to it in a place like this was bound to be strange.
There would likely be stronger creatures lurking around it.
Bizarre existences.
Unknown phenomena.
Perhaps even dangers that Grey had never encountered before.
After spending a considerable amount of time with the Captain, Grey had gradually learned quite a lot about her.
He had learned when she was being serious.
He had learned when she was joking.
And, most importantly, he had learned when she was trying to fool him into doing something dangerous for her.
The Captain was not malicious.
At least, Grey didn’t believe she was.
However, she was definitely cunning.
Whenever she discovered something interesting, she would often find a way to make Grey investigate it for her. And more often than not, the journey would end with Grey nearly losing his life.
It was almost as though she had a strange habit of using him as an advance scout.
Grey wasn’t particularly angry about it.
After all, whenever he completed one of her errands, he usually came back with something valuable.
The problem was that the value of those things often came at the cost of an ordeal that could have ended his life.
And after experiencing this several times, Grey had come to a simple conclusion.
It was better to ignore the Captain whenever she became too enthusiastic about something.
At least for now.
His main reason for entering the Corroded Zone was to find the strange flower. He wasn’t going to allow himself to become distracted by something that might turn out to be even more troublesome.
Besides...
Grey glanced toward the darkness beyond the veil.
It wouldn’t surprise him if the Captain was actually somewhere inside the depths of the Corroded Zone, deliberately hiding herself.
Perhaps she was waiting for him to enter.
Perhaps she wanted him to attract the attention of whatever was guarding the object while she quietly appeared afterward and took the real treasure.
Grey had considered such a possibility before.
And given the Captain’s personality, he couldn’t completely dismiss it.
This was a Corroded Zone, after all. Death could descend at any moment if one wasn’t careful.
Even the peripheral region was already dangerous enough. The corrosive substance here was capable of eating away at the bodies of cultivators, and bizarre existences could appear without warning.
As for the depths...
Grey had no desire to find out what kind of horrors were hiding there unless absolutely necessary.
He had already seen enough strange things since entering this place.
He didn’t need to deliberately search for more.
Seeing that Grey remained silent, the Captain finally spoke again.
"Fine!"
Her voice sounded as though she had reluctantly compromised.
"Since you’re being so mean and strong-headed, we’ll split the profit seventy-thirty percent."
Grey’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
"Seventy-thirty?"
"Yes!"
The Captain immediately sounded more energetic.
"Seventy percent for you, thirty percent for me. It’s only because you’re my younger brother that I’m willing to give you such a generous offer."
There was a strange pause.
Grey remained expressionless. He could almost hear the hidden calculation behind her words.
Her voice still sounded annoyed, but if one listened carefully, there was something else beneath that annoyance.
Wariness. The Captain was becoming cautious.
She was afraid that Grey had already seen through her plan.
And she wasn’t wrong. Grey had indeed seen through her. He simply didn’t know exactly what she wanted him to retrieve yet.
’Little Grey is becoming more intelligent.’
The Captain inwardly clicked her tongue.
’It’ll become harder and harder to fool him into doing these things for me.’
She felt a little frustrated.
When Grey had first become acquainted with her, it was much easier to manipulate him into investigating strange things. Back then, all she needed to do was make something sound sufficiently mysterious or valuable, and he would usually become interested. Especially when it came to increasing his cultivation.
Now, however...
Grey had learned. He had learned to question her intentions.
He had learned to consider the dangers before acting.
And, most importantly, he had learned that whenever the Captain sounded particularly excited about something, there was a good chance that danger was waiting at the end of the road.
He was no longer the same sharp eyes youth that had come into Sky Mist City with killing intent in his gloomy heart. He had changed drastically. Learning to hide his true intentions and actions while looking calm.
’He’s really growing up.’
The Captain felt a strange mixture of relief and frustration.
’But why does he have to become so troublesome?’
Grey remained completely unaware of her internal complaints.
Or perhaps he simply didn’t care. His gaze remained fixed on Iria.
The Corroded Zone was still quiet around them, but Grey knew better than to mistake this silence for safety.
Somewhere beyond the veil of darkness, something was waiting. And whatever had caught the Captain’s attention was almost certainly not ordinary.
For now, Grey had no intention of stepping into those depths.
At least not until he had a good enough reason.
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