Of course, the "little princess" was not Alice, but Veronica.
Father Lar was one of Veronica's teachers. Although he was not very strong and had only reached the boundary of pseudo-holiness, he was good at military strategy and was knowledgeable. He was good at astrology, geography, identification, herbology, and many other "miscellaneous skills". He was also in charge of a secret treasure map of the royal family.
Although the Cloud Empire had been destroyed for a long time, it was still one of the Holy Empires. The Cloud Soaring Royals were still around, and they still had a group of loyal followers.
These followers were different from the Black Death Apostles who believed in evil gods. They were the true loyalists of the royal family, and most of them opposed the alliance between the royal family and the mysterious church. Leguna (Father Lar) was one of them. Back then, Veronica was still a little princess in her teens, and she was chosen by the mysterious church to be a 'Blessed'. Leguna and the others, who opposed this with all their might, wanted to escape with Veronica, but they were captured in the end. In order to save Leguna and the others' lives, Veronica voluntarily agreed to participate in the ceremony, while Leguna and the others were banished.
Along the way, Leguna and the others were ambushed by the Church of Light and were heavily injured. In order to protect the secret of the treasure map, Leguna and his two companions escaped to this border town. When Leguna and his two companions escaped to this border town, they were caught by the referees sent by the church.
Outnumbered, Leguna and his two companions were forced to escape into the depths of the desert. The referees continued to chase after them, and they finally had a decisive battle in the desert. In the nick of time, the Oasis of Dreams suddenly appeared, and they accidentally entered the area of the Phantom Spring. Other than Leguna, who was the least poisoned, everyone else was poisoned and died.
Leguna barely managed to escape. From then on, he changed his name to Lar and lived in seclusion in this border town. However, because he was poisoned by the Phantom Spring, he could not get rid of it no matter what he tried, and his strength gradually decreased.
These years, he had a rough life. He had joined an adventurer group, worked as a desert guide, and was once captured by bandits. With his knowledge and wit, he improved the desert boat for the bandits and finally left the bandit's lair safely.
When Chen Rui appeared, he used "Divine Blessing" to get rid of the poison in Leguna's body. However, Leguna recognized the Crown of Thorns and was even more certain that it was related to the church. In order to get rid of the problem, the resourceful Leguna first pretended to be courteous with this "high ranking Church". He brought Chen Rui to Stone Horse Village and purposely lured him into a conflict with the bald man from the shipyard. He left a special mark that he learned from the bandits, meaning that a "big fish" had appeared.
On the boat in the desert, Leguya took the initiative to point out that the bald Okafor could do it. He also reminded them to be careful when eating and drinking. After Chen Rui cast the [God's Blessing], he poisoned the water bag. He wanted to use the hands of the desert bandits to completely eliminate this enemy.
He didn't expect that all his schemes had fallen into the other party's eyes. He didn't expect that this person would actually "summon" the soul projection of Princess Veronica!
Not long after, the desert boat named "Red Sand" resumed its journey. Chen Rui and Leguna would not be able to operate such a large boat. It needed at least ten crew members. However, the death of the bandits did not mean that Chen Rui did not have any crew members. Although these crew members were novices in "sailing in the desert", they quickly grasped the gist of it, and the speed of "Red Sand" was faster than usual.
These crew members were, of course, sandmen. In this desert where the earth element was extremely dense, sandmen were much stronger than at sea.
"Leguna," Chen Rui frowned. "You heard me and Veronica say that I completely destroyed the main altar of the Black Death Apostles. The high ranking Cloud Empire members who joined the mysterious church are almost all dead. It can be said that the Cloud Soaring Empire's royal family no longer exists. Speaking of which, I am the enemy of the royal family … "
Leguna interrupted Chen Rui's words, "Sir is wrong. They are the Black Death Apostles. They are no longer the descendants of the Cloud Soaring Empire. Her Royal Highness is the only one. To be precise, it is the Royal Highness who was saved by sir."
"Even so, didn't Veronica say that? You are completely free. "
"No, sir, please don't belittle the previous oath. That is the highest oath of loyalty of the Cloud Soaring Empire's royal family."
Chen Rui knew that Leguya didn't lie. The oath that Leguya made had formed a master-slave spiritual link that appeared in the Super System, "I understand, but as long as you are willing, I can easily remove it with my power. Let me tell you, I actually do not belong to this world full of sunshine. Do you understand? "
"Since the fall of the Cloud Empire, we have been walking in the darkness. The loyalty of the guardian covers any time and any place. If sir removes my oath power, then not only the oath and loyalty will disappear, but also my life. "
Leguna said stubbornly, "I pledge my loyalty to sir not because of sir's strength, but for her Royal Highness. Sir is the most important person to the princess, which means you are her highest guardian. Of course, if sir doesn't like my strength and loyalty, you can kill me at any time. "
Chen Rui thought of how Veronica introduced him as the "most important person" and sighed, "Alright, I officially accept your loyalty."
The Cloud Empire had been destroyed for a long time. Those who could become a guardian and did not join the Black Death Apostles could be said to be absolutely loyal. Leguna was tenacious and resourceful. If it was not for the absolute difference in strength, Chen Rui might have already fallen into his trap.
"Thank you, sir." Leguna solemnly bowed.
"Alright, there is no need to say anything else. I came to the Black Prison Desert to find the Oasis of Dreams for two purposes. One is the Fire Crystal Sand, the other is the Phantom Icespring. These two things are very important to me, and I must get them. I would like to hear your advice. "
"I have only read about the Fire Crystal Sand in some ancient records. It is a rare treasure that combines the essence of fire and earth elements. Its function is unknown, and I don't know if it is in the oasis. I have seen the Phantom Icespring with my own eyes, but I am not sure if it has formed the Phantom Icespring. I can only be sure that the Phantom Icespring is the same as the Oasis of Dreams. It can move freely, and its position is not fixed. Furthermore, it can turn invisible. It gives me the feeling that it is some kind of prey."
"Prey?" Chen Rui was slightly surprised. He did not expect the Phantom Icespring to be able to move and turn invisible. It was indeed worthy of its name.
"Let's talk about the Oasis of Dreams again." Leguna said solemnly, "I have joined a desert adventurer group in recent years, and gradually became familiar with the terrain of this area. Later, the adventurer group disbanded after suffering heavy casualties during a mission. I was heavily injured, and with the poison, I almost lost my strength, so I became a desert guide. Over the past decade or so, due to staying in such a place for a long time, I had developed a sense of smell to avoid danger. Other than the time when I was chased by the Church's Adjudicators, I had only come across the Illusory Oasis once. However, before I could reach it, it had already disappeared. In the following years, my legs became more and more inconvenient, and little Jim was slowly able to take care of himself, so I did not become a guide anymore. I know that you are extremely powerful, sir, but I have to remind you not to underestimate the Black Prison Desert. You must remain cautious at all times, or else even if you can escape unscathed, you may not be able to get what you want. "
"I understand." Chen Rui nodded. "The sandmen are now proficient in controlling the sand ships. Why don't we rest here for a while, and then set off at full speed after we've recovered our spirits?"
"No, we must advance at full speed for this part of the journey," Leguna said apologetically. "Previously, because I mistakenly thought that you were an enemy, I also thought about what I should do if the desert bandits could not deal with you … Just in case, I used some tricks when I gave the directions. Although the direction we are heading in will allow us to reach the core area at the fastest speed, it is a very dangerous area. There are many terrifying creatures, such as sand scorpions, giant lizards, and the most terrifying of all, demonic centipedes."
"From your point of view, I should applaud your meticulous planning." Chen Rui shrugged. "But you don't have to worry. It's already not bad to be able to arrive at the fastest speed."
As he said that, Chen Rui suddenly frowned. Leguna felt his vision blur, as if some kind of space had been replaced. When he regained his vision, he found that the entire ship had instantly retreated by tens of meters.
Where the ship had been, the ground had cracked open, and a huge body appeared. Only half of the body was revealed, and it looked like an enlarged earthworm. Its body was long and wriggling, and it had no limbs. However, there was a terrifying mouth at the end of its body.
"Desert Centipede!" Leguna blurted out. "Damn it, we actually alarmed this thing!"
The Desert Centipede was a kind of giant sandworm with extraordinary strength. It usually lurked in the depths of the sand and attacked passing creatures. It was the most terrifying predator in this area. If it was not for Chen Rui's power that made the Red Sand Ship rise in time, the attack that broke through the sand just now would have shattered the entire ship.
After the giant centipede missed its attack, it let out a low roar towards the moving ship. Leguna's strength was already close to the level of a Demonic Emperor, but when he heard this roar, he could not help but feel a chill in his heart.
He saw Chen Rui's figure instantly appear above the giant body, and the centipede's roar stopped abruptly. It did not attack Chen Rui, but instead quickly fled towards the sand pit, as if it had seen something terrifying.
The Desert Centipede had another characteristic, and that was that it could burrow underground. Its huge body was extremely fast in the depths of the earth, and the surface of the sand dunes did not rise or fall at all.
He saw Chen Rui slowly stretch out his hand and beckon towards the void in front of him. A huge body broke out of the sand and floated in the air. From the way it struggled and roared in panic, it was clearly not "willing".
Soon, the sandworm returned to the ground, burrowing into the sand and revealing half of its body.
"If this thing is the scariest demonic beast in this area, then I think no 'guests' will dare to come near us before we leave this area."
Chen Rui's voice sounded next to Leguna again. Then, under Leguna's dumbfounded gaze, the centipede moved up and down in the sand in front of them, just like a guard to clear the way.
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