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Chapter 230: The Lost Paradise

Time was short. Winston and his group had left almost half a day ago; if they wanted to reach Thunder Valley before them, they would have to hurry. Guevara was meeting with the Chamber of Commerce, thus Han Jin didn’t have time to inform him. Either way, Guevara couldn’t accompany them all the way to the Tarasha Mountains since he had to return to assist Ronning’s battle in a few days.

Because of the looming war, Han Jin told Sunier, Moxinke, and Cessacioun to stay in the city. Sunier was not very happy about it, but Han Jin had his reasons. Hogan and Alexandre were like water and oil, and Cessacioun and Moxinke might not have enough authority. Sunier was a different story though; they wouldn’t dare disobey her orders.

After a brief explanation, Han Jin led his team into the teleportation matrix. The team included Yalina, Gibran, Julia, Cain, and Reg. Majordomo Gail couldn’t accompany them because he had to protect Yalina’s younger brother Edison. Despite its small size, Han Jin’s temporary team could easily beat any other mercenary group in the city. The Red Vanguards was a top tier mercenary team to begin with, and Yalina’s power far surpassed the fallen Hayden and Charles. Add Han Jin on top of that, the team was sure to be able to survive any mishaps or surprises.

After a ray of blinding white light, Isolated Cliff City disappeared, replaced by an endless field of green. Yalina habitually casted dozens of detection spells, and the shining rings of magic covered everything within several hundred meters. Gibran also quickly surveyed their surroundings and did not find anything abnormal.

“Winston doesn’t look like a careless person. He truly messed up this time,”R eg suddenly said.

“Not his fault.” Gibran answered, “The Mercenary Association sometimes does have tasks that are low risk and high reward. Sometimes, it’s because the poster doesn’t know the market, and other times because it is too urgent.”

“But it’s an enormous amount of gold! 20,000 gold! How could the poster not know the market? Besides, they should at least know when the Thunder Birds’ breeding season is. How urgent could it be if they didn’t even know that?

“It does sound suspicious now, but who would have thought about all this in the moment?” Gibran said, “If I were in Winston’s spot, I wouldn’t be suspicious either; I’d only think I got lucky.”

“Gibran is right. We are all human. If none of us ever made mistakes, there would be a lot more successful people in this world,” Han Jin said.

“Raphael, that Hallister has potential,” Gibran said.

“Aha...” Han Jin smiled.

“Him picking up on the clues is nothing impressive, but what is impressive is that he actually took the initiative to investigate. At the very least, he’s hardworking.”

“You’ve been there before? For a task?” Reg asked.

“First time was by mistake, and the last few times were for tasks.” Gibran paused. “We need to be careful, that place is dangerous!”

“Dangerous?”

“The last time I went... was almost two years ago.” Gibran tried to remember as he led them. “Back then, Thunder Valley had about seventy Thunderbirds. I don’t know how many are in there now; maybe more, maybe less.”

Yalina gasped in surprise. She and Han Jin had killed a Thunderbird last autumn. Even she had trouble dealing with it; it was still a ninth-grade holy animal after all. If seventy Thunderbirds attacked together, even her father, the Grand Duke Solomon, would have to run, let alone her!

“The Thunder Valley is considered a forbidden place in the Tarasha Mountains.” Julia added, “Even the high-grade and top-grade holy animals in the forest wouldn’t provoke such a large group of Thunderbirds lightly. Many years ago, I witnessed forty Thunderbirds attacking a fire phoenix. The Thunderbirds’ lightning attacks turned it into ash before it even got the chance to flee.”

“Does Winston know there are more than seventy Thunderbirds there?” Yalina asked.

“He’s been there before; he should know.”

“And he still had the guts to go there?”

“You make it sound like no one dares step foot in there.” Gibran smiled, then tapped his head. “We rely on our brains to deal with the Thunderbirds.”

“If nothing posts a threat to the Thunderbirds, then... after two years, their number must be over a hundred now, right?”

“That’s not guaranteed.” Gibran shook his head. “Thunderbirds are herd animals that work well together, but that doesn’t mean they never fight among themselves. For instance, if the Thunderbird King grows too old, young Thunderbirds may challenge it. Usually, if the old king loses, it will leave and bring any Thunderbirds that are willing to follow it, then abdicate the throne to the new king. According to some seasoned veterans, the Thunder Valley only has around a hundred Thunderbirds even at its peak.”

“‘Only’ a hundred or so?” Reg bitterly smiled. “Even a dozen would be a threat to us.”

“A hundred Thunderbirds actually isn’t that much,” Julia quietly said. “In the Lost Paradise, it is common to see hundreds of Thunderbirds flying together. You might even see thousands of them gathering.”

“The Lost Paradise? You’ve been to the Lost Paradise before??” Reg was shocked.

“The Lost Paradise? What is that?”Han Jin curiously asked.

“You don’t know?” Julia seemed surprised.

“No.” Han Jin shook his head truthfully.

“The Lost Paradise is in the center of the Tarasha Moutains and is a vast place. It covers at least one third of the whole mountain range.” Gibran slowly said, “We call it ‘Lost Paradise’ because it’s truly a horrifying place. Even a superior-grade professional can’t walk out of it unscathed.”

“Raphael, just imagine. If you see a single Hydra charging toward you, you might stay and fight. Now, what would you do if ten Hydras were charging toward you at the same time?” Julia smiled. “In the Lost Paradise, holy animals cannot survive alone. Even the proud unicorns are forced to travel in groups.”

“That scary? Then I have to see for myself.”

“Raphael, is that supposed to be a joke?” Reg asked in shock.

“I just want to run in there, laugh at everything, then run away.” Han Jin shrugged. With the Earthmeld Charm, there was no place on this continent that was off-limits to him. He was that confident; even if he did encounter some insanely powerful foe, could they stop him from running?

“Are you that bored?!” Yalina rolled her eyes at Han Jin.

“Actually, the Southwestern region we are in right now is also the Southwestern region of the Lost Paradise. If you truly want to go, I can take you there once we find Winston,” Gbiran said.

“Gibran, are you mad?!” Julia chided. “Don’t fool around with something so dangerous!”

“You said the Lost Paradise is in the center of the Tarasha Mountain? Then if we are in the Southwestern region right now, does that mean we are on the other side of the continent?” Han Jin asked hurriedly.

“Yes.”

“What’s the closest city called?”

Gibran thought for a moment. “It’s Michiana City, though I heard it’s a ruin at this point and is Iron Fist City’s territory.”

“Then why aren’t there any mercenaries from other cities?”

“You’ve only been to the Southwestern region, right? If you went somewhere else, you might meet some mercenaries from other cities.”

“What is Iron Fist City like? Have you been there before?”

“I don’t know. If we leave the forest from here, it might take five or six months. I don’t have the time for that,” Gibran said. “Besides, why would I go there? It’s not like Isolated Cliff City doesn’t have enough tasks. That time should be spent earning money and saving for an early retirement so you can enjoy life. If you really want to know about Iron Fist City, I will ask around for you when we return; there should be some people from Iron Fist City”

“Raphael, if you do meet mercenaries from other places, you must stay alert. Just because we are friends doesn’t mean they want the same thing.”

“Mhm, Julia is right,” Reg said.

Han Jin stayed silent. Even though he had been to the Southwestern region before, he had never realized that he was on the other side of the continent. The teleportation matrix was truly marvelous! Maybe because of Guevara’s constant reminders, but Han Jin was really starting to consider himself a future lord and starting to consider things like this. “Gibran, the caravans always travel a long distance to come purchase goods at Isolated Cliff City. Why can’t they just build a teleportation matrix here? Wouldn’t that be much easier.”

“That would never be allowed.” Yalina suddenly gave Han Jin an absurd look. “You really think you can just give anyone a magical copy of the raw data for a teleportation matrix? Even if it’s just a one way teleportation matrix, they could easily build another two-way teleportation matrix from the raw data. At that point, the city would be completely defenseless!”

“Then build one nearby!”

“No, that can’t happen either. If I were the one ruling Isolated Cliff City, I would immediately attack anyone who attempts to build a teleportation matrix within thirty miles of the city.”

“Also, building a teleportation matrix is no simple matter,” Gibran said. “First, you need to have a magician who is an expert in space magic, then you need a vast amount of magic crystals and other materials. Once you complete it, you need to guard it all year round or else a single mouse might break the whole thing. The guards also must be very powerful, as each teleportation matrix is like a mini-treasury; you can’t guarantee no one will get tempted. Do you really think any ordinary trader organization could have that much power?”

“Is it really that much trouble?”

“And on top of that, each time you use the matrix, you will need to spend magic crystals. Take this trip to the Southwestern region for example. How much did we spend?” Reg smiled. “Now, consider how much cheaper it would be to just hire a caravan and ship the goods back? Of course, assuming you can guarantee safety.”

“Safety isn’t the issue here. Dismark and Zaganide are embroiled in a vicious war against each other, yet neither of them ever touched the other’s caravans. It’s a double edged sword: if you rob my caravans, I will rob yours. In the end, the various commercial corps would be forced to cut ties with them. That wouldn’t benefit either of them.” Gibran said, “Besides, the caravans always leave from Beitman; they wouldn’t get the chance even if they wanted to rob them.”