Chapter 384: Chapter 383: Wheelchair
Inside the carriage, Li Ang slightly lifted the curtain and gazed outside at the tumultuous blizzard.
The gale raged, and the snowflakes cut like knives; a vast expanse of white seemed to be the only color in the world.
Even for players, the wind and snow here were a profound mystery. Their Spiritual Sense, usually able to sweep across wide slopes, could barely reach beyond the carriage in these snowy mountains. It was utterly incapable of piercing the blizzard to see the palace atop the peak.
This feeling of being blindfolded... the last time I felt this was in Dusheng Village.
Li Ang reflected on past memories, his expression impassive.
"We will soon arrive at the Snow Palace," Smoker’s deep voice interrupted Li Ang’s reminiscence. "When do we make our move?"
After Li Ang had previously used a mix of phonetic scripts—drawing from Japanese, Russian, and Korean, along with Pinyin—to communicate, the other team members also began to learn this Frankenstein-like way of speaking. This was to prevent eavesdropping by the native residents, and Smoker had adopted it as well.
Li Ang glanced at him and said calmly, "The mission objective is a complete Magic Mirror. We’ve brought all the fragments; the only problem is how to piece them together.
The female physician told me earlier that the spring water inside the palace has the effect of ’healing broken objects.’
Considering all the information we’ve gathered, that spring water is very likely the key to reassembling the Magic Mirror.
We need to make our move, but not yet."
"How long do we have to wait?"
Smoker licked his lips, looking uneasily out the window. "I have a feeling the Magical Beasts on this snow mountain are getting increasingly restless."
This Latino youth had masqueraded as a common assassin throughout the scenario. In reality, he was a somewhat renowned beast tamer, his main combat strength stemming from several Magical Beasts he nurtured within his body.
At this moment, from Smoker’s perspective, the entire snow mountain seemed enveloped in somber clouds, brewing a terrifying power capable of causing the peaks to collapse.
The faint howls of Magical Beasts carried through the storm. They didn’t signify predation or intimidation, but rather fear.
An animal’s instinctive fear.
"Something is going to happen," Smoker whispered. "Something terrible."
Li Ang smiled casually, picked up a newspaper lying in the carriage, and flipped through it. "Any news from the city when you were out gathering items and intel?" he asked his companions.
"Why care about news at a time like this?" Bob’s mouth twitched, but he still replied dutifully, "Alright, just like in Mori City, they’re holding a ceremony to welcome the merfolk delegation.
The Rune Kingdom was already planning to hold the Snow Queen’s celebration in the coming days. With the merfolk delegation’s visit, the festive atmosphere has become even more intense.
The streets were packed, with everyone holding banners and waving colorful flags to welcome them."
"Didn’t we all see it when we left the city?"
Li Ang nodded noncommittally. "Any other suspicious news?"
"Uh," Bob scratched his head and exchanged a glance with John Joyce. "Well, the gravedigger in the southern part of the city found several new, unmarked tombstones in the cemetery. When he dug them up, he found burned bodies, difficult to identify. Some families reported a nimble thief flitting across their rooftops at night, though no thefts of property were reported. Also, there’s been a widespread outbreak of illness at the hospital, mostly affecting the elderly and children. It’s suspected to be related to drinking water Pollution..."
As they spoke, the carriage gradually came to a stop. They had reached the mountaintop.
Li Ang pulled aside the curtain and looked out. Not far ahead stood a palace made of snow and ice.
This crystal-clear palace was situated on the high, steep mountain peak. It was built in a Gothic style, with three main buildings and four surrounding spires. Up here on the summit, the blizzard had surprisingly subsided. From a distance, the entire palace was bathed in a purple-red twilight, appearing resplendent and majestic—far grander and more spectacular than any photograph or painting could capture.
Just then, a security officer approached and knocked on the carriage. Li Ang lowered his voice and quickly gave instructions: "If I can confirm the spring water’s effect, I’ll send a signal. Then you decide: create a diversion, or break through the security team’s defenses and storm the palace."
With that said, Li Ang rolled up the newspaper from the table, tucked it into his loose sleeve, and stepped out of the carriage.
Outside the carriage, the female physician Carly was already prepared.
Princess Anna, dressed in a thick, padded cotton jacket, was still semi-conscious. Her face was flushed red from the biting cold, and she sat upright in a specially modified wheelchair.
The wheelchair was crafted from a special alloy, its surface covered in high-quality leather. The inclined backrest gave it an upscale appearance. It didn’t resemble an ordinary wheelchair; instead, it looked more like an Astronaut’s seat from a space capsule...
The sight immediately made Li Ang recall an absurd old advertisement: "I’ve wanted to be an Astronaut since I was a kid, and my grandparents were so happy, they ’rewarded’ me with my favorite—a big slap across the face!"
Besides Princess Anna in the wheelchair, the female physician Carly had also prepared all the items Li Ang had requested: a large collection of medical tools and mystical materials, all piled onto a wooden sled.
At the front of the sled were two reins.
Clearly, the female physician Carly hadn’t provided any sled dogs or reindeer for Li Ang. And Princess Anna, sitting in her space-capsule-like wheelchair, was certainly in no condition to help pull the sled.
A puff of Li Ang’s breath quickly condensed into a white plume in the frigid air.
He pushed Princess Anna’s wheelchair with one hand and picked up the reins from the ground with the other.
"Your Holiness, the Monk," the female physician Carly said, looking at Li Ang and bowing solemnly. "I implore you, whatever it takes, please heal Her Highness... She is our future hope."
Li Ang nodded. With a powerful tug, he dragged the heavily laden sled forward several meters. Pushing Princess Anna’s wheelchair, he headed straight for the ice-and-snow palace under everyone’s watchful eyes.