[I will drive out Judah from before me, saith the LORD, as I drove out Israel. I will abandon this city, Jerusalem, which I chose before, and the house in which I said I will bear my name.—Kings]

Under the night of Constantinople, the church bells rang, echoing melodiously in the night sky.

At this time, except for the patrolling soldiers, there was no one on the street. Outside a hotel, at the corner of the alley, only a few black figures were seen passing by, rushing in as if they didn't want anyone to notice their traces.

When he turned the corner, he saw many people waiting in front of him for a long time.

"You're here." The hooded man whose face was unclear spoke.

"We are here, sir." Several dark figures nodded.

But the man seemed a little worried and confirmed again, "Are everyone here?"

"Except for Korani, who is responsible for surveillance, everyone else has expired, my lord."

"Okay, I think you should already know about the next thing before I come to you. So I won't talk nonsense anymore, and you also shouldn't ask any more irrelevant questions. Now everyone does the last thing

Prepare to enter the hotel in ten minutes. During this period, the patrol team will be sent away, so we have plenty of time. And the order given to us by the adult is to clean out all the [owls]. Only success is allowed and failure is not allowed. Do you understand!

"The man at the head gave a majestic low shout, leaving no room for doubt.

For a moment, the shadows who heard this order couldn't help but feel horrified. They immediately tensed up their bodies and responded: "Yes, sir."

After getting this order, the black shadows had no choice but to obey. The word "cleaning" can already explain the importance of this task. For the person who issued the order, no matter who is the adult,

They and the [Owl] are both tools that can be discarded at will. This is what they have realized a long time ago. However, this time the target is the most ferocious [Owl], which means that they are bound to face a fierce battle.

Under the hazy moonlight, the shadows were ready to kill, gathering like a flock of crows outside the hotel in front of them, just waiting for the final order.

Seeing that his birds were ready to go, the hooded man nodded and finally gave instructions for action.

"Do it!"

The black shadows came out in droves, brushing against both sides of the man's shoulders, and quickly moved towards the unsuspecting hotel. Watching all this silently, the eunuch who gave this order was also bleeding in his heart.

, [Owl] is undoubtedly the most proud bird of prey in his hands to clean up the dirty work, but now he has to choose to erase it, because this is the emperor's order, and he has no choice but to execute it.

I saw the black figures jumping on the roof jump down, and cooperated with their companions downstairs to take action at the same time. They all knew that the people in the room were just like themselves, the dead soldiers raised by the eunuch, and they must not be careless at all.

, we must make every effort to be foolproof.

At the same time as the door was kicked open, the short bow in the killer's hand shot out fatal arrows into the darkness in front of them. However, when the killers who rushed into the room for the first time regained their composure, they immediately

They were dumbfounded, because except for an inconspicuous candlelight, they found nothing in the room. Looking at everything around them with vigilance, the black figures did not dare to be careless at all. The strange scene in front of them already made them feel vaguely

Not good.

careful!

The killers reminded each other with their eyes, and continued to explore the pitch black eyes, looking in the direction of the only candlelight and moving cautiously forward.

When they finally got closer and took a closer look, they discovered that it was a dark room. But strangely, the secret door that should have been hidden from others was half-open, and the candlelight came from here.

The shadows had some hesitation. Such an abnormal sight undoubtedly showed that something was obviously wrong here, but with orders in hand, they had no choice but to rush in.

With a "bang" sound, the burliest of the killers rushed forward and knocked open the darkroom door. Strangely speaking, it was obviously ajar, but at the moment of impact, the burly killer felt something

Something was pressed against the back. Without thinking, the killers followed closely behind, all holding weapons in front of their chests to attack secretly. But when they rushed into the dark room, the scene in front of them shocked them.

A person was hanging high on the beam in front of them. No, to be precise, it was a corpse. It had obviously been strangled for a long time. But what shocked them even more was the face of the person who was strangled before their eyes!

"Corani!"

The shadows couldn't help but exclaimed that the corpse was none other than the companion who was supposed to be responsible for monitoring the situation inside and outside the hotel. They thought he should continue to observe in a dark place, but they never thought that he would die like this in front of them.

before.

"Damn, what's going on!" There was more panic in the voices of the frightened and angry shadows. This was the first time they were in such a commotion, because it was the first time they felt this bone-chilling sense of crisis.

, all the killers became more alert to their surroundings. And just when the burly killer was about to take his companion's body down from the rafters, a scream suddenly sounded.

"Do not move!"

The sharp-eyed killer leader noticed something was wrong with the surrounding environment. There was nothing in the empty room, and the floor under his feet was so sticky for some reason, and a silk thread was currently connected to the dead Korani.

The other end was connected to the oil lamp hanging in the sky. The killer leader suddenly realized that something was not going well and shouted to stop, but it was already too late.

With a "bang" sound, the moment the fallen oil lamp touched the floor, the fire instantly engulfed the entire room - and the killers finally realized what the sticky stuff on the ground was - it was fish oil all over the floor.

, and two entire barrels of fish oil! They had been placed here a long time ago, just to wait for the killers to knock them over when they broke in. It was a perfect trap. When the shadows realized that they were no longer as good as the [Owl]

】After the trap, everything around them has been completely swallowed up by the fierce fire.

…

Not far away, in the calm Golden Horn of Constantinople, on a Dromon battleship that had not yet set sail, Licinius couldn't help but feel a sense of speechless powerlessness as he looked at Igor.

Feeling, he never expected that he would be fooled by a young boy in front of him for such a long time.

"That means you don't have the book in your hand at all."

"You can indeed say that." Faced with Licini's question and the countless glances around him that almost tore him apart, Igor nodded without changing his expression.

"It seems that I have indeed underestimated you." Li Xinni's voice gradually became colder and no longer as gentle as before.

Obviously, he had angered the other party, but the expression on Igor's face remained calm, teasing: "Both, each other, I didn't expect that I would be involved in such trouble. I obviously made a deal."

It’s terminated.”

"Then I guess there's nothing left to talk about." Licinius stood up from his chair with an indifferent expression and prepared to leave. There is no doubt that this man is murderous at this moment, and his subordinates outside the door are also eager to try.

Prepare to sink the kid in front of you to the bottom of the Golden Horn.

But at this time, Igor said calmly: "Have you really decided to do this, Your Excellency Licinius?"

"Of course, I said, that navigation chart is of no use to me." The Sicilian man said coldly, as if he had no patience to continue talking, but Igor, with a playful smile on his face, followed.

But what he said made Licinius’ movements in his hands suddenly stop.

"I don't think so, Your Excellency Licinius. After killing the Chancellor, you should have realized that your situation is that if you continue to stay in Constantinople for a moment, it will be more dangerous. Those superior people

Never begrudge the tools you use to do dirty work."

"What did you say..." The paused man was surprised by Igor's words, and the expressions of other people around him couldn't help but change. Suddenly, the atmosphere in the room dropped to freezing point.

But such a reaction played into Igor's hands. He said calmly: "The whole city is under martial law and searches are being carried out everywhere. As Varangi, of course I heard some rumors. Although it was just a guess before, it is almost certain now.

——You all here are probably not smuggling businessmen, but people who are currently wanted by Brachna Palace, and the person you could have relied on to protect you seems to have changed your mind now, so you came to me.

, you want to leave Constantinople as soon as possible, don’t you?”

Although he looked calm and composed, Igor's back was actually soaked with cold sweat at this time, and the thoughts in his brain were constantly processing countless pieces of information to judge his next step.

decision - all this is a risk, because Igor is betting on a fact that he cannot believe, that is, the reason behind these people and the abnormal behavior of the royal family stems from the assassination of Finance Minister Vatazes a few months ago

One thing. And the man in front of him was as anxious as himself at this moment. The cold behavior he showed before was just that he wanted to deceive himself to gain the upper hand in the negotiation.

After saying these words in an understatement, Igor couldn't help but pray in his heart, waiting for the other party's reaction.

On the other side, Li Xini was also shocked. He never expected that the young man in front of him was so out of touch with his thoughts, but he guessed the truth of the matter impartially. As early as a month ago, the [Owl] he led

】The assassination team was ordered to suspend operations. From that time on, Licinius had a sense of crisis, and this feeling became more and more intense in recent days. So, he finally made up his mind and prepared to leave Constantinople.

As a result, there was a connection with the Varyag young man who had nothing to do with all this.

He thought it would be simple, get the navigation chart, leave Constantinople and head to the Black Sea to escape the danger. However, the variable Igor completely disrupted the plan. From the moment the two parties officially contacted, Licinius had

Riding a tiger is hard to get off. If he is discovered as he prepares to escape from Constantinople with his men, then everyone will die without a burial place. But if he kills the cunning boy in front of him, he will not be able to get the navigation chart. The previous fraud

It has been proven that Igor does not have the book in his hand. In other words, there is only one choice left in front of Licinius, which is to follow the Varyag boy's previous proposal.

But, can you really believe him?

Licinius couldn't help but hesitate in his heart. It was indeed getting more and more dangerous to stay in Constantinople, but leaving his life in the hands of this young man also entailed huge risks.

Just when the man was hesitant, the girl's voice, as cold as frost and snow, rang in everyone's ears.

"Dad, I think we can try to trust him."

Everyone couldn't believe that including Igor, the first person to express her stance was Licinius' daughter Alyssa. The beauty in military uniform and sword was looking at Igor with her dark green eyes, and Igor

I was also looking at her - the girl was standing quietly at this moment. There was still some childishness on her face, but she was as quiet as an adult. There is no doubt that she is a beauty, but she is not as beautiful as the previous maid.

It’s completely different, as if it’s a painting blooming in the middle of winter, not everyone can afford it.

Following Licinius's daughter's statement, the other [Owls] couldn't help but become anxious. They obviously didn't trust Varangi even more.

"But Miss..."

Just when a group of people were about to object, Licinius suddenly interrupted them with a wave of his hand.

The livid Sicilian man was seen without saying a word, and this scene made Igor, who was in a nervous mood, couldn't help but feel a little thump in his heart.

"grown ups……"

"Gentlemen, it seems that we have no choice. Because you see -" Licinius said seriously and pointed out the window, while everyone looked for sound and saw the night outside the Golden Horn Bay.

The city of Dingbao was actually ablaze at this moment, and everyone's expressions changed as they looked in the direction there.

Because that was the direction where their stronghold was originally located, and there was only one explanation for the burning fire at the moment - the mechanism arranged there had been triggered, and they had indeed been abandoned.

"Fuck!" Looking at this scene, disappointment and anger enveloped everyone's hearts. They had given up their luck and couldn't help but swear. Now not only were they abandoned, but also

It also means that as Licinius said, they have only one choice, and that is to choose to believe in the Varyag young man in front of them.
To be continued...