"How about it?"
"Hmm! It's so sweet! I can't even taste the choking taste."
Late at night, the inside of the tavern was still bustling with the joint efforts of the drinkers, but for some unknown reason, the sounds coming to the bar had changed a lot. The girl, who was no longer afraid, finally gathered her courage.
Courage took the wine glass handed over by Hank, but what surprised her was that the blood-red liquid actually tasted sweet like juice.
"The ice flowers from the Anderson Tinsel forest can perfectly restrain the pungent smell of alcohol. Together with the fire snake fruits picked from Xifeng County, they dye the wine into a perfect red color and at the same time enhance the sweetness of the fruit.
Excite it as quickly as possible."
As if he had completely lost his arrogance, Hank bowed slightly and said, "This is one of the few masterpieces I have made since I came here."
"That's really... our luck."
Shaking his wine glass, Duan Qing also smiled and echoed. At the same time, he looked helplessly at the green liquid in his hand. He didn't know whether it would be better to drink it or just look at it. However, there was a secret rivalry between him and Hank.
Mengzhu probably didn't notice the look in her eyes. She took another sweet sip of the fruit wine called "Ice Snake Orchid" and her two slightly slender legs swayed slightly: "Uncle Hank is not a local, isn't he?
"
"I'm from the City of Liberty."
The man in the white shirt smiled and said: "It is a beautiful but dangerous city. My family and my mentor...are all there."
"Oh? I hope I can go and take a look when I have the opportunity." The girl put her finger on her chin: "Maybe I can meet your family..."
"You won't stand a chance."
Hank smiled and said: "They are all dead."
"..."
With her fingers frozen in the air, Mengzhu, who was holding the wine glass, retracted her gaze uneasily: "That, that..."
"It doesn't matter, this is not a taboo topic." Hank's eyes narrowed again: "What's more..."
"I have buried the corpses of my enemies beside them."
Duan Qing and Mengzhu looked at each other, and then shuddered in unison.
"President."
A big man in black suddenly walked through the crowd and walked to the front of the counter. He called out first, then looked at the two players sitting opposite: "The news has come back."
"You do it."
"……yes."
He looked away from Duan Qing and Duan Qing, and the man lowered his head again: "The meeting is over, and the congressmen have left."
"The results of it?"
"They made a deal." The man immediately replied, "All of the deals."
"According to... Connelly's proposal, not a single aristocrat opposed it."
"……snort."
Hank, who was wearing a bow tie, lowered his head and was silent for a while, then sneered: "I know, you go ahead."
"yes."
Watching the big man leave, Duan Qing withdrew his gaze, and then unexpectedly saw the other man's eyes staring at him: "What?"
"Uh... that person just now..."
"interested in?"
"No...no."
The continuous events finally brought the two of them back from the illusion of special cocktails, and they finally recognized the fact that the man in front of them was a gang leader who could shake mountains with just one move. But this one was grinning.
The guy who smiled didn't seem to care that the two of them knew about this, and was even somewhat happy to see their slightly embarrassed reactions: "Hehehehe... I originally thought that you were also lawless adventurers. It seems..."
"Your courage still needs to be tempered."
"...We just don't want to get involved in any trouble, it's not about being brave..." He waved his hands to explain, and Duan Qing retracted his arm a little sarcastically: "Well, maybe compared to you..."
"This is not what the person who did those things said..."
Hank chuckled: "From Fenghua Town to Fars, what you did is nothing like what you say now..."
"You...how did you know? Could it be that you and the shadow..."
"Shadows will... hum."
Duan Qing's face suddenly turned cold, causing Duan Qing to shut his mouth suddenly: "Don't compare our family of warriors with those rats."
"Uh...sorry."
Quickly retracting some information about Kima that he had just wanted to share, Duan Qing gestured back and forth with his hand in the air, and finally apologized: "We don't know... what kind of problems you will have with the shadows.
…”
"Our Warrior Home has no grudges against the Shadow Society." Hank shook his head: "But... I do."
Looking at his face with a scary smile, Duan Qing very wisely did not answer, but the next moment, the bartender holding the wine glass explained himself: "I know that you will have some involvement with the shadow, but don't worry.
, I am still a person with clear grudges, and you adventurers are just doing things with money."
"Looking at this, I admire you even more."
He smiled again, then opened his hands and pointed around the tavern: "Unlike them, our Warrior House is a formal organization. Not only are there countless masters in the association, but also, like the Master Council, we are uniting this big organization.
At the same time, all soldiers on 6 should try to maintain a neutral stance. As for the scene you see now..."
He grinned: "It's just my personal management and preferences."
How dark is your past...
Duan Qing rubbed his head with a headache. Just as Duan Qing was about to say something else, Hank across from him suddenly stood up: "Okay, I guess you guys have relaxed a bit..."
"follow me."
"Ah?" The girl on the side looked at the wine glass in her hand and said with some embarrassment: "Are these wines... all expensive? I... we will find a way to raise money..."
"Haha, lovely girl." Hank smiled and shook his head: "Although the price is high, these are all paid for by me. Besides..."
He pointed at the green wine in Duan Qing's hand: "You'd better drink it."
Gudong.
As the other party turned around and walked away, Duan Qing drank the unknown liquid in his hand in one breath, and then followed Hank's footsteps to a downward staircase behind the bar. Two strong men were guarding there.
He left and right to get out of the way, and then with some inexplicable eyes, he gave a frightening salute to the two adventurers behind him.
"Where are we going?" Mengzhu, who felt as if he was underground and became a little uneasy again, took Duan Qing's arm and asked loudly forward.
"I will not ask you adventurers to do anything for our warrior home...or the Valia Tavern."
Hank, who was walking in front, did not answer his question directly, but said without looking back: "I just hope... that you can provide some assistance to our business."
"Business? Is it something like what Rex was involved in just now?" Duan Qing asked with some suspicion, looking at this place that obviously looked like an underground casino.
"That's just a side job." Hank said with a smile: "If you want to make money... you can't just rely on that."
The three people walked to the bottom of the stairs, and then, under the leadership of the president, opened the door there: "Welcome to Tania's most secret place."
"black market."
As countless whispers came out, a slightly dim underground passage under the lights and earth and stones appeared in front of them, with countless passing masked people and humid air.
*********************************
"This gentleman! This gentleman...er, President Hank."
"These two are my guests."
"Yes Yes……"
Once again, he waved away the masked businessman who surrounded him from nowhere. Hank, who had an angry look on his face, raised his arms, put his hands behind his back again, and continued to lead the way in front of Duan Qing and Duan Qing, heading towards
Marching deeper into the passage - from the moment Duan Qing and his two men entered this rough and gloomy place, it was filled with all kinds of passers-by wearing cloaks and hoods, as well as all kinds of black-clothed vendors.
Some looked at them with strange eyes, as if they wanted to devour them, while others came up to them without saying a word and sold them all kinds of weird things. There were things in their coats.
Various magic powders, medicines, darts, crossbows, and other items that they could hardly see on a daily basis, some of which they couldn't even name.
However, according to Hank's law, it is best not to provoke such a black dealer, because no one can be sure whether you bought more things after this transaction, or he "bought" more things.
"Aren't the people here... unwilling to show their true colors?" Mengzhu also put on his cloak and quietly asked the leader in front.
"Businessmen, soldiers, congressmen, doctors...all those who don't want others to know their identity will come here."
Hank, who was walking in front, stretched out his hands to the surroundings: "So, everyone walking on this street is a person without identity, no matter rich or poor, beautiful or ugly, good or evil, or even life or death... everyone...
Are the same."
"This is a different kind of equality, equality that exists in the dark."
"It seems..." Looking at a certain corner of the passage, Duan Qing turned around and whispered: "People often disappear here...right?"
"I'm with you this time. If you want to come in the future..."
Looking back with a sinister smile, Hank chuckled and said, "Just follow your own heart."
"It's so scary..." The girl let out a normal sigh at the right time, and then hugged Duan Qing's arms tightly. The latter shook his head, and then said with a smile: "What are you afraid of? We are adventurers."
Adventurers are immortal... but their equipment may not be saved.
He didn't say the last sentence.
"Come to think of it... President Hank doesn't seem to be hiding his identity."
Looking at the middle-aged man in front of him who was still dressed like that, Duan Qing asked in a low voice, but what he got was a strange look from the other party: "It seems you haven't noticed..."
"The meaning of where we come down."
"Um?"
"The black market is huge, much bigger than what you see now."
Still maintaining the pace of progress, Hank's voice was like a dark whisper, filling the warm air around them: "This was originally Tania's underground waterway, but it has not been used for hundreds of years, so gradually
The land is occupied by people like us. However, the order here has been established longer than that time, and to this day... there are still many people fighting for the territory here."
"And the so-called territory... is actually just the entrance and exit."
"I see." Duan Qing whispered: "The competition underground still depends on the support of above-ground forces."
"That's right."
Looking back with approval, Hank immediately nodded: "The entrance we came down from before is the entrance controlled by our Valia Tavern, and it is also a sign that we control this place."
He pointed to his chest: "So... just like the guards above, we also need to maintain order here."
"The feeling of being a king sounds wonderful." Duan Qing shook his head and sighed: "But judging from the lawlessness along the way, the actual situation must be much more tragic..."
"Shadow places naturally have their own ways to solve problems." Hank replied: "Since our Warrior Family is involved... we will also abide by this rule."
"Hehe...the thoughts of a strong man."
After comforting Mengzhu's emotions again, Duan Qing continued to ask: "So... how many entrances like this are there in the city?"
"Almost all taverns in the city have passages like this." Hank continued to walk forward: "There are also the Parliament District, the Noble District, and even the Cabin Castle..."
"You can find all the forces here." He blinked: "Even the Council of Mages."
"Is this place really so attractive?" the girl finally asked curiously.
"There is a saying... that is very applicable anywhere in this world." Hank sighed: "With high risks... there must be high rewards."
"Here we are."
With these words, he stopped somewhere in the passage, in a dark corner, and then pushed open an iron door.
"Welcome...oh, it's President Hank."
In the soft white light, an old but very energetic voice passed through the door and came from inside: "Why did you think of me today? Is there any good stuff?"
"I'm here today...to introduce two people to you."
After winking at the two people behind him, Hank took the lead and walked in the door: "Two adventurers."
A maintenance room in a certain tunnel - this was Duan Qing's first impression after entering this place.
The dark floor, red square tiles, old tables and shelves are randomly placed around this room, and the thing closest to them is not wooden chairs and benches, but large iron pipes crisscrossing the place. From here
The walls and corners of the room extend back and forth, and then disappear into another part of the room. The white French lamp, which is the only light source here, is hung on the wall on one side, projecting many shadows in the already very dark room.
There were horizontal and vertical shadows, but thanks to the narrow space here, Duan Qing was able to clearly see the structure of the room for the first time in this environment, as well as the figure of the hunchbacked old man standing behind the partition wall.
"Oh?" At this time, he was also looking at the two people who had just entered: "Adventurers? What a rare visitor..."
"Wow--"
A girl's exclamation ran through everyone's ears, and then echoed throughout the room as Mengzhu entered: "So much equipment..."
In front of their eyes, various items and equipment were placed haphazardly on the shelves around the room, shining with all kinds of lights of their own quality. (To be continued.)
This chapter has been completed!