A sense of hopelessness was revealed in Xu Xiaoyan's face. "This is bad! Captain, what should we do?" She was sobbing and her voice sounded fearful.
"Don't be afraid. We'll be fine. It's alright to forgo the test mission this time and return to face our punishment. Don't worry, we haven't done anything. The Northsea Army Corps may be able to detain us but they can't do anything to us. After all, the academy knows that we're here and we haven't attacked or stolen anything."
The major smiled and spoke, "That's why I said you made the correct choice. Take them away and detain them. By the way, I graduated from Imperial Sun Moon Soul Master Academy. Perhaps I might add that the high ranking officials of the Northsea Army Corps are mostly graduates of Imperial Sun Moon Soul Master Academy. Thus, we've always hated Shrek Academy. Bet you didn't expect that an army corps based in the northeast has its high ranking officials originating from Imperial Sun Moon Soul Master Academy in the far west. Are all of you aware of the relationship between the two academies?"
Were they aware of it? Could they not be aware of it? Tang Wulin once brought his comrades along and ran into trouble when they were headed to Imperial Sun Moon Soul Master Academy.
Tang Wulin lowered his head with an unpleasant expression on his face as if he had acquiesced for their action which was similar to entering a thief's den!
The major continued, "Stop pretending. I'm not fond of Shrek Academy. Judging by your appearances, you're all certainly inner court students with five-ring cultivation bases. Surely, all of you are one-word battle armor masters. Don't worry, I won't be lenient with you. I won't be compassionate no matter how much you pretend. Put the spirit-seal helmet on each of them just to be on the safe side. You can have a good sleep at our place for the next ten days. I promise to release all of you ten days later. Perhaps, all of you will be quite hungry by then, but you won't die for sure."
Tang Wulin watched helplessly as the soldiers procured the helmets and walked over when he suddenly raised his head while his face was filled with panic. "You, you can't do this. You… Ouch!"
The helmet covered his head as an intense magnetic field enveloped his mind instantly. Tang Wulin's body slumped to the ground.
The rest of them had their soul power sealed so it was impossible for them to resist. The helmets were secured on their heads in succession causing them to faint one after another onto the ground.
The major shrugged. "It should have been like this since the beginning. Shrek Academy's students are cunning so I won't be giving them any chances. The spirit-seal helmet is used specifically on felons and is meant to seal their spiritual sea. Have a good night's sleep. I wonder if Shrek Academy will treat them any better in the future because of this incident. Or perhaps, expel them immediately? Don't blame me but your academy for being callous. Take them away and send them to the solitary room. Release them ten days later."
The soldiers ran over. Each of the Shrek Seven Monsters was accompanied by two soldiers as they were quickly taken to the solitary room.
The major touched his chin with his right hand as he was deep in thought. He spoke in a deep voice, "Send the special action unit to search the periphery of the base and use the radar to probe if there are any more of their friends hiding outside. Check for mechas especially."
"Yes, major."
The major squinted his eyes. He had always been known as a meticulous person because he never missed out even a single detail.
The dark solitary room had been the most terrifying place for the soldiers all along.
There was utterly nothing in the two-feet-tall solitary room. It was precisely a height that no one could sit up and there was not a ray of light inside. There was only a small opening for food to be sent through.
The most frightening part about the solitary room was that it was truly claustrophobic. It would be considered remarkable if an ordinary person could withstand seven days of imprisonment in the room. One's spirit would eventually be broken if one is held in a dark confined space for a long period of time.
Tang Wulin and his companions were buckled in handcuffs and helmets as they lay quietly in the solitary room.
It was not known how much time had passed when a pair of hands began moving slowly in the dark space. The hands grabbed the two sides of a helmet gently before prying them apart slowly.
The helmet could not be opened without key or electronic passcode, but it was pried open forcefully by the hands.
It was difficult since the hands were handcuffed. The hands struggled for a while and then the metal handcuffs were shattered instantly. The next moment, he lifted the helmet with his hands.
He rubbed his wrists as he sensed the soul power in his body recovering gradually with faint purple light emitting from his eyes.
Was that not Tang Wulin who was struggling free from the handcuffs and removing the helmet?
He looked at his surroundings and found that his comrades were with him as expected. He heaved a sigh of relief.
He stopped briefly before prying open Xie Xie's handcuff and helmet. Then, a hand covered Xie Xie's mouth.
After a long while, Xie Xie's body shook once gently. Tang Wulin immediately whispered softly, "Don't speak, be quiet."
Xie Xie immediately understood the situation. His soul power began to recover rapidly accompanied by the recovery of his spirit.
Tang Wulin repeated the procedure as he removed his comrades' handcuffs and helmets in succession.
How did his spiritual sea remain unaffected by the helmet? It was nothing special actually. The soul-seal handcuff was capable of sealing one's soul power undoubtedly. The same situation would have repeated itself had another more powerful soul master been buckled with the soul-seal handcuff.
However, one should not forget that Tang Wulin still had his strong blood essence power. He immediately urged his blood essence power to his head to form a protective shield. If the major were to witness Tang Wulin's manipulation, he would have been convinced that he did not manage to seal off Tang Wulin's power. At the time, Tang Wulin's face was covered with a golden dragon pattern.
Using his blood essence power as a barrier, the helmet's spirit sealing was rendered ineffective. The rest was just easy. When the situation on the outside was quiet enough, Tang Wulin immediately removed the seals on him as well as his comrades.
"The academy is crafty," Xie Xie could not help speaking softly. The others were breathing rather heavily.
The academy's choice of Northsea City was not without purpose. The Northsea Army Corps specifically withheld them to deceive them! Anyone who understood military training would look at them with a piteous gaze. They had already faced such a situation although they had yet to arrive on the island.
"Alright. It's pointless for us to badmouth them. At least our situation here is not the worst. At least, we're still inside the base. Xie Xie, unleash your clone to explore the outside." Tang Wulin rolled around as he was saying that. He then stopped at the entrance of the solitary room. It was just a small door, but it was heavily locked.
Tang Wulin squinted his eyes and focused his spirit to sense the situation outside. There was no guard outside. Perhaps, it was due to their confidence in the effectiveness of their soul-seal handcuff and spirit-seal helmet.
However, Tang Wulin did not act recklessly. He turned around and spoke to Xie Xie, "Your clone must be careful when it's outside. You'll only need to locate the soul airplane. There'll certainly be a lot of security measures in the base. The thermographic equipment should be unable to detect you but the energy analyzer can. Dissipate your clone immediately if you're discovered. They won't suspect it's us anyhow. Be careful and bring back as many useful items as possible."
"Alright. Don't worry, leave it to me." Xie Xie nodded at Tang Wulin.
Tang Wulin stretched out his right hand, but he did not attempt to open the door. Instead, he went to the side of the solitary room. "This is the ventilation shaft. I'm going to remove the cover. I've sensed it with my spiritual power and found that the shaft is very small so no ordinary human can pass through. However, I think your clone should be able to do so."
Xie Xie nodded. "No problem. I can shrink my energy-form clone so that it can pass through anything the size of an arm's thickness."