Kiana and the Captain's Bizarre Adventure

Chapter 156 Exploration of the Hall of Manifestations

In the end, Cassandra kept her job, and everyone packed their bags to return to Aru Village to rest and prepare for the next archaeological expedition.

Upon returning to Aru village, Rahman and Kassandra were greeted with a warm welcome by the scholars. Rahman was initially somewhat taken aback, as he had never encountered such enthusiasm when he visited these scholars before.

After briefly dealing with these scholars, he learned from Falushan why they were so enthusiastic.

Ultimately, they just wanted to extract some information from them after they returned. If they could get on board, they would have no shortage of research topics and fame in the future.

By this point, Rahman had seen through the true colors of these people, and naturally his attitude towards them became somewhat harsher.

However, since he still needed them to teach, he couldn't be too obvious about it, so he politely declined their request and said that he had officially established a cooperative relationship with Falushan, and that his archaeological team would consist of only Falushan and Cassandra for a long time to come.

Seeing that Farusan had already reached a cooperation agreement with Rahman, and that they had missed the initial invitation, the scholars were inevitably somewhat disappointed and regretful.

But that doesn't matter, they still have teaching assignments to do. As long as they complete these assignments well enough, they can still make a name for themselves when they return.

Although life is tough right now, supplies and construction teams from the rainforest are arriving in Aru village one after another.

In the future, this place will become the largest gathering place and education base in the entire desert. They will gradually develop from Aru Village to the tribes located deep in the desert, raising the cultural level of the entire desert region to the average level of the rainforest region.

At that time, these first and second batches of scholars will become great figures worthy of being recorded in history. The lack of cooperation with Rahman will only be one less stroke in their achievements, and there is nothing to envy.

Well, that's really enviable!

After all, Rahman's offer was extremely high, and no one would go against Mora's offer. The main reason I didn't accept the invitation before was that the desert region was too harsh, and not everyone is an archaeology major. Rather than trying to impress others, it's better to honestly do what I'm supposed to do.

You should know that this was a mission personally assigned by the Grass God, and everyone would receive the Grass God's most sincere blessing before setting off.

Whenever they recall the Grass God's soft, white hands gently stroking their heads, and the innocent child's voice echoing in their ears, those scholars feel that they have reached the pinnacle of their lives!

Ahem! Let's get back to the topic. Ever since returning to Aru Village, Cassandra has become quite busy.

She not only had to compile the information she collected at the ruins into a book, but also had to continue teaching the children, working day and night without rest.

Fortunately, Farusan came to help, so Cassandra didn't really have no time to rest at all.

After several days of hard work, Cassandra finally finished organizing and packaging the information she had into usable materials. With these materials, she could then start a related course at the Faculty of Education.

Moreover, as long as I set up my own research topics, I won't have to worry about my juniors not coming to help, which will give me more time to focus on archaeology and teaching.

After obtaining Falushan's guarantee, Kiana and Desia returned to Sumeru City to help Cassandra submit her application to start a research project.

Now, with Rahman's financial support, Cassandra finally has her own savings. With Dixia's friendly offer, she successfully commissioned Dixia to help escort documents and applications.

Anyway, all the paper documents are ready. As long as I submit them normally, based on my understanding of Senior Elhesen, this application should be approved quickly.

Then he could announce the recruitment process for students in the Order of the Church. Rahman initially refused when he heard about this.

But when he thought back to when he was a mercenary, he remembered hearing that students at the Order of the Order sometimes went so far as to pay their own way into courses with high graduation success rates in order to graduate smoothly.

Although his savings are enough for archaeological activities for the next ten years or so, and he and his brothers sometimes go back to their old profession to earn some extra money when they have free time, he has to admit that archaeology is indeed a very expensive field.

Moreover, the only scholars she could work with were Cassandra and Falusan, and she knew nothing about these things. If she could find some students to share the burden with them, it would probably improve efficiency considerably.

Most importantly, the students' wages can be kept very low. If calculated based on the minimum wage, the wages I currently pay Cassandra could probably hire a dozen more students to work for me.

Although it was hearsay, Rahman did know that a project, including the tutor, usually wouldn't have more than ten people. He only needed to pay a little more Mora to bring in about ten more students to work for him, which didn't seem like a bad deal.

Rahman then agreed to Cassandra's request to start a research project, and Kiana and Desia returned to Sumeru and helped Cassandra submit the application to start the project.

Just as Cassandra had expected, the application was approved quickly because the documents were complete and legitimate, and Faroshan's guarantee of their authenticity was also provided.

Considering that the Cassandras are still in Aru Village, Elhesen thoughtfully opened an application channel for her students and personally reviewed their applications.

A few days passed, and all the trainees who planned to participate in Cassandra had gathered and were waiting for Kiana to arrive so she could escort them to Aru Village.

During these past few days, Kiana also took Narcida to the Lannaro Festival of Carefree Living, and it was during this time that Kiana witnessed Narcida's childlike innocence.

After the Worry-Free Festival, Kiana, with Narcida's help, met the real Buyer, who was recuperating inside the World Tree.

Kiana also learned a lot about the Red King's ruins from Buyer. After doing all this, Kiana led the students to Aru Village.

After a few days of brief on-site investigation, the group decided to locate the site of their investigation at the Shengxian Hall near Kawan Post Station.

It is said that there is a legend of a golden dreamland there, and the Shengxian Hall is very close to Aru Village, making it convenient to travel back and forth.

So the group marched in a grand procession to the gates of the Hall of Divine Transformation. On the way, they met a girl named Jade, her father Jeborele, and the scholar Tirzad who was traveling with them.

After a brief understanding of each other's purposes, the two sides quickly reached an agreement. After all, they were all there to find the ruins of the Hall of Manifestations. However, while Zeborele and his group were interested in the legend, Kiana and her group were there to uncover the true history.

There was no direct conflict of interest between the two parties, so they simply reached a cooperative agreement. Moreover, Zeborel's claim that he possessed a method to make the Hall of Transfiguration visible further strengthened Rahman's desire to cooperate.

But before that, we need to clear out the monsters and some opportunistic gilded guilds in the vicinity. They don't want their camp to be attacked while we're exploring the ruins.

So the group split into two groups. Rahman's men stayed behind to protect the scholars, while the others went into the surrounding ruins to clear out the monsters and drive out the gilded guild that was entrenched there.

According to secret letters collected from the surrounding gilded caravan camps, only those who have undergone the three trials are qualified to pay their respects.

The reason why Bolette and the others didn't go in before was because there weren't enough people; it would have been too difficult for him and Jade to complete the trial on their own.

Of course, these are only his side of the story. Both Rahman and Kiana know that this man is probably not telling the truth.

Now Rahman couldn't help but feel a headache coming on from the cooperation he had impulsively brought up. He should have known better than to trust the desert people so easily, but when he heard that they were also there for archaeology, he lost his judgment for a moment. Had he really been too hasty in this regard?

However, there was no time for Rahman to regret it now. The die was cast, and the group easily passed the three trials under the guidance of Jeborele.

At that very moment, a ruin appeared in the previously empty center.

The bridge in front of the ruins connects to the broken bridge at the entrance. After successfully reuniting with his men and having a brief discussion, Rahman decided to take only Farusan into the central ruins for this exploration.

This is not because Cassandra's abilities are inferior to Farusan's, but because Cassandra is not the possessor of the Eye of God while Farusan is.

Since this ruin is related to the legend of the Golden Dreamland, the interior of the ruin in the central location must be fraught with danger. He must ensure that his team suffers no losses.

Therefore, bringing only Farusan, who possesses the Eye of God, is the most correct choice. As for the scholars who travel with Zeborele, that is beyond Rahman's control.

Moreover, there are ruins in the surrounding area. Cassandra can take her students to explore the area first. With her subordinates protecting them, they will not encounter any danger.

After hearing Rahman's explanation, Cassandra knew she had held him back, but there was nothing she could do. Reluctantly, she followed Rahman's instructions, leading the trainees to explore the outer ruins. At the same time, she secretly resolved to diligently train her combat skills and never again hinder Rahman.

Seeing that everyone else had left, Rahman felt it was time to deal with the rats that had been following them.

He nodded sharply to Kiana, signaling her to act, and the next second Kiana captured a tall man from the corner.

"Samel?"

Upon seeing that the person who had been captured was someone he knew, Zeborele exclaimed in surprise, but then he calmed down.

"That's true, if it were you, you would indeed be interested in the dreamland of gold."

"Interested? Hahaha! Zeborele, do you think that by betraying Thutmose you would no longer be interested in the Golden Dreamland? Well, here you are, back now."

"Thutmose?"

"The Tutmos is the name of a desert tribe that is said to be obsessed with the legend of the Golden Dreamland. Every member of the tribe is always thinking about finding that legendary Golden Dreamland. If what that Samel said is true, then it is not surprising."

Rahman, also a desert dweller, offered an explanation, and Jeborel, standing nearby, did not offer any rebuttal.

After a moment of silence, he said, "Tirzad, we will enter the Hall of Manifestations afterward. After you have seen everything in the Hall of Manifestations, leave. Our mission will end then."

"Hmph! Don't think I don't know what you're thinking. Zeborele, even if you betrayed Thutmose, you still yearn for the Golden Dreamland deep down. This time I made a mistake, but you won't be so lucky next time!"

After saying that, Samel released his hand, and a smoke bomb fell from his palm, bursting out with pungent smoke that confused everyone's vision.

Samel seized the opportunity to break free of his restraints, hoping to use this chance to enter the Hall of Manifestations. He believed he would still have a chance if he reached the throne!

Unfortunately, his idea was destined to fail, although Kiana was choked by the sudden smoke and loosened her grip on Samer's hand.

But this didn't mean Samel had a chance to escape. Kiana made a loose grasp with her right hand and gently pulled him backward, sending Samel flying uncontrollably backward. He was caught by Kiana in no time.

This time, Kiana abandoned her toying mentality and directly manipulated gravity to pin him to the spot, rendering him unable to move.

After the smoke cleared, everyone realized that Samel had not escaped, or rather, his escape attempt had failed.

Rahman originally wanted to tie him up with a rope, but as soon as he reached out, he felt his hand being pressed down by something and slammed to the ground. Rahman was pulled to the ground as a result.

Although he didn't know what had happened, Rahman knew that Sammer couldn't escape. So, after struggling to pull his hand out of the area where gravity was exerting its force, he beckoned everyone into the Hall of Transfiguration.

After entering the ruins, the group did not see any so-called throne. It seemed that they still needed to pass a trial to reach the deepest part of the ruins and see the so-called throne.

However, despite this, there were also many murals related to the Red King around. Therefore, while others were responsible for passing the trials, Falushan began to interpret these murals.

A short while later, the center of the ruins reacted, and Farusan realized that they had passed the trial.

Before long, the others returned from the entrance next to the ruins and watched as a platform slowly descended from above. They realized that this might be the entrance to the upper level.

And so the group took the elevator to the top of the ruins, where a throne suddenly appeared before them in a deep room.