Yongxing City, XC District Black Street Brotherhood, Headquarters House.
"You mean, Rhoda and the Scimitar?"
One of the six giants of the Black Street Brotherhood, "Tearer" Anton took a bite of bread and asked vaguely: "Because of what?"
"It seems to be Rhoda's son," Maurice, another member of the Big Six, folded his arms against his fat belly on the other side of the long table and said impatiently:
"You know, that good-for-nothing was kept by me as a beggar until he played himself to death on Red Square Street... Because of this, Rhoda's relationship with me and Lancer was at loggerheads."
"So I'm not happy to say that the Machete is disgusting? The Sunset Bar has been closed?" Anton chuckled and took a sip of ale: "What a pity. I quite like the girl in the bar... tsk tsk, that figure."
"Her last name is Sarriton, you can't touch her." Morris's cold words made Anton choke.
"I haven't been back for a long time, and I still don't know very well." Anton swallowed the bread: "After the incident in the Principality of Sera, have the Sariton brothers still not shown up?"
"Prison Lock Scythe has been tracking them for several years, and for this reason, he did not hesitate to cooperate with people from the secret department," Morris shook his head: "In particular, he fought against Little Sarriton twice, but he did not take advantage."
"What about Great Sariton?" Anton asked immediately: "The one who killed Eddie II..."
"It's best not to mention him," Morris sighed: "You know, in front of the palace gate, he saved Heijian's life, whether intentionally or not... Over the years, Heijian has been worried about this.
It can be said that I was tortured."
"And there will eventually be a battle between them."
Anton sighed.
At this moment, a figure wearing a scarlet cloak opened the door and came in, sitting at the table.
Morris and Anton both looked serious.
Until the figure in the scarlet cloak spoke.
It made the other two people change their colors.
"Speak clearly!"
"What does it mean to lose contact?"
Anton punched the table and looked at Corbion Lancer, one of the "Sleepless Eyes", one of the Big Six with a surprised look on his face, and asked in surprise.
"It means," Lancer pinched his scarlet cloak and frowned: "Since seven days ago, we have never received a message from Ramon. The last time he sent a message, he was in the room between Xingchen and Exeter.
Eastern Frontier.”
"There's only one explanation for this - he met an enemy."
Morris crossed his arms and muttered: "His mission is just to use the news of the 'Mage's reappearance' to attract the attention of the Secret Department, so that we can safely obtain the weapon. When the Black Prophet discovers that he is not actually a Mage, he will naturally
Will you give up chasing him?"
The fat man shook his head, showing confusion: "An ordinary gangster doctor - whether it is a dark room or a secret department, there is no reason to arrest him."
"No, of course they have no reason - unless this is an action taken by our opponents against our fraternity, or even against the sponsors behind it... Many people are doubting our background." Lancer said solemnly:
"And you and I both know that Ramon is no ordinary gangster doctor!"
"Are there any sponsors for us?" Anton was surprised: "Against us, you mean the Blood Bottle Gang? Although the Qi Magic Master usually doesn't appear very often... But after Red Square Street, they are indeed better than before.
It’s silent, Kathleen and Nekra are both abroad!”
Lancer shook his head: "I have rumors that they have found the Blood Magician - the counterattack against us will probably begin soon. I'm worried that they may have discovered Ramon's importance to us."
He tapped the table gently: "If the one who takes action is the blood magician...sigh."
"The key is our sponsor!" Morris thought seriously: "If Ramon falls into their hands, it will definitely endanger the sponsor's safety... Maybe we need to give the sponsor a warning?"
"We can't risk exposure by contacting our sponsors," Lancer's eyes flashed: "I suspect this may be a trap - Morat likes to play this kind of bait game the most. Maybe there are already people around the underworld.
He has the eyes and ears of the secret department and is waiting for us to make mistakes."
What's even scarier is...
If it wasn't Morat and his secret team, but the masterminds back then...
Lancer remained silent, but did not express his worries.
"No, without Ramon, our research on the weaknesses of magicians will inevitably come to a standstill... In the past eleven or two years, we have just made some progress." Anton clenched his fists: "And we don't even know how to do that.
I don’t know anything about the origins of the weapons or their capabilities, and nothing has been discovered.”
"And he knows the secret that we even have too many sponsors." Morris immediately raised his head with a serious face: "Are our manpower available at the border between Stars and Exeter? For example, Anton, your man over there is Li.
Crystal smuggling team?”
"It's difficult," Anton the Ripper gritted his teeth: "The atmosphere there has been tense recently. The caravans are all afraid that Xingchen and Exeter will start a war, so they no longer go around Broken Dragon Fortress. My men also evacuated very early.
…”
"Moreover," Anton said with an earthy face: "If the blood magic master is not much worse than the air magic master... let alone the manpower of our subordinates, even if there are only a few of us, no matter how many we go to, we will die."
"Maybe there is another way." Lancer said silently.
The other two people looked at him.
Just listen to "Sleepless Eyes" Lancer said quietly:
"As for the border between Stars and Exeter... Black Sword is not far away. You can go search for Ramon."
"And I have given him that weapon."
"If he really encounters the Blood Magician."
"Let's try it out in advance to see how well that weapon performs."
————————
The sun is rising.
Thales had a slumped face and was protected by Sonia on his horse. The group passed through the sentry post and the fortress, walked up the narrow slope, and slowly entered the magnificent Broken Dragon Fortress from the southern gate.
It's much colder here than in the birch forest.
The snow layer is also much thicker, almost reaching an adult's ankles.
This is a large fortress, but the two-story city wall makes the space between the fortress gate and the inner city wall appear narrow.
Thales dismounted with the help of Sonia. Behind him, the seriously injured Wyatt, Rolf and Jorah were picked up by soldiers for treatment.
He observed a corner of this fortress, which was well-organized regardless of the building layout or personnel sentries.
The soldiers on duty were either patrolling the various thoroughfares in the fortress, several walls, or standing guard at various locations.
The quartermaster responsible for logistics and supplies was urging the civilian laborers back and forth. In several large stables, the cavalrymen were skillfully scrubbing their mounts.
On the training field on the other side, several teams looked like they were recent recruits. Under the leadership of several veterans, they methodically practiced resisting and slashing movements.
In the distance, several groups of soldiers who had just returned from duty were lining up to place their weapons and receive rations from the quartermaster.
Gennard followed Sonia and embraced warmly with a dozen tough veterans who seemed to be old acquaintances.
Is this the northern barrier of the Star Kingdom?
"That is Baron Mu's royal standing army, which has just been expanded." At this moment, Putilai was holding a branch, dragging his damaged body, walked behind him, looked at the group of new recruits in training and said:
"I haven't fought much."
Thales nodded.
"I thought you would at least keep her, that important queen, in Broken Dragon Fortress. You know, we are already stronger than her."
Putilai said silently: "Whether she was deceived or not, she attacked the mission's convoy and committed numerous bloody crimes."
"Then what? Catch her and spank her?" Thales shook his head: "She is a political figure in the Eastern Continent. We need many legitimate reasons to keep her, and it is a lot of trouble in diplomacy."
and.
It also involves magicians.
It involves my secret.
The less trouble the better.
Putilai raised his eyebrows.
Thales sighed: "Believe me, the real culprit is still at large, and letting Katerina go is also causing trouble for him."
Zhan's face appeared before his eyes.
No matter why you want to kill me.
I won't sit still and wait for death.
And, Thales thought to himself: I may have found the key.
The key lies in the conversation on the day of the trip - something must have touched a nerve in Jenn.
Otherwise, he would not have been able to do such an unwise act, deceiving his allies and endangering himself.
"And she still carries that black coffin," Thales continued. His words made Putilai frown slightly: "Having that thing around means that the blood magician will come to us again."
Although she will definitely come to me.
【I will never let you suffer】
Thales sighed and thought worriedly.
"Don't worry," Putilai seemed to see through Thales's thoughts, and he said slowly: "Exter also has his own legendary anti-magic weapon."
"The number is even greater than the stars. It is the country with the largest number of legendary anti-demon weapons in the world - after all, it was the Northland that spared no effort to fight against disasters in the End War."
Thales nodded reluctantly.
"As for the disasters, as long as you are not interested in them," Putilai said with a deep look in his eyes, "They will not be interested in you."
Thales was shocked.
Putilai.
What does he mean?
At this moment, Sonia's majestic voice came from the front:
"what happened!"
Thales and Putilai both raised their heads curiously and looked ahead.
It seemed to be a gallows, and it was crowded with soldiers who were not on duty.
There was a man standing on the gallows, being escorted by soldiers behind him.
It looked like he was going to be executed.
An officer who looked like a responsible officer recognized Sonia and said with some embarrassment:
"Lord Satherley...he, this man is a deserter."
Sonia frowned and looked at the people on the gallows.
It was a young man with black hair, brown eyes and slightly darker skin. He struggled to raise his head in front of the gallows and shouted: "I'm not a deserter! I'm not!"
Wearing a tattered cotton shirt, with his hands tied behind his back, he still shouted unwillingly to the onlookers:
"They were alone, and I went back to rescue them! I didn't run away!"
"Just look at the blood on my blade!"
Thales watched all this and whispered to Putilai:
"Have we engaged the enemy?"
"I'm afraid it's a conflict between a small group of troops," Putilai pondered: "It seems that Lumba still doesn't give up."
Thales sighed secretly in his heart.
The officer in charge of the hanging looked at the struggling black-haired young man and said disdainfully: "This guy is lying!"
"His spear has blood stains on it, but it has long been broken into two pieces!"
"Run back with the broken sword in your hand, and then tell me: Are you going back to save people?"
"I didn't!" The young man with his hands tied behind his back said anxiously: "That's not broken in two! That's my spear! It... there are two of them, one on the left hand and one on the right hand! I can use them at the same time...
"
"That's enough! You fisherman who talks nonsense!" The officer in charge waved his hands with an ugly face: "Squibbling won't help you! Like a Northlander, be happy..."
"etc!"
Sonia looked at the person in charge with an ugly face:
"He is a soldier I recruited from the local area. Shouldn't he come to ask me for instructions before he is executed?"
The officer was stunned: "Well, the evidence for this matter is conclusive. We have asked Baron Mu for instructions..."
Sonia interrupted him impatiently:
"Let him down, and I will come to find out the matter myself - and then execute him."
The officer in charge frowned: "But this is Baron Mu's order... He said..."
"Mu?"
"I am the commander of Broken Dragon Fortress." Sonia said solemnly: "How many days has Mu Cai been here? You and he are just reinforcements stationed here."
Fortress Flower's face turned cold:
"Still, do you have any objections to my command authority?"
The officer's words were paused, and he looked around awkwardly.
But the majesty and prestige of the Fortress Flower forced him to obey.
The black-haired man on the gallows breathed a sigh of relief, and was immediately taken down and pinned down in front of Sonia.
"Soldier, tell me your name and affiliation!" Sonia came to him and said coldly.
The young man was so excited:
"Willow, my name is Willow, Your Excellency, the Flower of the Fortress!"
The young man looked at Sonia gratefully and gasped:
"Willow Ken!"
"They are spearmen recruited from Zaratan County!"
"Also...I'm really not a deserter!"
At this moment, there was an uproar among the crowd.
A bright but impatient male voice came from afar:
"Sathre!"
Sonia's brows furrowed deeply, she raised her head and looked in the direction of the sound.
"I heard that you are openly causing trouble for me again?"
Thales looked at the noisy place curiously and saw soldiers separating to both sides.
This is a man with short chestnut hair and a medium height but strong build, wearing a simple breastplate and cyan wrist guards.
He had a high nose and sharp outlines, a pair of light green eyes full of sternness, and a conspicuous silver and black metal bow on his back as he strode through the crowd.
Behind him were a dozen expressionless sword and shield soldiers.
"Wow! It's him!" Behind Thales, Ada, who covered her head and face again, seemed to have found something interesting to do, and whispered: "We're going to fight, we're going to fight!"
The soldiers on both sides were whispering, and many looked at the approaching man with excited and nervous expressions.
Thales was stunned: Who is he?
This man seems to have an aura full of aggression, and wherever his eyes look, it makes people feel chilly.
This gave Thales a sense of danger, just like the silver-black bow behind him, which was in a critical state as if it could be fired at any time.
Sonia looked at the man with a solemn expression and said slowly:
"Alaka Mu."
"Once again, you interfered with my troops while I was away!"
Alaka Mu?
Sounds a bit familiar.
Thales scratched his head.
"Your Highness," Putilai behind him sighed deeply and whispered, "I wonder how good you are at mediating conflicts?"
Thales glanced at Putilai inexplicably.
What's the meaning?
"Your troops?" Araka, who was full of aggression, showed no sign of weakness, pointed at Willow Ken on the ground, and responded coldly to Sonia: "You mean, these cowardly deserters recruited from local villages?
"
"I'm not a deserter! I just..." Young Willow spoke again nervously.
But he only said half of what he said before he was interrupted mercilessly by Alaka.
"Shut up, deserter!" The man carrying a silver-black metal bow became angry.
Alaka's stern gaze was shot at Willow, forcing the latter's words back.
"A coward doesn't deserve to talk to me."
He said coldly.
Under the gallows, Willow Ken's face was at a loss, his mouth opened and closed, and finally it drooped in grievance.
The atmosphere in the venue is getting worse and worse.
"Hey, Mu."
Sonia's face turned gloomy.
"You are in my territory, and you identify my soldiers as deserters without confirmation. You are a coward." Sonia, the flower of the fortress, seemed to be brewing with anger. She looked at Araka with sharp eyes and spoke word by word.
typical:
"Are you provoking me?"
Thales only felt that the atmosphere in front of him was getting more and more tense, and the soldiers around him did not dare to say anything.
Araka suddenly grinned and laughed.
"If you say yes, then so be it."
Under the increasingly terrifying look in Sonia's eyes, Alaka withdrew her smile and glanced at Thales with an uncomfortable look.
"So, you brought the prince back?" Alaka smiled and shook his head.
Thales smiled at him and nodded.
But Alaka Mu just smiled contemptuously, seemingly not caring about His Highness the Prince's overtures at all, leaving Thales stunned.
The time traveler remembered.
This is what King Kessel said when he replied to Exeter's envoy, "Baron Mu has rushed to Broken Dragon Fortress with two thousand royal standing troops." The baron who led the army, Alaka Mu.
Unexpectedly, he actually dared to confront Sonia Sutherre and the Flower of the Fortress without showing any signs of weakness.
Just listen to Baron Mu exhale softly, look at Sonia and say lightly:
"Why, after you have curried favor with the king, do you think you have the right to condone deserters?"
The king's cub?
The surrounding soldiers were in an uproar again.
Many eyes glanced at Thales.
Thales's face also turned ugly.
"He said he was not a deserter," Sonia said with an ugly face, "He should have a chance to defend himself."
"The Star Legion never takes life lightly."
Thales's heart moved.
Star Legion.
Willow, who was on the ground, looked happy and nodded vigorously, but looking at Mu's face, he still chose not to speak.
"Never ignore life? You are indeed the captain of the 'Star Legion'." Araka smiled and said: "Execute your Duke's beliefs meticulously."
Thales remembered that Sonia was once the younger brother of Eddie II and a member of the Star Legion under John Bright Star. It seemed that her status was not low - captain of the personal guard.
"Ah, by the way, how did the Duke die?" Araka turned her head and stared at Sonia.
The flowers of the fortress suddenly change color!
"He who was kind and cherished his life was betrayed by those he 'never ignored'," Alaka said sarcastically in Sonia's trembling face: "He died in the hands of his most trusted bodyguards!"
"What's the name of that traitor...Norfolk?"
Sonia clenched her fists, with an unclear expression on her face.
"Yes, these are the Duke's personal guards of the Star Legion trained by Sonia Satherley herself!"
Thales opened his mouth wide in surprise.
Alaka's words clearly stirred the nerves of many people.
Because Thales felt that the temperature around Sonia dropped instantly as soon as he said these words.
The expressions of the dozen or so warriors behind her, including Gennard, also changed.
A dozen big men with fierce faces came forward together and stood behind Sonia.
Behind Araka, the expressionless sword and shield soldiers also had bad expressions. They all gathered around Baron Mu, pressed the hilts of their swords, and looked at the opposite side coldly.
The two parties faced each other in tense confrontation.
Sonia's pupils shrank, and she stepped forward slowly with a cold expression, looking directly at Alaka, who was as tall as her.
Alaka also looked back at her coldly.
"Bah!" Sonia spit at Araka's feet in front of him without any politeness, or even very rudely.
"You're just a barking wild dog, Alaka."
Alaka just smiled and said nothing.
"Of course, I remembered, the bloody year," the flower of the fortress looked up at the chestnut-haired man and said coldly:
"Prince Horace died on the spot, but you came back alive."
Thales's heart moved.
Prince Horace? The Sword of Light?
This time it was Alaka's turn to change his expression.
His eyes were full of hatred and anger.
"who knows……"
"is that you……"
Just listen to Sonia's sarcastic words and chuckle:
"Did you stab him in the back?"
Thales no longer has to wonder what the "contradiction" in Putilai's sentence just now meant.
Because at the next moment, Alaka's fist and Sonia's palm came.
Full of anger, they collided fiercely in the air!
————
The eastern border of Stars and Exeter, around the Gulao Tower.
"No, I can't smell that frat doctor."
"We can't go any deeper... Ahead is the road leading to Broken Dragon Fortress. I heard that the two countries are confronting each other - I don't want to get involved in the battlefield."
The leader of the eight powerful warriors of the Blood Bottle Gang, "Red Viper" Nekra clenched his fists angrily, waved away his surrounding subordinates, and looked at the blond woman beside him.
"Also, can't you ask Master Giza for a favor?"
hateful.
This woman.
Why was she the first to find the Blood Magician?
One of the supernatural warriors of the Blood Bottle Gang and another cadre second only to Nekra, "Phantom Blade" Kathleen turned her head and showed a bright but inexplicably chilling smile: "Hey, it seems that we are chasing after you again. It’s lost.”
"As for Lord Giza," Kathleen chuckled, making Nekra even more angry: "As I said, she suddenly had something urgent and went to the west for the time being."
Katherine looked at Nekra coldly.
The Blood Magician trusts me more... and will only trust me.
Even if the Qi Magic Master disappears and "Chaos God Soldier" Song dies, the Blood Bottle Gang cannot be taken over by a fool like you.
But she was also extremely anxious.
One day ago, the Blood Magician was finally persuaded by them to come here with them to track down the strange doctor from the Brotherhood.
But Giza seemed to suddenly sense something. After hastily leaving the words "I'll go to the west to see", the magician disappeared from sight.
God, the west is the road leading to Broken Dragon Fortress. Countless armies from both countries are there, the atmosphere is tense, and there is such an existence as the Flower of the Fortress!
No matter how powerful the magician is, he can't fight against an entire army, right?
"We'd better resolve the matter here as soon as possible," Nekra said in a bad tone: "The Blood Bottle Gang has lost a lot of business, and many partners... The women of Sera Principality are very dissatisfied with our population cutoff. In the desert The Bone Man began to contact the Brotherhood. The Forerunners even directly closed the transaction with us, and those rude swordsmen even came to question us about Gulaton’s death..."
"We are pressed for time."
"I know," Kathleen shook her head: "They are getting even more serious, asking us to provide more orphans... It's time for us to regain our prestige."
"So, that doctor named Ramon better be as important as you say!" Nekra looked at his colleague and competitor with an unhappy expression.
"Of course, this was leaked to us by the secret department through the Cullen family." Kathleen cut down a branch in front of her with a knife and continued walking forward: "The news said that if we catch Ramon, many of the Brotherhood's secrets will be revealed to us master."
The Cullen family?
Nekra frowned.
"And you should stop having any illusions about the Kevin Deere family," Kathleen said sarcastically: "They don't regard us as human beings at all."
"Will the Cullen family be any better?" Nekra retorted subconsciously: "Maybe the news this time is just that the Kingdom Secret Department wants us to cause some trouble for the Black Street Brotherhood!"
"That's right." Kathleen said nonchalantly.
Nekra was stunned.
He didn't expect that this woman would actually agree with his words.
"The Brotherhood expanded too rapidly, especially after that night on Hongfang Street. Almost the entire underground forces in Yongxing City surrendered to the Black Street."
"So, there are people who don't like them and want to cause trouble," Kathleen stopped, frowning and thinking: "There are also people who want to catch the black hand behind them. The secret department and the Cullen family probably have this purpose——
Supporting us is the most direct way."
Nekra smiled disdainfully: "So, it's actually a good thing that we lost the battle on Red Square Street?"
"That was a costly lesson, reminding us that the magic masters are not omnipotent." Kathleen covered up the disgust in her eyes and tried her best to speak sincerely:
"In the past, we worked independently and even fought with each other, but that night, we all lost our most capable subordinates and manpower... For the survival of the Blood Bottle Gang, maybe it's time for us to abandon our past feud..."
Damn viper.
She cursed in her mind.
Do you think I don’t know that it was you who killed Rolf?
One day...
Nekra was silent for a while, seeming to consider Catherine's words in detail.
Finally, Red Viper hesitated and said:
"Although I still don't like you."
"But I must admit that what you said makes sense..."
"We are facing the biggest crisis since our establishment, and we must work together sincerely to survive it."
However, Nekra was thinking fiercely in his heart:
This damn bitch.
Do you think I can't see through your drama?
Kathleen smiled: "I'm glad you think so."
Nekra waved and recalled the members of the Blood Bottle Gang, shrugging indifferently: "We are in the same gang after all."
"And now... let's find that brotherhood doctor first, that damn Ramon!"