Chapter 263


    Before long, the band of mercenaries that had gone to the right also sent up cheers. Their voices


    were faint from a distance, yet their surprise could be vaguely felt.


    vin and hispanions finally discovered something special as well—a crumbling stone temple,


    in ruins and barely standing, but within it seemed to lie something buried, a faint glow shining


    through the gaps in the debris.


    "Treasures!" shouted the Cobalt Strike Protégés, all rushing over to move the stones, and quickly


    they unearthed over a dozen treasures.


    A rusted de, only a fragment remaining, yet still radiating a faint sword''s energy; an ancient


    scepter, golden and regal, clearly no ordinary item; a strange stone, incredibly soft yet weighing a


    thousand pounds; a shield, grotesque and overdone, resembling a massive goblin''s face, much of it


    corroded butrgely intact.


    Each of the dozen treasures was unique, surviving the ages to be found. Even if unusable, perhaps


    they could offer insights into other mysteries.


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    "vin, do you want them?" Gwenda taunted, though they had already secured the treasures,


    circled around them thrice over, making it clear they wouldn''t part with them easily.


    "I would like them. Will you give them to me?" countered vin, ying along with the challenge.


    "We found them first," Gwenda retorted with a toss of her head.


    "It was a joint discovery!" Lylian couldn''t stand their arrogance.


    "We dug them out with our own effort."


    "Shameless," Lylian snorted coldly.


    "Say that again!"


    "It''s done, and now you don''t want it said? Ah, I think I know who you are—you''re Cobalt Strike’s


    Elite Protégé Gwenda."


    "Good that you know."


    "The one who lost her tea party invitation to vin, how pitiable. I won''t stoop to your level."


    "Who are you, to speak so boldly? To lose to a mere servant of Cobalt Strike, do you have no


    shame?!" Gwenda fumed, the youngss daring to expose her wounds.


    "I lost, and so what? I also bested your Golden Protégé Semar. Are you suggesting Semar is lesser


    than a servant?" Lylian was merciless with her words as her three girls stood by her side. In the


    Floral Enchantress, although all were female Protégées, not all could be trifled with.


    Adirich calmed Gwenda down. Enough was enough. This young girl seemed innocent but was truly


    no weakling.


    Gwenda shook off Adirich''s hand, scolding, "What has be of you, bing so feeble? Where


    is the vigor you once had?"


    vin emerged from the temple, having searched thoroughly, finding nothing out of the ordinary.


    "Don''t waste time here. We must continue onward," urged the Chained Spirit.


    A Cobalt Strike Protégé leaped atop the temple, scanned the horizon, and soon shouted with


    delight, "There''s another temple ahead!"


    The Cobalt Strike Protégés hastily gathered their treasures, leaving none behind. With their


    numbers and brazen attitude, they took what they wanted as if by right.


    "Right ahead, quickly!" The Protégé leaped down from the temple and sprinted forward while the


    others cheered and followed.


    But just then, a piercing scream floated from afar, turning all heads in its direction.


    "Ignore it; it’s likely the mercenaries have shed,” Gwenda didn’t pay it heed, urging her Protégés


    to hurry forward, to beat vin to the prize.


    “Be cautious, there may be other dangers here,” vin warned Mari and the others, following the


    Cobalt Strike group.


    There was another temple, slightlyrger than thest but just as crumbled and covered in thick


    dust.


    The Cobalt Strike Protégés, undeterred by the dirt and chaos, dug feverishly through the temple, as


    if to overturn the entire ruin.


    Lylian and herpanions refused to just wait and managed to im a few treasures themselves.


    vin, uninterested in the treasures, examined the temple for a while before moving on.


    "Let there be no more temples ahead. Don''t let vin get the upper hand," Gwenda shouted


    unapologetically, leading ten Protégés past vin with a re and rushing into another ruined


    temple ahead.


    The further they went, the more temples they found, each burying treasures, varying in number but


    generally more than ten, making everyone overjoyed with their bountiful harvest.


    vin did not vie for the treasures. Passing each temple, he only observed carefully before


    continuing to the next.


    "What are you searching for?" Mari wondered, and even E began to wonder. Was vin truly


    here for treasure hunting? Amidst the heaps of magical treasures, he seemed not to care, aimlessly


    wandering the temples.