Eternal Star City, Xiacheng District, Black Street Brotherhood, and the big house in the headquarters.
"You mean, Rhoda and the Scimitar?"
One of the six giants of the Black Street Brotherhood, "The Ripper" Anton bit off a bite of bread, and asked vaguely, "Because of what?"
"It seems to be that son of Rhoda," on the other side of the long table, another member of the Big Six, Morris folded his arms against his fat belly, and said impatiently:
"You know, that trash has been raising beggars with me, until he played himself to death on Red Square Street... Because of this, the relationship between Rhoda, me and Lancer is very tense."
"So it's annoying to say the machete? The Sunset Bar is closed?" Anton chuckled and took a sip of ale: "It's a pity, I really like that chick in the bar... Tsk tsk, that figure."
"Her surname is Surriton, 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 much about it." Anton swallowed the bread: "After the incident in the Principality of Sera, did the Sarridon brothers still not show up?"
"The Prison Scythe has tracked them for several years, and for this reason they did not hesitate to cooperate with people from the Secret Division." Morris shook his head. "Among them, he fought against little Sariton twice, and he didn't take advantage of it."
"What about Great Surreyton?" Anton immediately asked, "The one who killed Eddie II..."
"It's best not to mention him," Morris sighed: "You know, in front of the palace gate, whether it was intentional or not, he saved Hei Jian's life... Over the years, Hei Jian has been bitter about it. Huai, it can be said that he was tortured."
"And there must be a battle between them."
Anton sighed.
At this moment, a figure in a scarlet cloak opened the door and came in, and sat down at the table.
Both Morris and Anton's expressions became serious.
Until the figure in the scarlet cloak spoke.
Let the other two suddenly change color.
"Speak clearly!"
"What do you mean by losing contact?"
Anton slammed his fist on the table,
Looking at "Sleepless Eye" Lancer Corbion, who is also one of the six giants, with a surprised face, he asked in surprise.
"It means," Lancer pinched his scarlet cloak, frowning, "We haven't received a letter from Ramon since seven days ago. Eastern Frontier."
"There is only one explanation - he has encountered an enemy."
Morris folded his arms tightly and murmured: "His task is just to divert the attention of the Secret Division with the news of the 'mage's reappearance', so that we can get the weapon safely. Will you give up hunting him?"
The fat man shook his head, showing doubts: "An ordinary gangster doctor—whether in the dark room or in the secret department, there is no reason to arrest him."
"No, of course they have no reason—unless the opponents are targeting our fraternity, or even the sponsors behind it... Many people are suspicious of our backstage." Lancer said darkly:
"And you and I both know that Ramon is no ordinary gangster doctor!"
"For us, there are sponsors?" Anton was surprised: "Aiming at us, you mean the Blood Bottle Gang? Although Qi Magicians don't appear very often...but after Red Square Street, they are indeed better than before. It's quiet, Catherine and Nekla are both abroad!"
Lancer shook his head: "I have rumors that they have found the blood mage - the counterattack against us may begin soon, and I worry that they may have discovered the importance of Ramon to us."
He tapped lightly on the tabletop: "If it's the blood magician who made the shot... Sigh."
"The key is our sponsor!" Morris thought seriously: "If Ramon falls into their hands, it will inevitably endanger the safety of the sponsor...Maybe we need to remind the sponsor?"
"You can't take the risk of being exposed and contact the sponsor," Lanser said brightly in his eyes: "I suspect this may be a trap--Morat likes to play this kind of bait game the most, maybe the surrounding area of Black Street is full of people. With the eyes and ears of the Secret Division, we are waiting for us to make mistakes."
What's even more frightening is...
If it wasn't for Morat and his secret department, but the mastermind behind the scenes...
Lancer remained calm, but he didn't 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 squeezed his fists fiercely: "And we don't even have that The origin and capabilities of the armed forces are unknown, and nothing has been discovered."
"And he knows too many secrets about us and even our sponsors." Morris immediately raised his head with a serious face: "Are we available on the border between Xingchen and Exeter? For example, Anton, your men, over there Drug smuggling team?"
"It's hard," Anton the Ripper gritted his teeth: "The atmosphere there has been tense recently, and the caravan is afraid that Xingchen and Exeter will start a war, so they no longer go around the Broken Dragon Fortress, and my people have withdrawn early. ..."
"Besides," Anton said with an earthy face, "If the blood magician is not much worse than the air magician...Let's not talk about our subordinates, even if there are a few of us, we will die as many as we go."
"Maybe there is another way." Lancer said silently.
The other two looked at him.
Just listen to "Sleepless Eye" Lanser faintly say:
"At the border between Xingchen and Exeter...the black sword is not far away, you can go to search for Ramon."
"And I have already handed over that weapon to him."
"If he really meets the blood magician."
"Let's try it out in advance, let's see the performance of that weapon."
————————
The sun is rising.
With his face drooping, Thales was guarded by Sonia on the horse. The group passed through the sentry post and the fortress, walked up the narrow slope, and slowly entered the magnificent Broken Dragon Fortress through the south gate.
It's much colder here than in the birch forest.
The snow layer was also much thicker, almost reaching an adult's ankle.
This is a very large fortress, but the two-story city wall makes the space between the fortress gate and the inner city wall appear relatively narrow. .
Thales got off the horse with the help of Sonia, and the seriously injured Wya, Rolf and Jorah behind him were treated by the soldiers.
He observed a corner of the fortress, which was well-organized in terms of building layout and personnel sentries.
The soldiers on duty were either patrolling the main roads and walls of the fortress, or standing guard at various locations.
The quartermaster in charge of logistics and supplies was urging the men who delivered the supplies back and forth. In several rather large stables, the cavalry were skillfully scrubbing their mounts.
On the other side of the training field, several teams looked like recruits who had not yet been recruited into the army. Under the leadership of several veterans, they practiced defense and slashing movements in an orderly manner.
In the distance, several teams of soldiers who had just returned from duty were lining up to put away their weapons and receive the rations issued by the quartermaster.
Genard followed behind Sonia, warmly hugging a dozen tough veterans who seemed to be old acquaintances.
This is the northern barrier of Star Kingdom?
"That's Baron Mu's royal standing army, which has just been expanded." At this moment, Puttilai leaned on a branch, dragged his damaged body, walked behind him, looked at the team of recruits who were training, and said: "Not much war."
Thales nodded.
"I thought you would at least keep her—that important queen—in Broken Dragon Fortress. You know, our strength is already stronger than hers."
Puttilai said silently: "Whether she was deceived or not, she attacked the mission convoy and committed a bloody debt."
"And then? Grab 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's a lot of trouble in diplomacy."
and.
It also involves magicians.
It involves my secret.
The less trouble the better.
Puttilai raised his eyebrows.
Thales sighed: "Believe me, the real culprit is still at large, and letting Katrina go is also causing trouble for him."
Zhan En's face appeared in front of his eyes.
No matter what you want to kill me for.
I will not sit still.
Moreover, Thales thought to himself: I may have found the key.
The key lies in the conversation on the day of the trip - there must be something that touched Zhan En's nerves.
Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to act so unwisely, deceiving his allies and endangering himself.
"And she's still carrying that black coffin," Thales continued. Putillai frowned slightly at his words: "With that thing by my side, it's like letting the blood magician come to us again."
Although she will definitely come to me.
[Never, let you suffer]
Thales sighed, thinking worriedly.
"Don't worry," Putillai seemed to have seen through Thales' thoughts, and he said slowly, "Exter also has his own legendary anti-magic weapon."
"The number is even greater than that of the stars. It is the country with the most legendary anti-demon forces in the world—after all, it is the northern land that spared no effort to fight against disasters in the final battle."
Thales nodded reluctantly.
"As for the disasters, as long as you're not interested in them," Puttilai said with deep eyes, "they won't be interested in you."
Thales was shocked.
Puttilai.
What does he mean by this?
At this moment, Sonia's majestic voice came from the front:
"what happened!"
Thales and Puttilai both raised their heads curiously and looked forward.
It seemed to be a gallows, and it was crowded with soldiers who were not on duty at the moment.
There was a man standing on the gallows, escorted by the soldiers behind him.
It looks like he is going to be executed.
A military officer who looked like a person in charge recognized Sonia, and he said in embarrassment:
"Lord Sutherley... 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 dark complexion. He struggled to raise his head before 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 at the onlookers:
"They were left alone, I went back to rescue them! I didn't escape!"
"Just look at the blood on my weapon!"
Thales watched all this, and whispered to Puttilai:
"Have we already engaged the enemy?"
"I'm afraid it's a conflict between small groups of troops," Puttilai mused, "It seems that Lombard still doesn't give up."
Thales sighed secretly in his heart.
The officer in charge of hanging looked at the struggling black-haired young man, and said disdainfully, "This guy is lying!"
"His spear was stained with blood, but it was broken in two long ago!"
"Run back with the broken weapon in hand, and then tell me: Did you go back to save people?"
"I don't have any!" The young man with his hands tied behind his back said anxiously, "That's not broken in two! That's my spear! It...they have two, one in the left hand and one in the right! I can use both... "
"That's enough! A fisherman full of nonsense!" The officer in charge waved his hands with an ugly face: "Sophistry won't help you! Be like a Northlander, hurry up..."
"etc!"
Sonia looked at the person in charge with an ugly face:
"He is a soldier I recruited from the local area. Before executing him, shouldn't he come to ask me for instructions?"
The officer was taken aback for a moment: "Ah, but the evidence for this matter has been conclusive. We have consulted Baron Mu..."
Sonia interrupted him impatiently:
"Let him down, and I'll come to clarify 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 in a deep voice, "Mu has only been here for a few days? You and him are just reinforcements stationed here."
Fortress Flower's face turned cold:
"Still, do you have any opinion on my command?"
The officer's words froze, and he looked around in embarrassment.
But the majesty and prestige of the Fortress Flower forced him to obey.
The brown-haired man on the gallows breathed a sigh of relief, and was immediately taken down, and pressed down in front of Sonia.
"Soldier, report your name and affiliation!" Sonia came to him and said coldly.
The young man was shocked:
"Willow, my name is Willow, Lord Flower of the Fortress!"
The young man looked at Sonia gratefully, panted and said:
"Willow Ken!"
"It's a pikeman conscripted from Zaratan County!"
"Also... I'm really not a deserter!"
At this moment, there was an uproar in the crowd.
A bright but impatient male voice came from afar:
"Sassery!"
Sonia frowned deeply. She raised her head and looked in the direction of the voice.
"I heard that you are openly troubling me again?"
Thales looked curiously at the place where the noise was, and saw that the soldiers separated to the two sides one after another.
This is a man with short chestnut hair who is of medium height but strong, wearing a simple breastplate and blue wrist guards.
He has a high nose bridge, sharp outline, a pair of light green eyes full of sternness, and a conspicuous pair of silver and black metal bows on his back, striding forward from the crowd.
Behind him were a dozen or so expressionless sword and shield soldiers.
"Wow! It's him!" Behind Thales, Ada, who had covered his head and face again, seemed to have found something interesting, and whispered, "We're going to fight, we're going to fight!"
The soldiers on both sides were whispering, and many of them looked at the approaching man with excited and nervous expressions.
Thales was taken aback: Who is he?
This man seemed to carry an aura full of aggression. Wherever his eyes met, he felt chills in his heart.
This gave Thales a dangerous feeling, just like the silver and black bow behind him, in a critical state that seemed ready to be fired at any time.
Sonia looked at the man with a solemn expression, and said slowly:
"Alaka Mu."
"Once again, you meddled in my army while I was away!"
Alaka Mu?
A little familiar.
Thales scratched his head.
"Your Highness," Puttilai behind him sighed deeply, and said in a low voice, "I don't know how good you are at mediating conflicts?"
Thales glanced at Putillai inexplicably.
What's the meaning?
"Your troops?" Alaka, who was full of aggressiveness, 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 was interrupted mercilessly by Alaka after only half of his words.
"Shut up, deserter!" The man with the silver and black metal bow was furious.
Araka shot fiercely at Willow with fierce eyes, forcing the latter's words back.
"A coward is not worthy of talking to me."
He said coldly.
Willow Ken under the gallows was at a loss, his mouth opened and closed, and finally drooped in aggrieved manner.
The atmosphere in the arena is getting worse and worse.
"Hey, Mu."
Sonia's face was gloomy.
"You are on my territory, and you accused my soldiers of deserters and cowards without confirmation." Sonia, the flower of the fortress, seemed to be brewing with anger in her heart. She looked at Alaka with sharp eyes, and stopped every 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 didn't dare to speak out.
Araka suddenly grinned and laughed loudly.
"You say yes, so be it."
Amid Sonia's increasingly frightening eyes, Araka withdrew her smile, and glanced at Thales with uncomfortable eyes.
"So, you brought the prince back?" Araka smiled and shook her head.
Thales smiled at him and nodded.
But Alaka Mu just smiled contemptuously, as if he didn't care about His Royal Highness's overtures at all, which stunned Thales.
The traverser remembered.
This is what King Kessel said when replying to the Exeter's envoy, "Baron Mu has rushed to Broken Dragon Fortress with 2,000 royal standing troops." The baron in command, Alaka Mu.
Unexpectedly, he dared to confront Sonia Sutherley and the flower of the fortress without showing any weakness.
He only heard Baron Mu exhale lightly, looked at Sonia and said lightly:
"Why, do you feel that you have the right to condone deserters after you please the king's brat?"
The king's cub?
The soldiers around were in an uproar again.
Many eyes turned to Thales.
Thales' complexion also turned ugly.
"He said that he is not a deserter." Sonia's face was ugly: "He should have a chance to defend himself."
"The Star Legion never ignores life."
Thales' heart moved.
Starlight Legion.
Willow on the ground looked happy and nodded desperately, but seeing Mu's face, he still chose not to speak.
"Never neglect life? You really deserve to be the captain of the 'Star Legion'." Araka laughed and said, "Execute your Duke's beliefs meticulously."
Thales remembered that Sonia used to be the younger brother of Eddie II, a member of the Starlight Legion under John Canxing, and it seemed that her status was not low-the captain of the personal guard.
"Ah, by the way, how did the Duke die?" Alaka turned his head and stared at Sonia.
The flowers of the fortress suddenly changed color!
"He was betrayed by those 'people whom he never underestimated'." Amid Sonia's trembling face, Araka said sarcastically, "He died at the hands of his most trusted bodyguard!"
"What's the name of that traitor... Norfolk?"
Sonia clenched her fists tightly, her expression unclear.
"Yes, they are the Duke's personal guards of the Starlight Legion trained by Sonia Sutherley herself!"
Thales opened his mouth wide in surprise.
Alaka's words obviously stirred up the nerves of many people.
Because Thales felt that as soon as these words fell, the temperature around Sonia dropped instantly.
The complexions of the dozen or so soldiers behind her, including Genard, also changed.
A dozen or so big men came forward together with fierce faces and stood behind Sonia.
Behind Araka, the expressionless sword and shield soldiers also had a bad look on their faces. They gathered around Baron Mu, pressed the hilt of their swords, and looked at them coldly.
The two sides confronted each other fiercely.
Sonia's pupils shrank slightly, and she walked forward slowly, with a cold and stern expression, staring straight at Alaka, who was about the same height as her.
Araka also looked back at her coldly.
"Bah!" Sonia was unceremonious, even very rude, and spat at Alaka's feet in front of him.
"You are just a barking wild dog, Araka."
Araka just smiled lightly and didn't speak.
"Of course, I remembered, the year of blood," the flower of the fortress looked up at the man with chestnut hair, and said coldly:
"Prince Horace died on the spot, but you came back alive."
Thales' heart moved.
Prince Horace? The Sword of Tracing Light?
This time, it was Araka's turn that his face changed drastically.
His eyes were full of hatred and anger.
"who knows..."
"is that you..."
Only listening to Sonia's sarcasm, she said with a light smile:
"Give him a knife in the back?"
Thales no longer has to doubt what the "contradiction" in Puttilai's sentence just now means.
Because the next moment, Araka's fist and Sonia's palm.
Filled with anger, they collided fiercely in the air!
————
The eastern border between Star and Exeter, around the Lonely Old Tower.
"No, I can't smell that fraternity doctor."
"I can't go any further... The road leading to Broken Dragon Fortress is just ahead. 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 supernatural fighters of the Blood Bottle Gang, "Red Viper" Nekla clenched his fists angrily, waved back the surrounding subordinates, and looked at the blond woman beside him.
"Also, can't you ask Lord Giza for a favor?"
Hateful.
This woman.
Why was she the one who found the blood magician first?
One of the supernatural fighters of the Blood Bottle Gang, another cadre second only to Nekla, "Phantom Blade" Catherine turned her head, showing a bright but inexplicably chilling smile: "Oh, it seems that we are chasing after you again." lost."
"As for Lord Giza," Catherine chuckled, making Nekla even more angry: "I told you, she has something urgent and has gone to the west for the time being."
Catherine looked at Nekla coldly.
The blood magician trusts me more... and will only trust me.
Even if the Qi Magician disappeared and "Chaotic God Soldier" Song died, the Blood Bottle Gang can't be taken over by a fool like you.
But she was also extremely anxious.
A day ago, the blood magician was finally persuaded by them, and came here with them to track down the fraternity monster doctor.
But Giza seemed to have sensed something suddenly, and after hastily saying "I'll go to the west to see", the magician disappeared in front of his eyes.
God, the west side is the road leading to Broken Dragon Fortress. Countless armies from both countries are there. The atmosphere is tense, and there is such a thing as the Flower of the Fortress!
No matter how strong a magician is, he can't fight an entire army, right?
"We'd better settle the matter here as soon as possible," Nekla said in a bad tone: "The Blood Bottle Gang has lost a lot of business, and many partners are... The women of the Principality of Sera are very dissatisfied with the termination of our population. The desolate skeletons began to contact the Brotherhood, and the Forerunner even directly closed the deal with us, and that group of rude swordsmen even came to question us about the death of Gradun..."
"We are pressed for time."
"I know," Catherine shook her head. "They're even worse, asking us to provide more orphans... It's time for us to revive our reputation."
"So, that doctor named Ramon should be as important as you said!" Nekla looked at his colleague and competitor with displeasure.
"Of course, this was leaked to us by the Cullen family." Catherine slashed off a branch in front of her eyes and continued to walk forward: "The news said that many secrets of the Brotherhood will be captured by us." master."
The Cullen family?
Nekla frowned.
"And you should stop having illusions about the Kevin Dill family," Catherine said sarcastically, "They don't treat us as human beings at all."
"Will the Cullen family be any better?" Nekla retorted subconsciously: "Maybe, the news this time is just that the Kingdom Secret Division wants us to cause some trouble for the Black Street Brotherhood!"
"That's right." Catherine said indifferently.
Nekla was taken aback.
He didn't expect that this woman would go along with his words.
"The Brotherhood expanded too quickly, especially after that night on Red Square Street. Almost the entire underground forces in Eternal Star City surrendered to the Black Street."
"So, there are people who don't like them and want to make trouble," Catherine stopped, frowning and thinking: "There are also people who want to catch the black hands behind them, and the secret department and the Cullen family are probably for this purpose—— Supporting us is the most direct way."
Nekla smiled disdainfully: "So, it's still a good thing that we lost the battle on Red Square Street?"
"That was a costly lesson, reminding us that your lords of magicians are not omnipotent." Catherine covered up the disgust in her eyes, and tried her best to say sincerely:
"In the past, we were independent and even fought with each other, but in 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 put aside the past..."
Damn Viper.
She cursed in her heart.
You thought I didn't know, did you kill Rolf?
One day...
Nekla was silent for a while, as if she was considering Catherine's words in detail.
In the end, Red Viper still 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 cooperate sincerely to get through it."
However, Nekla thought hard in his heart:
Does this damned* think I can't see through your drama?
Catherine smiled: "I'm glad you think so."
Nekla waved and called back the members of the Blood Bottle Gang, shrugging indifferently: "After all, we are in the same gang."
"And now... let's find that fraternity doctor first, that damned Ramon!"