The Mechanical Tiger had been flying at full capacity for half a day, until early morning the next day, when it finally caught up to the Elf squad led by Fiona, a mere quarter of the distance away from Kolos City.

    The wild winds howled as the Mechanical Tiger swooped down, skimming over the ground.

    Lu Heng leapt up and positioned himself in front of the Elf Guard, holding the Aurora Blade in his hand, pointing forward, and shouted, "Hand it over!"

    Fiona''s face showed surprise as she frowned and asked, "Lu Heng, what are you doing?"

    However, Lu Heng wasn''t pointing at her, but at Eric, the captain of the Elf Guard standing by her side.

    Fiona also realized that Lu Heng wasn''t charging at her and turned her head to look at Eric behind her, her face full of confusion.

    Eric, equally puzzled, asked, "Me?"

    Lu Heng spoke in a slightly stern tone, providing the reason, "Xie Shi''en has woken up, and the information he provided confirmed several key clues. The conclusion is clear, the attacker is you, and the Life Protection Box is on you."

    At these words, all the elves present showed surprised expressions.

    Eric''s eyes widened as he argued, "I didn''t!"

    Fiona furrowed her brows, willing to trust her subordinate, but this matter was serious.

    It wasn''t just about severely injuring a human, the key was the Life Protection Box, which could potentially cause a crisis for the Elf Clan.

    As such, Fiona stared solemnly at Eric and asked, "Is it you? Is the Life Protection Box with you?"

    "I don''t! It really wasn''t me!" Eric spread his hands as he argued loudly, his agitated expression resembling that of a wronged person.

    Fiona frowned in contemplation and said, "Lu Heng, first explain the situation clearly. If he is the attacker, I assure you he won''t escape."

    Lu Heng took a deep breath and explained, "We had previously analyzed that the attacker was an Elf skilled in natural magic, but after Xie Shi''en woke up, he refuted this conclusion.

    "The attacker used a Treasure Bead capable of casting space-related restriction magic, blocking Perception in the forest using Space-related Restriction Magic.

    "And this attacker is a melee combat warrior, using long-handled weapons, who does not know Natural Magic, at least not Advanced Natural Magic.

    "In the Elf Guard, there aren''t many capable of severely injuring Xie Shi''en, essentially just you, the captain of the Elf Guard."

    After hearing this information, Fiona''s eyes showed a surprised look.

    Because she also realized, if the information Lu Heng provided was true, then the most suspicious person indeed was Eric.

    She frowned and stared at Eric with a stern expression, asking, "Captain Eric, tell me now, is it you?"

    Eric, nearly jumping with agitation, spread his hands and argued, "It''s not me, I didn''t do anything!"

    Now, with the urgency increasing, if the problem really originated from within the elves, the impending crisis would be even more dreadful.

    Fiona took a deep breath, stepped in front of Eric, and with a compelling force in her eyes said in a commanding tone, "Look into my eyes."

    Eric knew what this captain of the queen''s guard intended to do, sighed, and looked directly into her eyes, saying, "Alright. I''ll show you everything, all the secrets." Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    After a brief eye contact, Fiona quickly bowed her head and covered her forehead, her expression slightly unnatural.

    However, she quickly recovered and coughed, saying, "I have confirmed, it''s not Eric."

    Hearing this result, Lu Heng''s brows furrowed immediately, his mind racing.

    Where was the mistake?

    All the clues combined should have pointed solely to Eric, where had the deduction gone wrong?

    Just then,

    Su Muyu approached from behind Lu Heng and whispered in his ear, "One person is missing from the Elf Guard."

    A sharp glint flashed in Lu Heng''s eyes as he relayed this information, "Your team is missing one person, someone has left the team early."

    Fiona and Eric both froze because indeed one person had left the Elf Guard.

    "Right... Deputy Captain Fred left the team not long after we set off."

    "Who is he? What is his combat power? Why didn''t I notice him before?" Lu Heng carefully recalled, noticing that this deputy captain Fred''s presence was very low, never having paid attention to such a vice captain in the Elf Guard before.

    "This..."

    Fiona''s brows were tightly locked, feeling the situation becoming increasingly thorny.

    Eric blurted, "Fred is very strong; I''ve sparred with him and we''re evenly matched."

    Lu Heng immediately pressed, "What is Fred''s identity? Where did he go?"

    As the situation escalated, Fiona also began to feel uneasy and answered, "Fred was originally the deputy captain of the guards in the Magic District of the Royal City. This time he was reassigned to participate in the escort mission of the spring water. Half a day ago, he received a recall order from the Magic Tower and rode a Horned Owl Beast and left early. At this time..."

    She didn''t complete her last sentence, but Lu Heng already understood what she meant and helped complete it, "He''s already returned to the Elf Royal City of Keros, right?"

    Fiona felt her scalp tingle, sensing that the crisis had already descended.

    If Deputy Captain Fred was indeed the attacker who stole the Life Protection Box, and he had already returned to the Elf Royal City of Keros, it meant that the crisis foreseen was about to unfold.

    At the time of the crisis, her absence from the Royal City, not being by the Queen''s side, was something she couldn''t accept.

    Fiona made a quick decision, waved her hand and said, "Sky Knights, follow me; we''ll return to Kolos at the highest speed, the rest of the Elf Guard follow Captain Eric."

    Saying this, she turned and mounted the Horned Owl Beast, pulling on the reins and soaring into the sky.