#479 - Physical protective shield (asking for monthly ticket recommendation)

"So, it seems like we're getting a good deal," Xiatia said, seeming to understand something, and immediately beamed with joy. "Just in time for us to rob this breeding base, we can also recover these [Anti-theft Monitoring Devices], refurbish them, and sell them again. Should we get the Ministry of Magic to sell more while we have the chance?"

Anduin glared at Xiatia speechlessly after hearing her words. What do you mean 'rob'? We're here to rescue those innocent magical creatures! And since when did this girl start leaning towards being a profiteer?

And what do you mean by refurbishing them and selling them again? This stuff is clearly brand new! The energy it consumes is all magic power provided by the magic pipes, and the internal energy storage hasn't even been used up much. Just wipe it clean! No need for refurbishment at all! What a wasteful old woman.

[I hope readers will remember our domain name here: Taiwan Novel Network → 𝔱𝔴𝔨𝔞𝔫.𝔠𝔬𝔪]

"Alright, enough nonsense, let's take care of business first," Anduin said, suppressing the profiteer's soul within him and putting on a serious face. "Since the security equipment here uses our products, it'll be much easier from now on. Let's continue to go deeper and take a look."

It's practically suicide for this breeding base to use his stuff as security equipment. Anduin knows these devices best. It would be a real ghost story if they could be detected by their own products.

The [Anti-theft Monitoring Device] has a detection radius of two kilometers, so its coverage area is a four-kilometer radius centered on it. There shouldn't be any changes in the next two kilometers.

After Anduin led Xiatia two kilometers further, they discovered that there were no new detection methods in the final four-kilometer security zone.

It seems that the detection method for the inner eight-kilometer range is also the [Anti-theft Monitoring Device]. After discovering this, Anduin and Xiatia headed towards their destination openly.

However, after advancing a short distance, Xiatia made a new discovery.

"Master, look quickly! There's movement on the map."

Since Xiatia was holding the tactical map, she was naturally responsible for monitoring it at all times, so she scanned the map every so often.

And at this moment, she discovered that there was a small dot slowly moving about one kilometer away from them on the tactical map.

"Stop first, zoom in on that area and see what it is," Anduin said, pulling Xiatia down carefully and instructing her to operate the tactical map.

Previously, the three-dimensional map in Xiatia's hand was zoomed in to the maximum in the hopes of detecting things from a greater distance, but the disadvantage was that it wasn't very clear.

Xiatia obeyed and quickly operated the map, quickly zooming in on the area where the movement appeared. Then, the two of them saw clearly that it was a wizard, and the other party was holding a 'Swallowtail Dog' in his hand.

"It seems that after approaching the core area, in addition to magical detection methods, there are also personnel responsible for patrolling," Anduin wasn't too worried since the other party was still some distance away from them.

"Master, looking at this person's route, he'll pass through the route we'll be taking later. We have a map, so we're not afraid of running into those trained people, but what about that dog? We haven't eliminated the scent along the way," Xiatia said, looking at Anduin with some worry. Then, she seemed to remember something again, "Oh right, do you think this patrolling wizard might be wearing [Tracking Glasses]? That equipment seems to be on the Ministry of Magic's sales list too."

"Yes, it's good that you thought of that. However, I considered this point before coming," Anduin said, taking out an open potion bottle from his body. "I've been eliminating the scent all the way, so don't worry about that."

"So you already expected this, Master," Xiatia said, relieved to find that Anduin had prepared so thoroughly, and then laughed easily, "Then we don't need to pay attention to that guy in front, we can just bypass him."

"No," Anduin shook his head. "We're here to investigate. Now that we've discovered the other party's patrol personnel, we naturally have to observe them and collect enough information, such as their patrol route, frequency, time, equipment they're equipped with, etc. The surprise attack here later won't just be the two of us."

"Then… should we go over there?" Xiatia didn't think as much and asked, scratching her head awkwardly.

"We'll use a Disillusionment Charm to sneak up and ambush them on their inevitable route for a close-up observation. Then, when you use the tactical map, mark their patrol route and movement speed on the map. This is very important for subsequent actions."

"Yes, Master."

After Xiatia responded, she cast a Disillusionment Charm on herself and followed Anduin towards the patrol personnel.

Not far ahead, the two could see faint lights flickering in the distance, and they could occasionally hear one or two barks. Seeing this, Anduin and Xiatia immediately found a place to hide and wait for the other party.

As the light in front of them grew closer, the patrolling wizard leading the dog also appeared in front of them. This wizard was holding a Swallowtail Dog in one hand and a lamp in the other, passing by near the place where the two were hiding as if nothing was wrong.

But neither the Swallowtail Dog nor the patrolling wizard showed any abnormalities. It seems that the potion Anduin used was very effective.

And from the other party's exposed face, it could be determined that this was not a Silver Spearman, but just a collaborator of the club. But what Anduin was more concerned about was whether Silver Spearmen had been arranged to guard the entire breeding base, or whether it was just being left to those trusted collaborators.

However, the patrolling wizard in front of him wasn't wearing any [Tracking Glasses], but he was wearing a standard [Tactical Vest] sold by Silver Flash Commerce.

After waiting for the wizard to walk away, Xiatia hurriedly called out to Anduin in a low voice, "Master, did you see that? That guy is wearing our tactical vest!"

"Hmm… that's quite surprising," Anduin nodded lightly. He didn't expect Jin Feixia to be so generous. After buying so many [Anti-theft Monitoring Devices], he still had money left over to equip these collaborators.

"If we want to raid the breeding base in the future, how should we deal with these peripheral patrol personnel? They're wearing tactical vests, wouldn't it be difficult to launch a surprise attack on them? If we're not careful, we could easily alert the enemy," Xiatia said, looking at Anduin with some worry after discovering that these wizards were wearing tactical vests.

"That's indeed a problem. I think the reason they were equipped with tactical vests was in the hopes that they could send an alarm to the base when attacked," Anduin speculated simply.

"Then what should we do?" Xiatia asked curiously upon hearing this.

"It's okay, we don't need to do anything, let's just keep moving forward," Anduin said with a chuckle, not caring at all.

"What? Are we just going to ignore these patrolling wizards then?" Xiatia pouted with some dissatisfaction.

"Hehe, after discovering that they're using my stuff, I haven't been worried about them anymore," Anduin sneered. "I've installed backdoors on these tactical vests. My spells on them won't trigger the emergency runes on them."

"What?" Xiatia had never heard Anduin mention this kind of thing before and looked at him in shock. "Do every tactical vest we sell have this kind of backdoor? Why did you do this?"

"That's right, the tactical equipment sold on the market actually has such backdoors, but I've made it very obscure, and it only doesn't work on me," Anduin smiled slightly. "As for why I did this, of course it's to ensure safety. Who knows when I'll encounter enemies wearing my equipment? It would be very embarrassing if I was tricked by my own equipment instead, wouldn't it?"

"I don't know if you'll be tricked by your own equipment, but I'm sure you're definitely cunning enough," Xiatia teased speechlessly. She didn't expect Anduin to think so far ahead, even considering whether he would face off against his own equipment in the future.

But this kind of consideration isn't superfluous. Didn't they just encounter it now?

After stopping to make a simple record of the patrolling wizard, the two continued to set off.

On the road after that, they encountered another patrol personnel. The equipment they were equipped with was very consistent. After crossing these two patrol lines, the two finally arrived at their destination.

After climbing over a gentle slope, the terrain in front of Anduin and Xiatia began to descend rapidly, revealing a rather large basin not far from their sight.

However, apart from trees, there were no signs of human activity in the depression in front of them. Clearly, this place was covered by a shielding magic.

"How is it? Can you see the internal situation on the tactical map?" Anduin asked Xiatia behind him after sticking his head out to observe.

"No, on the tactical map, this area in front has been covered by a semi-circular cover," Xiatia handed the map to Anduin.

Sure enough, starting from the front, a dozen meters away from the two, the scene of the entire depression displayed on the tactical map was a large cover, as if a giant bowl was covering the large area in front of them.

"Since the protective barrier here can block sound waves, that means it has a physical form," Anduin said, frowning as he looked at the map.

"Then what should we do? Since it's a protective shield with a physical form, touching it at will could easily alarm the people inside," Xiatia said, looking at Anduin with some nervousness.

"Don't worry, I'll go up and investigate first. If the situation isn't right, we'll retreat first. Our first priority is to ensure stealth," Anduin whispered a word of advice and then headed forward with the Disillusionment Charm.