Seeing Kiritsugu's suppressed movements, Shirou Emiya smiled.
Before coming to Sunset Forest, Alice and Illya had carefully instructed him to keep an eye on Kiritsugu and prevent him from smoking too much.
Although Soul Masters have strong physical abilities, frequent smoking still has a certain impact on the lungs.
"That person?"
"Oh, it's the boss sending a message."
"Is there something wrong?"
Kiritsugu stubbed out his cigarette on the glass ashtray, and the smoke rising in the tent began to dissipate as its source was removed.
"That person plans to come to Sunset Forest personally."
"They probably want to break through the poisonous miasma to enter the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well."
After saying this, Kiritsugu Emiya pulled out several photos from under the documents.
These were photos of the inside of the poisonous miasma, which had been painstakingly taken by many D-rank personnel.
Shirou Emiya peeked at them, his face also becoming somewhat serious.
"Are these photos of the inside of the poisonous miasma?"
"It's truly horrifying."
"There are corpses everywhere; the entire Sunset Forest is nourished by this miasma."
Countless colorful skeletons lay scattered on the ground in the photos.
Judging from their postures, they must have suffered greatly before death. Some of them were even human remains.
The Root's Third Team has already investigated these human remains; they belonged to residents of villages surrounding Sunset Forest.
Some plants inside the miasma release strange fragrances that can affect the brain and confuse life.
These fragrances are extremely pervasive, affecting the entire outer perimeter of Sunset Forest.
Those with soul power won't experience any immediate effects, but those without will be directly affected.
Shirou Emiya looked at these things with anger.
He couldn't understand what kind of person would trample on life like this!
Every time he saw the deserted villages around Sunset Forest, Shirou Emiya couldn't help but grit his teeth, filled with extreme rage.
If they dared to appear before him, he would risk his life to use his sword and blade to sever their elbows!
"Hmm, there's practically no living creature left in Sunset Forest."
"It's like a slaughterhouse where animals are kept in captivity."
Kiritsugu Emiya stood up, put the map on the table into his storage device, placed the photo back under the documents, and said to Shirou Emiya, who was standing there dumbfounded,
"Let's go, let's go take a look at Sunset Forest together."
"Based on our study of the map, the poisonous miasma is weakest in the southwest of Sunset Forest."
"Let's go check out the situation on-site. Once that lord arrives, we can break through from the southwest."
Shirou nodded, following closely behind Kiritsugu.
He had always trusted this reliable man.
The camp in Sunset Forest was sparsely populated, with only a few guards keeping watch.
The camp was surrounded by level seven defensive soul tools, which, with their linkage, could withstand attacks from Soul Douluo-level enemies.
However, given Sunset Forest's current desolate state, it was impossible for Soul Douluo-level soul beasts or humans to appear.
The surrounding human cities had relocated thousands of years ago; no force chose to hunt souls in Sunset Forest, and there were no soul beasts to hunt here.
The most valuable thing in the entire forest at present was the Azure Phosphorous Seven-Fold Flower, of unknown race.
The Azure Phosphorous Seven-Fold Flower, now a soul beast, was the dream of almost every poison-type soul master.
It possessed strong vitality and a toxin that ranked among the top three.
Moreover, because of its soul core, the phenomenon of the Dugu family poisoning themselves was virtually nonexistent.
Most of the members of Root's Third Squad, where Kiritsugu and Shirou were, were currently near the statue of the God of Destruction, using instruments to measure the statue's strange fluctuations and energy properties.
After all, this was something related to a deity, and all the data was precious.
Moreover, the God of Destruction hadn't stopped them, so his divine consciousness should be inside the statue.
"Senpai, are you going out?"
A girl with long purple hair peeked out from the camp, looking at Kiritsugu and Shirou ahead.
Kiritsugu smiled and nudged Shirou's waist with his elbow.
Shirou turned and waved to the girl, saying,
"Sakura, Kiritsugu and I have some things to attend to."
"I'll leave the camp to you."
Sakura nodded gently and said,
"Okay, be careful on your way."
"By the way, remember to avoid the main roads of Sunset Forest.
The poisonous miasma seems to be deliberately covering these roads for some reason."
Shirou and Kiritsugu exchanged a glance, then nodded seriously to Sakura, saying,
"I understand."
After saying this, the two entered Sunset Forest, taking an almost circular route towards the southwestern border of the poisonous miasma.
In the darkness, the entire forest was eerily quiet, save for the chilling rustling of the leaves in the night wind and the mournful howling of air currents passing through the holes in the rocks.
Shirou instinctively pulled his black and white coat tighter around him, his brown eyes scanning his surroundings warily.
In this gloomy place, he seriously suspected that a brick could knock down ten demons.
"Even though it's all trees, I can't sense any life."
Kiritsugu's black eyes flashed with a sharp, eerie light as he intently observed the surrounding movements.
He held a pistol in his hand. Kiritsugu's martial spirit was the Origin Gun, designed by Huo Yuhao himself, composed of a dark gold dinosaur claw bear, an emerald swan, a spirit eye, and a gun.
Kiritsugu's strength is at the sixth ring, with the first three rings being transformation-type soul skills that allow the Origin Spear to change form.
The last three rings are amplification-type soul skills, with the fourth and fifth rings targeting the power of the Origin Spear.
The sixth ring affects himself, enhancing reaction speed.
The Origin Spear possesses severing and binding properties.
Once it hits an enemy, if the enemy is currently using soul power, the Origin Bullet will immediately sever their meridians and then violently and randomly bind them together.
The soul power within the opponent's body will rampage through their blood vessels and organs due to the incorrect binding of their meridians.
This means that if the opponent uses a high-power soul skill at the moment of impact, the damage will be even more severe.
Of course, even if someone survives the Origin Bullet, they will be essentially ruined for life, their meridians disordered, and they will be unable to use soul power at all.
This is an incredibly insidious martial soul, especially since Kiritsugu Emiya loves to play dirty tricks.
Carrying several shielding soul tools, he transforms the Origin Spear into a sniper rifle, finds a safe spot, and directly targets the enemy, waiting for the right moment to unleash a devastating attack.
Because of the Origin Bullet's characteristics, using soul power results in higher damage.
Without soul power, the Origin Bullet, enhanced by two amplified soul skills, has enough penetrating power to pierce through a Soul Saint's body.
Moreover, the Root Third Squad usually operates as a group; if the opponent doesn't use soul power, it's a death sentence, and if they do, the death is even more gruesome.
Unless the opponent's level is significantly higher, allowing them to withstand the attack through sheer numbers.
So far, the Root Third Squad hasn't failed; they've almost always killed on the first encounter.
"Psychological effect."
"There aren't many creatures left to move in this forest."
"The darkness combined with the wind always makes one's nerves tense."
The two walked lightly through the dense forest, chatting cautiously.
"By the way, Shirou, I think Sakura likes you?"
"Why don't you say something?"
Shirou Emiya said somewhat embarrassedly,
"I've always considered Sakura a junior."
Kiritsugu nodded; he didn't intend to interfere in his adopted son's love life, but he suddenly said warily,
"Wait a minute, you're not going to lay a hand on Illya, are you?"
"She's your sister!"
"If you dare lay a hand on her, I'll break your legs."
Shirou Emiya was exasperated and retorted,
"Don't joke like that."
"How could I possibly do something like that!"
Kiritsugu smiled, easing the oppressive atmosphere in the forest.
"That's good."
"How's Miyu doing lately?"
"I haven't been back in so long."
Shirou Emiya smiled brightly.
"Her grades have always been excellent, especially in math."
"And she's very interested in Soul Tools. She might go to Shrek Academy soon."
"Actually, I think the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy is pretty good too.
Perhaps we could arrange for Miyu to go there?"
Kiritsugu Emiya paused, then shook his head. "Let's
forget about the Sun Moon Empire."
"It's not safe there."
"Recently, my teammates and I wiped out a hideout of evil Soul Masters." "
The evil Soul Masters there were capturing civilians and sending them to the Sun Moon Empire."
"The Sun Moon Empire is the evil Soul Masters' lair."
"I heard that the Root Second Squad, with the help of an inside agent, has infiltrated the evil Soul Masters' headquarters."
"They've sent back a lot of intelligence."
"You know, I've never wanted Miyu and Illya to be exposed to the dark side of this world."
"Douluo Continent has never been a beautiful world, otherwise you and I wouldn't have wanted to be partners of justice."
"Let them live in the sunlight."
"Silu City is already the most beautiful place in this world."
"You've just joined the Root Third Squad and don't yet know the situation in the other cities of the Heavenly Soul Empire."
"Those cities are practically two different worlds from Silu City!" "
Although slavery is legally prohibited, you can still see the human trade in most cities."
"I've killed nearly a hundred human traffickers."
"If you encounter such people in the future, don't hold back."
Kiritsugu Emiya's tone was icy. He too was a father, dreaming of becoming a champion of justice, and utterly despised those beasts.
Shirou Emiya lowered his eyes slightly and said,
"Yes, Kiritsugu."
"That's precisely why I so desperately yearn to become a champion of justice."
(End of Chapter)
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