85: The Missing Jack

Wei He had just returned to his temporary residence in Kongdi City when he saw Neme waiting in the hall.

"Where have you been? Do you realize we're in the middle of a war?" Neme's brow furrowed as she spoke through gritted teeth.

As a Grand General and the supreme commander during wartime, Neme actually had to come looking for Wei He personally and still couldn't find him; how could she not be angry? Besides, she already had no favorable impression of Wei He.

"Don't be in such a hurry, let's just talk business. For you to come in person, has something major happened?" Wei He said with a bit of a guilty conscience. After all, a war was still going on, and he had gone out to enjoy himself.

"Yes. Last night, General Carlos led troops out to pursue the demon race and ended up missing. Everyone has gone out to search; have your troops join the search as well!" Neme adjusted her tone and spoke softly.

"He couldn't have been captured by the demon race, could he? Or perhaps he directly surrendered to them? Otherwise, how could he just vanish into thin air?" Wei He said in a joking tone.

"Impossible! Carlos has served the Magic Empire for decades and has always been loyal; he would never commit treason. If you say such things to disrupt military morale again, I will execute you on the spot!" Neme stared straight at Wei He as she spoke. Sensing the fury in her eyes, Wei He instantly wiped the smile off his face.

"Alright, I understand. I'll send people to look for him," Wei He said with a serious expression.

"Good, I'm counting on you. I have other matters to attend to, so I'll be going now," Neme said coldly.

"Safe travels, Grand General!!" Wei He said calmly.

After Neme left, Wei He had no choice but to have the Bozi Youning wander around outside Kongdi City, running here and there to put on a show of searching for Carlos.

Wei He had someone bring a chair so he could sit in the courtyard and bask in the sun. Sometimes he would lament that in a feudal society, one didn't have to do anything themselves, but no one treated people as human beings either.

While resting with his eyes closed in the sunlight, Wei He opened the Gods Eye View of the red alert system in his mind to check the location of the Spy Demon Soldiers.

He could see two Spy Demon Soldiers standing guard at the entrance of the Lair. Since they were on an infiltration mission, they naturally had to do their jobs. Meanwhile, Charlie was standing anxiously at the Lair's entrance, waiting.

"It's already this late, how could he not be back yet? Who could possibly hurt him? This is impossible!" Charlie muttered to himself.

"Report! We went to the Dark Forest and found no sign of the enemy, nor did we find General Jack. However, we discovered that people from the Magic Empire and the Magical Beast Empire also seem to be searching for something. We only conducted reconnaissance and did not engage in direct conflict with them!" several demon soldiers panted as they arrived before Charlie to report.

"Have you searched everywhere? Where could he have gone? Forget it, you may leave now. Do not tell anyone about this, do you understand?" Charlie said with a heavy expression.

"Yes, General! Our lips are sealed!" the demon soldiers promised solemnly.

Once the demon soldiers had left, Charlie put his fingers in his mouth and blew a whistle. The Golden Rainbow Flame Divine Beast ran out of the Lair at extreme speed and came before Charlie. If no one else could find Jack, only the Golden Rainbow Flame Divine Beast could.

Charlie mounted the Golden Rainbow Flame Divine Beast and rode all the way out of the canyon to the place where Jack had died. However, the beast hesitated to approach, likely sensing Jack's faint lingering aura while also fearing the nearly dissipated nuclear radiation.

Seeing the Golden Rainbow Flame Divine Beast's hesitation, Charlie felt that Jack might be nearby. But why didn't it go directly to him? While Charlie was wondering, Orc Soldiers from the Magical Beast Empire came searching in this direction.

They were originally looking for Carlos, but now they had found his son, Charlie.

"A lone demon general has been spotted here! Quick, quick, quick, surround him! I didn't expect an unexpected harvest from this trip!" Rutgar shouted excitedly.

Numerous Orc Soldiers began to surround Charlie, their scimitars glinting with a piercing light that showed their sharpness.

Rutgar, carrying his two large iron hammers, strolled out from the crowd and said, "Looking at you, you have the skin of a demon, yet you're wearing a Magic Empire cloak, and half of you is actually human skin. Are you a man or a ghost, huh?"

Upon hearing this, the numerous Orc Soldiers burst into loud laughter.

"That's right, is he a man or a ghost?"

"If you ask me, he's just a mutt!"

"Exactly, exactly! Half human, half demon—definitely a bastard!"

"Hahahaha, well said!"

...Charlie's brow furrowed as he heard their foul language. He knew a fierce battle was unavoidable today. He reached out and patted the Golden Rainbow Flame Divine Beast beneath him. As if understanding his intent, the Golden Rainbow Flame Divine Beast let out a roar and leapt forward.

Seeing the divine beast pouncing, the crowd retreated. Unexpectedly, the beast opened its mouth and spat a stream of fire. Over a dozen Orc Soldiers couldn't dodge in time; flames instantly engulfed their bodies. They wailed in pain and rolled on the ground while nearby soldiers rushed forward to help extinguish the fire.

"Yah! Little bastard, give me your life!" Rutgar suddenly circulated his orc energy. His body grew twice its previous size, and the massive twin hammers in his hands now felt as light as toys.

His originally soft fur became extremely tough, and his tusks grew sharper and larger than before. Brandishing his twin hammers, he charged toward Charlie.

Seeing this, Charlie immediately activated his Magic Shield to protect himself. However, the Magic Shield, which was originally fiery red, had become a mix of red and black. When he condensed a circular Magic Array, even he was shocked.

Because the originally fiery red Magic Array had now turned into a black Magic Array.

"What's happening? What is going on?" Charlie's voice was clearly trembling. He was extremely confused as to why he had become like this.

While Charlie was dazed, Rutgar's massive hammer struck, hitting the Magic Array directly. Charlie spat out a mouthful of black blood and fell.

The Golden Rainbow Flame Divine Beast immediately lunged at Rutgar, but was sent flying by a swing of Rutgar's hammer. When it came to a contest of strength, the people of the Magical Beast Empire feared no one.

"Ah!" Charlie let out a furious roar and then shouted, "Wall of Fire!" Several barriers formed of fire immediately appeared before the Orc Soldiers.

Strangely, the fire that should have been fiery red now had streaks of black energy on it, as if black flames were burning.

Charlie mounted the Golden Rainbow Flame Divine Beast and, taking advantage of their lack of reaction, leaped over the crowd and fled deep into the Dark Forest.

A bold orc soldier charged toward the black Wall of Fire, only for the black energy to instantly spread across his entire body. Moreover, these black flames were even harder to extinguish than red flames. By the time the crowd finally put the fire out, the orc soldier had been burned to a crisp.

"Hmph, this person is indeed of the demon race; he even uses the black energy power of the demons!" Rutgar returned to his normal size and spoke angrily.

"Boss, should we keep chasing?" an orc soldier asked, full of indignation.

"Chase? What's the point of chasing? Once they escape into the Dark Forest, we'll never find them. If it were that easy to find them, the war wouldn't have lasted until now! Hmph! Let's go, head back!" Rutgar said with a voice like a booming bell. He still intended to return and regroup with Wei He's Red Alert Troops and Grand General Neme of the Magic Empire before considering the next offensive.